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Imagine buying a designer handbag for £95? No, you’re not dreaming.Continue reading...
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Natalie Portman arriving at Roissy airport in Paris
We spotted Natalie Portman arriving in Paris yesterday. The actress gave waiting paps a flash of her impressive rock as she strolled through Roissy airport. Natalie married her dancer beau, Benjamin Millepied, last summer. He was recently named as the new Director of the Paris Opera Ballet. Maybe Nat was flying in to join him in the celebrations?Continue reading...
Kate Moss on the street in London
Kate Moss wears a Breton top, jeans, boots and a shaggy faux fur coat out and about in London - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’tsContinue reading...
Minnie Driver at the I Give It A Year London premiere
Minnie Driver wears a black gown by Lorena Sarbu with lace sleeves at the I Give It A Year London premiere London - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’tsContinue reading...
Rose Byrne at the I Give It A Year London premiere
Rose Byrne wears a pink Balenciaga slip dress at the I Give It A Year London premiere - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’tsContinue reading...
Marisa Tomei engaged to Logan Marshall Green
Miss Vogue To Launch This Spring
FDA OKs First OTC Remedy for Overactive Bladder
Jan. 25, 2013 -- The FDA has approved Oxytrol for Women, the first over-the-counter treatment for overactive bladder in women 18 and older.
The condition affects more than 20 million American women, according to Merck, the drug's manufacturer.Oxytrol helps relax the overactive bladder muscle that leads to symptoms such as the sudden need to urinate and leaking of urine.
It will still only be available in prescription form for men.
Oxytrol for Women is in the form of a patch, applied to the skin every four days, Merck says.
It is expected to hit store shelves by the fall. No cost estimates are yet available, according to Merck.
Oxytrol in pill form by prescription will still be available. Oxytrol for Women contains oxybutynin, a drug that helps to relax the bladder muscle. It belongs to a class of drug called anticholinergics. It is the first of this class to go over-the-counter for overactive bladder treatment.
Each patch delivers 3.9 milligrams of the drug every day.
The FDA approved the drug after reviewing its safety and effectiveness in nine studies involving more than 5,000 women. According to the FDA, the study participants could understand the label information and use the drug appropriately.
Among side effects reported in the studies were skin irritation at the site of the patch, constipation, and dry mouth. Merck will supply an educational leaflet with the product.
Most women who develop overactive bladder are 45 to 60 years old. Many do not seek professional medical help due to embarrassment.
According to the National Association for Continence, those who suffer with bladder problems wait on average seven years before seeking treatment.
Among other prescription medications for the condition are fesoterodine (Toviaz), solifenacin (Vesicare) and tolterodine (Detrol).
Bladder training and pelvic floor exercises are other common treatment options.
Are Those Who Multitask Most the Worst at It?
Jan. 24, 2013 -- Next time you see a driver talking on the cell phone and looking confident, you might want to change lanes.
People who often talk on cell phones while driving may think they are experts at such multitasking, but they are typically not, says researcher David Strayer, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Utah.
In this case, Strayer and his colleagues found practice does not make perfect, or even close to it.
"The people who multitask the most seem to be the worst at it," he says, citing his study results. The study is published in PLOS ONE.
However, another expert who has studied the effects of distraction takes issue with the finding. It may only suggest that people who are more intelligent don't talk and drive, as they are aware of the risks, says Erik Altmann, PhD. He is an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University.
Strayer measured the multitasking ability of 277 college students.
He used a test that involves two tasks. The students had to remember a series of two to five letters. Each of the letters was separated by a simple math equation ("Does 2+4=6?") that they had to decide was true or false.
The students also ranked themselves on multitasking ability. They gave themselves a score, from zero to 100, with 50 termed average.
"Eighty percent said they were at or above average at multitasking," Strayer says. That's statistically impossible.
He jokes that it's akin to thinking they live in Lake Wobegon. That is the fictitious town of humorist Garrison Keillor, where the kids are ''all above average."
Students self-reported their multitasking, including cell phone use while driving. They also reported multitasking with media such as word processing and Web surfing.
They completed questionnaires that measured their impulsivity and sensation-seeking behaviors.
Students who reported most often talking on the cell phone while driving actually scored 20% lower on the multitasking test than did those drivers who talked on the cell phone the least, Strayer says.
"Those who did the best on the multitasking test tended to talk and drive the least," he says. "They have the self-awareness of their own human limitations to realize it's not safe to talk or text and drive."
Strayer found certain behaviors more common among the frequent multitaskers. "The people doing it the most tend to be impulsive, sensation-seeking, and overconfident in their ability to do that," he says. "It validates your worst nightmare."
Impulsivity was related to overall multitasking, but not to talking and driving. Strayer says that indicates cell phone use in a vehicle is a deliberate choice.
Altmann of Michigan State takes issue with the test used to gauge multitasking. "It is purely a test of working memory capacity that happens to correlate very highly with IQ," he says. "It may or may not reflect multitasking ability."
"They may only show that someone who is smarter doesn't use the cell phone as much when they drive," he says.
Strayer, in response, says that the test is valid, one of many ways to measure multitasking. "It basically does measure the ability to juggle two tasks with different goals at the same time."
The self-reporting of cell phone use is another limitation of the study, Altmann says, as it may not be accurate.
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