The Link Between Ovarian Cancer and HPV

First time I heard about HPV, I thought it was purely an STD. Which it is, actually, then later I learned that it could apply to any old wart you have on any non-genital part of your body. So I could have a plantar wart on my foot and it is HPV! (correct me if I'm wrong). Just like good and bad cholesterol, there are also good and bad - in this case, safe and ugly and bad and life-threatening - kinds of HPV.

HPV first made medical news when it was linked to cervical cancer. It continues to make big waves because it is so prevalent (one in 10 women have it) and so life threatening (HPV causes almost all cervical cancers, 85% of anals cancers, and 70% of vaginal cancers) at the same time. More recently more studies have been conducted on the link between HPV and ovarian cancer. It gets all technical and convoluted, but you can read the whole article on HPV and ovarian cancer here.

Read more »

Showering and Acne

(oh no that's not me).

Before I ponder on the bigger mysteries of life, allow me to dwell on the more mundane. Question in mind: can too much showering cause acne? This popped up unsolicited while I was enjoying an extra-tall glass of triple chocolate milkshake (which I think is also implicated in the acne debacle...more on that later). Being the geek that I am, tried it out myself - took daily nighttime showers for a week and noted the appearance of new pus-filled little red bumps. The result? One angry little red bump. On the crease right between my brows. Being the non-girly-girl I aspire to be, I just shrugged it off. Maybe it timed with my menstrual cycle (I had to admit in a not so not-girly-girl kind of way I really couldn't help). Of course, there are external other factors to look into (tall glass of triple chocolate milkshake included). Anyway, here's a more decent article explaining showering and its effects on pimples.

Read more »

Face Spa Treat...Right from the Kitchen

I love experimenting in the kitchen. Whipping up a good meal from scratch gives a certain satisfaction, especially if you have no idea what you're making in the first place. From testing on edible treats I've moved on to sampling different kinds of kitchen ingredients I can use to make my own facial masks at home. Face masks, especially the natural, so-called organic ones, cost quite a lot and can be quite disappointing once they come out of the pot. Since I believe Mother Nature provides us with just the right ingredients for everything, I've compiled a list of the best natural, homemade ingredients for face masks and tested mixing and matching them. Read more about the best recipes for homemade facials.

Read more »

The Benefits of Being Pear-Shaped

Apparently, having a pear-shaped body isn't as bad as most women see it is. Aside from the obviously wider pelvic canal that makes giving birth easier (hence, the term "birthing hips"), men are more attracted to bigger bottoms than they are to bigger breasts. Of course, the evolutionary instinct to propagate the species (wider hips = higher fertility) may play a bigger role here.

More interestingly, wider hips - or rather, a bigger waist-to-hip ratio, turns out to be an indicator of better health as well. This goes both for men and women. You can read more about the benefits of pear shapes and the waist-to-hip ratio here.

Read more »

Seeing Cellulite

Cellulite can be such a nasty thing. Hearing and seeing it on TV and the internet makes you feel like it's such an ugly, ugly disease. Truth is, it is just one of the female body's natural phenomena - just like monthly periods and mood swings are part and parcel of being a woman. Not convinced? Read more about the facts, causes and treatments (or non-existence of such) for cellulite here.

Oh, and BTW, said article on cellulite made it to the Factoidz Article Spotlight some time this week! It's been getting steady hits lately so I'm so happy :)

Read more »

Beauty and the Breast

I'm currently doing some (geeky paper/research/statistical study) work on common societal perceptions to the female breast. In other words, how do people in different culture perceive and value the aesthetics of the female mammary glands? It seems like there is quite a disparity between female breast perceptions across the Atlantic - while going topless is quite commonplace in a lot of European countries there are still a lot of taboos associated with exposing your breast in the American public.

(Photo credit)

I've compiled some stuff that I've posted online - it's about the factors that affect breast size and shape. You can read it here. I don't want to go into value judgments on the breast yet, as it's quite complicated with so many factors to consider (culture, religious belief, exposure to mass media, etc.) :-p

Anyway, what's interesting is that apparently wearing a bra can actually weaken breast support by making the supporting ligaments atrophy. These ligaments weaken through disuse until they eventually lose function. Of course, doing strenuous exercise or sports without a bra is equally damaging (and painful - ouch!) to your breast support structure. The solution? Wear decent bra support when exercising or doing sports, or when your breasts are heavy with milk during pregnancy and childbirth - but go au naturel on your chest the rest of the time.

(Photo credit)

Wearing tight, ill-fitting bras, on the other hand, can cause serious damage to your circulation as it cuts off lymphatic channels. It can even crush your chest area abnormally, too.

To be honest, rt's actually quite liberating - physically and in a way, culturally - to go around the house not wearing a bra. For someone who grew up in a relatively conservative, Catholic country like me, it will however take some serious guts to go out of the house bra-less. *sigh*

Read more »