Jillian Michaels, one of the celebrity trainers from NBC’s Biggest Loser, is being sued by a woman named Christie Christensen for what she claims is false advertising. “The Biggest Loser” has been a hit for NBC, often appearing in Nielsen Co.’s Top 20 rankings for prime-time TV programs.
Ms. Christensen claims that she bought a diet supplement with Jillian’s picture on it called Calorie Control, but the product failed to lose her any weight or to lessen her appetite.
Michaels’ picture and endorsement appear on the packaging, touting her as “America’s Toughest Trainer.” The product and a Web site advertising include the claim, “Two Capsules Before Main Meals and You Lose Weight … That’s It!”
“Ms. Michaels knows better – taking two pills before eating does not miraculously cause weight loss,” the lawsuit states.
The Web site and packaging however note that the statements haven’t been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ms. Christensen is also suing Basic Research, the company who makes Calorie Control, but she’s seeking a class-action suit against Michaels including untrue and misleading advertising. What she did not say was if she followed the instructions as directed.
Recently 29-year-old looked stunning in a colourful, geometric-print, strappy dress as she dined with family and her New Orleans Saints footballer boyfriend Reggie Bush, 24, at Miami’s Prime 112 Restaurant.
Kim Kardashian recently said ‘relaxing’ prior to the Super Bowl was the best way to help boyfriend Reggie prepare for the big game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
She told Eonline.com: ‘We have just been completely relaxing. Now we’re just going to dinners with our family and with our friends.
Indian composer A R Rahman scored a double triumph at the Grammy Awards here, scooping two early honours for his music from Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire.
Rahman won the first Grammy of the pre-show at the Staples Center in the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture category before his “Jai Ho” won in the best motion picture song category moments later.
“This is insane, god is great again,” Rahman said as he accepted his second award before a VIP audience.
Rahman Accepts the Grammy Awards
Rahman’s rivals in the soundtrack category included Steve Jordan for “Cadillac Records,” Quentin Tarantino for “Inglourious Basterds”, and the producers of “Twilight” and “True Blood.”
In the best song category Rahman’s beaten rivals included Bruce Springsteen for his song “The Wrestler”, from the Oscar-nominated movie of the same name.
The Grammy success comes after Rahman earned two Oscars for his music in “Slumdog Millionaire” at last year’s Academy Awards.
The talented music maestro picked up the best original score statuette before scooping the best song Oscar.
Scientists and Doctors are tapping new ways to use Cord Blood in the fight against disease. There are two new ways doctors are using umbilical cord blood to treat incurable diseases.
HealthFirst reporter Leslie Toldo takes us inside the clinical trials using cord blood to give kids better lives.
Cord blood is already helping cancer patients and those suffering from blood disorders.
Researchers now have discovered how to use it to treat diabetes and some forms of brain damage.
Ellen Seidman snaps a quick picture of a bag of cells. Cells she hopes will change her son’s future. “It was just kind of miraculous. You just watched these stem cells dripping into him.”
A stroke at birth caused 6-year-old Max’s cerebral palsy. He’s one of about 150 kids getting infusions of his own cord blood at Duke University. The hope is the stem cells in Max’s cord blood will improve his brain function.
“Cells go to the brain after we infuse them in the blood,” explained Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg. “They can help repair damage in the brain, and we’re hoping in children with cerebral palsy that will happen as well.”
Doctors have reported the cord blood stem cells have the potential to reduce Max’s muscle tightness, improve his mobility and help his speech over the next year.
On another cord blood front, researchers are using infusions to fight type-one diabetes.
After diabetic Barrett Ross received a cord blood infusion, he cut his insulin use by two-thirds. He’s had diabetes for three years, and his body is still producing insulin. Researchers believe stem cells in the blood slow the immune attack of diabetes so the pancreas destroys fewer insulin-producing cells.
“The results that we have experienced as a result of this study, in my mind, are staggering,” said Barrett’s father, Brian Ross.
“It is very exciting. I take care of children with diabetes all the time. I know what is that they go through,” explained Dr. Desmond Schatz.
Cord blood is not a cure-all.
“It’s still an experimental procedure, and we know there are no guarantees. Our philosophy has always been if it couldn’t hurt and it might help, we’re gonna try it,” said Seidman.
But it’s a wager parents are placing as they hope for a healthier future for their kids.
Under two percent of parents bank their child’s cord blood at birth. All parents have the option, but it can cost up to $2,000 up front.
After the initial outlay, it costs about $100 a year to store cord blood.
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This post was written by admin on January 20, 2010 Comments (0)
Google has finally launched the Android-powered Nexus One and it’s directly selling to customer through its google.com/phone. It’s available for a few countries (Hong Kong, Singapore, US, Britain). Nexus One (designed by phone maker HTC under Google’s strict supervision) is available for purchase right now on Google’s new Web store rather than through a carrier—a twist that some observers see as a paradigm shift in the wireless market, where the balance of power is usually tipped in the carrier’s favor.
Google Nexus One
If you want it unlocked for use with any SIM card and without a contract, the phone will set you back a cool $530. Here in the U.S., you’ll be able to use the Nexus One with either an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM card; that said, AT&T users will only be able to tap into the carrier’s EDGE data network, while T-Mobile customers can use both EDGE and 3G.
You can buy Nexus One with T-Mobile service for $179. The handset is unlocked, but you’ll have to sign a T-Mobile contract.
Nexus One is slim and trim, alright, measuring about 0.45 inches thick and weighing in at a relatively light 4.6 ounces, and as predicted, it’ll come with a speedy 1GHz “Snapdragon” processor under the hood, a five-megapixel camera with an LED flash, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, a slot for microSD memory expansion, and a standard 3.5mm jack for headsets. Missing in action: a slide-out keypad and “multitouch” for the Web browser (for “pinching” or “zooming” Web pages).
Also on board the Nexus One: the latest version of Android (version 2.1, to be precise), which adds a series of interface enhancements, more home screens (five, up from three), live news and weather widgets, “live” wallpaper (which, as demonstrated during Google’s press conference, might feature a forest scene with falling leaves and water that ripples at your touch), and even built-in voice recognition for any text field on the phone (meaning you can simply speak rather than type out a text message).
Apple Inc is set to launch a new tablet device later this month. It will be exiting to see the company’s biggest product launch since the iPhone.
Apple plans to ship a multimedia tablet with a 10- to 11-inch touchscreen in March, the report said, citing people briefed by the company.
Although analysts and media reports have been speculating for months that Apple planned to unveil a tablet in the first half of 2010, Apple has never confirmed it was working on such a device.
The Wall Street Journal-affiliated blog All Things Digital reported earlier Monday, citing unnamed sources, that Apple is planning to make a major product announcement on Jan. 27 at an event in San Francisco.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment. Excitement about the tablet in recent weeks has helped propel Apple’s shares to record levels, analysts say.
Today, Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act of 2009.” Congressman Gutierrez has been joined by members of the faith community, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Progressive Caucus. This legislation marks a path for the nation to tackle the nation’s broken immigration system.
We commend Congressman Gutierrez for his leadership, for advancing immigration solutions, and for being the first to provide a platform that will allow the American government and the American people to begin this critical conversation. Fixing the immigration system will not only help end the exploitation and demonization of immigrant families and anyone perceived to be immigrant, but it will also level the playing field for American workers, lift wages and increase tax revenues.
The immigration system is broken, and this has led to tragedy throughout the U.S. in the form of hate crimes culminating in murders in New York and Pennsylvania, the separation of families, and the restriction of access to education for young people commonly known as “DREAM youth.” We are thankful that a champion like Congressman Gutierrez has shown the leadership, common sense, and courage of his convictions to do something about our broken immigration system. We hope other members of Congress will rally behind him. This bill is only the beginning. Advocates from all over the country will be responding to its specifics in the coming days and months.
Numerous academic and government reports have documented that a program requiring undocumented immigrants to register, become legal, and pay taxes would have a positive impact on our economy. By a margin of two to one, the American people believe that comprehensive immigration reform is better for America’s economy than requiring twelve million potential workers to leave the United States. Poll after poll demonstrates that the vast majority of Americans support a comprehensive overhaul of the immigration system that restores the rule of law by including legalization and smart enforcement.
Past election cycles have shown that voters reject candidates who simply demagogue this issue or adopt extreme enforcement-only approaches. For far too long, those who support the harmful status quo have been allowed to lead on this issue, even though they do not represent the can-do will of the American public. And it is clear that the immigration debate has rallied Latinos, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate, who participated in record numbers in the 2008 election, in large part in response to the promise of change. Latinos are watching. The American people are watching. And we have the public support to arrive at a solution.
We have a moral imperative to address immigration effectively and humanely. We must fix the broken system that tramples on our values, fosters exploitation, and weakens our economy. NCLR joins members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Progressive Caucus in applauding Congressman Gutierrez and urging presidential and congressional leadership to usher in a new kind of debate on this issue, move us forward together, and deliver workable solutions.
Individuals who drank three to four cups of coffe or tea per day had an approximately 25 percent lower risk of diabetes than those who drank between zero and two cups per day. Additionally, in the studies that assessed decaffeinated coffee consumption, those who drank more than three to four cups per day had about a one-third lower risk of diabetes than those who drank none. Those who drank more than three to four cups of tea had a one-fifth lower risk than those who drank no tea.
The finding is based on the analysis of previous studies reported in the December 14/28 issues of Archives of Internal Medicine, JAMA.
To reach the conclusion, Rachel Huxley, D.Phil, of The George Institute for International Health, University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues identified 18 studies involving 457,922 participants and assessing the association between coffee consumption and diabetes risk published between 1966 and 2009.
Six studies involving 225,516 individuals also included information about decaffeinated coffee, whereas seven studies with 286,701 participants reported on tea consumption.
When the authors combined and analyzed the data, they found that each additional cup of coffee consumed in a day was associated with a 7 percent reduction in the excess risk of diabetes.
This video undercover exposé blowing the whistle on the cruel treatment of animals at KFC’s factory farm and slaughterhouse suppliers.
The video details just how horribly KFC treats chickens—birds are so crippled that they can’t even walk, live birds are forced into tanks of scalding-hot water while completely conscious and able to feel pain, and in Moorefield, West Virginia slaughterhouse workers kill birds by slamming them against the wall and stomping on them! Pamela Anderson is calling on consumers to “Kick the Bucket” and boycott KFC until the company agrees to make some simple improvements in the way it treats animals.
Novavax, Inc. announced today that it has initiated a two-stage clinical study of its virus-like-particle (VLP) H1N1 influenza vaccine in Mexico in collaboration with Avimex Laboratories (Avimex) and GE Healthcare. Avimex distributes biological and pharmaceutical products for use in Mexico and more than 25 other countries around the world. Avimex is providing financial support for the trial and is expected to distribute the H1N1 VLP vaccine in Mexico in 2010 if it is approved for commercial sale. In addition, Novavax also announced today that GE Healthcare (a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE – News)) has agreed to support this program by providing its single-use bioprocessing technologies for vaccine production. GE Healthcare and Novavax have worked together since December 2007 to develop innovative vaccine production solutions using GE Healthcare’s manufacturing technologies.
