Med Check: Woman Is Given New Windpipe

Doctors have given a woman in Barcelona a new windpipe with tissue engineered from her own stem cells in what experts have hailed as a "milestone in medicine."

Claudia Castillo, 30, suffered from tuberculosis for years.

The breakthrough allowed Claudia Castillo, 30, to receive a new section of trachea -- an airway essential for breathing -- without the risk that her body would reject the transplant.
Castillo was given the stem cell surgery, the controversial branch of medicine that some say could lead to human cloning, after suffering a severe lung collapse.
The condition, caused by long-term tuberculosis left Castillo, a Colombian now living in Barcelona, unable to carry out simple domestic duties or care for her two children.
The only conventional option was a major operation to remove her left lung, a risky procedure with a high mortality rate.

Read Entire Article at CNN

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This is a major move in science! I'll keep my comments to myself for all those people who were and still are opposed to stem cell research. This miraculous procedure would not have been possible without stem cell research. Think about it people...it may prove to be any of our last resort one day.

The Broke & The Beautiful

Okay, it’s a known fact we are all in crunch time! Everyone is --or at least should-- be watching the monies that flow in and out of their pockets. So, things other than basic appearance can sometimes be put on the backburner because of rising costs…..on EVERYTHING (I swear even kool-aid has gone up…check your local grocery store!).

However, do not let soaring prices ward you off from staying the best you only…well…you can be! I want to share with you a couple of my favorite products and “rituals,” if you will, to help/enhance your Perfection in Perfectly being the Perfect you! And your face is the center of your being….protect it! Even if you’re a beast with the makeup artistry, a healthy canvas makes for a great masterpiece!

For people of color, it’s very hard to find anything that is effective in maintaining, restoring, or aiding your skin. There are a few things I use that I recommend:

Ambi Facial Cleanser/Lotion (sometimes the soap)—I use this line during the warmer season because it’s better when my skin tends to secrete more natural oils. The moisturizer from this product is lighter and protective against the sun.

Tea Tree Body Bar by Paul Mitchell—for colder days I turn to this charmingly scented body bar that exfoliates dead skin w/ parsley flakes, heals with an infusion of tea tree oil, and for all you guys it’s a great shaving companion due its rich, creamy lather!

Cetaphil Moisturizer- as we age moisturizing becomes more important than ever! Thanks to my sister, I have been using this amazing moisturizer that is lightweight, silky-smooth, fragrance-free and suitable for use under makeup or after shaving. It provides gentle moisturization for all skin types. Also, it provides moderate protection from the sun.

Mint Julep Face Mask – after every day “wear and tear” of my skin, once a week I like to fully rejuvenate my face….and not for a spa price! So, I turn to Queen Helene’s mint julep facial mask. This original masque treatment claims to help dry up acne pimples, rinses away blackheads and even shrinks enlarged pores. Relaxes tired facial muscles and eases tension lines on the face and neck.

Minute Man Problems: 10 Ways For Him to Last Longer

Sex is every where you look these days. Yeah, yeah, yeah! We know...."sex sells" But something we also know is that great sex isn't exactly stocked in surplus. And if sex is selling at a cost that it's going to last for a few minutes at the most.....I'm sure there would be a LOT of returns if they could. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. So, then, there has to be ways to increase the brotha's--or whatever you choose-- stamina if you've been running into the Missy E. Complex!

Out of recent frustration a friend ::raises eyebrow:: asked me to look for some answers. I found this article in Men's Health. Take some pointers...go find a fine brotha and have GREAT, SAFE sex....all night! And get a couple rounds in for me, haha!

10 Ways to Last Longer in Bed:

The average guy lasts only 5 to 10 minutes during sex, and 71 percent of men want better sexual endurance. Use these strategies and ye shall, ahem, overcome.

1. Master Masturbation --Masturbate with a woman's orgasm in mind, not your own. In other words, take your time: Work up to 15 minutes. Bring yourself close to the point of no return, but don't let yourself ejaculate until time is up.

2. Squeeze--If you're overheating during sex stop and squeeze right below the head of your penis, focusing the pressure on the urethra—the tube running along the underside of the penis. This pushes blood out of the penis and momentarily represses the ejaculatory response.

3. Pinpoint Ejaculatory Inevitability--The process of sexual response has four phases: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. The trick is to recognize the spectrum of feelings throughout the process. Rate your sexual excitement on a scale of 1 to 10. Try keeping yourself at 7.

4. Sexercise--A Kegel is an exercise that helps tighten muscles responsible for ejaculatory control. Become familiar with them by cutting off the flow of urine and then starting and stopping it repeatedly. Once you have the exercise down, practice your Kegels anywhere: at your desk, behind the wheel. Tighten your muscles and hold for a count of 10, then release.

5. Press, Don't Thrust--Press the end of your penis into her clitoral head. Linger in her vaginal entrance, where the most sensitive nerve endings are. When you do have intercourse, focus on small, shallow movements that penetrate the first 2 to 3 inches of her vagina.

6. Show a Little Courtesy--Ladies first, gentlemen—and we're talking about more than just holding the door open. When you help her have an orgasm first, it relieves you of some of the pressure to please and the psychological anxiety that feeds into PE.

7. Ask Your Doctor About Prozac--A recent study showed that 73 percent of men who suffered from premature ejaculation either were cured or improved after taking 20 milligrams of Prozac a day for a week and 40 mg thereafter.

8. Go for a Second Round--Shrug off an early emission with some extra attention to her arousal (yes, it means staying awake), then getting back in the saddle. Most men last much longer the second time around. And the more you practice, the longer that first time will last.

9. Let Her Climb On--When she's on top, your penis is less stimulated. And ask her to go slowly—long and fast thrusting is hazardous to a man's endurance.

10. Stop Thinking of Your Orgasm--The area of the brain responsible for triggering orgasm is engaged whether you're trying to have one or halt one. The more attention you give it, the more likely it is to arrive. Focus on what's happening now—her silky thighs on your hips, say—and you'll diffuse pleasure throughout your whole body.

Tee of the Day: Love is NOT Enough in Relationships

My best friend and I talk about this all the time. So when I saw this article I just had to share it because too often do we--especially young adults-- focus on the love factor in our relationships. Love does not hold a relationship. Nor does it promise that a person will forever feel obligated to be faithful to you. Sorry dear, but....the real tee is that L O V E is not enough! Read on children:

Relationships: Love Ain't Enough

More women are having affairs. Couples increasingly prefer cohabitation to marriage, avoiding commitment as if it were some kind of disease. The divorce rate continues to hover at 50 percent.
Still, undeniably, people like to pair up. The need seems to be built into us. And surveys show that most people believe that a good marriage is essential for a happy life. More and more, we rely on our private relationships for our mental health. But at the same time, they are becoming less satisfying.
"There are few positive models of marriage," contends psychologist David Olsen, Ph.D. "People make the assumption that love is sufficient." It isn't. And then when their marriage goes downhill, "unhappy couples can hardly remember what brought them together in the first place."
For good models of marriage, we have to look at animals, he told the Smart marriages conference, the world's largest gathering of relationship experts. And with that he dimmed the lights and showed video clips of Winged Migration. Downright inspiring!
Among the information presented at the conference:
• If love isn't enough, what is? For starters, personal financial management should be required education for every couple. Money is the number-one source of conflict in relationships. Sex is second.
• Tension in the parents' marriage affects kids. It is often the cause of teenage defiance.
• When parents fight, children withdraw from their fathers.
• In the first three years after the birth of a first child, 67 percent of couples experience a drop in relationship satisfaction. The drop occurs first in the mother, then in the father.
• Everybody handles conflict poorly when a discussion turns negative. What saves romance is attempts at repairing the relationship. "I'm sorry," counts.
• After affairs or other transgressions, forgiveness is necessary for healing. But some people forgive too cheaply. Forgiveness is not the job of the hurt party alone; genuine forgiveness must be earned. Forgiving too cheaply keeps people from using the experience to develop more intimacy. They also fail to gain insight into their own contribution to the situation.
• Refusing to forgive is unhealthy, physically and emotionally. "Not forgiving is literally poison," said psychologist Janis Abrahms Spring, PhD.
• After an affair, the offender must pay attention to the partner's pain if they want the partner to move on.
• "Physical abuse is not a relationship problem, it's a self-regulation problem," says Steven Stosny,, Ph.D. "Abusers are filled with shame, an internal punishment system controlled by someone else. When you violate attachment bonds you feel self-hate. Abusers lack compassion for themselves."
• "The instant we become an adult is the moment when the instinct to love is greater than the desire to be loved," Stosny insists.
• "We kill love by how we treat our partners, by not handling negative feelings well," says Howard Markman, Ph.D.
• Lack of commitment is subversive in a relationship, says Markman. Couples are not making it clear that they are choosing each other and giving up all other options. Then when problems arise they feel "I didn't clearly decide I wanted to be in this," and they don't push to resolve the issues -- which will just crop up again in the next relationship.
• "Love doesn't last forever because we need the opportunity for growth and healing," says Israeli psychologist Ayala Malach Pines, Ph.D. ""Being with a partner who pushes your buttons is good. The button points to the place that is most important for us to work on."