Going for the burn

Critics of Big Brother have never been convinced that the reality TV show has any merit as a social experiment. Yet, as the final series draws to a close, it can be credited with teaching us one thing -- people love to tan.

While the design of the house, the challenges and the levels of mental stability among housemates have varied wildly across its 11 series, the sunbathing in the garden has remained a constant. The sight of the contestants lounging around the outdoor area in bikinis and boxers has become as familiar an image of summer as newspaper pics of children eating ice-cream cones.

The 'hot or not' style barometers in women's magazines will occasionally declare that the tanned look is over and that pale is the holy grail of high fashion.

Porcelain-skinned model Agyness Deyn graced the cover of the July edition of British Vogue under the headline 'White Heat'. In the same high-summer month last year, famously pale actress Julianne Moore was the magazine's cover girl.

On the ground, and in our back gardens, it is a different story. A tan has most certainly not fallen out of favour. There is probably a heightened awareness of the dangers of excessive sun, but the market for sunless tanning is steady.

One of the success stories of the last series of entrepreneurial TV show Dragon's Den was TanOrganic, an organic self-tan lotion developed in Ireland. Its creator, Noelle O'Connor, was confident there was a market here, despite the recession. "Irish women are the biggest users of fake tan per capita in the world," she said.

Friends Donna Ledwidge (see panel) and Frances Brennan recently launched another new Irish self-tanner, Wow Brown, directly as the result of a demand from customers for a take-home version of the one they created for their Dublin salon.

"Putting on your tan has become as regular as putting on your make-up," says Donna.

Last week, two of the (male) contestants in the Big Brother house didn't think twice about spending the evening applying fake tan to each other. Pale might be interesting but many seem to prefer living in the bronze age.

What is it about a golden glow that makes us feel better about ourselves? Fans of the tan will claim that it makes them look thinner and more toned. Rosemary Scott, senior health promotion advisor with the Irish Cancer Society, says the celebrity influence is also very strong.

"You do see the presentation of certain 'pale' celebrities like Nicole Kidman and the girl from Girls Aloud but for the most part, celebrities are still very tanned," she says. "The message overall is that the tan is still important."

Certain high-profile fake tan brands believe that capitalising on this starry association boosts sales. How else would we be aware that Vita Liberate is the fake tan of choice for X-Factor contestants; that Britney Spears and Paris Hilton are fans of Fake Bake; or that Victoria Beckham had a St Tropez spray tan booth installed in her home?

It's not that this generation is particularly susceptible to celebrity. High fashion icon Coco Chanel is credited with making the tan fashionable in the 1920s and the appearance of a deeply-bronzed Brigitte Bardot in 1956's And God Created Woman popularised the trend.

Some scientists argue that our positive thoughts about tanned skin are as much about how we feel as how we look. Sunshine stimulates the pineal gland to produce mood-improving chemicals. Research has shown that stock markets rise on sunny days because investors mistake their happiness for confidence in the stocks. On cloudy days, sales of chocolate, cigarettes, coffee and alcohol go up as we try to elevate our mood.

Behavioural psychologists at Monmouth University in the US say that we are more likely to be generous on sunny days. Bellhops in gamblers' paradise Atlantic City found that when they told hotel customers in windowless rooms that it was sunny outside they earned higher tips than when they told them it was grey. Even the promise of sunshine makes us nicer.

In this way, the popularity of the tan is partly a byproduct of the popularity of the sun. Despite the sunsafe campaigns of recent years, the fact that we don't always fake it to make it was written in scaldmarks all over the crowds who flocked to parks and beaches to roast in last month's hot spell.

We know it's not good for us to burn -- but the dangers are pushed away in favour of the short-term gratification. Cases of melanoma skin cancer in Ireland rose by 92pc between 1998 and 2008, from 393 diagnoses to 756. This reflects the damage done decades ago when we were pretty much ignorant of any fallout from baring our goosepimpled, white, Irish skin to the sun.

"People are getting the message," says Rosemary Scott, "even so, you do need to keep saying it and saying it. In the 15-44 years age group, it is still the third biggest cancer. People should know that even though the sun is gone, 80pc of harmful UV radiation can get through cloud cover."

The Department of Health's proposal to ban the use of sunbeds to the under-18s is welcomed by cancer specialists -- but the fact that such a ban had to be brought in at all reflects their ongoing popularity.

David Treacy of Tanzone solariums says that the use of sunbeds has decreased but that there is still a strong seasonal clientele of people -- he estimates around 80pc are women -- coming in to get a 'base' colour for their holidays.

Treacy is adamant that "with sunbeds, if you don't burn, you're not increasing the risk of getting skin cancer".

On the opposite side is the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which last month recommended tanning machines be moved to the "highest cancer risk category" alongside cigarettes and asbestos. The question is, where do the rest of us sit on the question?

Do we believe that any tan is merely a sign of skin damage, or do we still secretly believe in a moderate "healthy" glow?

The answer might lie in our reaction to the term "tanorexic", often used to poke fun at mahogany-tanned celebs like Katie Price and Victoria Beckham. It's bandied about in the same way as someone might say they are a chocoholic, as in a habit that's silly and indulgent but ultimately not that harmful.

Hypnotherapist Katie-Jane Goldin says that, on the contrary, excessive tanning can be the outward manifestation of a very serious addiction.

Researchers at the University of New York this year published a study that found a small proportion of "indoor tanners" were hooked on their tanning sessions in the same way others are dependent on alcohol or drugs.

"They can be addicted to fake tan or sunbeds," says Katie-Jane. "Parents have brought in their teenage daughters who were practically luminescent from fake tan. They don't see what everyone else sees -- in essence, it's a form of body dysmorphia."

Katie-Jane notes that the 'Twilight effect' of teen heart-throb vampire Robert Pattinson has taken a bite out of the popularity of the tan.

"Saying that, the tan has been popular for so long, and we're so invested in it, that it has become an automatic way of thinking."

It may take more than a pair of wan-faced teens to change that.

* DONNA LEDWIDGE is a beauty therapist and co-creator of Wow Brown self-tan.

"To be honest, I probably created Wow Brown for myself because I am one of those Irish people who just can't take a tan. Traditional fake tan doesn't develop well on Irish skin -- our skin is thinner and we have a reddy-pink undertone so trying to get a golden glow rather than an orange one used to be difficult.

"I would wear it all year round. It's as big a part of the average beauty routine now as putting on make-up. You feel slimmer, your cellulite looks better when you're tanned. I wouldn't leave the house without it.

"We don't spray tan anyone under 16 -- we want to let girls be girls -- but they are always going to get a bottle from somewhere.

"Our salon is in Donnybrook (Dublin 4) so we get to see all the girls marching up to Wesley disco every Friday night, wearing the Ugg boots, the blonde hair and lashings of fake tan. It's like a uniform now and I think it's here to stay."

FIRST PUBLISHED HERE: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/beauty/why-we-still-think-bronzing-is-tantastic-2273230.html

The website formerly known as everymonday.ie

http://www.silvercircle.ie/health/343-turn-your-back-on-pain.html

TURN YOUR BACK ON PAIN
Four out of five adults suffer from back pain at some stage in their lives. As we get older, the simple 'wear and tear' of time on the body can make it more frequent and severe. SUSAN DALY has some ideas on the best ways to manage a bad back - or to prevent getting one altogether.

HOW ironic that calling someone spineless, or telling them they lack backbone, is considered an insult. A sufferer of chronic back pain might consider that absence – however physiologically impossible - a blessed relief. Standing, sitting, lying down: when your back is playing up, there is no respite.
No wonder then that back pain is the second most-frequently reported reason for visiting the GP surgery, after the common cold. It is one of the most difficult ailments to treat, affected as it is by so many factors, from posture and lifestyle to osteoporosis and old injuries. As the American actor George Burns once put it: “Love is a lot like backache. It doesn’t show up on X-rays, but you know it’s there.”
Obviously some back pain has its source in a severe, diagnosable condition. Any persistent pain should be reported to the doctor who might be able to confirm if an issue such as degenerative disc disease – common as we age – osteoporosis, stenosis or another syndrome is at the root of the problem.
Our sedentary lifestyle is frequently blamed for the occurrence of back problems. Frances Moran is physiotherapist to the senior Leinster rugby team and runs spine fitness and Pilates classes from her Dublin premises. She says that only around 20 per cent of backpain cases that present to her are the direct result of an injury.
“You will have the odd person saying they were lifting something heavy and put their back out,” says Moran. “But the majority of people coming in have developed a vague onset of pain from bad habits, from sitting, driving, chronic posture, playing golf, repetitive movements. The use of computers is now a huge factor because people are sitting at desks for longer, perhaps carrying a bit more weight and experiencing chronic tightness in their back and neck.”
Getting exercise is the most obvious and least expensive solution in this scenario, according to Moran. Here, though, is the catch-22: When that niggling ache sets into the lower back region, it is tempting to put off being active for another evening. Unfortunately, unexercised muscles are weaker muscles and the spinal column loses support.
“There is a huge fear associated with exercising, that it might aggravate backache,” says Moran, “But the opposite is true. With lack of use, certain muscles will spasm and tighten and others weaken, putting uneven pressure on discs.”
So following the school of ‘use it or lose it’, it’s worth looking into the Alexander technique of posture or signing up to a course of Pilates and yoga. These forms of exercise are ideal for stretching and realigning the spine. They develop the ‘core’muscles around the stomach and lower back, providing an invisible band of support for the area.
Swimming, walking and – would you believe it – cycling have also been shown to increase back strength. Specific exercises to target the area are important, if you can make room for a few every morning or evening. Most can be carried out without any equipment but incorporating a blow-up Swiss ball can help you get the best out of some of the movements (see ‘Useful websites’ below this article for specific instructions on these exercises). Fitness and sports stores sell Swiss balls – and Argos has some for under a tenner.
Prevention is always better than cure. However, there are alternative treatment options for back pain sufferers. Some people swear by acupuncture, the ancient Chinese method of realigning the ‘chi’ or energy flow in the body. In addition to physiotherapists, chiropractors also claim to be able to help relieve back pain by the manipulation of the spine. Unlike many western countries, there is no chiropractic legislation in Ireland but the website for the Chiropractic Association of Ireland, which self-regulates its members is perhaps a good starting point.
For the lucky ones who have yet to experience the twinge of backache, remember – sit up straight, stretch and stay active!
USEFUL WEBSITE:
www.back.com/articles-exercises.html - Simple exercises that strengthen the back.
www.bodyworksphysio.ie – Physiotherapist Frances Moran runs specially-targeted Pilates and ‘strong spine’ classes from a studio in Dublin’s Baggot Street
www.back-shop.com – Respected Irish company specialising in spinal-aid products for the past 25 years.
www.irishhealth.com/clin/documents/backcare.pdf - A free, ready to download, booklet on all aspects of back care from the Health Promotion Unit.
www.chiropractic.ie – The Chiropractic Association of Ireland’s official website.

Just tired - or chronically exhausted?

From today's Irish Independent
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/are-you-really-really-tired-its-not-all-in-your-head-1932557.html

Are you really, really tired? It's not all in your head. . .
Often dismissed as hypochondriacs, ME sufferers have been vindicated by science, says Susan Daly

Tiredness is a common complaint in the modern world. Shift work, long commutes, offices shut away from natural light, hectic social lives: all of these factors can wreak havoc on our energy levels.

But what if the exhaustion becomes so severe that it stops you from looking after your children, going to work -- or even getting out of bed?

For decades, the medical world has wrestled with the idea of defining such extreme fatigue, along with a host of other debilitating symptoms such as muscle pain, digestive problems and inability to concentrate, as a real disorder.

In Europe, we refer to it loosely as ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis); in the States they use an umbrella term called CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).

Yet there has been bitter debate and division between sufferers, the sometimes disbelieving 'healthy' public and doctors on the symptoms and causes of such a syndrome -- or if indeed it really exists as a purely physical condition.

As sufferer Marie Coffey explains, ME feels like one is constantly living with an excruciating hangover and it can be difficult for people to take it seriously as a physical ailment.

There was some excitement then last week when Science journal published a study that seemed to establish a link between ME/CFS sufferers and a recently discovered virus called XMRV.

"Since the original Science paper was submitted, we have continued to refine our test for XMRV and have surprisingly found that 95pc ME/CFS samples tested positive for XMRV antibodies in the plasma," said Dr Judy Mikovits, who led the research at the Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI) in the University of Nevada, Reno.

"This finding clearly points to the retrovirus as a significant contributing factor in this illness," she added.

Tentative though the findings are, they seem a vindication of what sufferers have been saying all along: it's not all in our minds.

Because of the difficulty of diagnosing someone with ME, and the reluctance to see it as a definite syndrome anyway, there has been a tendency to dismiss sufferers as hypochondriacs.

In fact, when Dr Daniel Peterson of the WPI started a practice in Nevada in the 1980s and began diagnosing a large number of patients coming down with a new type of chronic fatigue illness, the media derogatively tagged it 'yuppie flu'.

The implication was that it was a type of psychological burnout particular to the social circumstances of Dr Peterson's affluent patients in the Lake Tahoe area.

This was incorrect, as the illness was being documented across lots of other areas, but it stuck for several reasons, some of which were to do with the health insurance industry in the US who didn't like the idea of categorising a new illness that they would have to pay out for.

Declan Carroll of the Irish ME Trust explains that the symptoms being diagnosed by Dr Peterson were not actually new to Europeans who had been loosely coining the term ME since a study in a London hospital in the 1950s.

A population study taken by a Prof Leonard Jason in the US of figures for CFS worldwide concluded that it affects a mean of 0.3pc of the population. In Ireland, that figure translates to around 12,000 people.

Questionnaires submitted to Irish GPs by the Irish ME Trust came up with a similar number, although the Trust admits that this is not conclusive.

"Basically what the uncovering of this new virus has done is to further demand a proper diagnostic approach," says Declan Carroll.

The best way forward for ME sufferers here -- at least to diagnose them -- is for doctors to apply Canadian guidelines which set out a number of fixed criteria for diagnosing the illness.

"What happens fairly regularly," says Declan Carroll, "is doctors are busy, they can't see anything untoward in regular blood tests, and they pass the patient onto a consultant that deals with the prevalent symptom, say a person with muscle pain gets sent to a rheumatologist.

"Otherwise they take the view: you have muscle pain, you're tired all the time, it may be burnout, stress, so go exercise and I'll give you an antidepressant. And that is not really satisfactory."

The Irish ME Trust is an information and support service for ME sufferers. See www.imet.ie for more details, or lo-call 1890 200 912.

'Let me get better, I thought, or let me go, because this is hell'
MARIE COFFEY (47) lives in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. She began experiencing ME when she was just 31.

"I had been suffering from chest problems and some bad colds but I just collapsed one day in a friend's house in April 1993. I spent two full years in bed. I couldn't walk, I couldn't move, it was hell.

"My husband Tom had to carry me to the bathroom, and the doctors were telling me to exercise.

"I had been a very active person, I worked, I had two children. Dominic was six and Christina was eight. My son wouldn't remember me as a healthy mammy running around the place. I knew it wasn't psychological. I was pulling my hair out listening to doctors saying, 'Ah Marie, you just have to get up'. I did try but it got to the stage where I couldn't hold a cup.

"I never considered suicide but at one point I did ask God to take me if this was what it was going to be. Let me get better, I thought, or let me go because this is hell. My own mother dismissed me. I remember her looking at me one day and saying: 'Marie, you can't be that bad'.

"I'm still recovering -- it's baby steps. I like to say that ME doesn't manage Marie, Marie manages the ME! I speak to people on the phone, trying to help them go through it. I tell them to listen to their body, and I would beg doctors to listen to their patients.

"My son was a great man with the football -- I used to sit in my car watching him but other days I would be in bed crying because I couldn't go see him. I missed weddings. I missed my mother's funeral. We weren't close but I would have liked to have gone.

"I know now to give the body time to recharge. I meditate, I do stretches and yoga and I practise Emotional Freedom Therapy, which is like acupuncture without needles.

"When you first wake up you can be in burning pain. There is no doubt in my mind it's a virus -- your lymph nodes swell up, you're continuously dehydrated. You feel out of this world, they call it a 'brain fog', like your body has been invaded from outer space.

"I don't think ME should be fobbed off as a psychological problem. I have learned to be assertive and if a doctor doesn't listen to me today I just walk out.

"But I'm a firm believer that if the spirit is good, the body can recover. I have a grandson who is a wonderful boy of seven months. I can't hold him but I can still love him. It was a rough journey but I am thankful for where I am now."