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08 March 2012

Ananda Marchildon, la modelo impagada "por estar demasiado gorda", vence en los tribunales



Aspirante frustrada a supermodelo, Ananda Marchildon, de 25 años, acaba de doblegar a la poderosa agencia francesa Elite, que la despidió por aumentar de talla. La joven mide 1,80 metros, y en 2008, ganó la cuarta edición del concurso Hollands Next Top Model. Similar a otros de su clase, ofrece un premio en metálico de 75.000 euros y un doble contrato: con Elite y con sus colegas holandeses de Mastermodel. Ananda solo recibió un adelanto de 10.000 euros. Su cadera medía 94 centímetros al proclamarse vencedora, pero ambas agencias exigieron de inmediato que bajara a 90 centímetros si pretendía desfilar.
A pesar de seguir una dieta estricta, pagada de su propio bolsillo, no consiguió las medidas consideradas ideales por sus jefes. Fue despedida "por estar demasiado gorda" y perdió el resto del dinero. Ni corta ni perezosa, demandó a los dos agencias por impago. Y ahora que ha vuelto a sus estudios de diseño de muebles y la pasarela ya pertenece al pasado, los jueces le han dado la razón. Recibirá el resto del dinero y podrá "seguir adelante con su vida", como ha reconocido al saber el fallo.
Ananda nació en Canadá y llegó a Holanda a los seis años. De pelo castaño natural, se tiñó de rubio durante el concurso para llamar más la atención. Delgada para su gran altura, su cadera osciló entre los 94 y los 98 centímetros. Una talla inconcebible para Elite y Mastermodel. "Está bien si quieres ser modelo de cosméticos o de grandes cadenas, como H&M. La alta costura es otra cosa, me advirtieron. Y traté de reducir mi contorno", ha dicho, para luego dar una muestra de su nueva actitud. "Si te prometen un contrato no pueden abandonarte sin más. Espero que esta sentencia sirva para que los programas y sus socios piensen mejor lo que hacen".
Como despedida, Ananda ha aceptado un último encargo: posar para la marca de ropa interior Sloggi.Y para ella se ha fotografiado con un conjunto color coral de braguita y camiseta. “Estuve demasiado delgada y mi relación con la comida empezó a ser peligrosa por querer ser modelo. No es para mí. No quiero tener problemas de ese tipo ni tampoco dar el ejemplo equivocado a niñas vulnerables”, ha concluido. A Sloggi, por su parte, el cuerpo de la joven le parece “precioso, compensado y perfecto”. “De gorda, nada”, remata la firma.
Es posible que este precedente le sirva pronto a Rosalinde Kikstra, una modelo holandesa de 24 años que ha pasado por el mismo trance. En 2009 ganó la primera edición del concurso Benelux Next Top Modelo, con aspirantes de Bélgica, Holanda y Luxemburgo. De 1,81 metros de altura, chocó con las dos mismas agencias cuando quiso desfilar en serio. La cadena televisiva comercial holandesa RTL, que emite estos concursos, ha declinado cualquier responsabilidad en su desarrollo posterior. "Es cosa del patrocinador y las modelos", dicen sus portavoces.
Lo curioso de ambos casos es que la modelo holandesa más famosa del momento, Doutzen Kroes, tiene una cadera similar a la de sus frustradas compatriotas. Es más, sus curvas no solo la han convertido en una de las "ángeles" de la firma de lencería Victoria´s Secret, que arrasa en las pasarelas. Firmas como Valentino, Gucci y Versace, además de las revistas Vogue, Elle o Marie Claire, se la disputan. "Los problemas empiezan cuando tratas de meterte en el mundo real de las modelos. Si quieren esas tallas desde el principio, que digan la verdad y no engañen a chicas ilusionadas con una carrera imposible", ha sentenciado Ananda, que ha madurado de golpe



**publicado en "EL PAIS"

Teaching Fat Cells to Burn Calories: New Target Against Obesity Involves Brown Fat



In the war against obesity, one's own fat cells may seem an unlikely ally, but new research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) suggests ordinary fat cells can be reengineered to burn calories.

While investigating how a common drug given to people with diabetes works in mice, a UCSF team discovered that a protein called PRDM16, found in both men and mice, can throw a switch on fat cells, converting them from ordinary calorie-storing white fat cells into calorie-burning brown fat cells.
This discovery makes PRDM16 a possible target for future obesity drugs. Compounds that promote the action of this protein may help people burn calories faster. Though they would have to prove safe and effective in the clinic, such compounds would represent a completely different approach to weight loss. Existing diet drugs aim to restrict the intake of calories -- by blocking the absorption of fat in the gut, for instance, or by decreasing appetite.
"If you think about the energy balance, the other way to tackle obesity is through energy expenditure," said Shingo Kajimura, PhD, who led the research in the UCSF Diabetes Center and the Department of Cell & Tissue Biology in the UCSF School of Dentistry. The work is published this week in the journal Cell Metabolism.






-Where Brown Fat Comes From
Scientists believe that brown fat originally evolved in early mammals as a defense against the cold. It helps them maintain their body temperature and thrive in the face of challenging environmental extremes. Not all animals share this ability.
Many animals, like lizards, are "cold blooded" or exothermic. They maintain their body temperature through completely external means, sunbathing at certain times of the day and huddling in warm, protective places at night. This naturally limits their range and explains why lizards, so abundant in tropical climates, are far rarer in cold climates.
"Warm-blooded" mammals, on the other hand, are endothermic. They produce heat internally by a variety of means: shivering, sweating and regulating the size of their blood vessels. Brown fat also contributes by burning fatty acids, which heats the blood coursing nearby, and in turn warms the body.
Though scientists once thought new brown fat was only made in babies, we now know that the human body is capable of creating new brown fat cells throughout life. And in recent years, doctors also have discovered the amount of brown fat in the body is inversely proportional to the likelihood of obesity -- the more brown fat people have, the less chance they are obese.
The possibility of exploiting brown fat for weight loss became tantalizing after clinical evidence showed that certain drugs could alter the amount of brown fat a person has. In particular, a common class of drugs given to people with diabetes called PPAR-gamma ligands has been shown to increase brown fat. But scientists never understood why.
Now Kajimura and his UCSF colleagues have demonstrated how it works. In their research, they showed that PPAR-gamma interacts with the protein PRDM16, making it more stable and leading to its accumulation inside cells. This essentially throws a genetic switch and converts the white fat cells to brown -- at least in mice.
The question remains whether it is possible to do this in people as well, and if so, how. While new drugs that target this protein may be years away, knowing the target may speed their development, Kajimura said.
The question is no longer how do we make brown fat, he added. Instead it now becomes a more specific question: "Can we simply stabilize this protein?"



**Published in "SCIENCE DAILY"

La UE aprueba nuevos mensajes de advertencia para las cajetillas de tabaco

La Comisión Europea ha aprobado 14 nuevos mensajes sobre el riesgo de fumar que tendrán que incorporarse a las cajetillas de tabaco tras recibir el visto bueno de los Veintisiete.
'Fumar aumenta el riesgo de ceguera', 'Los hijos de fumadores tienen más posibilidades de comenzar a fumar', 'Fumar aumenta el riesgo de cáncer bucal y de garganta' y 'Fumar daña tus dientes y encías' son algunos de los 14 nuevos mensajes aprobados por la UE.
Este tipo de mensajes de advertencia es obligatorio para los productos tabaqueros comercializados en la UE desde 2003 y son actualizados de manera regular.
Los mensajes más utilizados en la actualidad incluyen advertencias como 'Fumar puede matar', 'Fumar reduce la fertilidad de los hombres/provoca impotencia', 'Fumar provoca cáncer', así como 'Fumar provoca enfermedades coronarias', 'No fume durante el embarazo' y 'Fumar provoca daños en las personas en su entorno'.
Los 14 nuevas advertencias han sido seleccionadas de un total de 24 después de probar su eficacia en términos de impacto a partir de un estudio comunitario con distintos grupos y colectivos de ciudadanos en los Veintisiete.
También incluyen advertencias como 'Fumar causa nueve de cada diez cánceres de pulmón', 'Fumar duplica el riego de cáncer cervical, 'Fumar destruye tus pulmones', 'Fumar provoca ataques de corazón', 'Fumar provoca infartos y discapacidades severas', 'Fumar puede matar a su hijo no nato', así como 'Fumar daña a tus hijos, familia y amigos', 'Para ahora, sigue vivo para tus hijos', además de 'Fumar provoca la amputación de pierna'.
Los nuevos mensajes aprobados suponen un reflejo directo de los últimos datos científicos disponibles sobre los efectos perniciosos menos conocidos del tabaco como los daños demostrados en dientes y encías, su contribución a los casos de cáncer bucal y de garganta o el hecho de que los padres fumen supone un incentivo para que lo hagan también sus hijos en el futuro.
Nueve Estados miembros -España, Reino Unido, Bélgica, Rumanía, Letonia, Francia, Malta, Hungría y Dinamarca- también obligan a incluir en las cajetillas de tabaco imágenes que demuestran los efectos de fumar en el organismo para aumentar la eficacia de las advertencias escritas, aunque varios países más han aprobado recientemente normativas para incluirlas o tienen previsto hacerlo.
La norma comunitaria deja en manos de los Estados miembros decidir si combinan los mensajes escritos con imágenes, aunque Bruselas considera que ello aumenta la eficacia del mensaje.

*AGENCIAS

Internet-Based Therapy Relieves Persistent Tinnitus, Study Suggests

Those suffering from nagging tinnitus can benefit from internet-based therapy just as much as patients who take part in group therapy sessions. These are the findings of a German-Swedish study in which patients with moderate to severe tinnitus tried out various forms of therapy over a ten-week period. The outcome of both the internet-based therapy and group therapy sessions was significantly better than that of a control group that only participated in an online discussion forum and thus demonstrated both the former to be effective methods of managing the symptoms of irritating ringing in the ears.
The study was conducted by the Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy division of the Institute of Psychology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning at Linköping University in Sweden. According to the German Tinnitus League (Deutsche Tinnitus-Liga, DTL), two percent of the population suffer from moderate to unbearable tinnitus. But the symptoms of tinnitus can be successfully managed by means of cognitive behavioral therapy. However, not everyone has the opportunity or the desire to take a course of psychotherapy.
As shown by the German-Swedish study, those affected by tinnitus can now achieve the same level of outcome with the help of an internet-based therapy program, which encourages them to adopt individual and active strategies to combat their tinnitus. For the purposes of the study, the training program developed in Sweden was adapted so that it could be used for German patients and then be evaluated for its effectiveness. The study showed that distress measured using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory was reduced on average from moderate (40 points) to mild (29 points) in participants who completed the internet-based training course.
The results for subjects in the cognitive behavioral therapy group were also very good, with distress levels being reduced from 44 to 29 points. In contrast, there was hardly any change in this respect in the control group subjects participating in the online discussion forum. Their average distress level was 40 points at the beginning of the study and remained at 37 points thereafter.
"Our internet-based therapy concept was very effective when it came to the reduction of tinnitus-related distress or, to put it another way, at increasing the tolerance levels of subjects with regard to their tinnitus," concludes Dr. Maria Kleinstäuber of the Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy division at JGU. At the same time, another interesting result was produced with regard to the preferred method of therapy. A significant number of subjects were initially skeptical with regard to the internet-based therapy concept and expressed a preference for the group therapy course. However, they were randomly assigned to the groups.
To everyone's surprise it turned out on the completion of treatment that there was no difference in the effectiveness of the two strategies. "This means that the internet-based therapy concept produced as positive a result as group therapy despite the initial skepticism," says Kleinstäuber. Initial evaluations indicate that the effects of both therapy forms were still persisting after six months.
The authors of the study propose that internet-based forms of therapy should be increasingly used in the psychotherapeutic treatment of tinnitus patients. Furthermore, they call for additional research on patients' skepticism of internet-based therapy, particularly in view of the long waiting times and the lack of outpatient forms of therapy.

**Published in "SCIENCE DAILY"

Un estudio muestra que nuestra piel se 'colorea' en función de la alimentación

No hay secretos. La clave de tener un buen color de cara está en la dieta, concretamente en el consumo de fruta y verdura. Según un estudio publicado en la revista 'PLoS ONE', dependiendo de las cantidades diarias que se ingieran de estos alimentos, así será el color de la piel: más amarillenta o más sonrosada.
Los carotenos, abundantes en la fruta y la verdura, son los responsables de este efecto. Son pigmentos orgánicos que otorgan el color rojo y naranja a los tomates, los pimientos rojos, la remolacha, etc. Y además, tienen un notable poder antioxidante. Como argumentan los autores del trabajo, de la Universidad St. Andrews (Escocia), "la piel está continuamente expuesta a oxidantes ambientales como la radiación ultravioleta, el tabaco y el ozono", responsables del envejecimiento celular y de algunas enfermedades. Los carotenos, subrayan, los contrarrestan, actúan de protector para reducir la oxidación de las células.
Además de este rol, los alimentos con carotenos influyen en el color de la piel y así lo confirma este estudio. Después de recoger y analizar información sobre la dieta y la evolución del tono de la dermis en 35 personas durante seis semanas, "observamos que la ingesta adecuada de estos alimentos otorgaba un color más saludable". Además, tras investigar cómo se percibía este cambio de tono, los autores se dieron cuenta de que no sólo se valoraba como un aspecto "más saludable", también se relacionaba con "mayor atractivo físico".
Aunque las cantidades adecuadas dependen de cada caso y de los alimentos concretos que se tomen, en general, lo recomendable es lo que la dieta mediterránea estipula. Unos 500 microgramos de carotenos al día, lo que equivale a dos piezas de fruta o verdura.
"Cuando las dosis necesarias no se suplen los la dieta normal, los dermatólogos aconsejamos tomar betacarotenos (en pastilla), ya que tiene un efecto beneficioso sobre la piel, las uñas y el pelo", explica la dermatóloga Paz Cerdá.

-Por exceso y por defecto
Ante el exceso de esta sustancia, según recoge el estudio, la piel se vuelve más amarillenta. "Los betacarotenos son precursores de la vitamina A. En situaciones normales (cuando no hay otros problemas de salud), si se ingiere más cantidad de la necesaria, la vitamina A se deposita en la piel y esto es lo que le da un color amarillento", señala Clotilde Vázquez, jefa de la Unidad de Nutrición y Dietética del Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal. "No tiene repercusión sobre la salud".
El defecto, sin embargo, aunque no influye en el color de la piel (simplemente no la pigmenta), sí tiene algunas consecuencias. "Como los betacarotenos son potentísimos antioxidantes, su defecto puede causar aceleración del envejecimiento celular. Puede dar síntomas como sequedad de los epitelios y pequeñas úlceras en las comisuras de los labios", según la doctora Vázquez.
Como aseguran los investigadores, dado que la fruta y la verdura influyen en el color de la piel y esto parece estar relacionado con una percepción de mejor salud y más atractivo, quizás sea "una buena excusa / herramienta para animar a la población a que se alimente adecuadamente".

**Publicado en "EL MUNDO"

Group asks FDA to treat superbugs like rare diseases

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) offered a plan on Thursday that would allow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review certain kinds of antibiotics like it reviews "orphan" drugs for rare diseases, making it easier for companies to gain approval.
Misuse of medications and other factors have fueled the evolution of multi-drug resistant bacteria, or "superbugs", for which there are few treatment options.
These include drug-resistant strains of MRSA and C-difficile, which have wrought havoc in U.S. hospitals, as well as infections common in the developing world, like tuberculosis and malaria.
MRSA -- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- alone is estimated to kill around 19,000 people every year in the United States.
The FDA on Wednesday also highlighted the importance of combating superbugs, as long as there are ways to ensure new antibiotics are not overused, making the problem worse.
But many drugmakers have turned away from what has become an unprofitable area of research, leaving few medicines to fight drug-resistant strains.
Today, only two large companies - GlaxoSmithKline Plc and AstraZeneca Plc -- still have strong antibiotic research and development, compared to nearly 20 companies in 1990, according to the IDSA.
Congress passed the Orphan Drug Act in 1983 to deal with a similar problem: too few companies were investing in drugs to treat uncommon diseases, usually ones that affected fewer than 200,000 people in the United States.
The law offered companies tax credits, marketing rights and other incentives, helping to bring 135 "orphan drugs" to market, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders.
Robert Guidos, IDSA's vice president of public policy and government relations, said a similar program could work for antibiotics, where the unmet need is just as great, while investment has plummeted.
"This proposal creates a new mechanism, similar to the orphan drug act (for rare diseases)," he said. "It's a game-changer," Guidos said.
Under IDSA's Special Population Limited Medical Use framework, companies that want to develop new antibiotics can enroll fewer patients in clinical trials and often get a faster response from the FDA.
To get approval for the program, companies would have to target their antibiotics at specific strains of disease that have few treatment options.
FIGHTING OVERUSE
Janet Woodcock, head of the FDA's drugs center, said the incidence of drug-resistant bacteria has reached "crisis proportions" in the United States, but the FDA was concerned new antibiotics could be overused.
"We need antibiotics to be used for life-threatening infections that lack medical treatments ... and not for your kid's ear infection," Woodcock said during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
The World Health Organization warned last year that misuse of antibiotics was so bad it could bring nations back to the time before major antibiotics were developed.
Woodcock said the FDA was exploring creating a special designation for drugs that have the potential for misuse -- such as antibiotics and obesity treatments -- but can also benefit a limited number of patients.
These drugs would have strict labels on who they are meant for, and pharmacists and doctors would have to know the regulations.
While the FDA has no power to regulate medical practice, Woodcock said she believed this special designation would give doctors enough information to use medicine appropriately.
IDSA said it would also work with insurers and doctors to make sure any antibiotics approved through the pathway would go to the right patients. IDSA represents about 10,000 physicians and scientists that focus on infectious diseases.
The group is submitting its proposal on antibiotics to Congress during a hearing on Thursday about a bill to renew FDA user fees, or the funds companies pay to the agency in exchange for faster review of drugs and devices.
Since the fees provide almost half of the FDA's funding, the bill often serves as a vehicle for broader FDA-related changes. The fees must be renewed every five years, with the current bill expiring in September.

**Published "REUTERS HEALTH"

New depression treatment 'safe and effective'

Stimulating the brain with a weak electrical current is a safe and effective treatment for depression and could have other surprise benefits for the body and mind, a major Australian study of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) has found. Medical researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Black Dog Institute have carried out the largest and most definitive study of tDCS and found up to half of depressed participants experienced substantial improvements after receiving the treatment.
A non-invasive form of brain stimulation, tDCS passes a weak depolarising electrical current into the front of the brain through electrodes on the scalp. Patients remain awake and alert during the procedure.
"We are excited about these results. This is the largest randomised controlled trial of transcranial direct current stimulation ever undertaken and, while the results need to be replicated, they confirm previous reports of significant antidepressant effects," said trial leader, Professor Colleen Loo, from UNSW's School of Psychiatry.
The trial saw 64 depressed participants who had not benefited from at least two other depression treatments receive active or sham tDCS for 20 minutes every day for up to six weeks.
"Most of the people who went into this trial had tried at least two other antidepressant treatments and got nowhere. So the results are far more significant than they might initially appear -- we weren't dealing with people who were easy to treat," Professor Loo said.
Significantly, results after six weeks were better than at three weeks, suggesting the treatment is best applied over an extended period. Participants who improved during the trial were offered follow up weekly 'booster' treatments, with about 85 percent showing no relapse after three months.
"These results demonstrate that multiple tDCS sessions are safe and not associated with any adverse cognitive outcomes over time," Professor Loo said, adding tDCS is simple and cost effective to deliver, requiring a short visit to a clinic.
The study also turned up additional unexpected physical and mental benefits, including improved attention and information processing.
"One participant with a long-standing reading problem said his reading had improved after the trial and others commented that they were able to think more clearly.
"Another participant with chronic neck pain reported that the pain had disappeared during the trial. We think that is because tDCS actually changes the brain's perception of pain. We believe these cognitive benefits are another positive aspect of the treatment worthy of investigation," Professor Loo said.
The researchers are now looking at an additional trial to include people with bipolar disorder, with early results from overseas suggesting tDCS is just as effective in this group.

**Source: University of New South Wales

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