Author: newsfilegh

You might expect love to hurt, but for one lovesick Dutch man in China it resulted in a hospital trip for exhaustion. Alexander Pieter Cirk, 41, recently flew from Holland to Hunan province in the hope of meeting his online girlfriend, a Chinese woman known only as Zhang. But he ended up spending 10 days waiting at Changsha airport, after she failed to show up. And he has won little sympathy in China. Mr Cirk told Chinese media that he met Ms Zhang, 26, in an app two months ago and romance blossomed. He decided to fly to visit her,…

The Swedish government is launching a major study into the sex lives of the country’s citizens after reports emerged that lovemaking has waned. Public Health Minister Gabriel Wikstrom notes that the last thorough study of Swedes’ sex habits was 20 years ago. Since then, reports in tabloid newspapers have pointed to a decrease in sexual activity. In an opinion piece in newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Friday, Wikstrom wrote that ‘it’s important to investigate whether that is the case and if so what the reason is.’ If stress and other health issues are affecting Swedes’ sex lives, he says, ‘that is…

Think twice before killing the next cockroach you find in your apartment because a team of scientists at India’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine have discovered that cockroach milk may be the greatest superfood of them all. The Pacific beetle cockroach (the only kind that gives birth to live young) feeds it’s babies by lactating protein-dense crystals, which pack fats, sugars, amino acids, and more than four times the nutrition of cow’s milk. “It’s time-released food,” project lead Subramanian Ramaswamy told The Times of India. “They can be a fantastic protein supplement.” But don’t swap out your…

When it comes to height, Dutch men and Latvian women tower over all other nationalities, a study reveals. The average Dutchman is now 183cm (6ft) tall, while the average Latvian woman reaches 170cm (5ft 7in). The research, published in the journal eLife, has tracked growth trends in 187 countries since 1914. It finds Iranian men and South Korean women have had the biggest spurts, increasing their height by an average of more than 16cm (6in) and 20cm (8in). In the UK, the sexes have gone up virtually in parallel by about 11cm (4in). “Mr Average” in Britain is now 178cm…

Viagra, erectile dysfunction drug, may help prevent the onset of a common form of dementia, scientists believe. Tadalafil – an erectile dysfunction drug similar to Viagra – is being tested on British volunteers to see whether the treatment increases blood flow to the brain. Experts at St George’s University of London hope the treatment could be used to help prevent or slow down the onset of vascular dementia, which affects 150,000 people in the UK. Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, causing memory, speech and concentration problems. The problem is caused when blood…

Many people consume more sugar than they realize. If you have a sweet tooth and love to eat sugary foods and beverages, be aware that too much sugar isn’t so sweet for your health. The naturally occurring sugars in fruits and vegetables are absolutely fine. The problem starts when you consume more than the recommended amount of sugar that is added to foods and beverages. According to the American Heart Association, the maximum amounts of added sugars that one can consume in a day are: Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons) Women: 100 calories per day…

If you enjoy a good tipple after a hard day’s work, you may want to put that glass down. A new study says that alcohol consumption is associated with seven types of cancer. The study, published in the journal Addiction on Thursday, found an association between alcohol consumption and cancers in seven sites of the body: the oropharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon, rectum, and female breast. The strongest link was between alcohol and cancers of the mouth and throat. The research goes on to cite figures which suggest that alcohol led to around half a million cancer-related deaths in 2012,…

When we think of facials, we envision laying on a soft table in a dimly-lit room listening to some calming music. Though this may be a great source for relaxation, there are benefits for your skin from doing the exact opposite: Dunking your head in ice water for 30 seconds. Sure, it sounds a little terrifying and like a scene from a scary movie, but dunking your face in ice water and ice cubes in general can have some serious benefits for your skin. Not only will this trick leave you with a glow that looks like a million bucks,…

When you barely have enough time to sleep as it is, the last thing you want to do is spend your waking hours deciphering which sleep tips are actually worth following. What you don’t know may keep you awake all night. In honor of Better Sleep Month, we’ve debunked the ten biggest sleep myths to help you make the most of your time in bed. 1. You can catch up on sleep over the weekend. We get it. You stayed up late this week clocking a few extra hours at the office. Or — if you’re anything like us — you spent the past five…

Nail polish may be cheap, but don’t throw away a bottle just because you are getting near to the bottom of it. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of practical uses for clear nail polish, other than putting a shine on your nails, and here are eight of the rather more unusual ones: 1. Removes warts If you have stubborn warts that will not go away, then break out the nail polish. Paint over the area of the wart only and, after just one week, the wart will be gone. Remember not to use that bottle of nail polish again…