Cranberries are wonder drugs for women

Two glasses of cranberry juice a day can effectively cure bladder infections, ulcers, cavities and viruses in women, says a researcher.

Prof. Itzhak Ofek, a researcher at Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, has revealed that the red beverage has some additional medicinal qualities that can heal urinary tract infections, prevent cavities and lessens the reoccurrence of gastric ulcers in women.

He said that the remarkable healing property stems from a heavy molecule known as non-dialysable material or NDM. It seems to coat some bodily surfaces with Teflon-like efficiency, preventing the infection-causing agents.

"Surprisingly, NDM appears to have no effect on some of the good bacteria in our bodies," said Prof. Ofek.

"We understood that there was something in cranberry juice that doesn't let infections adhere to a woman's bladder. We figured it was a specific inhibitor and proved this to be the case," he added.

Ofek worked with Prof. Ervin Weiss and Prof. Zichria Rones at Hadassah Medical and Dental School to find out how did it prevented cavities. He found that NDM inhibits the flu virus from attaching to cells and prevented experimental flu infections in animal models.

In another study with Dr. Haim Shmuely, a resident physician at the Beilinson Hospital and lecturer at Tel Aviv University, Ofek found that cranberry also reduced two-thirds of the 'unhealthy' bacteria that gripped on to the to gastric cells, leading to ulcers.

"The results were very interesting. Cranberry helped reduce the load of this bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, in the gut. In combination with antibiotics, it reduced repeat ulcers from approximately 15 per cent to about 5 per cent," said Ofek.

However, he said that the study holds true for women only.

"The whole thing with cranberries seems to be female-oriented," he said

According to the researcher further studies investigating berry's healing powers have also found that cranberry NDM can also act as an anti-cancer agent.

My body is torn, like my country: an Iraqi prostitute

The road up to Sednaya in the Damascus countryside is well lit at night. However, they are not the lights of the municipality, streetlights or illuminated civic buildings.

They are the lights of cabarets and nightclubs, which stay open till late in the morning. They are teeming with prostitutes.

In the Al Carawan Cabaret, Layal, a 22-year-old Iraqi, speaks about how she had gradually joined the oldest profession in history. While she recounts her story, her tone is indifferent. As she puts it,"She has nothing to lose."

In spite of recent reports about hundreds of Iraqis returning to their country, Layal says she will not return to a country that 'has no jobs.'

"People there are concerned about surviving, not about pleasure," says Layal, who lives with her mother in the Barzeh quarter in western Damascus.

She adds, not without a sense of sorrow, "Prostitution exposed us to life in the underworld and also to life in the upper world."

Layal does not like Americans. She is fond of asking God to destroy them because they invaded her country. However, no sooner has she stopped cursing America, then she starts to remember the dark era of Saddam's tyranny. She finally curses all Arabs.

She would not hesitate to wear revealing clothing at home, even when she has guests, she says. But in the street, she is keen on putting a scarf to cover her hair and a long brown coat.

She justifies this by saying, "people here care only about appearances. It's better like this."

Unable to speak about her profession in the presence of her mother, she asks her to go out shopping. She says, her profession brought her money and headache but left with no choice.

Narrating her incidence into this trade, she recounts how her father was killed in the war in Iraq, which left them penniless. It was then that she and her mother left in search of greener pastures Damascus.They lived in a small rented house in Jaraman, near Damascus, but they quickly ran out of money.

Her mere salary could not meet their ends. This was when her landlord convinced her into the trade. Though she was reluctant initially, gave in when she found it difficult to live without money.

Majority of prostitutes in Syria are non-Syrians because it is difficult for Syrian girls to be prostitutes in their own country, Layal says.

"They have to leave for other countries to do so," she explains. In Baghdad and before the war, Layal had different ambitions. She wanted to become a beautician but life had it otherwise.

"We became prostitutes," Layal says, "We became like any other monument in the country, which young sightseers visit when they come to Syria," she adds ironically.

She says that many Iraqi families have left back to their country since its hard to have their residence visa renewed or simply because they are tired of living in a foreign country.

When questioned how Iraqi girls hide their profession, Layal explains that claim themselves as artists, while some pretend as dancers and some prefer to say that they work in a restaurant.

"Nowadays, the situation is getting more difficult, because of a sagging demand for Iraqi girls. Clients prefer Syrians if they can get them, or Lebanese and Moroccans," she said.

Regarding the prices she says that they vary, the location of the house plays a keen role here, she explains. Those who live and work in good neighbourhoods can ask for higher prices. Layal lives in a good neighbourhood, and she asks for 80 dollars to 100 dollars per hour. Sometimes, she even asks for 200 dollars. If she goes to the client's place the price is even higher.

But life is not easy, she says, as pimps take most of the money she makes.

Still, Layal and her mama lead a reasonably prosperous life. However, she says, she cannot go back to Iraq because she has 'lost herself.' She means her chastity. "Even if thousands of refugees return, I will stay," she says.

Layal does not want to get married or have a family. Her only wish is to convey people that Iraq is now a torn country, just like her body, and will never return to what it once was.

Woman breaks into jail to have sex with hubby!

London, December 5 : A woman broke into a prison facility to have sex with her husband! The wife sneaked into Standford Hill open prison on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, in the early hours of Dec 2, but was caught by a guard in the grounds as she tried to leave.

According to sources, the couple romped in the inmate's cell.

An inquiry has been ordered into the security breach at the all-male jail.
"She got in by climbing over a fence and her husband was waiting for her," The Sun quoted a source, as saying.

"He took her into to his cell for a romp and she left a short while later. A few people knew about it. Then while she was trying to leave she was spotted.
She stood out because she was the only woman in an all-male jail!" the source added.

The woman's husband has now been sent to a higher security prison. A Prison Service spokesman said: "A member of the public was found in the grounds of Standford Hill open prison. The intruder was challenged by a staff member."

"A prisoner has been returned to a closed establishment. Police are investigating," he added. (ANI)

Police: Woman Put Mom's Body in Bags

OCALA, Fla. (AP) - A woman was arrested Tuesday after she told police she dumped the body of her 83-year-old mother into two garbage bags and left them beside the road, Marion County authorities said.

Debra Loreth, 53, of Belleview, told deputies she didn't report the death of her mother, Jeanne Vasa, because she wanted to cash the woman's retirement checks, according to the sheriff's office.

Loreth was charged with failure to report a death and was being held at the Marion County jail on $500 bond, jail officials said. It was not known if she had legal representation.

Detectives have filed paperwork with the State Attorney's Office seeking a charge of improper disposal of a body and one count of uttering a false instrument, for allegedly cashing her mother's retirement check.

Loreth originally told police her mother died on Sept. 4 and she didn't report it because she was being evicted, the Ocala Star-Banner reported. She asked a friend to call a cremation business and then moved out of the home, leaving her mother's body behind.

Loreth later told police she put her mother in two, black garbage bags and placed them in a U-Haul truck. She left the bags in Lake County and didn't report the death "because she wanted to keep cashing a monthly retirement check that the decedent was getting," authorities said.

A couple noticed the suspicious bags on the side of the road and called police. Some of the woman's extremities were missing.

An autopsy listed the cause of death as undetermined.

Woman turns down 150 marriage proposals!

London, November 8: A Serbian woman has rejected more than 150 marriage proposals - because she has still not come across her Mr Right.

Milunka Dabovic, now aged 38, from Maskova in central Serbia still lives with her mother. She turned down her first proposal at 14, and has been declining them ever since.

Milunka said that she wants a 'handsome, tall, hard worker' ready to live in her home village of Maskova, Serbia.

"I've had a lot of proposals and some of them won't take no for an answer, they even try to get my mother to try and convince me to accept," The Sun quoted her, as saying.

"But the man I marry needs to be handsome and tall, needs to accept life here in our village - and must be a hard worker with a good heart," she added.