Holiday sex comes with no strings and no condom it seems

Some holiday-singles don't see the need for a condom whilst abroad and sleeping with strangers, according to a new survey.

The holiday season is slowly drawing to an end and a new survey suggests that single 18-35 year olds are continuing to put their sexual health at risk by having sex with a number of different partners.

The survey also showed the worringly relaxed approach amongst holidaymakers to catching STIs from holiday flings. This information comes to light during Sexual Health Week.

Despite 1 in 5 of those surveyed stating sightseeing as a holiday priority, delve deeper and it appears much more flesh is being viewed than scenic sites. One sexual partner isn’t enough for many, with 38 per cent of men admitting to having sex with two or more partners on holiday versus 11 per cent for women.  At the extreme, 4 per cent of men admitted to having more than 10 sexual partners on their last holiday.

Women were less concerned about catching an STI from having sex on holiday than men and it often doesn't cross men's minds to have a check-up when they get back from their trip.

Overall, almost a third of those surveyed were aware of the potential consequences of having unprotected sex but went ahead anyway. This is particularly worrying given that chlamydia, for example, can lead to infertility in both sexes if left untreated. Over half of people admitted to having never been tested for STIs.

Dr Thom Van Every, sexual health expert at Lloydspharmacy Online Doctor says: “We see the darker side of many unprotected holiday flings so this is an extremely busy time of year for us. The return to work after a holiday is depressing enough without having an STI to deal with. If left untreated STIs can have very serious health implications and affect not only your health but that of others. It’s all too easy to unknowingly pass on an STI to a sexual partner if you’ve picked something up and haven’t realised.

“Don’t be fooled – having no symptoms doesn’t always mean you haven’t got a problem downstairs; if in doubt, get checked out. If you’re embarrassed about visiting a clinic and talking about intimate problems face to face, our discreet online service means you don’t have to and it’s also a good solution if you’re strapped for time.”

The survey showed that 15 per cent of people who didn’t use a condom whilst having sex on holiday admitted that this was because they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Research from the Liverpool John Moores University has shown that having sex whilst abroad is often associated with regular heavy drinking.

Professor Mark Bellis OBE, Director, Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University says: “People are less likely to think about protecting their sexual health after drinking or using drugs. As young people take advantage of the summer holidays to party more at home and abroad, we routinely see increases in the number of sexually transmitted infections. People can help prevent these infections if they carry a condom. They may not be planning to have sex but just in case, it does not hurt to be prepared.”

Women are committing size fraud

A little white lie won't hurt anyone will it? Well it could make you just a little bit uncomfortable.

According to new research, a quarter of women in the UK admit to committing 'size fraud' - buying clothes that are too small for them in order to lie about their size.

Women questioned admitted that they done this so they don't have to lie when people ask what size they are and because it helps to boost their confidence - but ladies, this is not bound to keep you happy for long. Too small clothes will leave you feeling flustered, uncomfortable and ready to rip your clothes off at any given time.

Great for men, not so much for us.

A fifth of those surveyed explained that they regularly committed 'size fraud' in order to make themselves better about the clothes that they were purchasing.

The women who admitted to committing this 'crime' were asked what clothing size - on average - they really were. The results found that the majority fell within the size 10 bracket, meaning that they were already below average in the size department.

"It's interesting to see how many women actually purchase the wrong clothing size in order to lie about their true size, or to feel better about themselves. This can often be detrimental, as well fitting clothes are usually the most flattering; so buying your true size is always the best way to feel better about your appearance," says Mark Pearson, chairman of myvouchercodes.co.uk who conducted the research.

Just a tenth a women taking part in the study said that they were happy with their body, with those saying no admitting that they wish they were a smaller size.

Mark continues: "Women committing size fraud in order to lie to others about their size shouldn't feel the need to, as confidence can only come from feeling good about yourself. Wearing clothes with confidence can do wonders for your self-esteem, so don't think about others, wear your true size with pride."

9 Benefits of Long Pull Breath

When the panic and nervousness swept, tried to draw breath with a long or deep, and instantly you feel relaxed. It seems strange indeed, but very effective thing to do. Apparently, profits took a deep breath in not only to relieve feelings of nervousness.

Experts say, draw a deep breath at a time can provide other health benefits. Here are the other benefits of deep breathing:

1. Relieves stress

Daily activities and our relationships with others can sometimes increase the stress levels. This causes breathing becomes faster and blood pressure increased. In fact, these two conditions can be bad for your health. Breathe deeply can be one of the best things to relieve stress, thus re-focus and clear mind. When breathed in deeply, you send a signal to the brain to calm down and relax. Then the brain pass signals to the body, making you feel relaxed again.

2. Reducing anxiety

Anxiety can be hazardous to health and cause several health problems and diseases. Deep breathing exercises can help clear up any 'blockages' in mind, so help you refocus. That way you can minimize or even eliminate your anxiety.

3. Improving blood circulation

Breathe deeply and regularly can improve memperbiki delivery of oxygen to all organs of the body. Try breathing in through your stomach to increase the oxygen supply to organs and helps the whole development of the system.

4. Assist Detoxification

Routinely took a deep breath we can do detoxification organs. Because when we inhale deeply, can help detoxify the body so that cleanse your body system.

5. Lowering blood pressure monitor

According to research published in the journal The Lancet, heart patients who take a short breath gusts of as much as 12-14 per minute (six breaths per minute blast was considered optimal) were more likely to have low oxygen levels, which can be damaging skeletal muscle and metabolic function, causing muscle atrophy (decreased muscle mass). Routine breathed deeply been shown to decrease blood pressure.

6. Helps reduce pain

By drawing a deep breath, the body will release endorphins. This adalag similar substance that gives a sense of comfort and also a natural pain reliever. These hormones can also make the muscles become more relaxed. Tense muscles meruoakan major cause of pain in the neck, back and stomach. Numerous studies have shown that breathing deeply in providing benefits for asthmatics.

7. Helps to improve physical and mental health

Deep breathing can increase oxygen levels in the blood, improve health in many ways, slowing your heart rate, improves circulation, lowers blood pressure, and helps digestion, which in turn helps improve mental performance and energy.

8. Stomach Relaxation

Research has demonstrated with inhaled can relax in the stomach and helps your stomach to move properly. So, if you're experiencing in the stomach pergejolakan try to breathe deeply, especially when you are on the toilet.

9. Reduce Pain Nervous

Nervousness is a common feeling experienced by everyone. Sometimes nerves can make a person difficult to speak, when it happens, deep breathing can be done to overcome them. Try to close my eyes and breathe deeply for a minute or two.

Want to Lean Body? Only at Night Sleep!

Want to Lean Body? Only at Night Sleep!

Do you feel overweight even more felt ngegym agenda has been running routine? Please check back to your daily activities. Perhaps, evening activities you kill all the hard work of diet that you do during the day.

Although not much activity, the evening became a vulnerable time for anyone stricken with obesity. You certainly do not want to not exercise your wasted no results for your eating habits at night ruin your weight is getting fatter.

Experts advise to sleep on the agenda which can reduce excess weight. So, what is the relationship between sleep and eat? Times of India review it for you.

* Lack of sleep will be disastrous for someone for damaging hormones in the body. The hormone ghrelin is related to the affairs of hunger will be disturbed as well as with leptin in charge of telling your brain when to stop chewing may also be disrupted. Well, when you're not getting enough rest, it will actually improve the performance levels of ghrelin and leptin. The result, the desire to eat and feelings of dissatisfaction will increase food intake although you do have more than usual.

* Second, the journey will be slower growth hormone while you sleep. This hormone plays a very important role in weight because of muscle control and body fat proportions. So, when you do not get proper sleep schedule, then you will be less in the release of this hormone. In fact, only one week of sleep deprivation alone will reduce significantly the production of growth hormone. And, low levels of growth hormone the same will contain more fat. Thus, lack of sleep significantly increases the opportunity to gain weight.

Not only that, a good sleep will help you eliminate stress from your mind and body. Due to lack of sleep tends to cause physical stress. This will cause excessive production of stress hormones (cortisol) which in turn will stimulate excessive production of glucose. And this is a bit much then it will turn into fat.

* Lack of sleep will make your body is always hungry. When people fight the sleep, so he just ate a high-calorie sweets, salty foods, and flour as a snack. This is because lack of sleep will stimulate the cells to eat more. So, if you want to defeat hunger, go to sleep.

* Lack of sleep will be accompanied by lethargy. When you are sleep deprived, then the energy would be low. As a result, you tend not to be physically active. As a result, you will burn fewer calories. When the body senses is in low level, then it will store up fat calories, making weight buildup.

* What if the lack of sleep, but getting enough exercise? The American Thoracic Society International Conference held recently in San Diego, California, reported in her study that women who get less sleep up to five hours a night are much more likely to get additional weight of 15 kilograms in a period of 16 years. It gets a share of approximately 30 percent compared to other women who meet for seven hours of sleep each night.

Diet alone helps lower bad cholesterol: study

A diet based around plants, nuts and high-fiber grains lowered "bad" cholesterol more than a low-saturated-fat diet that was also vegetarian, researchers reported on Tuesday.

And the drop in low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol, was big enough that dietary changes could be an alternative to statin medications for many people, they said.

"There's no question that statins have made a major difference in terms of cardiovascular disease control," said study author Dr. David Jenkins, from the University of Toronto. But at least for now, he added, "we can only get so far with statins."

One in four adults age 45 and older in the U.S. takes the cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Jenkins and his colleagues wanted to see how big an effect a diet based on the pillars of lower cholesterol could have on LDL numbers without statins.

They randomly split 351 Canadians with high cholesterol into three groups. One group got nutrition counseling promoting a low-saturated-fat diet for six months.

In the other two groups, dietitians helped participants fit more cholesterol-lowering foods, including soy milk, tofu, nuts, oats, peas and beans, into a healthy diet meeting with some of them twice during the study, and with others seven times. All the diets were vegetarian.

After six months, people on the low-saturated-fat diet saw a drop in LDL cholesterol of 8 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), on average, according to findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

That compared to 24 mg/dL and 26 mg/dL decreases in participants on the cholesterol-lowering diets. (The average starting LDL was about 170 mg/dL. A number 160 mg/dL and above is considered high.)

That drop is "really a lot," said Dr. Yunsheng Ma, a nutrition and heart disease researcher from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, who was not involved in the new study.

Volunteers in the cholesterol-lowering group were encouraged to consume about a gram of plant sterols in an enriched margarine per 1,000 calories of food they ate, as well as about 10 grams of fiber in the form of oats, barley and psyllium, 22.5 grams of soy protein and 22.5 grams of nuts, per 1,000 calories.

"A lot of people rely on the medication, but diet is really powerful actually," he told Reuters Health. "People ignore that. They think if they're on statins, they can do anything they want, they can eat the high-fat foods because the statins are going to take care of that."

One in five of the participants dropped out before the full six months, and even those that didn't had a hard time sticking closely to the diet plans -- but many still saw cholesterol benefits.

The researchers had everyone in the study who was taking statins go off the medication for the diet intervention. Jenkins said the question of how diet and statins could lower LDL in tandem is for future research.

But for those who like the idea of changing their diet instead of going on medications, this is a reasonable option, he said. Others who aren't interested in adjusting their eating habits might be better suited to sticking with statins, Jenkins added.

"If you want to sit on the couch with the six pack and the wings and watch other people exercise and you're quite determined not to do anything other than that, then we've got a medication for you," he said.

For other people, genetics or very high cholesterol may mean that diet isn't enough to get LDL down to a healthy level without statins, said Dr. Joan Sabate, head of nutrition at Loma Linda University in California.

Jenkins said that doctors should encourage their patients with high cholesterol to try diet changes, if they're interested. A couple of visits to a nutritionist might be enough for motivated patients to make the switch to a plant-based, higher-fiber diet, he added.

"The diet only is enough for the majority of the people that have a not-so-good lifestyle," Sabate, who was not involved in the new research, told Reuters Health. "By changing the diet and their lifestyle they can establish good control of their cholesterol."

Women smokers face higher bladder cancer risk

Women smokers face higher bladder cancer risk

The latest data shows that smoking is responsible for about half of bladder cancer cases in women, compared to previous studies that showed between 20-30 percent of such cases were attributable to tobacco use.

"The stronger association between smoking and bladder cancer is possibly due to changes in cigarette composition or smoking habits over the years," said study author Neal Freedman of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The research, funded by the US National Institutes of Health and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said "the composition of cigarettes has changed during the past 50 years."

These changes have led to "a reduction in tar and nicotine concentrations in cigarette smoke, but also to an apparent increase in the concentration of specific carcinogens, including beta-napthylamine, a known bladder carcinogen."

Also, more women are smoking than before, which could explain the change.

"Men and women are about equally likely to smoke, as observed in the current study and in the US population overall, according to surveillance by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)," said the study.

"The majority of the earlier studies were conducted at time periods or in geographic regions where smoking was much less common among women."

Previous studies have shown the risk of bladder cancer in current and former smokers was between 50-65 percent in men and 20-30 percent in women, while current smokers face triple the risk of getting bladder cancer as people who never smoked.

Tuesday's study shows that smoking is linked to an even higher risk of bladder cancer in women -- 52 percent while men stayed about the same at 50 percent.

The latest findings appear to confirm a 2009 US study by the NCI that showed a stronger association between smoking and bladder cancer than had been observed in the mid-1990s.

"Incidence rates of bladder cancer in the United States have been relatively stable over the past 30 years, despite the fact that smoking rates have decreased overall," said Freedman.

"The higher risk, as compared to studies reported in the mid-to-late 1990s, may explain why bladder cancer rates haven't declined."

CDC data from 2009 shows that an estimated 46 million people, or 20.6 percent of all US adults, smoke cigarettes, though smoking is slightly more common among men (23.5 percent) than women (17.9 percent).

Health authorities say about 69,250 people will be diagnosed with bladder cancer this year in the United States, and 14,990 will die from the disease.

8 Reasons to Include Soy in Your Diet

We often say that soybeans can be a replacement for meat for the vegetarians. Why shouldn't it be? It is a very good source of plant based protein. And you don't need to compromise on the taste! Adding the same spices - ginger, garlic, onions and garam masala, to prepare a soy curry will give you the feel and the aroma of your favorite chicken recipe. And it is not only the taste or the protein content that will make soy products a popular choice! Soybean is a storehouse of nutrients and you can avail the health benefits from a number of soy based products like soy milk, tofu, soy sprouts, nuts, sauces and flour.

Soybean is a species of legume, mainly found in East Asia. They are mainly classified as oilseed. It is considered as a complete protein because of the presence of significant amounts of essential amino acids. This seemingly simple legume comes with some extraordinary qualities. It is considered as a nutritional powerhouse. It has been found that soy-food consuming countries like China and Japan have lower incidences of heart disease, osteoporosis and cancers of the breast and the prostate gland.
What are the Health Benefits of Soy?

   1. Shows Antioxidant Properties: Soy contains health enhancing compounds called Isoflavones. These compounds are found in plants which have strong antioxidant properties. These compounds are responsible for repairing cells and for preventing damages to the cells caused by pollution, sunlight and the normal body processes.

   2. Reduces the Risk of Heart Diseases: The proteins and Isoflavones present in Soy, help in reducing the LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol) apart from decreasing the possibilities of blood clotting. This in turn, reduces the risk of heart diseases and stroke. In a study, it has been found that the consumption of milk shakes containing 25 grams soy protein for nine weeks has resulted in a 5% decrease in LDL cholesterol on an average.

   3. Protects Against Cancer: Isoflavones act as anti-cancer agents against the cancer cells. It protects the body from many hormone related cancers like that of the breast, uterus and the prostate.

   4. Reverses the Effect of Endometriosis: Soy foods help in delaying the action of the body's natural estrogen, which is responsible for instigating the pain during the periods, heavy bleeding and other symptoms in women.

   5. Prevents the Onset of Osteoporosis: Soy protein helps in the better absorption of calcium in the bones. Isoflavones present in soy foods, slow down bone loss and inhibit bone breakdown which in turn, prevents osteoporosis

   6. Helps to Overcome Menopausal Symptoms: Isoflavones present in soy, help to regulate estrogen. Research has found that soy Isoflavones can reduce hot flushes in menopausal women.

   7. Shows Good Effects for Diabetes and Kidney Diseases: Soy protein and the soluble fiber present in soybeans, regulate blood glucose levels and kidney filtration, thereby controlling diabetes and kidney diseases.

   8. Promotes Weight Loss: The high fiber content of soybean makes it a tool for weight management. It is a low glycemic index (GI) food which regulates blood sugar and insulin fluctuation. A feeling of fullness or satisfaction for a longer period of time, can help you to control your hunger. This aids in your weight loss process.

Different Soy Products

There is no need for you to stick to the same type of soy food! Treat your taste buds with a variety of soy based products available in the market. Here is what the market brings for you:

    * Miso: It is made by the fermentation of soy meal or grains such as rice or wheat. It is a salty, strong flavored paste used in many Asian dishes. It acts as an enhancer and a thickener in various Asian recipes. The colors range from light yellow to dark orange.
    * Soy Flour: It is made from whole soy bean or soy meal. This flour can be used in many dishes.
    * Soy Nuts: Roasted soy nuts can be eaten as snacks.
    * Soy Sauce: These are made from fermented soybeans. It is then mixed with ground wheat and kept for fermentation for nearly one to three months. It is considered as one of the most important cooking ingredients in Asian cuisine.

    * Soybean Sprouts: Germinated soybean is used as salads and for garnishing purposes.

    * Soybean Oil: Soy bean oil can be used in various purposes.
    * Soybean Milk: It is obtained when soybeans are soaked, ground, heated and then filtered.It is generally used as a substitute for many infant formulae. It acts as a food for babies who are lactose intolerant. It can be taken as beverages. Dried soy milk is added in ice creams.

    * Tempeh: It is a meat substitute made from soybeans that are soaked, dehulled, cooked and then fermented. It is one of the essential components in Indonesian cooking.

    * Tofu: It is made by coagulating the protein from soy beans. It is spongy in texture. It can be used in a variety of forms such as dips, dressings and shakes.

    * Yuba: It is a product found on the top of the soymilk. When soymilk is heated, a chewy and stingy texture is formed and this is called ‘Yuba". It has high protein content.

You can also prepare a vegetable dish as per your tradition and culture. In all your attempts, you should note that soybeans form an inexpensive way to add protein to your diet. And remember, it is a low fat option in comparison to meat and meat products.

Sleep tips: 7 steps to better sleep

Feeling crabby lately? Or simply worn out? Perhaps the solution is better sleep.

Think about all the factors that can interfere with a good night's sleep from pressure at work and family responsibilities to unexpected challenges, such as layoffs, relationship issues or illnesses. It's no wonder that quality sleep is sometimes elusive.

Although you might not be able to control all of the factors that interfere with your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep. Start with these simple sleep tips.

1: Stick to a sleep schedule

Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, holidays and days off. Being consistent reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night. There's a caveat, though. If you don't fall asleep within about 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. Go back to bed when you're tired. If you agonize over falling asleep, you might find it even tougher to nod off.

2: Pay attention to what you eat and drink

Don't go to bed either hungry or stuffed. Your discomfort might keep you up. Also limit how much you drink before bed, to prevent disruptive middle-of-the-night trips to the toilet.

Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol deserve caution, too. The stimulating effects of nicotine and caffeine — which take hours to wear off can wreak havoc with quality sleep. And even though alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first, it can disrupt sleep later in the night.

3: Create a bedtime ritual

Do the same things each night to tell your body it's time to wind down. This might include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to soothing music preferably with the lights dimmed. Relaxing activities can promote better sleep by easing the transition between wakefulness and drowsiness.

Be wary of using the TV or other electronic devices as part of your bedtime ritual. Some research suggests that screen time or other media use before bedtime interferes with sleep.

4: Get comfortable

Create a room that's ideal for sleeping. Often, this means cool, dark and quiet. Consider using room-darkening shades, earplugs, a fan or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs.

Your mattress and pillow can contribute to better sleep, too. Since the features of good bedding are subjective, choose what feels most comfortable to you. If you share your bed, make sure there's enough room for two. If you have children or pets, set limits on how often they sleep with you — or insist on separate sleeping quarters.

5: Limit daytime naps

Long daytime naps can interfere with nighttime sleep especially if you're struggling with insomnia or poor sleep quality at night. If you choose to nap during the day, limit yourself to about 10 to 30 minutes and make it during the midafternoon.

If you work nights, you'll need to make an exception to the rules about daytime sleeping. In this case, keep your window coverings closed so that sunlight which adjusts your internal clock — doesn't interrupt your daytime sleep.

6: Include physical activity in your daily routine

Regular physical activity can promote better sleep, helping you to fall asleep faster and to enjoy deeper sleep. Timing is important, though. If you exercise too close to bedtime, you might be too energized to fall asleep. If this seems to be an issue for you, exercise earlier in the day.

7: Manage stress

When you have too much to do and too much to think about your sleep is likely to suffer. To help restore peace to your life, consider healthy ways to manage stress. Start with the basics, such as getting organized, setting priorities and delegating tasks. Give yourself permission to take a break when you need one. Share a good laugh with an old friend. Before bed, jot down what's on your mind and then set it aside for tomorrow.

Know when to contact your doctor

Nearly everyone has an occasional sleepless night but if you often have trouble sleeping, contact your doctor. Identifying and treating any underlying causes can help you get the better sleep you deserve.

Danger Bra Too Tight

Danger Bra Too Tight

A bra that has a wire underneath it can support the breast with a better appearance. Breasts go up and look fuller. But then came the notion that underwire bras can cause breast cancer.

Shocking news came about the year 1995, the results of research Sidney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer in the United States, against 4700 women. In the book Dressed to Kill, the scientists stated, the use of a bra associated with the incidence of breast cancer.

The head of the epidemiology of reproductive and hormonal National Cancer Institute, Louise Brinton, stating that the opinion does not make sense. Over the past 30 years conducting research in the field of cancer, he still found that the most common occurrence of cancer related to endogenous hormone levels.

"Indeed there has been no scientific studies about the link underwire bras and bra wearing sleeping habits, the incidence of breast cancer, so do not worry," said Dr.. Adityawati Ganggaiswari, MBiomed, Cancer Foundation of Indonesia, when contacted GHS.

Too Binding

Although his many other experts declared the results of research that is not true, until now there are many women who fear wearing underwire bras. In addition to risks associated with breast cancer that has not proven true, underwire bras can also cause another complaint if the use does not fit in the body or too tight binding to the chest.

Bra is too tight according to a study by the British School of Osteopathy can suppress the bone and muscle, so that makes it hard to breathe. Specifically for the sports bra can also cause breathing difficulties if used excessively or when not exercising. That's because the sports bras are designed specifically tighter than a regular bra, to support the breasts in place when processing the body.

Impaired bowel movements and constipation may also occur, if we are too tight to wear a bra so that pressing the ribs.

If the bra is too tight binding of the body, can also lead to skin wounded, mainly due to the hook on a rope behind.

For those with large breasts, use a tight bra can cause problems in the area of ​​pectoral muscles in the chest. The users can feel like a punctured or pinched in the area, and circulation problems can occur until the destruction of tissue in the breast.

Not a few women who deliberately wear a bra so tight, so that her breasts lifted and look more toned and beautiful. This habit makes trapezius muscles connecting the neck and shoulders will be strong pressure, so that it can produce pain in the shoulder, neck, and back.

The study, conducted by Dr.. Edward Ryan, as written in the Medical Journal of Australia found a link between back pain and the use of a bra that is too tight. In a two-week trial, the women who complained of back pain is not advisable to wear a bra first, or replace it with a strapless bra (strapless). The result, 79 percent of patients felt the pain is gone.

Not only underwire bras, for those flat-chested and happy to choose a bra cup containing thick foam to show the illusion of "big chest" also must be careful. Thick foam that makes the breast skin can not breathe, so it is more easily irritated or have other disorders.

So, underwire bras actually stay safe when fitting and comfortable in the body. Do not be too mengetatkannya because the breast and the muscles in our body will actually suffer.

Optimistic teens less likely to suffer from depression

Seeing the glass as half full could have health benefits beyond helping you to be positive and hopeful and Australian researchers have found it can prevent depression.

A study of more than 5600 Australian adolescents, conducted by the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, found that positive thinking helped to reduce the likelihood of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and anti-social behaviour.

The research team conducted a three-wave longitudinal study of teenagers aged from 12 to 14 from three Australian states, assessing their way of thinking, emotional and social behaviours each year from 2003 to 2005.

Teenagers who ranked in the highest "optimism quartile" were 50 percent less likely to suffer from depression compared with those who ranked in the lowest quartile, the researchers wrote in the medical journal Pediatrics.

Having an optimistic outlook on life also helped to reduce the chances of teenagers developing substance abuse issues and anti-social behaviours.

Positive thinking had similar protective benefits for both boys and girls, but researchers did find more girls in every level of self-reported optimism suffered from symptoms of depression.

"Promoting optimism along with other aspects of psychological and emotional style has a role in mental health promotion that is likely to be enhanced if an intervention also addresses risk and protective factors in an adolescent's social context," the research team led by Dr George C Patton from the Royal Children's Hospital wrote.

But how do you teach your children to be optimistic? Is optimism nature or nurture? Dr Leslie Walker from Seattle Children's Hospital told Today.com that children are born with their personality traits, but that an optimistic outlook can be created.

Dr Walker said the best way for parents to help their children grow up as optimists is to lead by example.

"Patterning after their parents is how kids figure out how to live," Dr Walker said. "If parents are optimistic about what's going in their lives, you can expect the kids to follow."

Dr Walker herself a mother of an 18-year-old daughter recommended parents should always listen to what their children are saying and let them speak without fear of being judged.

She said it was important not to attach negative labels to children such as "shy" or "naughty" and said children will often live up or down to their parents' expectations.

The doctor also said parents should not dismiss their kids' concerns or complaints, that teenagers want to be taken seriously and parents need to acknowledge their reality. If your child says "I hate school", don't dismiss this with an "it'll be okay"-type comment, Dr Walker said, instead help children to come up with examples of what they do like about school.

Finally, Dr Walker suggested parents should lead by example show your kids there is a silver lining to every dark cloud.

"Optimism and hope are very close and it's something we as parents don't spend a lot of time looking at, and we need to," Dr Walker said. "It's key to why a kid gets up in the morning and tries again."

Migraines lower breast cancer risk

At last good news for migraine sufferers - women who get the debilitating headaches are less likely to develop breast cancer than other women.

After analysing the results of two different studies of 3412 post-menopausal women, doctors from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found a definite link between migraines and breast cancer.

“We found that, overall, women who had migraines had a 30% lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who did not have a history of such headaches,” said Dr Christopher Li.

The cancer risk was decreased for the main types of cancer, those that are fuelled by oestrogen and progesterone, two natural types of women’s hormones.

The findings suggest that hormones play a large role the development of breast cancer.

“Women who have higher levels of oestrogen have higher levels of cancer,” Dr Li said.

He explained that migraines are commonly triggered by having low oestrogen levels, which can occur at different stages of the menstrual cycle. Sufferers “may have a chronically lower baseline oestrogen – that difference could be what is protective against breast cancer,” he added.

According to the Breast Cancer Network Australia, 13,000 Australian women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year 36 a day. Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in women.