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Most men should not get routine prostate cancer screening because the potential benefits are small and there are clear harms, an international panel of experts concludes. 

Some men, including those with a family history of prostate cancer, may have a greater chance of benefit from screening and should discuss the pros and cons with their physician to make an informed decision, medical experts recommend in guidelines published in the BMJ. 

“Most, but not all, well-informed men that fully understand the trade-offs would choose not to undergo screening,” said co-author of the guidelines Philipp Dahm of the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Centre. 

“Only those men who place more value in even a small reduction of prostate cancer mortality — these may be men at higher risk because of a family history or because of African descent, or those simply very concerned about ruling out a cancer diagnosis — may opt for screening,” Dahm said by e-mail. “Shared decision-making is needed to help them arrive at a decision consistent with their own values and preferences.” 

Most men with prostate cancer are diagnosed with low-risk tumours that have not spread to other parts of the body. Often, doctors and patients struggle to choose between active surveillance and treatments like surgery or radiation, because it is hard to tell which tumours will grow fast enough to be life-threatening and which ones might never get big enough to cause problems. 

The prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test is the only widely available test to screen for prostate cancer. It is used in many countries, but it remains controversial because it has increased the number of healthy men diagnosed with and treated unnecessarily for harmless tumours, the guidelines note. 

In drafting the guidelines, experts reviewed research results from studies involving a total of more than 700,000 men. The studies showed that if screening reduces prostate cancer deaths at all, the effect is very small. 

“PSA screening increases the number of men who need further diagnostic tests, such as prostate biopsy [approximately 100 per 1000 men screened], and it increases number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer [18 per 1000 men screened],” said lead author of the guidelines Kari Tikkinen of Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki in Finland. 

“However, many of these men would not have ever experienced any symptoms of the prostate cancer if not diagnosed,” Tikkinen said by e-mail. 

Because of this, it is reasonable for doctors to only bring up the possibility of screening with men who have an increased risk, the guidelines conclude. For most men, who do not have an increased risk, it’s fine for doctors to skip this conversation altogether. 

“Prostate cancer is extremely common in men in their 70s and older and most of these men will die `with their cancer’ rather than developing complications and dying of it, and small prostate cancers do not cause any symptoms,” said David Neal, co-author of an accompanying editorial and a professor at the University of Oxford in the UK.

“If you have a screening programme which diagnoses many of these men with rather slow growing cancers then you make a `well person’ into a patient,” Neal said by e-mail. “Then some of these men will also be offered radical treatments.”

 Because most physicians already think this way about screening, the new guidelines are unlikely to change clinical practice, Neal added.

After fast food and microwaveable food, the latest trend to bombard the consumers with lip-smacking photographs is Instagram food. However, unlike the first two, which can be bought and eaten (if one so wishes to poison oneself with it) the last is, and remains, an illusion.

What is Instagram food? More importantly, what is Instagram? For the uninitiated, it is a social networking service that is owned by Facebook, where users can share photos and videos with one another. Created in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, this app has a feature that can help with editing your pictures using various filters and hash-tags. It encourages users to make tags both specific and relevant, in order to allow the photographs to stand out. In February last year, Instagram announced that users would be able to upload up to ten pictures or videos to one post, with the content appearing as a swipeable carousel.

Right! Hence, here was a chance that permitted everyone’s inner narcissist to finally emerge in the form of self portraits (or selfies as they are popularly called) that were taken with a cellphone or a webcam and shared on Instagram. Which everybody did, instantly and repeatedly — I must confess. 

But amidst all these vain folks materialised a section of tormentors, who started posting tantalising pictures of food, in every glossy way possible. And it was seldom broccoli soups or radish salads that got posted — hotdogs, donuts, burgers, steaks and tacos were among the ten most popular Instagrammed foods — and pizza was on top of this calorie-laden list.

So, why did so many people hover over their plateful of mansaf (Jordanian Biryani), chocolate cake, samosa (Indian snack) or tiramisu, with a smartphone? At restaurants, cafes and even friend’s dinner parties, that is. One was there to eat, not to create a centrefold for a gourmet magazine. Also, did the piping hot food not become cold, while one fidgeted with the dishes and the lighting, for the best shot? 

A mental health expert, Dr Valerie Taylor, who spoke at the Canadian Obesity Summit in Vancouver, reported that such obsession with food had the potential to lead to unhealthy weight problems. She said that when all the focus was put on photographing the food, the meal itself became central in the gathering and the rest (the venue, the company and so on) got relegated to the background. 

On the other hand, a series of experiments published in “Psychological Science”, an online journal, showed that people who performed brief rituals before eating enjoyed the meal more compared to those who simply sat down and consumed it straightaway. A longer delay between the ceremony and the feast worked even better, as it increased the anticipations of pleasure. Therefore, taking a photo of your food was a form of ritualistic behaviour too, as it was similar to praying before meals. 

Recently I was at a fancy new restaurant in Mauritius, where two waiters appeared at our table, in perfect synchrony. They were carrying some dishes on a tray, concealed under dome-like appliances. 

“Voila!” they cried together, uncovering our dinner.

“Wow,” I exclaimed, admiring the handiwork.

“You wish to take a picture?” one of them asked. 

“No, thank you,” I said picking up my cutlery.

“Want us to take a picture?” the other questioned. 

“For Instagram,” he emphasised.

“I don’t have an account,” my husband answered. 

“And don’t intend to open one,” he glowered.

“Bon appetit,” they chorused, retreating immediately.

People who cut back on carbohydrates may end up increasing their risk of premature death if they load their plates with meat and cheese instead of vegetables and nuts, a US study suggests. 

While previous research has linked low-carbohydrate diets to better success with short-term weight loss and improvements in risk factors for premature death like diabetes, less is known about the long-term outcomes of cutting carbs, or what types of foods people should eat instead for optimal health. 

For the current study, researchers followed more than 15,000 adults ages 45 to 65 for about 25 years. During this period, 6,283 died. 

Participants who got 50 to 55 per cent of their calories from carbohydrates had a lower risk of death from all causes during the study period than people, who had much lower or higher carbohydrate intake, researchers report in The Lancet Public Health. 

With lower carb intake, the types of foods people ate instead of carbs were associated with very different types of outcomes. 

 “Low carbohydrate dietary patterns that replaced carbohydrate with animal-derived protein or fat were associated with greater mortality risk, whereas this association was reversed when energy from carbohydrate was replaced with plant-derived protein or fat,” said lead study author Dr Sara Seidelmann of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. 

“The key message from this study is that it is not enough to focus on cutting carbohydrates alone, but instead to focus on the types of food replacing them,” Seidelmann said by e-mail. 

The study wasn’t designed to prove whether or how eating fewer carbohydrates or more vegetables might directly impact longevity. 

But it is possible plant-based proteins help people live longer by reducing inflammation and so-called oxidative stress, Seidelmann said. As the body uses oxygen, it produces by-products called free radicals that can damage cells and tissues. The damage by oxygen free radicals is known as oxidative stress. 

At the same-time, it is possible the reverse may be true for meats, and especially for processed meats. Animal proteins and fats might have negative health effects because they cause inflammation and oxidative stress, Seidelmann said. 

Researchers estimated that from age 50, the average life expectancy was an additional 33 years for people with moderate carbohydrate intake, meaning carbs accounted for 50 to 55 per cent of their calories. 

High carbohydrate intake — representing more than 70 per cent of calories — was associated with average life expectancy of about 32 years. Low carbohydrate intake — representing less than 40 per cent of calories — was associated with life expectancy of 29 years. 

One limitation of the study is that researchers only assessed eating habits twice, at the start of the study and again six years later, and participants’ diets may have shifted over time. 

Even so, the results add to a large and growing body of evidence suggesting that a balanced diet is best, said Andrew Mente, coauthor of an accompanying editorial and a researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. 

“The new study shows that a moderate amount of carbohydrates is optimal, while too low or too high was related to mortality,” Mente said by e-mail. 

“This is not really surprising given that most nutrients or foods have a sweet spot,” Mente added. “A moderate amount of carbohydrates generally translates into a balanced diet that includes fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, dairy and unprocessed meats, all in moderate amounts.” 

Milk was the original “superfood”, believed to be rich in calcium and essential for strong bones and healthy teeth. However, in the last few years, several studies have highlighted the negative side to dairy, be it the sensation of bloating, the carcinogenic hormone content in milk, or weakening of bones caused by it. A study by the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health also says that high intake of dairy can increase the risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer. So, it is no wonder that some people now advocate a switch from dairy to healthier alternatives like soy or almond milk. 

But should you be rushing to cancel your milkman’s subscription anytime soon? Experts say that milk offers several health benefits, but only when it is consumed in moderation. 

Milk is an excellent source of protein and contains essential amino acids. “It is a good source of calcium, potassium, Vitamin B12, Choline and Vitamin D. It increases bone and teeth strength, improves immunity, controls blood pressure, prevents dehydration and osteoporosis, improves muscle movement, learning and memory,” said Dr Niyati Likhite, dietician at Fortis Hospital, Kalyan.

It is also good for your skin and hair, and acts as an antioxidant. “Milk contains nutrients that boost collagen production, slows down formation of fine lines, and protects the skin from free radicals that cause premature ageing. Vitamin B6 helps in new skin cell formation while Vitamin B12 boosts hair growth,” said Ushakiran Sisodia, a clinical nutritionist at Nanavati Hospital. 

If you are wondering if milk helps in weight loss, the answer is yes. You can opt for skimmed or low-fat milk to lose or maintain your weight, said Likhite. 

How much 

milk is too much?

However, if you consume milk in excess (the recommended portion size is two to three servings of milk and milk products per day or one cup milk+ two servings of milk products), it may be harmful for health. “Milk is a prime source for three important nutrients: calcium, potassium and Vitamin D. Excess of these nutrients are not good for health,” said Likhite, adding that milk contains high levels of lactose and galactose which can increase oxidative stress, which is associated with heart disease, cancer, bone loss and muscle loss. 

“Too much milk can give you abdominal distension, loose motions and increase cholesterol. It may even aggravate certain forms of cancer. And babies who are given excess milk can also suffer from milk worm,” said Sisodia. 

Milk adulteration is also a cause for concern, as is milk produced from hormone-injected cows. “If anyone has lactose intolerance, then it’s best to avoid milk. And in the rainy season, milk may aggravate gastric problems,” said Sisodia.

Alternative mode

For those who do not want to consume dairy, there are alternatives available in the form of soy and almond milk. Likhite says it can be a good option for people who are allergic to milk, but not a good alternative to breast milk or formula feed for infants.

Sisodia recommends groundnut milk and goat milk as healthy, and almond or coconut milk as easy-to-digest alternatives to dairy. 

While replacing milk completely from the diet is not recommended, instead of just drinking milk, you can add nutrient-rich foods like chicken, fish and egg whites, curd, soya and sprouts to your daily diet.

Launched regionally at a media event in Jordan earlier this month, Hyundai’s largest Santa Fe SUV offering adopts a more distinctive facia and makes expected incremental improvements in performance, equipment, refinement and trim levels.

A comfortable and convenient mid-size SUV, the Santa Fe is without radical change, however, Hyundai has redoubled efforts in making it a more passenger- and family-oriented product, with numerous features, solutions and attention to detail. The Santa Fe has also become better for drivers with improved steering, handling and ride characteristics.

With a long bonnet, longer wheelbase, shorter overhangs and more level waistline and roofline, the new Santa Fe has a clearly stronger presence on road and seems like a more confident and substantial looking machine. Inside, this translates into improved passenger head and legroom, and crucially so in the middle and third rows. Said to be emphasising maturity and confidence over outright aggression, the new Santa Fe nevertheless bears quite the intimidating face, with a vast, broad hexagonal “cascading grille” with widely spaced honeycomb mesh.

Confident presence

Underling a perception of width is a metallic strip running horizontally atop the grille and underneath the Santa Fe’s now moody and assertively squinting ultra slim, heavily browed and high set running lights. Meanwhile, the main lights aside a ridged and angularly muscular bumper section. Yet, more overt in along the flanks the Santa Fe features distinctively prominent and bulging body surfacing above its wheel-arches. Emphasising length and forward motion, this design touch pays homage to Marcello Gandini’s signature rear wheel-arch line, as famously featured on cars no less aggressive than the Lamborghini Countach and Maserati Shamal. 

Benefitting from the use of 15 per cent more high strength steel than its predecessor, the new Santa Fe achieves a higher level of body rigidity for improved collision safety, handling ability and ride quality. Meanwhile underneath its bugling bonnet, the range-topping version of the Santa Fe receives a 3.5-litre multi-point fuel injection version of Hyundai’s tried and tested Lambda II V6 engine, while other petrol models depending on market, include multi-point and direct injection 2.4-litre and turbocharged 2-litre 4-cylinder engines. The Santa Fe’s engine is mated to a smooth and reasonable quick-shifting in-house developed 8-speed automatic gearbox.

Smooth and progressive

Progressive, eager and confident, the Santa Fe’s naturally aspirated V6 is responsive from low-end, and carries through to redline on an uninterrupted and rising stream of power, with 276bhp arriving at 6,300rpm and 247lb/ft torque peaking at 5,000rpm. Capable of 0-100km/h in 7.8-seconds and a 210km/h top speed, the Santa Fe returns 10.6l/100km quoted combined cycle fuel consumption. Refined and smooth, its generous mid-range torque output is progressively unleashed. However, on a particularly steep and winding route a more aggressive and closely spaced second gear ratio would have helped make more confident and seamless progress. 

A road-biased crossover SUV, the Santa Fe benefits from 185mm ground clearance and a four-wheel-drive lock mode where power is distributed evenly between front and rear. With transverse engine layout it is a front-drive biased vehicle on road, with its most efficient Eco driving mode sending power exclusively frontwards and its default Comfort mode re-allocating 20 per cent of that rearwards. Sport mode allows for better agility and road-holding and a more balanced driving experience with less tendency for torque steer, by employing a 65:35 per cent front-to-rear power split that automatically alters to 50:50 per cent.

Comfort and control

Riding on MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension and a more rigid frame, the new Santa Fe also benefits from a greater emphasis being placed on ride and handling qualities at Hyundai, and delivers noticeably improved dynamics than its predecessor. Tight into corners, its steering is sharper, quicker and more precise, while understeer has been significantly reduced. Grippy and balanced through corners, the new Santa Fe is a more agile vehicle than before, and one can even shift weight to the outside and rear to tighten a cornering line with a brief moment of oversteer before stability controls intervene. 

Tauter and more focused, the New Santa Fe better controls roll through corners and rides with a more settled and buttoned down manner over, crests and dips and on rebound. Road imperfections are meanwhile processed with more comfort and control, while high speed stability is reassuring, stable and refined from noise, harshness and vibrations. Driving position is well adjustable, comfortable and supportive, while all-round visibility is improved owing to a lower waistline, more upright roof and bigger glasshouse. Its parking sensors and camera also help one to manoeuvre such a large SUV with relative ease into tight confines.

User-friendly utility

With cleaner and more user-friendly interior design, the new Santa Fe features improved materials, textures and layouts. Spacious inside for seven passengers and minimum of 547-litres of luggage that expands to a maximum 1,625-litres the new Santa Fe is designed with family use at the forefront of its intent. As such, and in addition to a host of standard and optional, new and improved safety, driver assistance and infotainment, the Santa Fe also features a safe exit assistance system for rear passengers, including a warning if they open the door at the wrong time.

Expected by Hyundai to receive a 5-star Euro NCAP rating when it is officially tested, the Santa Fe is somewhat idiot-proof and features a Rear Occupant Alert so careless parents do not “forget” their children alone in the car, while other small features have children in mind and include tight lines for the window blinds and an automatic middle row folding system with a low positioned button to make it safe and easy to use for children. Third row passengers also get special ingress and egress handles moulded into the C-pillar.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Engine: 3.5-litre, aluminium block/head, inline V6-cylinders
• Bore x stroke: 92 x 87mm
• Compression ratio: 10.6:1
• Valve-train: DOHC, 24-valve, continuously variable valve timing
• Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 276 (280) [206] @6,300rpm
• Specific power: 79.5BHP/litre
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 247.8 (336) @ 5,000rpm
• Specific torque: 71.3Nm/litre
• 0-100km/h: 7.8-seconds
• Top speed: 210km/h
• Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined: 14.6-/8.3-/10.6-litres/100km 
• CO2 emissions, combined: 253g/km
• Length: 4,770mm
• Width: 1,890mm
• Height: 1,680mm
• Wheelbase: 2,765mm
• Overhang, F/R: 940/1,065mm
• Ground clearance: 185mm
• Headroom, F/M/R: 1,016/995/917mm
• Leg room, F/M/R: 1,120/1,001/746mm
• Shoulder room, F/M/R: 1,500/1,450/1,344mm
• Luggage volume, min/max: 547-/1,625-litres
• Kerb weight: 1900kg (est.)
• Steering: Electric-assisted rack and pinion
• Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/multi-link
• Tyres: 235/55R19

“Mayday” is the SOS international Morse code distress signal that goes out during emergencies which is understood by emergency responders all over the world. Well, our body does the same, sending out signals of an internal SOS as it tries so hard to tell us what is going on inside us.

Inflammation increases in our body and all sorts of disasters take place inside us. Yet we choose to ignore the Mayday signals that our body sends. At first, the signals are not so loud, perhaps a little bit of weight gain and water retention and maybe a few migraines but then the signals get louder and louder until we cannot ignore them any longer.

Sadly, if we wait too long, we end up in the emergency room and sometimes we find ourselves sitting across the table hearing the tough prognosis at the doctor’s office about some kind of irreversible condition we no longer have control over.

Our bodies are begging us to make dire changes before it is too late.

Gambling with our health

Fellow desperate dieter, do we have to first be admitted into a hospital before we start taking better care of ourselves? Where is that breaking point for each of us when truth is going to stare us straight in the face and force us to make better choices? 

• Do we have to wait for the heart attack to strike before we stop making daily trips to the icecream store?

• Do we have to wait until we are all diabetic before we lay off sugar and reach for the fruit?

• Do we have to wait until someone in the family dies in their 40s or 50s before we start tracking how many calories we are scarfing down before the clock even strikes noon?

We have been so blessed with a very intricate alarm system. Our body quickly senses when things are out of balance and reacts almost immediately, sending us loud and clear messages. We receive signal after signal, warning us of the iceberg we are about to hit if we do not change our course. Yet, in our stubbornness, we insist on continuing on our path. We wonder what happened when we crash into that iceberg but that is just the tip of the iceberg! We do not take enough time to deal with all the things that are causing us to ignore those SOS signals.

Why are we ignoring our internal alarm system?

Perhaps we have filled our lives with so much noise that we simply cannot hear the distress calls any more. Perhaps we need to make room for quiet moments to sit in still waters and process through all that is going on in our lives and to rethink our goals. Perhaps we need to carve out sacred space in our lives to just have quiet times strategically dispersed throughout the day to recoup and regroup and just take time to breathe.

We are overworked and emotionally spent as we nurture and give our time to care for everyone else except ourselves. This seems like a positive and generous attribute on our part but there is only one problem: How do you help others take care of themselves if you cannot take care of yourself? Think about the emergency procedures on the airplane. The first thing they instruct you to do is to put the oxygen mask on yourself before you assist your child. Even your child must wait for you to put that oxygen mask on yourself because otherwise you will be of no use to them when you get dizzy and lose consciousness! The same is true in our lives.

Choosing health today for a better tomorrow

Let us love ourselves enough to exercise and eat well and take care of the body God gave us. Making better choices will help us and our families for generations to come as we pass on positive lifestyle habits. Your kids will thank you for it and your future grandchildren will adore you for it because maybe that will mean they will not just get to see you in a photo album. Maybe your better choices will mean you will get to stick around long enough to meet them face to face and still have enough energy to take them out to their favourite movie!

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

People who exercise may experience symptoms of mental health disorders less often, a US study suggests. 

That may be true even when the exercise involves doing household chores, researchers found. 

The study team examined survey data collected from more than 1.2 million American adults. Participants were asked how often in the past month they had exercised, aside from any physical activity at work. They were also asked how many days their mental health was “not good” due to stress, depression and problems with emotions. 

Overall, people reported an average of about 3.4 days of poor mental health each month, according to the results in The Lancet Psychiatry. Compared to people who never exercised at all, those who did some physical activity outside of work had an average 1.5 fewer days of poor mental health each month. 

The effect appeared even bigger for people with a history of depression. In this group, exercisers experienced an average 3.8 fewer days of poor mental health each month than those who never worked out. 

“People who exercise have better mental health than those who don’t, especially people who were exercising three to five times a week, for around 45 minutes,” said senior study author Adam Chekroud, a psychiatry researcher at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. 

“This study reiterates the broad range of health benefits for exercising, no matter your age, race, gender, income or physical health status,” Chekroud said by email. “Every little bit helps — as low as 30 minutes — and every exercise group including walking was associated with lower mental health burden.” 

All types of exercise appeared to influence how often people reported poor mental health. 

Some of the strongest associations were found with team sports and cycling, which were associated with a 22 per cent reduction in poor mental health days compared with not exercising, followed by aerobic and gym exercises, which were linked to a 21 per cent reduction. 

Mindfulness exercises like yoga and tai chi were also linked to a 23 per cent reduction in poor mental health days, relative to no activity at all. 

Even household chores were tied to at least a 9.7 per cent reduction in poor mental health days compared to being inactive. 

From a mental health perspective, however, it might be possible to exercise too much. 

Adults who exercised longer than 90 minutes per session had smaller reductions in poor mental health days than people who exercised from 30 to 60 minutes. And people who exercised more than three hours per session reported more poor mental health days than those who exercised only 45 minutes or who did not work out at all. 

The study was not designed to prove whether or how exercise might directly impact mood, and it is also possible that happier people worked out more often than those with mood disorders or a lot of stress. 

Another limitation of the study is that it looked rather broadly at mental health, rather than exploring specific mood disorders, Gary Cooney, of Gartnavel Royal Hospital in Glasgow, UK, writes in an accompanying editorial. 

“Mental health is not a term that is hugely helpful in this discourse, I think, because it can mean any or a combination of so many mental disorders including depression, anxiety, addiction, dementia, schizophrenia, etc.,” Cooney said by e-mail. 

MILAN — Emporio Armani touched the sky with its spring summer 2019 collection by showcasing the fresh and airy looks on the runway of Milan’s Linate Airport and ending the night with a performance by British pop artist Robbie Williams.

Thousands of guests on Thursday had to check-in, pass security and be escorted by airport staff to reach a shiny black runway built on the airport’s tarmac, in the hottest ticket of Milan’s fashion week. 

As the night fell on the show, planes landed in the background, some even parking close to the temporary fashion venue.

Williams wore a sparkling black tuxedo coat matched with a pleated skirt and black sneakers — “can you imagine Armani’s face when I emailed him what I wanted to wear?” the singer told the ecstatic crowd. 

The artist entertained the cheering and dancing audience with his greatest hits, including his latest single “I Love My Life”, as well as George Michael’s “Freedom”. He dedicated Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” to 84-year-old Giorgio Armani, closing the song saying, “You did it your way” and inviting him on stage.

And the extensive Emporio collection that preceded the singer’s show, with hundreds of outfits for both men and women, indeed travelled through the iconic traits of the world-famous designer: easy fits as well as sophisticated looks, the use of different fabrics, both smooth nuances and bold colours, soft feminine cuts and rich details. 

Accompanied by the notes of Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World”, a video with an airplane taking off and a bird’s eye view of Milan’s most famous landmarks set the scene for the show. A giant screen surmounting the square catwalk, lined with fluorescent blue lights, projected Emporio Armani adverts.

Male models, dressed like surfers and carrying their boards, opened the runway show for what was a 20-minute long spectacle of colours, fabrics, shapes and combinations for the new collection of Emporio, one of Giorgio Armani’s clothing lines.

Emporio, which last year absorbed the brands Armani Collezioni and part of Armani Jeans, last September had shun the Milan fashion week, showing its collection in London in the brand’s renovated Bond Street store. 

Sports-inspired layered looks, with lightweight windbreakers and anoraks were alternated with casual looks with ankle-high trousers worn under comfortable cotton jumpers. Models carried light backpacks and wore glasses and hats with flat shoes or sneakers on their feet. 

Soft hues were broken with black trousers matched with white men’s jackets and sailor-like models wearing blue trousers and wide light blue jumpers with “E” and “A” lettering on them opened the way to brighter colours.

Designs included denim overalls, pastel pink matched with lime green. Classic pinstriped blue suits for him were paired with brightly coloured striped short dresses for her.

Deep plunge black dresses with blue fringes and flower embellishments were followed by sparkly green outfits.

In a merry-go-round of colours and shapes on the catwalk designs seamlessly turned from easy-going outfits to sequined evening wear dresses, in a breathtaking show that appeared like a trip through Armani’s design books over the years. 

And like all the best trips, it ended with an airport shuttle bringing you back home.

“Have a wonderful night and keep flying with us”, read an Emporio Armani panel with an eagle logo at the exit of the airport. 

Milan Fashion Week runs until Monday with runway shows from luxury group Tod’s, celebrity acclaimed Versace, Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana still to show their collections in the next days.

A good way to recharge your brain at work might be with a short bout of exercise that does not require much concentration, according to a small study from Japan. 

 “The present study suggests that simple exercise is better than cognitively demanding exercise during working hours,” lead author Keita Kamijo, an assistant professor on the faculty of sports sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo, told Reuters Health by e-mail. 

Kamijo and coauthor Ryuji Abe enrolled 28 men and had them perform tasks that challenge what is known as working memory. Working memory is what allows people to maintain and update information in their brains about things they are working on, such as assignments, goals and strategies. 

The men took the working-memory challenges before, immediately after and 30 minutes after three different test periods on three different days. The test periods were assigned in random order and lasted 25 minutes each. In one, the men simply exercised on a stationary bike. In another, they performed a cognitive task while sitting on the bike, but they did not exercise. And in the third, they did both at the same time: they exercised on the bike and performed a cognitive task. 

Studies have shown that aerobic exercise has a rapid beneficial effect on people’s ability to plan, pay attention, remember and juggle tasks. The researchers expected, therefore, to see improvements in accuracy and reaction times on the working memory challenge after both periods in which the men exercised on the bike, Kamijo said. 

The positive effects of the exercise-only intervention became evident 30 minutes after cycling. 

But the exercise-cognition intervention resulted in “cognitive fatigue”, the investigators reported in the journal, Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise. 

Kamijo said the effects of acute exercise on cognitive function should not greatly differ between the sexes. 

Dr John Ratey, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston, told Reuters Health by phone: “We’ve known for some time that exercise improves working memory...The big take away here is that too much exercise may exhaust your brain for the next little while.” 

To improve your memory and attention span in the short term at work or school, it is best to do exercise not complicated by other demands, said Ratey, who was not involved in the research. 

Tai chi, yoga or high intensity intervals that make your heart rate soar are examples of cognitively challenging exercises that may overwhelm the brain at first, said Ratey. 

For long-term cognition, however, those kinds of exercises are healthy, too. “It is possible that a greater amount of load on the brain is required for chronic improvements in cognitive function, as with the overload principle of strength training,” Kamijo said. 

Whereas we definitely need several elements to satisfy our technology needs and to communicate with the world, one item remains the essential one “to have and to hold” — a good laptop computer.

From a fast fibre optic Internet subscription, to additional devices like a tablet, a smartphone, external hard disks and cloud storage subscription, everything matters and would contribute to a more pleasant experience. Your laptop, however, is the cornerstone of the whole system and every other element revolves around it.

Laptops are irreplaceable for they have proved how versatile, how dependable and how efficient they have become. A good model will run any piece of software at good speed. Through the years the size of the keyboard and the screen have confirmed that they are the most ergonomic and the most adapted to the human body: even the best tablets or smartphones just cannot compete.

With the new batteries and the SSD drives that now are integrated in any laptop made this year, laptops truly make fantastic hardware, with a value for money that is higher than any other equipment. This is true especially when you compare the price of high smartphones with that of an equivalent laptop. Everybody agrees that, all things considered, laptop are less expensive than tablets and smartphones.

“Future compatibility”, one important characteristic of laptops, remains hard if not impossible to control and to secure in advance. It is the certainty that your laptop will be compatible with the next version of the operation you are using — Windows in most cases. Indeed, a computer and the operating system that runs it are two closely linked elements.

When in 2016 and 2017 the majority of users decided to move up to Windows 10, the current world standard, many were disappointed to discover that their laptop was not fully compatible with Windows 10 functionality. This, despite the fact that the said laptop was not old, even by IT standards. Therefore they had to stick to their existing laptop and the older Windows 7, or buy a brand new laptop that could run Windows 10.

So the question is “is there a way to buy a laptop that will guarantee you full compatibility with the successor of Windows 10, whenever such a version would be released?”

Unfortunately there is not. On one hand the IT industry is very unpredictable and on the other Microsoft is hinting at the fact that Windows 10 may well be the last operating system as such. What does this mean in plain English? That there will not be any Windows to use in a while?

It actually means that the distribution and the installation of Windows may evolve to become “a service” (an online service, understand), not anymore a software product you would buy and install, as it has been the case till now. Everything indicates that this is probably what will happen in the near future. If and when this happens the whole notion of “future compatibility” will have a new meaning and consumers — most likely — will not have to worry about it.

This won’t change the essential, central role that laptops play in any working environment, be it at home or in the office. Regardless of future changes or “compatibility uncertainties”, common sense still applies when acquiring a laptop. Pick one of the best top brands: Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, Apple, Fujitsu-Siemens, Samsung, Asus – you cannot go wrong this way. Get a lot of memory, 8GB at least and preferably 16GB. Make sure it has the very latest in terms of communication and ports. There is not much more you can do to protect and to optimise your investment in a laptop.