The political crisis caused by the ongoing revelations of MPs' expenses claims has resulted in two-thirds of voters now saying Gordon Brown should call a general election before Christmas, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today.
More than half of voters believe the prime minister must go to the country before the process of constitutional change can begin, and more than a third of respondents believe that an election should be held as soon as possible.
The poll also finds that more than a quarter of voters are planning to reject the Westminster establishment in next month's European elections in favour of minority parties.
The findings reflect deep-seated public anger over the way politicians have played the allowances system and spent taxpayers' money, and they come as revelations about MPs' expenses claims continued to send shockwaves through Westminster.
Last night former SAS man John Wick publicly admitted that he was the go-between who took a computer disk containing the expenses information from an unnamed source to the Daily Telegraph. He said he hoped his actions would create "a better parliament".
Yesterday the Labour party announced that the Norwich North MP, Ian Gibson, will become the fourth to be referred to its national executive committee after it emerged he had claimed parliamentary expenses on a flat where his daughter was living. Gibson subsequently sold the flat to his daughter at a knockdown price.
The Conservative leader, David Cameron, meanwhile slapped down two backbenchers, Nadine Dorries and Anthony Steen, who complained about how details of MPs' expenses are being made public.
Commenting on a blog written by Dorries speculating about MPs killing themselves over the crisis, Cameron said MPs ought to be worried about what their constituents think. And, asked about Steen's radio interview saying "jealousy" explained why voters were so angry, Cameron said: "One more squeak like that and he will have the whip taken away from him so fast his feet won't touch the ground." Cameron yesterday renewed his call for an early poll.
In an interview in the Guardian today, the new archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, attacks "fallible and flawed" MPs, saying they "have fiddled their system" and given in to the "easy temptation to greed". "The challenge is not to hide behind the rules, but to manifest the kind of virtue that we need," said Nichols.
Yesterday in the Times the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, acknowledged the gravity of the scandal, but added: "Many will now be wondering whether the point has not been adequately made: the continuing systematic humiliation of politicians itself threatens to carry a heavy price in terms of our ability to salvage some confidence in our democracy."
The poll found that 36% of respondents believe an election should be held as soon as possible. Another 30% said they wanted an election before Christmas – suggesting that two-thirds of voters want to go to the polls in 2009.
Only 30% said the election should be delayed until 2010 (Gordon Brown cannot leave it later than June 2010). 55% said they believe Brown should go to the country before the process of constitutional reform could begin. Unsurprisingly, Tories were most in favour of an early election, with 48% of those who voted Tory in 2005 favouring an early poll, but one in four Labour voters also said they wanted a poll soon.
Though Brown has unveiled plans to replace parliament's centuries-old system of self-regulation, only 31% of voters believe that these moves will be enough.
ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,010 adults aged 18+ by telephone between 20 and 21 May 2009. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. Percentages may not add to 100 because of rounding. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Cigarette makers lose US appeal
A US appeals court has largely upheld a landmark ruling that cigarette makers lied about the health risks of smoking.
Washington's Court of Appeals rejected an appeal by tobacco firms against a 2006 decision that banned labels such as "low tar" and "light".
Companies including Philip Morris USA were found guilty of racketeering and fraud over the issue.
Judges upheld the previous ruling, but excluded one firm and two trade groups from their judgement.
They ruled that the trade bodies - Council for Tobacco Research-USA and Tobacco Institute - had not made or sold products, so could be excluded.
And the firm Liggett was excused because it had co-operated with the authorities and acknowledged health risks.
But the judges rejected an argument from the other tobacco firms that they had never claimed that "light" cigarettes were less harmful.
"Defendants knew of their falsity at the time and made the statements with the intent to deceive," Friday's ruling said.
Denials
The 2006 ruling said firms had set up a "gentlemen's agreement" not to compete over whose cigarettes were the least damaging to health.
Lawyers for the tobacco companies denied that they had conspired to avoid public discussion of health risks.
The original ruling also required firms to issue "corrective statements" about health effects and addiction.
It has not been applied while the case has been under appeal.
Murray Garnick, lawyer for tobacco firm Altria - the parent company of Philip Morris - said the court's ruling was "not supported by the law or the evidence presented at trial".
"We believe the exceptional importance of these issues justifies further review," he said.
Other companies that were contesting the 2006 ruling included British American Tobacco, Lorillard Tobacco, RJ Reynolds Tobacco, and Brown & Williamson Tobacco.
The companies are now likely to take their appeal before the US Supreme Court, although commentators say that their chances of success are slim.
In a decision last December on an unrelated case, the Supreme Court ruled that smokers can sue tobacco firms over the misleading marketing of "light" or "low tar" cigarettes
Washington's Court of Appeals rejected an appeal by tobacco firms against a 2006 decision that banned labels such as "low tar" and "light".
Companies including Philip Morris USA were found guilty of racketeering and fraud over the issue.
Judges upheld the previous ruling, but excluded one firm and two trade groups from their judgement.
They ruled that the trade bodies - Council for Tobacco Research-USA and Tobacco Institute - had not made or sold products, so could be excluded.
And the firm Liggett was excused because it had co-operated with the authorities and acknowledged health risks.
But the judges rejected an argument from the other tobacco firms that they had never claimed that "light" cigarettes were less harmful.
"Defendants knew of their falsity at the time and made the statements with the intent to deceive," Friday's ruling said.
Denials
The 2006 ruling said firms had set up a "gentlemen's agreement" not to compete over whose cigarettes were the least damaging to health.
Lawyers for the tobacco companies denied that they had conspired to avoid public discussion of health risks.
The original ruling also required firms to issue "corrective statements" about health effects and addiction.
It has not been applied while the case has been under appeal.
Murray Garnick, lawyer for tobacco firm Altria - the parent company of Philip Morris - said the court's ruling was "not supported by the law or the evidence presented at trial".
"We believe the exceptional importance of these issues justifies further review," he said.
Other companies that were contesting the 2006 ruling included British American Tobacco, Lorillard Tobacco, RJ Reynolds Tobacco, and Brown & Williamson Tobacco.
The companies are now likely to take their appeal before the US Supreme Court, although commentators say that their chances of success are slim.
In a decision last December on an unrelated case, the Supreme Court ruled that smokers can sue tobacco firms over the misleading marketing of "light" or "low tar" cigarettes
Burma's Suu Kyi claims innocence
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on trial for breaking the terms of her house arrest, has told a court she committed no crime, her lawyer says.
She spoke after five days of evidence from prosecution witnesses.
The UN Security Council has renewed demands for all political prisoners to be freed and called on Burma's military rulers to open talks with Ms Suu Kyi.
She had been due for release on 27 May, but the charges she faces carry a maximum of five years in jail.
The authorities say she breached the conditions of her latest period of house arrest by allowing US national John Yettaw to stay in her home.
Observers say Burma's military rulers are using the charges as a pretext to keep her in jail during a general election scheduled for next year.
Rapid prosecution
In a press statement, the Security Council called for all political prisoners to be freed and to "create the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue" with Ms Suu Kyi and other political groups.
"The members of the Security Council express their concern about the political impact of recent developments related to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the statement said.
Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said the presiding judge officially accepted the charges against her at the end of the prosecution case - which came much more rapidly than people had thought it would.
Prosecutors had been expected to call 22 witnesses, but the lawyer told the BBC's Burmese service that in the event far fewer had actually taken the stand.
He said the judge asked Ms Suu Kyi whether she was guilty, and she replied: "I have no guilt as I didn't commit any crime."
The trial, which is being held behind closed doors at Rangoon's Insein jail, is expected resume on Monday when her defence will present its case.
'Assassination dream'
Mr Yettaw, who swam across a lake to reach her house, is also on trial in Insein jail.
He is reported to have testified that he made the visit because he had dreamt that she was going to be assassinated.
Ms Suu Kyi's lawyers say she tried to send the man away but he refused to go.
He was then allowed to stay only because he said he was exhausted.
The ruling generals say the incident was a stunt designed to embarrass the government.
Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted as saying the incident had been fabricated by "internal and external anti-government elements" to "intensify international pressure" on the regime.
International condemnation
Ms Suu Kyi's trial opened on Monday behind closed doors.
Burma's ruling junta allowed some diplomats and journalists into the proceedings on Wednesday, only to bar them again the following day.
Governments and rights groups have condemned the trial - and diplomats have said they expect Ms Suu Kyi to be found guilty.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years.
The party she leads, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won the country's last general election in 1990 - but she was never allowed to take power.
The ruling generals have scheduled an election for next year - but have written a new constitution which carves out a major role for the military in any new government.
She spoke after five days of evidence from prosecution witnesses.
The UN Security Council has renewed demands for all political prisoners to be freed and called on Burma's military rulers to open talks with Ms Suu Kyi.
She had been due for release on 27 May, but the charges she faces carry a maximum of five years in jail.
The authorities say she breached the conditions of her latest period of house arrest by allowing US national John Yettaw to stay in her home.
Observers say Burma's military rulers are using the charges as a pretext to keep her in jail during a general election scheduled for next year.
Rapid prosecution
In a press statement, the Security Council called for all political prisoners to be freed and to "create the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue" with Ms Suu Kyi and other political groups.
"The members of the Security Council express their concern about the political impact of recent developments related to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the statement said.
Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said the presiding judge officially accepted the charges against her at the end of the prosecution case - which came much more rapidly than people had thought it would.
Prosecutors had been expected to call 22 witnesses, but the lawyer told the BBC's Burmese service that in the event far fewer had actually taken the stand.
He said the judge asked Ms Suu Kyi whether she was guilty, and she replied: "I have no guilt as I didn't commit any crime."
The trial, which is being held behind closed doors at Rangoon's Insein jail, is expected resume on Monday when her defence will present its case.
'Assassination dream'
Mr Yettaw, who swam across a lake to reach her house, is also on trial in Insein jail.
He is reported to have testified that he made the visit because he had dreamt that she was going to be assassinated.
Ms Suu Kyi's lawyers say she tried to send the man away but he refused to go.
He was then allowed to stay only because he said he was exhausted.
The ruling generals say the incident was a stunt designed to embarrass the government.
Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted as saying the incident had been fabricated by "internal and external anti-government elements" to "intensify international pressure" on the regime.
International condemnation
Ms Suu Kyi's trial opened on Monday behind closed doors.
Burma's ruling junta allowed some diplomats and journalists into the proceedings on Wednesday, only to bar them again the following day.
Governments and rights groups have condemned the trial - and diplomats have said they expect Ms Suu Kyi to be found guilty.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years.
The party she leads, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won the country's last general election in 1990 - but she was never allowed to take power.
The ruling generals have scheduled an election for next year - but have written a new constitution which carves out a major role for the military in any new government.
How Sri Lanka's military won
Few believed him when Sri Lanka's powerful defence secretary said he required three years to defeat the once invincible Tamil Tiger rebels.
When Gotabaya Rajapaksa made the assertion, the Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [LTTE], controlled nearly one third of the country, had a well-organised, ruthless fighting unit, sufficient stocks of heavy weapons, a small navy and a rudimentary air force.
They had no problems of fresh supplies as they had enough resources pouring in from their supporters abroad and through their commercial ventures.
Only a handful of military analysts believed that the rebels could be wiped out completely.
Today, Sri Lanka is among the few nations that can say it has successfully quelled a nearly three-decade insurgency by military means.
The entire rebel-held territory has been captured, huge caches of weapons have been recovered and destroyed, and the entire Tamil Tiger leadership is thought to have been wiped out.
So what led to the military success of a force that had been at the receiving end for many years?
'No ambiguity'
"So many factors have contributed to the success of the Sri Lankan forces. There was a clear aim and mandate from the political level to the official level and to the military level to destroy the LTTE at any cost. There was no ambiguity in that," Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the BBC.
When the current president, his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, came to power in 2005, he made it clear that he would go all out against the rebels if they were not sincere in peace talks.
Once the peace process failed, he gave the go ahead for the war to his brother and the hard line army commander Gen Sarath Fonseka.
A massive recruitment drive for the armed forces was launched (it increased from about 80,000 to more than 160,000). New weapons, including fighter jets, artillery guns and multi-barrel rocket launchers were bought from countries like China, Pakistan and Russia and new military strategies and tactics were evolved.
"That was the time when the international community was totally disappointed with the rebels because of their insincerity in peace talks. So countries like India and the US gave their tacit support for the all-out offensive against the LTTE," says Sri Lankan analyst DBS Jeyaraj.
Hostilities between the two sides broke out first in Eastern Province in August 2006. After months of intense battles, the government declared it had completely dislodged the rebels from the east.
One of the main reasons for the rebels' eastern debacle was the split in 2004 - when the Tigers' influential eastern commander, Col Karuna, broke away because of differences with the leadership.
"The LTTE could never recover from that. Thousands of fighters went away with Karuna and the LTTE could not recruit fresh cadres from the east, dealing a severe blow to their manpower. They struggled hard to replace fallen cadres in the subsequent northern battle," says Col R Hariharan, former chief of military intelligence of the Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990.
It was only a matter of time before the Sri Lankan military launched the second phase of its offensive to recapture the rebel strongholds in the north.
In the meantime, the Sri Lankan navy had also hunted and destroyed many Tamil Tiger supply ships in deep seas, dealing a crucial blow to the rebels.
Battlefield plans
The army also changed its tactics and became better able to cope with the kind of warfare waged by the guerrillas.
Small teams of commandoes were sent behind enemy lines to carry out attacks against rebel leaders and key defence lines.
The military also started to stretch them thin by opening up a number of fronts in the north.
The Tamil Tigers had no answer to the bombing missions by air force jets.
"The rebels never knew about the battlefield plans. We surprised them in many areas. For example, they didn't expect me to capture the strategically important town of Paranthan, near Kilinochchi, by outflanking them," Brig Shavendra Silva, commander of the Sri Lankan army's 58th division, told the BBC in a recent interview from the frontline.
The capture of Paranthan forced the rebels to withdraw from the strategically important Elephant Pass, a small land bridge that connects northern Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the country.
From Paranthan, Sri Lankan security forces battled their way into the Tamil Tiger de-facto capital of Kilinochchi.
The 58th division, which is credited with a series of military successes against the rebels, battled hard to forge ahead from Mannar up to Matalan beach on the eastern coast in Mullaitivu district.
"It was not an easy walk. But we went ahead with a huge momentum and kept our pace and there were clear-cut instructions and leadership from our superiors," Brig Silva said.
But many argue that the military's success has come at an enormous humanitarian cost.
The UN believes that nearly 7,000 civilians may have been killed and 13,000 injured in the conflict since January.
Aid agencies say around 275,000 people have been displaced.
A number of villages and towns have either been damaged or destroyed.
Both the military and the rebels are being accused of gross violations of international humanitarian law. The two sides deny the charges.
"The Sri Lankan military juggernaut cruised ahead despite mounting civilian casualties. The rebels thought the international community, especially neighbouring India, would intervene looking at the civilian suffering and bring about a ceasefire in the final stages. When that did not happen, they ran out of options," says Mr Jeyaraj.
When Gotabaya Rajapaksa made the assertion, the Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [LTTE], controlled nearly one third of the country, had a well-organised, ruthless fighting unit, sufficient stocks of heavy weapons, a small navy and a rudimentary air force.
They had no problems of fresh supplies as they had enough resources pouring in from their supporters abroad and through their commercial ventures.
Only a handful of military analysts believed that the rebels could be wiped out completely.
Today, Sri Lanka is among the few nations that can say it has successfully quelled a nearly three-decade insurgency by military means.
The entire rebel-held territory has been captured, huge caches of weapons have been recovered and destroyed, and the entire Tamil Tiger leadership is thought to have been wiped out.
So what led to the military success of a force that had been at the receiving end for many years?
'No ambiguity'
"So many factors have contributed to the success of the Sri Lankan forces. There was a clear aim and mandate from the political level to the official level and to the military level to destroy the LTTE at any cost. There was no ambiguity in that," Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the BBC.
When the current president, his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, came to power in 2005, he made it clear that he would go all out against the rebels if they were not sincere in peace talks.
Once the peace process failed, he gave the go ahead for the war to his brother and the hard line army commander Gen Sarath Fonseka.
A massive recruitment drive for the armed forces was launched (it increased from about 80,000 to more than 160,000). New weapons, including fighter jets, artillery guns and multi-barrel rocket launchers were bought from countries like China, Pakistan and Russia and new military strategies and tactics were evolved.
"That was the time when the international community was totally disappointed with the rebels because of their insincerity in peace talks. So countries like India and the US gave their tacit support for the all-out offensive against the LTTE," says Sri Lankan analyst DBS Jeyaraj.
Hostilities between the two sides broke out first in Eastern Province in August 2006. After months of intense battles, the government declared it had completely dislodged the rebels from the east.
One of the main reasons for the rebels' eastern debacle was the split in 2004 - when the Tigers' influential eastern commander, Col Karuna, broke away because of differences with the leadership.
"The LTTE could never recover from that. Thousands of fighters went away with Karuna and the LTTE could not recruit fresh cadres from the east, dealing a severe blow to their manpower. They struggled hard to replace fallen cadres in the subsequent northern battle," says Col R Hariharan, former chief of military intelligence of the Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990.
It was only a matter of time before the Sri Lankan military launched the second phase of its offensive to recapture the rebel strongholds in the north.
In the meantime, the Sri Lankan navy had also hunted and destroyed many Tamil Tiger supply ships in deep seas, dealing a crucial blow to the rebels.
Battlefield plans
The army also changed its tactics and became better able to cope with the kind of warfare waged by the guerrillas.
Small teams of commandoes were sent behind enemy lines to carry out attacks against rebel leaders and key defence lines.
The military also started to stretch them thin by opening up a number of fronts in the north.
The Tamil Tigers had no answer to the bombing missions by air force jets.
"The rebels never knew about the battlefield plans. We surprised them in many areas. For example, they didn't expect me to capture the strategically important town of Paranthan, near Kilinochchi, by outflanking them," Brig Shavendra Silva, commander of the Sri Lankan army's 58th division, told the BBC in a recent interview from the frontline.
The capture of Paranthan forced the rebels to withdraw from the strategically important Elephant Pass, a small land bridge that connects northern Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the country.
From Paranthan, Sri Lankan security forces battled their way into the Tamil Tiger de-facto capital of Kilinochchi.
The 58th division, which is credited with a series of military successes against the rebels, battled hard to forge ahead from Mannar up to Matalan beach on the eastern coast in Mullaitivu district.
"It was not an easy walk. But we went ahead with a huge momentum and kept our pace and there were clear-cut instructions and leadership from our superiors," Brig Silva said.
But many argue that the military's success has come at an enormous humanitarian cost.
The UN believes that nearly 7,000 civilians may have been killed and 13,000 injured in the conflict since January.
Aid agencies say around 275,000 people have been displaced.
A number of villages and towns have either been damaged or destroyed.
Both the military and the rebels are being accused of gross violations of international humanitarian law. The two sides deny the charges.
"The Sri Lankan military juggernaut cruised ahead despite mounting civilian casualties. The rebels thought the international community, especially neighbouring India, would intervene looking at the civilian suffering and bring about a ceasefire in the final stages. When that did not happen, they ran out of options," says Mr Jeyaraj.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Varun Gandhi 'misbehaves' with journalists
Controversy is not leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) poster boy Varun Gandhi. Hogging the limelight for sometime for his alleged anti-Muslim speeches, the young Lok Sabha MP is now caught in a row with journalists.
A group of Uttar Pradesh scribes Thursday accused Varun Gandhi, the BJP MP from Pilibhit of "misbehaviour" and sought security from the Pilibhit district administration while covering his programmes.
About 30 journalists from different media houses submitted a memorandum at the district magistrate's office.
"We have asked the district administration to provide security to media persons during programmes of Varun Gandhi," president of Pilibhit Journalist Association Mohan Kumar told IANS.
Kumar alleged that Varun Gandhi misbehaved with some reporters May 19 when they approached him for his comments over the BJP's poor performance in the state.
"Varun got angry and he along with his security personnel even attacked journalists of some TV news channels. Varun also damaged the camera of a TV journalist," Kumar said.
District magistrate Ajay Chauhan said he was yet to receive the memorandum. "From local newspapers I have come to know that Varun Gandhi allegedly manhandled some journalists," Chauhan told IANS.
"We will take steps accordingly after going through the memorandum," he added.
A group of Uttar Pradesh scribes Thursday accused Varun Gandhi, the BJP MP from Pilibhit of "misbehaviour" and sought security from the Pilibhit district administration while covering his programmes.
About 30 journalists from different media houses submitted a memorandum at the district magistrate's office.
"We have asked the district administration to provide security to media persons during programmes of Varun Gandhi," president of Pilibhit Journalist Association Mohan Kumar told IANS.
Kumar alleged that Varun Gandhi misbehaved with some reporters May 19 when they approached him for his comments over the BJP's poor performance in the state.
"Varun got angry and he along with his security personnel even attacked journalists of some TV news channels. Varun also damaged the camera of a TV journalist," Kumar said.
District magistrate Ajay Chauhan said he was yet to receive the memorandum. "From local newspapers I have come to know that Varun Gandhi allegedly manhandled some journalists," Chauhan told IANS.
"We will take steps accordingly after going through the memorandum," he added.
Two held for corporate blackmail
Two commoners tried to blackmail a Rs 150,771-crore corporate giant. They demanded Rs 50 lakh – Rs 10 lakh of that as initial payment.
The deal they offered in exchange: an affidavit in Mumbai High Court against Reliance Industries Ltd’s merger with Reliance Petro-leum Ltd would be withdrawn.
Jayendra Shah and Dilip Motwani are now in police custody.
The Reliance Group flagship, RIL, is India’s largest private sector enterprise and a Fortune Global 500 company.
An RIL spokesman told HT, “As this is corporate blackmailing, we filed a police complaint. They have arrested these two people.”
The police also suspect the two are not petty fortune hunters. Shah used to say during his threat calls to RIL officials that as he was assigned by some Mumbai-based people, he would need to consult them before withdrawing the petition.
“It seems a perfectly worked-out game plan. First file a petition, follow it up with letters to the Registrar of Companies and then leak the details to the media,” said the RIL spokesman. “Somebody is definitely trying to malign the group.”
The duo was produced in a local court and remanded to two-day police custody.
The deal they offered in exchange: an affidavit in Mumbai High Court against Reliance Industries Ltd’s merger with Reliance Petro-leum Ltd would be withdrawn.
Jayendra Shah and Dilip Motwani are now in police custody.
The Reliance Group flagship, RIL, is India’s largest private sector enterprise and a Fortune Global 500 company.
An RIL spokesman told HT, “As this is corporate blackmailing, we filed a police complaint. They have arrested these two people.”
The police also suspect the two are not petty fortune hunters. Shah used to say during his threat calls to RIL officials that as he was assigned by some Mumbai-based people, he would need to consult them before withdrawing the petition.
“It seems a perfectly worked-out game plan. First file a petition, follow it up with letters to the Registrar of Companies and then leak the details to the media,” said the RIL spokesman. “Somebody is definitely trying to malign the group.”
The duo was produced in a local court and remanded to two-day police custody.
'Dowager's hump' may bode early death
Technically, it's called hyperkyphosis; untechnically, it's called dowager's hump.
Whatever you call the condition -- an excessive forward curve of the upper spine often seen in elderly women -- it appears to be connected to a higher rate of earlier death in those who also have vertebral fractures.
In a study published in the May 19 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers at UCLA found that the greater the curvature, the higher the risk of death within the study period. This held true regardless of age, the problems caused by the basic spinal osteoporosis or the severity of the fractures.
Here's the release from UCLA;
the abstract from the journal;
basic information about the condition from osteopenia3.com;
and a blog, Dowagers Humps, that though not especially active, does appear to target folks looking for practical solutions and support.
As for what women can do to improve their quality of life, a small unrelated pilot study, also from UCLA and published in the American Journal of Public Health a couple of years ago, found that yoga might help produce better posture in women with hyperkyphosis.
Those researchers said such improvements could have included "increased strength and flexibility (attested to by improvements in physical function measures) and heightened attention to alignment (as reflected in women’s diary entries)."
Whatever you call the condition -- an excessive forward curve of the upper spine often seen in elderly women -- it appears to be connected to a higher rate of earlier death in those who also have vertebral fractures.
In a study published in the May 19 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers at UCLA found that the greater the curvature, the higher the risk of death within the study period. This held true regardless of age, the problems caused by the basic spinal osteoporosis or the severity of the fractures.
Here's the release from UCLA;
the abstract from the journal;
basic information about the condition from osteopenia3.com;
and a blog, Dowagers Humps, that though not especially active, does appear to target folks looking for practical solutions and support.
As for what women can do to improve their quality of life, a small unrelated pilot study, also from UCLA and published in the American Journal of Public Health a couple of years ago, found that yoga might help produce better posture in women with hyperkyphosis.
Those researchers said such improvements could have included "increased strength and flexibility (attested to by improvements in physical function measures) and heightened attention to alignment (as reflected in women’s diary entries)."
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