LeAnn Rimes seeks treatment for anxiety, stress

Country singer LeAnn Rimes has entered treatment for anxiety and stress, but is not seeking help for an eating disorder or substance abuse, her spokesman said on Thursday.

Rimes, whose affair with “CSI: Miami” actor Eddie Cibrian while both were married to others caused a scandal three years ago, checked into an unidentified treatment center on Wednesday – the day after her 30th birthday.

“LeAnn has voluntarily entered a 30-day in-patient treatment facility to cope with anxiety and stress,” her publicist Marcel Pariseau said in a statement to People magazine. “While there will be speculation regarding her treatment, she is simply there to learn and develop coping mechanisms.”

Pariseau told the celebrity magazine that the “How Do I Live” singer was not seeking help for substance abuse or an eating disorder, despite recent photos that have sparked debate over her thin figure.

Rimes denied earlier this year that she had anorexia.

The Grammy-winning singer, who became a country music star at age 13, told People that her stay was “just a time for me to emotionally check out for a second and take care of myself and come back in 30 days as the best 30-year-old woman I can be.”

Cibrian, who married Rimes in April 2011 after they both divorced, said his wife had his full support.

Rimes will exit her program to perform some scheduled concerts in September, Pariseau said.

source: interaksyon.com

Zsa Zsa diagnosed with kidney cancer 40 days after Dolphy’s death

“When life situations get rough, I find myself taking deep breaths… And I am ready 2 take on new challenges. Living life. One day at a time.”

That was Zsa Zsa Padilla’s tweet early Sunday morning as news broke out that the already grief-stricken partner of the late, great Comedy King Dolphy had been diagnosed with stage 1 kidney cancer.

Earlier reports stated that the 48-year-old singer-actress was conspicuously absent at the Mass for the 40th day after Dolphy’s death held Saturday because she had left for Los Angeles to seek medical treatment.

She consulted doctors at Cedars Sinai Hospital after her doctors at the Makati Medical Center had detected an abnormal growth in her kidneys.

Zsa Zsa told ABS-CBN News on Sunday that a certain Dr. Folkes, her doctor at the Los Angeles-based medical facility, told her that she has a malignant growth the size of a golf ball.

“The first time I saw Dr. Folkes, he immediately told me it was malignant. So when I heard that word ‘malignant,’ I said, ‘Oh man, I have cancer.’ I went back the next day for blood work and a scan and it showed the same thing — almost a 3 centimeters growth — and he advised for it to be taken out,” Padilla said.

News of her ailment took everyone by surprise, including the very people that form part of her extended Quizon family.

“I just heard about it too,” Ronnie Quizon, one of Dolphy’s 18 children, admitted to Interaksyon.

“Whether it’s confirmed or not, I think, with a little help, it could be cured. I have a friend who was diagnosed with stage 1 cancer before, and now he’s completely cancer-free. We even had common friends who were praying for him before, and have passed on even ahead of us,” Ronnie added.

Zsa Zsa’s colleagues in the industry were also quick to issue statements of support.

“We love you. Get well soon. We are all praying for you,” said fellow singer Gary Valenciano, a co-host at the Sunday noontime show, “ASAP” and a co-star in the upcoming movie musical, “I Do Bidoo Bidoo (Heto nAPO Sila)”.

Twitter was also flooded with an outpouring of support as “Zsa Zsa Padilla” is now a trending topic following the news of her ailment.

rufamaequinto ‏@imrufamaequinto
@zsazsapadilla I love yah

Paolo Valenciano ‏@paolovalenciano
Prayers for sec Robredo and my ninang @zsazsapadilla ….

Luis Manzano ‏@luckymanzano
@zsazsapadilla – we’ll be praying ms. Z! Get well ASAP :)

Angeli Pangilinan V ‏@AngeliPV
Th @ASAPOfficial family has a special message today 4 our dear@zsazsapadilla who has been diagnosed with Stage 1 kidney cancer. #JesusHeals

Janice de Belen ‏@Super_Janice
@zsazsapadilla i am praying for you

RUFFA GUTIERREZ ‏@iloveruffag
Let’s pray for @zsazsapadilla ‘s recovery… RT @ANCALERTS: ZsaZsa Padilla diagnosed with Stage 1 kidney cancer

Gel Santos Relos ‏@GelSantosRelos
@zsazsapadilla Praying for you, Zsa Zsa…may God’s grace keep you strong and faithful, awaiting the Lord’s miracles… A day at a time…

Twinky Lagdameo ‏@twinkylagdameo
@zsazsapadilla praying for you and your family. God is good and He heals! We are behind you all the way. God bless you.

bianca gonzalez ‏@iamsuperbianca
staying hopeful! praying for miss @zsazsapadilla. RT @ANCALERTSZsa Zsa Padilla diagnosed with Stage 1 kidney cancer

Mark Aranal ‏@direkmarky
Pls pray for Zsa Zsa Padilla who is diagnosed with stage 1 kidney cancer. I worked with her when I directed an independence day concert.

source: interaksyon.com

Xbox Kinect hacks set innovation in motion

London (CNN) -- Microsoft's popular Kinect for Xbox 360 has inspired countless ingenious "hacks" since its launch at the end of 2010.

The motion-sensing device has been modified to produce everything from real-time light sabers to nifty trash bins which catch your garbage (however bad your aim), proving a catalyst for creativity and invention.

Today, Kinect's reach extends far beyond its gaming origins, spurring advances in medical treatment.

Researchers at the UK's University of Southampton, for example, are using the technology to help patients recovering from a stroke.

A specially devised algorithm enables therapists to remotely track patients' hand and finger movements and guide them through exercises which compliment a wider program of physiotherapy.

"It widens our opportunities to make rehabilitation more accessible to people in their homes," says Cheryl Metcalf, lecturer in Biomechanics at Southampton.

"(Patients) can just plug it into their TV and be monitored over the internet," she said. "The whole tele-medicine idea opens up so many different avenues to be able to look and measure progress objectively."

Aided by electrical engineering company Roke Manor Research, Metcalf and colleagues have created a prototype which is currently being assessed against the traditional laboratory-based system.

It's an accessible technology which people are more willing to accept, says Metcalf, and Microsoft have been very supportive.

"We're very grateful to them for releasing the (Kinect for Windows) SDK (software development kit) and making it more accessible to people," she said.

The kit has been a hit with developers with downloads in the "hundreds of thousands" since its release 18 months ago, according to Microsoft.

The company itself has been busy looking at ways to exploit the technology through its network of research laboratories around the world.

At Microsoft Research's UK base in Cambridge, scientists are currently trialing a new imaging tool for surgeons.

"Touchless Interaction in Medical Imaging" gives surgeons the power to manipulate scans and medical images on a computer screen using hand gestures.

Doctors at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and London's St Thomas' Hospital have been impressed with the equipment, says Helena Mentis, one of the Microsoft Research team working on the project.

"They've all been extremely excited to be able to have hands-on manipulation of imaging data that they are so reliant on, particularly with the push towards minimally invasive surgery," Mentis said.

Dr Tom Carrell, vascular surgeon at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, says Kinect has the potential to radically change surgery.

"With Kinect, we could revolutionize the way we do complex operations. Patients will spend less time in theater, and surgeons will be more in control of the information they need," Carrell said in a statement.

Kinect's influence could extend further says Mentis, manipulating 3-D models of the brain for neurosurgery and expanding touchless interaction into a whole suite of surgical tools.

Back in Southampton, the same optimism persists about the progress that can be made using Kinect for Windows.

Metcalf predicts that a commercially viable tool for stroke patients will be achieved within five years and that this flurry of activity is only the beginning.

"The other work that's going on around the world in different domains means we can all learn from each other as well," she said. "It just pushes the whole field forward."

source: CNN