More Ways to Beat the Heat

By Jemi Ekunkunbor

The effect of the hot sun is beginning to tell on a lot

of Nigerians; preventing many from getting outdoors and inhibiting activities. Here are some ways to beat the harsh effect of the rays and tay healthy and hydrated.

Wear brimmed hats

Wide brimmed hats, baseball caps and other kinds of hats, help keep the sun at bay. Find one that can also pep up your outfit and make you look glamorous.

Wear sleeveless summer dress

Summer cotton dresses are great for this season. They are not only feminine, they are colourful and comfortable to wear. You can also find a sleeveless dress in special occasion wears. If you are not comfortable with a sleeveless dress, decide which sleeve length will be good for you.

Use sunscreen

Apply sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher to all exposed areas of your body. Also, use lip balm to protect your lips. This is particularly important for those up north.

Drink plenty of water

Dehydration is inevitable with the way the sun is blazing. Drink plenty of water and always keep a bottle nearby to quench that thirst.

It is advised to drink at least eight cups of water a day. But with this sun, you need to help yourself to more cups. Drink water before, during and after physical activity.

More American women are going childless

The percentage of U.S. women in their 30s and 40s who are childless is rising, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau show.

Some 15.3 percent of U.S. women aged 40 to 44 were childless in June 2014, up from 15.1 percent in 2012.

Changes in Census’s data processing likely affected its estimates for 2010 to 2012. But even before that, the trend was up: 9.6 percent of women in this age group were childless in 2010, up from 9.2 percent in 2008.

For women in their late 30s, the rise in childlessness is sharper. Around 18.5 percent of women 35 to 39 were childless last June, up from 17.2 percent in 2012.

All told, 47.6 percent of U.S. women aged 15 to 44 were without children last year, up from 46.5 percent in 2012.

The data are the latest to show that childlessness is on the rise in the U.S. as more women (and their partners) delay marriage and childbearing.

Because fertility declines significantly for women in their 40s—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define a woman’s child-bearing years as 15 to 44—demographers carefully watch these women to get a sense of how many children Americans are having, or not.

Texas woman undergoes surgery after breasts swell to 15 lbs each

A Beaumont, Tex., woman has undergone breast reduction surgery after a rare hormonal condition caused her breasts to swell to size 36NNN, BraveheartNaija reported.

Kerisha Marks, a 40-year-old high school social worker, told The  BraveheartNaija in Washington  that she had gigantomastia, a rare medical condition in which breast weight grows up to 3 percent of a person’s body weight.

The condition caused pulled muscles in Marks’ chest, along with severe back pain and emotional distress.

“I could not run or jump or work out at all,” Marks told the newspaper. “I was very limited in a lot of things I could do. I mean, you can’t find a sports bra that size anyway.”

Marks said sometimes the disorder made her feel as if she was having a heart attack. Other times, it would give her a searing migraine that would last hours.