A 18-year-old girl in Batken, Kyrgyzstan went through a hair-raising medical procedure in order to have a nine-pound hairball removed from her stomach.

Ayperi Alekseeva was admitted into a hospital recently after she complained of stomach pains so severe that she was unable to eat anything, or even drink water.

X-rays revealed the hairy blockage and realized they needed to operate quickly.

“It was actually the only alternative, nothing else would solve the problem," surgeon Bahadir Bebezov said, according to News.com.au.
Bebezov said the hairball formed in Alekseeva's stomach because she had a nasty habit of picking up hair from the carpet and eating it and also chewing the tips of her hair.

"In fact her stomach was so badly swollen from hair and bits of wool from the carpet that it literally just oozed out as soon as the wall of the stomach was cut," Bebezov said according to the Telegraph.

After going through the ordeal of major surgery, Alekseeva has promised her hair-eating days are over.

She's not the only person who paid a price for having a bizarre taste in snack foods.

In October, 2012, doctors in Indore, India removed a hair ball weighing nearly four pounds from the stomach and small intestine of a 19-year-old girl.

Like Alekseeva, she too had a taste for hair, but combined it with chalk.

Movie stars get it done. Fashion models get it done. Television personalities get it done.

Many famous people turn to facelifts in order to appear younger. While it's true that these options can tighten loose skin and reduce fine wrinkles, there are many detrimental side effects and risks associated with getting a facelift.

    Pain - Lasting 2 weeks to 6 months
    Numbness - For 6-8 months, and up to 18 month around stitch lines
    Swelling - You may be unrecognizable for weeks
    Bruising - Up to 8 weeks of looking battered
    Surgery Risks - Including infection, adverse reaction to the anesthesia, failure to properly heal, or a doctor who goes "too far" once you're on the table.

Facelifts can also be expensive. Between the operating room rental, anesthesia, the physician's fee and other associated costs, people can pay between eight and fifteen thousand dollars. This isn't for a high-end celebrity plastic surgeon,  simply a reputable practice—and while you may find cheaper rates at some medical practices, you really shouldn't go to a discount doctor when having work done on your face.

Needless to say, for most people, that's a lot of money to spend on an elective procedure. But what's surprising is that even some famous A-listers are skipping facelifts, turning instead to the rare charentais cantaloupe, found in a remote region in the south of France, to help preserve their perfect skin.

Here’s the second surprise: The ingredient is not only affordable, it’s part of a great skincare system that’s available to women everywhere.

The Youth Molecule
The secret is actually a powerful super-antioxidant called superoxide dismutase or SOD. SOD has been referred to as a "youth molecule" for its miraculous age-defying properties, and is believed to be one of the most powerful antioxidants known to science.

The use of SOD as an anti-aging agent was pioneered by one of Europe’s premier skin doctors, Jean Louis Sebaugh. Dr. Sebaugh noticed that melons containing SOD decayed at a much slower rate than melons that lacked the nutrient (see image).

With this in mind, Dr. Sebaugh tested SOD as part of a skin care regimen and was amazed by its ability to restore the appearance of youth and vitality. From those results he created a first-of-its-kind skincare regime using this rare melon extract and called it Meaningful Beauty®.

Already popular among in-the-know stars and models, Meaningful Beauty's new Advanced Anti-Aging System helps smooth the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, adds radiance to your complexion, preserves skin’s youthful vibrancy, and protects it from environmental damage. It’s naturally enriched with SOD, as well as other powerful ingredients such as coenzyme Q10, lipoic acid, and restorative minerals.

Clean Hands Save Lives

Many women are dismayed to see hair falling out in clumps, either following childbirth, during or after menopause or due to other causes. While some daily hair loss is normal, thinning hair and partial baldness is a frightening prospect for women. What causes hair loss in women and what natural treatments are available that are not chemically based or dangerous to health?

Causes of Hair Loss in Women

There are various reasons why a woman's hair may thin or fall out. If hair loss occurs as a result of an underlying condition or disease, the specific condition needs to be treated first.

A woman's hair loss is different to the typical receding hairline and crown loss in men. Instead, androgenetic alopecia causes a general thinning of women's hair, with loss predominantly over the top and sides of the head. Hair loss or thinning hair can be the result of:

Shampoos, dyes and hair products - shampoos, conditioners and hair colorants often contain harmful chemicals and ingredients that strip or damage hair and may even cause hair to fall out over time. Typically, there are around 10-20 types of synthetic chemicals in commercially manufactured shampoo. Always shop for an organic, natural shampoo in order to prevent damage to the hair.

Childbirth - it is common to lose hair around 3 months after childbirth. This is a result of hormone levels adjusting after pregnancy. This is a temporary problem and hair should return to its pre-pregnancy state within 6 - 12 months.

Menopause - hormonal imbalance is the most common reason for thinning hair in older women. Estrogen levels drop as a woman goes through menopause and other hormones such as DHT (dihydrotestosterone) can become imbalanced, affecting hair growth. Although female hormones may not have as much impact on hair loss as male hormones, it is still a factor when it comes to hair loss in women.

Hair loss can be the result of exposure to nuclear radiation, X-rays, anti-cancer drugs or a severe nutritional deficiency, stress, flu, pneumonia or typhoid fever.

Natural Treatments for Hair Loss in Women

A homeopath may prescribe lycopodium for hair loss after childbirth and sepia for hair loss related to menopause and childbirth. See a qualified homeopath for correct diagnosis and treatment.

An herbalist may suggest a daily intake of rosemary tea to improve circulation to the head. Rinsing the hair with nettle vinegar is said to lessen hair loss. Three herbs for balancing female hormones are dong quai, chaste tree berry, and wild yam. Combined, these herbs make a great formula for balancing female hormone levels. Always consult an herbalist for a specific condition since certain herbs can be toxic if taken in excess.

Increase intake of vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, choline and inositol to help the hair to grow and remain healthy.

Cutting down on alcohol and sugar and eliminating nutritionally deficient junk food from the diet can slow down hair loss. Stick to a natural, healthy diet that includes good fats, protein, whole grains and plenty of organically grown fruits and vegetables in order to prevent hair loss and thinning hair. If hair loss is the result of hormonal imbalance, eat foods such as rice, potatoes, wheat, yams, apples and alfalfa. Regular exercise will help with overall health and reduce stress levels.

A Texas woman who lost all four limbs to a flesh-eating bacteria has been approved for a double arm transplant at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital in what will be the first such procedure performed in the United States.

Katy Hayes, 44, of Kingwood, Texas, will receive two new arms above the elbow. The hospital is working with a regional organ donor bank to find a donor. The surgery has not yet been scheduled.

"I have the determination to make these arms my own," Hayes said at a news conference in Boston. "I want my life back. I want to hold my children. I want to hug my husband."

Hayes contracted a life-threatening Group A Streptococcal infection after giving birth to her third child in February 2010. She lost her large intestine and her uterus as well as her limbs.

The transplant could give Hayes the ability to flex and extend her elbows and to lift herself out of a wheelchair.

The level of function she will acquire, especially in her new hands, is uncertain, said Bohdan Pomahac, director of plastic surgery transplantation at the Brigham.

Hayes and her family moved from Texas in July to prepare for the surgery. She has been undergoing psychological and physical screening at the hospital to determine her eligibility for the grueling surgery and long recovery.

Among other things, the former massage therapist said she is looking forward to wearing her wedding ring again. "When you don't have hands, you can't wear rings," she said.

The world's first double above-the-elbow arm transplant was performed in Germany in 2008 on a farmer who had lost both limbs in a farming accident.

Brigham and Women's has done two double hand transplants in the past few years, and a few other U.S. hospitals have performed the hand surgeries.

Arm transplants are considered less difficult, technically, than hand transplants, but the recovery is more challenging and the potential nerve connections more tenuous. (Reporting By Ros Krasny)

Twenty-three-year-old Lizzie Velasquez was born without any adipose tissue -- meaning she has no fat on her body.

As a result, she weighs just 58 pounds, even though she eats as many as 60 times a day, the Daily Mail reported. she has been the subject of cyberbullying and stares when she walks out in public, she recently revealed to Dr. Drew Pinsky on HLN.

Some cyberbullies even dubbed her the "ugliest woman in the world," because of her appearance due to her medical condition, she said.

"It's not easy, I will be the first to tell you it's not easy," Velasquez told Dr. Drew. "I may have this outer exterior of people saying, 'She can handle everything, she's dealt with this for so long,' and to be honest, I'm human and of course these things are going to hurt."

Back in 2010, The Telegraph reported that Velasquez consumes 5,000 to 8,000 calories a day -- eating food every 15 minutes. But because of the condition, the Texas State University in San Marcos student has never weighed much more than 60 pounds, she wrote in the description of her book that came out earlier this year, titled "Be Beautiful, Be You."
Velasquez's condition is extremely rare; she is just one of three people in the entire world to have it, she noted in her book description.

The Telegraph reported that doctors believe she may have something called Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome. It is a condition that leads to premature aging, but is different from the more common aging disorder, progeria, according to the National Institutes of Health. It is characterized by wrinkled skin, not much fat, a large head, a face that looks aged and visible veins in the scalp.

"I think the biggest things I have to deal with is constantly people staring at me as soon as I walk into a room," Velasquez told Dr. Drew. "Recently, it's been a lot of adults I've been having to deal with who will slowly walk in front of me and turn their heads, and look me up and down. So the stares are what I'm really dealing with in public right now."

But "instead of just sitting by and watching these people judge me, I'm starting to want to go up to these people and introduce myself, or give them my card, and say, 'Maybe you should stop staring and start learning.'"

have pushed the price of smokes so high in some areas, it is literally more profitable to hijack a truck filled with cigarettes than an armored car.

The problem is worst in New York, which has the highest cigarette taxes in the land. In New York City, that tax is more than $5 a pack. Smugglers rush there from Virginia, which has the lowest state taxes on cigarettes, just 30 cents.

Now, they’re selling loose cigarettes – loosies, for 75 cents apiece on the black market.

Even 10 years ago, well before bigger tax hikes, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms officials were saying traditional organized crime is involved in New York’s black market smokes, along with terrorist groups and street gangs. Numerous murders and shootings resulted.

You know who profits the most off of tobacco, besides smugglers?

That’s right, federal and state governments.

Tobacco companies’ operating profits are less than 50 cents a pack.

The feds get twice that, a whole dollar, thanks to a giant increase in 2009.

And many states, like New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, make five to ten times as much in taxes than the manufacturers’ profit.

That’s why it costs more than $11 bucks for a pack of smokes in Manhattan.

And with a pack costing about $4 here, you can see the business opportunity for smugglers.

America’s history and tobacco are joined at the hip. Gold brought waves of settlers here in the mid 1800s, but before that, it was the golden leaf.

That’s why tobacco leaves adorn the state capitol.

Alexander Hamilton was the first to push tobacco taxes shortly after we declared independence, but we didn’t get serious about it until the Civil War drained the Union’s economy.

Tobacco taxes have soared in the past 20 years as smoking became one of the most reviled behaviors in the land.

Not only has it been blamed for deadly diseases, tobacco has been wrongly been labeled a financial drain to our society.

This is what happens when a legal product becomes so politically incorrect that we suspend the usual fair trade rules and allow governments to sin tax the hell out of it.

But no matter how horrible we say tobacco is, we don’t have the guts to make it illegal because we’re right there in bed with the tobacco companies.

And do you know who gets screwed the most? Poor people.

A huge pink balloon will fly at Dutch. It is not an ordinary balloon, but of the world's largest condom. Is being done to promote sexual awareness. According to organizers, the condom will be included in the Guinness Book of Records. Elomo ceremony to be held in a small town will be left up in the balloon. According to the organizers of sexual awareness is necessary to do so. The balloon will be shown to the jury at the balloon. In the coming months are going to be a series of celebrations which will be associated with music and drama, but condoms have proven effective in the performance of individuals to sexual awareness. AIDS in The Netherlands had been growing quite fast. But in the 1980s, it declined significantly Last year 69 thousand Dutch citizens who had an HIV test was 10 per cent from the 2005 data. Approximately 22 percent gay men who made the last time the test was ended at 12 percent. Safe sex, according to organizers of the balloon as it can bring revolution. A spokesman for the organizers for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases is essential to use condoms. Therefore, the function being performed Kandomnuma balloon so that people understand its usefulness and use it more.In the Guinness Book of records include the balloon itself will get.