 | Suddenly I awake to a stark amazement at everything. ... To be alive is so incredible that all I can do is to lie still and merely breathe. — W.N.P. Barbellion |  |
Prepare to be surprised by the health benefits of pills that contain no medicine.
1. In a Harvard Medical School study, researchers gave people with irritable bowel syndrome a bottle of pills labeled "PLACEBO" and explained that placebos have been shown to be effective in clinical studies. Even though the meds were obvious fakes, they still worked. Patients experienced significant improvement in their symptoms.
2. A March report from the German Medical Association found that placebos injected intravenously are more effective than those taken orally, and that the more expensive the placebo, the higher the success rate.
3. Among patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, sham acupuncture (in which needles are inserted at nontraditional locations) worked just as well for pain relief as the real thing, according to a study in Arthritis Care & Research. And patients reported better results when the practitioner said things like "I've had a lot of success with treating knee pain" than when she said, "It may or may not work for you."
Keep Reading:
The simple blood test that could save your life
Truth about the thyroid
The two exercises every woman should be doing
 |
| Photo: Thinkstock |
2. A March report from the German Medical Association found that placebos injected intravenously are more effective than those taken orally, and that the more expensive the placebo, the higher the success rate.
3. Among patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, sham acupuncture (in which needles are inserted at nontraditional locations) worked just as well for pain relief as the real thing, according to a study in Arthritis Care & Research. And patients reported better results when the practitioner said things like "I've had a lot of success with treating knee pain" than when she said, "It may or may not work for you."
Keep Reading:
The simple blood test that could save your life
Truth about the thyroid
The two exercises every woman should be doing
 |
| Photo: Marko Metzinger/Studio D. |
Clockwise starting from the top left:
A Python-Print purse in versatile dove gray is a smart look for every day.
$88, oliviaandjoy.com.
From the designer of Oprah's finale-show dress, this luxurious calfskin style has an iPad compartment.
L'Wren Scott, $2,700, Barneys New York, 888-822-7639.
Gold-Plated hardware and a deep Bordeaux shade give this roomy bag a Grace Kelly feel.
Mark Cross, $695, select Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 877-612-7257.
Ask Adam your fashion questions or follow @TheRealAdamSays on Twitter
| Photo: PerpetualKid.com |
We promise these fun finds will make getting over this week's hump a little easier...
3D Drawing Pad, $8. This sketch book even makes stick figures pop off the page.
Kling Magic Wall Paint, $16. Where do you put important papers and pictures when the fridge is already maxed out? Anywhere you put this paint, which turns any surface into a magnetic one.
Milani Specialty Nail Lacquer Jewel FX, $5. This glittery top coat makes an ordinary pedicure an instant party.
iFrogz Custom Headphones, $35. Personalize everything—from the headband color to the ear cushion fabric—and jam to your favorite tunes in style.
| Photo: Thinkstock |
I am not the kind of person who hangs up on her mother. But I sometimes pretend the stove is on fire and drop the phone and run off screaming. Now, I can just stay on the line; knowing the ending actually improves a person’s enjoyment of a film or book. A recent study by researchers from the University of California at San Diego, Reuters reported, gave reader stories by John Updike, Roald Dahl, and Agatha Christie, only with two versions—the original, and another with a "spoiling paragraph" inserted in the text.
The verdict: readers preferred the amended stories. My kids of course could have explain this to me—without words even. One look at their bewitched, glazed expressions as they watched Dinosaur Train, the underwater episode, for the millionth time proves the whole entire theory. (Just to increase your enjoyment: the little fish without any names do get eaten by the big friendly dinosaurs).
From now on, I will enjoy my mother's plot references, as long as my mother does not find out that I am enjoying them, at which point either I will be compelled to admit or she will be compelled to point out that—like our long hot endless childhoods visits to Civil War battlefields—this is officially for my own good.
Read More:
At last: a proved route to wisdom.
The back-from-vacation ah-ha moment!
What would it take
to change your life for the better? It may be less than you think—we’ve
got mini-makeovers to help you upgrade everything from your workout to
your weekend. #12: Ditch the Internet slang.
Yes, we live in a 140-character world, thumbs furiously tapping out terse missives. But consider an e-mail received recently by O magazine's editor in chief: "susan: hows it goin?? Annny chance you might know some peeps that could get a screenplay 2 production?"
The chances of this e-mail being taken seriously, of course, are south of zero. Literacy speaks volumes; all these disposable little messages themselves send messages—about you. So we humbly suggest: When faced with the choice of writing "because" or "becuz," "for" or "4," opt for elegance. Spell out words, end sentences with periods, consider the comma. Oh, and one exclamation point will do.
Keep Reading
30 days of makeovers
E-mail etiquette
The "too-cute" e-mailer
 |
| Photo: Thinkstock |
The chances of this e-mail being taken seriously, of course, are south of zero. Literacy speaks volumes; all these disposable little messages themselves send messages—about you. So we humbly suggest: When faced with the choice of writing "because" or "becuz," "for" or "4," opt for elegance. Spell out words, end sentences with periods, consider the comma. Oh, and one exclamation point will do.
Keep Reading
30 days of makeovers
E-mail etiquette
The "too-cute" e-mailer
Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant and Banana Republic creative
director Simon Kneen are collaborators behind a sharp, new
retro-inspired line.
It wasn't a three-martini lunch, but I still got the scoop from these two style forces, who teamed up to create a Mad Men-inspired fall collection for Banana Republic: dresses, separates, and accessories that marry the brand's modern sensibility with 1960s-era sophistication. Sharp pieces like this sheath—with feminine yet fitted cuts—make it easy to look chic at the office. But the collection gets its real panache from accessories:
Animal-Print Extras
A cheetah-print scarf or leopard-print clutch gives basics instant drama. And yes, you can mix them with florals and geometrics.
Belts
For a surprisingly dressy effect, nip the waist of a classic trenchcoat with a wide leather belt, and finish it with a jeweled brooch. Multi-Strand Pearls
A chunky, collar-grazing necklace is great for framing the face.
Dress, Mad Men Collection, $150, bananarepublic.com.
Ask Adam a fashion question or follow him on twitter @TheRealAdamSays
 |
| Photo: Marko Metzinger/Studio D. |
Animal-Print Extras
A cheetah-print scarf or leopard-print clutch gives basics instant drama. And yes, you can mix them with florals and geometrics.
Belts
For a surprisingly dressy effect, nip the waist of a classic trenchcoat with a wide leather belt, and finish it with a jeweled brooch. Multi-Strand Pearls
A chunky, collar-grazing necklace is great for framing the face.
Dress, Mad Men Collection, $150, bananarepublic.com.
Ask Adam a fashion question or follow him on twitter @TheRealAdamSays
| The motto should not be 'Forgive one another,' rather 'Understand one another.' — Emma Goldman | |
For a long time, when I have been in-between jobs or just having one of my patented nightly anxiety spazes which inspires to me to mutter in bed—loudly—about mortgages and school bills, I have comforted myself with a few back-up plans. One of them is to invent a washing machine that comes preloaded with colorful little gumballs of detergent that pop out with each cycle (imagine: the end of lugging heavy, bag-breaking detergent bottles). The other is to open up a meatball shop called, uh, Leigh's Meatballs. For many years, when I mentioned the meatballs to strangers at cocktail parties, they would nod confusedly, and then say, "Oh......! You mean like meatball sandwiches!"
"No," I said, firmly. "Just meatballs. No spaghetti. No bread. A little sauce, that's it. The store is not for meatball dibble-dabblers. It's for hard core, committed meatball lovers."
Shockingly, about a year ago, a man (who will remain unmentioned in this article) also had a meatball epiphany. But he got it together and actually opened up a meatball shop, which has gone onto great fame and is opening new locations, hither and yon.
Today, stumbling on this video from Behance, in which This American Life contributor and producer Starlee Kine talks about Little Orphan Annie ideas (translation: ideas that we leave abandoned and un-actualized in our minds) I realized that I had a thing or two to learn. Kine's talk is long, but it is worth listening to, especially when she's talking about the need for a "the sheer force of will" to keep an idea alive and not letting an idea "die" on the car ride to hospital.
She doesn't discuss this in her talk but, no doubt, people also looked at her a little oddly, when she mentioned she was cold-emailing Phil Collins to talk about her breakup with a boyfriend and her idea as to how to fix herself. The next time, nothing is coming between me and my dream of meatballs (or whatever the next dream is).
Read More:
Every week, we'll be letting you know about new releases the editors at O and Oprah.com couldn't stop reading. On sale today, the lovely and wholly original novel...
By Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The idea that caused us to swoon: When it comes to feelings, let flowers do the talking—a practice that dates back to the Victorian age when each kind of flora represented an emotion. For example, a yellow rose is just another word for infidelity.
The story you've never heard before: A young woman raised in foster homes goes from marigold (grief) and lavender (distrust) to pink rose (pure love), due to the attentions of a San Francisco florist and a young, sensitive—okay, dashing—flower farmer.
The extra bonus: The descriptions of food will propel you instantly to the nearest farmers' market. Expect rare steak in a sauce of "exotic mushrooms, red potatoes, and turnips" and plenty of blackberry cobbler with cream.
The painful question: If you grow up without love—or parents, or a home—can you find a way to give love to those who try, one day, to love you?
Read More
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