| 3i sets its focus on eye surgery specialist
Corporación Dermoestética, a Spanish plastic surgery provider, has accepted a £174.5m ($347.8m) offer from 3i, the UK private equity group, for Ultralase, a British subsidiary specialising in laser eye treatment. Dermoestética revealed at the end of November that it was in exclusive talks with 3i that could lead to a full takeover bid. Ultralase will join 3i's diverse portfolio of healthcare investments across Europe and North America. These include stakes in companies such as PaperPak Products, a manufacturer of adult incontinence products, and Groupe Carso, a French testing services company. .
Mistaken identity
This time the only surgery she had was breast implants. Without genitals, the only way to create a new vagina would be to remove a section of her bowel, which could leave her needing a colostomy bag. "I can only possibly envisage putting myself through what is very painful and risky surgery if I had a new partner and we decided it would help our relationship sexually," she says. Yet Dainton, 36, considers herself lucky. She works as a senior nurse in a local NHS hospital. She feels accepted as a woman and attracts no unwelcome attention walking through her home town of Eastbourne in a skirt, top and make-up. Nevertheless, she feels she might have been spared her gender identity crisis had doctors better prepared her for her first sex change. "There was a lot of emphasis on deportment, ways of speaking and behaviour," she recalls, "some talk of what you could expect sexually with the results of the surgery, but in terms of addressing getting on with life afterwards, there was very little." Around 5,000 people in Britain have had a sex change, with up to 400 operations performed each year.
Stars and hypnosis
Lily Allen is the latest celebrity to try hypnosis to help quit smoking. The Smile singer recently revealed that the therapy helped her slim down to a trim size eight. She said: "After the hypnotism, I want to go to the gym every day, otherwise I feel really bad. "I just want to get more toned and healthy. I'm really good about everything at the moment - I've never been happier." Here we take a look at some other stars who have tried and tested hypnotherapy. :: Fergie It seems when life gets tough, Fergie gets on the phone to her hypnotherapist. Recently the Black Eyed Peas singer was outraged when a magazine claimed she'd had cosmetic surgery. "One of those (celebrity) magazines says I've had a nose job and an eyebrow lift, which is completely untrue," she said.
Rock music is the most popular download
ROCK 'n' roll makes the world go round, according to a map of the music being listened to online across the globe. Linkin Park, the Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica are among the world's most popular artists, according to song recognition service Gracenote. But Australia has bucked the trend: dance music label Ministry of Sound is our most popular "artist" and its latest compilation album, The 2008 Annual, our most popular album. Gracenote is an internet-based music recognition service that identifies track names, artists and album titles when music is played or ripped on to computers, MP3 players, iPods and iTunes, CD players, mobile phones, and more. The map of the 10 most popular artists and 10 most popular albums was created as song data was uploaded from its online database.
Israeli leader Olmert says he has prostate cancer
Olmert, 62, took office in March 2006 after his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a debilitating stroke. Olmert delivered the news of his illness calmly, speaking for about three minutes before leaving the room and giving the podium to his doctors.One of Olmert's doctors, Shlomo Segev, said the prime minister had a biopsy on Oct. 19 and got the results a week later. He said the cancer showed up in only one of 12 samples taken from Olmert's prostate.Another of his doctors, Yaacov Ramon, said Olmert has a "limited growth" that poses no short-term threat.He said treatment could wait several months without any risk, and that surgery should eliminate the cancer. The chances of full recovery are 95 percent, he said."The chances for additional treatment like chemo or radiation therapy is next to zero," Ramon said.He said those who have the surgery are usually hospitalized for three days, followed by a recuperation period at home during which they can work.
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