‘Jade Goody effect’ sends women rushing to UK’s NHS for cervical tests

ANI / May 12, 2009

A record number of women have been rushing to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) for cervical smear tests since Jade Goody lost her life to the disease on March 22. 

According to Sara Hiom from Cancer Research UK, the tragic demise of the late reality star, who passed away aged 27, had sent the number of examinations soaring sky high. “The Jade effect” had left waiting time for the tests leap from two weeks to as much as two months while the number of hits on the Cancer Research UK website’s cervical cancer pages had also jumped from 100,000 in January to almost 400,000. 

“Jade’s legacy will be to help save lives. Her tragic plight brought important cervical cancer awareness messages into living rooms across the UK,” the ‘Daily Star’ quoted Sara as saying. She added: “Jade’s story has led to hundreds of thousands of people wanting information on the disease.” 

The NHS Cancer Screening Programme further said it was trying to keep up with the towering demand. A Department of Health spokesman said: “We are aware that there has been increased demand on cervical screening services due to recent media attention. 

“Some laboratories are experiencing backlogs but these are being dealt with at a local level.”

Source: http://www.google.com

For Ultrareality, ‘Housewives’ Turns to Jersey Girls

By Alessandra Stanley - May 11, 2009

All the other housewives, those passels of pampered, primping, social-climbing, Botox-injecting spendthrifts in Orange County, Atlanta and New York, are not the real thing.

All those McMansions, swimming pools, boutiques, charity auctions and spa splurges have been merely rehearsals, introductory rounds leading to the apotheosis of the Bravo “Real Housewives” franchise, “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.”

The New Jersey housewives are more real and more riveting than their predecessors because, well, they are from New Jersey, and also because they so closely mirror the make-believe characters in “The Sopranos.”

The best reality shows look like fiction.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com

Lauren Conrad looks beyond 'The Hills'

The star of the MTV reality show is looking forward to living her life off-camera.

By Denise Martin 
April 6, 2009

" The Hills," the MTV reality series supposedly following the life and times of rich Californian Lauren Conrad, isn't so much about her as it is about "Lauren Conrad on 'The Hills.' "

The show's fifth season premieres (April 6) tonight and marks the beginning of the end of Conrad's carefully orchestrated small-screen persona. The 23-year-old reality star, weary of living in front of cameras for the better part of five years, is after this season leaving the show that has showered her with pop culture fame.

"It's been a long time coming," she said. "I went through many phases when I thought I was done, but I'm at this point where I'm really ready."

Source: http://www.latimes.com