One in five children in the USA has a chronic illness. The figure has trebled in the last 20 years, mainly because of rising levels of asthma, obesity and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

More than 1 million children now receive disability benefit from the government, and a new study estimates that 5 million children – that’s 7 per cent of all children in the USA - have an illness that limits their daily activities.

The folks at the American Podiatric Medical Association care about your feet. They want you to coddle them, treat them lovingly and not take them for granted.

So they’ve sent out several press releases telling us how to pamper our tootsies and, for women, how to avoid common sandal issues.

Your cat has cancer because you have contained anger, says Reflexologist Kiannaa Leighland, who claims that pet health problems have nothing to do with the animals, but are actually a result of pent-up emotional problems of the owners.

She says animals strive to relieve human stress, and they internalize human issues, which manifest in pet health ailments. "They aren’t the animals’ issues," she said. "They get it from us."

She believes that through her animal version of reflexology, the human exercise of applying pressure to certain areas on the feet and hands to supposedly repair other parts of the body, she can discover not only what is wrong with the animal, but also exactly what is wrong with the human.

We all know that fresh vegetables and fruit are good for us, but so is a little dark chocolate. Even just one square a day can reduce blood pressure, researchers have discovered.

They did the chocolate test on 44 people aged between 56 and 73 years who had the first signs of high blood pressure (hypertension).

Rescue Remedy, the homeopathic alternative health stand-by that everybody seems to have in their home, really does work. This very popular Bach flower remedy can reduce stress and anxiety, a new study has discovered.

It was tested on a group of 111 participants who were put in a stressful situation. They were given the remedy and an identical placebo, and it was the remedy that reduced their levels of stress and anxiety.

I will never forget the revitalising therapy I got by none other than the fish at Underwater World! It’s called the Fish Foot Reflexology,’’ says television actor Shruti Seth about a recent trip to Singapore.

‘‘At first, I wasn’t too sure about doing it but then I went ahead. It was exceptional — soaking my feet in a warm pool of water, with the little Turkish spa fish swimming up to my feet and nibbling at them.

NANYANG, China. For many young people in this poor farming community, becoming certified in foot massage, or reflexology, offers the chance of a gainful vocation in the growing trade.

A classroom in an old building here is filled with enthusiastic students intently studying and prodding the soles of a half-dozen human feet.

The Lotus Foot Massage Yangguang Vocational School trains students to be reflexologists based on Oriental medicine.

The school, which opened its doors in June 2006, is managed under the auspices of Beijing-based Lotus Foot Massage Co. The company operates more than 200 reflexology outlets across China.

The Yangguang school accepts up to 300 trainees for its two-month program. Most are women aged 20 or younger who come from poor farming families. All the students are boarders, and tuition is free.

New York Times - DUBLIN, Ohio, May 31 —

Phil Mickelson withdrew from the first round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club on Thursday with an injured left wrist, two weeks before the start of the United States Open.

Mickelson, the No. 2 ranked golfer in the world, said he aggravated the wrist while practicing Monday at Oakmont Country Club, near Pittsburgh, the site of the Open. He played 11 holes at the Memorial before informing PGA Tour officials that he could no longer continue. He was two over par at the time.

NEW CLASS DATES JUST ANNOUNCED - October 18th and 19th, 2007. Due to many requests from our students we are delighted to schedule another Reading the Feet Class. If you were unable to get into the last sold-out class - please register early for this one. Read the report from our last class below...

Incredible mysteries of the feet were unravelled in a weekend of detection by students in this exciting sold-out class at the Universal College of Reflexology Edmonton, Alberta campus.

Without any reference to Health Records or prior knowledge of the clients health, a group of students were correctly able to ask direct and specific questions relating to health issues that the clients were suffering from, in under five minutes.. How did they do that? They simply read the clues that feet were telling them. Here’s what the students said about their experience:

Yet more evidence of a link between the body and mind comes in a new study of elderly people with severe depression.

Those who were assigned a ‘depression coach’ were far less likely to die during the five years of the study. And, inexplicably, deaths from cancer were 60 per cent lower than the group who were given standard care for depression.