Your DNA's in the post

Fancy being told you have a higher-than-average chance of getting prostate cancer but are at low risk of glaucoma? Now for about £500 you can have your genetic make-up analysed. Rob Liddle swabbed his cheek and sent off for a scan.
An e-mail pops into my basket to say the results of my genetic scan are ready. I have a few minutes free - shall I take a peep now or wait until I can devote the time to digest the results properly?
Curiosity gets the better of me and I log on to the Decodeme website to view my password-protected "gene profile".
This is quite exciting - could what I find out in the next few minutes alter the course of my life? I'm curious by nature, but that doesn't extend to wanting to know when the Grim Reaper is going to come a-knocking.
Up pops a list of grisly conditions - most of which are familiar to me, indeed some of them lurk in my family history.
And it's the ones that have touched my life that I am drawn to first. I click on Heart Attack, bypass the warm-up "introduction" to the condition, and head straight for my own "risk summary".
I'm told: "According to the selected literature, the relative genetic risk calculated from your genotype for males of European ancestry is 0.90.
"This corresponds to a 44.2% lifetime risk of developing heart attack, which is 10% less than for males of European ancestry in general."
Fated to be fat?
So far so good, I suppose, but that's still a high risk and I'm not celebrating with a full English breakfast yet.
I scan the list of 25 traits again and settle on Crohn's disease. Here I'm told the research indicates that I have a lifetime risk 1.42 times the average. Not so good. But for Diabetes, types 1 and 2, better news.
Next I plump for Obesity - surely a banker. These genes make me look fat, right? No, a lower-than-average risk. I can't use that as an excuse for my fuller figure.
A number of personal genomics firms, including Iceland-based Decodeme and 23andme and Navigenics, in the US, are now directly selling tests to the public that assess genetic risks of suffering from certain conditions.
Some also provide information about your ancestral origins.
After receiving a sample taken from the inside of your cheek, Decodeme analyses up to one million DNA markers, annotates them and puts them in the context of disease risk, providing you with a personal profile.
'Do more exercise'
One reason the tests have proved controversial is that they can measure only the genes that studies have linked to certain conditions - not the many that have yet to be discovered.
Decodeme says it is continually adding the results of new research to its database, improving the accuracy of the existing risk summaries and extending the list of traits for which you can assess yourself.
But there are other risk factors that could easily override these genetic indications, such as family history and lifestyle. My genetic risk of getting type 2 diabetes is rated as below average, but being overweight probably counts for more.
Steve Jones, author and professor of genetics at University College, London, believes that, in most cases, individual genes cannot say much about a person's risk. For him, potential customers would be better off following the advice of the health lobby.
"It is a new form of diagnosis - before any symptoms manifest themselves - but really what everybody should do is smoke less, eat less and do more exercise," he says.
The Decodeme website has a section on risk factors and prevention for each of the conditions featured, which I later peruse.
From this I learn that the prevalence for Crohn's is highest during the second and third decades of life - but that it can crop up in the over-70s. I'm 42, so may have dodged that bullet.
And if I still have questions, I can message Decodeme's team, who may then refer me to a genetic counsellor.
But for some critics, discovering your risk of developing a serious condition from a web page rather than a doctor presents a serious problem - even if the scans are unlikely to throw up any catastrophic results.
The authorities in some states in the US have recently warned testing companies that they should not continue to solicit business from residents unless the process is being sanctioned by a licensed physician.
'Reduced autonomy'
Daniel Sokol, a lecturer in medical ethics at the University of London, says the absence of the direct doctor-patient relationship does create a problem.
"The results could allow people to make changes for the better to their lifestyle," says Dr Sokol.
"However, if they misinterpret them - the scans could do more harm than good and could actually reduce people's autonomy if they interpret the results incorrectly or exaggerate their implications."
But Kari Stefansson, chief executive of Decodeme, says it should be a matter of personal choice how people treat their own data.
"The people who feel that they want to go over the results with a doctor should go to a doctor," he says.
"When I got mine, I went into the office and closed the door. I wanted to be alone.
"It should be your decision - we are not ramming it down anyone's throat. How you use it depends on who you are, but you are entitled to make the choice of getting the information or not getting it.
"But you can get so much out of it - it could be extremely beneficial to know that you are at a higher risk."
Dr Stefansson admits that the cost of the test at $985 probably puts it out of reach for most people, but he predicts a future in which accessing such personal genetic information will be commonplace - with the tests possibly costing a 10th of what they do now in five years' time.
We go through my results together. I appear to have a slightly increased chance of suffering macular degeneration (an eye problem), coeliac disease and Crohn's, but there is nothing in my risk summary that indicates that I need to take further medical advice immediately.
"I'm afraid to tell you that you are just an average guy," jokes Dr Stefansson.
Perhaps this news is the hardest of all to take.

The best vibrators to please a woman

Vibrators have become the best friends of women who are alone or who find their sexual urges to be much higher than their partner can satisfy. Women who love enjoying multiple orgasms find a vibrator an indispensible toy. The fun part is that they can use the vibrator alone or with their partners.
Vibrators can arouse women who pass through various sexual stages before reaching orgasm. When a woman uses a vibrator, it makes her every moment comparable to love play, which helps in attaining full sexual arousal and satisfaction. With the new age vibrators that come with so many different features, women have been able to explore areas of their sexuality which were hitherto unknown even to them.
Lot of women are unable to reach orgasm even after having sexual intercourse with their male partners. There can be many reasons for this unsatisfactory sexual experience. With a vibrator in hand, these women can achieve this sexual climax with ease; after all, who has heard of a vibrator getting tired? Vibrators can go on till the time women reach an orgasm of their liking.
There are many styles and types of vibrators available in the market providing women options to explore their sexual orgasm with vibrator sex. The most prominent vibrators are rabbit vibrators, clit vibrators, Jack rabbit vibrators, adult vibrators, and G-spot vibrators. These different types of vibrators can help make vibrator sex a pleasurable and memorable experience. Read on to know briefly about each of these vibrators.
Rabbit vibrators
This vibrator is named after a rabbit, which is a cute and sweet animal. A rabbit vibrator contains a shaft, beads, pearls, and swivels. These provide internal stimulation. The rabbit like ears of a rabbit vibrator provides external stimulation. Women who use rabbit vibrators experience both internal and external stimulation.
Rabbit vibrators are among the most popular sex toys, which are available in different styles in the market. There are many styles in rabbit vibrators, which ensure immense fun and pleasure for women users. Some of the styles in rabbit vibrators include romping ramping rabbit, hop'n rabbit stroker, double bunny, and rabbitronic rabbit vibrator.
Clit vibrators
Clitoris is the most sensitive of the sexual organs of a woman. If the clitoris of women is stimulated properly, they can easily achieve orgasm. The best sex toy, which ensures proper stimulation of clitoris in women, is clit vibrator.
Clit vibrator is used through vagina and should not be used through anal area. Some of the styles of clit vibrators are hand held clit vibrators and wearable clit vibrators, which can recharge the sex life of any woman.
Some of the hand-held clit vibrators include wiggle wand clit vibrators and octopussy clit vibrators, which have eight legs and resemble an octopus in shape.
Jack rabbit vibrators
Jack rabbit vibrators contain a 7 inch shaft and multi-coloured rotating beads, which help stimulate the innermost parts of the vagina. Women should use Jack rabbit vibrators with water or oil based lubricants for best results.
Women who use Jack rabbit vibrators can expect sexual ecstasy beyond their known boundaries. Jack rabbit vibrators can also be used by couples for enhancing their sexual experience.
Adult vibrators
Adult vibrator is a general term for vibrators, which are used by women above 18 years of age for their sexual gratification. Adult vibrators are not a new thing for women. These were used prescribed by doctors in the past for treating hysteria problems among women. Today adult vibrators have become friends of women who use these sex toys for sexual arousal.
G-spot vibrators
G-spot arousal is considered the height of sexual stimulation in women. If this spot is stimulated during sexual intercourse, a woman achieves orgasm each time. However, in most women, it remains unexplored, as it is very deep in the vagina, where a man's penis finds it difficult to stimulate it. However, use of G-spot vibrators has helped many women achieve sexual orgasm.
G-spot vibrators are available in different shapes and styles which help women explore their G-spot up to its full potential. Some of the shapes include dolphin and jelly G-spot vibrators.
Some women may think that vibrator sex is only for those who are adventurous. It may be an adventure to have vibrator sex. However, it opens up many unexplored parts of vagina of a woman. Vibrator sex with the help of different types of vibrators helps women explore their true sexual potential and revive their sex life.

Perfumes Enhance the Beauty and Style

Perfumes are the most sought-after fashionable items that add fragrance and beauty to everyone's life. As a result, choosing the right kind of perfume requires skill and homework. Men and women, young and old, rich and poor all want perfumes of different designs and fragrances. The use of perfumes as a symbol of elegance and style revealed dates back when Egyptians and Romans extensively used various types of perfumes in many ways. Earlier aromatic grasses, wood and spices like cinnamon, cardamoms and fenugreek were squeezed into fluid to produce perfume. Now with the introduction of newer technologies; the process of making perfumes has changed a lot as manufacturers are using man made ingredients to make them cheaper and faster.
Initially, perfumes were used by women. Now the world is getting fashionable and even men love to keep themselves trendy and appealing. Considering the development, manufacturers have created as many male versions of perfumes as female ones. Some of the famous brands of perfume ruling the market include Dolce and Gabbana, Hugo Boss, Jean Paul Gaultier, Tommy Hilfiger, and Weekend and many others. Each perfume can refresh your mind and assists you to attract the opposite sex. It is a fragrance that is very well suited for wearing during the day and to the office.
How to avail the right kind of perfume from the market? This is the most difficult question to be solved. Recently with the coming up of online boutiques, the search for the luring and scented perfume is not a hard nut to crack. In fact, online stores supply the widest collections of branded perfumes at competitive prices. All you need to do is to find a store that offers these excellent perfumes at knock down prices and you will easily become the most sought-after person in your locality in terms of elegance and style.