Live Well Be Gorgeous

Ryan Seacrest has a lot to smile about. The “American Idol” host reportedly just closed contract negotiations for the biggest reality host paycheck ever — $15 million per year.

By Linda Childers, Special to Lifescript

Padma Lakshmi is best known as the host of Bravo’s hit reality show “Top Chef,” but for years she suffered silently with endometriosis, a painful gynecological condition that affects more than 10 million American women and girls. In this Lifescript exclusive, the star discusses her experience with the disorder, plus the scoop on “Top Chef” and more…

While she’s graced dozens of magazine covers, Padma Lakshmi harbored a painful secret: She suffered from endometriosis, a female reproductive disorder in which the endometrium, which normally lines a woman’s uterus, grows in other places as well, typically on the fallopian tubes, ovaries or the tissue lining a woman’s pelvis.

Left untreated, endometriosis can cause pelvic pain, excessive bleeding, fertility problems, back pain and painful monthly periods.

Lakshmi’s menstrual cramps left her bedridden for days. While friends tamed period pain with heating pads and over-the-counter medicines, the “Top Chef” host relied on the prescription narcotic Vicodin for relief.

Yes that is actor  Minnie Driver’s unmistakable chin to help make a point that healthy skin is home to a much wider variety of bacteria than scientists ever knew, says the first big census of our co-inhabitants.

WASHINGTON – Eeeww. There’s a zoo full of critters living on your skin — a bacterial zoo, that is. Consider your underarm a rain forest. Healthy skin is home to a much wider variety of bacteria than scientists ever knew, says the first big census of our co-inhabitants. And that’s not a bad thing, said genetics specialist Julia Segre of the National Institutes of Health, who led the research.

Sure they make your sneakers stinky, “but they also keep your skin moist and make sure if you get a wound that (dangerous) bacteria don’t enter your bloodstream,” she said. “We take a lot for granted in terms of how much they contribute to our health.”

People’s bodies are ecosystems, believed home to trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that naturally coexist in the skin, the digestive tract and other spots. But scientists don’t have a good grasp of which microbes live where, much less which are helpful, even indispensable, in maintaining health. The NIH’s “Human Microbiome Project” aims to change that, recruiting healthy volunteers to learn what microbes they harbor so scientists can compare the healthy with diseases of microbes gone awry — from acute infections to mysterious conditions like psoriasis

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Judging from the broadcast’s first hour or so, he was a solid choice to help bring needed new life to what’s all-too-routinely billed as “Hollywood’s biggest night.” So how did the sexiest man alive fair? Click on picture for full story

Penelope Cruz won the supporting-actress Academy Award on Sunday for the Spanish romance “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” while the blockbuster robot romance “WALL-E” made off with the prize for feature-length animation.

Salma Hayek wed French magnate Francois-Henri Pinault in a civil ceremony on Valentines Day at the City Hall in Paris’ chic 6th arrondissement, according to an official there.

PARIS – Salma Hayek picked a most romantic time and place to get married: Valentine’s Day in Paris. The Mexican-born actress wed French magnate Francois-Henri Pinault in a civil ceremony Saturday at the City Hall in Paris’ chic 6th arrondissement, according to an official there.

The wedding was a small affair, said the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, in accordance with policy.

Hayek’s spokeswoman, Cari Ross, confirmed in an e-mail Monday that the marriage had taken place in Paris Saturday. No further details were provided. Click on picture for full story.

The singer who recently lost his wife had the judges on their feet. Alexis Grace also managed to stand out of the “American Idol” pack.

Changes abound on “American Idol.” Because there are 36 semifinalists instead of 24 this season, only the top three vote-getters of each of three semifinal rounds advance. The other nine either go home or wait for the wild-card round that decides the last three spots.

According to producers Larry Mark and Bill Condon, they’ll do whatever it takes to have M.I.A., who gave birth to a son Feb. 11, perform “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” even if it means having her do it from a bed.

The production team behind the Oscars was hoping that choosing Hugh Jackman to host and keeping some presenters shrouded in secrecy would ramp up the show’s ratings. As it turns out, rapper M.I.A. might be the show’s real secret weapon.

According to producers Larry Mark and Bill Condon, they’ll do whatever it takes to have M.I.A., who gave birth to a son Feb. 11, perform “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” even if it means having her do it from a bed. Click on picture for full story