Yahoo! Answers New Zealand Blog

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Today is World Scleroderma Day!

What is “scleroderma” I hear you ask?

jlcrit describes scleroderma in the following way:
“Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease of the connective tissue. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses which occur when the body’s tissues are attacked by its own immune system. Scleroderma is characterised by the formation of scar tissue (fibrosis) in the skin and organs of the body. This leads to thickness and firmness of involved areas. Scleroderma is also referred to as systemic sclerosis.”

Patrick elaborates further with:
“Scleroderma is called both a rheumatic disease and a connective tissue disease. The term rheumatic disease refers to a group of conditions characterised by inflammation and/or pain in the muscles, joints, or fibrous tissue. A connective tissue disease is one that affects tissues such as skin, tendons, and cartilage.

An individual with scleroderma may develop either a localised or a systemic form of the disease. Localised scleroderma usually affects only the skin on the hands and face. Systemic scleroderma, however, affects the connective tissue in many parts of the body, including the skin, the esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, kidneys, heart, and other internal organs. It is unusual for localised scleroderma to progress to the systemic form.”

Scleroderma comes in different types and some people may be more afflicted than others. I myself was diagnosed with limited scleroderma when I was just 10 years old, but I have a mild form, although it is monitored regularly for any changes.

Whilst I am one of the lucky ones, others are not and the disease can take over their bodies, this is called diffuse scleroderma. It can lead to other related illnesses with organs and tissues, making everyday activities extremely painful. According to Scleroderma Australia, there are over 5,000 people currently living with disease within Australia.

For further information, please seek out your local scleroderma societies and bodies. Here are just a few:

• Scleroderma Australia
• Scleroderma Support Group – New Zealand
• Scleroderma Foundation – USA
• Scleroderma Society – UK
• FESCA – Federation of European Scleroderma Associations
• International Scleroderma Network

Kate
Community Manager

Being a true human lie detector like Dr. Cal Lightman on “Lie to Me” has to be a pretty nifty party trick.

The Yahoo! Answers team wants to protect you against all those sneaky liars looking to deceive you. With this in mind, we’ve created a list with a number of tips that will help you identify day to day lies. We hope they’ll be useful!

Experts in deception know that:

• Truth tends to make sense: Words, body language and actions fit into each other nicely when someone’s telling the truth.
• There’s one emotion for every reaction: If an honest person likes your shoes, they will smile first and compliment them or vice versa. A “liar”, on the other hand, will do both at the same time and their reactions will last less than normal.
• When responding to a direct question, a liar will use the same words used by the person interrogating them. For example: “Did you break the vase?” “No, I did not break the vase”.
• Emotions are mirrored in our whole face: Someone who really smiles does so with eyes and brows, too. Liars smile just with their lips.
• Liars tend to touch different parts of their faces when they tell a lie. Nose scratching, lip-biting and head-scratching are some of the tell-tale signs of deceitful statements.
• A liar will take a little longer answering a question than a person who is telling the truth.
• When someone is guilty, they become aggressive when defending themselves. An innocent person will question the reasons they’re being blamed rather than become defensive.
• A liar will try to keep communication to a minimum when it comes to the person they’re lying to. If they must talk to this person, they will be visibly uncomfortable on most cases.
• Liars don’t emphasise different parts of their speech while someone who is telling the truth will accentuate the important bits of information in a story.
• Liars tend to speak more than necessary or change the subject immediately after lying.
• Some liars rub their eyes unconsciously to avoid eye contact with their listener.
• If a person shakes their head while making an affirmative comment, it’s likely that they’re lying.
• When lying, people place objects (glasses, pens, books) between them and the person being lied to.
• Someone who lies will make up excuses before they’re asked to give them.

To find more information on the subject, you can visit the following sites:

• How to detect lies.
• The truth about lying.

Thanks for reading,
Yahoo! Answers Latin America Team

Photo by epSos.de.

We’ve all been exposed to children at some point in our lives and we cannot deny they have an effect on us. Today is the day to celebrate the small ones around us – International Children’s Day!

On Yahoo!7, we encourage you to share what matters to you and with our latest example of How Good Grows on Yahoo!, we are asking you to share a lesson that you’ve learnt from your child or a child you know. Or share a bit of wisdom you’ve gained!

• What lesson – big or small – has a child recently taught you?

You can also share your thoughts at howgoodgrows.safely.yahoo.com, and see what people around the world are saying. Then keep coming back to the site to see other women who’ve made their mark.

Join us in sharing what’s important to you. Spread the word, and watch How Good Grows on Yahoo!.

Kate
Community Manager