She's 16 but she looks like she's 60': Teen with rare condition which makes her look middle-aged given fresh hope after face-lift (VIDEO)

A teenager who suffers from a rare genetic condition which makes her look middle-aged has been given new confidence thanks to pioneering facelift surgery.

Zara Hartshorn, 16, from Rotherham, south Yorkshire, had to endure years of cruel taunts and even physical abuse because of her appearance.

She inherited lipodystrophy - which makes her skin looked wrinkled and twisted - from her mother Tracey Gibson who also suffers from the illness.

Tough: Zara Hartshorn has endured a difficult childhood suffering from a condition which makes her appear middle-aged

But after hearing of her condition, a top surgeon in the US offered to perform cosmetic surgery for free. It has proved to be a complete success and Zara has felt able to start a relationship with new boyfriend Ricky Andrews and is even keen to go to college.

It is a remarkable change of fortunes for the teenager who was once left in tears after being made to get off a bus for not being able to prove she was eligible for a child's ticket.

By the time she was 12, Zara was already being mistaken for a middle-aged woman - and was even mistaken for 17-year-old sister Chloe's mother.

Genetic: Zara, pictured right pre-surgery, inherited the condition from her mother Tracey, left. But sister Chloe, centre, has not been affected

But now thanks to a lifeline by a surgeon in the US Zara feels indistinguishable from her peers.

Dr Abhimanyu Garg told Zara her condition is actually cutis laxa, an even rarer disease which only affects 30 people in the UK.

And Zara, who one day dreams of owning a beauty salon, says she is ready to leave the past behind and forgive her tormentors.

She said: 'Before I had surgery I was picked on for looking different, now I look the same as other girls my age.

'I don't feel like people are staring at me when I walk down the street anymore. I finally feel like a teenager.

'I've carried some hurtful comments with me all my life but now I feel ready to leave the past behind and forgive and forget.'

Her newfound self-assurance has helped her start a relationship with apprentice painter and decorator Ricky, 22, three months ago, who she met through friends.

She said: 'I've had boyfriends in the the past but I don't think any accepted my condition, really. But with Ricky it's never been an issue. 

'He's seen pictures of me before and told me I was always beautiful - although I wouldn't have had the self-confidence to believe him before.'

Growing up Zara put her rapid aging down to lipodystrophy - a genetic illness which decays bones and destroys fat beneath the skin.

At age four doctors told her she had inherited the condition from Tracey after she developed excess skin round her jawline.

Zara said: 'Mum explained that I had an illness like she did, but that I was beautiful and shouldn't pay any attention to what anyone said.

'The bullying was worst between the ages of eight and ten. Kids used to call me monkey and granny and I was even beaten up just because of how I looked.

Taunts: As a child, Zara was bullied by other children who called her 'monkey' and 'granny'

'It got so bad I stopped going for a while.'

But even after changing schools Zara's life was made a misery because of her illness.

She recalled: 'I lived in fear of being asked how old I was.

'I was even mistaken for a teacher in school on a couple of occasions, which was just mortifying in front of my classmates.'

After Zara's plight was made public she was contacted by lipodystrophy expert Dr Abhimanyu Garg, from Texas, US, who asked to carry out some tests on Zara and Tracey.

The pair were found to be suffering from cutis laxa, an even rarer condition which can shorten life expectancy, weaken joints and can lung and heart problems.

Although hard news to take in, Zara was later presented with the offer of a facelift and nose augmentation free of charge by top surgeon Dr Robert Ersek.

Thanks to pioneering facelift surgery, Zara says she feels much more confident about her appearance

She said: 'It was an amazing opportunity that I could never of dreamed of before.

'When I saw myself in the mirror after the bandages all came off it was mixture of surprise and happiness.

'I used to hate my nose, but now I love it.'

Found love: On top of her facelift, Zara has also met a new boyfriend Ricky Andrews

And thanks to her confidence boost, Zara is determined to go to college and achieve her ambition.

She said: 'I feel much more confident and just happier in general.

'I'm now able to do things like going to college and having a career which I might not have felt possible before.

'The surgery has given me a boost and now I don't fear what other people think.

'I've noticed a change in me and I feel a lot happier.'

And poignantly, Zara says she is all the more determined to live a happy, normal life because of the support she has had from her mother Tracey.

She said: 'I know I'm lucky to have had the opportunity and it's something my mum would have loved to have been offered.

'I want to make something of my life for her - to make her proud.

'I know I'll always have this condition and it may shorten my life, but at least I can feel more like comfortable and confident.

'Although I look younger I still feel older than my years because of everything I have been through.'

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Saudi Arabia switches to Friday-Saturday weekend

 Saudi Arabia is switching its weekend to Friday-Saturday to better serve its economy and “international commitments,” the official SPA news agency reported on Sunday quoting a royal decree.

Saudi Arabia becomes the last of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council — which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates — to abandon the Thursday-Friday weekend to be closer to the world’s Saturday-Sunday weekend.

The decision takes effect in ministries and government departments from next week, while it will be implemented by schools and universities from the start of the next academic year.

According to the decree the change was made to better serve “the Saudi economy and its international commitments” and coordinate with the working days in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world.

It will “reduce the negative repercussions on economic and financial activity in the kingdom and make up for lost economic opportunities,” said the decree.

Riyadh’s stock exchange, the biggest in the Arab world, is open for five days a week, but until now only three of these coincided with the working week in the world’s major financial centres.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and a member of the G20 group of the globe’s biggest economies.

The move had been previously rejected by clergymen in the kingdom, which follows the ultra conservative Wahhabi school of Islam, on the grounds that Saturday is the religious weekend for Jews. (AFP)

Culled from VANGUARD

Spooky! Ancient Egyptian statuette spins untouched inside glass case in Manchester Museum (VIDEO)

It sounds like the something from the script of a Hollywood action adventure.

But the 'mystery of the moving mummy'  -  which has seen an Egyptian statue mysteriously start to spin round in a display case - has spooked museum bosses.

The 10-inch tall relic, an offering to the Egyptian God Osiris, was found in a mummy's tomb and has been at the Manchester Museum for 80 years. 

The 10-inch tall relic, which dates back to 1800 BC, has been at the museum for 80 years but curators say it has recently starting rotating 180 degrees during the day

But in recent weeks, curators have been left scratching their heads after they kept finding it facing the wrong way. They now believe there could be a 'spiritual explanation' for the turning statue.

It is believed that there is a curse of the pharaohs which strikes anyone who dares to take relics from a pyramid tomb.

Experts decided to monitor the room on time-lapse video and were astonished to see it clearly show the statuette spinning 180 degrees - with nobody going near it.

The statue of a man named Neb-Senu is seen to remain still at night but slowly rotate round during the day.

Now scientists are trying to explain the phenomenon, with TV physicist Brian Cox among the experts being consulted.

Scientists who explored the Egyptian tombs in the 1920s were popularly believed to be struck by a 'curse of the Pharaohs'. 

Now Campbell Price, a curator at the museum on Oxford Road, said he believes there may be a spiritual explanation to the spinning statue.

Egyptologist Campbell Price studies an ancient Egyptian statuette at the Manchester Museum, which appears to be moving on its own

Egyptologist Mr Price, 29, said: 'I noticed one day that it had turned around.

'I thought it was strange because it is in a case and I am the only one who has a key.

'I put it back but then the next day it had moved again.

'We set up a time-lapse video and, although the naked eye can't see it, you can clearly see it rotate on the film. 

Experts decided to monitor the room on time-lapse video and were astonished to see it clearly show the statuette spinning 180 degrees - with nobody going near it

In this time lapsed video, as the museum closes for the evening, the statue can be seen in a clearly different position

By midday the next day it has turned almost a quarter of a circle to be facing to the left

The following morning the statue has moved again, and is facing even further away from its original position

By the end of the day the statue has turned almost 180 degrees and is now facing away from visitors to the museum

'The statuette is something that used to go in the tomb along with the mummy.

'Mourners would lay offerings at its feet. The hieroglyphics on the back ask for 'bread, beer and beef'.

'In Ancient Egypt they believed that if the mummy is destroyed then the statuette can act as an alternative vessel for the spirit. 

'Maybe that is what is causing the movement.'

Other experts have a more rational explanation - suggesting that the vibrations caused by the footsteps of passing visitors makes the statuette turn. 

That's the theory favoured by Professor Cox - but Campbell said he was not convinced.

'Brian thinks it's differential friction,' he said. 

'Where two surfaces, the serpentine stone of the statuette and glass shelf it is on, cause a subtle vibration which is making the statuette turn.

A statue is supposed to stand still, not rotate all by itself.

But this one at the Manchester Museum seemed to have done just that. Turned around 180 degrees -- revealing an inscription on its back asking for beer.

No other figure in the display had moved -- nor had any other in the museum.

Statuette no. 9325 doesn't appear to go by any proper name. It's a prefabricated figure -- an off-the-shelf product -- that was placed into a small tomb around 1800 B.C.

A private collector in Britain donated it to the museum in 1933. The inscription on the back, requesting a sacrifice of beer, bread and animals, was a standard prayer for the deceased.

For decades, the figurine stood perfectly still -- until museum workers moved its case a few feet from its original position.

But it has been on those surfaces since we have had it and it has never moved before. And why would it go around in a perfect circle?'

Campbell is urging members of the public to come along and take a look for themselves. 

'It would be great if someone could solve the mystery,' he added.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Two ex-Marines sentenced to death for raping woman in front of her husband after which they murdered the couple

Convicted: Tyrone Miller, left, and Emrys John, right, have been sentenced to the death penalty, while Kevin Cox, centre, was sentenced to life in prison without parole

Two ex-Marines have been sentenced to death after they stormed the home of an Iraq veteran and his wife and shot the newly married couple dead.

Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, was forced to watch as his wife Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, was raped, before the couple were shot in the head by their attackers, according to court documents.

Horror attack: Sergeant Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his wife Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, were bound and gagged before being shot in the head

Emrys John, 23, and Tyrone Miller, 25, were both given the death penalty yesterday for their roles in the 2008 killings in Riverside County, California.

A third ex-Marine, Kevin Cox, 25, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The three men - all former Marines - had stormed into the couple's home in the French Valley neighbourhood as part of a robbery scheme, prosecutors said.

A jury in Riverside County recommended the death penalty for John and Miller yesterday, according to the LA Times. 

Sgt Pietrzak was an Iraq war veteran who was stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego.

His wife was a counsellor with an infant care programme in Riverside County. 

The couple had been married for just two months.

Court documents revealed they were bound and gagged by their attackers, who lit a fire to destroy evidence in the wake of the killings.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Indian court rules that any couple who have sex are legally married... and the law forbids them from sleeping someone else unless they are divorced

If an unmarried couple have sex they are considered husband and wife - and would have to ‘divorce’ if they split, an Indian court has ruled.
When two people of legal age, 18 for a woman and 21 for a man, ‘indulge in sexual gratification’ this should be seen as a 'an act of total commitment' and marriage by law, a judge at Madras High Court said.
The court said that the registering of a marriage as well as a wedding ceremony were only formalities to gain society’s approval.
It also said that once two people have sex this ‘becomes a total commitment with adherence to all consequences that may follow’, including needing a decree of divorce should they want to sleep with someone else.
In addition, should either of the two wish to register the ‘marriage’ they can have their marital status declared by a Family Court as long as they can supply proof of a sexual relationship.
Once declared by the court, the person can be established as the other’s spouse – whether the other party approves or not.
‘Legal rights applicable to normal wedded couples will also be applicable to couples who have had sexual relationships which are established,’ the court declared in their ruling obtained by The Hindu.
The verdict came in a spousal maintenance case where a lower court had ruled that a woman was not entitled to maintenance from the father of her two children as there was no proof of their marriage.
Justice C.S. Karnan ruled that legal documents proving the couple’s life as spouses were more important than proof of marriage.
In this case the man had signed the ‘live birth report’ for the couple’s second child and thereby officially declaring the woman as his wife.
Judge Karnan said the couple ‘led their marital life under the same shelter and begot two children.
'Therefore, the petitioner’s rank has been elevated as the "wife" of the respondent and likewise, the respondent’s rank has been elevated as the "husband" of the petitioner.‘
The man was ordered to pay the woman 500 rupees a month in maintenance as well as maintenance for their two children.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Father gets life jail for murder of his13yr-old daughter whom he raped and impregnated

Warrant Officer Simo Mgobhoz(right) in the Court room

A long-service South-African policeman who raped, impregnated and brutally murdered his biological daughter was called a beast by the Scottburgh High Court.
Warrant Officer Simo Mgobhozi (41) pleaded guilty to a count of rape and murder and was last week sentenced to a term of life in prison and 15 years.
Handing down the sentence, Judge Gregory Kruger told the packed courtroom that South Africa was very unfortunate to have people such as Mgobhozi in public service.
The judge said he could not believe a person tasked with maintaining law, order and upholding justice could commit such a gruesome crime within his own family.
“A 13-year-old that you killed after raping her was carrying your child. You could have been a father and grandfather to that child. What a shame! The sentence I’m imposing should teach others there is a need to uphold morals in our society,” the judge said.
The court heard that in June 2011, Mgobhozi, a married man, raped his 13-year-old daughter from another woman.
The girl kept quiet until she was six months pregnant. She then told her mother and grandmother her father had impregnated her.
A case of rape was opened and Mgobhozi was granted bail in January 2012.
The court heard that on 1 March 2012, Mgobhozi stormed the house at Umlazi Z section where the girl and her mother lived.
He asked why they had opened a rape case against him and sprayed the girl with eight bullets, killing her instantly.
The deceased’s mother, Zinhle Khuzwayo, disrupted the court proceedings when she broke down and cried uncontrollably at the mention of the day’s incidents.

The murdered girl’s mother, uncles, aunts and grandmother welcomed the sentence.
Culled from DAILY SUN

How the human face might look in 100 000 years - genomics expert

A genomics expert has predicted what the human face will look like in 100,000 years time.

Dr Alan Kwan, a computational genomics specialist from Washington University, believes humans will have wrested control of their appearance from evolution by 102,013.

He mapped out how he imagines our appearance will change in 20,000, 60,000 and 100,000 years.

By 22,013, he predicts the human head will have grown to accommodate a larger brain but would still look like someone today except with a subtly larger forehead.

By this point, communications lenses will have replaced devices such as Google Glass, Dr Kwan says.

By 62,013, he believes humans will be starting to colonise other parts of our Solar System giving us larger eyes to adjust to living further away from the Sun.

Dr Kwan also reckons we will have more pigmented skin to protect against more harmful UV radiation outside of the Earth's atmosphere and thicker eyelids to reduce the way low or zero gravity affects eyesight.

By this point in time, he expects humans will have communications lenses fitted and miniature bone-conduction devices implanted above the ear for communications and entertainment.

By 102,013, Dr Kwan thinks humans will have much more control of their appearance which he imagines will be heavily biased towards vanity.

He predicts our descendents will go for features that humans find appealing such strong, regal lines; a straight nose; intense eyes that would seem unnervingly large today; and perfectly symmetrical facial features.

He came up with his predictions for www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, and worked with the site's artist and researcher Nickolay Lamm to create the images. - Orange News  
Culled from NEWSBITE

Incredible! Two-faced kitten born in US (VIDEO)

A kitten owner had to do a double take when she realised her newborn feline had two faces.

Duecy was rejected by its mother so Stephanie Durkee is feeding her by hand.

She is giving her kitten formula with a syringe and keeping her warm with a heating pad.

Ms Durkee said: "The kids actually found them and came in and said, 'Mom there's a kitty with two heads', and I said I think you guys are just tired, you're crazy, that doesn't happen."
Duecy, who was born in Oregon on Tuesday, has been examined by a vet and everything appears to be in good working order.
She is a rare two-faced kitten, also known as a "Janus" kitten.
Culled from SKY NEWS

Man had sex with unconscious woman 'to save her life' says Utah Police

Rodger William Kelly

A 50-year-old Utah man faced rape charges after allegedly arguing he had sex with an unconscious woman "to save her life," police told The Huffington Post on Tuesday.
Rodger William Kelly, of St. George, was being held Tuesday at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Washington County pending $25,000 bond, a jail spokeswoman said.
According to court papers filed by police, Kelly said he spotted a neighbor passed out on her front porch on May 19, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. He said he had intercourse with her in his apartment in order to warm her, the report notes.
"We believe through the investigation and our evidence that his claim is just not correct," St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain told HuffPost.
Kelly made his first appearance in court on Monday but did not enter a plea.
According to the Tribune, police responding to an emergency call on May 19 found Kelly giving CPR to the 29-year-old woman, with whom he had a previous relationship. The woman suspected she had been raped because of bruises on her thighs. Her vaginal area had allegedly been cleaned, preventing the hospital from completing a rape kit.

Kelly's next court appearance is scheduled for June 17, police told HuffPost.
Culled from HUFF POST

Julia Caples, real-life vampire, says drinking blood makes her feel healthier & stronger (VIDEO)

As diets go, Julia Caples' really sucks.Or at least she does.
Caples, 45, is a real-life vampire who, drinks almost two liters of blood every month. She sucks the liquid from the backs of willing donors she meets at an occult and oddities store she runs near her home in Wilkes Barre, Penn.
"When I feed off of a person and drink their blood I feel stronger and healthier," she said, according to the Mirror. "I know scientifically there's not a lot nutrition in blood, but maybe there's some value we haven't discovered yet."
Caples' taste for blood began when she was 15, in the throes of her first kiss, and she got the urge to bite her boyfriend.

Julia Caples, real-life vampire

“It was my natural instinct and I liked the taste. I just got an urge and can’t really explain it. It’s never gone away," she said, according to the Sun. "Needless to say though, he never kissed me again.”
Caples didn't really go batty for blood until she started dating her ex-husband, Donald, 49, who, like her, was into the goth lifestyle. However, when they had their son, Alexi, 11, he decided to go cold turkey on the plasma.

"I gave up, so Julia didn't have to. ... She's an amazing mother, and her children come first. She'd never let it stop her mothering her kids," Donald Caples said, according to MSNnow.com.
Caples' 24-year-old daughter, Alexi, finds her mom's dietary habits distasteful.
"I don't agree with it," she said during an encounter captured by Barcroft TV. "You are literally by definition a leech and a parasite."
Caples doesn't agree, since all of her blood donors do it willingly.
“I meet some donors online but I absolutely have to meet them in person first. And they have to get blood tests to make sure that they’re not carrying any blood-borne diseases like AIDS or HIV,” she said, according to Opposing Views.
Although Caples said her blood diet has kept her looking younger than her 45 years, medical experts don't recommend it because of the risk of blood-borne disease, and because the human digestive system isn't well adapted for digesting blood.
However, small quantities of blood are likely harmless according to LiveScience.com.
 Culled from HUFF POST

4yr-old boy accidentally shoots and kills his father

Justin Stanfield Thomas.

Authorities in northern Arizona say a 4-year-old boy has accidentally shot and killed his father at a Prescott Valley home.

Prescott Valley police say the shooting occurred just after noon Friday.

The 35-year-old man and his young son were visiting from Phoenix and were at a friend's house.

Police say the boy somehow found a gun in the home's living room and accidentally fired it and a bullet hit his father, who was rushed to a hospital where he died. Police identified the man as Justin Stanfield Thomas.

Police say the boy is with his mother. No other details have been released.

Culled from HUFF post

3,000 sheep and a woman riding 3 horses: The bizarre way Marseille celebrated becoming European Capital of Culture

 

 Camille (right) of the Theatre du Centaure stands on her horses 

Odyssey: Transhumance is the seasonal migration when herds are moved to grazing grounds

 

These pictures capture the incredible scenes as a woman mounted on three horses led thousands of sheep through the French city of Marseille.

They were taken yesterday during festivities held to celebrate Marseille-Provence being named the 2013 European Capital of Culture.

The visually-stunning parade was called 'TransHumance', after the seasonal migration of people with their livestock when herds are moved to new grazing grounds.

It was organised by the equestrian troupe of the Theatre du Centaure, with 7000 animals passing through the city centre with tens of thousands of people watching.

More than 150 Provençal and Italian herdsmen, using teams of horses and dogs, will cross Marseille, before finally stopping on the beaches of Marseille's iconic Prado in ‘a poetic journey celebrating nature’.

Shepherds from France and Italy helped keep the animals in tight formation

The 600 kilometre journey starts out a two different points and merges in l’Etang des Aulnes, before making the final journey towards Marseille. The riders were joined by walkers from all backgrounds and nationalities.

Retroblog Traveller describes TransHumance as 'sharing the experience of time and space'. 

It added: 'Modern ways of communication and transport force the world to live in the same rhythm. Temporality is not respected anymore.

The festivities marked Marseille-Provence being named the 2013 European Capital of Culture

'By travelling together one can slow down one’s pace of life and experience the seasonal movement of people and cattle in the same way people did in ancient times, though in TransHumance's case with a modern twist.'

At each stage of the journey the choreographed movements of animals will be photographed from the air. These images will be used to create a mosaic of the different landscapes of Provence.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Female Israeli soldiers in trouble after posing half-naked for pictures, dressed only in underwear and combat fatigues

The Israeli military said the soldiers were disciplined for 'unbecoming behaviour' after the pictures were posted online

Four Israeli female soldiers have been disciplined after pictures of themselves dressed only in their underwear and combat gear were posted on Facebook.
The Israeli military said yesterday the group of women were punished for their 'unbecoming behaviour' after the pictures emerged on local news sites.
The images, published on Israeli news site Walla, showed the soldiers removing their fatigues to expose their underwear and back sides.
In another, five women posed in what appeared to be a barracks room, dressed only in helmets and a small amount of combat equipment.

The women posed in their underwear and combat fatigues in the images that were posted on Facebook

The women were said to be new recruits stationed on a base in southern Israel.
The incident is the latest in a string of episodes involving young Israeli soldiers on social media that have drawn reprimand from the military.
In a statement, the military said the young women had acted in a manner that showed 'unbecoming behaviour' for Israeli soldiers.
'The commanding officers disciplined the soldiers as they saw fitting,' it said

Several times in recent years, the Israeli military has disciplined soldiers for what were considered improper postings in social media sites.

Last year, the social media chief for the Israel Defence Force, was branded 'racist' after posting a picture on Facebook of his face covered in mud alongside the caption 'Obama style'. 

Lt. Sacha Dratwa faced a barrage of abuse for the picture, which appeared to show him swimming in the Dead Sea, and denied he was racist. 

A male Israeli soldier was also condemned after being filmed dancing suggestively around a blindfolded Palestinian woman in a video posted to YouTube in 2010.

That incident followed the discovery of photos earlier that year showing a female soldier posing in front of Palestinian prisoners.

In 2010, this Israeli soldier was disciplined after posting a picture of her with a blindfolded man online

The Israeli military banned soldiers from using social media sites while on base after the photographs came to light. 

The ban was an effort to prevent future embarrassing posts on social media. It remains unclear whether the ban is in effect.

Early this year, another soldier was reprimanded for writing anti-Palestinian tweets and posting pictures to multiple social media services showing himself naked with a gun.

Most Jewish Israeli men and women are required to serve in the military, starting at age 18.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

'Oral sex caused my cancer': Hollywood star, Michael Douglas, blames his throat tumour on sexually transmitted disease

Michael Douglas, pictured on the Graham Norton Show last week, has spoken about the causes of his throat cancer

Hollywood actor Michael Douglas has claimed that his throat cancer was caused by performing oral sex on women.

The star, who fought a six month battle with the disease from August 2010 until January 2011, had initially believed that it was his years of smoking and drinking that had lead to the illness.

However, in a new interview the 68-year-old said that the particular strain he had suffered with was caused by human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease.

Douglas made the frank admission about how he developed the illness during an interview with The Guardian newspaper when he was asked if he had regretted smoking and drinking in the past.

Douglas candidly replied: 'No. Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus.'

Douglas, who is married to Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, was diagnosed with cancer in August 2010 after a walnut-sized tumour was found on his tongue.

Michael with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their two children Dylan and Carys

His health troubles started just a few months after his eldest son Cameron - from his first marriage to Diandra Luker - was jailed for drug possession and dealing.

The actor admitted he initially believed his disease had been triggered by the stress over his son's legal troubles.

He explained: 'I did worry if the stress caused by my son's incarceration didn't help trigger it. But yeah, it's a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it.'

Douglas was diagnosed with stage four of the disease and underwent an intense course of chemotherapy and radiation.

Eventually, he was given the all-clear, although he still has to undergo check-ups with doctors every six months.

However, the actor is optimistic he has conquered the disease once and for all.

'With this kind of cancer, 95 per cent of the time it doesn't come back,' he said.

More than 20 years ago, Michael was hospitalised for an addiction, which many reports at the time claimed was to sex.

However, he has since denied that he was a sex addict, insisting that he was being treated for alcohol abuse.

HPV is a sexually transmitted virus which is more widely known as a cause of cervical and anal cancer.

Last year, Cancer Research UK said the rising rates of HPV16-positive cases of oral cancer could be linked to oral sex.

Culled from DAILY MAIL