With Christmas only a couple of days away, the tanning centres have been busy with customers getting an early start on their winter sun.

However, indoor tanning services continue to be a heated topic with many health professionals on one side, calling for increased regulation of sun beds and warning of the link between their usage and the increased chances of skin cancer. While tanning professionals, on the other side, resist increased regulation arguing that indoor tanning, if done responsibly, is no more dangerous than bathing in the sun.

Now, the US congress is proposing a new approach which would treat indoor tanning like other potentially dangerous products such as alcohol and cigarettes and simply tax them. The bill, which comes as part of the major healthcare reform package which President Obama is attempting to pass, would replace a proposed 5 percent tax on cosmetic enhancement services (AKA the "Bo-Tax") and would introduce a 10 percent tax on all indoor tanning services. It would be expected to raise $2.7 billion over 10 years and be used to help pay for broader healthcare reform.

With governments around the world tightening their belts while trying to protect basic health services, this may well become a tax we will see replicated elsewhere.

Monday evenings are circuit training evening here at Wahanda, and after an hour of hard training I can usually hardly move and following a light dinner and a quick catch-up on emails I tend to fall asleep like a baby.

So I was unsurprised to see that a series of studies support the importance of physical activity in promoting good sleep.

What is interesting, is that for the first time, scientists are drawing a direct link between just how much sleep and exercise are correlated and in this regard, the study on children is particularly interesting. In the study, 871 healthy children wore actigraphs to measure their movement. The results showed that sedentary activity was associated with an increase in sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep when you toss and turn and wonder just how long you will be tossing and turning). In fact, for every hour of sedentary activity it took, on average, 3.1 minutes longer for the child to fall asleep.

Now, 3 minutes might not sound like a lot but look a little closer and it really ads up. I spend about 10 hours a day in front of a computer and relatively sedentary. That means I could be getting an extra 30 minutes of sleep every day or more than three hours a week.

So forget the sleeping pills and start doing some exercise. And, if you are thinking of getting fit then not only will you feel stronger and healthier but you might find yourself getting a better night's sleep.

Good night.

According to new research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), excess physical activity in middle aged people can cause damage to the knee and increase the chances of osteoarthritis.

Describing the results of the study, Dr Christoph Stehling, research fellow at the UCSF said, "Our data suggest that people with higher physical activity levels may be at greater risk for developing knee abnormalities and, thus, at higher risk for developing osteoarthritis. This study and previous studies by our group suggest that high-impact, weight-bearing physical activity, such as running and jumping, may be worse for cartilage health. Conversely, low-impact activities, such as swimming and cycling, may protect diseased cartilage and prevent healthy cartilage from developing disease."

The study total of 236 participants aged between 45 and 55 years who had not previously reported knee injuries took part in the study, all within a "healthy" weight range.

Read more here

Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years as part of Traditional Chinese Medicine as a means to alleviate pain. Most acupuncture practitioners have argued that the treatment works by altering the flow of the body's energy, however, scientists have struggled to understand exactly how it works.

Now a new study published in the September issue of NeuroImage, has used medical scanning technology to show that acupuncture eases pain by regulating key receptors in the brain. The study, which tracked a group of women with a cronic pain illness, found that acupuncture eases pain by regulating key receptors in the brain that process and weaken pain signals. The study found that by directly stimulating these receptors, acupuncture can affect the brain's long-term ability to regulate pain.

I play quite a bit of tennis and live in fear of developing tennis elbow. I have seen tennis elbow prevent too many of my friends from enjoying their love of this great game and then spend years in different treatments trying to overcome it.

An interesting article out today in the New York Times suggests that a study has found a very simple (and cheap) set of eccentric exercises that may be the answer that tennis (and Golf players) have been looking for. Read more here.

Hopefully they will find similar exercises to overcome wrist pain associated with typing too much -- my current nemesis.

At this time of year, many us like to pop into our local tanning centre for some time on the sunbed and get a head-start on the summer holiday, however, new research reinforces once more how important it is to use sunbeds carefully.

According to BBC News the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently completed a review of research which is published in the medical journal, The Lancet and which "concluded that the risk of melanoma - the most deadly form of skin cancer - was increased by 75% in people who started using sunbeds regularly before the age of 30."

The research makes it clear that many people are abusing their use of sunbeds. However, its clear that more than ever, if you are going to use them at all, you should use sunbeds responsibly. Here are some practical tips:

• Make sure you visit a reputable sunbed centre that adheres to The Sunbed Association Code of Practice.
• Don't use a sunbed if you have sensitive skin or burn easily.
• Don't overdo it -- make sure to follow the attendants directions carefully and try to limit the frequency and duration of your exposure.
• Wear protective eyewear.
• Not for children. European regulation states that sunbeds should not be used on anyone under the age of 16 and there is increasing pressure to increase the minimum age to 18.

Please tan responsibly.

The role of complementary therapies in traditional medicine has been a subject of hot debate. Of course, there are many that believe that complementary medicine can be a powerful and effective tool in treating certain conditions, but there has been a recent flurry of articles and books arguing that these treatments were non-evidence based and potentially dangerous to patients. In fact, as recently as this past weekend the FT Weekend Magazine ran a cover story on complimentary medicine entitled "This medicine is mumbo-jumbo".

Which is why yesterday's announcement that, for the first time, the NHS yesterday is backing the use of acupuncture, or massage as treatment for persistent back pain is so extraordinary. It is the first time the NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) has explicitly backed the use of complementary therapies. Even more impressive, NICE is tasked with rationing services in the NHS to control costs so this recommendation has been made with a disciplined view on the cost/benefit analysis.

Of course, we still have a long way to go to fully understand the use and limits of complementary therapies in the treatment of medical conditions but its encouraging to see the NHS taking a fresh and open perspective.

I suspect that Wahanda is like so many businesses -- we would like to incorporate wellness and wellbeing into our business and to ensure that our employees are happy and healthy but it can be hard to figure out how to do that regularly. We all work too hard, we all feel stressed at times and we all forget to take the time to take care of ourselves. The irony is that even at Wahanda, we feel this even though we live wellness all day and everyday.

That is why recently we introduced a free weekly Yoga lesson for all employees in the office. Every Thursday, the lovely Kristy Norton who, naturally, we found using our therapist search, comes to the office and leads a one hour yoga lesson. We don't have a dedicated room for this. We simply clear the desks and roll-out our mats. It couldn't be easier and everyone seems to really love it.

Beyond the obvious benefits of giving all of us a break in the day, its also a great team activity which we can all share and I think helps brings the team closer together. Best of all it forces all of us to stop and to participate. There are no excuses and doesn't require anyone to go anywhere.

Ultimately, as Wahanda grows, I would like to have a dedicated yoga and fitness studio in the office and to have free lessons for everyone but in the meantime this is a great first step. Its not expensive, doesn't require a lot of space and really does provide a lot of benefits to consumers. It must be something that more of us could do in our businesses. Getting out of the office can be hard but bringing wellness into the workspace has to be on the of the most important trends of the future.

What are you doing to bring wellness into your workspace? Please drop me a line and share some of the innovative things you are doing and I will share the best ideas on this blog.