Tired of that saggy belly? Want to get rid of that wobble in your thighs? The answer (well, the answer that doesn't involve diet or exercise, anyway) may be coming to the U.S.

The Utlrashape is an ultrasound device whose makers claim it can destroy fat cells, leaving surrounding tissue intact. One Montreal plastic surgeon, Dr. Arie Benchetrit, says that the Ultrashape isn't just another hyped-up fad. He's been using it since 2007 and calls it the "the first real device" to eliminate pockets of fat.

Don't pull out your passport for that trip to Canada just yet. Other doctors have reservations. "Is this a good procedure?" asks Michael McGuire, head of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "I would say the main risk to this procedure is disappointment and spending a lot of money for very little gain."

Whether the Ultrashape works or not, it's not for significant weight loss. Patients need to have a normal or overweight BMI. It's also not a replacement for liposuction; instead, it's for contouring parts of the body affect by small pockets of fat.

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My breasts are dense. I know this because I hear it every time someone examines me, squashes my boobs into a mammogram machine, slides a gooey ultrasound wand up and down and all around my ta tas, or makes me dangle my girls through the slings of an MRI machine. Dense. So dense. Unbelievably dense.

Young women have dense breasts. That's just how it goes. And that's exactly why we youngsters -- meaning any of us under the age of 40 -- must take control of our own breast care. Mammograms are not the best for us -- that's why the imaging test isn't recommended for women under 40. They're not effective because they often don't pick up masses wound up in dense tissue. A mammogram missed my breast cancer a few years back. Ultrasound picked it up, though -- thankfully. But my first line of defense -- and the method that turned up my pea-sized hard tumor -- is self examination. That means once each month, girls, you must check your breasts. Here's how.

Schedule your do-it-yourself boob massage for one week following your menstrual cycle -- fewer hormonal tissue changes this way -- and do this: Recline your body or stand in the shower like I did that fateful day I found my pea. Put your right arm up over your head. Use the fingertips on your left hand to feel your right breast in its entirety. Then switch arms and hands and take care of your left breast. Note what you feel and remember it. Because when you check again a month later, you'll try to detect changes. If you find any, get yourself to the doctor. Because you are young, you may be dismissed -- I was -- but you just stand tall and firm and sure of yourself and demand that you be referred to a specialist, someone who will combine a mammogram with ultrasound, and maybe MRI too. Let your gut guide you. If it tells you something is wrong, it probably is. Pursue your health, my friends. Because no one else will.

Young women, dense as they can be, get breast cancer. I did. You might too. So get to work on saving your life. Now.

For more about young women and breast cancer, visit the Young Survival Coalition here.

My mom always has tricks for determining if someone is having a boy or a girl. When my sister was pregnant, her overly swollen feet meant she was having a boy ... she ended up having a girl. When my cousin was carrying her baby quite high, my mom was convinced it was a girl ... wrong again -- she had a bouncing baby boy. And when my other sister had terrible sweet cravings during pregnancy, my mom also predicted a girl ... and finally my mom was right.

Old wives tales abound when it comes to determining the sex of your baby. But now scientists have come across a way of determining whether it's a boy or a girl that sounds suspiciously like an old wives tale.

Researchers studied over 220,000 pregnant women and determined that if you're heavier at the start of your second pregnancy than you were at your first, there's a higher chance that you'll have a boy. They aren't clear why, however. One researcher suggests that environmental contaminants that are linked to male births may also build up fatty tissue.

It all sounds a bit flimsy to me. And it's certainly not a reason to pack on pounds if you want a boy or go on a crazy diet if you want a girl. Call me old-fashioned, but if I were pregnant, I think I'd trust an ultrasound more.

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Coming soon to a physician's office near you ... the Mini Ultrasound Machine. Most small doctor's offices don't have room for CT scanners, but in the tradition of miniaturizing technology, a new 2-pound ultrasound machine can just as accurately spot heart trouble.

The new Acuson P10 provides doctors with the ability to easily examine patients for fluid around the heart, blocked blood vessels, and irregular valve movement.

Don't be surprised if you see this new gizmo at your GP's office the next time you're in for a visit.

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When I was pregnant with my first child, my OB wouldn't schedule an ultrasound after 5 weeks gestation. He said that as long as the baby and I appeared healthy, there wasn't any reason for it. With my second child, I had a different doctor who scheduled two or three throughout the pregnancy. The final ultrasound set off a flurry of tests and follow up ultrasounds when they thought there was something wrong with the baby's kidneys. Several ultrasounds later, I finally gave (normal, uncomplicated) birth to a healthy, happy child. None of those tests were necessary and in the end caused me more stress and worry than anything else. As my first doctor said, "Sometimes a little knowledge can be dangerous."

That's a very long story to explain to you how I feel about this story. I can see myself hovering over my firstborn, worrying over the umbilical cord. If I had known about brain bleeds, I probably wouldn't have been able to relax enough to enjoy the little sleep I got those first few weeks. Expectant mothers don't need more to worry over, we do enough of that already. Though I have no medical training and don't want to be glib about this finding, my instincts tell me that this is a normal side effect of birth and that the findings won't change anything in the long run about labor and delivery. Any moms or OBs out there interested in chiming in?

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