Free Republic

Those dark red, spots dotting Olympians’ shoulders and backs are not cigar burns. They’re not perfectly circular hickeys either. Viewers watching the Olympics this weekend may have spotted the pepperoni-like bruises on athletes and wondered: What is that? Olympians at Rio have taken to cupping — an ancient therapy that have mostly been used in Middle Eastern and Asian countries, especially China. The therapy consists of having round glass suction cups that are warmed, then placed on sore parts of the body. The placement of the glass cup creates a partial vacuum, which is believed to stimulate muscles and blood...

Medical science has come a long way in the 400 years since William Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood. Anaesthetics, an appreciation of the importance of clean water, penicillin and cracking the human genome are but a few of its more notable achievements. So why has Gwyneth Paltrow turned the clock back 5,000 years to the ancient Chinese to find relief for her physical ailments? The actress caused a stir this week when she turned up at a New York film premiere wearing a low-cut black dress and sporting what appeared to be a row of circles on her...