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Women are dying to look more beautiful and more youthful - literally. Photo courtesy: yahoo!news.com
My personal prayers are with these women. Going to a beauty parlour should not be a life-threatening adventure. May the remaining three recover.
A 46-year-old woman has died in Hong Kong and three others are fighting for their lives following a beauty parlor treatment that involves blood transfusions further highlighting a lack of regulation in the city's cosmetic industry.
The cases have prompted an investigation by police and medical authorities, and renewed calls by health experts for tighter regulation of Hong Kong's beauty industry.
"Yes, the woman aged 46 died of septic shock," a government spokeswoman said. Three others, aged 56, 59 and 60, were in hospital with the eldest in critical condition.
Septic shock is normally caused by bacterial infection and can result in respiratory and organ failure, even death.
The four had recently undergone a complicated blood transfusion procedure at the DR beauty chain, according to government statements, in a treatment that was meant to boost their immune system and appearance.
The women paid around HK $50,000 ($6,400 USD {$1 USD = 7.7526 HKD}) for the procedure, which experts say is at best an experimental treatment for cancer patients and which has not shown to have any aesthetic application so far.
DR said in a statement that the procedures were carried out by a doctor who was not employed by the parlor.
The procedure required their blood to be taken to isolate and culture certain types of immune cells. These "cytokine-induced killer cells" were then injected back into the women together with their own blood plasma.
The four quickly fell ill with fever, dizziness and diarrhea. In an earlier blood sample taken from the woman who died, health officials found Mycobacterium abscessus, a superbug that is notoriously difficult to kill.
Although the direct cause of the woman's death has yet to be confirmed, experts say it is likely to have been bacterial infection.
"They now have to find out where the bacterial contamination occurred in this whole process. Did it happen when the blood was drawn, during the culture process or when it was reinjected back into the body?" said William Chui, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists in Hong Kong.
The cases raise fresh questions on how governments in many places in Asia regulate doctors' conduct and sale of medicines; but, exercise little or no control over what goes on in beauty parlors or what goes into "healthcare" products.
In Singapore in 2002, 15 women developed liver problems and one died after consuming Chinese-made slimming pills that were later found to contain two undeclared ingredients. One of the patients, an actress, survived only after a liver transplant.
Felice Lieh Mak, a leading medical expert in Hong Kong and former chairman of the Medical Council, said: "We hope that this tragedy will result in some attempt at making a legislation, or at least work towards legislating and defining what medical treatment is."
Dining room of the new Ritz-Carlton on the 118th floor of the International Commerce Centre. Photo courtesy: Yahoo!News
The world's highest hotel is located in Hong Kong; and, is housed in the city's tallest skyscraper offering unrivalled panoramic views of the world-famous Victoria Harbour. However; as you continue reading, it will soon become apparent that the people involved have no concept of "less is more". In fact, the fight is on to see who can imagine the most luxury to be made available.
Towering some 490m (1,600 ft) above the bustling, chaotic streets of the Southern Chinese city, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is making a grand comeback after temporarily closing in 2008.
Visitors peered out of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the 118th floor of the International Commerce Centre, which houses the hotel, for a 360 degree view of the glitzy financial hub and the South China Sea.
"We're opening an iconic hotel which took us about 10 years to build," president and chief operations officer Herve Humler told reporters.
"We are taking luxury to new heights in every sense," he added.
The Ritz-Carlton may very well lose the world's highest hotel title in 2014, according to media reports, when the J-Hotel opens near the top of the over 600m(1968.5 ft) Shanghai Tower in mainland China.
"People compete all around the world about everything -- I'm sure someone somewhere is building an even taller building as we speak," Humler said. "We emphasise service."
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong also will be one of the most expensive places to stay in a city already packed with luxury hotels, with the rack rate starting at HK $6,000 (US$770) a night for a deluxe room. The rack rate is the rate the hotel charges for that room before any discounts, etc. are taken into consideration.
A presidential suite is going for HK $100,000 (US $12,834.21).
Rooms offer a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour. Photo courtesy: Yahoo!News
So...what can I expect for my money?
Inside, the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong exudes a chic, modern vibe in the restaurants and lobby areas, with a lot of sparkling decor and chandeliers, the main colour themes being black, brown and beige.
Visitors can expect to find facilities that include the highest bar in the world, and a top-floor pool that will feature a 19m (62.34 ft) ceiling-mounted LCD screen which swimmers can watch while enjoying the warmth of the heated water.
With 312 guest rooms, the hotel also has one of the largest ballrooms in the city at 930 sq m (10,010.436 sq ft).
Humler said mainland Chinese customers account for about 35% of the hotel group's market, up from just 3%-4% 14 years ago.
"This number is expected to rise. Mainland China is a key market for us. Asia as a region has bounced back significantly in the past year, with business going up about 20% in 2010," said Humler.
"In China, everything that is created has to have the "wow" factor to attract the top echelons of society. They want quality service and efficiency," the president added.
Humler said occupancy rates at Ritz-Carlton Tokyo had plunged from 80% to 15% since the Japan nuclear crisis began; but. he expected it to have little impact on the Hong Kong hotel.
Via Yahoo!News
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