Study shows worrying trend of child abuse in China
A landmark survey on violence against children in China shows abuse is more widespread than previously believed and has a lasting effect on mental health.
China has implemented an urban one-child policy for the past quarter of a century, leading to a popular perception that an only child is more likely to be indulged than abused.
But the survey of more than 3,500 adolescents undertaken by the All-China Women’s Federation, Peking University and UNICEF showed more than 50 percent of males taking part and one-third of females had been hit or kicked as children.
US pro sports resist steroid bill
The commissioners of professional baseball, basketball, soccer and hockey on Wednesday told the U.S. Congress the leagues would prefer to police themselves rather than have a law governing drug testing in sports.
But members of a panel examining the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs said the problem required a more unified approach, greater transparency and significant third-party involvement for players, management and fans to be confident their game was clean.
WHO confirms Ebola outbreak in Congo, nine dead
Ebola has returned to the Republic of Congo, killing nine people since the end of April, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday after tests confirmed the presence of the deadly virus.
“The results (of laboratory tests) came in yesterday… It is indeed a case of Ebola," said Adamou Yada, WHO’s representative in Congo, which has faced serious outbreaks of the disease in the past. Nearly 150 people died in 2003.
“Since the beginning (of the outbreak), we have registered 11 cases, including nine deaths,” Yada said in the capital Brazzaville.
Indonesia plans to re-test worker for bird flu
Indonesia is trying to find a poultry worker in the east of the country to test him for bird flu for the second time after the first test was inconclusive, a health ministry official said on Wednesday.
Authorities are testing specimens from workers at poultry farms as part of a monitoring programme put in place after the potentially deadly disease emerged in Indonesia in late 2003.
U.S. witness calls for $130 bln stop-smoking plan
Cigarette makers should be forced to fund a 25-year, $130 billion program to help smokers who want to quit, a witness testified on Tuesday in the U.S. government’s racketeering case against the tobacco industry.
Smoking cessation expert Michael Fiore told a federal judge the expensive, long-running campaign would be needed to get counseling and medication to the 32.1 million people out of 47 million U.S. smokers who say they want to quit.
Being well-liked in school a double-edged sword
The most well-liked seventh- and eight-graders are more likely to be well-adjusted—and to adopt risky behaviors such as drinking, smoking marijuana, and shoplifting, new study findings suggest.
The study also suggests, however, that well-liked students who are surrounded by friends who stay away from drinking and other dangerous behaviors are not more likely to engage in them, suggesting that a popular kid’s crowd has a big influence, said the study’s lead author.
Europe follows U.S. lead on child medicine testing
Europe is following the U.S. lead with proposals requiring medicine testing on children, in a move welcomed by many doctors, patients and research-based companies but criticised by makers of cheap generic drugs.
More than half of medicines currently used to treat children in the European Union have not been specifically tested in youngsters.
As a result, clinicians lack clear guidelines on the best drug to use and often have to guess at the correct dose, since many products are not formulated properly for younger patients.
Fear of falling keeps some middle-agers inactive
Not just the elderly, but also a good number of middle-aged adults are apparently afraid of falling. Nearly one-third of middle-aged African Americans say they are, and many curtail their activity as a result, new survey findings show.
Some people “who had never fallen, yet had a fear of falling, voluntarily restricted their activity due to this fear,” said study author Dr. Margaret-Mary Wilson.
Wilson, who is based at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in Missouri, said that although falls can cause injuries, these risks are far outweighed by the benefits of being active in middle age.
Cellphone risk may be higher in countryside: study
Mobile phones could pose a higher health risk to rural dwellers, because the phones emit stronger signals in the countryside, Swedish scientists reported Tuesday.
Base stations tend to be further apart in more remote areas so the phones compensate with stronger signals.
“We found that the risk of brain tumour was higher for people living in rural areas than in towns,” said Professor Lennart Hardell, of University Hospital in Orebro, Sweden. “The stronger the signal, the higher the risk,” he told.
“How long do I have, doc?” Few answer
While most cancer doctors are candid in telling patients if their illness is terminal, very few are willing to say how long they are likely to live, a survey shows.
Dr. Christopher K. Daugherty talked about the survey results at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
“Physicians have been described as being poor at giving accurate prognostic information to their dying patients and these patients have also been described as overestimating their survival times,” he commented.
Single counseling session can cut prenatal drinking
One short counseling session with a doctor or nurse can be enough to get pregnant women to reduce their drinking, a new study shows.
Drinking during pregnancy is associated with a range of birth defects and developmental disorders—from mild learning disabilities to, most seriously, fetal alcohol syndrome. FAS is a collection of birth defects and developmental problems that can include delayed growth, significant learning disabilities and abnormal facial features.
Because there is no known “safe” level of drinking for pregnant women, experts advise abstinence during pregnancy. Women who are trying to get pregnant are also urged to give up alcohol so they don’t end up drinking in the weeks soon after conception, before they know they are pregnant.
Makers of drug-test fakes silent before U.S. panel
Marketers of detoxifying drinks, prosthetic penises and other products to thwart drug tests refused to answer questions on Tuesday from U.S. lawmakers threatening legislation to crack down on an industry that investigators said is booming on the Internet.
Owners of three companies, including one that sells a fake penis called “The Whizzinator,” appeared at a congressional hearing under subpoena but exercised their constitutional right not to testify.
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton stressed the executives still must respond to requests to supply congressional investigators with documents about the business.
U.N. food agency warns of looming aid shortage
The United Nations food agency warned on Tuesday that it would soon have to reduce rations to refugees in Africa unless donors came up quickly with the $315 million it needed.
The World Food Programme (WFP), which aids some 2.2 million people worldwide, said it had received only $460 million of the $775 million sought in funding for 2005, of which 75 percent is spent in Africa.
“Many of the refugees rely almost entirely on food aid for their survival,” said WFP deputy executive director John Powell.
