Learn Spanish Watching Videos: 2017

Friday, December 29, 2017

Screens and eyesight: What can parents do?

Kids seem to spend endless hours on smartphones, games consoles, computers and tablets these days.

Playing on electronic devices certainly doesn't help their waistlines, but do you ever wonder what regular device use is doing to their eyesight?

While there isn't much research out there yet about the impact of screens on eyesight – after all the iPhone was first unveiled by Apple in only 2007 – experts are concerned about growing levels of short-sightedness in children.

And they suggest the best thing parents can do to prevent it is to encourage youngsters to spend more time outdoors in the sunlight.

How short-sightedness is on the rise

There has been a massive rise around the globe in short-sightedness – or myopia as it's officially known – over recent decades.

"We know that myopia or short-sightedness is becoming more common," says Chris Hammond, professor of ophthalmology at King's College London and consultant ophthalmic surgeon at St Thomas' Hospital.

"It has reached epidemic levels in East Asia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, where approaching 90% of 18-year-olds are now short-sighted.

"In Europe, it's potentially getting up to 40% to 50% of young adults in their mid-20s who are short-sighted now in Western Europe. It's been gradually rising over the decades of the 20th Century from around 20-30%."

Why has it become so much more common?

Annegret Dahlmann-Noor, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London says lack of natural light seems to be the key issue.

"The main factor seems to be a lack of exposure to direct sunlight, because children who study a lot and who use computers or smartphones or tablet computers a lot have less opportunity to run around outside and are less exposed to sunshine and because of that seem to be at more risk of developing short-sightedness."

Prof Hammond says: "It may be that there's no coincidence that in East Asian countries, the most myopic ones all correlate with the maths league tables.

"These kids are being pushed with very intensive education from a very young age and spend a lot of time indoors studying everything close up and very little time outdoors.

"Therefore the concern is that all close work – like playing with the iPad and iPhone – carries the potential that it could make them more short-sighted."

So should we stop or limit screen use?

Well that's much easier said than done! Any parent will know that youngsters are like dogs with bones when it comes to their beloved phones and trying to get them off their devices is pretty much impossible – certainly without a massive argument.

Dr Dahlmann-Noor, who is a mother of three, says trying to stop screen use is probably an unrealistic aspiration.

"You can only tell them that it might make their eyes uncomfortable, it might make them short-sighted and they should not use it as much as they like to.

"But, hand on heart, I don't think we can get away from this because they also have to do their school homework on laptops and iPads and they do their searches for background information on screens.

"If you're a teenager and you have got revision to do for GCSEs or A-levels then you can't really switch off, can you? So I don't think we will be reducing the screen use, really, in years to come."

Time outdoors is the key

The best thing to do, say the experts, is to get children playing outside as much as possible.

"Protective of myopia development is time outdoors – sport and leisure outdoors are protective of eyesight," says Prof Hammond.

"In a perfect world, probably on average across the week and the weekend, two hours a day outdoors is protective of becoming short-sighted in children."

He says myopia research done in Sydney, Australia showed that only 3% of Chinese-heritage children living in Sydney – who spent two hours a day outdoors – were short-sighted by the age of six, compared to nearly 30% of six-year-olds in Singapore.

"So again, suggestive that the outdoor lifestyle is good for our eyes."

And don't forget your veg

Dr Dahlmann-Noor says diet is also an area where families can help with eyesight.

"We always tell parents about omega-3 essential fatty acids, and vitamins A, C and E and nutrients that are good for the back of the eye.

"Healthy diet really is important – in terms of getting oily fish, avocados, green vegetables, green leafy vegetables as much as possible.

"Or in children, all these supplements that you can buy over the counter that are good for the brain, also happen to be good for the eyes – they're just not marketed for that."

She also recommends regular annual eye checks.

How would I know if my child was becoming short-sighted?

According to NHS Choices, signs that your child may be short-sighted include:

needing to sit near the front of the class at school because they find it difficult to read the whiteboard
sitting close to the television
complaining of headaches or tired eyes
regularly rubbing their eyes

When someone's short-sighted, the eyes have grown slightly too long, which means light rays focus just in front of the retina, at the back of the eye, so distant objects to appear blurred, but close objects are seen clearly.

Hope for tomorrow's treatment

While levels of myopia are likely to continue to rise, the hope is that researchers will find ways to reduce its progression.

Dr Dahlmann-Noor says: "What we need to look at, in terms of research and development, is ways of modifying the impact that these activities have on their visual development."

Prof Hammond adds: "There are eye drops and other treatments to slow myopia progression. But in terms of preventing myopia itself, there isn't any data out there at the moment in terms of 'Could the drops we use to slow progression stop myopia developing at all?'

"I think it's going to be the logical next step of research studies, as in countries like urban China – where 10% of children in each class per year are becoming short-sighted from about the age of six – there's an argument for saying we should be trying to prevent it."

Thursday, December 28, 2017

The giant rats that love avocado and can diagnose deadly TB | Kate Lyons

A team in Tanzania have trained African pouched rats to make life-saving discoveries, sniffing out cases of tuberculosis missed by health clinics

After scampering about a sleek glass and aluminium cage, a rat named Riziwan has made a crucial discovery.

In just minutes, Riziwan has positively identified 13 people who may have tuberculosis. The discovery is potentially life-saving news for those whose sputum samples were marked as clear by their local health clinics. But its all in a days or rather 15 minutes work for Riziwan and the other giant African pouched rats that work at Belgian organisation Apopos TB centre in Morogoro, Tanzania.

Riziwan, now almost a year old, has been trained almost since birth to pick up the smell of the disease, which is notoriously difficult to detect.

To carry out his work, Riziwan is placed in a large cage. Into its base, technicians insert a metal bar holding 10 dishes of human sputum, sent to Apopo by a TB clinic. All samples have been heat-treated so there is no risk of infection to either rats or humans. One by one, metal grates in the bottom of the cage are opened to allow Riziwan to sniff each petri dish.

There is silence among the technicians as Riziwan examines the samples. He moves on quickly from slots one and two, but at the third he pauses and scratches the metal bottom of the cage, indicating that he smells the disease.

At the seventh hole he scratches again, and again at the eighth. This time Harumi Ramadhani, the training supervisor, presses a clicker, meaning Riziwan has correctly identified a control sample from one of the clinics. It earns him a reward of mashed banana, avocado and rat pellets.

Apopo rats find an additional 40% of TB cases on top of those discovered by clinics

Workers — Apopo rats find an additional 40% of TB cases on top of those discovered by clinics

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Woman Who Can Smell Parkinson's Is Helping Scientists Create The First-Ever Diagnostic Test

Working out what's wrong with someone can be a complex challenge for doctors. But what if they could diagnose a disease simply from a person's smell? Well, a woman named Joy Milne has the superpower of sniffing out Parkinson's disease, and it's helping researchers develop the first-ever diagnostic test.

Caused by a loss of nerve cells in the brain area responsible for dopamine production, Parkinson's disease can be a crippling condition. It can lead to involuntary tremors, slow movement, and stiff and inflexible muscles. It can also cause a range of other symptoms, from depression and anxiety to insomnia and memory loss. At the moment there is no cure, and diagnosis is based on the observation of symptoms alone.

We first learned that Joy Milne could smell Parkinson's a few years back. Her husband, Les, had the disease, and she noticed a change in his scent years before his diagnosis. She then joined the charity Parkinson's UK, only to discover that other sufferers of the condition shared his unique smell.

She shared her findings with scientists, prompting researchers at the University of Edinburgh to find out more. They gave her 12 T-shirts to smell – six had been worn by Parkinson's sufferers and six worn by controls. She correctly identified the six people who had Parkinson's, but also noticed the scent on the T-shirt from one of the controls. Amazingly, just a few months later, he too was diagnosed with the disease.

"She was telling us that this individual had Parkinson's before he knew, before anybody knew," Edinburgh University's Dr Tilo Kunath told BBC News.

"So then I really started to believe her, that she could really detect Parkinson's simply by odour that was transferred on to a shirt that the person with Parkinson's was wearing."

Scent is produced by chemical molecules, so now scientists from the University of Manchester have been investigating what exact molecules might result in the Parkinson's "smell". Using a technique called mass spectrometry, the team have identified 10 molecules that are unique to those suffering from Parkinson's.

"It is very humbling as a mere measurement scientist to have this ability to help find some signature molecules to diagnose Parkinson's," said research leader Professor Perdita Barran. "It wouldn't have happened without Joy."

It's hoped that this increased knowledge of the individual molecules associated with Parkinson's will lead to the first-ever diagnostic test. Thanks to Joy, doctors might be able to identify whether a person has Parkinson's using mass spectrometry, or dogs could use their powerful noses to sniff out the disease, as they can with cancer.

"For all the serendipity, it was Joy and Les who were absolutely convinced that what she could smell would be something that could be used in a clinical context and so now we are beginning to do that," said Barran.

Although right now there's no cure, finding out whether someone has Parkinson's early on could allow for better management of symptoms through medication and physiotherapy, giving those living with the disease a better quality of life.

If you're based in the UK and want to find out more about Joy, The Woman Who Can Smell Parkinson's is currently available on BBC iPlayer.

Yawning cat wins boy photography award

Image caption Milou lounging in the sun was the "perfect photo opportunity", Marlon Darragh says

A 13-year-old boy has won a national photography award for an image he captured of his cat yawning.

The photograph of family pet, Milou, is the first picture Marlon Darragh has ever entered into a competition.

The schoolboy, from Branscombe in Devon, said he was "proud to be chosen" at the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2017.

He said he saw the "perfect photo opportunity" and the award has inspired him take more photographs.

Image caption BBC presenter Chris Packham presented Marlon with the award

Marlon made the journey to London with his family to attend the awards ceremony on Friday.

His mum Amanda Darragh said her son has "always had an eye for the unusual".

"He's never one to blow his own trumpet but he has always spotted details in things adults never see," she added.

Marlon's photograph of Milou, which he took on his Dad's iPad, saw off competition from across England and Wales to win the 12-15 Mobile Phone and Devices category.

The Sidmouth College student, who received the award from BBC presenter Chris Packham, said he took the photograph at just the right time.

"Our cat Milou was lounging in the sun on the patio. I took this one just as she yawned and stretched," the youngster said.

"I particularly like the contrast between her white fur and the dark grey slate, and the way her whiskers really stand out."

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Five years after Sandy Hook: families keep the memory of lost children alive

In the years since the mass shooting that killed 20 children and six educators, families have memorialized their loved ones in many different ways

School safety campaigns. An animal sanctuary. A childrens book. Support for mental health reform. A lawsuit against the manufacturer of a military-style rifle.

In the five years since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, the families of the 20 children and six educators killed have taken very different paths to honor the lives of their loved ones.

Some family members have chosen to remain intensely private. Others have become prominent advocates for gun violence prevention.

No single campaign represents all 26 families. The continuing lawsuit against the manufacturer, distributor and dealer of the AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting, for example, was brought by the families of only nine Sandy Hook victims and one survivor.

Here, drawn from the joint website for the Sandy Hook victims families, is a brief look at how each family has asked to remember and honor those who died.