How much screen time?
How much screen time – smartphones, videos, online games – should little kids have? The World Health Organization says that kids in their first year of life should have ZERO time in front of a screen, and very little in year 2. Those aged 2 to 4 should spend no more than an hour a day in front of a screen, says WHO. The international health agency drew on emerging – but as yet unsettled – science about the risks screens pose to the development of young minds, reports The Washington Post. Experts in child development say the acquisition of language and social skills, typically by interacting with parents and others, are among the most important cognitive tasks of childhood. But there is disagreement about how screen time interferes with that. “The more guidelines we give, it just seems like there’s going to be more of a mismatch between what experts say … and what it feels like to be a parent in the real world every day,” said University of Michigan pediatrician Jenny Radesky, author of 2016 screen-time guidelines for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Wait and see
People with good vision despite having center-involved diabetic macular edema can safely forego immediate treatment of their eye condition as long as they are closely monitored, and treatment begins promptly if vision worsens, according to clinical trial results. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Diabetic macular edema is the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetic eye disease in the United States. Diabetes can result in the development of leaky blood vessels in the retina – the light-sensing tissue at the back of eye. Diabetic macular edema is the result of fluid build-up in the central area of the retina, called the macula, which is important for sharp vision. Swelling of the macula can distort vision required for reading and driving.
Lightning strikes
Just as lightning can strike the same target more than once in a given storm, hip fractures can and do happen again to the same person, according to New York Times health writer Jane Brody. Yet, more often than not, people who fracture a hip do not get follow-up treatment that could prevent another fracture. Anyone who breaks a hip, unless from a severe trauma like a car accident, is considered at high risk for further fractures, including breaking the other hip. To reduce the risk, orthopedic experts recommend that following a fracture, patients should have a bone density test, evaluation of calcium and vitamin D levels and, in nearly all cases, medication to protect against further bone loss. Writing in JAMA Geriatrics last year, University of California San Francisco internist Dr. Douglas Bauer wrote about “really depressing, hocking data” revealing that only a small – and steadily declining – fraction of hip fracture patients are being treated with medication that might forestall future broken bones.
HPV vaccine has impact
Cervical cancer is the most common human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancer in women, and high-grade cervical lesions (CIN2+) have been used to monitor HPV vaccine impact, reports the CDC. During 2008–2016, CIN2+ rates in a population-based surveillance system declined in women aged 18–24 years, the agency reported. The estimated numbers of U.S. CIN2+ cases were 216,000 (2008) and 196,000 (2016), with an estimated 76% attributable to 9-valent HPV vaccine types. “The reduction in CIN2+ attributable to vaccine types in young women demonstrates impact of the HPV vaccination program,” says CDC. “Continued efforts to increase coverage and encourage vaccination at the routine ages (11–12 years) can increase vaccine impact on cervical disease in the United States.”
Sickle cell therapy is tested
An experimental gene therapy being tested at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, has shown some positive results in eliminating sickle cell disease (SCD). The approach involves using gene editing to increase levels of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in the red blood cells of people with SCD. Significant quantities of HbF have been found to provide protection against sickling. Sickle cell disease is caused by a specific point mutation in a gene that codes for the beta chain of hemoglobin. People with just one copy of this mutation have sickle cell trait and are generally healthy. But those who inherit two mutant copies of this gene suffer lifelong consequences of the presence of this abnormal protein. Their red blood cells – normally flexible and donut-shaped – assume the sickled shape that gives SCD its name. The sickled cells clump together and stick in small blood vessels, resulting in severe pain, anemia, stroke, pulmonary hypertension, organ failure, and far too often, early death.
How valuable are vitamins?
More than half of U.S. adults take dietary supplements, according to Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. But does popping all of those vitamins, minerals, and other substances really lead to a longer, healthier life? A nationwide study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests it doesn’t. Based on an analysis of survey data gathered from more than 27,000 people over a six-year period, an NIH-funded study found that individuals who reported taking dietary supplements had about the same risk of dying as those who got their nutrients through food. What’s more, the mortality benefits associated with adequate intake of vitamin A, vitamin K, magnesium, zinc, and copper were limited to food consumption.
Sensor for diabetic foot ulcers
Somerville, Massachusetts-based Podimetrics is tackling the problem of diabetic foot ulcers through a smart sensor mat that is designed to be placed in a patient’s home and can analyze foot temperature variations to predict and prevent the occurrence of a potential ulcer, according to MedCity News. Podimetrics users stand on the mat for about 20 seconds, and the data gets analyzed and sent to the Podimetrics care team, which examines and triages the data and works with the patient’s physician on preventative treatments and coaching. A study published in Diabetes Care found that the company’s technology could detect 97 percent of developing foot ulcers an average of five weeks before they could be detected otherwise. Podimetrics has reportedly raised around $16 million in funding since its founding in 2011.