Day: February 14, 2019

U.N. agencies warn that more than 1 billion people ages 12 to 35 risk losing their hearing from listening to loud music on their audio devices.  The World Health Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union, are launching new international standards to make smartphones and other devices safer for listening.

Listening to music is one of life’s greatest pleasures. U.N. health experts say they do not want to deprive younger people of the enjoyable experience of listening to music regularly on their headphones.  But they warn listening to loud music is unsafe and can cause permanent damage to hearing.  

The World Health Organization says it has no clear evidence that 1.1 billion people are at risk of developing hearing problems. However, WHO technical officer for the prevention of deafness and hearing loss Shelly Chadha said the figure is based on a study conducted four years ago.

That study, she says, focused on the listening habits of young people and the volume of sound to which they were generally exposed.  She said this information has been valuable in working on solutions for preventing hearing loss.

“So, our effort through this standard is really to empower the user to make the right listening choice and decision,  either to practice safe listening or to take the risk of developing hearing loss and tinnitus down the line.

The main recommendations for safe listening include having software on personal audio devices that measures how long and how loudly a user has been listening to music.  They also call for automatic volume reduction systems on smartphones and other devices, as well as parental volume control.

The U.N. agencies say they hope governments and manufacturers will adopt the suggested standards, as disabling hearing loss is set to increase significantly in the coming years.

The WHO and ITU report 466 million people suffer from the disability, most in low- and middle-income countries. It estimates the number will rise to more than 900 million people by 2050. The agencies say half of all cases of hearing loss can be prevented through public health measures.
…

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that measles outbreaks and deaths are surging globally, putting years of progress made in reducing the killer disease at risk. The WHO is calling for urgent action to stop the spread of the highly contagious but fully preventable disease. 

The WHO says a safe, effective vaccine, which has been around for 50 years, has protected millions of children. But WHO Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals Katherine O’Brien says progress is at risk because of the failure to vaccinate many children in all regions of the world.  

“Measles as a virus is one of the most contagious infections that there is.  For every case of measles that occurs in a setting where people are not immune, nine to 10 additional cases will occur simply because of exposure to that case,” she said.

O’Brien notes measles is spread by respiratory droplets that can live on surfaces for hours. Therefore, it is not necessary to have direct contact with an infected person to get sick.

The WHO says 229,000 cases of measles were reported worldwide last year. But it says the number of reported cases represents less than 10 percent of actual cases.  So, millions of cases are occurring.

Africa is one of the regional hot spots. Katrina Kertsinger, a WHO medical officer in the Expanded Program on Immunization, says there have been measles outbreaks of varying magnitude in all countries in this region.

“Madagascar is currently experiencing an outbreak from a period from 2018 to present.  There is over 66,000 cases that have been reported in that country alone…I personally was in Madagascar several weeks ago.  I can say as a clinician how heartbreaking it is to be in a context where there are measles cases which are entirely preventable,” Kertsinger said.  

The WHO says many children in poor countries are not being vaccinated because they live in marginalized areas where clinics are not easily reached.  

In wealthier countries, it says parents sometimes choose not to have their children immunized because of false claims that the vaccine is dangerous.

 
…

Edible insects are a great source of high quality protein and essential minerals such as calcium and iron. Edible grubs, insect larvae, offer all that, plus high quality fat, which is good for brain development. Insects are part of the diet in many parts of the world. But not in the US, where bug phobias mean insect dishes are extremely rare. But that’s starting to change . . . and some steps are so small, they are micro-sized. From Denver Colorado, Shelley Schlender reports.
…

Insects are the most biodiverse group of living things on the planet. And it is a good thing there are so many of them because they are responsible for many of the fundamental processes that allow life on earth, from pollination to decomposition. But a new report suggests they are disappearing, and that could be catastrophic. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
…