Health and Science

Doctors say regular tests can prevent colon cancer

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 27, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) yesterday urged people to regularly undergo fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) even if they have no suspicious symptoms, after research found that the test can effectively reduce the mortality rate for colon cancer, the nation’s No. 1 killer.

The administration and the National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health jointly monitored — over an average period of 3.1 years — the health of 1.16 million Taiwanese who underwent an FIT test between 2004 and 2009.

The research cross-analyzed the information gleaned in the project with the nation’s cancer registry records and cause-of-death data to ascertain the respective risks for colon cancer among those who had received the screening test and those who had not.

“The research participants accounted for 21.4 percent of all the 5.42 million eligible test recipients aged from 50 to 69 during the period. Among them, 30 percent underwent FIT regularly,” HPA Cancer Prevention Section Director Wu Chien-yuan (吳建遠) said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan reports two additional Japanese encephalitis cases

Outbreak News Today
Date: June 26, 2015
By: Robert Herriman

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported an additional two cases

Japanese encephalitis/CDC

Japanese encephalitis/CDC

of local transmission of the mosquito borne virus, Japanese encephalitis in the southern region of the island.

According to the epidemiological investigation, the cases, a 42-year-old and a 58-year-old male, had not recently traveled overseas, but there are pig farms, pigeon farms and rice paddy fields within 2 km of the cases’ residences. Hence, it is determined that the source of infection is somewhere around the case’s residence.

On June 4, the 42-year-old case sought medical attention after developing sore throat and mild cough. On the following day, his symptoms improved. However, on June 6, he developed lethargy. In the early morning of June 7, when he developed fever and unconsciousness, he was transferred to the intensive care unit.

On the other hand, the 58-year-old case developed runny nose on June 6. In the evening of the next day, he developed fever. In the afternoon and evening of June 8, he sought medical attention at a clinic and a hospital. On June 9, when his fever persisted and he developed unconsciousness, he was hospitalized in the intensive care unit. Both cases were reported to the health authority by their hospital as a suspected Japanese encephalitis case. Infection with Japanese encephalitis was later confirmed in both cases. As of now, both cases are still hospitalized.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan CDC urges vigilance as dengue fever threat rises

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-26
By: CNA

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Friday urged the public to take

In this undated photo, a worker sprays pesticides in Kaohsiung. (Photo/Lin Hung-tsung)

In this undated photo, a worker sprays pesticides in Kaohsiung. (Photo/Lin Hung-tsung)

precautions against dengue fever, as more cases of the mosquito-borne disease were confirmed recently.

Taiwan has reported 149 indigenous dengue fever cases this year as of June 22, about twice the number seen in the same period in 2014, according to the agency.

During the week of June 16-22, nine indigenous cases were confirmed, the CDC said.

As the number of such cases is on the rise, the outbreak could expand further in summer months, which are favorable for vector breeding, it said.

The threat from abroad is increasing as well, the CDC said, adding that Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia have recorded more cases this year than usual as well.     [FULL  STORY]

Air pollution may increase risk of Alzheimer’s disease

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 26, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Air pollution has long been associated with lung disease, but research conducted by the National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Public Health showed it might also increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Between 2007 and 2011, researchers studied 249 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, 125 patients with vascular dementia and 497 people in a healthy control group. The majority of the participants were aged between 74 and 76.

The researchers analyzed statistics on particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometers (PM10) in the past 14 years and ozone in the past 12 years from the Environmental Protection Administration’s 24 air quality monitoring stations in the Greater Taipei area and Keelung.     [FULL  STORY]

Hepatitis B carriers urged to undergo regular check-ups

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 23, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

A gynecologist yesterday urged women of childbearing age who are hepatitis B carriers to receive regular medical check-ups and drug treatment, if necessary, after a 36-year-old patient nearly passed down the disease to her newborn.

Cheng Ching Hospital’s Reproductive Medicine Center director Hsieh Chang-hsing (謝昌興) said the woman was diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B infection coupled with liver cirrhosis about two years ago after experiencing tarry stool and vomiting blood.

“She was subsequently placed on drugs to control the virus and the medicines helped stabilize her condition,” Hsieh said.

The woman had visited the hospital again a few months ago complaining about serious vomiting, fretting that her liver condition had deteriorated, Hsieh said.     [FULL  STORY]

Bruises may cause serious issues if untreated: doctors

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 23, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

With the number of sports injuries increasing due to the sunny weather, several doctors yesterday urged people not to overlook bruising and swelling of soft tissue as it can lead to more severe injuries that might impede mobility and cause chronic pain.

Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital’s Division of Orthopedics director Shih Kao-shang (釋高上) said a recent survey found that more than 80 percent of respondents work out regularly, with half of that figure exercising for at least three days per week.

“The most popular forms of exercise are jogging, cycling and playing basketball, all of which put participants at risk of sports injuries, such as those caused by collisions and falls,” Shih said at a news conference in Taipei yesterday morning.

Shih said that the number of people visiting his outpatient service for sports injuries has increased by 20 percent, with sprains and contusions being the most common types, and sports injuries accounting for more than 80 percent of all injuries.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan develops test strips for pesticide poisoning

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/23
By: Chen Ching-fang and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Taiwanese researchers have developed two test strips distinguishing the

Web image

Web image

kind and dosage of pesticide in poisoned patients within several minutes, helping physicians to save lives more swiftly.

Cheng Chao-min (鄭兆珉), assistant professor in nanoengineering and microsystems at National Tsing Hua University, said Tuesday that the test strips were made for organophosphate and carbamate poisoning, the two most common forms of pesticide poisoning among Taiwanese people.

By dropping the patient’s serum on the test strip, physicians at the emergency room and division of clinical toxicology can determine what pesticide the patient had ingested purposely or mistakenly and how much they had taken, based on the resulting color change and shade range, Cheng said.     [FULL  STORY]

Study links Parkinson Disease (PD) with different cancer types in Taiwan

The Hoops News
Date: Jun 22, 2015

During a study conducted in Taiwan, scientists have come to know that Parkinson’s disease or PD Parkinson-Disease-Risk-of-Cancermight be linked to 16 different types of cancer.

The study is a part of an effort to establish and explain the association between PD and multiple cancer forms in an East Asian population. This makes the study significant as the majority of the previous studies on this subject were conducted on Western people. The study has recently been published in the journal JAMA Oncology.

The past five decades have seen over 25 epidemiological studies being conducted for gathering information on links between cancer and PD. The majority of those studies suggested that people suffering from PD has a reduced risk of developing cancer than the ones without PD.

However, as mentioned above most of those previous researches had Western people as subjects; this new study in Taiwan tested East Asian people as it is a known fact that genetic backgrounds have an important role to play in disease development.    [FULL  STORY]

MERS: Woman hospitalized in Taipei on return from South Korea

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-14
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

A woman returning to Taiwan from a trip to South Korea has been placed in isolation on June 14 after she sought medical treatment the previous night for fears of getting MERS at Taipei City Hospital’s Chunghsiao branch.

The woman, who presented with a high fever when admitted into the hospital, is undergoing further tests to determine whether she has contracted the deadly virus, the hospital said.

Fourteen people are known to have died out of 145 confirmed MERS cases in South Korea since the start of the outbreak in the country.     [FULL  STORY]

Risk of cardiovascular disease higher in less affluent areas of Taiwan: HPA

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-14
By: CNA

People in New Taipei, Taitung county and Hualien county have a higher risk of developing

A cardiovascular disease prevention event held in Taipei, Sept. 27, 2012. (File photo/Chen Chun-wei)

A cardiovascular disease prevention event held in Taipei, Sept. 27, 2012. (File photo/Chen Chun-wei)

cardiovascular disease than those in other regions because they tend to smoke and drink heavily and do not exercise, Taiwan’s Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said Friday.

In 2002, the standardized death rate for people 30-70 years old as a result of vascular disease–including cardiovascular disease and diabetes–was 115.9 per 100,000 population. The figure dropped by 23% to 89.2 in 2013. Taitung county and Hsinchu, which saw their death rates fall by 10% and 12%, respectively, were the areas with the smallest decrease.

According to the HPA, such health inequality due to the urban-rural gap is also reflected in the risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

In the rankings for such risk factors, New Taipei, Taitung county and Hualien county had the highest scores, the HPA said.     [FULL  STORY]