Health and Science

Taiwan red quinoa found effective in suppressing early-stage cancer progression in mice

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan red quinoa could be a good dietary food for fighting early colon cancer as a

(By Central News Agency)

research conducted by a Taiwanese medical research team shows that early stages of chemically induced colon cancer were suppressed in mice fed red quinoa diets for 10 weeks.

In the research, the team from Taipei Medical University’s School of Nutrition and Health Sciences found that early-stage cancer progression in mice with chemically induced colon cancer was effectively suppressed after they were fed Taiwan red quinoa for 10 weeks. That means Taiwan red quinoa as a dietary food could play a role in prevention of colon cancer, the research says.

The research results show that the diet of Taiwan red quinoa indeed has the effects of regulating oxidizing reaction, apoptosis and cell proliferation.    [FULL  STORY]

Bird flu spreads to sixth area in Taiwan

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-02-20

Bird flu is continuing to spread in Taiwan. The Council of Agriculture’s quarantine

Killing poultry
Over 1,500 chickens and ducks were killed in Chiayi to prevent the spread of bird flu (CNA)

bureau released new figures on Monday which show that confirmed cases of the virus have been discovered at five slaughterhouses and 28 poultry farms.

Right now officials are following two different strains of the virus. One of those strains is the highly pathogenic H5N6 virus which has a risk of human transmission. There are two new confirmed cases of that strain in poultry, for a total of 17. So far those cases have been located in the southern areas of Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan, and in the eastern counties of Ilan and Hualien. The addition of a new case in Hsinchu suggests that the virus is spreading northward in the direction of Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Culls as H5N6 detected at two more farms

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-02-18

The Council of Agriculture’s quarantine bureau has conducted culls at two more poultry farms after the

More culls as bird flu cases rise (CNA)

discovery of H5N6 among the farm’s chickens.

The farms’ owners came forward after media outlets reported that H5N6 had been found in their supplier’s stocks. The new cases of H5N6 come on the second day of a weeklong slaughter ban designed to prevent the further spread of bird flu.

The quarantine bureau says there will be a noticeable uptick in the number of bird flu cases reported over the coming days. According to the bureau, this will be largely because of increased vigilance among farmers and because farmers now receive greater compensation for culled poultry.

The latest quarantine bureau statistics, released Saturday morning, show that more than 140,000 birds have been destroyed at 21 different poultry farms this year due to the spread of bird flu. H5N6 has been reported in Yunlin, Chiayi, and Tainan in the central and southern parts of Taiwan, as well as in Yilan and Hualien in the east.    [FULL  STORY]

Quarantine bureau orders crackdown on open-air poultry farms

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-02-15

Taiwan’s quarantine bureau has ordered local authorities to begin cracking down on farmers who continue to raise their poultry in open-air enclosures.

Health authorities advised farmers in July that the changes to the law meant they would have to begin placing their poultry in protective shelters. The measure was adopted to prevent the spread of diseases from migratory birds. However, bureau director Huang Tze-Chung said Wednesday that enforcement at the local level has been lax amid widespread resistance from farmers.

Now, after the appearance of H5N6 in eastern Taiwan, the quarantine bureau has told local health authorities that they must stop warning farmers and begin handing out fines. Current laws allow inspectors to fine violators up to NT$150,000 (US$5000).
[FULL  STORY]

Menstrual cups approved by FDA and soon be available in Taiwan

Menstrual cups will be available online and in stores in Taiwan on February 17th earliest.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/09
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After 20 months of waiting, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally approved the reusable menstrual cup products and it will be available online and in stores in Taiwan on February 17th earliest.

The menstrual cup is classified as second-grade medical equipment by the FDA in Taiwan, which can only be sold by businesses that are licensed to sell medical equipment, and factories need to obtain a GMP certification to manufacture the product.

A 34-year-old entrepreneur Vanessa Tseng raised a crowdfunding campaign for Taiwan’s first domestically-made menstrual cup “Formoonsa Cup”. She said that she came up with the Formoonsa Cup project when she noticed that Taiwanese women have a very limited choice of menstrual products, and they cannot purchase the menstrual cup online and can only buy them for self-use if they purchase them overseas due to the current ban.    [FULL  STORY]

Machete-slashed clerk has arm reattached

The China Post
Date: February 7, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The arm of a convenience store clerk, which was nearly severed in a

A convenience store in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei, is cordoned off for investigation after a grisly armed robbery that occurred Sunday. (CNA)

grisly robbery in New Taipei, was successfully sutured back on Monday after 13 hours of intensive microsurgical operation, according to Central News Agency (CNA).

The clerk, a 17-year-old surnamed Ding, was severely injured Sunday night when the suspect attacked him with a machete inside in a convenience store in Xinzhuang District.

Ding, who had a major chest wound and an arm that was nearly completed severed, was rushed to the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei’s Banciao District.
[FULL  STORY]

Bird flu patient in critical condition

The China Post
Date: February 7, 2017
By: James Lo

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The first person in Taiwan to contract H7N9 avian influenza this year

The first person in Taiwan to contract H7N9 avian influenza this year is in critical condition, the Kaohsiung City government reported on Monday.

is in critical condition, the Kaohsiung City government reported on Monday.

The patient, a 69-year-old Taiwanese businessman, has been moved to the intensive care unit of a local hospital as his condition has worsened, the Kaohsiung Department of Health reported.

Also yesterday, national disease control authorities reported Taiwan’s first case of the highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza virus, saying it had been confirmed in a dead gosling in Hualien.

Flu-like Symptoms

The bird flu patient had displayed symptoms of the flu while he was in Guangdong province late last month.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s CDC raises alarm: life threatening azithromycin-resistant Shigella spreading among MSM in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/05
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Saturday raised the alarm that Shigella bacteria resistant to antibiotic azithromycin are circulating among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Taiwan, reporting that the outbreak of the life-threatening infection is featured by a research paper published in the latest issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases journal of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC).

The research paper written by Taiwanese authors focuses on the outbreak of azithromycin-nonsusceptible Shigella cluster (Shigella flexneri 3a) infection in Taiwan associated with MSM.    [FULL  STORY]

Number of Flu patients down 60%: CDC

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/02
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 2 (CNA) The number of people seeking emergency treatment with flu-like symptoms during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday was down 60 percent from the same period last year, mainly due to the government’s expanded vaccination campaign to combat influenza, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Thursday.

During the six-day holiday period, 24,450 people sought emergency treatment with flu-like symptoms, down from 56,358 last year, CDC statistics showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Incidence of gout rises on holiday feasting

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 01, 2017
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Due to festive feasting over the Lunar New Year holiday, the number of people who visited hospital emergency rooms reporting symptoms of acute gout has increased by 10 to 20 percent, doctors said yesterday, adding that more people in their 30s or 40s have experienced the condition in recent years.

A man in his 30s was taken to an emergency room on Friday last week with gout — a type of inflammatory arthritis that causes swelling, redness and severe joint pain — which he said hurt as much as being hit with a hammer.

The attending physician said the man had gout from his 20s, but did not control his diet or stick to a regular drug regime to control uric acid levels in his blood, so his uric acid level elevated rapidly after holiday feasting, causing the pain.

Taipei Medical University Hospital Immunology Department attending physician Chang Chi-ching (張棋禎) said joints most commonly affected by gout are the first metatarsophalangeal joints of big toes and the joints of the instep, ankle or heel, although some people might experience severe pain at other joints.    [FULL  STORY]