Watching the World
Mental Problems Increasing
A team of global health experts have warned of “an alarming level of mental health problems in developing nations,” states the journal First Call for Children. The researchers at Harvard Medical School documented high rates of a number of mental illnesses that were “caused by war, natural disasters, the abuse and murder of women and children, and by changing demographic, political and economic conditions.” Additionally, rates of mental retardation and epilepsy were found to be from three to five times higher in low-income societies, and suicide stood out as a major cause of death among young people. According to Dr. Arthur Kleinman, who headed the team, mental health must be given international attention. “Poor and rich nations alike have failed to make the investment needed to restore and preserve mental health,” he said.
Point of Agreement
“Russian Orthodox and Muslim leaders from four predominantly Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union—Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—have reached an unprecedented interfaith agreement to contain denominations and aberrant religious groups that are gaining influence in central Asia,” notes the magazine Christianity Today. Meeting in Tashkent, the Uzbekistan capital, the religious leaders “vowed to cooperate in stopping the influence of evangelical Christians, Baptists, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses,” says the report.
No Regard for Conservation
A red-necked phalarope, a rare bird, was sighted at a reservoir in Leicestershire, England, and bird-watchers from all over Britain traveled to see it. But they watched in horror as a giant, four-foot pike gulped down the migrating bird in one bite. “It was like a scene from Jaws,” said one twitcher, as bird-watchers are called. “One second the bird was swimming—the next there was a snap and a splash and it vanished.” “Only a few feathers remained to prove that the exotic water bird had visited the Leicestershire reservoir,” said the Reuters report.
“The Bible Should Not Be Censored”
Under this heading, an editorial in The Weekend Australian newspaper decried “attempts to reinterpret and amend portions of the Bible to meet contemporary needs.” Though most new translations “have been works of scholarship, taking advantage of new discoveries of ancient texts and historical research,” the editorial cautioned against “mistaking the work of translation for interpretation.” At issue were the guidelines for clergy and teachers published by the Council of Christians and Jews in an attempt to avoid any impression of anti-Semitism. Expressions such as “the Jews,” used in connection with Jesus’ trial and death, would be changed to “some citizens of Jerusalem,” and the expression “the Pharisees,” to “some religious leaders.” The editorial added: “New Testament documents are not expressions of opinion. . . . Interference with the words and changes to the texts could easily run riot and lead to a dishonest presentation of the drama of Christ’s life. The social context of his life must remain true to his times.”
Averting Climate Disaster
The earth’s climate will face disaster within the next 25 to 30 years if action is not taken soon, warns Germany’s Scientific Advisory Board. “Experts are demanding a global reduction in the emission of the climatic killer carbon dioxide (CO2) by at least 1 percent per year,” reports the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. “The rise in temperature should not be allowed to exceed 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.” The main offenders, accounting for 80 percent of the damage to the world’s climate, are countries of the industrialized world. For example, a citizen in Germany produces, on an average, 20 times as much carbon dioxide as a citizen in India. Other major environmental problems caused by man were said to be soil erosion, scarcity of fresh water, and the depletion of biological diversity.
“Restructure the Family”
Neglect of children and violence toward them are on the increase, reports the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo. Although socioeconomic problems may be a factor, child mistreatment is not restricted to poor neighborhoods. According to Lia Junqueira, coordinator of the Reference Center for Children and Adolescents, ‘there is no difference between rich and poor whatsoever—except that in shanties or housing complexes, everyone hears the children crying; while in mansions, the walls muffle the cries.’ Paulo Victor Sapienza, director of SOS Child, feels that strengthening family bonds is the best means to combat the problem. “It accomplishes nothing to put a child in an institution where he will have no love or affection,” he said. “It is necessary to help restructure the family so that the children will have affection and love within the home.”
Caffeine Kids
Children who are inattentive, fidgety, easily distracted, and impulsive might be suffering from high caffeine intake, says Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Letter. For a 40-pound [18 kg] child, “a can of cola plus just a half a cup of iced tea is the equivalent of three cups of coffee” for an adult. The article referred to research by Mitchell Schare, a psychology professor at Hofstra University, that showed that “many of the symptoms of high caffeine intake in children mimic symptoms of such conditions as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.” “Before you decide your restless or jumpy youngster has such a problem,” it added, “you might find the solution to the fidgetiness as simple as curtailing cola and tea consumption.”
Reminder to Animal Lovers
Are you an animal lover? If so, then very likely a friendly dog has licked your face or your hands. However, according to Lane Graham, a parasitologist at the University of Manitoba, the possibility exists that you could pick up larval parasites or roundworms. “It’s best not to let your dog’s mouth get too close to your own,” reports the Winnipeg Free Press. Dogs use their tongues to clean themselves; and since their tongues are like a washboard, they pick up a lot of things, including fecal contamination. Puppies are “notorious for being germ-laden bundles of fur,” the paper noted. Although chances of getting sick are small, the advice is to “wash your hands and face, and those of young children, after any prolonged dog licking episodes, just to be on the safe side.”
Unfulfilled Promises
“Like every medical revolution before it, the field of gene therapy began with the vision of a brighter future,” notes Time magazine. “Researchers promised to cure such hereditary disorders as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and sickle-cell anemia, not with conventional medicine but with the magic of genetic engineering, supplanting defective genes with their normal counterparts.” But now, more than five years after the first human experiments were approved and with 600 people enrolled in 100 clinical trials, there have been no positive results. “After all the tests and all the hype, there is still no unambiguous proof that gene therapy has cured—or even helped—a single patient,” says Time. In fact, the researchers still do not know the best way to get the genes into the affected cells or how to keep the body’s immune system from rejecting them. “When there’s no proof that something works,” says University of Arizona geneticist Robert Erickson, “it’s not much different than snake oil.”
Coping With Elks
“In Sweden, half of all road accidents reported to the police involve collisions with wild animals,” reports New Scientist. Between 12 and 15 Swedes die each year as a result of such collisions. Of particular concern are European elks, which can grow to 1,700 pounds [800 kg] and do not instinctively fear cars. In neighboring Finland, elks are the nation’s ‘second leading cause of road accidents, after alcohol,’ says Newsweek. To help cope with the problem, the Swedish car company Saab conducts crash tests, using fake elks, to test the safety of their cars. And officials in Finland have allocated $22 million for construction of elk underpasses along busy roads. ‘The tunnels will give elks a view of the horizon beyond, and they will be lined with their favorite plants,’ says Newsweek. “When mating season is on, elks don’t look both ways.”