Watching the World
Prescription Drugs Misused
In the state of Victoria, Australia, Melbourne’s newspaper the Herald Sun reports that “Australians spend $3 billion a year on medicines and are increasingly becoming hooked on prescription painkillers.” Victoria’s minister for health warned that “abuse of prescription drugs is sneaking up on us and can be just as toxic to health and lifestyle as illicit drugs.” He also expressed concern about reports that more and more people are now ‘doctor-shopping’ to obtain multiple prescriptions. Some tablets are saved up, then crushed and injected into the bloodstream. According to one survey, the percentage of people taking painkilling drugs for other than legitimate medical use jumped from 3 percent in 1993 to 12 percent in 1995.
Innocent Victims in Rwanda
During the recent carnage in Rwanda, hundreds of thousands of women were raped and some were even kept as sexual slaves. In many cases the rapists were the very men who brutally killed the women’s husbands and relatives. About 35 percent of the rape victims became pregnant. Some women chose abortion or infanticide as a way to resolve their dilemma; others abandoned the babies or gave them up for adoption. Still, “by conservative estimates, there are 2,000 to 5,000 unwanted children in Rwanda whose mothers were raped during the civil war,” reports The New York Times. A large number of widows and their children have become outcasts in their communities. The Times notes that “many women have found it impossible to find new husbands or to begin a new life.” Some mothers see in their children a constant reminder of their shame and the violent death of loved ones. Because of these painful memories, some mothers find it hard to show affection for their babies.
Foot Problems
According to estimates made by the Health Service of the Federal Association of Physicians in Germany, half the citizens of that country have trouble with their feet. “Many people neglect taking care of their feet or abuse their feet by wearing shoes that are too tight or are otherwise detrimental to their health,” reports the newspaper Nassauische Neue Presse. Regularly wearing high heels or badly fitting shoes can result in pain in the knees, hips, or back. Diseases caused by fungi, such as athlete’s foot and mycosis, are also becoming more widespread. A preventive measure the Federal Association of Physicians recommends is “rinsing away all soap and carefully drying between the toes.”
Shopping Addiction
In Ireland compulsive shopping “is now recognised as an addiction and joins alcohol, drug, gambling and food disorders as a serious emotional and mental obsession which requires professional help,” says The Irish Times. Victims of this obsession may spend small fortunes buying items they do not need. The report explains: “The frisson of a clothes shopping adventure stimulates dopamine and serotonin secretions in the body, which then produce a sense of well-being.” For the compulsive shopper, as for the drug addict, the highs become more and more difficult to obtain.
“An Army of Budding TV Viewers”
A survey of 21,000 families in Italy has revealed that the vast majority of Italian children are TV dependent. The newspaper La Repubblica noted that “an army of budding TV viewers” is accustomed to using the remote control from the first year of life. More than four million Italian children between the ages of three and ten stay in front of the TV, almost mesmerized for more than two and a half hours a day. Mental-health experts are concerned over the fact that many children as young as six to eight months old are already avid TV watchers.
Women and Suicide
“There are 4,500 suicides in Britain each year: five men to each woman,” reports The Times of London. But the number of suicides of young women between 15 and 24 years of age has increased significantly in the past four years. A professor at the University of Southampton explained one of the possible causes: “Young women want to be good at their jobs and still take on the pressures of running the family. Young middle-class mums [mothers] are employing childminders so they can hold down their jobs. Then they grieve and feel guilt. Their bodies are telling them to be mums and their minds are telling them to go out and be breadwinners.” The professor believes that the accumulation of all these stresses and pressures may be leading more to commit suicide.
“Global Epicentre” of AIDS
India is like “an express train hurtling down the tracks into the whirlwind” and is fast becoming “the global epicentre of one of the most savage plagues ever visited on mankind,” says a new study carried out by the Thames Valley University, in London. Similarly, Dr. Peter Piot, head of the United Nations AIDS program, told the 11th international meeting on AIDS that India has suddenly emerged as the nation with the largest number of people infected with the AIDS virus—over 3 million of its 950 million population. According to the Indian Express newspaper, a study estimates that prostitutes are regularly visited by 10 percent of the more than 223 million sexually active men in India. Prostitutes who are working in large urban areas and who are found to be infected are usually sent back to their home villages where ignorance of the disease and medical facilities that are poorer than those in the cities are causing rapid acceleration of the spread of the disease. It is estimated that by the year 2000, India will have five million to eight million people who are HIV-positive and at least a million full-blown AIDS cases.
Sports Injuries
• “Mountain biking is growing by leaps and bounds, and riders are hitting the hospital,” reports Canada’s Vancouver Sun. Between 1987 and 1994, the newspaper reports, the number of people mountain biking in the United States grew by 512 percent, from 1.5 million to 9.2 million. Overzealous beginners who ride above their level of ability on back roads and trails get tossed off their bikes and sustain not only cuts and abrasions but also acute injuries to ankles, wrists, shoulders, and collarbones. Some injuries, though not life-threatening, can have serious long-term consequences. Dr. Rui Avelar, who specializes in sports medicine, believes that a fracture to one of the eight tiny wrist bones can easily be missed in X rays. He cautions: “If you fall on an outstretched hand, take it seriously.” A person could end up with an osteoarthritic wrist and permanent damage.
• “In Germany, between 1.2 million and 1.5 million sports accidents occur each year,” reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Medical personnel at the University of Bochum have analyzed 85,000 recreation and sports injuries in an effort to gather accurate, detailed information about them. Soccer players experienced almost 50 percent of all injuries. However, when taking into account the number of participants in various sports, the researchers found that soccer, handball, and basketball all have similar rates of injuries. About 1 out of 3 sports accidents is to the ankle, followed by 1 out of 5 to the knee.
Watch Out for E. Coli O157:H7
“Outbreaks of food poisoning caused by a fierce strain of E. coli bacteria . . . have been growing around the world,” warns The New York Times. “The number of bacteria which can carry the toxin is increasing, as is the number of infections and deaths worldwide.” The bacterial strain, type O157:H7, was first recognized as a problem in 1982. However, since then it has borrowed a new gene to make Shiga toxin, which causes Shigella dysentery. If not treated promptly, the diarrhea can result in hemorrhaging, kidney damage, and death. In 1993, in the northwestern United States, 4 people died and 700 became ill after eating undercooked hamburgers in a popular restaurant chain. In recent years outbreaks have also occurred in Africa, Australia, Europe, and Japan. In the United States alone, E. coli O157:H7 may be responsible for 20,000 illnesses each year and from 250 to 500 deaths. “Consumers can improve their odds of not becoming infected by being sure to cook meats, especially ground meats, so that the temperature on the inside reaches 155 degrees Fahrenheit, which is warm enough to eliminate all the pinkness,” says the Times.