Features

RIO DE JANEIRO — Electronic cigarettes are “undoubtedly harmful” and should be regulated, the World Health Organisation(WHO) said Friday as it warned against the use of vaping products by smokers trying to quit their deadly habit.

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes, battery-powered devices that enable users to inhale addictive nicotine liquids, has raised fears among policymakers worldwide of a new gateway addiction for young people.

While vaping exposes users to lower levels of toxins than smoking, the WHO said the devices still pose “health risks” to users.

“Although the specific level of risk associated with ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems] has not yet been conclusively estimated, ENDS are undoubtedly harmful and should therefore be subject to regulation,” the WHO said in a new report on the global smoking epidemic.

There was also “insufficient evidence” to support claims of their effectiveness in assisting smokers trying to quit conventional cigarettes, it said.

“In most countries where they are available, the majority of e-cigarette users continue to use e-cigarettes and cigarettes concurrently, which has little to no beneficial impact on health risk and effects,” the report said.

Big tobacco companies have been aggressively marketing e-cigarette and heated tobacco products in recent years as they seek new customers.

They argue such products are far less dangerous than traditional cigarettes and can help some smokers completely switch to “safer” alternatives. 

But the WHO warned misinformation spread by the tobacco industry about e-cigarettes was “a present and real threat”.

As well as nicotine, e-cigarettes also contained metal-laced aerosols, which Vinayak Prasad, who leads the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative, said “are known to damage the heart, all of them are known to damage the lungs”.

“They’re also now looking at the long-term effect whether it can even cause cancer, but it’s not very well established,” Prasad told AFP. 

Restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes around the world is increasing. San Francisco last month banned the sale and manufacture of the products. 

China, home to nearly a third of the world’s tobacco smokers, is also planning to regulate the vaping devices.

More effort was needed to help smokers quit, the WHO said in the report, noting only “30 per cent of the world’s population have access to appropriate tobacco cessation services”, such as counselling, telephone hotlines and medication. 

Without assistance, only 4 per cent of attempts to stop smoking succeed. 

Tobacco claims more than 8 million lives each year either from direct use or second-hand smoke, according to the WHO.

While the number of users has declined slightly since 2007, it remains stubbornly high at 1.4 billion, the vast majority of them men.

“People who quit tobacco can live longer, healthier and more productive lives,” the WHO said.

LONDON — Living healthily with a good diet and regular exercise may help people with a higher genetic susceptibility to dementia to offset the risk of developing it, according to recent research.

The risk of dementia was reduced by 32 per cent in people with a high genetic risk if they had followed a healthy lifestyle, compared with those who had an unhealthy lifestyle, the study, published in the medical journal JAMA on Sunday, found.

People with high genetic risk and an unhealthy lifestyle were almost three times more likely to develop dementia than those with low genetic risk who also lived healthily.

“Our findings are exciting as they show that we can take action to try to offset our genetic risk for dementia,” said Elzbieta Kuzma, a researcher at Britain’s University of Exeter who co-led the study.

Dementia — a brain-wasting disease — affects around 50 million people globally, with nearly 10 million new cases annually — a figure that is set to triple by 2050, according to the World Health Organisation.

Kuzma’s team analysed data from almost 197,000 adults of European ancestry who were aged 60 and older. They found 1,769 cases of dementia over a follow-up period of eight years and grouped those cases into people with high, medium and low genetic risks for dementia.

To assess lifestyle, the researchers looked at the participants’ self-reported diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption.

Non-smokers who took regular exercise and had a good diet with moderate alcohol intake were considered to have the healthiest lifestyles — and these people were found to have reduced their risk whether they were in high, medium or low genetic risk groups.

David Llewellyn, also of Exeter University, said the findings held an important message that undermined what he described as “a fatalistic view of dementia”.

“Some people believe it’s inevitable they’ll develop dementia because of their genetics,” he said. “[But] you may be able to substantially reduce your dementia risk by living a healthy lifestyle”.

Do you check your heart pulse rate or blood pressure at home? Or maybe you monitor your blood sugar yourself? Perhaps you trust your smartwatch to tell you when to stop exercising and avoid exhaustion. The recent models of Apple Watch let you even perform an ECG (electrocardiogram)! The key question here is how much can you trust these personal medical gadgets? To what extend do they replace going to the hospital or to your physician?

The versatility of personal digital devices is extraordinary. This is due mainly to the fact that they have become small, easy to use and affordable, and also to the wide availability of thousands of software applications associated with the devices and that let you perform countless tasks, from the warm comfort of your home. Most of this was unthinkable a mere 10 or 15 years ago.

One has to admit that playing doctor yourself this way works in most cases. It gives instant results and saves you precious time and money. Moreover, the personal digital instruments you may have at home, including smartphones of course, are based on the same technology, the same electronic chips and the same software that you would find at the hospital or at your doctor’s clinic.

There are still differences; non-negligible ones. Not taking them into consideration can lead to serious trouble.

However, similar to professional equipment your home devices may be, they are still “simplified”, in a certain way. It is like comparing your standard JD600 laptop to a military-grade model that would cost up to 10 times more but that would be much more reliable in every way.

Then there is the reading, the actual interpretation of the results. Medical professionals are trained to “decipher” the numbers, the charts, the graphics that digital instruments produce. They do not always see them exactly the way you do.

Last but not least, physicians know how to put the results in context. They take into consideration a number of factors that you may easily overlook, or simply are not trained to evaluate, and that may greatly affect the final diagnosis — that magic word! Sometimes even doctors find it hard to come up with a diagnosis. They would repeat the test, ask you to take other tests, consult with their colleagues, etc. This complex process is something that you cannot reasonably think of replicating on your own at home.

Earlier this week there was an interesting and long article on cnet.com by Vanessa Orellana titled “Apple Watch ECG vs. hospital EKG” and that tackles the subject above.

Perhaps the wise approach consists of using personal digital devices with care and with the greatest gift given to mankind: common sense. When you are not feeling particular under any form of severe health crisis, and the results you are reading are simple, straightforward and obvious, you can trust them. For instance, most smartphones today can run apps that measure your heart rate simply by pressing your finger against the camera on the back. In most cases it is flawless.

On the other hand, if you are feeling really bad, and regardless of what your home device tells you or what you are reading on it, going to qualified medical care is the only solution.

In other instances, calling your physician to tell him what you have already measured yourself and then let him decide what action to take, may be the smartest approach and the best, safest way to put home digital devices to good use.

Patients at high risk for heart disease who cannot afford newer cholesterol-lowering medications are more likely to have heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events within just one year compared to counterparts who were able to get the drugs, a new study suggests. 

Clinical trials have shown that the new drugs, called PCSK9 inhibitors, can lower LDL-cholesterol significantly and also improve cardiovascular outcomes in people who don’t get enough benefit from statin drugs, which are the first-line treatment for high cholesterol. 

The problem with the newer drugs is the cost. During the period covered by the new study, the cost of the PCSK9 inhibitors in the US was in the range of $14,000 per year, according to the American Heart Association, which last fall encouraged drug companies to lower their prices to improve patient access. Even when patients have insurance, the out-of-pocket costs for these drugs can be prohibitive, earlier studies have shown. 

“One of the most surprising things we saw in this study was a difference in risk in as little as 11.5 months of therapy,” said study coauthor Kelly Myers. “That means there is a beneficial effect in less than a year.” 

Myers is chief technology officer at the FH Foundation, a non-profit research and advocacy organisation focused on familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disease that causes high cholesterol levels. 

To take a closer look at the impact of patients’ ability to get the new drugs, the researchers combed through healthcare claims data on 139,036 adults with hypercholesterolemia who were prescribed a PCSK9 inhibitor between August 2015 and December 2017.

When they analysed the data, the researchers found that 88,770 patients (63.8 per cent) had a history of atherosclerosis and 2,899 (2.1 per cent) had a documented diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia. Insurers had rejected nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of the prescriptions, while 15 per cent of patients had opted not to fill their prescriptions, presumably because of the out-of-pocket costs, the researchers said.

A comparison of the patients whose prescriptions had been rejected by insurers to those who had taken PCSK9 inhibitors for 338 days or more showed a 16 per cent increase in risk of a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack, a stroke, or cardiac bypass surgery over the course of 11.5 months, without the medication. 

Similarly, a comparison of patients who never filled their prescriptions to those who had taken PCSK9 inhibitors for 338 days or more yielded a 21 per cent increase in the risk of cardiovascular events over the same 11.5 month period, the authors reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

“This real-world evidence highlights that over eighty thousand individuals being treated for cardiovascular disease or familial hypercholesterolemia had a significantly increased risk of heart attacks and strokes when their PCSK9 therapy prescription was rejected or unfilled,” Myers said. “Coverage decisions that do not take into consideration an individual’s high risk, especially for those with genetic conditions like FH, are a failure of our health system to prevent heart attacks, stroke and death.”

The new findings should spur further research, said Dr. Mary Ann McLaughlin, director of Cardiovascular Health and Wellness at Mount Sinai Heart and an associate professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

“We should take it as a baseline since there are things you can’t always quantify by just looking at a chart review and billing data,” McLaughlin said. “There could be legitimate reasons for some of the rejection of some of the prescriptions.”

An interesting finding is the 21 per cent higher risk among those who received a prescription but did not fill it, McLaughlin said. “These patients may not be making other types of lifestyle changes, such as adhering to a healthy diet or maybe they are smoking. You can’t tell from this.”

It doesn’t matter how good a drug is, if a patient can’t afford it, said Dr Albert Wu, an internist and professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“The potential for this drug is being frustrated by our payment system which makes it difficult for patients to afford these and other new drugs,” Wu said.

People who tend to eat mostly plants may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, a research review suggests. 

Researchers examined data from nine previously published studies with a total of 307,099 participants, including 23,544 people who developed type 2 diabetes. The length of the studies ranged from two to 28 years. All of the studies used food frequency questionnaires to assess participants’ diets.

Overall, people who most closely adhered to a vegan, vegetarian or other type of plant-based diet were 23 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who consumed the least amount of plant-based meals, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

“Plant-based diets can promote metabolic health and reduce diabetes risk through many pathways, including preventing excess weight gain, improving insulin sensitivity, reducing inflammation and other mechanisms,” said Dr Qi Sun, senior author of the study and a researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. 

People who eat a healthy variety of plant-based meals can lower their diabetes risk even when they’re not strict vegetarians — avoiding meat, poultry and fish — or vegans — also avoiding animal products like milk and eggs.

But they may not benefit as much if their plant-based diet is full of foods like French fries, white bread, and white rice, Sun said by email.

 “It does matter what veggies people eat and how the veggies are processed,” Sun said. “Therefore, consuming healthy plant foods that are not or minimally processed, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains, should be emphasised.”

People in the study who followed this advice — with the healthiest mix of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in their plant-based diets, were 30 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than participants who tended to ignore this idea.

Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, is linked to obesity and aging and happens when the body can’t properly use or make enough of the hormone insulin to convert blood sugar into energy. Left unchecked, diabetes can lead to serious complications like nerve damage, blindness, amputations, kidney damage and heart problems.

Doctors typically advise patients with type 2 diabetes to follow a low-calorie, low-fat and low-carbohydrate diet that includes lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains as well as lean poultry and fish. Fatty, sugary foods are discouraged along with consuming too much red or processed meat.

None of the smaller studies in the current analysis were controlled experiments designed to prove whether a plant-based diet helps prevent diabetes or serious complications from the disease.

Still, the results offer fresh evidence of the potential for good eating habits to help prevent and manage diabetes, said Samantha Heller, a nutritionist at New York University Langone Medical Centre in New York City.

 “Adding more whole plants such as broccoli, edamame, quinoa, extra virgin olive oil, almonds, and berries, to our diet is a great way to help manage type 2 diabetes and weight,” Heller, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by e-mail.

“Higher fibre foods are healthy for the gut microbiome, improve gastrointestinal function, improve insulin sensitivity and help manage blood sugar,” Heller added. “However, it is important to remember that even [portion sizes] of healthy foods matter.”

Heart attack rates dropped among older adults in Scotland in the decade after a nationwide indoor smoking ban took effect, a new study suggests. 

Scotland banned smoking in all enclosed public spaces and workplaces in 2006. There was a 17 per cent reduction in heart attacks in the first year after the ban took effect, compared to just a 4 per cent decline over the same period in England, where public smoking rules didn’t change, the study team notes. 

In Scotland between 2000 and 2016, there were a total of 117,161 heart attacks. 

Among men and women aged 60 and older, the smoking ban was followed by a roughly 13 per cent reduction in heart attacks over the study period. The ban didn’t appear to impact heart attacks for younger people, however. 

“People tend to start smoking when they are young, many years before they reach the age at which heart attacks tend to occur,” said Dr Jill Pell, director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow in the UK and coauthor of the study. 

“Therefore, any effect from discouraging people from starting to smoke is likely to take more time to become apparent,” Pell said by email. 

Even before the smoking ban, heart attack rates were declining in Scotland, the study team notes in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. But the legislation contributed to additional reductions, they conclude. 

In a previous study of the smoking ban, Pell and colleagues found a reduction in heart attacks among both smokers and non-smokers, she said. In a separate study, they also found that the number of smokers trying to quit increased immediately prior to the ban. 

While these studies were not designed to prove whether or how the ban directly prevented heart attacks, “there is likely to be a contribution from both encouraging smokers to quit and from protecting both non-smokers and smokers from other people’s secondhand smoke,” Pell said. 

Heart attack rates dropped slightly more for women over 60: 14 per cent versus 13.2 per cent for men. 

“In younger people overall, there appeared to be less of an impact across the 10-year period,” said Stephanie Mayne, a researcher at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who wasn’t involved in the study. 

“This might be due to changes in other heart disease risk factors, like obesity and diabetes, during the same time period,” Mayne said by email. 

Even so, the results offer fresh evidence of the benefits of avoiding secondhand smoke and living in places where it’s not as easy to start or continue smoking, said Judith Prochaska, a researcher at Stanford University in California who wasn’t involved in the study. 

 “As much as feasibly possible, avoid exposure to secondhand smoke,” said Prochaska, who has received funding from Pfizer and Achieve, companies that make smoking cessation drugs. 

“If you live with someone who smokes, work to set up a policy to limit smoking to outside of the home and not in the car,” Prochaska said by email. “And if you live in an apartment complex that allows smoking, advocate for a change in policy.” 

Launched globally in recent weeks, the Hyundai Palisade is the giant automaker’s largest SUV to date. Effectively taking over from the Azera saloon as Hyundai’s post-Genesis flagship model in the wake of the Korean auto group setting up a separate luxury brand, the 7/8-seat Palisade combines a distinctly assertive design with sensible functionality and features. 

With palatial cabin space, thoughtful and high tech features, a classy up-market interior, useful off-road ability and smooth yet robust performance, the user-friendly stress-free Palisade is designed with what Hyundai dubs ‘maverick families’ in mind.

Imposing identity

Playing the role of “king” in what Hyundai describes as the chess set that makes up its roster of cars and SUVs, the focal point of the Palisade’s design them is its huge cascading grille. Stepping away from the “cookie cutter” familial corporate design approach so popular with many automakers in recent years, Hyundai now views the cascading grille as more of a springboard. Sharing a unifying starting point, the Palisade has a different “classical temple”-like design quality, distinct from low-slung and edgy new Sonata and upcoming Elantra saloon models.

Dominating its fascia with its broad and scale-like mesh grille, flanked by lower recessed headlight pods and dramatically slim and browed top running lights, the palisade has an imposingly sculpted presence, enhanced by its muscular wheel-arches, prominently ridged side character lines and jutting sills.

With short front and long rear overhangs, thick rear pillars and relatively level waistline and roofline, it has a grounded, statuesque and somewhat conservative stance, complemented by a big rear tailgate spoiler and vertical wrap-over rear lights, and huge standard 18-inch or optional 20-inch alloy wheels.

Progressive peaks

Almost alligator-like from front view, the Palisade is powered by a direct injection 3.8-litre V6 petrol engine under its bulging bonnet, as driven in top specification. Naturally-aspirated, the Palisade’s power delivery is progressive and eager. Responsive from the get-go, it builds to its maximum 262lb/ft torque by a peaky 5,200rpm and onto 291BHP at 6,000rpm.

Seamless and smooth yet urgent when pressed hard the Palisade’s powerful V6 delivers both effective mid-range flexibility for brisk on the move acceleration at speed, and a rewarding willingness right up to its rev limit.

Squatting slightly as it pounces from standstill, with additional traction provided by its variable four-wheel-drive system, the Palisade briskly carries its minimum 1.9-tonne frame through 0-100km/h in 7.7-seconds, and can attain a maximum 210km/h.

Confident in high wind on the highway and responsively versatile, the Palisade returns comparatively moderate 10.4l/100km combined fuel efficiency under ideal conditions. Driven through a smooth, slick and quick 8-speed automatic gearbox, the Palisade’s HTRAC four-wheel drive meanwhile is road- and front-biased for efficiency, yet seamlessly splits torque between front and rear for confident stability and road-holding.

Comfort and control

Riding on MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension, the Palisade is built using a high proportion of Advanced High Strength Steel and construction methods intended to enhance torsional rigidity at better cost efficiency that with exotic materials. Additionally, it employs lighter aluminium suspension components to reduce unsprung mass. The net effect more precise suspension and steering, which is felt is when driven. For such a comfortably supple, high riding vehicle, the Palisade feels responsive, smooth and settled, with direct in-class steering and manoeuvrability, not to mention enhanced collision safety.

Turning in with little understeer and good grip, the Palisade feels tidy, manoeuvrable and well-controlled for its height and size, while body lean through corners is similarly well-managed given its comfortable ride characteristics. Through corners, the Palisade can meanwhile re-apportion more power to the rear wheels for better agility and balance. Light yet accurate, the Palisade’s steering is quick through corners, while its ride quality well absorbs most bumps, lumps and cracks, even when fitted with larger, firmer optional 245/50R20 tires rather than the ultimately more pliant standard 245/60R18 tyres.

Palatial accommodation

Reassuringly stable at speed and settled on rebound through dips and crests, the Palisade features numerous underbody covers to help it achieve comparatively low 0.33 aerodynamic drag co-efficiency, which helps noise reduction and efficiency. A refined drive with a comfortable cabin and well-adjustable, large front seats and driving position, the Palisade’s cabin offers terrific mid-row seating space, easy cabin access through wide swing angle doors and generous minimum 509-litre cargo volume behind the third row seats. Ambiance inside is airy, while its level waistline allows for comparatively good road visibility.

Inside, the Palisade has a distinctly premium feel, with good quality materials, uncluttered layouts, soft textures and an expansive horizontal emphasis including large infotainment and instrument screens.

Well-equipped with numerous infotainment, convenience and safety features including forward, blind spot, rear cross-path, lane keeping, safe exit, rear occupant and other assistant systems, it also features smart stop/go cruise control and a unique blind spot monitor view, which activates along with the indicators.

For off-road driving, it can lock four-wheel-drive at lower speeds and features Multi-Terrain Control System that adjusts various systems for different off-road conditions.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 3.8-litre, aluminium block/head, inline V6-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 96 x 87mm

Compression ratio: 11.5:1

Valve-train: DOHC, 24-valve, continuously variable valve timing

Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 291 (295) [217] @6,000rpm

Specific power: 77BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 152.9BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 262 (355) @5,200rpm

Specific torque: 94Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 186.5Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 7.7-seconds

Top speed: 210km/h

Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined: 14.4-/8.1-/10.4-litres/100km 

CO2 emissions, combined: 248.5g/km

Length: 4,980mm

Width: 1,975mm

Height: 1,750mm

Wheelbase: 2,900mm

Tread, F/R: 1,708/1,716mm

Headroom, F/M/R: 1,035/1,019/959mm

Leg room, F/M/R: 1,120/1,077/798mm

Shoulder room, F/M/R: 1,555/1,545/1,402mm

Seats: 7/8

Luggage volume, behind 3rd/2nd row: 509-/1,297-litres

Kerb weight: 1,903-2,021kg

Steering: Electric-assisted rack and pinion

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/multi-link

Brakes: Ventilated discs

Tyres, standard/optional: 245/60R18/245/50R20

By Sheela Sheth
Food Expert

Concealed amidst the grassy meadows and mountains is this hardy and most versatile grassy herb chive plant native to Central Asia. Chives, packed with nutrients, help us maintain youthful-looking skin, strong bones, healthy digestion and so much more.

Hidden treasure 

This aromatic herb grows from a bulb and is the smallest member of the onion family. The slender leaves grow about 30 centimetres with pinkish-purple globular flowers, which spurt out in early spring and are often the first ones to be seen in my kitchen garden even before the cherry blossoms. 

Chives are the best companion to flowers and vegetables due to their rich sulphur content and often serve as a pesticide. The plant creates a stunning garden display and helps control soil erosion.

Health treasure and mood enhancement

Its antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antibiotic properties work towards destroying harmful microbes and aids in the treatment of yeast infection. 

Vitamin K, which is vital to bone density and strength, is found in traces in chives. It contains folate, which is present in folic acid and helps prevent congenital disabilities.

Chives also contain carotenes lutein which is known to reduce oxidative stress in the eyes; it slows the development of cataract, so it helps improve vision. 

The presence of potassium may boost heart health and the organic compound called allicin also reduces cholesterol levels; it is known to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. 

Men who take allium vegetable rich in oregano sulphur compound have the lowest risk of prostate cancer. 

Chives contain choline, an important nutrient for sleep, muscle movement, learning and memory. 

Beauty boost

Chives’ contribution in boosting skin radiance is a result of beta-carotene, an antioxidant present in this miracle herb. It also helps treat acne as vitamin C content contributes to anti-ageing and aids in treating yeast infections. 

A Chive face mask acts as a powerful moisturiser and improves the dryness of the skin. A chive oil mask application to hair can improve dryness and strengthen hair roots and split ends.

Culinary delight

Its pungent flavour makes chives a popular culinary craze. Chives add flavour to recipes with eggs, cheese, curry, dips, soups and quiche. You can jazz up refreshing drinks in summer with finely trimmed chives. 

You can also decorate with chive flowers. They taste almost like freshly ground peppercorn with a mild onion flavour and a wonderful garnish for soups. 

Infuse young chive flowers to plain white vinegar — the rosy concoction will burst with tantalising flavour.

People who need to avoid onions should not consume chives. Too much of it can cause indigestion and abdominal discomfort.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

TOKYO — A breakthrough technique harnessing two methods to target disease-carrying mosquitoes was able to effectively eradicate buzzing biters in two test sites in China, according to research published on Thursday.

The mosquitoes targeted are a type that is particularly difficult to control called Aedes albopictus — more popularly known as the Asian tiger mosquito — which are a major vector for diseases including Zika and dengue.

The study “demonstrates the potential of a potent new tool”, wrote Peter Armbruster, a professor at Georgetown University’s department of biology, in a review of the work.

Researchers harnessed two population control methods: the use of radiation — which effectively sterilises mosquitoes — and a strain of bacteria called Wolbachia that leaves mosquito eggs dead on arrival.

They conducted a two-year trial at two sites on river islands in Guangzhou, where Asian tiger mosquitoes are to blame for the highest dengue transmission rate in China.

The results were “remarkable”, wrote Armbruster: the number of hatched mosquitoes eggs plunged by 94 per cent, with not a single viable egg recorded for up to 13 weeks in some cases.

And the average number of female mosquitoes — which transmit disease to humans when they bite — caught by traps fell by between 83 and 94 per cent.

In some cases, none were detected at all for up to six weeks.

The results were also borne out by a decline of nearly 97 per cent in bites suffered by locals — which in turn shifted attitudes among residents, who were initially sceptical of the project’s plan to release more mosquitoes into the local area.

Radiation and bacteria

The research builds on two existing methods: radiation-based sterile insect technique (SIT) and incompatible insect technique (IIT).

SIT works by releasing radiation-sterilised male mosquitoes into an environment to mate with wild female mosquitoes, reducing the size of the population over time as females fail to reproduce.

But irradiation of male mosquitoes tends to reduce both their mating competitiveness and their survival rates, undermining the technique’s effectiveness.

The IIT method involves a bacteria called Wolbachia. When males infected with it mate with female mosquitoes that aren’t infected, their eggs don’t hatch.

The technique doesn’t work if the female mosquitoes are infected with the same Wolbachia strain, and successful mating by mosquitoes that both carry the bacteria undermines the technique by producing more female mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia that are resistant to the process.

Preventing the release of Wolbachia-infected female mosquitoes is difficult, with sex-sorting techniques usually resulting in a “female contamination rate” of about 0.3 per cent.

To overcome that, researchers decided to subject their Wolbachia-infected lab-reared mosquitoes to low-level irradiation, which rendered the females sterile but left the males able to reproduce.

This allowed the team to avoid the onerous sex-screening process and meant they could release significantly more mosquitoes at a time: in some cases more than 160,000 male mosquitoes per hectare, per week.

‘Striking results’

Lead researcher Zhiyong Xi, a professor at Michigan State University’s department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, compared the technique to “producing insecticide”.

“Our goal is to use this technique to build a protected area that is disease vector-free,” Xi told AFP.

Armbruster, in a review commissioned by the journal Nature that published the research on Thursday, said the study produced “striking results”.

That the trial “almost eliminated notoriously difficult-to-control vector mosquitoes from the test sites is remarkable”, he wrote.

The results weren’t a universal success — populations in areas with more traffic, near construction or roads, shrank less than those in isolated zones, likely as mosquitoes migrated in from elsewhere.

But Xi said the technique still holds promise if “natural barriers” like highways are used to limit the arrivals of outside mosquitoes.

And he said it could be used against mosquitoes that carry disease, including malaria.

The next steps will involve developing a “highly effective and practical release strategy” suited for urban settings”, he said.

NEW YORK — An American study has explored the link between the stigma regularly experienced by overweight individuals and the effects on their mental health, especially in terms of self-shaming.

Suffering pointed looks from passersby or receiving “well-meaning” commentary from friends and family about body weight is often associated with self-devaluation, leading to increased risks on mental health.

While this effect has long been observed, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have looked into whether some people were more likely than others to be vulnerable to “self-stigmatising” about their own weight.

Published in Obesity Science and Practice, the study was directed by Rebecca Pearl, PhD, an assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

This new study synthesised survey results from 18,000 people who participated in a commercialised weight-loss programme offered nationwide by the Weight Watchers International company.

The study’s participants responded anonymously regarding their experiences of stigmatisation and weight-shaming from other people, noting frequency and the impacts on their psychological state.

They assessed whether that led them to self-shame regarding their own physical and mental characteristics.

Greater internalised stigma when weight criticism dates to childhood.

Nearly two-thirds of the participants affirmed having been confronted with weight-related criticism at least once in their lives.

The study showed that nearly half experienced this criticism during childhood and adolescence. The study also showed that women, young people, and those with a high body mass index were most vulnerable to self-shaming, while those of African-American descent and adults in couples were less.

According to the study, people who experienced stigmatisation over their weight were more likely to devalue themselves than others, especially those who had suffered from these disagreeable experiences from childhood.

Individuals who received commentary about their body weight from members of their family, friends, colleagues, or health professionals were also more affected.

“We don’t yet know why some people who struggle with their weight internalise society’s stigma and others do not,” said Pearl.

“These findings represent a first step toward helping us identify, among people trying to manage their weight, who may be most likely to self-stigmatise.

People who are trying to lose weight may be among the most vulnerable to weight self-stigma, but this issue is rarely discussed in treatment.”