Health Canada is reminding Canadians of the possible strangulation hazards posed by corded blinds after the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (US CPSC) and the Window Covering Safety Council issued a massive voluntary recall to repair all Roman shades and roll-up blinds earlier this week.
Of specific interest are Roman shades sold by Hanover Direct of New Jersey, of which 62 units have been sold in Canada through catalogue or Internet orders. These shades, along with roll-up blinds, have a cord that poses a strangulation risk to young children. The Roman shades pass through rings or slots spaced far enough apart that a child could insert his or her head and neck between the length of the cord and the fabric of the shade. The shades also don’t have cord-locking mechanisms in the headrail or inner cord stops to limit the inner cords from being pulled out to form a loop. The fabric and bottom rail of the shade are also very light, meaning more of the inner cord can be pulled out.
For roll-up blinds — coverings that consist of flexible material that rolls up and is suspended by two cords — the lifting loops can slide off the sides of the blind, meaning a child can place his or her neck between a lifting loop and the roll-up material, posing a strangulation hazard.
Anyone who purchased Roman shades from Hanover Direct should stop using them immediately and call 1-800-524-0597 for a free retrofit kit that removes the operating and inner cords from the shade. Health Canada suggests replacing other Roman shades or roll-up blinds with window coverings that do not have exposed cords. For information, call 1-866-662-0666.
A group of researchers including several Canadians have identified a possible reason why the H1N1 influenza virus can kill, according to a study published in the December issue of the Journal of Critical Care.
Joined by Spanish researchers, the team analyzed different levels of regulating molecules for 20 hospitalized patients, 15 outpatients and 15 control subjects in 10 Spanish hospitals during the first pandemic wave over the summer. Samples found high levels of the molecule interleukin-17 in hospitalized patients and low levels in outpatients.
This particular molecule helps regulate white blood cells, which fight infection and disease. In some cases, the molecule behaves in an “out of control” fashion, which leads to inflammation and autoimmune disease.
“In rare cases, the virus causes lung infections requiring patients to be treated in hospital,” said Canadian lead researcher Dr. David Klein of the University of Toronto.
While clinical applications are still years away, a test that could detect the level of interleukin-17 and consequently help identify who could be at high risk for complications of H1N1 could be possible in the near future, Klein noted.
Overweight adults who watch less TV burn more calories, according to a new study.
Published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the study recruited 36 adults who watched a minimum of three to five hours of television a day and whose body mass index (BMI) fell in the overweight or obese ranges.
After monitoring the participants for three weeks, the team assigned 20 of the adults at random to cut their TV time by half for another three weeks. The remaining 16 were told to carry on as before. The group whose TV time was restricted had an electronic lockout system placed on their screens that automatically shut the television off once the 50 per cent threshold had been reached. All participants also wore armband monitors that measured activity levels. They also kept sleep logs and completed telephone surveys about their diet.
Once the study was completed, the results showed that the group that had their TV time cut in half ate 125 fewer calories per day compared to the control group, but significantly increased their energy expenditure compared to the control group, whose energy expenditure actually decreased. The “intervention group” subsequently experienced small reductions in BMI. No changes in sleep were observed.
The authors pointed out the 125 calories extra per day burned by the intervention group was equivalent to walking more than a mile. The research parallels similar work with children that found simply reducing TV time led to weight loss.
Drinking more coffee, decaffeinated coffee and tea is linked with a reduced risk of developing diabetes, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
A group of researchers in Australia performed an analysis and review of studies conducted between 1966 and July 2009 that reported a possible link between coffee, decaf and tea with diabetes, resulting in 18 studies involving more than 450,000 participants.
Once the data was pooled and analyzed, the team found some intriguing revelations, specifically:
• The more coffee a person drinks, the lower their risk of developing diabetes.
• Every extra cup of coffee consumed per day was associated with a seven per cent reduction in risk. Overall, drinking three to four cups per day was linked to a 25 per cent reduction in risk compared to drinking between none and two cups per day.
• Drinking more than three to four cups of decaf per day resulted in a one-third reduction in risk, while drinking the same amount of tea per day lowered risk by one-fifth.
The authors urged further study to determine the active biological compounds contained in all three drinks involved to determine their exact effect.
