A rare medical case has sprouted up in Hsinchu. Shortly after getting married, a 34-year-old woman working as an engineer at Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park, took a stray cat home. She subsequently had three miscarriages over the course of a year. It was eventually discovered that the cat had a parasitic disease called toxoplasmosis, which had caused the miscarriages. The woman got better after taking antibiotics and is currently six months into her fourth pregnancy.
Lin Cheng-kai, an attending physician in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at National Taiwan University Hospital’s Hsinchu Branch and head of his own clinic in Hsinchu, says that the woman, surnamed Chen, got married in 2010 and that because she was already reaching an age when it is difficult to get pregnant, the couple wanted to start trying to have a baby right away, and thus decided they would not use contraceptives. She soon got pregnant with her first child, only to unexpectedly have the first of three miscarriages just seven weeks later.
Having three miscarriages in a row, all within a year, was a major blow for Chen both physically and mentally, so the couple decided to get help at NTU Hospital’s Hsinchu Branch. After testing the couple to find the causes of the recurrent miscarriage — the occurrence of three of more pregnancies that end in miscarriage — everything checked out normal. There was one thing, however, found in the report for rare infectious diseases that caught the doctor’s attention — feeling sorry for the frail and delicate creature, Chen had taken a stray cat home not long after getting married.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者蔡彰盛
After testing the blood of Chen and the cat, Lin was astonished to find that both of them had toxoplasmosis. He put Chen on antibiotics for six weeks to get rid of the parasite, and told her to wait six months so her body would return to normal before trying to get pregnant again.
Not long afterwards, Chen successfully got pregnant for the fourth time. She had a prenatal checkup last week and the fetus is now at six months. Further tests show that neither the mother nor the fetus have toxoplasmosis, so Chen is now whole-heartedly ready to bring the new life into the world.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者蔡彰盛
新竹市傳出臨床醫學上極為罕見的案例,竹科一名三十四歲女工程師結婚後不久,將路邊撿到的野貓帶回家養,在一年內竟連續流產三次,最後才發現是野貓身上的弓漿蟲作祟,經服用抗生素治療,目前第四胎已經順利懷孕半年!
新竹市好孕診所院長、台大醫院新竹分院婦產科主治醫師林正凱說,在竹科上班的陳小姐二0一0年底結婚,因為年紀已屆高齡產婦,夫妻希望馬上生小孩,完全沒有避孕,不久就順利懷第一胎,沒想到竟在七週就流產。
一年內連續流產三次,對陳女夫妻的身體與心理都是極大的打擊,夫妻求助台大醫院新竹分院,經深入做「習慣性流產」的檢查,夫妻一切正常,唯獨在罕見傳染病項目的調查當中,有一項引起醫師的注意,那就是陳女說在婚後不久,她在住家路旁發現一隻出生不久的野貓,楚楚可憐,一時動了惻隱之心,於是將貓帶回家飼養。
林正凱為陳女與貓咪做血液檢查,赫然發現飼主與貓血中都有弓漿蟲反應,於是要陳女回家以抗生素治療六週,先將體內弓漿蟲全數殺死,並於半年之後,身體狀況準備好以後再計畫懷孕。
日前陳女順利懷孕第四胎,上週產檢,寶寶已經將近六個月大,且後續母體與胎兒追蹤,都沒有弓漿蟲反應,目前陳女已經滿心準備迎接新生命的來臨!
(自由時報記者蔡彰盛)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110