Several pediatricians recently urged parents to refrain from the traditional folk remedy of applying menthol-based products to the skin of toddlers to assuage abdominal bloating, warning that exposure to the substance could cause nerve damage.
“In Taiwan, whenever young children feel ill, especially with stomach upset, their parents or grandparents often resort to what they believe as the ‘ancestors’ wisdom’ and rub peppermint oil on their belly aiming to alleviate their discomfort,” Evolution of Taiwan Pediatrics Association director-general Huang Jing-long (黃璟隆) told a press conference in Taipei on Thursday morning.
However, Huang said few people are aware of the potentially negative side effects.
Association secretary-general Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) said menthol-based products are common, but few people are aware of their health risks.
Citing an example, Lee said that in November last year, a five-day-old girl was admitted into hospital after showing signs of jaundice and hemolytic anemia, with her total bilirubin level reaching 42.6mg per deciliter (mg/dL), compared with the normal level of less than 1mg/dL.
“A computed tomography scan of her head showed that she had developed kernicterus, which is bilirubin-induced brain damage caused by excessive jaundice,” Lee said, adding that the baby was later diagnosed with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD deficiency), a genetic disorder.
Lee said that it turned out that the girl’s family, including her breastfeeding mother, often used menthol-containing essential oil and the substance had been absorbed by the baby via breast milk.
“Long-term or excessive exposure to menthol can cause nerve damage even in healthy toddlers, but it can induce hemolytic anemia in and cause potentially fatal complications to those with G6PD deficiency,” Lee said.
He said pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as children under the age of two, should avoid any use of menthol-based products.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard