Maintaining a balanced diet and exercising regularly are effective measures to prevent metabolic syndrome, a condition that causes diseases, which kill about one Taiwanese every 12.5 minutes, the Taiwan Epidemiology Association said.
With the weather getting cooler, people tend to eat excessively during the Mid-Autumn Festival, causing metabolic syndrome symptoms such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high blood lipid levels to worsen, the association said, highlighting the importance of taking preventive measures.
Death caused by metabolic syndrome and diseases related to it accounted for five of the top 10 causes of death in Taiwan last year, amounting to a death rate of about 219.2 people in every 100 thousand, the association said, adding that metabolic syndrome-related diseases kill more Taiwanese than malignant tumors.
Hsu Kuang-hung (許光宏), an executive member of the association, said high levels of blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipid, as well being overweight can lead to cardiovascular disease, hypertensive crisis, diabetes and cancer.
He said in a research conducted by the association, scientists discovered that people with high blood pressure need to take their diets under strict control, and those with high blood sugar and high blood lipid levels should get plenty of exercise.
Yang Chun-yuh (楊俊毓), a professor of Kaoshiung Medical University’s Department of Public Health, said aerobic exercise can help control diseases related to metabolic syndrome, as research revealed that subjects showed reduced levels of body mass index, arterial stiffness index and reduced weight after five months of brisk walking.
Wang Li-yu (王豊裕), a professor at Mackay Medical College, said that in addition to measuring blood pressure and having blood tests, undergoing carotid ultrasound and computed tomography can also help diagnose metabolic syndrome.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching