An increasing number of children are getting red bumps on their eyelids, or styes, accounting for about 20 percent of eye infection cases, due to a diet of high-fat foods, such as fried chicken and french fries, an ophthalmologist said yesterday.
Citing a recent case, Yen Min-fang (顏敏芳), director of Shutien Memorial Hospital’s ophthalmology department, said that a four-year-old girl suffered from a recurrence of styes, with five swollen bumps on her eyelids when she visited the clinic a couple of months after the first onset of the symptoms.
She was diagnosed with multiple hordeola and chalazion, and underwent a minor operation.
Yen said the number of child patients with styes has increased recently, most of whom are between the ages of three and seven.
“Children these days tend to have too much fatty food and dislike drinking water. This might result in excessive production of sebum, which then triggers the incidence of styes,” she said.
Styes are caused by the blocking of sweat or sebaceous glands at the base of eyelashes, which then become infected and lead to common symptoms such as burning pain and pus-filled abscesses, Yen said.
“While a hordeolum is caused by both obstruction to the glands and bacteria infection, a chalazion is caused by a blocked duct of the gland without the infection,” she said.
Yen advised people against regular consumption of high-calorie and deep fried foods (poor nutrition), staying up late (sleep deprivation) and habitual rubbing of the eyes.
Those with minimal symptoms can apply warm compressions and antibiotic eye drops or ointments to the affected eye, she said.
“If necessary, those with persistent styes can choose to have them surgically removed under local anesthesia or general anesthesia if they are children,” Yen added.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS