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.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS