New DNA Test For Dyslexia & Backpack Dangers
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7:00am Segment Info:
A new study finds dyslexia affects different parts of children's brains depending on whether they're taught English or Chinese. That means the treatment may be different. Treating Chinese speakers with dyslexia may require more memory tasks. Treating English dyslexics should focus on letter-sound conversions and sound awareness. While you may not think this is a big deal, millions of children worldwide suffer from dyslexia, which is a language-based learning disability that can cause problems in reading, spelling, writing and pronunciation.
What is it about the differences between the languages that causes this?
MORE AFTER THE JUMP...
English requires reading an alphabet. That's a totally different skill than reading Chinese, which uses symbols to represent words. English-speaking children learn the sounds of letters and how to combine them into words, while Chinese kids memorize hundreds of symbols, which represent words. This is the first study to show that different parts of the brain are involved all together.
In other news, there's a controversial new test available.
Here's a question for you... If you could, would you like to know if you're likely to have a deadly disease?
If you are there's a new commercially available genetic test that promises to tell you if you're at risk for 18 different diseases like cancer or heart attack. It's called health compass and it analyzes your DNA scanning for certain genes that we know are markers for disease risk. The idea is that if you know you're at risk for something and you have that knowledge. You can implement lifestyle changes now... Before the disease can take hold.
How does it work? And how much does it cost?
It's very simple. All you need to do is provide a saliva sample into a vial. The vial is then shipped to the company where it's analyzed. The results come back in the mail. But not everyone is excited about this. Some of the information can be devastating to people. We don't really know the accuracy of this test, and even if it was accurate. This is the kind of information that needs to be conveyed in person so that it can be put into context. The test costs between $2500 and $3000, and it's not covered by insurance.
8:00am Segment Info:
Wearing a heavy backpack isn't just bad for your back, it could also affect your arms causing you to lose some fine motor skills in your hands.
The problem is the straps compress key blood vessels and cause abnormally high blood pressure decreasing blood flow in the shoulders and arms. Last year, the same researchers found backpacks obstructed blood flow and contributed to shoulder fatigue in children when the load they were carrying was as little as 10% of their body weight.
How heavy does the pack have to be to cause damage?
In this report wearing a pack with as little as 26 pounds for just 10 minutes caused an almost 50% decrease in blood flow through large and small vessels in the upper bodies of people studied. In some professions, like the military, firefighters and mountain rescue, the packs weigh as much as 60% of the adult's body weight. The researchers are calling for a re-design of backpack straps.
There's also a report about sleep and kids.
As a parent, you always want your kids to get a good night's sleep. Now a new study says even in young kids not getting enough sleep can increase their risk of being overweight.
Previous studies have shown the same effect in older children and adults. But here we're talking about kids under the age of two. Those who slept less than 12 hours a day in the first two years of life were twice as likely to be overweight at age 3 compared to children who slept longer.
What can parents do to make sure their child gets enough sleep?
One of the most important things is to limit TV time. Researchers say children who watched 2 or more hours-a-day of TV by age 2 are more likely to be overweight. You also want to get TV’s computers and video games out of your kids' bedroom.
