Smartphone addiction a disorderIJ
Do you find it difficult to leave your smartphone even for a minuteIJ Chances are you have become an addict and need professional help. According to psychiatrists, medical authorities worldwide need to formally recognise addiction to internet and digital devices as a disorder. According to Adrian Wang, a psychiatrist at the Gleneagles Medical Centre in Singapore, digital addiction should now be classified as a psychiatric disorder. “Patients come for anxiety-related problems but their coping mechanism is to go on to social media,” Wang said.
“Singaporeans spend an average of 38 minutes per session on Facebook, almost twice as long as Americans,” said a latest study by Experian company.
Better cure found for epilepsy
Researchers at the University of Toronto, including one of Indian-origin, have discovered a complex network of proteins that could help in the treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. “Our study pertains to the discovery of the ying-yang for neuronal cross-talk that is essential for normal healthy brain function,” Chennai born Vivek Mahadevan, a PhD student at the University of Toronto in Canada, said. Neurons in the brain communicate with other neurons through synapses, communication that can either excite or inhibit other neuron. Mahadevan, with other biologists, carried out the study on mice brain via biochemistry, fluorescence imaging and electrophysiology experiments. The findings appeared in Cell Reports.
Sunscreen can’t prevent cancer
Sunscreen alone cannot be relied upon to prevent malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, a new study has found. The study explains more about the mechanism by which UV light leads to melanoma and also explores the extent to which sunscreen is able to prevent UV light from damaging healthy cells.
In the study, carried out at Cancer Research UK’s Manchester Institute, based at the University of Manchester, and at The Institute of Cancer Research, london, scientists examined the molecular effects of UV light on the skin of mice at risk of melanoma and whether disease development was blocked by sunscreen. UV light directly damages the DNA in the skin’s pigment cells, increasing the chances of developing melanoma.