In brief

New resource for food safety

The China National Institute of Standardization recently announced its cooperation with 365.com, a company that provides online safety information. The institute and company will release safe-food listings regularly, after checking food and drinks in small-to-medium supermarkets randomly through a third-party testing organization. On Jan 15, the institute president and the company chief manager released their first list for safe foods in supermarkets, including rice, meat and alcohol.

Website talks health

The Medicine and Health Channel of China.org, a famous multiple-language news website in China, launched its third health-talk show MED on Jan 19 in Beijing. The talk show invited 10 celebrities from the health community to give speeches to hundreds of people. Reputable doctors talked about disease awareness and prevention; rare-disease patient rights advocates shared their life stories and called for more social support; a volunteer surgeon of Medecins Sans Frontiers, or Doctors without Borders, talked about his experience in war-torn Angola; and popular science writer Fang Zhouzi spoke about what genetically modified food is and whether GM food is safe.

Smoking bad for asthmatics

Asthmatic children who are exposed to cigarette smoke are more likely to make repeat trips to the hospital for breathing problems. But researchers say asking parents about children's smoke exposure may not yield the most reliable information. In a recent study, saliva revealed exposure to tobacco smoke in roughly 80 percent of children brought to the hospital for asthma or breathing problems. But only about a third of parents said their children came in contact with smoke.

Soccer girls get concussion

Young female soccer players may get more concussions than their high school and college counterparts, and many of them continue to play while they have symptoms, according to a new study. Concussions can result in memory loss and problems with concentration and reaction time. The effects are worse when an athlete suffers a second concussion before fully recovering from the first.

Database tracks heart disease

Chongqing Xinqiao Hospital recently announced it has completed the world's largest epidemiological research on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an irreversible ailment that makes it hard for people to breathe. Researchers from the hospital have spent years collecting and analyzing data from 20,245 patients from across China, and found that 8.2 percent of Chinese have the condition. The study is the largest ever in both China and the world.

China Daily-Reuters