William J Brown - News Room Administrators Staff

W.J

Orthopedists say they are seeing an increasing number of patients with a condition known as "overuse syndrome" or "BlackBerry thumb" - caused by increasing use of handheld devices. In a time where people can't live without their handheld sidekicks - such as a BlackBerry or text messaging - more and more users are noticing the area between her thumb and wrist begin to throb - in some cases this symptom is severe. The American Society of Hand Therapists issued a consumer alert in January saying that handheld electronics are causing an increasing amount of carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. With that warning, the society included directions on how to properly hold the devices, urging users to take breaks and, if possible, place pillows in their laps so their wrists are in a more upright position. BlackBerry subscribers now total 2.51 million, more than double the 1.07 million subscribers a year ago. Some other handheld devices, such as PalmOne Inc.'s Treo and T-Mobile Inc.'s Sidekick phones, use similar thumb-operated keyboards. The small keyboards are tough on hands and wrists, according to Paige Kurtz of the American Society of Hand Therapists. The pains associated with BlackBerrys and other handhelds used to be common among video game players, but Stuart Hirsch, clinical assistant professor of orthopedics at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., believes teens who are frequent gamers are a little more immune. Also, though many handheld game devices use thumb-operated controls, they typically don't require as much range of motion as keyboards spanning the entire alphabet as well as punctuation marks. "Tendonitis won't affect your teenage son the way it will a parent," Hirsch said. "Children are more tolerant of overuse than adults because they are younger." A British researcher of cyber culture, Sadie Plant, found that teenagers and young adults throughout the world are becoming so adept at using their thumbs for messaging, they have started to use them for ringing doorbells and pointing. Japanese teenagers are sometimes called "the thumb generation" because of their heavy-duty messaging. Plant has said that teens use their thumbs more than index fingers; making them faster and more muscled. Workplace injuries in white-collar jobs have grown with the widespread use of mobile communications technology. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ergonomic disorders are the fastest-growing category of work-related illnesses for which it receives reports. In 1981, only 18 percent of all reported illnesses were repetitive strain injuries, known as RSI. By 1992, that figure had grown to 52 percent. That number has leveled off, said Emil Pascarelli, author of "Dr. Pascarelli's Complete Guide to Repetitive Strain Injury: What You Need to Know About RSI and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" and professor emeritus of clinical medicine at Columbia University. He attributes the change to companies and employees becoming more knowledgeable about setting up a workstation to prevent injuries. However, with the popularity of tiny handheld devices, Pascarelli said there is a "potential for an epidemic" for new repetitive strain injuries. "These new devices are really introducing a new potential injury issue. I think it has the potential for being an explosive issue in the next few years

Officials in Vietnam, the country hit hardest by the bird flu epidemic, say they may not be able to contain the virus until 2007, because many experts are still baffled by the way it spreads. Health officials are uncertain how the virus spreads from waterfowl to poultry, and then to people. "There are cases where a healthy person carries the virus without showing clinical symptoms, which has made the risk of spreading the virus in the community greater," Deputy Health Minister Tran Chi Liem said. Since its arrival to Asia in late 2003, H5NI, has infected 71 Vietnamese and killed 36. Now, the World Health Organization fears the virus may mutate into a new form that would spread easier among people and cause a global pandemic in which millions would die. "If the virus changes, it will be the biggest global health crisis," said Hans Troedsson, the WHO representative in Vietnam, predicting "50 to 100 million deaths in the worst situation". Bird flu has killed 51 people in Asia - 36 Vietnamese, including 15 since December, 12 Thais and three Cambodians - since arriving in Asia in late 2003, brought probably by migrating wild fowl

The Angolan Ministry of Health has declared that the death toll from the epidemic of Marburg hemorrhagic fever has jumped to 233. A total 255 cases have been recorded until Saturday. The health ministry issued a press release stating that all the reported cases of the Ebola-like disease had originated in the northwestern province of Uige. However, reports of death is still pouring in from other parts such as Luanda, Zaire, Malange, Kuangza Norte, Kuanza South and Cabinda provinces. The World Health Organization, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Doctors Without Borders are having a tough time in bringing the situation under control. They have deployed teams in Uige to combat the spread of the deadly virus. Marburg is spread through contact with bodily fluids. Marburg has been proving fatal, and there is no vaccine against it. This is not the first Marburg breaksout in this region. In the previous outbreak of Marburg, 123 people were killed in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo between 1998 and 2000, official records show