Latest news with #LaurenHale
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Partner of 30-year-old man feared brain dead after food poisoning 'from £3 supermarket sandwich' issues urgent warning
A 30-year-old man was feared brain dead after becoming ill with food poisoning from what is believed to be a £3 supermarket chicken sandwich, his family has said. Blake Pennell was in the prime of his life when he suffered a rare stroke after contracting E. Coli that left him hospitalised for nearly a year. Today, the 3D artist is unable to sit up or stand but has made slow progress and can move his head and mouth words at his devoted partner Lauren Hale. Lauren, originally from Norwich, Norfolk, said: 'Blake has been through the ringer and he's fought it all. 'You never think someone is going to have a stroke at this age and you never think anything like this could happen to you. 'He is starting to get his life back and it makes it all worth it.' Lauren, 29, believes a chicken salad sandwich from a local supermarket could have contained E. coli. In May and June 2024, the UK experienced a major E. coli outbreak that affected more than 270 people and led to numerous hospitalisations. Several supermarkets including Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Boots and the Co-op were affected by the outbreak, which was initially linked to salad leaves in sandwiches. Blake, from Loddon, Norfolk, had been 'very poorly' since June 14, 2024, when Lauren said he could barely move from the sofa. A week later, on June 22, Blake collapsed in the bathroom while vomiting. Lauren, who relocated to Stoke-on-Trent with Blake for his work, said: 'His speech was normal, his face was okay and he could put his arms above his head. 'We didn't know it was a stroke because a stroke is not always what people think it is. 'None of the "FAST" symptoms were there.' FAST is an acronym to help identify the key signs of a stroke: face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulties, and time to call 999. Blake was carried out of his home by a neighbour and driven straight to A&E at the Royal Stoke Hospital. Lauren said: 'The hospital didn't recognise it was a stroke initially either and it was an hour after he was admitted that his speech slurred. 'Everybody kicked up a gear and gave him the scan.' Blake was diagnosed with a basilar artery stroke - when the basilar artery, which supplies blood to the back of the brain, is blocked. It makes up just one per cent of all strokes. Blake had a thrombectomy - a procedure that physically removes a blood clot from an artery - and was sent to the stroke recovery ward. The following day, however, Lauren rushed back to the hospital as Blake was being wheeled in for emergency surgery. Doctors told her he had developed cerebral tonsil herniation - a condition where part of the cerebellum descends into the spinal canal and causes swelling. Lauren said: 'Blake had a posterior craniotomy by one of the top neurosurgeons in the country - most people don't make it off the operating table.' Blake spent four and a half weeks in a medical coma while on a ventilator and with a tracheostomy. Altogether, he has spent the last eight months in the Royal Stoke Hospital, recovering slowly after doctors originally feared he could be brain dead. Lauren, who is considering going into occupational therapy after Blake's diagnosis, said: 'We found out a few weeks after that he had in his system and it can cause a clotting disorder which can cause a stroke. 'There's no other reason he would have had a stroke - he doesn't drink or smoke and he's healthy. 'We believe it came from a chicken salad sandwich bought from a supermarket as he got meal deals from there all the time. 'In the early days doctors said he could be brain dead. We just kept on believing that wasn't the case. 'I spent every day with him and I actually still do. 'I began to notice small things. Once with the nurses, I was referencing a family joke and Blake wiggled his eyebrows at me. 'His eyes were closed but I thought "That's a sign". 'By Christmas time, he was nodding and shaking his head.' Blake's brain damage has now been assessed as minimal and Lauren is hopeful that after rehabilitation and physio, he will be looking at a good quality of life. She currently commutes a three hour round trip by public transport to see him every day - 200 miles away from their families in Norwich, Norfolk. Lauren said: 'He can move his right arm and leg and he is communicating through a tablet. 'Blake can't sit up or stand but he does have head control in his wheelchair. 'He's started to mouth words at me including "I miss you". 'People need to know that a stroke is not just for older people and the symptoms may not be typical.'
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Alarming' National Data: Teens Use Cell Phones for Quarter of School Day
As districts and government officials nationwide consider curbing smartphones' reach, new research has revealed teens miss at least one and a half hours of school because they are on their phones. A quarter of the 13-18 year olds in the study used devices for two hours each school day, which lasts around seven hours. The averages outnumber minutes allotted for lunch and period breaks combined, showing youth are distracted by phones throughout huge chunks of class time. Related Stony Brook University's research, published in JAMA Pediatrics, is the first to accurately paint a picture of adolescent phone behavior by using a third party app to monitor usage over four months in 2023. Previous studies have relied on parent surveys or self-reported estimates. 'That's pretty alarming … It's too much, not only because of the missed learning opportunity in the classroom,' said researcher Lauren Hale, sleep expert and professor at Stony Brook's Renaissance School of Medicine. 'They're missing out on real life social interaction with peers, which is just as valuable for growth during a critical period of one's life,' she told The 74. Hale and the other researchers' early findings come from 117 teens for which they had school data, just one slice of a pool from over 300 participants, which will be analyzed and used to consider how phone usage impacts sleep, obesity, depression and other outcomes. Teens most often used messaging, Instagram and video streaming platforms. While most spent about 26 minutes on Instagram, in one extreme case, a student was on the app for 269 minutes — nearly 5 hours — during the school day. Related Data reveal particular groups of students are using their phones more than their peers: Girls and older kids, aged 16 to 18, spent a half hour above the average 1.5 hours; and Latino and multiracial students spent on average 15 minutes above average. Additionally, though researchers cannot hypothesize as to why based on the descriptive data, kids who have one or more parents with a college degree used smartphones less during the school day. The findings are particularly concerning given young people missed key social years with peers during the pandemic, the impact of which is felt in ways big and small, like being hesitant to work with peers in groups. Related Teachers in contact with Hale since research went public in early February say of the 1.5 hour average, 'that's too low an estimate. They think we underestimated.' Los Angeles is among several districts with plans to institute a cell phone ban, though such bans are inconsistently implemented and new research from the UK suggests bans alone do not impact grades or wellbeing. 'These results are consistent, supportive evidence of anecdotal stories from across the country about kids missing out on learning and social opportunities. [They] can help justify efforts to provide a coherent smartphone policy for schools,' said Hale, adding that such policy should not be left up to individual teachers to enforce.
Arab Times
05-02-2025
- Health
- Arab Times
Study unveils alarming smartphone use among kids during school time
NEW YORK, Feb 5: As discussions about banning phones in schools intensify, a new study has revealed that the average teenager spends a quarter of their school day scrolling on their smartphones. Research conducted by the Seattle Children's Research Institute found that adolescents aged 13 to 18 spend an average of 1½ hours on their phones during a 6½-hour school day. Public health and pediatric scientists conducted the study to gain insights not only into overall screen time but also into the specific duration and content of smartphone usage, particularly during school hours. Senior author Lauren Hale, a public health researcher and mother of two middle schoolers, expressed concern over how phone use is impacting both learning and in-person social opportunities for students. 'School hours are precious,' she said in a statement. The study involved nearly 300 participants who took part in a 15-minute smartphone-based survey, using the RealityMeter app to track their phone usage. After analyzing the data, the researchers narrowed the sample to 117 adolescents who used their phones during at least two school days per week. The results showed that while teens averaged 1½ hours of smartphone use during school, over 25% of them spent more than two hours on their phones each day. In terms of activity, teens primarily used their phones for general internet browsing, text messaging, Instagram, video streaming, audio, and email. These findings were published in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics titled 'Adolescent Smartphone Use During School Hours.' The researchers emphasized the need for more studies with larger sample sizes to better reflect the broader adolescent population. Hale noted that much of the existing research relies on self-reported data, but this study provided more objective insights into smartphone use, allowing for a better understanding of when and how smartphones are used in school. The study comes at a time when there is growing momentum to ban smartphones in schools. New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently released a report titled 'More Learning, Less Scrolling,' which aims to address the issue of smartphone distraction in classrooms. The proposed ban would take effect next school year, requiring public and charter school students to refrain from using 'internet-enabled devices' during school hours.
