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The Sun
17 hours ago
- Health
- The Sun
Autism still misunderstood despite growing awareness
PETALING JAYA: Autism awareness in Malaysia has improved over the past decade, but persistent misconceptions continue to hinder proper support and inclusion, according to consultant paediatrician and child-disability advocate Datuk Dr Amar-Singh HSS. He added that the rate of autism has increased in society over the past 30 to 40 years and referred to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates that this year one in every 31 children or 3.2% will have autism. 'This increase is partly due to better detection, but also reflects a real rise in the number of persons with autism,' he said. Malaysia has seen a similar trend. According to the Social Welfare Department, the number of children diagnosed with autism rose over a decade from 6,991 in 2013 to 53,323 in 2023. Amar said although more Malaysians are familiar with the term autism today, many still mistakenly view it as a disease that needs to be cured. 'Autism is not a medical condition, illness or disease. An autistic person is someone whose brain works differently from others. We often use the term 'neurodivergent',' he explained. He highlighted that stereotypical portrayals in the media have shaped public perceptions of autistic individuals and stressed the importance of respectful language. 'We prefer (them) being called 'persons with disabilities' or 'disabled', rather than 'differently abled' or 'special needs'. For autism, use 'person with autism', 'autistic person' if that is the individual's preference, 'neurodiverse person' or 'person on the autism spectrum'. 'Avoid labels such as 'low-functioning' or 'high-functioning', and terms such as 'mild', 'moderate' or 'severe',' he said, adding that autistic people are as diverse as any other group. Amar emphasised that proper language upholds dignity and celebrates diversity, avoiding harmful stereotypes. He said one of the largest gaps in Malaysia's approach is early intervention. Highlighting international figures, Amar said at least 10% to 15% of children have developmental disabilities, yet many are only identified when they enter school, often too late for effective support. He stressed that early screening and intervention can significantly improve inclusion, reduce reliance on special education and enhance long-term outcomes, including employability and independence. An effective early intervention programme includes inclusive kindergarten placements with small teacher-to-child ratios, personalised education plans, communication therapy, social skills development and behaviour support from trained professionals. Amar called for a shift from NGO or privately led services to government funded, mainstream provisions accessible across all communities, including rural, indigenous and urban poor areas. He also advocated family centred care and universal design in learning, moving away from deficit based models. Among the practical barriers faced by families, Amar pointed out a lack of routine developmental screening for children aged two to six and the limited availability of early intervention services, especially for marginalised groups such as rural, indigenous, migrant and stateless families. He added that a key issue is the lack of consultation with autistic individuals by organisations and government bodies. 'The motto 'nothing about us without us' demands that autistic people be included in leadership and policy discussions. Inclusion starts with listening,' he said. Amar also noted that autistic individuals who belong to other marginalised communities face compounded barriers and are even more likely to be excluded. 'We need policy shifts that take a rights-based approach. Not charity, not pity, but rights. 'Autistic people should be at the centre of discussions about policies that affect them.'
The Sun
17 hours ago
- Health
- The Sun
Autism awareness grows, but gaps in support remain
PETALING JAYA: Autism awareness in Malaysia has improved over the past decade, but persistent misconceptions continue to hinder proper support and inclusion, according to consultant paediatrician and child-disability advocate Datuk Dr Amar-Singh HSS. He added that the rate of autism has increased in society over the past 30 to 40 years and referred to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates that this year one in every 31 children or 3.2% will have autism. 'This increase is partly due to better detection, but also reflects a real rise in the number of persons with autism,' he said. Malaysia has seen a similar trend. According to the Social Welfare Department, the number of children diagnosed with autism rose over a decade from 6,991 in 2013 to 53,323 in 2023. Amar said although more Malaysians are familiar with the term autism today, many still mistakenly view it as a disease that needs to be cured. 'Autism is not a medical condition, illness or disease. An autistic person is someone whose brain works differently from others. We often use the term 'neurodivergent',' he explained. He highlighted that stereotypical portrayals in the media have shaped public perceptions of autistic individuals and stressed the importance of respectful language. 'We prefer (them) being called 'persons with disabilities' or 'disabled', rather than 'differently abled' or 'special needs'. For autism, use 'person with autism', 'autistic person' if that is the individual's preference, 'neurodiverse person' or 'person on the autism spectrum'. 'Avoid labels such as 'low-functioning' or 'high-functioning', and terms such as 'mild', 'moderate' or 'severe',' he said, adding that autistic people are as diverse as any other group. Amar emphasised that proper language upholds dignity and celebrates diversity, avoiding harmful stereotypes. He said one of the largest gaps in Malaysia's approach is early intervention. Highlighting international figures, Amar said at least 10% to 15% of children have developmental disabilities, yet many are only identified when they enter school, often too late for effective support. He stressed that early screening and intervention can significantly improve inclusion, reduce reliance on special education and enhance long-term outcomes, including employability and independence. An effective early intervention programme includes inclusive kindergarten placements with small teacher-to-child ratios, personalised education plans, communication therapy, social skills development and behaviour support from trained professionals. Amar called for a shift from NGO or privately led services to government funded, mainstream provisions accessible across all communities, including rural, indigenous and urban poor areas. He also advocated family centred care and universal design in learning, moving away from deficit based models. Among the practical barriers faced by families, Amar pointed out a lack of routine developmental screening for children aged two to six and the limited availability of early intervention services, especially for marginalised groups such as rural, indigenous, migrant and stateless families. He added that a key issue is the lack of consultation with autistic individuals by organisations and government bodies. 'The motto 'nothing about us without us' demands that autistic people be included in leadership and policy discussions. Inclusion starts with listening,' he said. Amar also noted that autistic individuals who belong to other marginalised communities face compounded barriers and are even more likely to be excluded. 'We need policy shifts that take a rights-based approach. Not charity, not pity, but rights. 'Autistic people should be at the centre of discussions about policies that affect them.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Covid-19 shots for healthy children remain on CDC vaccine schedule despite Kennedy's pledge to remove them
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its immunization schedule for children after US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s announcement this week that Covid-19 vaccines would be removed from the list of recommended shots for healthy children and pregnant women. However, the vaccines remain on the schedule for kids, although with a slightly different designation. Instead of being listed as 'recommended' by the CDC, they are now listed as 'recommended vaccination based on shared clinical decision-making,' meaning healthy children – those who don't have an underlying condition that raises their risk of severe illness – can get the shots after consulting with a health care provider. According to the CDC, such a provider would be anyone who routinely administers vaccines, including doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and pharmacists. A vaccine listed on the schedule in this category is required to be covered by insurance with no cost-sharing, meaning no co-pays for patients, according to the CDC. Many of the agency's information pages continue to recommend the Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women, but the adult immunization schedule has been changed to specify that the recommendation applies only to adults who aren't pregnant. 'The old COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children under 18 and for pregnant women have been removed from the CDC vaccine schedule,' HHS press officer Emily Hilliard said in a statement Friday. 'The CDC and HHS encourage individuals to talk with their healthcare provider about any personal medical decision. Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy, HHS is restoring the doctor-patient relationship. If a parent desires their healthy child to be vaccinated, their decision should be based on informed consent through the clinical [judgment] of their healthcare provider,' the statement said. The change to the vaccine schedule comes days after Kennedy posted a video on social media saying it had happened. 'As of today, the Covid vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule,' Kennedy said in the video Tuesday, standing beside FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. 'Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another Covid shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.' The announcement was met with dismay from parents and pediatricians who feared that kids and pregnant women might lose insurance coverage for the vaccines. 'It's been a bit disheartening, to be honest,' said Fatima Ka, co-founder of the nonprofit grassroots group Protect Their Future, which advocated for kids' access to Covid-19 vaccines throughout the pandemic. 'A lot of parents right now have been doing everything they can. They've been calling their representatives, their health departments, anyone who will listen, anyone who is accountable to the public. And it just felt like today we were heard even if it was in a small way,' Ka told CNN. Kids can become severely ill with Covid-19, especially if they're younger than 5. Data presented at the last meeting of the CDC's independent vaccine advisers showed that children 4 and under were hospitalized with Covid at roughly the same rate over the past two respiratory seasons as they were with the flu, and it was a severe influenza season. Fewer than 5% of children hospitalized with Covid-19 last season were up to date on their Covid-19 vaccinations. Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the updated recommendation – which preserves insurance coverage for the vaccines – was a relief. 'After confusing, mixed messages from leaders at Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this week, we are relieved to see today that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its schedules for child and adolescent immunizations to allow families to maintain the choice to immunize their children against Covid in consultation with their doctor,' Kressly said in a statement. 'However, the deeply flawed process to reach the recommendation raises serious concerns about the stability of the nation's immunization infrastructure and commitment by federal leaders to make sure families can access critical immunizations, whether for Covid or other infectious diseases,' she added. Pregnancy is a risk factor for severe Covid-19 infections. Early in the pandemic, CDC studies found that pregnant women with Covid were three times more likely to need ICU care and nearly twice as likely to die compared with those who weren't pregnant. Covid infections during pregnancy have also been linked to fetal complications such as stillbirth and preterm delivery. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said it would continue to recommend that people who are pregnant be vaccinated against Covid-19. 'Maternal immunization remains the best way to reduce maternal, fetal, and infant complications from COVID-19 infection, and is safe to be given at any point during pregnancy. Maternal immunization is also associated with improved infant outcomes and decreased complications, including maternal and infant hospitalizations,' the group said in a statement.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Removing fluoride from public drinking water may lead to millions more cavities in US children, study estimates
The longstanding public health practice of adding fluoride to public drinking water systems in the United States is facing new challenges and bans in some places, and experts have warned that the change would come with significant costs – both to the health of children and the health care system. A new modeling study, published Friday in JAMA Health Forum, estimates that removing fluoride from public water in the US would lead to 25.4 million excess decayed teeth in children and adolescents within five years, along with $9.8 billion in health care costs. After 10 years, these impacts would more than double to nearly 54 million excess decayed teeth and $19.4 billion in costs. That translates to one additional decayed tooth for every three children in the US – but the costs wouldn't be spread evenly, said Dr. Lisa Simon, an internal medicine physician with Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-author of the new study. 'We know that the people who have the most benefit from fluoride are people who otherwise struggle to access dental care,' says Simon, who has been researching dental policy for a decade. 'When we think about those 25 million decayed teeth, they're much more likely to appear in the mouths of children who are publicly insured by Medicaid or come from otherwise low-income families.' Fluoride is a mineral that can be found naturally in some foods and groundwater. It can help prevent tooth decay by strengthening the protective outer layer of enamel that can be worn away by acids formed by bacteria, plaque and sugars in the mouth. Adding fluoride to public water systems started in the US in 1945 and has been hailed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the 10 greatest health interventions in America in the 20th century In 2022, close to two-thirds of the US population was served by community water systems that had fluoride added to them, according to CDC data. But US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in April that he would tell the CDC to stop recommending that fluoride be added to public drinking water, and lawmakers in two states – Utah and Florida – have banned the practice this year. To estimate the effects of removing fluoride from community water, Simon and co-author Dr. Sung Eun Choi from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine assessed clinical oral health data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to create a nationally representative sample of US children. At baseline, the data showed that about 1 in 5 children between the ages of 2 and 5 were estimated to have dental caries, a chronic infectious disease involving tooth decay and cavities, along with more than half of children ages 6 to 12 and more than 57% of teenagers. But removing fluoride would raise those prevalence rates by more than 7 percentage points, the researchers found. 'This is a huge cost for our country and it's all avoidable. There is no better replacement for the time-tested, doctor trusted use of fluoride in community water programs,' Dr. Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, said in a statement. 'No amount of political rhetoric or misinformation will change that good oral health depends on proper nutrition, oral hygiene and optimally fluoridated water, or fluoride supplements if community water programs lack fluoride.' On the campaign trail last fall, Kennedy called fluoride 'industrial waste' and claimed that exposure has resulted in a wide variety of health problems, including cancer – claims that both the American Cancer Society and the CDC have disagreed with. And in April, HHS and the US Environmental Protection Agency announced that they would study the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water – a review centered around a government study from last year concluding that higher levels of fluoride are linked to lowered IQ in children. In the new modeling study, researchers found that only about 1.5% of US children in 2016 had exposure to this excess level of fluoride – considered to be above 1.5 milligrams per liter – that posed risk for fluorosis, a condition that leaves streaks or spots on teeth, or other harms. Meanwhile, about 40% of US children had access to optimal fluoride levels that effectively prevent tooth decay – between 0.6 and 1.5 milligrams per liter – while about 46% had access to even lower levels. The authors of the new study did not assess the neurocognitive effects of fluoride because 'current federal guidance does not find an association' at the levels used in public drinking water. They found that removing fluoride would only help prevent about 200,000 cases of fluorosis over five years. Tooth decay can mean a lot of things, Simon said, but their model was picking up cases that would likely need at least a filling along with severe cavities that could turn into a root canal or a tooth extraction – the costs of which would be borne by families, insurers and the government. 'Talking about money, which is really important, is only one way to measure that cost,' Simon said. 'It's also a cost in terms of children being in pain, children not being able to eat, children missing school or not being able to pay attention in school because their teeth hurt, parents missing work, children losing teeth that are supposed to stay with them for their entire lives, and those children growing into older adults who are more likely to be missing teeth with all of the health consequences that entails.' Forecasts in the new modeling study mirror real-life impacts that were measured in other parts of the world after fluoride was removed from drinking water. Calgary, Alberta, stopped putting fluoride in its water in 2011, and a study found that children there had more cavities than those in cities that kept fluoride. Calgary will resume fluoridation this year. Simon worries the effects in the US might be even greater because of health inequities that are especially pronounced in the dental care system. 'We've had fluoridated water for so long and it's worked so well that we've stopped appreciating the amazing things it's done,' she said. 'When something has been a success story for 80 years … you don't know which kid never got a cavity because they were exposed to fluoride, and we don't know which older adults aren't wearing dentures because of that.'
Time of India
2 days ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Massive Saharan dust crosses Atlantic, reaches Texas: what it means for air quality, health, and hurricanes
Saharan dust is expected to reach southern Texas by May 30, 2025, causing hazy skies and potential respiratory issues, especially in eastern regions from Houston to Dallas. While impacting air quality with elevated particulate matter, this dust also suppresses hurricane formation due to its dry air and wind shear. The dust enhances sunsets and fertilizes ocean ecosystems. Saharan dust consists of fine mineral particles from the Sahara Desert, the largest hot desert. Trade winds carry these particles across the Atlantic, reaching the Caribbean, South America, and parts of North America, including Texas. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads How does Saharan dust travel to Texas? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Impact on air quality and health Benefits: suppression of hurricane formation Additional effects: Sunsets and ocean fertilization As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1, another atmospheric shift is on the horizon for Texas , this time in the form of Saharan dust drifting across the Atlantic Ocean. The plume is expected to reach the southern Texas coastline by Friday, May 30, bringing with it hazy skies and air pollutants to parts of the the heaviest concentrations are forecast for the southeastern US, areas in eastern Texas, particularly from Houston to Dallas, will also see dust-filled skies over the weekend. While the dust won't be as dense as in other regions, it may still affect visibility and can create trouble for respiratory dust consists of fine mineral particles lifted from the Sahara Desert, the world's largest hot desert. Prevailing trade winds transport these particles across the Atlantic Ocean, often reaching the Caribbean, South America, and parts of North America, including journey begins with strong winds and thunderstorms in the Sahara region, which lift dust particles into the atmosphere. These particles enter the Saharan Air Layer (SAL), a mass of dry, warm air that moves westward across the Atlantic Ocean. The SAL typically resides 5,000 to 20,000 feet above sea level and can transport dust thousands of trans-Atlantic journey of Saharan dust to Texas can take several days. The dust is carried by the trade winds, which are east-to-west prevailing winds in the Earth's equatorial region. Upon reaching the Gulf of Mexico, the dust can descend into the lower atmosphere, affecting air quality and visibility in coastal and inland areas of arrival of Saharan dust in Texas will make the skies hazy and reduce air quality. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classifies Saharan dust as a particle pollutant, which can pose health risks, particularly for individuals with respiratory conditions such as asthma or the dust event, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has forecasted elevated levels of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in several regions, including Houston, Austin, and San is not bad with the African dust, as it plays a role in suppressing hurricane development. The dry air and increased wind shear associated with the Saharan Air Layer can inhibit the formation and intensification of tropical cyclones. The dust particles absorb sunlight, warming the SAL and creating a temperature inversion that stabilizes the atmosphere, further reducing the likelihood of storm dust can enhance the colors of sunrises and sunsets, leading to vivid sky displays. Additionally, the dust contains nutrients like iron and phosphorus, which can fertilize ocean ecosystems, eventually supporting the growth of phytoplankton and marine food chains.
