Current Events in April 2017

Usually, it's a child’s interest in a particular sport that determines whether or not he or she plays it. But some aspiring athletes may be kept off the field, court, or diamond if their parents fear that they will suffer a concussion, a new survey finds.

Concussion concerns loom large enough for 16% of parents to rule out sports for their kids altogether, according to a poll commissioned by the American Osteopathic Association. One-third of respondents (33%) said their decision on whether or not to allow their kids to play sports would “depend on the sport.”

But avoiding sports altogether isn't the only way to reduce the risk for concussion, says Dr. Dave Baron, an osteopathic psychiatrist and director of the Global Center for Exercise, Psychiatry and Sport at the University of Southern California.

Seek out safe programs

Parents can preserve their peace of mind while still allowing their children to reap the socio-emotional benefits of sports by finding programs that take certain safety precautions.

Instead of focusing on the risk for concussion, parents should “focus on getting involved with programs that take safety seriously, have well-trained coaches, and provide properly fitting safety gear like helmets,” says Baron.

He also recommends seeking out programs that limit full-contact practices and teach good sportsmanship to minimize on-field aggression.

Strike a balance

Dr. Joelle Rehberg, medical director of the athletic training education program at William Paterson University, also encourages parents to allow children to play sports but advises balance for student athletes.

"Kids are in a critical period for physical, emotional and cognitive development,” said Rehberg. “They need time to recover between games and practices, as well as time for family and academics.”

“If they were allowed that, I think we'd see them become more resilient to the hazards of sports and we would see fewer injuries in general,” she added.

Treating concussion

Sports do carry the risk for concussion. In fact, the likelihood of suffering a concussion while playing a contact sport is estimated to be as high as 19% per year of play.

If concussion is suspected, Dr. Rehberg has the following advice for parents and coaches:

• Have the child evaluated by a medical professional.
• Allow symptoms to subside completely before resuming full practice and competition. Sometimes, just a few days of inactivity is all that’s needed.
• Let them eat, drink, and rest.
• Keep the house quiet and the lights dim.
• Once they seem back to normal, give them another 24-48 hours before resuming their normal day-to-day activities.

One of the most complained about subjects on consumers’ minds lately has been student loans. Reports show that complaints made to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) increased by 429% year-over-year from December 2016 to February 2017, the most of any product or service.

However, prospective students in New York may have less to complain about in the future. With the passing of its 2018 State Budget by the Senate, the state will soon become the first to offer free tuition at both two- and four-year public colleges and universities to lower and middle income families.

The program, which was proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this year, will affect approximately 940,000 middle-class families and individuals, who will have the option of attending any of the 64 CUNY or SUNY colleges free of charge.

“With this Budget, New York is once again leading the nation and showing what responsible government can achieve. The result is a Budget that advances the core progressive principles that built New York: investing in the middle class, strengthening the economy and creating opportunity for all,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Who can apply?

The free tuition program, called the “Excelsior Scholarship” program, will initially cover students starting school this fall whose families make under $100,000 per year. However, that threshold will increase in subsequent years to $110,000 in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019.

Applicable students must also be enrolled full-time at their public college or university of choice and average 30 credits each year, including summer and winter classes. An impetus has also been put on grades under the program, as students must maintain a passing grade point average to be eligible for free tuition.

Additionally, students are required to live and work in New York for the same number of years after graduating school that they received the scholarship. So, those who attend a four-year college will have to live and work in the state for four years after they’ve received their diploma.

Covering costs

So, how exactly will the plan work? Basically, the state has calculated that tuition at CUNY and SUNY schools comes out to approximately $6,470 per year. When combined with room and board and other associated fees, that number comes out to just under $25,000 annually.

The budget language indicates that around $5,500 of this total cost will be covered by current tuition assistance programs, and that the remaining amount will be covered by the state and reimbursed to the public colleges and universities. Officials peg the cost of the program at $163 million per year once it is fully implemented.

Facing opposition

However, opponents of the plan have stated that the real cost will be much more than Cuomo and his supporters predict, especially for students who don’t meet the program requirements. Assemblyman James Skoufis points to parameters within the state budget that allow SUNY Board of Trustees the option of increasing tuition by $200 per year over the next three years for some students.

“It’s shocking to me how the governor can, out of one side of his mouth, propose free tuition for a small group of select students while out of the other side of his mouth, advocate for tuition hikes on a dramatically larger set of students,” he said.

However, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi fired back at Skoufis over the comments. “If Skoufis thinks 80% of all New York families is too few students, he should go back to school himself and take a remedial math course,” he said.

More information on the Excelsior Scholarship and the state’s budget can be found here.

When United Airlines forcibly removed a paying customer from its Chicago to Louisville flight Sunday, to make room for a United crew member, it set off a firestorm on social media.

There are no fewer than 10 videos of the encounter on YouTube, and the airline is in full damage control mode.

But here's a larger question: have airlines now lost their ability to involuntarily bump passengers from an oversold flight?

After all, consumers now know that if they don't want to be removed from a flight, all they have to do is refuse to budge and go limp, daring security personnel to drag them down the aisle as dozens of smartphones capture the video. What airline wants that?

Seth Kaplan, managing partner at Airline Weekly, says Sunday's PR disaster probably won't change the balance of power between airline and passenger, at least not that much.

Bumps usually happen in the gate area

"What almost never happens, but happened here, is the guy was already on board and in a seat," Kaplan told ConsumerAffairs. "If a passenger is involuntarily bumped, it's going to almost always happen in the gate area."

Kaplan says the United incident is unlikely to set a precedent because the way it happened is rare. He also says it is important to airlines that they retain the ability to oversell flights, then involuntarily bump passengers if there are not enough volunteers to wait for a later flight. It's just the way the system works.

Not all airlines overbook

"Their goal is to have a full flight, and because some people don't show up for flights, they overbook," Kaplan said. "But there are airlines that don't do it. JetBlue doesn't overbook its flights."

The lesson for airlines, he says, is to give a little more thought to how they handle a similar situation. It might actually have been cheaper in the long run for United to lease another aircraft to fly the single United crew member to Louisville.

"There are things in the world that are unavoidable," Kaplan said. "This was not one of them."

You could think of modern retailing as a lifeboat that is taking on water. Every now and then, one passenger jumps (or is pushed) overboard and the boat rides a little higher in the water. For a little while. 

hhgregg is the latest to take the plunge, joining Radio Shack and countless others in the murky depths. Best Buy, J.C. Penney, and others may be feeling a little more buoyant today, but it's not likely to be very long before that terrible sinking feeling returns.

J.C. Penney recently started selling appliances, so it may see some benefit from hhgregg's demise. And with hhgregg overboard, Best Buy solidifies its position as the last-standing big electronics retailer, at least for now.

hhgregg filed for bankruptcy last month while it tried to find a buyer, but after meeting with more than 50 private equity firms and other potential saviors, it was obvious that there would be no lifeline, so the electronics and appliance retailer began jettisoning its inventory over the weekend. 

It expects to close all 220 stores by the end of May, displacing about 5,000 employees.

The bubble burst

You can blame all of this on Amazon and other online retailers, but analysts say there's another factor at play as well -- a retail bubble. America is simply "over-stored," as one observer put it recently.

Urban Outfitters CEO Richard Hayne said much the same in a recent Indianapolis Business Journal report, saying big malls added way too many stores in recent years -- many of them selling the same things.

“This created a bubble, and like housing, that bubble has now burst,” he said. “We are seeing the results: Doors shuttering and rents retreating. This trend will continue for the foreseeable future and may even accelerate."

Shopping malls already have hundreds of slots to fill, and the situation is likely to get worse, especially as "anchor" retailers like Sears and Macy's continue to close stores, or even sink from sight.

It's not doing much for job growth either. The Labor Depmartment reported Friday that retailers cut around 30,000 positions in March, the worst two-month showing since 2009.

Dog bites man isn't usually news, but it's happening so often lately that it's becoming newsworthy. Dog bites were up 18 percent last year, according to an insurance industry group, with children often being the victims.

In fact, says the Insurance Information Institute, dog bite claims accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners' liability claims in 2016, totaling more than $600 million. 

Costs are up not only because of an increase in dog bites but also because of rising medical costs and larger awards that go to victims who go to court.

In many cases, however, the "victim" of a dog bite actually bears much of the blame. Children, who account for more than half of the injuries, often are not properly trained by their parents on how to approach a dog.

“Children just go up, they see a cute dog, and they just start trying to pet it,” said III vice president Loretta Worters, according to a Bloomberg report. Any dog, no matter how well trained, may bite if it is startled or frightened, experts say. 

Staying out of trouble

The III offers some tips on keeping your dog -- and you -- out of trouble.

Less formal advice comes from a veteran Southern California dog trainer: "Keep your hands to yourself. Americans are so hand-sy, they are always reaching out to dogs, which is the worst thing to do with any dog you don't know."

The old adage to "let sleeping dogs lie" applies to all dogs, this trainer said. "If you see a friendly looking dog, smile at it and go about your business."

Convincing consumers to get their vaccinations has been more difficult in recent years. Reports suggest that fewer people are receiving their flu shots, and some researchers point to recent resurgences of diseases like the measles as proof that other vaccinations are going by the wayside.

But would consumers change their ways if vaccines were more effective and protected against more diseases? If so, then there may be good news to report in the near future. Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine recently purified a protein that they say helps improve vaccines’ effectiveness and may protect against more serious diseases like cancer.

"This study has wide implications as it could not only be used to help the body identify and fight off bacterial infections, but it could also potentially help the body use its own machinery to fight off other diseases like cancer, HIV, and influenza before they have a chance to establish within the body," said corresponding author Dr. Lee Wetzler.

Creating better vaccines

The protein in question, called PorB, is found on the exterior of certain bacteria and is unique because it provides two types of protections. The study authors explain that usually vaccines work by either increasing the body’s antibody production or stimulating T cells to kill foreign contaminants. PorB, they say, does both.

In the team’s study, the researchers analyzed two experimental models that were given similar vaccinations. One model was given a mix of the vaccination with PorB, while the other received a pure vaccination without PorB.

The researchers found that the mixed vaccination stimulated a greater response than the pure vaccine, as evidenced by the increased number of activated cells and the greater production of cytotoxic T cells. The researchers say that this finding increases understanding of how substances added to vaccines affect immune responses, and it may represent the first step in a new way of crafting vaccines.

"The antigen formulation with PorB triggers a sequence of cellular events at the periphery and in lymphoid tissue that are critical for the establishment of protection to a broad array of infectious diseases, and maybe for other diseases like cancer," said Wetzler.

The full study has been published in Scientific Reports.

Travel site TripAdvisor.com has named what it considers the 10 best airlines in the world. Unless you do a lot of international travel, you might not get to enjoy most of them.

Coming out on top is Emirates, based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It's followed by Singapore Airlines, and then Brazil's Azul.

It's only in the fourth spot that a U.S.-based airline -- JetBlue -- makes an appearance. It's followed by Air New Zealand, Korean Air, Japan Airlines, and Thailand-based Thai Smile at number eight.

Alaska Airlines, the only other U.S.-based carrier to earn a spot on the list, is ninth and Garuda Indonesia rounds out the top 10.

Some airlines investing in improved service

"The airline industry is investing billions of dollars in new aircraft and service enhancements to differentiate the flying experience and these awards recognize the carriers offering the very best experiences and value to the traveling public," said Bryan Saltzburg, Senior Vice President and General Manager for TripAdvisor Flights.

In addition to the top 10 list, TripAdvisor rated airlines in different categories of service, such as first class, business class, premium economy and economy. The awards were based on an algorithm that analyzed airline reviews and ratings submitted by travelers worldwide over the last year.

Besides being named number one overall, Emirates took honors for Best First Class and Best Economy Class.

"The fact that the awards are a result of unbiased reviews and feedback speaks to our commitment to deliver a superior travel experience for our customers," said Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airlines.

Russia's Aeroflot was awarded Best Business Class and Air New Zealand was named Best Premium Economy Class.

Special category for U.S. carriers

Since U.S. carriers were not overly represented on the list, TripAdvisor created a category for North American airlines. It named Delta the top major airline in the U.S.

When it comes to mid-size and low-cost North American carriers, it breaks down this way:

1. JetBlue
2. Alaska Airlines
3. Southwest
4. Virgin America
5. Westjet (Canada)

Delta had a problem getting back on schedule over the weekend, but United may have a bigger problem -- a widely viewed video that shows a passenger being dragged off an overbooked flight by security guards.

The incident happened at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on a flight bound for Louisville, Ky. The flight was overbooked and when the airline was unable to find enough volunteers to give up their seats, it began ordering selected passengers off the plane.

One man refused to leave, saying he was a doctor and had to be at work at a hospital the next morning. Security personnel then boarded the flight and removed the man forcibly, dragging him down the aisle as other passengers screamed at them to stop.

The passenger, bleeding and disoriented, was eventually allowed back onto the airplane, which finally left the gate about two hours behind schedule.

Sorry about that ...

In a statement, United apologized for the overbooking but not for ripping the passenger from his seat, roughing him up, and dragging him down the aisle

"Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked. After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate. We apologize for the overbook situation. Further details on the removed customer should be directed to authorities," United said.

Numerous passengers posted videos of the incident on Twitter and a storm of angry comments erupted after the videos went viral.

The incident follows one a few weeks ago in which two teenagers wearing leggings were denied board by United. A similar tweetstorm erupted even though it turned out the teens were flying on employee passes, which require more formal dress and specifically prohibit leggings.

Fresh Express is recalling a limited number of cases of Organic Marketside Spring Mix.

Extraneous animal matter -- a decomposing bat -- was allegedly found in a single container of the salad at a Walmart store in the Southeastern U.S.

The following product is being recalled:

The best-if-used-by date is located on the front label, and the UPC code may be found on the bottom of the container.

What to do

Consumers who purchased the recalled product should not consume it, but discard it or return it for a full refund to the store where purchased.

Consumers with questions may call the Fresh Express consumer response center toll-free at (800) 242-5472 from 8 a.m. -- 7 p.m. (ET).

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling 30 model year 2016-2017 Ram 1500 trucks.

The differential pin retaining screw may come loose during driving, potentially causing the differential to break or lock up.

A broken or locked up differential may result in a loss of motive power and possibly a loss of vehicle control. Either scenario increases the risk of a crash.

What to do

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the differential retaining pin, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 7, 2017.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is T20

American Honda Motor Co. is recalling 37,421 model year 2003 Accord Coupes equipped with a four-cylinder engine.

If the passenger front airbag module has been replaced, such as after a crash necessitating airbag deployment, the replacement airbag module may include a Takata airbag inflator.

These inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to lower absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.

An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

What to do

Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicle and replace any Takata inflator used in the passenger front airbag module, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 1, 2017.

Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is KF0.

BMW of North America is recalling 16,883 model year 2016-2017 MINI Cooper Clubman, Cooper S Clubman and JCW Clubman vehicles.

When the recalled vehicles are braking and the turn signals are on, the inner, bumper-mounted, brake light will go out.

As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

If the brake light does not illuminate when a turn signal is activated, other drivers may be confused, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

MINI will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the vehicle to correct the brake lighting, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 22, 2017.

Owners may contact MINI customer service at 1-866-825-1525.

Google built its empire around keywords and made much of its ability to sort through gazillions of files without any boring old human editors, but it's now discovering the importance of those pesky things called facts. 

The problem, as seen in the recent election campaign, is that just about anybody can write just about anything and, if it contains the right keywords in the right structure, earn a place in Google's search results and even in its Google News feed.

Embarrassed by the sheer tonnage of baloney in its feed, Google has rediscovered fact-checking and is now rolling out a Fact Check tag in Google News search results.

"When you conduct a search on Google that returns an authoritative result containing fact checks for one or more public claims, you will see that information clearly on the search results page," said Cong Yu, a Google research scientist and Justin Kosslyn, product manager at Jigsaw. "The snippet will display information on the claim, who made the claim, and the fact check of that particular claim."

Alternative facts?

Not every story will be fact-checked, and there may even be cases where there are what might be called "alternative facts" -- different stories reporting on a given topic or event from different points of view.

"There may be search result pages where different publishers checked the same claim and reached different conclusions. These fact checks are not Google’s and are presented so people can make more informed judgements," Yu and Kosslyn said in a joint blog posting.

Jigsaw helped Google develop a fact-check tagging system. More than 115 organizations participated.

Facts and "true facts"

One thing that often sets off consumers who are on the prowl for what they consider "biased" news is a public statement by, say, a political figure that cites supposed facts that may or may not be correct.

News organizations seldom have the time or resources to fact-check every statement that comes out of a politician's mouth but often consider they have done their job, at least for the moment, if they quote the statement accurately and attribute it to the person who made it.

For example, a news report might say: "The governor said that he had never met with the convicted contractor." Whether the governor is being truthful may not be determined until later, leaving the careful reader to hold their judgment in abeyance pending further investigations.

Google's new system enables publishers to fill out a form that basically says where they got and verified the information. This won't tell us whether the governor was lying, but it will at least make it possible to know that he made the statement in question. Sometimes that's as good as it gets. 

Cancer of any form can be devastating, and unfortunately some forms of treatment can take their toll too.

One example can be seen in men who go through external beam radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer. Side effects vary for each person, but many report issues such as frequent, difficult, and painful urination, abdominal cramping, sexual dysfunction, and greater overall fatigue.

However, a new study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that yoga can help alleviate some of these symptoms.

The researchers began their study by splitting up two groups of men who underwent 6-9 weeks of external beam radiation therapy. During that period, one group participated in yoga classes twice a week and the other served as the control group.

Each yoga class lasted for 75 minutes, with participants taking part in a variety of breathing exercises, centering techniques, and positions meant to encourage flexibility and strength. During the trial period, every participant was asked to report their level of fatigue and how it affected their daily life. Logs of these reports were kept and repeated throughout the study period.

Improved health outcomes

By the end of the study, the researchers were surprised to find that those who participated in yoga classes were less fatigued than their counterparts. Other measures, such as urinary function, also improved in this group.

"Levels of patient-reported fatigue are expected to increase by around the fourth or fifth week of a typical treatment course, but that did not happen in the yoga group. Both the severity of the fatigue as well as the patients' ability to go about their normal lives appeared to be positively impacted in the yoga group," said principal investigator Dr. Neha Vapiwala.

"Yoga is known to strengthen pelvic floor muscles, which is one of several postulated theories that may explain why this group did not demonstrate declining scores, as seen in the control group. That may also explain the yoga patients' improved urinary function scores, another finding of this trial."

In addition to urinary function and fatigue improvements, the researchers found that the yoga classes helped participants overcome sexual dysfunction symptoms associated with radiation therapy. Participant who practiced yoga also reported higher levels of emotional well-being than the control group.

The full study has been published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology.

For around five years now, consumers have been able to start a YouTube channel and automatically enroll in the site’s partner program. Basically, it’s the avenue that content creators go down to monetize their videos by adding advertisements, paid subscriptions, and merchandise.

The wide availability of the program is at least partly responsible for YouTube’s success as the largest video platform, as consumers have flocked to the site to share their videos in the hopes of going viral. But now, it looks like that’s all about to change.

In an announcement made Thursday, YouTube stated that it will be imposing restrictions on its partner program. Going forward, video makers will have to accrue 10,000 lifetime views on their channel before they have the option to monetize their videos. YouTube said the change should help crack down on copycat creators – those who copy videos from other sources and put them on their channel – and ensure that advertisements don’t appear on questionable content.

“This new threshold gives us enough information to determine the validity of a channel. It also allows us to confirm if a channel is following our community guidelines and advertiser policies. By keeping the threshold to 10k views, we also ensure that there will be minimal impact on our aspiring creators. And, of course, any revenue earned on channels with under 10k views up until today will not be impacted,” the announcement reads.

Misplaced ads

The policy change couldn’t come any sooner for companies who advertise on the site. At the end of March, marketers in the UK were outraged that their advertisements were appearing on extremist videos. YouTube quickly apologized for the “number of cases where brands’ ads appeared on content that was not aligned with their values.”

In a company blog post, Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler expressed regret over the misplaced ads. “We know that this is unacceptable to the advertisers and agencies who put their trust in us,” he said, adding that the companies would be working to take “a tougher stance on hateful, offensive and derogatory content.”

That very well may be what the new 10,000 view limit achieves. The new policy states that a review of a creator’s channel will be initiated after they hit the requisite number of lifetime views on their channel. If the content is original and doesn’t violate the rules, then the creator will be allowed to enroll in the partnership program.

However, if the channel blatantly copies content from other sources or is found to have activity that goes against the site’s policies (i.e. racist or derogatory videos) then the channel may be terminated. Users can check the community guidelines for more information here.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has announced that, by the end of 2018, all of its chickens will be raised without the use of antibiotics medically important in human medicine.

That qualifier is important, drawing a distinction between drugs used to treat animals and those that treat humans. Still, it addresses a major consumer among health policymakers.

The Antimicrobial Resistance Learning Site at Michigan State University points out that many antibiotics are used both on animals and humans, and when it happens, it can hurt efficacy. For example, eating a lot of chicken or beef treated with human antibiotics might make that same drug less effective when it is administered to the person to treat an infection.

Complex change

"Making this change was complex and took a lot of planning,” said Kevin Hochman, president and chief concept officer for KFC U.S. It required close collaboration with more than 2,000 farms, most of them family-owned and managed, in more than a dozen U.S. states where they raise our chickens."

Both environmental and public health groups have long advocated eliminating antibiotics used by humans from the food chain. Lena Brook, food policy advocate at the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) calls the KFC move “a game-changer” for the fast food industry's relationship with public health.

"The market is responding to consumer demand for better meat,” Brook said. “This commitment from the nation's most iconic fast food chicken chain will have a major impact on the way the birds are raised in the U.S. and in the fight against the growing epidemic of drug-resistant infections."

Sending ripples through the industry

In fact, when a fast food chain operating on a massive scale makes a decision like this, it has a way of sending ripples throughout the chicken industry. Last year, when McDonald's and several other large enterprises pledged to move to cage-free eggs, egg producers had to begin major changes to meet the anticipated demand.

Food sourcing has become a major issue for restaurants because it has become a big issue for consumers. As we reported last year, small companies taking a holistic approach to food production have begun to shake up the industry, and the large players have been forced to react.

In addition to its announcement about antibiotics, KFC pledged that by the end of next year, artificial colors and flavor will be gone from all core products. As of today, the company says all chicken, and most of its menu, is free of food dyes.

The tendency of young children to touch everything has been known to get them into trouble, particularly in stores filled with breakable items. But could children’s habit of touching everything also pose a health risk?

New research suggests the answer may be yes. In a new study, researchers from Cincinatti Children's Hospital Medical Center and San Diego State University found that kids are exposed to nicotine on their hands just from coming into contact with items or surfaces contaminated with cigarette smoke residue.

The study is the first to show that children’s hands can accumulate high levels of nicotine even when parents aren’t lighting up around them, said co-investigator Dr. Melinda Mahabee-Gittens.

Contamination from touching surfaces

The study involved 25 children who ended up in the hospital for reasons believed to be related to secondhand smoke exposure. Researchers found that all 25 children “had detectable nicotine levels on their hands.” All of the kids monitored in the study had parents who were smokers.

"Parents may think that not smoking around their child is enough, but this is not the case,” said Mahabee-Gittens, a physician in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

“These findings emphasize that the only safe way to protect children from smoke exposure is to quit smoking and ban smoking in the home,” she added.

Potential health problems

In addition to finding a “significant” amount of nicotine on kids’ hands, the research team found that all but one child tested positive for cotinine (an alkaloid found in tobacco) in their saliva.

Exposure to these contaminants can lead to health problems like ear infections and asthma attacks in children and infants, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

To further explore how much secondhand or thirdhand smoke contributes to children’s overall exposure to tobacco, researchers are following up the pilot study with an analysis of data collected from more than 700 additional children.

The full study is published in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control.

Millions of people have diabetes and almost all of them first had a condition known as pre-diabetes.

Now, federal medical researchers have discovered a simple tool to alert doctors that a patient is at risk for pre-diabetes and on the path to the full disease.

The tool is simple and costs nothing. A patient is administered an oral glucose tolerance test and the time it takes to reach maximum sugar level is recorded. Those who take longer to reach that maximum threshold are at greater risk of pre-diabetes, the researchers found.

“Our research may help clinicians and public health officials guide patients to better and more cost-effective decisions about risk for pre-diabetes” said Stephanie Chung, M.B.B.S., the study’s first author and an assistant clinical investigator at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The implications

The implications are fairly clear. By giving the glucose test and noting the time to reach maximum levels, doctors can get a heads-up that the patient is at risk for developing pre-diabetes, placing them at even greater risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

Simply put, having pre-diabetes means your blood sugar level is higher than normal but not yet high enough to be type-2 diabetes. It's not a given that pre-diabetes turns into full-blown type-2 diabetes, but it happens a lot.

However, with significant lifestyle changes – eating a nutritious diet and getting plenty of exercise – a patient can return his or her blood glucose levels to normal. In fact, there have been cases where people with type-2 diabetes have actually reversed the disease with radical lifestyle changes.

Early damage

However, the Mayo Clinic warns that if you have developed pre-diabetes, you may already be suffering the long-term damage of diabetes.

Unfortunately, pre-diabetes has no obvious symptoms. However, Mayo Clinic doctors say subtle signs include darkening skin in certain parts of the body. You may be at risk for pre-diabetes if you are overweight, eat an unhealthy diet, and get little exercise.

Type-2 diabetes is a serious condition. It's triggered when your body starts having trouble using insulin, which transports glucose into cells. When that happens you are at risk of building up too much glucose in your blood.