Eden Sawczenzko, diagnosed with a mental condition, autism, has never held hands with another child nor hugged other people. Today, the child is remarkably improved after her sessions with the child-friendly robot invented by researchers in London.

Kaspar is a human-looking robot created as the size of a child. It is designed to help autistic children interact socially. Once a week, Kaspar is brought to a pre-school for autistic children where the little girl Sawczenko goes it Stevenage, north of London.

Researchers allow the children to play with the robot. They are supervised by a scientist who monitors and controls the robot. The children, with mild to severe autism, are given 10 minutes each to interact with the remote-controlled robot.

Sawczenko has started playing with Kaspar this year. After several 10-minute sessions with Kaspar, the little girl now hugs everyone. It was found that her social skills have remarkably improved.

Kaspar teaches children about emotions, as well as physical contact. It is programmed to do interactive human actions such as blink, frown, laugh, and smile. He can also wave his arms.

According to the researchers, Kaspar has several versions. These include a pro-version, which is advanced enough for it to be able to play Nintendo Wii.

The shaggy-haired robot wears polo and shorts, striped red socks, and a baseball cap. A few wires can be observed protruding over his neck.

However, the robot is still in its experimental stage. Researchers are hoping they can generate several of him one of these days. So far, Kaspar has already helped 300 autistic children. He is available at the University of Hertfordshire at an estimated amount of $2,118 or $1,300 pounds.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday that it wants to pull 500 unauthorized prescription drugs for allergy, cold, and cough symptoms from the market because of the health risks they might pose to the public.

A list of 500 medications was released by the agency. The medications can only be obtained with a doctor’s prescription. However, the FDA has told drug companies to discontinue manufacturing those medications within 90 days and end shipping the items within 180 days.

Deborah Autor, FDA director of the Office of Compliance, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that they do not know what those drugs are made of or how they are created. Also, they do not know if those medications will work properly.

She said close to if not all of the drugs are manufactured in United States. She said FDA believes many doctors continue to prescribe those medications. Some are even listed in desk reference books or advertised in journals.

Some of those drugs commonly used or sold in the market include Organidin, Cardec and Lodrane 24D. Another drug is called Pedia-Hist. The medication is not yet cleared by FDA, but it is already given to children as little as one year old.

Doctor Charlie Lee said the medications are chiefly a combination of cold and cough formulas. They have reported complications that include drowsiness, irritability and sedation.

FDA noted that the reports were still limited. It is not yet sure as to how many of the drugs were available on the market. Also, the number of people using the medication is still unknown mainly because most buy medications from the drugstore to treat the said symptoms.

A recent research study found that poor diagnosis and ineffective treatment of diabetes may place the lives of many people at greater risk for untimely death.

A team of U.S. researchers conducted a study on the diagnosis, treatment and management of diabetes in several countries including Thailand, Iran, England, Iran, Scotland, Mexico and United States.

The study showed that over 16 million adults or almost 90 percent of diabetics aged 35 and older in United States have improper management of blood sugar levels, blood pressure, as well as cholesterol levels.

The researchers from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle also found that 99 percent of diabetic people in Mexico live with this scenario.

Other findings in the study include the low percentage rate of diabetes patients who attained the treatment goals of the International Diabetes Federation for blood glucose, serum cholesterol and blood pressure. Only 1 to 12 percent achieved it.

Diagnosis rates for diabetes were also higher in women than men. Once diagnosed with the condition, most patients do not receive further treatment for other risk factors like cardiovascular diseases that could also be harmful to their health.

It was also shown that people with medical insurances are twice likely to receive proper diagnosis and treatment for diabetes as those people without insurance.

Dr. Stephen Lim, co-author of the study and an associate professor of global health said during an IHME news release that there are too many people who are not properly diagnosed with diabetes, including other related risk factors on the cardiovascular system.

If diagnosed, patients are not also being treated properly. The professor said that it is a huge neglected chance to decrease the cases of diabetes in both poor and rich countries.

Overweight individuals who are not considered obese according to previous Food and Drug Administration standards now qualify to be candidates for Lap Band Surgery as an effective weight loss technique thanks to the FDA’s recent lowering of weight requirements for Lap Band patients. In mid-February, the FDA relaxed its weight requirements for using Allergan’s Lap-Band stomach restriction device used in the popular weight loss surgery. The new ruling lowers the required body mass index, or BMI of the patient from 40 with no obesity-related health problems to 35, and to a BMI of 30 for those individuals with current health complications.

The FDA’s new ruling enables more than 26 million people struggling with weight issues in America to be able to consider having Lap Band Surgery, almost double the number of individuals that were previously eligible for this type of weight loss surgery. The advisory committee to the FDA in making its endorsement to widen the availability of the Lap-Band noted that the many benefits of the device were greater than the risks for patients who are on the fringe of obesity levels.

Under the old regulations, an obese man with a health condition such as diabetes, standing 5 feet 6 inches tall would have had to weigh at least 216 pounds in order to qualify for Lap-Band Surgery. Under the new FDA regulations, that same surgical candidate with the same medical condition could weigh as much as 30 pounds less, or 186 pounds, and still qualify to use Lap Band Surgery as his chosen weight loss method.

Allergan helped to win the new regulations by submitting a study which showed that Lap-Band Surgery patients lost an average of 18% of their body weight within a year of the surgery. Allergan has agreed to continue to follow these same patients in clinical studies for the next 5 years.

In recent years as diet drugs have gone out of favor and some have been pulled off the market for being dangerous, the Lap-Band, an inflatable silicone ring positioned on the stomach to help reduce food intake and make the patient feel fuller after consuming less calories, has increased in popularity for both its safety and effectiveness.

Public health officials said on Tuesday that they have identified Legionella bacteria in a source of water at the famed Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

The health officers discovered the bacteria in its investigation into the cause of a respiratory infection that had affected several people after a social event was held in the area earlier last month.

However, the LA County Department of Public Health said it was still uncertain if the bacteria had caused the outbreak of infection.

Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the director of the department, said in a written statement that they are still considering numerous possible causes of the illness.

The department of health said that around 200 people have reported being sick with chills, coughs, general malaise and fever since the last day of the DOMAINfest conference, which was culminated with a fundraiser.

To investigate the suspected outbreak, Public Health is working with other county health departments such as California Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A spokesperson for the department refused to give additional comments, yet it was not clear if any of the people who attended the event were admitted in the hospital.

According to a statement posted by the event organizers on their website, DOMAINfest had been helping with the health officers in the investigation.

However, Playboy Enterprises representatives had no immediate response on the discovery of the bacteria at the manor. But, a spokeswoman said that Playboy is also cooperating with the investigation.

Legionella bacteria can cause a severe infection called Legionnaires’ disease or a milder kind called Pontiac Fever. Around 8,000 to 18,000 people have been hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease each year in United States.

Although 30 percent of the Legionnaires’ disease cases can lead to death, most healthy people often recover with the help of antibiotic treatment.

Health officials announced on Monday that they are launching a cross-country alert for travellers who may have been exposed to measles after a contagious passenger passed through four major airports in the United States.

A confirmed case involves a 27-year-old woman, who did not receive immunization against the contagious disease, from New Mexico. Officials said she came from Europe, but was at airports in Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico and Virginia from Feb. 20 to Feb. 22.

Other measles cases have not yet emerged. However, health officials from all four states said it is still early since the incubation period of measles takes 10 to 14 days after exposure to the extremely contagious virus.

Measles is an airborne virus. It can spread from one person to another. It can also remain in the air up to two hours from the time an infected person coughed or sneezed.

Initially, the viral disease resembles a cough, but rashes will soon develop on the face and spread all over the person’s body. People infected with measles are highly infectious for days before and after the rashes appear.

State authorities are trying to get in touch with the passengers who were potentially exposed to the measles case with the help of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jeff Dimon, CDC spokesman said they are calling to ask if the passengers have already been immunized.

Dimon said they are trying to contact hundreds of passengers, which includes passengers seated in the first five rows nearest the confirmed case in one particular flight, and nearly every single traveler on the Southwest flights since they do not allocate seating.

Measles have been the leading cause of child mortality in emerging countries. However, it is rarely seen in United States where vaccination is compulsory for all children attending school.

There were more than 21,000 people affected with whooping cough last year, most of which were teens and children in the United States.

The total number of cases is the highest yet since 2005 and is among the worst years beyond half a century, U.S. health officials informed on Wednesday.

The health officials are truly baffled by the abrupt rise in cases, since whooping cough vaccines are very effective in children, and costs of vaccinating kids are reasonable.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease. It can also be lethal in rare cases, particularly with infants too young to be given the proper vaccination. The disease begins like a cold, but it can progress to severe coughing, which can last for several weeks.

Last year, the hardest-hit state appears to be California. Health officials in the state reported more than 8,300 cases, which includes 10 cases of infant deaths.

At least 26 deaths were reported nationwide, the CDC said at a vaccine advisory committee meeting on Wednesday. However, it is still a preliminary case count and it might end up being higher.

Health officials think that contagious teenagers are a dangerous threat to susceptible infants. Around 95 percent of children already have a minimum of three shots against the disease. However, the whooping cough vaccine for adults and adolescents was not approved until 2005. Thus, they have lower vaccination rates.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices suggest all adults who are around infants to get a whooping cough vaccine. The committee also voted on Wednesday to slightly modify the guidelines on vaccination to ascertain that all health care workers, including nurses, would get the vaccine against the disease.

Smoking on boardwalks, beaches, pedestrian plazas, parks and other public areas in New York City will be prohibited starting from the 23rd of May regardless of complaints about government’s interference in the private lives of people.

The legislation was signed on Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg following the city council’s vote 36 against 12 in approval of the smoking limitations that occurred earlier February. The new law widens the existing smoking ban currently in effect for the city bars and restaurants.

According to Bloomberg, American journalist Frederick Olmsted once said that public parks should be considered as the lungs of the city. It should be a place where individuals can evade noisy, polluted and overcrowded streets. Thus, it is important that public spaces are healthy places for people to unwind and enjoy the environment.

New York is joining San Francisco and Chicago to fight second-hand smoking in public places. Police officers will not implement the band. Instead, NYC’s parks department will be enforcing it by giving a warning prior to handing over a fine worth $50.

Other than the fight against smoking, Bloomberg also encouraged other healthy measures which include prohibiting trans-fats in chain restaurants. He also wants food restaurants to show calorie counts on their menus.

Bloomberg campaigns for food companies all over the country to lessen the amount of salt in their food products. He also asks for the government to restrict people using food stamps from buying sugary drinks.

Meanwhile, residents of New York can only smoke on parking lots, sidewalks, streets, and within their homes. However, most landlords do not permit smoking inside their apartments.

A division of Sanofi-Aventis group is teaming up with an international vaccine group to hasten the outcome of the recently launched experimentation for a dengue fever vaccine. Now, the clinical investigation is on its last stage of development.

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine business run by Sanofi-Aventis, is the largest vaccine company in the world. It is collaborating with the International Vaccine Institute, a Seoul-based organization established by the initiation of the United Nations Development Program.

Sanofi and the international vaccine group said on Monday that they want to increase the global awareness of dengue vaccinations. They want to put the dengue vaccination on a higher level of the world’s health agenda.

Dengue fever is a disease transmitted by a particular kind of mosquito. It is a threat to about half of the total world’s population. There are about 220 million individuals afflicted with the disease each year.

Two million of them progress to a severe degree of the disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever. Mostly, children coming from Asia and Latin experience this life-threatening complication.

Currently, dengue fever has no cure. No vaccines have yet been successfully formulated to help battle the disease. However, Sanofi has the most clinically advanced candidate for dengue fever vaccine around the world. It just entered the third phase of its clinical testing performed in Australia last November.

The drug maker from France had previously said that a dengue fever vaccine could possibly produce sales of more than $1 billion in a given year.

The launch of the Dengue Vaccine Initiative was announced last February 10 by the International Vaccine Institute, in partnership with Johns Hopkins University, Sabin Vaccine Institute and World Health Organization.

The administration of China instructs makers of TV shows and films to regulate the extent of smoking shown on-screen. This is an effort pushed by the government to control the use of tobacco in the country considered as one of the world’s biggest cigarette consumers.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television posted the announcement on their website last Tuesday. It directs producers to lessen the plots that involve tobacco or scenes that show someone smoking.

According to the given directives, they can use tobacco or depict scenes of people smoking only when needed such as for the purpose of art or character development.

Individuals under 18-years old are not allowed to be presented on screen while smoking or purchasing tobacco. In addition, other characters in the film or TV show are not allowed to smoke in public places or buildings where cigarettes are strictly prohibited.

Actors, directors, and producers are highly discouraged from using tobacco and other forms of smoke when creating films, TV ads and commercials. The government of China has put forth serious efforts to regulate and limit the use of cigarettes.

Over the past years, China had been controlling the use of tobacco in their country. They are banning advertisements on tobacco, as well as prohibiting cigarette companies from sponsoring major sporting events in the country.

In China, smoking adults make up 30 percent of the population. This means there are roughly 300 million people in the country who are smoking. Smoking is also a major contributor to the million deaths in China every year.