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Italian village offers $1 homes to Americans upset by US election results

An Italian village in Sardinia, Italy is offering one-euro homes to Americans seeking a new start following the results of the 2024 U.S election that saw Donald Trump being re-elected as president. Ollolai has long been trying to persuade outsiders to move in to revive the community after decades of depopulation. Now, it's selling dilapidated houses for as little as one euro — just over a US dollar or $AU1.60 — to entice Americans to move abroad. Following the November 5 outcome, they have launched a website aimed at potential American expats, offering cheap homes in hopes that those disappointed by the result and seeking a fresh start will snap up one of their empty properties. "Are you worned (sic) out by global politics? Looking to embrace a more balanced lifestyle while securing new opportunities?" the website read. "It's time to start building your European escape in the stunning paradise of Sardinia." Mayor Francesco Columbu told CNN that the website was specifically created to attract American voters in the wake of the presidential elections. The mayor loves the United States and is convinced Americans would be the best people to revive the community. "We just really want, and will focus on, Americans above all," he said. "We can't of course ban people from other countries to apply, but Americans will have a fast-track procedure. We are betting on them to help us revive the village, they are our winning card." The village is offering three tiers of accommodation: Free temporary homes to certain digital nomads, ($1.6) homes in need of renovations, and ready-to-occupy houses for prices up to $160,000. The mayor also set up a special team to guide interested buyers through every step of the process including finding contractors, builders and navigating required paperwork. "Of course, we can't specifically mention the name of one US president who just got elected, but we all know that he's the one from whom many Americans want to get away from now and leave the country," Columbo added. "We have specifically created this website now to meet US post-elections relocation needs. The first edition of our digital nomad scheme which launched last year was already solely for Americans." Photos and plans of available empty properties will soon be uploaded to the website. The website has since received nearly 38,000 requests for information on houses, with most of them coming from the United States In the past century, Ollolai's population has shrunk from 2,250 to 1,300 with only a handful of babies born each year. Over the last few years, this has dropped 1,150 residents. Image: Shutterstock

International Travel

Woman cured of Type 1 diabetes in life-changing clinical trial

Marlaina Goedel was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was just five-years-old, and not only was the disease controlling her, but it almost cost her life. "I've crashed my car into a brick building before having a diabetic attack while driving," Goedel recalled. Her condition was so extreme that she felt robbed of a normal childhood, telling the Daily Mail that she was in and out of hospital with life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis, which causes toxic chemicals to build up in the blood due to a lack of insulin. Now 30-years-old, the Illinois woman no longer needs daily insulin shots and can finally enjoy sugar again thanks to a pioneering stem cell therapy that has cured her of type 1 diabetes. Goedel was one of three Americans who have been cured of their type 1 diabetes thanks to the clinical trial involving an islet cell transplant. It is a one-off infusion that involved transplanting islet cells into her liver to help her body produce insulin on its own. After four weeks, she no longer needed to take insulin. "[My doctor] said, ‘Mark it on your calendar. Today is the day. Stop all insulin,'" Goedel said of the life-changing moment. "I just went quiet and finally said, ‘I’m here. I’m in shock. I’m going to need you to repeat that.’" The trial was being run at the University of Chicago Medicine Transplant Institute. While Islet cell transplants isn't a new procedure, the current anti-rejection medication used can be toxic to the transplanted cells, potentially making it less effective over time. The clinical trial that ran at the university tested out a new antibody called tegoprubart, which was given to Goedel and the two other patients. Tegoprubart is made from lab-made antibodies that trick the immune system into thinking the body made the cells on its own, preventing them from being rejected. The patients were then given islet cells from a deceased donor's pancreas, which were then infused into the patient's small blood vessels in their liver. Those cells then lodged into the blood vessels and started producing insulin. For Goedel the only side effect of the procedure was "feeling like I got punched in the ribs," with the procedure lasting just an hour. "The cure is out there," Goedel told the Daily Mail. With her new lease on life, Goedel plans to go back to school and go horse riding without worrying about suffering an attack and causing an accident. "It took a while to get used to saying, 'I am cured. I am diabetes free.' It's been very freeing," she said. "No one should have to live with this disease. I know that now more than ever." Images: Good Morning America/ UChicago Medicine

Caring

Mother helps raise over $1 million for her children ahead of her death

A single mother from America has left an enduring financial legacy to her two young children in the weeks before her untimely death. Erika Diarte-Carr, 30, started a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-erika-and-her-children-with-funeral-expenses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoFundMe</a> page after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in order to cover costs of her own funeral, as well as providing funds to raise her two kids, Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5. After setting the fundraising goal for $5,000 USD, generous members of her community spread the word of her selfless actions, with the fundraiser now reaching over $1.7 million USD and counting. Titled “Support Erika: A Mother planning her own funeral”, the page has garnered more than 38,000 individual donations. The page reads, “Dear family, friends and to all of those of you who may or may not know know me..." “My name is Erika Diarte-Carr. I am 30 years old and a single mother of two beautiful children. Jeremiah (7) and Aaliyah (5). ❤️ They are my whole life, light and soul. My children are my fight and what keep me going.” The mother then shared the tragic details of her cancer journey, as she recalled being diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer in May 2022 after presenting for “normal shoulder surgery”. “By that point, the damage had already been done. In that moment, mine and my kids’ entire lives had changed forever, as well as all of those around us,” she wrote. On top of her cancer diagnosis, Erika was hit with another blow in January 2024 as she was diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome, which resulted in rapid weight gain, Type 2 diabetes, and further debilitating symptoms the mother claimed had “taken so much away” from her family. The page was updated in mid-September upon advice Ms Diarte-Carr had just three months to live and that treatments would “no longer help”. The mother added to the GoFundMe page how the excess funds would be allocated, writing, “For anyone’s concern, all the funds that have exceeded my funeral costs goal will be now put into a trust fund for my babies that way I can leave behind something for them and I can still ensure they are going to be ok as they grow up." On October 4th, the mother thanked donors and announced she and her family were able to take one final trip together hoping to leave her kids with “memories that’ll last a lifetime”. Just days later, Erika's cousin shared a post to social media to announce that Erika had passed away on October 12th. “It is with a heavy heart that this is the final update I will be giving for my cousin Erika,” she wrote on Facebook. “She fought a long and hard battle. She was strong and held on as long as she could for her babies. I know she was so thankful for all of your support and love and prayers.” Image credits: GoFundMe

Caring

"World's biggest" amber nugget worth over $1 million used as doorstop for decades

An elderly woman in Romania has unknowingly used one of the largest known amber nuggets in the world - worth over €1 million ($1.6 million) - as her doorstop for decades. The woman found the stone in the bed of a stream in Colti, a village in the southeast Romania, and used it as her doorstop for years without realising its value. Members of her family also reported that thieves had once broken into her home, but only stole a few pieces of gold jewelry, missing the seemingly insignificant rock. “In their frantic search for valuables, they overlooked the real treasure that was there before their eyes,” they said. It wasn't until after the woman died in 1991 that a relative who inherited her home suspected the doorstop might be more than meets the eye - and he was right. When he sold the amber to the Romanian state, experts at the Museum of History in Krakow, Poland appraised the rock and found that the amber is likely between around 38 and 70 million years old. “Its discovery represents a great significance both at a scientific level and at a museum level,” Daniel Costache, director of the Provincial Museum of Buzau, told local news outlet El Pais. The expert also claimed that the amber is one of the largest pieces in the world and the largest of its kind weighing a hefty 3.5-kilograms. It has now been classified as a national treasure of Romania, and can be found in the Provincial Museum of Buzau, where it has been since 2022. Romania is one of the countries with significant deposits of amber, with Buzau County being one of the areas where you can find these beautiful stones in abundance. The protected area also contains the old Stramba amber mine, which was very productive during the first half of the 21st century, before it was shut down by the communist regime as it was considered unprofitable. Image: Buzău County Museum

Home & Garden

What is type 1.5 diabetes? It’s a bit like type 1 and a bit like type 2 – but it’s often misdiagnosed

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> While you’re likely familiar with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, you’ve probably heard less about type 1.5 diabetes. Also known as latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), type 1.5 diabetes has features of <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/69/10/2037/16062/Management-of-Latent-Autoimmune-Diabetes-in-Adults">both type 1 and type 2 diabetes</a>. More people became aware of this condition after <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004726/">Lance Bass</a>, best known for his role in the iconic American pop band NSYNC, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/pop-singer-lance-bass-type-1-5-diabetes-know-disease">recently revealed</a> he has it. So, what is type 1.5 diabetes? And how is it diagnosed and treated? <h2>There are several types of diabetes</h2> Diabetes mellitus is a group of conditions that arise when the levels of glucose (sugar) in our blood are higher than normal. There are actually <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/37/Supplement_1/S81/37753/Diagnosis-and-Classification-of-Diabetes-Mellitus">more than ten types</a> of diabetes, but the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)01301-6/fulltext">most common</a> are type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes is an <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/44/11/2589/138492/The-Management-of-Type-1-Diabetes-in-Adults-A">autoimmune condition</a> where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas that make the hormone insulin. This leads to very little or no insulin production. Insulin is important for moving glucose from the blood into our cells to be used for energy, which is why people with type 1 diabetes need <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6995794/">insulin medication daily</a>. Type 1 diabetes usually <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-024-03107-5">appears</a> in children or young adults. Type 2 diabetes is not an autoimmune condition. Rather, it happens when the body’s cells become resistant to insulin over time, and the pancreas is no longer able to make enough insulin to <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/47/Supplement_1/S20/153954/2-Diagnosis-and-Classification-of-Diabetes">overcome this resistance</a>. Unlike type 1 diabetes, people with type 2 diabetes still produce some insulin. Type 2 is more common in adults but is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871402121002733">increasingly</a> seen in children and young people. Management <a href="https://www.racgp.org.au/getattachment/41fee8dc-7f97-4f87-9d90-b7af337af778/Management-of-type-2-diabetes-A-handbook-for-general-practice.aspx">can include</a> behavioural changes such as nutrition and physical activity, as well as oral medications and insulin therapy. <h2>How does type 1.5 diabetes differ from types 1 and 2?</h2> Like type 1 diabetes, type 1.5 occurs when the immune system attacks the pancreas cells that make insulin. But people with type 1.5 often don’t need insulin <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/69/10/2037/16062/Management-of-Latent-Autoimmune-Diabetes-in-Adults">immediately</a> because their condition develops more slowly. Most people with type 1.5 diabetes will need to use insulin within <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5111528/">five years</a> of diagnosis, while those with type 1 typically require it from diagnosis. Type 1.5 diabetes is usually diagnosed in people <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/69/10/2037/16062/Management-of-Latent-Autoimmune-Diabetes-in-Adults">over 30</a>, likely due to the slow progressing nature of the condition. This is older than the typical age for type 1 diabetes but younger than the usual diagnosis age for type 2. Type 1.5 diabetes shares <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nrendo.2017.99">genetic and autoimmune risk factors</a> with type 1 diabetes such as specific gene variants. However, evidence has also shown it may be influenced by lifestyle factors such as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29589073/">obesity</a> and <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.00320/full">physical inactivity</a> which are more commonly associated with type 2 diabetes. <h2>What are the symptoms, and how is it treated?</h2> The symptoms of type 1.5 diabetes are highly variable between people. Some have no symptoms at all. But generally, people may experience the following <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557897/">symptoms</a>: <ul> <li>increased thirst</li> <li>frequent urination</li> <li>fatigue</li> <li>blurred vision</li> <li>unintentional weight loss.</li> </ul> Typically, type 1.5 diabetes is <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/69/10/2037/16062/Management-of-Latent-Autoimmune-Diabetes-in-Adults">initially treated</a> with oral medications to keep blood glucose levels in normal range. Depending on their glucose control and the medication they are using, people with type 1.5 diabetes may need to monitor their blood glucose levels regularly throughout the day. When average blood glucose levels increase beyond normal range even with oral medications, treatment may progress to insulin. However, there are <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.959011/full">no universally accepted</a> management or treatment strategies for type 1.5 diabetes. <h2>Type 1.5 diabetes is often misdiagnosed</h2> Lance Bass said he was initially diagnosed with <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/lance-bass-misdiagnosed-diabetes">type 2 diabetes</a>, but later learned he actually has type 1.5 diabetes. This is <a href="https://journals.lww.com/jaanp/abstract/2009/03000/latent_autoimmune_diabetes_of_adulthood__lada___an.4.aspx">not entirely uncommon</a>. Estimates suggest type 1.5 diabetes is misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1043276018301292">5–10% of the time</a>. There are a few possible reasons for this. First, accurately diagnosing type 1.5 diabetes, and distinguishing it from other types of diabetes, requires special <a href="https://journals.lww.com/jaanp/abstract/2009/03000/latent_autoimmune_diabetes_of_adulthood__lada___an.4.aspx">antibody tests</a> (a type of blood test) to detect autoimmune markers. Not all health-care professionals necessarily order these tests routinely, either due to cost concerns or because they may not consider them. Second, type 1.5 diabetes is commonly found in adults, so doctors might wrongly assume a person has developed type 2 diabetes, which is more common in this age group (whereas type 1 diabetes usually affects children and young adults). Third, people with <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/69/10/2037/16062/Management-of-Latent-Autoimmune-Diabetes-in-Adults">type 1.5 diabetes</a> often initially make enough insulin in the body to manage their blood glucose levels without needing to start insulin medication. This can make their condition appear like type 2 diabetes, where people also produce some insulin. Finally, because type 1.5 diabetes has <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557897/">symptoms</a> that are similar to type 2 diabetes, it may initially be treated as type 2. <h2>We’re still learning about type 1.5</h2> Compared with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, there has been much less research on how common type 1.5 diabetes is, especially in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1043276018301292">non-European populations</a>. In 2023, it was estimated type 1.5 diabetes represented <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37428296/">8.9%</a> of all diabetes cases, which is similar to type 1. However, we need more research to get accurate numbers. Overall, there has been a limited awareness of type 1.5 diabetes and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10683931/">unclear diagnostic criteria</a> which have slowed down our understanding of this condition. A misdiagnosis can be stressful and confusing. For people with type 1.5 diabetes, being misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes might mean they don’t get the insulin they need in a timely manner. This can lead to worsening health and a greater likelihood of complications down the road. Getting the right diagnosis helps people receive the most appropriate treatment, save money, and reduce <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/73/Supplement_1/55-OR/155112/55-OR-Diabetes-Distress-among-Persons-Living-with">diabetes distress</a>. If you’re experiencing symptoms you think may indicate diabetes, or feel unsure about a diagnosis you’ve already received, monitor your symptoms and chat with your doctor.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/237041/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-type-1-5-diabetes-its-a-bit-like-type-1-and-a-bit-like-type-2-but-its-often-misdiagnosed-237041">original article</a>.

Body

“Miracle”: 1-year-old baby survives two days beside highway during hurricane

A one-year-old baby has been found alive on the side of a highway after surviving two days of dangerous hurricane conditions between the Texas and Louisiana border in the US. A truck driver spotted the one-year-old on a major highway, just a few kilometres where the boy's four-year-old brother was tragically found dead in a lake. The one-year-old had to survive stormy weather as Hurricane Beryl inundated the area with heavy rain and high winds, but was relatively unscathed when he was found. The truck driver recalled the moment he found the child to local news station KPLC, saying, "There was a little boy sitting down in the embankment there." "As I approached him, he smiled at me and then he started crying and walked toward me. Once he walked toward me, I grabbed his hand and he stopped crying at that point." Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said the baby had a few insect bites, but otherwise seemed well. “This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway,” Guillory said while becoming emotional. “Thank God that trucker seen him. When you look at the video, here he was, you know, crawling toward the highway." “We look at this one-year-old as our miracle baby because he was still alive.” The children’s mother, 25-year-old Aaliyah Jack of Lake Charles, has been charged with failing to report a missing child, while the child's grandmother is fighting for custody of the infant. Image credits: News15

Caring

World No.1 golfer breaks silence after bizarre arrest

World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler has broken his silence after he was arrested and charged by police on Friday, ahead of the second round of the PGA Championships. Scheffler was detained by Louisville Metro police, after he drove onto a curb to try and get around a fatal accident that occurred in front of the Valhalla Golf Club. Earlier that morning, a man who was working for a vendor at the tournament, was hit and killed by a shuttle bus while attempting to cross the street near the golf club. The tragic incident caused the road to close in both directions, but Scheffler reportedly “refused to comply and accelerated forward” when Detective Bryan Gillis stopped the golfer to give instructions. The police report obtained by ESPN also said that the detective who stopped him “suffered pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee." Scheffler was charged with felony assault on a police officer, criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic and was released almost four hours later. He returned to the golf course and issued a statement on the incident before completing his second round. “This morning I was proceeding as directed by police officers,” Scheffler began. “It was a very chaotic situation, understandably considering the tragic accident that had occurred earlier and there was a big misunderstand of what I thought I was being asked to do. “I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. “I am hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today. “Of course, all of us involved in the tournament express our deepest sympathies to the family of the man passed away in the earlier accident this morning. It truly puts everything into perspective.” After completing the second round, he spoke further about the incident and said: “My head is still kind of spinning, I can’t really explain what happened this morning." He also recalled stretching and doing his warm-ups in the jail cell, in attempt to lower his heart rate. “I was never angry. I was just in shock, and I think my body was just -- I was shaking the whole time. I was shaking for like an hour. It was definitely a new feeling for me," he said. An officer even offered him a sandwich. “I was like, ‘Sure, I’ll take a sandwich’. I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. I mean, they were really kind. I’m grateful that we have such strong police, and they’re our protectors out there, and like I said, we just got into a chaotic situation this morning. That’s really all it was," he recalled. Scheffler’s lawyer Steve Romines said that there was a bit of confusion as the officer directing traffic didn’t appear to be part of the tournament traffic detail “and that’s where the miscommunication arose”. He also said that they will be pleading not guilty and told The Golf Channel that charges against Scheffler “will either be dropped or we will go to trial because Scottie didn’t do anything wrong. “We’re not interested in any sort of settlement negotiations or anything like that. It was just a big miscommunication.” Images: Twitter

Legal

1 in 4 adults think smacking is necessary to ‘properly raise’ kids. But attitudes are changing

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/divna-haslam-893417">Divna Haslam</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847">Queensland University of Technology</a> “Do you want a smack?!” This has been a common refrain from many parents across history. Right along with “just wait till your father gets home”. Somehow parents thought this threat of violence would magically improve their child’s behaviour. The United Nations <a href="https://www.right-to-education.org/sites/right-to-education.org/files/resource-attachments/CRC_1989.pdf">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> considers smacking and all types of physical punishment, however mild, a violation of child rights. It’s banned in <a href="https://endcorporalpunishment.org/countdown/">65 countries</a>. Yet it remains <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/resources/resource-sheets/physical-punishment-legislation#:%7E:text=Physical%20punishment%20by%20a%20parent%20towards%20a%20child%20remains%20lawful,'">legal</a> in Australia for parents to use “reasonable force” for discipline. Children are the only group of people it remains legal to hit. Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajs4.301">new research</a> found one in four Australians still think physical punishment is necessary to “properly raise” children. And half of parents (across all age groups) reported smacking their children. But attitudes are slowly changing, with newer generations of parents less likely to smack their kids than previous ones. <h2>What is physical punishment?</h2> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1njkrb">Physical</a> or “corporal” punishment is the use of physical force to cause pain, but not injury, to discipline a child for misbehaviour. It’s distinct from physical abuse which is more extreme and not used to correct behaviour. Physical punishment is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajs4.276#:%7E:text=Corporal%20punishment%20(CP)%20is%20the,and%20Christian%20missionaries%20during%20colonisation.">the most common type</a> of violence against children. It usually involves smacking, but also includes things like pinching, slapping, or using an implement such as wooden spoon, cane or belt. Smacking doesn’t actually work and makes behaviour <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797617729816?casa_token=YHpEf1m4GiwAAAAA%3A8VRH5_z9fufHJiFGpWVYAk0kuTZCCRB-zneATDatqfLomERAhcyyIES30hMPdIIQ-E-IHOTekiC0Zg&journalCode=pssa">worse over time</a>. And it’s <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Ffam0000191">associated with</a> children internalising problems, increased child aggression, poor parent-child relationships, poorer metal heath and more. In contrast, there are a lot of non-violent parenting strategies that <a href="https://theconversation.com/research-shows-its-harmful-to-smack-your-child-so-what-should-parents-do-instead-186739">do work</a>. <h2>Assessing the state of smacking in Australia</h2> We conducted the first <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajs4.301">study</a> to comprehensively assess the state of smacking and physical punishment in Australia. We wanted to determine if smacking was still common and how many Australians believed we need to smack our kids. We interviewed more than 8,500 Australians aged 16 to 65 years. Our sample was representative of the national population so we can be confident the findings represent the thoughts and experiences of Australians as a nation. Using such a large age range allowed us to compare people across different age groups to determine if changes are occurring. <h2>What we found</h2> Overall, six in ten (62.5%) Australians between 16–65 years had experienced four or more instances of smacking or physical punishment in childhood. Men were slightly more likely to be physically punished than women (66.3% v 59.1%). Young people, aged 16–24, reported slightly lower rates (58.4%) than older people suggesting a slight decline over time. But these rates remain unacceptably high. Overall, one in two (53.7%) Australian parents reported using some type of physical punishment, mostly about once a month. However, older parents reported on this retrospectively (what they did while raising children) and there were clear age differences: <ul> <li>64.2% of parents aged over 65 years had used physical punishment</li> <li>32.8% of parents 25–34 years had used it</li> <li>14.4% of parents under 24 had used it.</li> </ul> So younger generations of parents are substantially less likely to use physical punishment. <iframe id="3dcJw" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3dcJw/2/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> Concerningly, one-quarter (26.4%) of all Australians still believe physical punishment is necessary to properly raise children. But the vast majority (73.6%) do not. And generational change is occurring. Some 37.9% of Australians older than 65 believe physical punishment is necessary compared to 22.9% of those aged 35–44 years, and only 14.8% of people under age 24. <iframe id="NT51y" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/NT51y/3/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> Socioeconomically disadvantaged people are 2.3 times more likely to believe physical punishment is necessary than those with no disadvantage. Parents who had been physically disciplined when they were children were both more likely to believe it is needed and more likely to use it with their own children. This indicates this form of violence is transmitted across generations. <h2>Time for change</h2> Law reform works best when changes in community attitudes and behaviours are already occurring. So it’s encouraging that younger people are much less likely to believe physical punishment is necessary and are much less likely to use it. This suggests Australians may be open to prohibiting this common form of violence. All states and territories should immediately enact legal reform to prohibit corporal punishment and protect the rights of Australian children. This should be paired with public health and education campaigns about what parents can do instead. If you are a parent looking for effective non-violent parenting strategies the <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/406-million-to-support-the-mental-health-and-wellbeing-of-aussie-kids">government</a> has also made the <a href="https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/qld-en/free-parenting-courses/triple-p-online-under-12/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgqGrBhDtARIsAM5s0_mmMmbY3khwvp306pGOijqntKzYh6dDI5lQYszLgl6_BOGnuk8HMeEaAn_vEALw_wcB">Triple P Positive Parenting Program</a> available for free. This online program provides practical strategies parents can use to encourage positive behaviour and calm, alternative discipline techniques that can be used to instead of smacking. A number of other evidence-based programs, such as <a href="https://tuningintokids.org.au/">Tuning Into Kids</a>, Parents Under Pressure and <a href="https://www.pcit.org/pcit-in-australia.html">Parent Child Interaction Therapy</a>, are also available. Australia has an opportunity to capitalise on naturally occurring societal changes. We can interrupt this cycle of violence and give more Australians a childhood free of violence. <img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218837/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/divna-haslam-893417">Divna Haslam</a>, Senior Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847">Queensland University of Technology</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-4-adults-think-smacking-is-necessary-to-properly-raise-kids-but-attitudes-are-changing-218837">original article</a>.

Caring

1 in 6 older adults fall victim to impersonation scams

More older adults are likely to fall victim to scams than are currently recognised according to new US research. The problems are global. <div class="copy"> A research team from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, US, says older Americans who aren’t cognitively impeded, are also at risk. In their study <a href="https://10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.35319" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> today in JAMA Network Open, the group reports on a behavioural experiment where they targeted 644 adults aged 64-104 in Rush’s Memory and Aging Project – a local scheme that draws on participants from metropolitan Chicago to participate in research – with a pitch mimicking a real-world impersonation scam. The study’s fictitious ‘US Retirement Protection Task Force’ pitched itself to participants as a government social security initiative. This USRPTF told participants via either post, email or a telephone call there’d been irregular activity on their Medicare or social security file and the inquiry was a routine account security check. As part of this, the fake agency asked participants to call a telephone hotline or login to a provided website to provide their details. Over two-thirds of the study failed to respond to any attempts to obtain information by the phoney scheme. The remainder were evenly split by either responding to requests for contact, but expressing scepticism at the authenticity of the USRPTF, or by responding and engaging with the request for information. Those who were engaged with the request for information, but expressed doubts, were also those with the highest cognitive performance, and lowest proportion of dementia. They were also the most financially literate participants, while those who provided their details had the lowest literacy. Those who provided details were also found to have the lowest scam awareness of all participants. Among this group, 1 in 10 willingly provided personal information and 1 in 5 provided details of their social security number. “If extrapolated to a population level, these numbers are astounding and suggest that a very large number of older adults are at risk of victimisation,” the authors say. They also note that, given the use of a fictitious US government organisation name, the number of people vulnerable to well-organised scams is likely much higher. Last year, the US National Council on Aging reported 92,371 older Americans were defrauded of a total of US$1.7 billion. Most were victims of government department impersonation, sweepstakes and robocall scams. Often such scams will simply demand payment while ‘spoofing’ the phone number of a government agency to add the veil of legitimacy. It’s a similar story around the world. This year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found Australians lost a record $3.1 billion last year, mostly via phone scams. Australians over 65 years of age accounted for a quarter of losses and reports. The UK’s Action Fraud initiative found Britons lost about ₤2.35 billion in the 2020/21 financial year, with those aged 50-69 most susceptible to falling victim. <div> Image credits: Getty Images <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/society/1-in-6-older-adults-fall-victim-to-impersonation-scams/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="null">Cosmos</a>. </div> </div>

Legal

1 in 6 women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. But this diagnosis may not benefit them or their babies

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-glasziou-13533">Paul Glasziou</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/bond-university-863">Bond University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jenny-doust-12412">Jenny Doust</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> When Sophie was pregnant with her first baby, she had an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279331/#:%7E:text=Oral%20glucose%20tolerance%20tests%20(OGTT,enough%20by%20the%20body's%20cells.)">oral glucose tolerance</a> blood test. A few days later, the hospital phoned telling her she had gestational diabetes. Despite having only a slightly raised glucose (blood sugar) level, Sophie describes being diagnosed as affecting her pregnancy tremendously. She tested her blood glucose levels four times a day, kept food diaries and had extra appointments with doctors and dietitians. She was advised to have an induction because of the risk of having a large baby. At 39 weeks her son was born, weighing a very average 3.5kg. But he was separated from Sophie for four hours so his glucose levels could be monitored. Sophie is not alone. About <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/diabetes/diabetes/contents/how-many-australians-have-diabetes/gestational-diabetes">one in six</a> pregnant women in Australia are now diagnosed with gestational diabetes. That was not always so. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2827530/">New criteria</a> were developed in 2010 which dropped an initial screening test and lowered the diagnostic set-points. Gestational diabetes diagnoses have since <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/diabetes/diabetes/contents/how-many-australians-have-diabetes/gestational-diabetes">more than doubled</a>. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536691/original/file-20230710-23-v8weyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536691/original/file-20230710-23-v8weyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536691/original/file-20230710-23-v8weyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536691/original/file-20230710-23-v8weyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536691/original/file-20230710-23-v8weyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536691/original/file-20230710-23-v8weyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536691/original/file-20230710-23-v8weyw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption>Gestational diabetes rates more than doubled after the threshold changed. AIHW, Author provided</figcaption></figure> But <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2204091">recent</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33704936/">studies</a> cast doubt on the ways we diagnose and manage gestational diabetes, especially for women like Sophie with only mildly elevated glucose. Here’s what’s wrong with gestational diabetes screening. <h2>The glucose test is unreliable</h2> The test used to diagnose gestational diabetes – the oral glucose tolerance test – has poor reproducibility. This means subsequent tests may give a different result. In a <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2214956">recent Australian trial</a> of earlier testing in pregnancy, one-third of the women initially classified as having gestational diabetes (but neither told nor treated) did not have gestational diabetes when retested later in pregnancy. That is a problem. Usually when a test has poor reproducibility – for example, blood pressure or cholesterol – we repeat the test to confirm before making a diagnosis. Much of the increase in the incidence of gestational diabetes after the introduction of new diagnostic criteria was due to the switch from using two tests to only using a single test for diagnosis. <h2>The thresholds are too low</h2> Despite little evidence of benefit for either women or babies, the current Australian criteria diagnose women with only mildly abnormal results as having “gestational diabetes”. Recent studies have shown this doesn’t benefit women and may cause harms. A <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2204091">New Zealand trial</a> of more than 4,000 women randomly assigned women to be assessed based on the current Australian thresholds or to higher threshold levels (similar to the pre-2010 criteria). The trial found no additional benefit from using the current low threshold levels, with overall no difference in the proportion of infants born large for gestational age. However, the trial found several harms, including more neonatal hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar in newborns), induction of labour, use of diabetic medications including insulin injections, and use of health services. The study authors also looked at the subgroup of women who were diagnosed with glucose levels between the higher and lower thresholds. In this subgroup, there was some reduction in large babies, and in shoulder problems at delivery. But there was also an increase in small babies. This is of concern because being small for gestational age can also have consequences for babies, including long-term health consequences. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540643/original/file-20230802-29-1dw2rw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540643/original/file-20230802-29-1dw2rw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540643/original/file-20230802-29-1dw2rw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540643/original/file-20230802-29-1dw2rw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540643/original/file-20230802-29-1dw2rw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540643/original/file-20230802-29-1dw2rw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540643/original/file-20230802-29-1dw2rw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption>NEJM, Author provided</figcaption></figure> <h2>Testing too early</h2> Some centres have begun testing women at higher risk of gestational diabetes earlier in the pregnancy (between 12 and 20 weeks). However, a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37144983/">recent trial</a> showed no clear benefit compared with testing at the usual 24–28 weeks: possibly fewer large babies, but again matched by more small babies. There was a reduction in transient “respiratory distress” – needing extra oxygen for a few hours – but not in serious clinical events. <h2>Impact on women with gestational diabetes</h2> For women diagnosed using the higher glucose thresholds, dietary advice, glucose monitoring and, where necessary, insulin therapy has been shown to reduce complications during delivery and the post-natal period. However, current models of care can also cause harm. Women with gestational diabetes are often denied their preferred model of care – for example, midwifery continuity of carer. In rural areas, they may have to transfer to a larger hospital, requiring longer travel to antenatal visits and moving to a larger centre for their birth – away from their families and support networks for several weeks. Women say the diagnosis often dominates their antenatal care and their whole <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32028931/">experience of pregnancy</a>, reducing time for other issues or concerns. Women from culturally and linguistically diverse communities <a href="https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-021-03981-5">find it difficult</a> to reconcile the advice given about diet and exercise with their own cultural practices and beliefs about pregnancy. Some women with gestational diabetes <a href="https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-020-2745-1">become</a> extremely anxious about their eating and undertake extensive calorie restrictions or disordered eating habits. <h2>Time to reassess the advice</h2> Recent evidence from both randomised controlled trials and from qualitative studies with women diagnosed with gestational diabetes suggest we need to reassess how we currently diagnose and manage gestational diabetes, particularly for women with only slightly elevated levels. It is time for a review to consider all the problems described above. This review should include the views of all those impacted by these decisions: women in childbearing years, and the GPs, dietitians, diabetes educators, midwives and obstetricians who care for them. This article was co-authored by maternity services consumer advocate Leah Hardiman.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205919/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-glasziou-13533">Paul Glasziou</a>, Professor of Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/bond-university-863">Bond University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jenny-doust-12412">Jenny Doust</a>, Clinical Professorial Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-6-women-are-diagnosed-with-gestational-diabetes-but-this-diagnosis-may-not-benefit-them-or-their-babies-205919">original article</a>.

Body

1 in 4 households struggle to pay power bills. Here are 5 ways to tackle hidden energy poverty

<a href="https://energyconsumersaustralia.com.au/news/how-increases-in-energy-prices-are-impacting-consumers#:%7E:text=Energy%2520affordability%2520is%2520not%2520just,in%2520the%2520past%252012%2520months.">One in four Australian households</a> are finding it hard to pay their gas and electricity bills. As winter looms, <a href="https://www.aer.gov.au/news-release/default-market-offer-2023%25E2%2580%259324-draft-determination">energy price rises</a> will make it even harder. Cold homes and disconnections resulting from energy poverty threaten people’s health and wellbeing. <a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ACOSS-cost-of-living-report2-March-2023_web_FINAL.pdf">Income support for welfare recipients</a> and retrofitting homes to make them more thermally efficient – by adding insulation, for example – can ease the burden. And when homes are not too cold or hot, <a href="https://theconversation.com/fuel-poverty-makes-you-sick-so-why-has-nothing-changed-since-i-was-a-child-living-in-a-cold-home-201787">people’s health benefits</a>. This in turn <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/319556">eases pressure on the public health system</a>. However, many people are missing out on assistance as programs often do not recognise their difficulties. Their energy vulnerability is hidden. <h2>What forms does hidden energy poverty take?</h2> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623000737">Our newly published study</a> has revealed six aspects of hidden energy vulnerability. These are: <ol> <li> underconsumption – households limit or turn off cooling, heating and/or lights to avoid disconnections </li> <li> incidental masking – other welfare support, such as rent relief, masks difficulties in paying energy bills </li> <li> some households disguise energy poverty by using public facilities such as showers or pooling money for bills between families </li> <li> some people conceal their hardship due to pride or fear of legal consequences, such as losing custody of children if food cannot be refrigerated because the power has been cut off </li> <li> poor understanding of energy efficiency and the health risks of cold or hot homes adds to the problem </li> <li> eligibility criteria for energy assistance programs may exclude some vulnerable households. For example, people with income just above the welfare threshold are missing out on energy concessions. Energy retailer hardship programs also ignore people who have voluntarily disconnected due to financial hardship. </li> </ol> <h2>5 ways to help these households</h2> Our studies suggest trusted intermediaries such as people working in health, energy and social services can play a vital role in identifying and supporting such households. First, energy efficiency and hardship initiatives may be <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/about/schools-colleges/property-construction-and-project-management/research/research-centres-and-groups/sustainable-building-innovation-laboratory/projects/care-at-home-system-improvements">integrated into the My Aged Care in-home care system</a>. Energy poverty risk identification, response and referral could be built into the national service’s assessment form. This could leverage existing client screening processes. The system’s front-line staff could connect at-risk householders with energy counsellors. These counsellors could help people access better energy contracts, concessions, home retrofits and appliance upgrade programs. A new Commonwealth “energy supplement” could help pay for essential energy-related home modifications. This would help avoid My Aged Care funds being diverted from immediate healthcare needs. Second, general practitioners and other health professionals could help identify energy vulnerability among patients with medical conditions of concern. They could also provide letters of support emphasising renters’ health-based need for air conditioners or heaters. Third, energy providers could use household energy data to identify those that seem to be under-consuming or are often disconnected. They could also identify those that are not on “best offer” deals. They could be proactive in checking struggling householders’ eligibility for ongoing energy concessions and one-off debt relief grants offered by states and territories. Energy providers could also make it easier for social housing providers to ensure concessions for tenants renew automatically. Fourth, local councils could use their data to identify at-risk householders. They might include those with a disability parking permit, discounted council rates or in arrears, on the social housing waiting list, Meals on Wheels clients and social housing tenants. Maternal and child health nurses and home and community care workers making home visits could call attention to cold or hot homes. Councils could employ in-house energy counsellors to provide assistance and energy literacy training. Council home maintenance teams could develop bulk-buying, insulation and neighbourhood retrofit programs. Strategies to reduce vulnerability to energy poverty should be part of municipal public health and wellbeing plans. Under these strategies, net-zero-carbon funds set up by states and local councils to reduce emissions could finance targeted housing retrofits. We also suggest setting up a central helpline to improve access to energy assistance via local referrals. Fifth, residential energy-efficiency programs could become more person-centric. For example, we already have <a href="https://www.homescorecard.gov.au/">Residential Efficiency Scorecard</a> audits to assess the thermal quality of a home. These audits could also explore whether concessions and better energy deals are available to the household. <h2>Building capacity at all levels</h2> <a href="https://cur.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/tackling-hidden-energy-final.pdf">Capacity-building strategies</a> are needed at all levels – individual, community and government – to overcome the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623000737">challenges</a> of reducing energy poverty. Current obstacles include the competing priorities of service providers, lack of time and resources, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629622003553">poor co-ordination between siloed</a> programs and services. Access to essential energy services should be part of state and local governments’ strategic health plans. Housing, energy and health departments could work together to include housing retrofits in preventive health programs. A comprehensive approach is needed to overcome hidden energy poverty. It must include public education, integrated services and well-funded energy-efficiency programs. Regulatory reforms and ongoing funding are both needed to improve the availability of energy-efficient, affordable homes for tenants. Our suggested strategies start with improving the skills and knowledge of trusted intermediaries. Doctors, social workers, housing officers, community nurses and volunteers can play a central role. Using these front-line professionals to help identify and act on energy poverty offers a novel, cost-effective and targeted solution. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-4-households-struggle-to-pay-power-bills-here-are-5-ways-to-tackle-hidden-energy-poverty-204672" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Images: Getty

Home Hints & Tips

Schumacher’s family suing German magazine over fake interview

Michael Schumacher’s family is preparing to take legal action against German tabloid magazine Die Aktuelle, for publishing an AI-generated “interview” with the star. The publication has been slammed for using Michael’s face on their April 15 front cover, promoting the piece as “the first interview” since the star’s skiing accident in December 2013. “No meagre, nebulous half-sentences from friends. But answers from him! By Michael Schumacher, 54!” read the text in the magazine. “It sounded deceptively real,” they added in the strapline, which was the only indicator that the piece was fake. The “interview” included quotes that insensitively described Schumacher’s recovery, following the accident where he suffered a serious brain injury. “I was so badly injured that I lay for months in a kind of artificial coma, because otherwise my body couldn’t have dealt with it all,” the quote read. “I’ve had a tough time but the hospital team has managed to bring me back to my family,” they added. It was only at the end of the article that the publication revealed that they used Character.ai, an AI chatbot, to create the interview. A spokesperson for Schumachers confirmed their intention to take legal action against Die Aktuelle to Reuters and ESPN. This isn’t the first time Schumacher’s family have taken action against Die Aktuelle. In 2015, Michael’s wife, Corinna Schumacher filed a lawsuit against the magazine after they used Corinna’s picture with the headline: “Corinna Schumacher – a new love makes her happy.” The story was actually about their daughter, Gina, but the lawsuit was dismissed. Image: Getty Images

Legal

Pumping loud music is putting more than 1 billion young people at risk of hearing loss

Music is an integral part of human life. It’s all around us, just like sunshine, lifting our mood. We enjoy it so much that many of us take it with us everywhere on our phones or we spend weekends hitting the club scene, live-music venues or concerts. Meanwhile, many of us may have felt annoyed by loud sound from music venues or remarked on sound emanating from someone else’s headphones. We’re probably aware we should prevent hearing loss from loud industrial noise at work or from using power tools at home. A systematic review released today in <a href="https://globalhealth.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjgh-2022-010501">BMJ Global Health</a> reports unsafe listening practices in adolescents and young adults from using personal listening devices (such as phones or digital music players) and going to loud clubs and gigs are common, and could be a major factor contributing to hearing loss. In fact, the authors estimate the pumping tunes could be placing up to 1.35 billion young people at risk of hearing loss worldwide. <h2>What the study looked at</h2> Systematic analysis involves looking across multiple studies to identify consistent findings. In this study, the authors included 33 peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2021, involving over 19,000 people, aged 12–34. In the study, unsafe listening was identified as listening at levels above 80 decibels for over 40 hours per week. For context, this is the level above which most Australian states <a href="https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/hazards/noise/overview#:%7E:text=Workers%20must%20not%20be%20exposed,on%20decibels%20and%20time%20exposed.">require industry</a> to implement noise protection processes such as use of hearing protectors. The study confirms the rate of unsafe listening practices is high in adolescents and young adults: 23.81% of them were listening to music on personal devices at unsafe levels and 48.2% at loud entertainment venues (though this rate is less certain). Based on global estimates of population, this translates to up to 1.35 billion young people at risk of hearing loss globally. The World Health Organization <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/hearing-loss#tab=tab_1">estimates</a> over 430 million people worldwide already have a disabling hearing loss and prevalence could double if hearing loss prevention is not prioritised. The results tally with our previous studies conducted by Australia’s National Acoustic Laboratories and HEARing Cooperative Research Centre. More than a decade ago we <a href="https://acc.hearingservices.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/hso/f1f6299d-96f3-408e-be4b-0775af6d7f41/Lifetime_profile_exposure_sound_what_safe_HLPP2.pdf?MOD=AJPERES">reported</a> a high potential for hearing loss from attendance at nightclubs, pubs and live concerts in young Australians aged between 18–35 years. Back then, we found 13% of young Australians (aged 18–35) were getting a yearly noise dose from nightclubs, concerts and sporting activities that exceeded the maximum acceptable dose in industry. In 2015, the WHO launched the <a href="https://www.who.int/activities/making-listening-safe">Make listening Safe</a>initiative to encourage young people to protect their hearing. <h2>Why it’s bad for your hearing</h2> So what’s the problem with loud music? Like sunshine, overexposure can lead to harm. Loud noise, including music, can <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/how_does_loud_noise_cause_hearing_loss.html">kill off hair cells and membranes</a> in the inner ear (the cochlea). Once hearing is lost, a person mightn’t be able to hear or understand speech or sounds around them. <a href="https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/noise-induced-hearing-loss">Research</a> shows hearing loss results from a combination of sound being too loud (and it doesn’t need to be painful to cause hearing damage), listening to loud sound too long (and the louder the sound, the less time you can listen before your hearing is at risk) and how often you are exposed (and hearing damage is cumulative over time). A good “rule of ear” is that if you hear ringing in your ears at or after listening, you are at risk of damaging your hearing. This type of hearing loss is <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/how_does_loud_noise_cause_hearing_loss.html">permanent</a> and may require use of hearing aids or cochlear implants. <h2>Wait, so no loud music at all?</h2> So what can we do, short of throwing away our headphones and avoiding clubbing and live music? First, just like with the sun and skin, we need to be aware of the risks to our hearing and take the necessary steps to protect ourselves. We need to be aware of how loud sound is around us and how to keep our exposure within safe levels. We can do this by using personal hearing protection in clubs (such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-earplugs-for-concerts/">ear muffs or ear plugs</a> that are fit for purpose), or limiting how often we visit noisy music venues or how long we stay at really loud ones. In Australia, people can access a free <a href="https://knowyournoise.nal.gov.au/">noise risk calculator</a> to calculate their personal risk using an online sound level meter, and to explore how changes in lifestyle could protect their hearing while still allowing them to enjoy music. Most phones now come with software that can <a href="https://www.headphonesty.com/2022/03/iphone-headphone-safety/#:%7E:text=Key%20features%20of%20the%20iPhone%20Headphone%20Safety%20feature&text=According%20to%20the%20WHO%20standard,risk%20of%20sustaining%20hearing%20damage.">monitor safe listening levels</a> and limit exposure. Hearing protection at the venue level is more challenging and may require regulatory and industry-based approaches. Our <a href="https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/64/4/342/5811673">2020 research</a> identified hazard controls for entertainment venues, such alternating volume between louder and softer levels, rotating staff, providing quiet rooms, and raising speaker locations above head height. We also showed DJs and venues were open to initiatives aimed at reducing the risk of hearing loss for their patrons and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19338244.2020.1828241?journalCode=vaeh20">staff</a>. Compromises are possible and they could enable enjoyment of music at live-music venues, while still protecting hearing. That way everyone will be able keep enjoying music for longer. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/pumping-loud-music-is-putting-more-than-1-billion-young-people-at-risk-of-hearing-loss-194537" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

Why Rod Stewart turned down a $1 million gig

Rod Stewart has shared why he turned down a $1 million deal to perform in Qatar. The 77-year-old rockstar said that he was offered the seven-figure deal over a year ago, but refused because of the Gulf state's human rights record. When discussing the controversy surrounding the World Cup host nation, where homosexuality is illegal, the singer told the <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dfab9724-5f6f-11ed-8611-a128c33d7159?shareToken=f282a0832e5a291ac08bf40e06ba678c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunday Times</a> he thought it would be wrong to play a set there. "I was actually offered a lot of money, over $1m, to play there 15 months ago," he said. "I turned it down. It's not right to go. And the Iranians should be out too for supplying arms," he said in reference to drones supplied by the country to Russia, which was barred from the tournament. He added that he thinks fans attending matches in Qatar, where being gay can lead to imprisonment and even the death sentence for Muslims, "have got to watch out". Stewart has been considered an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, previously saying he was "surrounded by gay men in the 70s". One of the singer's hit songs, The Killing of Georgie, is about the murder of a gay friend and made waves when it came out in 1976, when very few mainstream songs discussed the experiences of gay men. He said it would have been "good" to sing the song as a protest during the opening ceremony of the football tournament. Image credits: Getty Images

Money & Banking

UK woman takes home from dump to dream starting with just £1

A UK woman has shown how she took a derelict property from a dump to a dream address, having paid just £1 ($NZ 1.93). Maxine Sharples was still a university student when she successfully bid for a ramshackle Victorian terrace in Liverpool under the council-run Homes for Pound Scheme. The scheme allowed residents to pay just £1 for a derelict home on the condition that they would renovate it, per <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-transforms-1-house-dream-27496752" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Mirror</a>, and was so popular that 2500 people applied for just 106 houses. But, when Ms Sharples was handed the keys to her new home four years later, she admitted she was worried about how she would fund the work, particularly given that new owners had just 12 months to renovate according to <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/homeless-woman-turned-1-house-24498719?_ga=2.75979477.1998441293.1658101018-39617459.1654734058" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Liverpool Echo</a>. Ms Sharples was able to take longer due to Covid restrictions, telling local news she spent £60,000 ($NZ 115,000) to bring the home up to a livable standard and transform it into a sweet first home. She now has about £10,000 ($NZ 19,270) left to spend to enhance the property further. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/07/uk-woman-house1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Maxine Sharple, a 35-year-old yoga teacher, bought her first home for just £1, but had to put in plenty of work to get it up to scratch. “Although initially I didn’t have the funds, I applied anyway and thought, ‘I’ll cross that bridge’ if I was shortlisted. In 2019, four years later, I got a phone call to ask if I was still interested in a home for a pound,” Ms Sharples told the Echo. Though she has walked away with the deal of a lifetime, it was a difficult journey to get her home to where it is now. Ms Sharples lived in a caravan during the renovations and had to do plenty of work herself. “It has taken me 27 arduous months to get it signed off. It was gruelling, I couldn't have been more naive about the process,” she said. “As a yoga teacher I couldn’t have been less experienced in construction management. “With tradespeople in short supply, I took to a lot of labouring myself.” Going beyond just updating the interior and façade, Ms Sharples changed the layout to make the home lighter and more airy. “I began the rip out by myself. It took me nine months to get the house back to brick with a rotary hammer and borrowed electricity from my neighbours,” she said. “A hole in the roof meant a tree had taken root, water ingress, asbestos, rat infestations, you name it, it had it all.” Images: The Liverpool Echo

Real Estate

Top Gun: Maverick surpasses $1 billion worldwide

Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick has officially surpassed $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Over the weekend, the film saw a huge $30.5 million domestically and $44.5 million in overseas markets. This overall totals to $521 million domestic and $484 million international, putting it just past $1 billion globally. According to Paramount, more than 16 percent of the Top Gun: Maverick audience has seen the film more than once in theatres, while four percent have seen it four times or more. This is only the second time since the pandemic began that a Hollywood title jumped over the $1 billion behind Sony and Disney’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.89 billion). The movie officially became the highest-grossing movie of Cruise’s career when it toppled over $800 million. His 2018 film Mission Impossible: Fallout previously held the highest rank with $791.1 million. Analysts don’t think the momentum will last long with Elvis hitting the screens and Top Gun sitting around the $900 million mark. Image: YouTube

Movies

Wild scenes after No.1 seed slaps opponent at the net

A tennis player has been caught on camera slapping his opponent - so, is this Will Smith’s match? Michael Kouame, 15, lost to Raphael Nii Ankrah, 16, 2-6 7-6 6-7 in the first round of an ITF juniors tournament in Accra, Ghana’s capital. The pair met at the net to shake hands before Michael slapped Raphael in the face before a brawl ensued amongst attendees. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <a href="https://t.co/4B0NjVI5zv">pic.twitter.com/4B0NjVI5zv</a> — SHARP SHOOTER 🔫 (@Kwesi_Gibson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kwesi_Gibson/status/1511083902382792716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2022</a></blockquote> Footage of the incident was shared to Twitter with many pointing out that Michael should not have slapped Raphael and tried to run away. “I think he forgot his location..how can you slap someone in his own country,” someone pointed out. “Kid was running ? You can’t start sh*t and then run away,” another commented. “The coward ran away? Disgraceful behavior!” another wrote. Image: Twitter

Legal

How far would you go to save $1?

Would you spend the night at this one-star hotel for just $6? If you’ve travelled on a very strict budget, you’ve probably come across some interesting finds. One TikToker user has people divided over where to draw the line – even if it is cheap – after posting a video at a one-star hotel. <blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@jesseogn/video/7056825451565550850" data-video-id="7056825451565550850"> <section><a title="@jesseogn" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jesseogn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@jesseogn</a> Would you stay at this hotel?? <a title="japan" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/japan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#japan</a> <a title="tiktokjapan" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokjapan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#tiktokjapan</a> <a title="japantiktok" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/japantiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#japantiktok</a> <a title="japantravel" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/japantravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#japantravel</a> <a title="osaka" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/osaka" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#osaka</a> <a title="creepy" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/creepy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#creepy</a> <a title="♬ Amityville Horror - Scary Halloween Sound Effects - Halloween Sound Effects" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Amityville-Horror-Scary-Halloween-Sound-Effects-6780285433650612226" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ Amityville Horror - Scary Halloween Sound Effects - Halloween Sound Effects</a></section> </blockquote> While travelling through Japan, TikToker Jesse checked in to the 500 yen per-night stay (about $6) in Osaka. Upon entry, Jesse notices the dodgy bedding, rickety TV and overall petite size of the room, before making his way to the questionable window. “The room came with a pillow, blanket, stained mattress and TV,” he says in the tour. “The room had a funky smell but I couldn’t open the window because it was broken,” he explained. Adding to its…appeal, he then demonstrated how small the room is, with just a few inches above his head when standing and lying down. The tour ends on a slightly more sinister note, as he makes his way to a creepy find at the entrance of the hotel – a poster of wanted criminals. The comments section was divided on the hotel, with some claiming it was a steal, while others said they’d rather pay a bit more and stay somewhere else. “I mean, for $90 a month… I’d probably live there,” one person said. “I’d stay there. Too bad they didn’t have mattresses with plastic covers on it. Great deal,” a commenter added. Images: TikTok

Travel Tips

Russia 0, Door 1: Soldier’s shocking defeat blows up online

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine wages on, a battle between a Russian soldier and a door has <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/russia-ukraine-war-hapless-russian-soldier-loses-fight-against-door/I246LNFUTCXAE3Q2OVUSJ34Y7A/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resulted</a> in a crushing defeat. A clip of the incident from Yeshiva World News reported Moshe Schwartz has gone viral online, with the interaction dubbed the Battle of Techno House. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> At the Battle of Techno House, the door secured a decisive victory against Russian forces <a href="https://t.co/QnMowf5T7l">https://t.co/QnMowf5T7l</a> — 🇺🇦 Sid Chambers, PhD 🇺🇦 (@ArtfulTakedown) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArtfulTakedown/status/1499180997526663174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote> The soldier, reportedly in Kherson, Ukraine, is seen attempting to gain access into a store. When his first attempts fail, the soldier smashes the glass on the door but that also fails. Seemingly exasperated, the soldier tugs on the door handle before accepting defeat and walking away. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Geolocation confirmed. 46.65046, 32.60758 <a href="https://t.co/bfjntnsPsG">https://t.co/bfjntnsPsG</a> <a href="https://t.co/fYUZxlLZGo">pic.twitter.com/fYUZxlLZGo</a> — GeoConfirmed (@GeoConfirmed) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1499153094076153860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2022</a></blockquote> The soldier, reportedly in Kherson, Ukraine, is seen attempting to gain access into a store. When his first attempts fail, the soldier smashes the glass on the door but that also fails. Seemingly exasperated, the soldier tugs on the door handle before accepting defeat and walking away. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/FM3zsz5WYA0bOOl.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="1176" /> A Wikipedia page was allegedly created documenting the incident. Image: <a href="https://twitter.com/SwarmDMX/status/1499122912493809670" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> The page said the incident ended with a “decisive” victory for the door, and that casualties and losses included “ammunition, pride and a window”. One video of the incident was viewed more than a million times in one hour and attracted thousands of comments joking about an otherwise grim situation. It comes as Russian forces have captured the strategically significant hub of Kherson, the first to be captured since the invasion began last week. Image: Twitter

Travel Trouble

Nearly 1 in 3 adults over 65 had a new condition post-Covid

<a href="https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/almost-1-in-3-older-adults-develop-new-conditions-after-covid-19-infection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New research</a> from the US has found that almost a third of older adults who caught COVID-19 went on to develop at least one new condition that required medical attention. The study, published in <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2021-068414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The BMJ</a>, discovered that 32 out of every 100 adults over 65 that they studied went on to develop any of a range of conditions that affected the heart, kidney, lungs or their mental health after they were first infected. In comparison, only 21 percent of those in the control groups - who didn’t catch Covid - developed a new condition. To understand the risk of additional illness older adults faced after a COVID-19 diagnosis, the researchers used health insurance records to identify 133,366 people over the age of 65 who were diagnosed with the virus before April 1, 2020. These individuals were matched to three control groups from 2020, 2019, and a group diagnosed with a viral lower respiratory tract illness (RTI), which included the flu, viral bronchitis and non-bacterial pneumonia. The team then recorded any persistent or new conditions 21 days after a diagnosis of Covid, and calculated the excess risk of developing these conditions due to Covid based on age, race, sex and whether patients were treated for the virus in a hospital. When compared to the 2020 and 2019 non-covid groups, patients who had Covid were at more risk of developing conditions including respiratory failure (an extra 7.55 percent), fatigue (5.66 percent higher), high blood pressure (an extra 4.43 percent), and a mental health diagnosis (2.5 percent more) However, the difference between Covid patients and those with a viral lower RTI was much smaller, with risks of respiratory failure, dementia and fatigue being higher. Additionally, the team found the risk of developing several conditions was higher for those who were men, black, or over the age of 75. Though this is only an observational study, the researchers argue it is important to understand the health risks the millions of people who have had Covid face. “These findings further highlight the wide range of important sequelae (new conditions) after acute infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” they wrote. “Understanding the magnitude of risk for the most important clinical sequelae might enhance their diagnosis and management of individuals. “Also, our research can help providers and other key stakeholders anticipate the scale of future health complications and improve planning for the use of healthcare resources.” Image: Getty Images

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Schumacher’s family suing German magazine over fake interview

Pumping loud music is putting more than 1 billion young people at risk of hearing loss

Why Rod Stewart turned down a $1 million gig

UK woman takes home from dump to dream starting with just £1

Top Gun: Maverick surpasses $1 billion worldwide

Wild scenes after No.1 seed slaps opponent at the net

How far would you go to save $1?

Russia 0, Door 1: Soldier’s shocking defeat blows up online

Nearly 1 in 3 adults over 65 had a new condition post-Covid