Weekly Review of Health News in ChinaThe following are the highlights of major news on health care and medical research in China over the past week:Viagra to Enter China More than two years after its debut, the anti-impotence drug Viagra finally obtains official approval to enter into China, the world's most populous country. Studies Show Elderly Chinese Prone to Dementia Two studies in China have both proved that elderly Chinese are prone to senile dementia, challenging previous opinions that China was at low risk for age-related disease. A study involving 2,788 people over age 60 found that 208 people suffered from senile dementia, an incidence rate of 7.5 percent. Another study among 1,728 retirees in Beijing also indicated that a family history of dementia, experience of persecution during China's Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), exposure to electromagnetic fields, and brain trauma could also cause senile dementia. Traditional Medicine Provides Health Care to Tibetans Tibetan medicine is still playing a leading role in the health of Tibetan people, according to a report released by China Medical Association of Minorities. The report shows that 57 hospitals providing only traditional Tibetan therapies and medicines have been established in Tibet and in provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan, in addition to several thousands of Tibetan doctors offering mobile medical services to herdsmen. Shanghai to Boost Pharmaceutical Industry China's leading industrial and commercial city of Shanghai will spend about five billion yuan (about US$ 602 million) on its pharmaceutical industry over the next five years. According to Shanghai's 2001-2005 development plan, the pharmaceutical industrial output of the city will grow at an annual rate of 20 percent to reach 50 billion yuan (about US$ 6.02 billion) by 2005. Chinese Surgeons Remove Huge Liver Tumor Chinese surgeons at the Tianjin No. 3 Central Hospital in north China recently removed a malignant tumor the size of two footballs from a female patient's liver. The huge tumor weighed 12.5 kilograms, making the 41-year-old patient appear to be pregnant. Survey Reveals Most Eye Diseases Caused By Bad Habits As many as 80 percent of the eye diseases Chinese youngsters suffer from are caused by bad habits, according to the latest survey by a group of experts from the Tianjin Eye Diseases Hospital. The majority of the eye diseases of Chinese youngsters are caused by such bad habits as long-time reading, writing, watching TV, working on computers or playing video games. |
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