China Bans Electric Shock Treatment For Internet Addicts

Moderation is the key.

With the world’s largest online community, estimated at more than 300 million users, it was only a matter of time before China acknowledged it might have a problem with a growing digital-age affliction: internet addiction.

Thousands are believed to suffer in one form or another amid growing concern about young people’s use of chat rooms and online gaming, and a series of treatment centres have sprung up.

With the world’s largest online community, estimated at more than 300 million users, it was only a matter of time before China acknowledged it might have a problem with a growing digital-age affliction: internet addiction.

Thousands are believed to suffer in one form or another amid growing concern about young people’s use of chat rooms and online gaming, and a series of treatment centres have sprung up.

But it has emerged that some of the treatments on offer are as worrying as the condition, as the ministry of health moved to ban the use of electric shocks to cure chronic internet dependency.

Doctors released the first diagnostic definition of internet addiction last year, based on a study of more than 1,300 intensive users. It says addicts are those who spend at least six hours online a day and have shown at least one from a range of symptoms including a yearning to get back online, fear of social contact and difficulty concentrating or sleeping.

Other experts argue that the definition is far too general and many non-addicts qualify under it because the criteria are so vague. Critics warn moreover that some of the “cures” promoted to anxious parents were as worrying as the problem. A notice on the health ministry’s website said that the safety of the electric shock technology was not clear, so use of the therapy should be stopped.

The ban follows reports that Dr Yang Yongxin, from Linyi City’s psychiatric hospital, in Shandong province, was using electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). According to the Beijing News, Yang said he had created xingnao (”brain-waking”) therapy that involved sending a small current through the brain. He added the stimulation might cause pain but was very safe and would not harm children in any way.

Is Organic Food No Healthier Than Ordinary Food

Organic vegetables are shown at a Whole Foods Market

Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.

A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

“A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance,” said Alan Dangour, one of the report’s authors.

“Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.”

The results of research, which was commissioned by the British government’s Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases.

The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following a plunge in demand at the end of the year.