Dispensary Corner 05 Oct 10
October 5, 2010
PEOPLE who play electronic
games are prone to a new variety
of injuries, according to a
presentation at a conference in
San Francisco last week.
Researchers from the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia analysed
data from the US National
Electronic Injury Surveillance
System, which found almost 700
video game-related injuries over a
five year period - which coincided
with the 2006 arrival of the
Nintendo Wii console.
Unlike earlier games, the Wii
controller encourages interactive
play in which the remote contains
accelerometers to allow users to
mimic the movements of particular
sports such as tennis or bowling.
Many of the injuries were due to
finger and wrist repetitivestrain
incidents from more traditional
consoles, but there were scores of
shoulder and ankle strains due to
the Wii.
Interestingly, the Wii also gave
rise to a spate of “bystander
injuries” in which onlookers -
usually children aged under 10 -
were hurt by wild swings of the
console’s controller.
GOOD news for theme park
operators - riding on roller coasters
can help with asthma symptoms.
That was the finding of a pair of
Dutch scientists, who have this
week been honoured for their
discovery at the annual “Ig”
Nobel prizes which were awarded
in Harvard University yesterday.
Other winners included three
researchers from Britain’s Keele
University, who were awarded the
IgNobel Peace Prize after
managing to prove that swearing
is an effective way to relieve pain.
The physics prize went to a
team from New Zealand’s
University of Otago who showed
that wearing socks outside of your
shoes can reduce the likelihood of
slipping on a frozen pathway.
And the winners of the Public
Health prize found that scientists
with facial hair were more likely to
pose a risk to their families
because bacteria stayed in their
beards even after washing.
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