Don't just train the pooch, train the kids

This kind of aticle in the Toronto Globe and Mail is more like we need in educating parents and children. Instead of plastering the news pages with vicious, irresponsible dog attacks, isn't it better to educate the public on the do's and don't. We need more of this kind of educational articles.

Don't just train the pooch, train the kids
A dog may be a man's best friend, but a new study suggests it is not an ideal companion for a young child.
Austrian researchers reviewed the cases of people treated for dog bites at a local hospital over a 10-year period. The results revealed that children under the age of 10 represented a "high risk group" for dog attacks.

"Throughout evolution, dogs have lived in packs with a specific order of dominance. . . . Dogs may regard newborns as subordinate . . . and may feel the need to defend their own position in the pack against this intruder," the researchers at the Medical University of Graz write in the journal Pediatrics.

However, lead researcher Johannes Schalamon, a dog owner himself, says the animal really isn't the one to blame. "In most cases [of attacks], the child interfered with the dog," he said in an e-mail interview. For instance, a child might pull the tail of a dog while it is eating.

He said families should consider not getting a dog until their children are of school age. Usually, kids over 6 can be taught to behave in a way that reduces the chances of a dog attack. As well, older kids tend to be taller than dogs, so they are less likely to be bitten on the head and neck, which can leave a child emotionally and physically scarred for life.

And what if you already have a dog and what to start a family? "I would not necessarily get rid of a dog . . . but one should be aware of the danger," he said. "Do not leave your child alone with a dog, especially if it is the neighbour's dog or the dog of relatives and friends." Although some breeds are more likely than others to attack when provoked, he points out, "any dog may bite at any time."

Stone Age shocker

Scientists have longed believed impacted wisdom teeth are an affliction of modern civilization.

Wisdom teeth are the last molars to develop and they are suppose to pop out, or "erupt," between the ages of 18 and 22. But if there is not enough room for them in the jaw, they get stuck or "impacted" below the surface. Impacted wisdom teeth are so common it has almost become a right of passage to have them extracted.

Scientists believe impacted wisdom teeth result from all the soft and highly processed food we eat. We simply don't have to chew very much any more. And that means the jaw isn't stimulated to grow big enough to hold all our potential teeth, according to some theories. It has also been assumed that people who lived during the Stone Age -- when the human diet was much rougher and required more chewing -- were not afflicted with impacted wisdom teeth.

However, scientists at the Field Museum in Chicago have found impacted wisdom teeth in a 13,000-year-old jaw bone. The jaw was part of a near-complete skeleton unearthed in southwestern France in 1911. The Field Museum acquired the find in 1926 and dubbed the remains "Magdalenian Girl," based on the fact that jaw lacked signs of developed wisdom teeth.

But Robert Martin, the museum's provost of academic affairs, recently re-examined the skeleton and suspected it was really a full-grown woman. The jaw was X-rayed, revealing impacted wisdom teeth, proving his hunch correct.

"As far as we know, this is the earliest recorded case of impacted wisdom teeth," Dr. Martin said.

The discovery suggests that the human diet might have already begun to change to easier-to-digest foods, and they may have been using fire to cook their meals.

"I would see this as possible evidence that cooking was well under way earlier than we thought -- serious cooking, maybe even French cooking," he said with a chuckle.

Genes linked to blindness

U.S. scientists have pinpointed two genes that account for 74 per cent of cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common form of blindness in people over 50.

The genes play a role in regulating the body's immune response to infection. One gene helps to rev up parts of the immune system. The other helps shut off these defences once the infection has been beaten back.

"If the system is well balanced, everything works just fine," said the lead researcher, Rando Allikmets, at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. However, some variation in either of these genes can produce an improper immune response that can harm the eyes.

In particular, the immune system ends up damaging the macula, a sensitive portion in the centre of the retina that is responsible for seeing fine details. The condition results in a gradual loss of sharpness in the centre of the visual field, making it difficult to read, drive or even recognize faces.

The new study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, suggests that variations in these immune-regulating genes account for almost three-quarters of all AMD cases. Dr. Allikmets said the latest findings could eventually lead to treatments for preventing the condition in susceptible individuals, even before it starts.

Code of behaviour when handling a dog

Dogs
Dogs sniff as a means of communication.
Dogs like to chase moving objects.
Dogs run faster than humans.
Screaming may incite predatory behaviour.
The order of precedence needs to be in evidence.
Dogs tend to attack extremities, face and neck.
Lying on the ground provokes attacks
Fighting dogs bite at anything that is near.

Humans
Before petting a dog, let it sniff you.
Do not run past dogs.
Do not try to outrun a dog
Remain calm if a dog approaches
Do not hug or kiss a dog.
If attacked, stand still (feet together) and protect neck and face with arms and hands.
Stand up. If attacked while lying, keep face down and cover ears with hands. Do not move.
Do not try to stop two fighting dogs.