7 Signs Your Child Is an iPad Addict

Withdrawal symptoms and cravings may seem like the province of hard-drug addiction, but increasingly, psychologists are noticing these same signs of addiction in people who use devices ranging from smartphones to tablets.

And as more and more households get iPad, more children may start to get hooked.  In April, reporters pounced on a story about a 4-year-old who was seeing a therapist to kick her iPad addiction

Though diagnosing a 4-year-old may be a stretch, "with what we're learning about addictions, it is fair to say that somebody can become addicted to an iPad," said a psychologist.



The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V (DSM-V), sometimes called the psychiatrist's "bible," has not officially added Internet gaming to its roster of disorders, but it's under consideration. And it's likely that iPad, smartphone or other device addiction will be viewed similarly as more data show their harmful effects, the psychologist said.


From physical withdrawal symptoms to losing touch with the outside world, here are seven signs your child may be hooked on the iPad.

1. Withdrawal
Withdrawal from heroin or alcohol causes headaches and the shakes, but device addiction has physical withdrawal symptoms as well. In a 2011 study, researchers asked 1,000 college students around the world to go 24 hours without using their smartphones, other mobile devices or the Internet. Many reported symptoms such as anxiety and depression, and one anonymous student even said he or she was "itching like a crackhead" from the longing to use a phone.
If your child is irritable, anxious or sad after having the iPad is taken away, he or she may have an unhealthy attachment to the device.

2. Tolerance
Just as heroin addicts need bigger and bigger hits to get the same effect, iPad users can also develop a tolerance.
"Kids might have enjoyed it for 10 minutes, now they need it for an hour or two hours or three," the psychologist said.
If playing 20 minutes of Math Ninja or Subway Surfer is no longer enough to make a kid happy, that may also be a sign of addiction.

3. Loss of interest
If children who once loved playing soccer, picking on their kid brother, or climbing trees have lost interest in all those activities in favor of hours of "Air Hockey Gold," it may signal a problem. (An occasional preference for the iPad over other activities isn't a problem; the screen craving has to be crowding out everything else to a significant degree.)

4. Lack of control
Addicts typically have an inability to control their usage. And though 4-year-olds are not known for their self-control, children may have a problem if parents have a really hard time taking the tablet away from their child without a huge meltdown.
On the other hand, parents of young children should be able to set limits, and a young child throwing a temper tantrum is not a sign of addiction on its own, the psychologist said. 

5. Deception
Have you caught Henry hiding underneath the kitchen table hunched over a lit-up screen, playing his favorite game? Yes, another red flag of addiction is children lying about iPad use, sneaking the iPad into their bedroom or other hideout, or otherwise deceiving family members to get more screen time.

6. Trouble dealing
Addicts often use a substance or an activity as a way of escaping from a negative mood or feeling.
"Whether it's sex, drugs or gambling, it's about other feelings that they can't control," the psychologist said.Kids who are using the iPad to avoid dealing with sad, stressful, or negative emotions could have a problem. For instance, if your kid always grabs the iPad after a fight with a sibling or a parent, he may be coping with his negative emotions using the iPad.

7. Losing opportunities
Losing significant relationships, failing in school, or performing poorly at work are all signs of addiction. Though young children have probably not lost their shot at the corner office as a result of too much Candy Crush Saga, they may be losing friends or their grades may be slipping.
"The idea is that the child is detaching from the world around them," the psychologist said.

Normal or not?
For all these symptoms, it's important to note that mentally healthy children, especially young children, become slightly obsessive about any new activity.

"When a child s learning to master their environment, or trying to get good at something, it's okay for them to spend a lot of time on it," Amitay said.

In young children especially, most symptoms of iPad addiction can be short-circuited early on if parents set limits, create consequences for excessive use and provide daily structure for their children. 
The fact that parents have trouble taking an iPad away from a 3-year-old doesn't necessarily mean they have a toddler addict; it means the parent have trouble saying no, the psychologist said.

"If parents can't intervene with a 3-year-old, good luck with a teen," he said.

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New test enables early diagnosis of liver cancer

Scientists  have developed a new test that can distinguish early liver cancer cells from nearly identical normal liver cells by giving them a distinctive red-brown hue.

The inability to definitively tell the difference between them often means the disease is detected late when treatment options are less effective.

There is no definitive test for early diagnosis of liver cancer. Our test adds a level of comfort for making the diagnosis," said the lead author of the study. Early liver cancer is mostly silent. By the time it's large enough to cause classic symptoms such as abdominal pain and weight loss, the cancer cells look distinctive but the liver is failing.

The myriad of treatment options - from removing the diseased portion of the liver to liver transplants to freezing or heating cancer cells - have a high chance of failing as well, he said.

He began collaborating with expertise in cell and tissue testing, to develop a probe that gives cancer cells the distinctive red-brown hue.

The probe detects and stains a microRNA called mir-21, which is found in liver cancer but not healthy liver cells,he said. Unlike RNA, microRNA doesn't make proteins rather helps control proteins that are expressed by RNA. That means it's more stable and can survive harsh chemicals normally used to prepare the biopsy for microscopic evaluation.

For the study, they used their probe on biopsies of 10 healthy livers and 10 livers with early cancers. In every case of liver cancer, the biopsy took on the red-brown hue. The probe was not detected in normal cells. The studies were done retrospectively, so they already knew which patients ultimately were diagnosed with cancer. They are now using the test on 200 similar cases of liver cancer.

The group also is exploring this approach in other hard-to-detect-early cancers. This Dr. worked with a pathology resident to identify microRNAs selectively expressed in melanoma. Under the microscope, the potentially deadly skin cancer cells look a lot like common mole cells. 

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Air pollution can harm people with frail hearts

Air pollution is taking its toll on people with failing hearts by killing millions of people globally each year, a big international study has revealed.

This happens when the heart muscle becomes weak and less good at its job of pumping blood around the body.

The research looked at 35 studies with data for thousands of patients in 12 countries.

It was found that the strongest link was with gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, as well as fine particulate air pollution - fumes from buses, taxis and lorries that can get deep into the lungs and, from there, into the bloodstream.

The study suggested that people with weak hearts, who were living near to or travelling along busy roads, were exposed to high levels and were more vulnerable to heart failure.

According to Dr , moderate reductions in air pollution could avoid lots of hospital admissions for heart failure each year.




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