The University of Florida has developed a simple breath test that can now be used by children and pregnant women facing potentially serious digestive disorders.
Bacterial overgrowth in the intestines affects people of all ages, but occurs most often in the elderly.It can lead to profound weight loss, diarrhea, vitamin and protein deficiencies and malnutrition.
If not treated with antibiotics, it can cause steady deterioration of health; in extreme cases, it can also be life-threatening.
The improved diagnostic test is safer than earlier versions because it uses a non-radioactive tracer material in the liquid solution ingested by patients, said Phillip Toskes.
By replacing radioactive carbon 14 used in the old test with a natural body element called carbon 13, it can now be administered safely to patients of all ages, said Toskes, the UF gastroenterologist who developed the old and new xylose tests for bacterial overgrowth.
The patient drinks a sugar-enriched solution and then breathes into a machine that measures the amount of sugar exhaled in the form of carbon dioxide.
The test enables physicians to determine, within 30 minutes to an hour, whether there are too many bacteria in the upper intestine.
Normally, the small intestines and stomach are almost devoid of bacteria, but when the bowels fail to function properly, bacteria begin to thrive and to compete with their human host for food.
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Tips for kids who work
After-school jobs offer valuable experience, and teach kids how to deal with people, handle money and responsibility, and manage their time.
But, says Careers & Colleges, a magazine for high school students, balancing a job and school takes discipline.
"Students who work need to allow time for homework, extracurricular activities and social life," said June Rogoznica, Careers & Colleges editor-in-chief. Among the magazine's suggestions:
- Be sure you can "afford" to work. Make a "time budget." Include your class time, after-school commitments and homework time. Be sure to allow for family and social activities.
- Know the laws about working. By federal law, you must be at least 14 years old to work. If you are 14 or 15, there are restrictions on the number of hours you can work. Anyone under 18 years of age cannot work at a job that involves hazardous situations or driving a vehicle at work.
- Limit the hours when you start. Begin with 10 hours or less a week. Add more hours only if you can keep up with school and social commitments. Cut back if you are falling behind.
- Know when to quit. If grades slip, you're working too much.
- Associated Press