The term “naked official” has been selected as one of China’s top ten buzzwords of 2009 by Chinese linguists. It refers to the officials whose family members have moved overseas, while they themselves work in the country alone usually with the other country’s visa in hand.

The “naked official” phenomenon has attracted great attention in China, as there have been many cases where such officials have been found to be corrupt.

Pang Jiayu, former vice chairman of the provincial committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in northwestern Shaanxi, had his wife and son emigrate to Canada in 2002, six years before he was sentenced to prison for 12 years for bribery and dereliction of duty.

Zhou Jinhuo, former director of the Industry and Commerce Bureau of east China’s Fujian Province, tried to flee overseas in June 2006 when he found himself being investigated by anti-corruption agencies. His wife had emigrated to the United States previously.

“It is reasonable to cast suspicion over the uprightness and honesty of officials who have arranged their family relatives to live abroad,” said Zhong Li, a lawyer of Beijing Maxpro Law Firm.

Prof. Huang Zongliang of Peking University has recently expressed that an effective way to curb corruption was to create a personal assets reporting system for officials.

Prof. Gong Weibin with the Chinese Academy of Governance, proposed that officials whose family relatives lived overseas should report the reasons why their family members went overseas, their financial sources and places where their family members live or work, so to better protect national interests and prevent cadres from corruption.

A communique, issued by the fifth plenary session of the 17th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) this January, stipulates that officials should report their properties and investments as well as employment of their spouse and children, and authorities should particularly monitor those officials who had family members living overseas.

The Shenzhen municipal government issued a regulation in November 2009, stipulating that “naked officials” were prohibited from serving as leading officials in major Party and governmental departments.

As the “two sessions”, or annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the top legislature, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top advisory body, are approaching, online surveys show that corruption remains the No. 1 concern among Chinese people.

China can reduce its holdings of dollar assets, but should not “overdo” it as the country tries to adjust the structure of its dollar asset-dominated foreign exchange reserves, analysts said.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to nearly $2.4 trillion by the end of last year – a third of the global total – raising concerns that the massive scale of the holdings could backfire.

About 70 percent of the reserves are dollar assets, according to various estimates by scholars, and the high proportion means that once the dollar’s value slumps, China will incur huge losses.

But it is equally difficult for China to dump its dollar assets because that could lead to a domino effect on other investors and cause depreciation of China’s holdings.

“China is in a dilemma,” said Dong Yuping, economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

According to the latest US Treasury International Capital (TIC) data, China was a net seller of US Treasuries in December, cutting its holdings by $34.2 billion to $755.4 billion.

China’s share of total outstanding short- and long-term US Treasury securities among foreign holders declined to 20.9 percent in December from 23 percent in mid-2009, yielding its position as the largest investor in US treasuries to Japan.

“The data suggest that China could be more actively diversifying its currency reserves away from US Treasuries,” said Jing Ulrich, managing director and chairman of China Equities and Commodities, J.P. Morgan. “We expect the country might be marginally shifting some exposure to other currencies.”

While it is not clear that the selling is part of a consistent strategy, the country should keep a “considerable” proportion of dollar assets in its foreign exchange reserves, said Sun Lijian, economist with the Fudan University.

“China should not overly reduce its dollar assets, given their high market liquidity,” he said. Dollar assets are relatively easy to sell if China needs quick money to safeguard its financial stability, he said.

More than a decade after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, there are increasing suggestions that China use its growing reserves to buy resources, technologies and attract high-caliber professionals from abroad. While they are important, Sun said, China must have enough reserves available for protecting its financial stability.

Asia was dealt a heavy blow during the financial crisis when international speculators attacked the currencies of some economies which did not have adequate reserves, plunging them into a spiral of currency depreciation, economic contraction and social chaos.

Since then, Asian countries have paid great attention to increasing foreign exchange reserves; and now, they account for seven of the top 10 nations.

As China’s reserves grow, however, concerns are also growing that they could invite speculative capital inflows, especially when the country’s economic recovery is quicker than in other regions.

Once the capital flows out of the country, there will be shocks to the domestic market and the economy, Sun warned.

To address the problem, China must quicken its pace of balancing domestic demand and exports as it strives to stimulate consumption as a major engine of economic growth, said Dong.

contractility and the heart terminates blood ejection and blood circulation. If not rescued on time, it results in the death of patients due to long time brain hypoxia. At this moment, it should be promptly carried out the defibrillation by defibrillator, so as to let certain energy of current flows pass through the heart to eliminate heart rhythm disorders, to restore normal heart rhythm and to gain the time for further saving. The original defibrillator used the industrial alternating current directly to eliminate the defibrillation. This type of defibrillator often killed or injured due to electric shock. As the technology increasingly completes, AED already possesses reliable analytical techniques of heart rhythm and reliable discharge method, which can improve the defibrillation effect and reduce the damage to the human body. The AED operation is usually divided into three steps: start, paste electrodes as well as the proposal whether to conduct electric shock or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. AED will automatically collect and analyze the heart rhythm also give the instruction to perform electric shocks. Whether it will occur mistaken electric shock, the key is if the reliability of the rhythm analysis and that of the discharge method. As long as these two points are done, in general, it will not happen mistaken electric shock. Moreover, AED will present clear instructions before conducting electric shocks. It will warn you whether to conduct the electric shocks, only after the button is pressed, it will produce.electric shocks. In any case, AED is such a tool: through the safe electric shock to reach the purpose of first aiding cardiac arrest patients.

This is unfortunate, because most experts believe that flu epidemics begin and spread to adults from younger children.

This doesn’t mean that all children should get flu shots, but if your child is in one of the high risk groups mentioned below, or if he has contact with someone in a high risk group, then you should consider getting him a flu shot each year. Keep in mind that the flu shot is now being formally recommended for all children 6months to 18 years of age.

Influenza Facts

Influenza is a viral illness and typical flu symptoms include fever, cough, chills, sore throat, headache and muscle aches, which usually begin about 1-4 days after being exposed to someone with the flu. Symptoms are usually mild to moderate in most people, but can be more severe in the elderly or very young children, causing thousands of deaths each year (mostly elderly people).

You can get the flu if:

• you are around someone with the flu that coughs or sneezes and the germs enter your body through your mouth or nose
• you touch something, such as a door knob or sink faucet, that has been touched and contaminated by someone with the flu, and you then touch your own mouth or nose

Unlike many other viruses, there actually are treatments for influenza, but they must be started very early in the course of the illness and usually within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. These treatments include the medications zanamivir (Relenza), and oseltamivir (Tamiflu), although there has been resistance to these medicines recently so that they don’t work as well.

Influenza Vaccine Facts

The influenza shot is an inactivated or killed vaccine and is usually changed each year to keep up with the most common strains of the influenza virus that are circulating and most likely to cause infections.

The influenza vaccine is available for children over the age of six months. To produce a good response, the first year that they get it, children under nine years of age need two doses of the vaccine given at least one month apart. Children over nine years and younger children who have previously had a flu shot only need a single injection each year.

Flu shot reactions or side effects are usually mild, and may include soreness, redness or swelling where the shot was given, fever, and/or aches, and usually only last for 1-2 days. Children under 3 years should receive a 0.25ml dose of inactivated flu vaccine. Children over 3 years and adults should receive a dose of 0.5ml.

More serious side effects can rarely include a life-threatening allergic reaction.

For more information, including the latest news on this year’s flu season, please visit our guide to Kids and the Flu.

Who Should Get a Flu Shot

There shouldn’t be any formal shortages this year and there aren’t any restrictions on getting flu shots this year, so anyone who wants a flu shot can get one.

Remember that a flu shot is now recommended for all children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years.

High risk groups who should especially get a flu shot this flu season include:

• children aged 6–59 months
• pregnant women
• persons aged 50 years and older,
• children and adults with most chronic health conditions, including asthma, diabetes, and immune system problems
• residents of long-term care facilities
• household contacts and out-of-home caregivers of children aged <6 months or in other high risk groups above
• health-care personnel who provide direct patient care

Keep in mind that the ‘household contacts’ part places a lot of extra kids into a high risk group who should get a flu vaccine. For example, if you have a 3 year old and a 10 year old, they should both get a flu vaccine, because the 10 year old is a household contact of the 3 year old. Or if one child in your family has asthma, then everyone should get a flu vaccine. The child with asthma is in a high risk group and everyone else is a household contact of someone in a high risk group.

And remember that even if your child is not in a high risk group, he can still get a flu vaccine if you want to simply reduce his risk of getting the flu this year.

Other Vaccination Recommendations

• Healthy persons who are 2-49 years of age and not pregnant, including health-care workers (except those who care for severely immunocompromised patients in special care units) and persons caring for children aged less than 6 months can be vaccinated with intranasally administered live, attenuated influenza vaccine (Flumist).
• People should not get a flu vaccine if they have a severe allergy to chicken eggs, have had a severe reaction to an influenza vaccination in the past, have developed Guillain-Barre syndrome within 6 weeks of getting an influenza vaccine previously, if they are less than 6 months old, or if they have a moderate or severe illness with a fever.

One thing to keep in mind is that although thimerosal has been removed from all routinely recommended childhood vaccines, the flu vaccine does still contain thimerosal. This is not necessarily a reason to not get your child immunized though, especially if he is in a high risk group. And a limited amount of influenza vaccine that are thimerosal free or have a reduced thimerosal content will be available for the 2009-2010 influenza season. According to the CDC, ‘the benefit of influenza vaccine with reduced or standard thimerosal content outweighs the theoretical risk, if any, from thimerosal.’

Updated for the 2009-2010 Flu Season.

First, remember to always check with your doctor for guidelines and advice regarding your own situation. But in general, here are some considerations.

I consulted with both the Thyroid Society for Education & Research and the Thyroid Foundation of America. The Thyroid Society’s Medical Director, Dr. Sheldon Rubenfeld, indicated that he did not feel that there were any special reasons why a thyroid patient who was not already a member of an influenza risk group should get a flu shot. The Thyroid Foundation of America indicated that they have no position on flu shots for thyroid patients.

While I’m not a doctor, I’d say that I don’t agree with this recommendation for people with autoimmune thyroid disease like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Graves’ Disease. We know that people with autoimmune diseases have malfunctioning immune systems. We often have a more difficult time fighting off or receuperating from infection. Many of us find ourselves getting more colds, and taking longer to recover from them. We’re more susceptible to allergies and asthma. Wounds can even heal more slowly. It makes sense to me that if there’s a safe and effective vaccine that will offer tremendous protection from the flu, that it would also make sense to take advantage of this, rather than exposing ourselves to what might be an increased risk of getting the flu, and a longer receuperation time getting over the flu.

Lending some support to my opinion, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed influenza guidelines for the 1999-2000 flu season recommend a flu shot for “adults and children who have required regular medical follow-up or hospitalization during the preceding year because of chronic metabolic diseases…”

Generally, according to the CDC, influenza vaccine is specifically recommended for people who are at high risk for developing serious complications as a result of influenza infection. These high-risk groups include all people aged 65 years or older and people of any age with chronic diseases of the heart, lung or kidneys, diabetes, immunosuppression, or severe forms of anemia. Specifically, the CDC’s recommendations include:

“Influenza vaccine is strongly recommended for any person aged >6 months who — because of age or underlying medical condition — increased risk for complications of influenza. Groups at increased risk of influenza complications include:

1. Persons aged 65 years or older.

2. Residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities housing patients of any age who have chronic medical conditions.

3. Adults and children with chronic disorders of the pulmonary or cardiovascular systems, including children with asthma.

4. Adults and children who have required regular medical follow-up or hospitalization during the preceding year because of chronic metabolic diseases (including diabetes mellitus), renal dysfunction, hemoglobinopathies, or immunosuppression (including immunosuppression caused by medications).

5. Children and teenagers (6 months-18 years) who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and therefore may be at risk for developing Reye syndrome after influenza.

6. Women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during the influenza season

 

Even alternative medicine expert Dr. Andrew Weil recommends, generally, “if a really virulent flu is coming, I’d take a flu shot…in an ordinary year I recommend flu shots only to people who have chronic respiratory illness or who are elderly, debilitated or have compromised respiration for any reason.”

What is the Flu?

The flu is far more than a cold. It’s a respiratory infection that can lead to pneumonia. Flu often causes fever of 100 to 103 degrees in adults, and respiratory symptoms like cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, as well as headache, muscle aches, and often extreme fatigue. Average recovery from flu in a healthy person can take from one to two weeks.

The elderly and people with chronic health problems are much more likely to develop serious complications such as pneumonia after influenza infection than are younger, healthier people.

How Can the Flu Shot Help?

The flu vaccine can greatly reduce your chance of getting the flu, the seriousness of it if it is contracted, and the chance of complications or death due to influenza.

What is the Flu Shot?

The flu shot is made up of inactive flu virus, which stimulates an immune reaction to the current strains of flu. The only type of influenza vaccine that has been licensed in the United States at present is made from dead influenza viruses — NOT LIVE viruses, as many people erroneously report — which cannot cause flu infection. It’s generally given in the upper arm, and does not hurt much at all.

Are There Side Effects?

The flu shot causes no side effects in most people. The most serious side effect is a rare allergic reaction in those with severe allergy to eggs, since the viruses used in the vaccine are grown in hens’ eggs. For this reason, people who have an allergy to eggs should not receive influenza vaccine.

The main side effect, according to the CDC, is a bit of soreness in the arm in “less than one-third of those who receive vaccine.” Also, about 5% to 10% of people experience mild side effects, such as headache or low-grade fever for about a day after vaccination. Today’s vaccines, unlike the less refined vaccines from the 1940s to the 1960s, do not cause more serious side effects or cause someone to “get the flu.”

When Should You Get Your Flu Vaccine?

In the United States, peak flu season is from November until April, so the best time to get your flu shot is between September and mid-November. It takes about 1 to 2 weeks after vaccination for antibody against influenza to develop and provide protection.

Influenza (flu) is caused by a viral infection that produces a host of very nasty symptoms — fever, muscle aches and pains, weakness, headache, watery eyes, sore throat, runny nose, and cough. While most of these symptoms are seen with many other viral infections, they tend to be worse much when you have actual influenza. So people with flu tend to be “sicker” than people with most other respiratory viral infections. In fact, the respiratory (lung) complications of flu lead to many of the 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths caused each year in the United States by influenza viruses.

People with heart disease have a harder time with the flu than people without heart disease. This is because the flu produces significant stress on the cardiovascular system — breathing difficulty, changes in blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and even direct effects on the heart — that make this illness particularly difficult, and even dangerous, for someone who has heart disease.

What Precautions Should You Take for H1N1?

At this point, there is still no evidence that the H1N1 flu is is strikingly more dangerous than the “garden variety” flus that we see every year. But if you have heart disease, the garden variety flu is bad enough. Worse, because H1N1 is a very new strain of influenza, your chances of getting quite sick if you are exposed to it are probably higher than with normal influenza. So you should take at least the same precautions you ought to take during any flu season.

One precaution you should take every year, of course, is to get your flu shot. Influenza vaccines reduce the risk of dying if you have heart disease, and there is every reason to believe that the H1N1 flu shot will also reduce the risk of death. If you have heart disease, you should get the H1N1 flu shot as soon as it is available to you. (This means that this year you should get two flu shots – one for H1N1, and one “regular” flu shot for the “normal” flu.)

• Read more about flu shots improving survival in people with heart disease.

In addition to getting the flu shot, you should take the typical precautions to avoid flu. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, or a hand sanitizer. And try to avoid contact with people who appear actively sick.

If the H1N1 flu comes to your area in a big way, you might want to somewhat restrict your activities outside of the home, specifically, avoid large crowds when practical.

Wearing a face mask to avoid the flu is a bit controversial. The practice of wearing face masks at the moment is being actively discouraged in the United States, with experts citing the fact that very little scientific evidence supports their effectiveness in preventing influenza. While this is true, this author finds it noteworthy that healthcare workers in flu-affected areas are certainly wearing them, and wonders whether the public disparaging of face masks may be part of the overall (albeit laudable) strategy to control panic. In any case, if you decide to wear a face mask, make sure it covers both your nose and your mouth, and that it creates as tight a seal all the way around as possible.

If You Get Sick

If you develop symptoms suggestive of the flu, call your doctor immediately, even before you try any over-the-counter remedies (which may contain decongestants that people with heart disease should avoid). Remind your doctor that you have heart disease, and that if you have the flu you may benefit from one of the antiviral drugs like Tamiflu, which can reduce the severity of illness.

During your illness, you should also call your doctor if you develop difficulty in breathing, failure to improve after three or four days, or if you suddenly develop worsening symptoms (especially after beginning to recover).

All these precautions, of course, apply to any influenza, not just the H1N1 flu.

What is Tachycardia?

Tachycardia is a condition in which the heart is beating at a rapid or irregular rhythm that is typically over the 100 beats per minute mark and can even climb as high as 400 beats per minute for adults. (The lower range for diagnosing tachycardia may be higher for children under the age of 15.)This accelerated rate is beyond the normal functioning parameters of the heart and does not allow for the heart to accurately circulate the blood flow and supply of oxygen through out the body as it should. Normally, an adult heart rate should be between 60-100 when at rest but may at times accelerate beyond that when under stress or heavy exercise. However, when the rate is over 100 in an at rest state, it can be a cause for concern.

Since the rapid heart rate can occur in either the upper or lower chambers of the heart, there are two types of tachycardia- supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), which occurs in the heart’s upper chambers and ventricular tachycardia which is an occurrence in the lower chambers of the heart.

What Causes Tachycardia?

There are several things that can cause tachycardia including heart disease, stress, dehydration or low electrolyte levels, poor blood supply to the heart, consuming large amounts of caffeine or alcohol, infections, and certain diseases including thyroid disease or lung disease. Deficiencies in potassium can also be a related cause of the rapid heart rate. Additionally, taking certain types of drugs, such as those involved with chemotherapy treatments can negatively affect the normal functions of your heart and could possibly lead to tachycardia.

What Are the Symptoms of Tachycardia?

Patients suffering from tachycardia will often feel a rapid, fluttering sensation in their chest. Other additional symptoms also include dizziness, shortness of breath, being light headed, getting struck by sudden weakness, or fainting.

How is Tachycardia Treated?

Depending on how elevated your heart rate is and what potential danger it can be placing you in, there are several approaches to treating tachycardia which can range from lifestyle modifications or medications such as such as flecainide (Tambocor) or propafenone (Rythmol) for milder cases to surgery for those patients with a more serious degree of tachycardia. Some other ways that you can help to take care of your heart and deal with a rapid heart beat include cutting our caffeinated beverages, stress, and taking time to rest and relax. When you feel an attack or your heart rate begins to climb, slowing down and resting can be vital. Some have also suggested than cooling down can let your natural reflexes kick in that automatically begin to slow your heart rate 

Techniques called vagal maneuvers may also be recommended for treating attacks of tachycardia. This involves massaging the vagus nerve or applying ice packs among other techniques.

Eating foods rich in potassium and magnesium are also very important in having a healthy heart and regulating your heart beat. If approved by your health care provider, regular exercise can help strengthen your heart and in turn lower the at rest heart rate; however, you should consult your health care provider about the sort of exercise to be sure that is safe for you and take into consideration if you have any other conditions that may be of some concern before beginning an exercise regime.

Since tachycardia can be caused by other health problems, treating the original cause can also help to alleviate the rapid heart beat symptoms. If you or a loved one is suffering from tachycardia, consult your health care provider right away to chart the best course of treatment and to insure that you approach your rapid heart beat in a safe manner to determine an accurate cause to give you better chances of an overall, long term plan to get your high heart rate under control.

1. Rest. It include both physical and energetic aspects. When the patient’s symptom is not obvious, he may do some properly light work but do not participate in the heavy physical labor to increase the burden of the heart. If the patient have insufficient hear function or occurr rheumatism, he need have bedrest absolutely. All the daily life should be assisted by his family member. The manner to the patient should be kindly and avoid the bad stimulation.

2. Prevent respiratory infections. The patient’s room need abundant sunshine, fresh air, suitable room temperature. To prevent inducing rheumatism and aggravating the disease condition due to the respiratory infections.

3. Patients with insufficient heart function should control the moisture content and limit proper amount of sodium salt in the diet. Every day the suitbale amount is below 10 grams. Do not eat salting product.

4. Patients who take the diuretic should eat the fruits like banana and orange,etc.

5. Patients with arial fibrillation AF are not suitable to engage in the fierce activities. They should perform the regular out-patient clinic(OPD) and follow-up visit. At the suitable time  they  need consider surgery treatment. The time for operation to carry on should be decided according to the particular case by doctors. 

6. If patients need pull out a tooth or perform other minor operation, it need adopt antibiotic to prevent infection.

Meanwhile, must remember: this disease is the consequence of rheumatism. The key to prevent the disease is to prevent actively alpha hemolytic streptococcus infection. It is also important to strengthen the physical training and enhance organism disease-resistant ability. Positively and effectively treatment of alpha hemolytic streptococcus infection, such as amygdalitis, decayed tooth and the paranasal sinus and so on chronic disease  can prevent and reduce this sickness occurrence.

1. Embryo environment Because the embryo heart was disturbed during the growth process, it cause some parts to stop growth or have flaws, as well as parts that should degenerate are unable to degenerate completely.

1. Embryo environment factors. In the early time of pregnancy , the inside of womb catched virus infection. It is most common to have rubella virus infection, which induce patent ductus arteriosus and pulmonary stenosis. Next is Coxsackie virus infection can induce elastic fiber hyperplasia. Besides, the amniotic affection, machinery oppression around embryo, nutritional disturbance of parent substance, vitamin deficiency and the metabolic disease, cytotoxic drug taken by the parent substance and long time radioactive rays irradiating, all have the connection with this desease.

2. The hereditary factor. 5% of patients with congenital heart disease occur in identical family. The sickness type is the same or similar. It is possible as a result of the genetic disorder or the chromosomic aberration.

3. Others reasons. The high incidence of plateau area patent ductus arteriosus and atrial septal defect, which occurrence is possibly related to the oxygen deficit. There are some patients with congenital heart disease have the sex tendentiousness.

What reasons induce the congenital heart disease? edited by Heart Problems, all rights reserved, Do not copy or revise without our permission.

factors. In the early time of pregnancy , the inside of womb catched virus infection. It is most common to have rubella virus infection, which induce patent ductus arteriosus and pulmonary stenosis. Next is Coxsackie virus infection can induce elastic fiber hyperplasia. Besides, the amniotic affection, machinery oppression around embryo, nutritional disturbance of parent substance, vitamin deficiency and the metabolic disease, cytotoxic drug taken by the parent substance and long time radioactive rays irradiating, all have the connection with this desease.

2. The hereditary factor. 5% of patients with congenital heart disease occur in identical family. The sickness type is the same or similar. It is possible as a result of the genetic disorder or the chromosomic aberration.

3. Others reasons. The high incidence of plateau area patent ductus arteriosus and atrial septal defect, which occurrence is possibly related to the oxygen deficit. There are some patients with congenital heart disease have the sex tendentiousness.

What reasons induce the congenital heart disease? edited by Heart Problems, all rights reserved, Do not copy or revise without our permission.