Reader’s Digest India – August 2019

News From the

WORLD OF

MEDICINE

44 august 2019

ORANGES WARD OFF

MACULAR DEGENERATION

An orange a day might keep macular degenera-

tion away, according to a study of more than

2,000 adults aged 49 and older. The Westmead

Institute for Medical Research in Australia,

which conducted the study, found that people

who ate an orange daily reduced their risk of

acquiring this age-related visual impairment by

up to 60 per cent. In addition to vitamin C,

oranges have flavonoids, which might explain

the effect: These compounds prevent oxidative

stress and reduce inflammation in the body.

Scientists Wipe Out

Disease-Carrying

Mosquitoes

Although the majority of

mosquitoes don’t spread

diseases, the three most

deadly types (aedes,

anopheles, and culex)

live on almost every

continent and are re-

sponsible for transmit-

ting approximately

17 per cent of the infec-

tious diseases around

the world, according to

the Commonwealth

Scientific and Industrial

Research Organisation.

In an experiment with

global implications,

scientists released more

than three million sterile

male Aedes aegypti

mosquitoes in three

tropical towns in north-

ern Australia. The sterile

males mated with wild

females, and more than

80 per cent of the entire

population was eventu-

ally wiped out.

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