Questões de Inglês

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Autism's Drug Problem

Many people on the spectrum take multiple medications, which can lead to serious side effects and may not even be effective

Connor was diagnosed with autism early — when he was just 18 months old. His condition was already obvious by then. “He was lining things up, switching lights on and off, on and off,” says his mother, Melissa. He was bright, but he didn’t speak much until age 3, and he was easily frustrated. Once he started school, he couldn’t sit still in class, called out answers without raising his hand and got visibly upset when he couldn’t master a math concept or a handwriting task quickly enough. “One time, he rolled himself up into the carpet like a burrito and wouldn’t come out until I got there,” Melissa recalls. (All families in this story are identified by first name only, to protect their privacy.)

Connor was prescribed his first psychiatric drug, methylphenidate (Ritalin), at age 6. That didn’t last long, but when he was 7, his parents tried again. A psychiatrist suggested a low dose of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine (Adderall), a stimulant commonly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The drug seemed to improve his time at school: He was able to sit still for longer periods of time and focus on what his teachers were saying. His chicken-scratch handwriting became legible. Then, it became neat. Then perfect. And then it became something Connor began to obsess over.

“We were told that these are the gives and takes; if it’s helping him enough to get through school, you have to decide if it’s worth it,” Melissa says. It was worth it — for a while.

But when the Adderall wore off each day, Connor had a tougher time than ever. He spent afternoons crying and refusing to do much of anything. The stimulant made it difficult for him to fall asleep at night. So after a month or two, his psychiatrist added a second medication — guanfacine (Intuniv), which is commonly prescribed for ADHD, anxiety and hypertension, but can also help with insomnia. The psychiatrist hoped it might both ease Connor’s afternoons and help him sleep.

In some ways, it had the opposite effect. His afternoons did get slightly better, but Connor developed intense mood swings and was so irritable that every evening was a struggle. Rather than simply tossing and turning in bed, he refused to even get under the covers. “He wouldn’t go to bed because he was always angry about something,” Melissa says. “He was getting himself all wound up, carrying on, getting upset at night and crying.”

After seven months, his parents declared the combination unsustainable. They swapped guanfacine for over-the-counter melatonin, which helped Connor fall asleep with no noticeable side effects. But within a year, he had acquired a tolerance for Adderall. Connor’s psychiatrist increased his dosage and that, in turn, triggered tics: Connor began jerking his head and snorting. Finally, at his 9-year physical, his doctor discovered that he’d only grown a few inches since age 7. He also hadn’t gained any weight in two years; he’d dropped from the 50th percentile in weight to the 5th.

That was the end of all the experiments. His parents took him off all prescription drugs, and today, at almost 13 years old, Connor is still medication-free. His tics have mostly disappeared. Although he has trouble maintaining focus in class, his mother says that the risk-benefit ratio of trying another drug doesn’t seem worth it. “Right now we’re able to handle life without it, so we do.”

(...)

For Connor, eliminating prescription drugs was difficult, but doable. For others, multiple medications may seem indispensable. It’s not unusual for children with autism to take two, three, even four medications at once. Many adults with the condition do so, too. Data are scant in both populations, but what little information there is suggests multiple prescriptions are even more common among adults with autism than in children. Clinicians are particularly concerned about children with the condition because psychiatric medications can have long-lasting effects on their developing brains, and yet are rarely tested in children.

In general, polypharmacy — most often defined as taking more than one prescription medication at once — is commonplace in people with autism. In one study of more than 33,000 people under age 21 with the condition, at least 35 percent had taken two psychotropic medications simultaneously; 15 percent had taken three.

“Psychotropic medications are used pretty extensively in people with autism because there aren’t a lot of treatments available,” says Lisa Croen, director of the Autism Research Program at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California. “Is heavy drug use bad? That’s the question. We don’t know; it hasn’t been studied.”

Disponível em: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/autisms-drug-problem/. Texto adaptado.

What is TED?

[1]    TED is a nonpartisan nonprofit foundation

devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form

of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984 as

a conference where Technology,

[5] Entertainment and Design converged, and

today covers almost all topics — from science

to business to global issues — in more than 110

languages. Meanwhile, independently run

TEDx events help share ideas in communities

[10] around the world. TED believes passionately

that ideas have the power to change attitudes,

lives, and ultimately, the world. This

underlying philosophy is the driving force

behind all of TED’s endeavors, including the

[15] TED Conferences, TEDx, TED Books, the

TED Fellows Program, and the TED Open

Translation Project. With this philosophy in

mind, and with the intention of supporting

teachers and sparking the curiosity of learners

[20] around the world, TED-Ed was launched in

2012.

What is TED-Ed?
    TED-Ed is TED’s youth and education

initiative. TED-Ed’s mission is to spark and

[25] celebrate the ideas of teachers and students

around the world. Everything we do supports

learning — from producing a growing library

of original animated videos, to providing an

international platform for teachers to create

[30] their own interactive lessons, to helping

curious students around the globe bring TED to

their schools and gain presentation literacy

skills, to celebrating innovative leadership

within TED-Ed’s global network of over

[35] 250,000 teachers. TED-Ed has grown from an

idea worth spreading into an award-winning

education platform that serves millions of

teachers and students around the world every

week.

[40] What are TED-Ed Originals?
    TED-Ed Originals are our signature

content: short, award-winning animated videos

about ideas that spark the curiosity of learners

everywhere. Every TED-Ed Original

[45] represents a creative collaboration between

experts. Such experts may include TED

Speakers and TED Fellows, as well as

educators, designers, animators, screenwriters,

directors, science writers, historians,

[50] journalists and editors. These original

animated videos, paired with questions and

resources, make up what we refer to as

TED-Ed Lessons.
(Fonte:www.ted.com)

Man’s Facebook Post Got 500 People To Come To Struggling Restaurant In 1 Day

Kimberly Yam

[1]    A Canadian restaurant that had trouble staying afloat

has become quite the catch, thanks to a simple Facebook

post.

    After Colin Ross, 31, decided to eat at a struggling

[5] shop called Whitbie’s Fish & Chips following a long night

out, he fell in love with the food. But the patron was

discouraged to find that John McMillan, the shop’s

69-year-old owner, couldn’t even afford to pay himself.

    So last weekend, Ross wrote a rave review, calling on

[10] people across Facebook to check out the shop. And days

later, McMillan watched as hundreds visited his restaurant

and revived his Lethbridge, Alberta business.
    McMillan told Global News that he’s moved by

this outpouring of generosity from the community.

[15]    “He did it out of the goodness of his heart and

Lethbridge came and did it out of the goodness of their

hearts,” the proud owner said of Ross and his other

patrons.

    About 400 people showed up to the fish and chips

[20] shop shortly after Ross’ post went up. The day after, a

whopping 500 people showed up to support the

restaurant, BuzzFeed reported. McMillan has even had to

hire another chef to keep up with business, CTV noted.

    “Our business has just gone right through the roof to

[25] the point where, you know, we’ve got people waiting an

hour and a half to an hour and three quarters for their

dinner,” he told the Calgary Eyeopener.

    Whitbie’s has come a long way from where it was

just a few weeks ago. The owner, who’s originally from

[30] Scotland, explained to Global News that much of his

business’ struggles are due to a bad location.

    “People don’t know where I am,” he told the outlet.

“The last three months here have been absolutely

horrible, just horrible.”
[35]    When Ross made his first visit to the restaurant in

search of a hangover cure, he said he didn’t see anyone

else there besides McMillan. The customer, who

ordered a halibut special, was both pleased with the food

and touched by the owner’s personality. And though

[40] McMillan initially refused Ross’ offer to help, the patron

went ahead and shared his thoughts of the shop on Face-

book.

    “The owner was a gem, real classy stand-up guy, so

I ask everyone in Lethbridge to share

[45] this and go support this hard working gentleman,” he wrote.
    The post has received thousands of shares from peo-

ple across the social media site. With business now

booming, McMillan told the Calgary Eyeopener that

he’s bursting with community pride.
[50]    “The people of Alberta just come together,” he said.

“This is the greatest province and the greatest country.”
(Fonte: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-one-facebook-post-hel-ped-revive-a-struggling-fish-and-chips-shop_us_57c450f8e4b0664f13c96bc9 Agosto 2016).

Man’s Facebook Post Got 500 People To Come To Struggling Restaurant In 1 Day

Kimberly Yam

[1]    A Canadian restaurant that had trouble staying afloat

has become quite the catch, thanks to a simple Facebook

post.

    After Colin Ross, 31, decided to eat at a struggling

[5] shop called Whitbie’s Fish & Chips following a long night

out, he fell in love with the food. But the patron was

discouraged to find that John McMillan, the shop’s

69-year-old owner, couldn’t even afford to pay himself.

    So last weekend, Ross wrote a rave review, calling on

[10] people across Facebook to check out the shop. And days

later, McMillan watched as hundreds visited his restaurant

and revived his Lethbridge, Alberta business.
    McMillan told Global News that he’s moved by

this outpouring of generosity from the community.

[15]    “He did it out of the goodness of his heart and

Lethbridge came and did it out of the goodness of their

hearts,” the proud owner said of Ross and his other

patrons.

    About 400 people showed up to the fish and chips

[20] shop shortly after Ross’ post went up. The day after, a

whopping 500 people showed up to support the

restaurant, BuzzFeed reported. McMillan has even had to

hire another chef to keep up with business, CTV noted.

    “Our business has just gone right through the roof to

[25] the point where, you know, we’ve got people waiting an

hour and a half to an hour and three quarters for their

dinner,” he told the Calgary Eyeopener.

    Whitbie’s has come a long way from where it was

just a few weeks ago. The owner, who’s originally from

[30] Scotland, explained to Global News that much of his

business’ struggles are due to a bad location.

    “People don’t know where I am,” he told the outlet.

“The last three months here have been absolutely

horrible, just horrible.”
[35]    When Ross made his first visit to the restaurant in

search of a hangover cure, he said he didn’t see anyone

else there besides McMillan. The customer, who

ordered a halibut special, was both pleased with the food

and touched by the owner’s personality. And though

[40] McMillan initially refused Ross’ offer to help, the patron

went ahead and shared his thoughts of the shop on Face-

book.

    “The owner was a gem, real classy stand-up guy, so

I ask everyone in Lethbridge to share

[45] this and go support this hard working gentleman,” he wrote.
    The post has received thousands of shares from peo-

ple across the social media site. With business now

booming, McMillan told the Calgary Eyeopener that

he’s bursting with community pride.
[50]    “The people of Alberta just come together,” he said.

“This is the greatest province and the greatest country.”
(Fonte: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-one-facebook-post-hel-ped-revive-a-struggling-fish-and-chips-shop_us_57c450f8e4b0664f13c96bc9 Agosto 2016).

Text

Alzheimer's patients feel emotions long after memory has faded

  Alzheimer's patients continue to feel happy or sad long after they have forgotten watching an emotive film, a study, carried out in 2013, shows.

  In the study, a group for 17 Alzheimer's patients were shown films, one sad and one happy, and then given tests to establish how much of the film they could remember. They also scored their emotions over time. The results were compared to a similar group of healthy people. Some patients did not remember having watched a film at all yet still described the emotions triggered by it and the effects lasted for at least 30 minutes.

  Leading researcher Edmarie Guzmán-Vélez, of the Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, said: ''Our findings suggest that even though patients with Alzheimer's disease may not remember instances of maltreatment, they can still experience the negative emotions triggered by such events.

  One patient in the study said: "I feel like all my emotions and feelings are rushing in on me. It‘s extremely confusing and I do not like that feeling.''

  Dr. Guzmán-Vélez said: "The persistence of this patient‘s intense negative emotion and her inability to conjure up a logical explanation for the cause of her feelings illustrate the confusion that a patient with Alzheimer's disease may experience when experiencing an apparently inexplicable feeling."

  The fact that these patients‘ feelings can persist, even in the absence of memory, highlights the need to avoid causing negative feelings and to try to induce positive feelings with frequent visits and social interactions, exercise, music, dance, jokes, and serving patients their favourite foods.

  The study, therefore, highlights the fact that actions toward patients with Alzheimer's disease have consequences, even when the patients do not appear to remember the actions. This has important implications for carers and family members.

Disponível em: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/ 11120439/ Alzheimer-patients-feel-emotion-long-after-memoryhas-faded.html. Acesso em: 05 maio 2017. Adaptado.

Glossary: carried out: conduzido; triggered: desencadearam; findings: descobertas; highlights: realça

Text 

    Countries are finding that the urban economic development to which they aspire brings poisoned air, ill-health, massive costs, a low quality of life and, probably, an early death for a very great many people.

    That is the stark conclusion from a reading of the new database of outdoor air quality from the World Health Organisation (WHO), for 3,000 of the world‘s cities. While millions of people in rich countries suffer the cancers, heart and respiratory diseases that air pollution brings, the levels of air pollution in many Asian and African cities are said to be five or even 10 times worse.

    By not addressing air pollution now, governments, NGOs and individuals are storing up a health time bomb for the future, guaranteeing that hospital wards will be full of wheezing people with hearts and lungs permanently damaged just by living near busy roads or factories. The vast costs to the economy of caring for an increasingly infirm older population will have to be met later. Most governments and individuals still do not see air pollution as a major issue, but as one of the inevitable prices of economic development. They may easily understand that people die of malaria, obesity, alcohol or malnutrition, but may not appreciate the grave risks of air pollution.
    Yet it‘s the biggest killer in the world and likely to put the biggest brake on development in the future.
Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/may/12/air-pollution-health-timebomb-poses-a-major-threatto-development-who >. Accessed on 07 Sept. 2016 (adapted).

Glossary
stark: dura, severa; time bomb: bomba-relógio; wards: enfermarias; to wheeze: arquejar, respirar com dificuldade.