News

Children in germany are too sluggish

Early practice. And those who don't practice early will be left behind. According to new analyses, children in Germany are moving a little more on average and the number of overweight first-graders is declining slightly – but that is no reason to breathe a sigh of relief, says the dpa. On the contrary: "The gap between very fit children and those who don't exercise at all is widening," says Alexander Woll from the Institute for Sports and Sports Science (IfSS) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). "There are more and more children with motor problems."

The researchers' findings are based, among other things, on the long-term study "Motorik-Modul," in which the motor skills of nearly 5,000 children and adolescents between the ages of 4 and 17 were recorded between 2003 and 2006 and between 2009 and 2012. The children had to do push-ups, run backwards, hop or jump. The comparison between the two study periods – the results have only been available for a short time – showed a slight upward trend. But, "35 percent of 4- to 17-year-olds, for example, can't take three steps backward on a three-inch-wide bar," Woll says.

Woll, who has overseen the study from the beginning and will continue it in several waves until 2021, concludes: "Even if the negative trend has stopped for the time being, the situation is still very bad." While society has never been as sporty as it is now. "At the same time, however, lack of exercise has never before been as big a problem as it is today." Movement paradox he calls it.

News

Pharmaceutical companies tinker with digital future

A balancing belt between trees, beanbags, several huts around it: The "BI X" digital laboratory at Boehringer Ingelheim, which has been in operation for about a year, doesn't look at all like the premises of a pharmaceutical company. Where the guest canteen used to be housed, IT specialists are now tinkering with new product ideas, beyond pills or capsules. Flat-screen monitors line one wall in "BI X". They show the status of the work of five teams pursuing various pilot projects.

Boehringer is looking for new business models in the digital environment, says "BI X" head Heiko Schmidt to the Deutsche Presse Agentur. The laboratory, in which the Ingelheim-based company invested around ten million euros at the start of the project, works together with all Group divisions. The aim, he says, is to test new ideas for technical feasibility and potential benefits in a short space of time and to develop working prototypes within a few months. Initial projects have been completed, such as a digital portal for exchanges between pet owners and veterinarians.

What will come on the market is not foreseeable

News

Coronavirus: telephone sick leave was extended

Sick leave by phone – that is due to the situation surrounding the Coronavirus Possible since March. Now the arrangement has been extended to 18. May, it would otherwise have expired on 4. May expired. This was announced by the Joint Federal Committee (G-BA) on Wednesday.

The extension takes place "due to the continuing crisis situation" to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Patients can thus for the time being continue to be certified as unfit for work for a maximum of one week after taking a medical history by telephone. Sick leave can be extended once if illness persists.

The regulation had been decided in March by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) together with the umbrella organization of the statutory health insurance funds. Everything you need to know about this exemption:

News

Donor organs: longer storage comes a little closer

U.S. researchers have developed a possible approach to storing donor organs for longer, dpa reports. In the laboratory, they succeeded in gently deep-freezing animal tie parts using a special process and then reheating them just as gently and at lightning speed by means of magnetic nanoparticles in an induction field.

This could open up the possibility of storing ties and organs for the long term at some point, writes the team led by Navid Manuchehrabadi of the University of Minnesota in the journal Science Tranlational Medicine. Until now, donor organs have often had to be transplanted within hours because otherwise they are no longer functional. However, according to a German expert, it will probably be decades before the new system is ready for use.

The super-fast cooling process called vitrification has been possible for some time now. Water is removed from the cells and replaced with a cryoprotectant. This is to prevent ice crystals from forming during freezing, which would damage the tie. The process is also used for egg freezing.

Corona

Flags and symbols at corona demos – first bans coming soon?

In late August, shocking images went viral of hoisted Imperial flags before the German Bundestag around the world. But what do the individual flags and symbols mean, the Right-wing extremist on the Anti-Corona-Demos wear? What is and is not allowed in Germany?

Clearly Banned by German lawmakers are known to be all flags and symbols that have the Third Reich in connection. This includes, in addition to the Swastika as flag and as symbol about SS and SA insignia, the Hitler salute and slogans like "Sieg Heil!" or "Blood and honor".

Anti-trafficking emblems – you could be imprisoned for three years

The wearing of this Anti-catching emblems can be associated with up to three years imprisonment be punished. This also applies to easily modified swastikas or salutes – and for the distinctive signs of groups and organizations banned in Germany, such as the "Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann".

Corona

Corona: green party politician fears hidden triage

  • When hospitals need to treat more people than capacity allows, so-called triage occurs
  • This is what it means for doctors to decide who gets treated – and who doesn't
  • This decision can follow also already before the admission into the hospital, for example if patients from nursing homes are not transferred
  • In the Corona pandemic, this could mean that infected patients, for example, cannot be ventilated – and may die

Patient advocates are alarmed: The average age at the Intensive care units has meanwhile fallen to below 60 years in some cases. But the proportion of people over 70 who die from or with covid-19 is more than 90 percent. "This contradiction is worrying," Eugen Brysch, chairman of the German Patient Protection Foundation, told our editorial team.

The member of the Bundestag Corinna Ruffer has possibly a dramatic explanation for it. "For me, there is therefore the suspicion that people from nursing homes do not get a chance to receive intensive medical treatment because they are sorted out from the outset," the Green politician told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

You might also be interested in this: Corona: what we really know about the virus mutation

Corona

This is how karl lauterbach sees his role as corona enlightener

There are people who, shortly before their death, think of Karl Lauterbach Think. It's because of the bow tie. "I've even gotten flies from estates. People have written to me saying that my late husband was very fond of me and left me the bow tie," says the SPD politician and health expert at a Corona breakfast in a Berlin cafe.

Then post mortem parcels with fashionable heirlooms arrived at his home. Exotic cross ties, some made of wood, others of glass. Lauterbach never put them on, but added them to his incredibly large collection.

But where is his trademark today? The 59-year-old looks so naked at the neck. Lauterbach without a bow tie is like Trump without hair, like Merkel without a rhombus.

Scandals

Grey's anatomy: tv series harm willingness to donate organs

All over the world, patients are waiting for life-saving donor organs. In Germany alone, there are currently 10.900 people on the waiting list and every eight hours a patient dies because he does not receive a donor organ in time. Health experts and politicians have been discussing for a long time how people's willingness to donate organs can be increased. Since 2012, health insurers have been obliged to regularly send their policyholders information material on organ donation and to ask them to fill out an organ donor card.

Now a recent US study shows that TV series also have an influence on the willingness to donate organs. Using the example of the American medical series "Grey's Anatomy," she showed that especially the The opinion of young – mainly female – viewers between the ages of 18 and 24 is negatively influenced by the portrayal in the series. Now that a German television station has also announced that it will address the ie of organ trafficking in an early evening series, the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) fears that the fictional portrayal will also have a real impact on the willingness to donate in this country.

"Our surveys show that the better informed people are, the greater their willingness to donate. Lack of information is the most common reason people decide against organ donation. That's why it's important that we provide people with sufficient and correct information on the basis of which they can make a decision for themselves," said Pia Jai, who is responsible at TK for providing information to policyholders on organ donation.

Scandals

Grey's anatomy: tv series harm willingness to donate organs

All over the world, patients are waiting for life-saving donor organs. In Germany alone, there are currently 10.900 people on the waiting list and every eight hours a patient dies because he does not receive a donor organ in time. Health experts and politicians have been discussing for a long time how people's willingness to donate organs can be increased. Since 2012, health insurers have been obliged to regularly send their policyholders information material on organ donation and to ask them to fill out an organ donor card.

Now a recent US study shows that TV series also have an influence on the willingness to donate organs. Using the example of the American medical series "Grey's Anatomy," she showed that especially the The opinion of young – mainly female – viewers between the ages of 18 and 24 is negatively influenced by the portrayal in the series. Now that a German television station has also announced that it will address the ie of organ trafficking in an early evening series, the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) fears that the fictional portrayal will also have a real impact on the willingness to donate in this country.

"Our surveys show that the better informed people are, the greater their willingness to donate. Lack of information is the most common reason people decide against organ donation. That's why it's important that we provide people with sufficient and correct information on the basis of which they can make a decision for themselves," said Pia Jai, who is responsible at TK for providing information to policyholders on organ donation.

Health

Fitness data: opportunities and risks for customer and insurance

They measure steps, calculate calories burned and collect lots of individual data: Fitness wristbands (wearables) or fitness apps are in vogue. The use of the data flood could turn the insurance market upside down and have consequences for consumers. However, there are still a lot of question marks.

A good year ago, the Generali insurance group in Germany took the first step toward combining a healthy lifestyle with a reward system for occupational disability and term life insurance. First, the health status of the insured is determined. Then he collects points for the discount account by jogging or buying healthy foods. The data is transmitted to a Generali subsidiary via fitness wristband or point-of-sale computer, according to dpa.

The company advertises that the premium for occupational disability insurance or term life insurance can drop by 16 percent as a result, ideally. "There is definitely a lot of interest from customers," says a Generali spokesperson. The company wants to give exact figures at the end of the year.