In a Nutshell:

• Lynley Hood, an 80-year-old author from New Zealand, accidentally regained her vision, lost to glaucoma 12 years ago, during a placebo treatment for her chronic back pain.
• Participating in a University of Otago study, Lynley was part of the placebo group receiving superficial scalp electrical stimulation. Remarkably, after four weeks, her vision restored almost to full capacity, a result that left her ophthalmologist stunned.
• Intrigued by this unforeseen recovery, the study team, led by Dr. Divya Adhia, plans to conduct further research into how scalp electrical stimulation might aid in restoring eyesight, potentially leading to a revolutionary breakthrough in treating blindness.

In a surprising twist of medical events, a placebo treatment designed to alleviate chronic back pain inadvertently restored the vision of an 80-year-old blind woman.

Lynley Hood, from Dunedin, New Zealand, an award-winning writer, had lost her eyesight over a decade ago to a rare form of glaucoma and found the world in color once again thanks to a back pain treatment study at the University of Otago.

Hood’s journey into darkness started 12 years ago when her left eye suddenly became blurry while reading a book.

Assuming it was due to fatigue, she retired for the night, only to wake up to a world that hadn’t regained its clarity.

She was soon diagnosed with a rare form of glaucoma and informed by her doctors that there would likely be no improvement in her condition.

Hood eventually became legally blind, which put a pause on her passion for reading and writing.

But life had an unexpected plot twist in store for Hood.

A painful fall in 2020 fractured her pelvis, leading to severe back pain, which strangely, became the pathway to her unexpected vision recovery.

This incident led her to participate in a chronic pain treatment research project conducted by the University of Otago.

The project, split into two groups, involved participants undergoing electrical stimulation sessions while wearing specially wired helmets.

One group received electrical stimulation directly to the brain, while the placebo group, including Hood, received superficial scalp-level stimulation.

Unbeknownst to her, Hood was in the placebo group.

After just four weeks of electrical stimulation, Hood discovered her vision had returned to nearly 100%.

The dramatic improvement left even her ophthalmologist astounded, who couldn’t resist but call it a “miracle.”

“Miracle is not a word we use very often in science, but it was — an accidental miracle,” project co-leader Dr. Divya Adhia told the Otago Daily Times.

“It wasn’t the intended outcome, but to see that my research has actually made an impact on people is incredible.”

Having lived with severely impaired vision for over a decade, Hood is now readjusting to a life that’s in clear sight.

With her vision restored, she is eager to return to her love for writing.

“At first, I thought I was imagining it,” Hood said, expressing disbelief at the return of her sight.

She detailed how the electrical currents, traced by advanced equipment, stimulated her retina, sparking an array of signals down her optic nerve and restoring her vision.

The intriguing question of how the electrical stimulation managed to bring Hood’s eyesight back remains unsolved, but Dr. Adhia and her team are eager to find out.

They’re now planning another study to understand this unexpected visual resurgence better, potentially opening a new window of hope for others living with blindness.

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In a Nutshell:

• A Brazilian doctor was dismissed from his job after prescribing chocolate ice cream and video game sessions to a 9-year-old boy presenting flu-like symptoms, causing a stir on social media.
• The boy’s mother was initially taken aback by the unusual approach, which saw the doctor not conducting a proper physical examination before prescribing a mixture of drugs, ice cream, and gaming.
• While some social media users criticized the doctor’s unprofessionalism, others saw it as a humanizing approach. The controversy led to his dismissal from the public health network and sparked discussions about improving medical care in the city.

When the world feels like a never-ending episode of “House,” sometimes the antidote to a stressful day is a big bowl of chocolate ice cream and a spirited session of gaming.

Well, one Brazilian doctor took this idea quite literally and ended up losing his job over it.

This unlikely tale begins in Greater São Paulo when Priscila da Silva Ramos, a doting mother, brought her 9-year-old son to a state-owned clinic.

The child was under the weather, battling a sore throat and flu-like symptoms.

However, what unfolded was a curious mix of video games, chocolate ice cream, and a baffled mother.

Dr. [Unnamed], as we’ll call him, decided to forego the traditional diagnostic process.

He didn’t examine the young patient, choosing instead to prescribe a cocktail of drugs along with daily servings of chocolate ice cream and rounds of the mobile video game, Free Fire.

“He started writing the prescription without examining my son, without looking at his throat, without examining his chest, without anything,” Ramos revealed.

When he inquired about the boy’s preference for ice cream flavors, Ramos never thought he’d take it to heart.

Yet, right there on the prescription, next to amoxicillin and prednisolone, were the words “chocolate ice cream” and “Free Fire.”

The absurd prescription wasn’t noticed until the following day when the boy’s aunt spotted the unusual advice.

Swiftly, the strange prescription made its debut on Facebook, becoming an overnight viral sensation.

The doctor’s peculiar brand of ‘medical advice’ ignited mixed reactions on social media.

Some considered it a case of unprofessional conduct, while others found it to be a humorous humanizing approach towards the child.

Henderson Furst, the president of the Bioethics Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association, São Paulo, supported the latter viewpoint.

He said, “Some doctors who have a practice of humanizing the relationship by making prescriptions that contain some things out of the ordinary, but which represent an act of humanization in that relationship.”

Nevertheless, the “ice cream doc,” didn’t get a free pass on this one.

As the controversy swirled, he found himself dismissed from the Brazilian public health network, as announced by the City Hall of Osasco.

Ramos, the boy’s mother, hopes this incident will spur improvements in medical care in the city.

As for the little boy, well, we reckon he might have been a tad disappointed by the doctor’s dismissal – after all, who wouldn’t want a doctor who prescribes gaming and ice cream?

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In a Nutshell:

• California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 418, introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, proposes banning the sale of processed foods containing certain chemicals deemed harmful.
• If approved by the California State Senate, the bill would make California the first state in the US to prohibit these chemicals in processed foods.
• The bill encourages companies to modify their recipes, much like they have in countries where these chemicals are already banned.

The California legislature is considering a new bill that could potentially alter the ingredient composition of many popular snacks, candies, and other foods available for sale.

Introduced by Jesse Gabriel, a Democratic assemblymember from Woodland Hills, California, the legislation seeks to prohibit the sale of processed foods that contain specific chemicals deemed to be harmful and toxic.

The measure, known as Assembly Bill (AB) 418, prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution of any food product in California containing certain chemicals, such as red dye No. 3, titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, and propylparaben.

The legislation underscores that each chemical listed is currently banned in the European Union due to scientific evidence suggesting their harmful effects.

Gabriel, who also chairs the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, refers to various studies and reports that suggest these additives can pose risks to the reproductive and immune systems, cause behavioral issues in children, and increase the risk of cancer in animals.

Gabriel stated, “Californians shouldn’t have to worry that the food they buy in their neighborhood grocery store might be full of dangerous additives or toxic chemicals.”

The Assembly approved AB 418 on Monday, May 15.

If it passes the California State Senate, the Golden State would become the first in the nation to ban the use of these chemicals in processed foods.

Notably, red dye No. 3 is already prohibited in cosmetics since 1990.

The bill is expected to be reviewed in committees in the upcoming weeks.

However, Gabriel clarified in an email to TODAY.com that the intention is not to implement an outright ban of products like Skittles, but rather to encourage companies to modify their recipes to exclude the specified chemicals.

“Skittles and many other brands have already made changes to their recipes in the European Union, the UK, and other nations where these chemicals are banned,” Gabriel said.

“We simply want them to do the same thing in the United States.”

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