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Berlin (dpa) – Some public toilets are so dirty and smelly that many people feel like turning around and running back out the moment they open the cubicle door. But when nature calls, there's usually no choice. Even the most disciplined bladder or bowel has a breaking point – and attempting negotiations rarely ends well. The strategy is often to take a deep breath and push through the disgust. And that reaction is perfectly normal. "Mother Nature doesn't want us humans to become infected with pathogens," says Markus Egert, professor of microbiology and hygiene at Furtwangen University. "That's why we have an innate aversion to two things – corpses and faeces." But how high is the risk of catching a stomach bug in a public toilet? There are no studies showing how many infections actually originate from using public restrooms, Egert says. However, it is certainly possible to encounter potentially harmful germs there – for example if someone with norovirus used the toilet beforehand. With this virus, even a very small amount can be enough to cause an infection. However, one point should reassure many people who worry about sitting on public toilet seats. "Anything that lands on our thighs, trousers or bottom won't make us ill. The germs have to enter our mouths for that to happen," says Egert. In his view, the real risk comes from touching contaminated surfaces in public toilets and then continuing with daily activities without washing your hands properly with soap and water. So it's no surprise that the top advice is to wash your hands after using the toilet – and to do it thoroughly. That means wetting your hands, lathering them with soap for 20 to 30 seconds, rinsing well and drying them completely, preferably with a disposable towel. You can also reduce the amount of germs on your hands while using the restroom. "The trick is to touch as little as possible," says Egert. However, those who carefully cover the seat with toilet paper may want to rethink the ritual. From a hygiene standpoint, Egert says it offers little protection. "The more I fiddle around in the cubicle, the more likely I am to touch things I otherwise wouldn't," he explains. That often means touching the toilet seat and paper repeatedly – especially when the paper slips and needs to be adjusted. For those who absolutely don't want their skin touching the seat, Egert's alternative is what he calls the "ski squat" technique – hovering in a squat above the toilet. Strong thighs help and precision is key – you want your aim true, so everything lands in the bowl, not on the seat. Future users will thank you. A simple way to make your restroom visit more hygienic: close the lid before flushing. It keeps potentially germ-laden droplets from taking flight. A final tip is one most people follow instinctively in public toilets anyway: don't linger. The longer you stay, the more aerosol particles you inhale. Still, Egert adds some reassurance: "I wouldn't hold my breath either." The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn rid xxde mls arw

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Autistic kids are at higher risk of suicide. Why don't their parents and doctors know? Many youngsters mask, which can exact a powerful psychological toll on autistic kids, and is strongly correlated with depression, anxiety and suicide. Medics are seeking ways to help. Los Angeles (tca/dpa) – When Anthony Tricarico was diagnosed at 7 with autism spectrum disorder, his parents, Neal and Samara , were told that he might need extra support at school, so they made sure he got it. When doctors suggested therapies for his speech and motor skills, they sought those out too. But when their kind, popular, accomplished boy began to experience depression and suicidal ideation as a teenager, no one told them that the same thinking patterns that powered many of Anthony's achievements might also be amplifying his most harmful thoughts, or that the effort of masking his autism could be hurting his mental health. None of the people or organizations they contacted for help said Anthony might benefit from therapies or safety plans adapted for autistic people, or even that such things existed. They did not say that he might not show the same warning signs as a non-autistic teenager. And only after he died from suicide in May 2024 did the San Diego County couple discover that autistic kids — particularly those like Anthony, whose disability is not immediately apparent from the outside — aremore likely to think about and die from suicide , andat earlier ages , than their neurotypical peers. "Our son has always been different. So why wouldn't how we approach suicide be different?" Neal said. Suicide is aleading cause of death in the US for kids aged 10 to 18. Prevention strategies that take neurodiversity into account could go a long way toward reducing the number of young lives lost too soon. Autism researchers and advocates are working to develop better screening tools and interventions based on the unique strengths and differences of an autistic brain. A crucial first step is educating the people best positioned to help kids when they're in crisis, like parents, counselors, pediatricians and social workers. "These are kids that are experiencing all sorts of heightened risk," said Danielle Roubinov , an associate professor and director of the Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . "We're aware of the need for tailored approaches. We're doing this research. We're trying to get the word out. And [suicidality] is something that is treatable. This is something that responds to intervention." The percentage of US children with an autism diagnosishas risen steadily in recent decades, from 1 in 150 8-year-olds in 2000 to 1 in 31 in 2022. The diagnostic definition haschanged dramatically in that time, inscribing children with a broad range of abilities, needs and behaviors within a single term: autism spectrum disorder. Today, the diagnosis includes children whose autism was previously overlooked because of their propensity for "masking," the act of consciously or unconsciously suppressing autistic traits in order to blend in. For autistic children without intellectual disabilities, like Anthony Tricarico , masking often enables them to participate in mainstream classes or activities. It's also why many children, especially girls, aren't diagnosed with autism until later in childhood. Masking can exact a powerful psychological toll on autistic kids, and is strongly correlatedwith depression, anxiety and suicide. Children across the autism spectrum are far more likely tostruggle with mental health conditions than their allistic, or non-autistic, peers. A2021 study of more than 42,000 caregivers of children ages 3 to 17 found that 78% of autistic children had at least one co-occurring psychiatric condition, compared with 14% of non-autistic kids. Contributing factors include the stress of living in a world that's sensorially overwhelming or socially impenetrable. Lights, noises, smells and crowds that others barely notice may cause incapacitating anxiety. For kids who cope by masking, constantly deciphering and mimicking social responses is often cognitively and emotionally exhausting. "Masking is actually a risk factor of suicide for autistic people," said Lisa Morgan , founder of theAutism and Suicide Prevention Workgroup , who is autistic herself. Autistic people at all agesare more likely to die by suicide than those who aren't autistic. That disparity begins early. One2024 meta-analysis found that some 10% of autistic children and teens had attempted suicide, a rate more than twice that of non-autistic peers. Their struggles are often invisible. Neal and Samara had never heard of masking. They saw how Anthony thrived on schedules and sameness. He rose precisely at 5 am for a long workout, chugged the same protein shake afterward, took a shower at 7 am on the dot. At the time they thought he was extremely disciplined; they believe now it was also Anthony's way of fulfilling his need for routine and predictability, a common autistic trait. They also saw that he preferred to keep his diagnosis a secret. In middle school, Anthony announced that he no longer wanted any accommodations for his autism: no more individualized education program, no more behavioral therapy, no more telling new friends or teachers about his diagnosis. "It's my belief he just wanted all that to go away, and to just be like everyone else," Neal said. The pandemic hit Anthony hard. He couldn't work out at his favorite spots or fish, a beloved pastime. Other kids might have defied the closures and gone anyway, but Anthony followed rules with inflexible intensity, Neal said, especially the ones he set for himself. His mental health started to decline. In 2022, during his freshman year, Neal and Samara learned that Anthony told a friend he was having thoughts of suicide. They called the California suicide hotline , where a volunteer told them to contact his school. A counselor determined that since Anthony didn't have a plan, he wasn't at immediate risk. When Neal and Samara asked him about it, he sounded almost dismissive. It was fleeting, he said. It wasn't real. It's impossible to know Anthony's true thoughts. What is known is that suicidal ideationcan look very different in autistic kids. About a decade ago, psychiatrist Dr. Mayank Gupta started noticing an uptick in a particular type of patient at the western Pennsylvania inpatient facilities in which he worked: bright children from stable home environments who began having serious suicidal thoughts in early adolescence. They showed few of the typical youth-suicide risk factors, like substance use or histories of neglect. A surprising number had autism diagnoses. At the time, Gupta associated autism with behaviors like minimal verbal communication and noticeable differences in body language or eye contact. Nothing in his training or continuing education discussed the breadth of the autism spectrum, or how it might relate to children's mental health. He searched the literature, and was stunned to findhow much published work there was on autism and suicide. "In the last seven to eight years, there's been more and more evidence, and more and more research," he said. But not enough of it has made its way to the local psychologists, psychiatrists and pediatricians that parents are most likely to turn to for help with a struggling child. Adults often assume that a child who can speak fluently on a variety of subjects can explain their thoughts and feelings with a similar level of insight. But up to 80% of autistic kidshave alexithymia , or difficulty identifying and describing one's own internal emotional state. For this reason, "it makes sense that all of the interventions that have been designed for a neurotypical youth probably aren't going to translate in the same way to autistic youth," said Jessica Schwartzman , an assistant professor of pediatrics at USC's Keck School of Medicine a…

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A long lecture, a loud party or simply a cold – and suddenly your voice is hoarse or gone altogether. What exactly happens when you lose your voice and how to get it back. Berlin (dpa) – Raspy. Breathy. Strained. Weak. When you're hoarse, sending a voice message, presenting a project at a meeting, dictating an address to your car's navigation system, or simply having a phone call can be difficult. "We're a communicative society, and voice plays a major role in people's jobs too. So having it fail you due to hoarseness isn't just unpleasant, it's a big problem," says Dr Christopher Bohr, head of the Clinic and Policlinic for Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Medicine at Regensburg University Hospital in Germany. It's a problem many of us have had, if only on occasion. Here are answers to some pertinent questions: How and why does hoarseness occur? Your voice is produced by airflow from your lungs – which act like a pair of bellows – upwards through your trachea (windpipe) to your larynx (voice box). There it meets two bands of tissue, your vocal folds ("cords"), which open when you breathe but close when you speak, causing them to vibrate and create sound waves. Your vocal tract – pharynx (throat), oral cavity (mouth) and nasal cavity – then filters the sound waves, shaping your voice, its timbre and pitch. "Your voice is in good working order when your vocal folds are highly flexible and completely open and close," Bohr says. "If this isn't the case, you become hoarse." Hoarseness can occur when inflammation makes your vocal folds swell and lose flexibility. Vocal nodules, polyps or cysts on the folds can also disturb airflow and hence their vibrations. In short, says Bohr, "anything that hinders the opening and closing of the vocal folds can cause hoarseness." Common culprits include colds, laryngitis or overuse of your voice, for instance by trying to carry on a conversation in a loud pub or make yourself heard teaching a classroom of noisy children. Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a chronic condition in which stomach acid rises into your oesophagus (food pipe), is another possible cause of hoarseness. Smoking, regular alcohol consumption and inhalation of large amounts of dust can irritate your larynx and vocal folds as well. What can you do to treat hoarseness? Since hoarseness results from your vocal folds' loss of flexibility, it's important to restore it as far as possible. You can do this by keeping them moist, for instance with hyaluronic acid tablets or salty lozenges. They increase salt levels in your saliva, thereby increasing moisture in the folds' cells. Saline solution inhalations can be beneficial too. And be sure to drink plenty of water, or perhaps warm tea with camomile, which has an anti-inflammatory effect, or sage, which moisturizes. The most effective measure, however, is probably to rest your voice. If this is impossible, say, because you've got an important appointment when you'll need to speak, it might be a good idea to warm up your voice a little beforehand – but go easy on it. "Clearing your throat or whispering doesn't help at all," says Bohr. "On the contrary, it only further irritates your already irritated vocal folds. Whispering puts a lot of strain on them." It's best to speak in a middle vocal register and natural, low volume. Something else to keep in mind: "If you feel phlegm build-up on your vocal folds, coughing is gentler than clearing your throat," says Dr Antoniu-Oreste Gostian, head physician in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at St Elisabeth Hospital in Straubing, Germany. When is hoarseness reason to see a doctor? If it lasts longer than three or four weeks, you should definitely try to determine the cause and rule out a serious condition, such as cancer of the larynx. "When detected early, cancer of the larynx is now nearly 100% curable," Bohr says. So make an appointment with an ENT physician. Can you strengthen your voice through training? Yes. Using your voice better can reduce strain on your larynx and vocal folds. "If your voice isn't resilient enough for your job or private life, you should get a thorough voice diagnosis," says Gostian. The first place to turn is a specialist in phoniatrics, who, with a speech therapist, can work out a tailored treatment plan for you. You can also do some simple voice exercises on your own. "Softly hum a melody, or try the LAX VOX method, which involves humming through a straw into a glass of water," suggests Bohr. Strange though it may sound, it's quite effective. Can your mental state affect your voice? Yes, psychological factors sometimes play a role in hoarseness. A classic example is psychogenic aphonia, a disorder in which a person, due to psychological or emotional stress, either fully loses their voice or can only speak in a hoarse whisper. Incidentally, someone's emotional state can be read in their voice. By analyzing parameters such as pitch, volume and speech rate, modern artificial intelligence (AI) systems can gauge how tense or excited a person is. When you're excited, the pitch of your voice is often higher because muscles in your larynx contract, stretching your vocal folds and making them tauter, which causes them to vibrate faster. When you're relaxed, your voice is usually lower. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn coi bzl rid nhr xxde ob arw

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)