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ByLindseyTanner APMedicalWriter CHICAGO Unexplained rash? Check your iPad. It turns out the popular tab- let computer may contain nickel, one of the most com- mon allergy-inducing met- als. Recent reports in med- ical journals detail nickel allergies from a variety of personal electronic devices, including laptops and cell- phones. But it was an Apple iPad that caused an itchy body rash in an 11-year-old boy recently treated at a San Diego hospital, accord- ing to a report in Monday's Pediatrics. Nickel rashes aren't life- threatening but they can be very uncomfortable, and they may require treatment with steroids and antibiot- ics if the skin eruptions be- come infected, said Dr. Sha- ron Jacob, a dermatologist at Rady Children's Hospital, where the boy was treated. Jacob, who co-wrote the re- port, said the young patient had to miss school because of the rash. The boy discussed in the Pediatrics report had a common skin condition that causes scaly patches, but he developed a differ- ent rash all over his body that didn't respond to usual treatment. Skin testing showed he had a nickel al- lergy, and doctors traced it to an iPad his family had bought in 2010. Doctors tested the de- vice and detected a chem- ical found in nickel in the iPad's outside coating. "He used the iPad daily," Jacob said. He got better after put- ting it in a protective case, she said. Whether all iPad mod- els and other Apple devices contain nickel is uncertain; Apple spokesman Chris Gaither said the company had no comment. People with existing nickel allergies are at risk for rashes from nickel-con- taining devices. Accord- ing to an advisory about cellphones on the website of the Nickel Institute, a global association based in Toronto representing nickel producers, the risk arises from contact with nickel-plated outer sur- faces "over prolonged pe- riods of time." "The length of time re- quired to elicit an allergic reaction will vary from 5 or 10 minutes to never, de- pending on the sensitivity of the individual," the advi- sory says. TECHNOLOGY Gotarash?iPad,otherdevicesmightbethecause ASSOCIATEDPRESS In this April 20, 2012, file photo, a visitor tries out an iPad at an Apple store in Klang, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. IPads and other other electronic devices containing nickel might cause rashes, according to a Monday report in Pediatrics. Whether all iPad models and other Apple devices contain nickel is uncertain. Associated Press CHICAGO The song says a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but a study says that kind of im- precise measurement can lead to potentially danger- ous dosing mistakes. The results, published online Monday in Pediat- rics, underscore recommen- dations that droppers and syringes that measure in milliliters be used for liquid medicines — not spoons. The study involved nearly 300 parents, mostly Hispanics, with children younger than 9 years old. The youngsters were treated for various illnesses at two New York City emer- gency rooms and sent home with prescriptions for liquid medicines, mostly antibiot- ics. Parents were contacted afterward and asked by phone how they had mea- sured the prescribed doses. They also brought their measuring devices to the researchers' offices to dem- onstrate doses they'd given their kids. Parents who used spoon- fuls "were 50% more likely to give their children incor- rect doses than those who measured in more precise milliliter units," said Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, a co-au- thor and associate profes- sor at New York Universi- ty's medical school. Incorrect doses included giving too much and too lit- tle, which can both be dan- gerous, he said. Underdosing may not ad- equately treat an illness and can lead to medication-re- sistant infections, while overdoses may cause illness or side effects that can be life-threatening. The study doesn't in- clude information on any ill effects from dosing mis- takes. Almost one-third of the parents gave the wrong dose and 1 in 6 used a kitchen spoon rather than a device like an oral syringe or dropper that lists doses in milliliters. STUDY Spoonfuls can lead to medicine errors By Margery A. Beck Associated Press MISSOURI VALLEY, IOWA A new fruit that research says packs more antioxi- dants than popular "super- foods" like blueberries, acai berries and goji berries is establishing itself in the aisles of mainstream gro- cery stores, showing up in everything from juices to powdered supplements to baby food. Its rise from being a nov- elty item at farmers mar- kets into a multimillion- dollar U.S. industry even includes a name change, from the common choke- berry — so named centu- ries ago by European set- tlers who found the tart, as- tringent berry more pretty than palatable — to the aronia berry, derived from its genus, Aronia melano- carpa. The native North Ameri- can berry was introduced in Russia and eastern Europe in the early 20th century and has been cultivated there for juices and wines. Now, farmers through- out the upper Midwest are planting the shrubs by the thousands every year. But the industry's roots in the U.S. can be traced to Saw- mill Hollow Family Farm in the Loess Hills of western Iowa, where most in the industry believe the first bushes were planted for commercial cultivation in the U.S. Andrew Pittz, 28, is the driving force behind the aronia berry's emergence. His family was looking for a crop they could cultivate on the hilly, silt-heavy soil near the Missouri River, and in 1997, Pittz's parents planted some 200 bushes. The bush grows well in the Midwest, has few pests and doesn't have to be re- planted every year. The Pittz family was suc- cessful: Sawmill Hollow products now are sold in about half of Hy-Vee's 237 stores, and in all of Whole Foods' 45 Midwest-region stores, according to spokes- women for the chains. Rather than keep the berry and its economic potential under wraps, Pittz and his family have been spreading word far and wide — espe- cially throughout Iowa. The farm holds an an- nual field day that draws thousands in September, and Pittz planted bushes in all 99 Iowa counties last year. Even Iowa State Uni- versity is helping promote the berry as a value-added crop and a good way to di- versify farm income, offer- ing grants to help people get started. "We want the aronia berry to be to Iowa's Heartland what the peach is to Georgia." Pittz said. His family also has taught others how to plant, grow and market the al- most black-purple, pea- sized berries. They even share best practices for pruning the bushes for maximum yield, which they developed over nearly 18 years of trial and error. A mature bush at four to five years can produce up to 20 pounds. Consumers are tak- ing notice of the potential health benefits, said Stacey Loftus, Hy-Vee's health and wellness supervisor. Re- search published last year in the Journal of Agricul- ture and Food Chemistry says aronia's oxygen radi- cal absorbance capacity — a standard measurement of antioxidant strength — shows the berry has one of the highest values ever re- corded for a fruit. "I don't think this is a passing fad," she said. Antioxidants help pro- tect cells from damage, al- though there are questions in the medical field as to what role antioxidants play in helping prevent human disease. Federal regulators have, in recent years, tar- geted companies that have made unsubstantiated health claims about anti- oxidant-containing prod- ucts. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission upheld a judge's decision that POM Wonderful made deceptive claims that its pomegran- ate products could treat or prevent heart disease, prostate cancer and other illnesses. The FTC's action is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Cir- cuit. More than 440 new products containing aronia — mostly in juices, wines and other drinks — have been introduced world- wide in the last five years; about 60 of those are in the United States, according to the 2013 University of Ne- braska-Lincoln Food Pro- cessing Center's Product Traffic Report, supported by the U.S. Agriculture Department to track new food products. Aside from Sawmill Hollow products, widely distributed mainstream brands have jumped on board, such as Old Orchard juices and Beechnut baby foods, which introduced an apple and aronia ber- ries puree this year. The first aronia cooper- ative — the North Amer- ica Aronia Cooperative, based in Omaha, Nebraska — was formed earlier this year with members from 10 Midwestern and Great Plains states. Group pres- ident Colleen Nipp says the co-op is capable of pro- ducing up to 20 million pounds of fruit a year and estimates the current eco- nomic impact is about $85 million, "which includes plant sales, berry sales, pro- cessing charges, harvesting equipment, growing sup- plies, irrigation equipment and the sale of finished aro- nia products." But with the industry is in its infancy, it's difficult to provide overall yearly production numbers or even a common price per pound. Midwest Aro- nia Association president Melissa Ehrman Johnson says her group, which has members in 12 states and Ontario, Canada, has farmers fetching any- where from 50 cents per pound to $7.50 a pound. Johnson and her hus- band got into business in 2009, planting about 300 bushes on their 10-acre homestead in southwest Iowa farm. WHAT WE'RE EATING Healthful berry gaining market foothold in US Andrew Pittz of the Sawmill Hollow aronia berry farm looks over aronia berry plants in his orchard in Missouri Valley, Iowa, on April 24. RANDAL S. ELLOWAY DDS IMPLANTDENTISTRY 2426 SO. MAIN ST., RED BLUFF 530-527-6777 Askyourselfthefollowingquestions: Are you missing one or more of your natural teeth? Do you have a complete or partial denture that is no longer completely comfortable? Have you ever been embarrassed by a denture or a bridge? If you answered "yes" to one or more of these questions, call us today at (530) 527-6777 to schedule an evaluation appointment. 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