The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

16 The Health Bulletin March 1951of diphenhydramine hydrochloride (usedin treatment of allergies) were laterfound to be missing. Treatment was begtmabout five hours after the supposedingestion. The description of her conditioncontinued:"There were recvu-rent generalizedconvulsions for about eight hours; theface was flushed, and the pupils weredilated and nearly fixed. Between seizuresthe child cried out and talked in arambling manner and showed hyperextensionof the trunk (bowed stiffeningof the back) and involuntary movementsof the extremities. The next day sheappeared normal."The same issue of the Journal containsan editorial commenting on newcontrolled studies of the use of antihistaminesin the treatment of colds.These included Navy male recruits duringtwo influenza episodes.Two antihistaminic drugs used intherapeutic dose "did not prevent thecommon cold or modify the course inthose who developed colds," and showedno superiority over placebos (harmlesspills containing no medication), theJournal points out.* * );: ;:=EXPERTS TELL AT WHAT DISTANCEONE SHOULD VIEW TELEVISIONFor eye comfort, how far should aperson be from the screen to view television?Dr. William Blake, of Astoria, LongIsland, N. Y., put this question to theJournal of the American Medical Association.Because of its controversialnature, the Journal submitted the questionto three "competent medical authorities,"and they all came up withvirtually the same answerAs a general recommendation forsmall or moderate-sized screens, a distanceof roughly 10 times the diameterof the screen is found most comfortablefor clear viewing and avoidance of eyefatigue.This, substantially, is the same opinionas that expressed by the American Societyfor the Prevention of Blindness.One authority whose answer is printedin the A.M.A. Journal, says "the optimaldistance from which one should watchtelevision varies from one person to another,depending at least partly on hisstate of refraction and on the size ofthe screen. Placement of furniture androom size also influence one's preference.In general, a distance of 10 feetor more would be preferable, since thenthere is necessary only a moderateamount of convergence and accommodation.One should avoid sitting closerthan five feet."The authority said further that ifeye fatigue occurs at a distance roughly10 times the diameter of the screen ina person with no visual abnormalities,"the distance may be changed.""In fact," he continued, "changing occasionallyfrom one chair to anothershould help in avoidance of fatigue notonly of the sense of vision but of theneck muscles. Regardless of the distanceof viewing, there seems to be no evidencethat eye fatigue in the 'normal'eye will cause pathological changes. Thechief problem is that of comfort."One of the other authorities, whoseanswers also were published in theA.M.A. Journal, said that the more defectsthere are in the television picture,"the greater is the tendency for visualfatigue.""This," he said, "includes such defectsas out-of-focus pictures, those that aretoo dim, too flat and with too much contrast,and those that weave and jump.The viewing distance should thereforenot be near enough for these defects,especially the graininess, to be overlyapparent.. This is more important thansize of the picture, although the graininessand size may go together. Furthermore,the appearance of graininess willincrease with the increase in brightnessof the screen. Television should be observedin a lighted room, so that thereis not too great a contrast between thescreen and the background."The third authority said that "whentelevision is viewed from a distanceless than 10 times the diameter of thetelevision tube, no harm whatever isdone to the eyes but the picture losesin quality as the scanning lines thenbecome visible.."