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Rice recipe for Tibetans to cure bone pain
Source: Xinhua |
September 24, 2012, Monday
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TIBETAN farmer Nyima Tsering says he loves rice, not because it adds variety to his barley-dominated diet, but also because it comes free and is a cure for painful joints.
A resident of Banbar County in Tibet Autonomous Region, Nyima Tsering began receiving rice in 2003 as part of a project to fight Kashin-Beck disease (KBD), a chronic bone disease rampant in the area.
"None of my three children has been diagnosed with KBD, while other patients in my family said their joint pain has been alleviated," he said.
The county where Nyima Tsering lives has been hit the worst by disability-causing KBD, but local officials said rice helps to control the disease.
By encouraging residents to replace barley with rice as a staple food, authorities have cut the number of new KBD cases reported in Banbar since 2000.
KBD mainly affects children between the ages of 7 and 12, causing joint deformation, pain and, in serious cases, disability. A 1999 survey indicated that half of the population of some villages in Banbar had been affected.
"The disease has been a major cause of poverty here, as many farmers are unable to work after developing KBD symptoms," said Shilok, deputy head of the regional health department.
Although its exact cause has yet to be determined, experts suspect large amounts of mycotoxin in barley, selenium deficiencies and drinking water contamination may be behind its spread.
A government-funded project launched in 2000 has seen hundreds of tons of free rice delivered to families with KBD patients and local schools every year.
"Although rice is new to many Tibetan residents, they have cheerfully welcomed the government's offer, as it complements the meager local barley harvest," said Deng Youmin, vice Party secretary in Banbar.
Since local soil and water quality is suspected to have contributed to the KBD breakout, officials have relocated some villages and improved water supplies in others, although rice has proven to be the most cost-effective solution for villages that cannot afford resettlement.
The project has seen the number of patients suffering from KBD drop to less than 13 percent of the population in Banbar, Deng said, citing a March survey.
Zhou Lingwang, an official at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the experiment in Banbar "offered precious insights for other KBD-affected Tibetan areas."
China has pledged to eliminate KBD before 2015.
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