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NEW YORK – A review of 50 years of studies on the risks and benefits of yearly mammograms has tied them to a 19 per cent  drop overall in breast cancer deaths, but whether a woman benefits depends on factors such as age and family history, US researchers said on Tuesday.

A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association is the latest attempt to sort out mixed messages about mammogram screening, once an annual chore whose merits have been questioned by some studies suggesting that mammograms save far fewer women than previously thought.

“It would be easier for everyone if there was a clear, pre-specified pathway with a given risk profile, but we don’t have that because our data is not perfect and everyone is different,” Dr Lydia Pace of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who led the study, told Reuters Health. “I wish that we had more certainty.”

Five years ago, US women routinely started getting annual mammograms at age 40. That practice came under fire in 2009 when the US Preventive Services Task Force, an independent group of experts that advises US policy makers, said evidence suggested that women of average breast cancer risk could get mammograms every two years starting at age 50.

A large, 25-year Canadian study published in February found yearly mammogram screenings did not reduce the chance that a woman would die of breast cancer and confirmed earlier findings that many abnormalities detected by these X-rays would never have been fatal, even if untreated.

Despite mounting evidence, many US organizations still recommend annual mammograms starting at age 40, but most other countries have guidelines similar to the task force’s recommendation, Pace said.

For their review, Pace and Dr Nancy Keating, also of Brigham, gathered several previous studies that examined the risks and benefits of mammograms. They found that annual mammograms reduced breast cancer deaths by 19 per cent  on average, but the actual decrease depended on a woman’s age.

For example, if 10,000 women in their 40s received an annual mammogram, doctors would find 190 invasive breast cancers. Of those, mammography would save about five lives but 25 women would have died with or without the mammogram.

Among women in their 50s who had a yearly mammogram, the benefits increased slightly, with between three and 32 lives saved for every 10,000 women screened over the next 15 years.

LONDON — Men who start smoking before the age of 11 risk having sons who are overweight, British researchers have found, adding to evidence that lifestyle factors even in childhood can affect the health of future offspring. 

The scientists said the findings, part of ongoing work in a larger “Children of the 1990s” study, could indicate that exposure to tobacco smoke before the start of puberty in men may lead to metabolic changes in the next generation.

“This discovery of trans-generational effects has big implications for research into the current rise in obesity and the evaluation of preventative measures,” said Marcus Pembrey, a professor of genetics at University College London, who led the study and presented its findings at a briefing on Wednesday.

Smoking rates in Britain and some other parts of Europe are on the decline, but worldwide, almost one billion men smoke — about 35 per cent of men in developed countries and 50 per cent in developing ones, according to the World Health Organisation.

While previous studies in animals and in people have found some trans-generational health impacts, the evidence so far is limited. It points, however, to epigenetics — a process where lifestyle and environmental factors can turn certain genes on or off — having an effect on the health of descendants.    

Pembrey said his team’s research was prompted in part by signals from earlier Swedish studies that linked how plentiful a paternal ancestor’s food supply was in mid-childhood with future death rates in grandchildren.

For the new study, published in the European Journal of Human Genetics, the researchers had access to detailed lifestyle, genetic and other health data from 9,886 fathers.

Of these, 5,376, or 54 per cent, were smokers at some time and of those, 166, or 3 per cent, said they had started smoking regularly before the age of 11.

Looking at the next generation, the team found that at age 13, 15 and 17, the sons of men who started smoking before 11 had the highest Body Mass Index (BMI) scores compared with the sons of men who had started smoking later or who had never smoked. 

“These boys had markedly higher levels of fat mass — ranging from an extra five kilogrammes (kg) to 10kg between ages 13 and 17,” the study said.

Although it was there, the effect was not seen to the same degree in daughters.

External experts not involved with the research were more guarded about drawing firm conclusions from its findings.

Graham Burdge, an expert in human nutrition at the University of Southampton said the findings “may potentially provide new insights into factors that may influence development of obesity in childhood”.

“However, the findings only show associations and cannot be interpreted as indicating that paternal smoking at an early age causes obesity in their sons,” he added.

Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said the findings were intriguing and rare.

“The data are persuasive but not yet definitive as we need to confirm the same smoking-related epigenetics changes in the kids’ DNA,” he said.

NEW YORK – A smoker’s coronary artery disease is likely to be as advanced as that of a non-smoker who is 10 years older when both show up at the hospital with a heart attack, according to a new study.

Researchers looked at nearly 14,000 patients hospitalised with blockages in arteries supplying the heart muscle and found smokers were more likely than non-smokers to die within a year.

Despite their being younger, and otherwise healthier, the smokers’ heart arteries were in a condition similar to those of non-smokers 10 years older.

“We saw smokers presenting the disease at age 55 and non-smokers presenting the same disease at 65,” said Dr Alexandra Lansky, a researcher on the study.

Smoking can cause blood clots, which often get lodged in the rigid and narrow arteries that have already been clogged by the buildup of cholesterol and fat deposits, according to Lansky and her colleagues.

Although the fat build-up and stiffening of the artery walls, known as atherosclerosis, becomes more likely with age for everyone, the clots caused by smoking worsen the blockages.

That makes smokers more likely to have a heart attack at a younger age, but less likely to have the other conditions, known as comorbidities, that go along with ageing, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Smoking accelerates the manifestation of coronary disease but in the absence of these comorbidities,” Lansky told Reuters Health.

Past research has identified a “smoker’s paradox” — because smokers are younger, with fewer other health problems, when they had a heart attack, they were more likely to recover it. Or so it seemed.

“We wanted to look at longer-term effects of smoking rather just the short-term effect,” Lansky said.

The researchers analysed medical records for 13,819 patients, almost 4,000 of them smokers, hospitalised with chest pain or a heart attack caused by a blocked coronary artery.

The study team organised the data to match the smokers and nonsmokers by age, weight, comorbidities and other risk factors.

When compared to non-smokers with similar overall health, the smokers were ten years younger, on average, and more likely to have already been treated with blood thinners — suggesting they had already experienced problems with blood flow.

Imaging of the coronary artery showed the smokers had atherosclerosis comparable to the non-smokers ten years their senior, the researchers report in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

Before the adjustments for age and other health conditions, the smokers and non-smokers were about equally likely to survive the first 30 days after hospitalisation, and smokers were about 20 per cent less likely to die within a year.

But once smokers and non-smokers with similar health profiles were compared to each other, the smokers were 37 per cent more likely to die within the first year.

“What makes it novel, is that we are showing that if you come in, your chance of survival is already reduced, as a smoker,” Lansky said.

The findings are not surprising, according to Dr Robert Giugliano, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

“Nonetheless, the public does need to know that there is now even more evidence that smoking is bad for your health, accelerates the process of atherosclerosis (so smokers have heart and vascular disease on average 10 years early than non-smokers), and leads to worse outcomes compared to non-smokers of a similar age,” said Giugliano, who also teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Dr Elliot Antman, also of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard, said it would be interesting to follow the patients for longer than a year to see what happened to survival rates among smokers who quit.

Antman was not surprised by the findings either. “I always suspected this was the case but it is nice to see the data,” he told Reuters Health.

“There just aren’t many healthy people in their 80’s who smoke regularly... if you want to live a healthy, long life, smoking stacks the odds against you,” Giugliano said.

WASHINGTON – Ever wondered if you look happily disgusted? Or sadly angry? There may one day be an app for that.

US researchers have uncovered a way for computers to recognise 21 distinct and often complex facial expressions, in what is being hailed as a breakthrough in the field of cognitive analysis.

A team from Ohio State University devised a way for computers to pinpoint more than triple the number of documented facial expressions than currently can be detected.

“We’ve gone beyond facial expressions for simple emotions like ‘happy’ or ‘sad’. We found a strong consistency in how people move their facial muscles to express 21 categories of emotions,” said Aleix Martinez, a cognitive scientist and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State.

“That is simply stunning. That tells us that these 21 emotions are expressed in the same way by nearly everyone, at least in our culture.”

The research, detailed in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could eventually aid the diagnosis and treatment of mental conditions such as autism and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Until now, cognitive scientists have limited their studies to tracking six basic emotions –– happy, sad, fearful, angry, surprised and disgusted.

However, Ohio researchers have been able to vastly increase the range of detectable emotions after photographing the responses of 230 volunteers to verbal cues such as “you just got some great unexpected news” (“happily surprised”), or “you smell a bad odor” (“disgusted”).

Painstaking analysis of the resulting 5,000 images allowed researchers to pinpoint variations on prominent landmarks for facial muscles, such as the corners of the mouth or the outer edge of the eyebrow.

The researchers pored over data from the Facial Action Coding System or FACS, a standard tool in body language analysis, checking for similarities and differences in expressions.

As a result they were able to uncover 21 emotions –– the six basic emotions –– plus “compound emotions” which were a combination.

For example, “happily surprised”, was a reaction to someone receiving unexpected good news.

Researchers were able to identify the emotion after analysing the expressions for happy –– a drawing up of the cheeks into a smile –– and surprise, which saw participants widen their eyes and allow their mouths to drop open.

In 93 per cent of cases, participants reflected “happily surprised” with a mixture of the two reactions for “happy” and “surprised”.

Face-lifted for 2014 with a moodier and a more charismatic fascia, more sophisticated and efficient eight-speed automatic gearbox and a more advanced infotainment unit, the latest Dodge Durango is a welcome update to an already well-sorted medium- to large-family SUV. First launched in 2011, the Durango is modern SUV unibody built on Mercedes ML Class derived architecture and is to rival both rear- and four-wheel-drive traditional body-on-frame American SUVs and road-biased and family-oriented front- and four-wheel-drive crossover SUVs. With the aggressively macho looks of the former and refinement of the latter, the Durango makes a sensible addition to either genre.

Moody and charismatic

Offered with a choice of modern 3.6-litre V6 or traditionally flavoured 5.7-litre V8, rear- or four-wheel-drive and a host of trim levels from sporty and basic Rallye, well-appointed Limited, luxurious Citadel or sporty and luxurious R/T, the entry-level SXT with rear-wheel-drive is, however, the most affordable and lightest. Without the four-wheel-drive and low ratios, the rear-drive SXT may lack the other version’s all-paw traction and off-road abilities, but with less weight, it is a more eager handling vehicle, while its beige cloth upholstery creates an airy cabin ambiance with grippy seat textures to keep one in place through hard corners, 

Though it shares common underpinnings with the Mercedes ML Class and seven-seat GL Class, the Dodge Durango’s styling is distinctly American, with a moody sense of menace that owes more to Dodge’s classic muscle cars in spirit if not actual design. Having gotten it right to begin with, the Durango’s aesthetics are only mildly refreshed for a sharper and more contemporary look, with a high-set and more sculpted bumper, with a honeycomb mesh and split crosshair design for its gaping wide and hungry grille. The deep-set headlights receive revised arrangements, including a “hockey stick” running light element to complement the equally sporting and macho “race track” rear light LED outline.

Efficient engine

Wide, tall, long and with assertive fascia, tight design lines and muscular sheet metal, the Durango cuts an impressive figure, while under its heavily browed front and muscular bonnet, the entry-level model SXT version tested featured the Chrysler group’s much lauded and modern 3.6-litre V6 Pentastar engine. High-revving yet smooth and refined engine with a 6,400rpm rev limit — at which point power peaks at 290HP — the Pentastar is, however, a willing mid-range performer, with 260lb/ft torque peaking at 4,800rpm. With 90 per cent of its maximum torque online throughout a broad 1,600-6,400rpm range, the Durango 3.6 is flexible and confident on inclines and when overtaking.

Driving the rear wheels through a ZF eight-speed gearbox — similar to those employed by BMW and Rolls Royce — the revised Durango is able to achieve better acceleration, efficiency and on-the-move flexibility owing to a wider and more closely spaced series of ratios, which allow it to better utilise its engine output and stay within the optimum performance and efficiency bands. Smooth and swift shifting, the Durango SXT gearbox’s taller overdrive ratios helps the 2,157kg SUV achieve 11.7L/100km combined cycle fuel efficiency, while more aggressive lower gears and good rear wheel traction allow for 7.4-second 0-100km/h off-the-line acceleration.

Refined ride

With ideal 50:50 weight distribution and lighter than four-wheel drive and high spec version, the rear-driven Durango SXT turns in more eagerly, with its front tyres gripping hard, while through corners, its gas-charged dampers and firm optional low profile 265/50R20 footwear well contain body roll for such a large SUV. With stiff unibody construction and all-round independent suspension, the Durango is far ahead of its body-on-frame rivals for handling finesse and precision ride quality, and noise, vibration and harshness isolation. A more road-oriented vehicle than its Jeep Grand Cherokee cousin, the Durango’s longer wheelbase lends it more lateral grip and stability.

Steel — rather than air — suspension feels more nuanced and buttoned down, especially through winding backroads, where the Durango fluidly tackles corners with unexpected, agility, control and precision. Despite a light resistance and tall gearing, the Durango’s steering has a hint of fluency that is rarely encountered in a large SUV. Stable at highway speeds and under sudden braking, the Durango takes roughness and imperfections with composure and comfort. Without four-wheel drive or low gear ratios the rear-driven Durango is not as off-road capable as four-wheel-drive versions, but its generous low-end torque, 207mm ground clearance and modestly generous angles allow it a useful measure of off-road ability.

Cabin comfort

More spacious than traditional SUV rivals despite a smaller size, the Durango’s cabin is comfortable and accommodating, with room to comfortably fit large adults front and rear, while the third row of seats adds practicality. Good front visibility combines with good seat and steering adjustability, while cabin access is aided by wide door swing angles. Cabin fit, finish and design are above expectations for the Durango’s segment, with soft textures prominently used and uncluttered, user-friendly controls, including a classy rotary dial gear selector, similar in design to the luxury Range Rover, in addition to steering-mounted sequential paddle shifters.

High tech and user-friendly inside, the Durango features a customisable seven-inch (17.8cm)  TFT instrument display, and standard  five-inch (12.7cm) Uconnect infotainment touch screen, that can access smart phones and features voice command operation for various settings, sat nav, climate control and entertainment systems. USB, SD and auxiliary jacks are standard, and an 8.4-inch (21.3cm) Uconnect screen is optional. Seven airbags are standard safety equipment, while adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring and rear cross-path detection are optional. With its sizeable luggage volume expanding from a 487-litre minimum to a 2,392-litre maximum, the Durango can carry a 605kg payload, while flat folding third row seats provide a uniform loading bay.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 3.6-litre, in-line V6-cylinders

Bore x Stroke: 96 x 83mm

Compression ratio: 10.2:1

Valve-train: 24-valve, DOHC

Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel-drive

Ratios: 1st 4.174; 2nd 3.143; 3rd 2.106; 4th 1.667; 5th 1.285; 6th 1.0; 7th 0.839; 8th 0.667

Reverse / axle ratios: 3.295 / 3.45

Power, HP (kW): 290 (216) @ 6,400rpm

Torque lb/ft (Nm): 260 (520) @ 4,800rpm

Redline: 6,400rpm

0-100 km/h: 7.4-seconds (est.)

Fuel consumption, city / highway / combined: 13 / 9.4 / 11.7l/100km

Fuel capacity: 93.1 Litres

Minimum fuel requirement: 91RON

Length: 5,110mm

Width, with (without) mirrors: 2,172 (1,924)mm 

Height, (antenna): 1,800 (1,847)mm

Wheelbase: 3042mm

Track, F/R: 1623 / 1627mm

Minimum ground clearance: 207mm

Load floor height: 817mm

Kerb weight: 2,157kg

Payload: 605kg

Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR): 2,948kg

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.35

Approach / break-over / departure angles: 16.3° / 18.1° / 21.5°

Seating capacity: 7

Headroom, 1st / 2nd / 3rd row: 1,013 / 1,011 / 960mm

Legroom, 1st / 2nd / 3rd row: 1,025 / 981/ 800mm

Shoulder room, 1st / 2nd / 3rd row: 1,486 / 1,281 / 1,281mm

Cargo volume, behind 1st / 2nd / 3rd rows: 2,392- / 1,350- / 487-litres

Steering: Hydraulic rack & pinion

Turning circle: 11.3-metres

Lock-to-lock: 3.67-turns

Suspension, F/R: SLA / Multi-link, coil spring, twin-dampers, stabiliser bar

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs 330 x 32mm / 330 x 14mm discs

Tyres: 265/50R20

WASHINGTON  – When it comes to managing type 2 diabetes in overweight people, stomach-shrinking surgeries are still more effective than trying to shed pounds with pills and lifestyle changes, researchers said Monday.

Three years into a study that compares the various approaches –– medical therapy, gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy –– the findings show that the two procedures are still superior at reducing glycemic levels and weight.

The latest results from the largest randomised controlled trial of its kind were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and discussed at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting.

“Both surgical options maintain their supremacy over standard intensive medical therapy at the three-year mark,” said lead investigator Philip Schauer, director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. 

“There is this notion that if we keep adding medications and pushing patients to lose weight on their own, they will eventually achieve the same type of results as those undergoing surgery, but that wasn’t the case here.”

The research includes 150 people, who were aged 41 to 57 when they began the study. They were all overweight or obese, with uncontrolled diabetes that had persisted for at least eight years. Each was taking at least three diabetes medications.

At the start of the trial, patients had an average blood glucose level of 9.2 per cent.

The goal of achieving glycemic control was defined as a three-month average blood glucose level of 6 per cent or lower.

That target is slightly more aggressive than the American Diabetes Association recommendation of 7 per cent. 

After three years, just 5 per cent of patients who did not have surgery but attempted to lose weight through counselling sessions, diet and medication had achieved the desired level of glycemic control.

The surgery groups did much better, with 37.5 per cent of gastric bypass and 24.5 per cent of sleeve gastrectomy patients meeting the mark.

Gastric bypass involves reducing the stomach to below 3 per cent of its natural volume, then connecting a new gastric pouch that bypasses the stomach and goes straight to the intestine.

In sleeve gastrectomy, part of the patient’s stomach is removed to reduce its volume by about 75 per cent.

Weight loss after three years was also five to six times greater in patients who had one of the surgeries.

The gastric bypass group lost on average 24 per cent of their body weight while the sleeve gastrectomy patients shed 21 per cent. Those on medical therapy alone lost 4 per cent.

Surgical patients also did better on measures of body mass index, weight control, and cholesterol levels.

Some 23 million American adults have type 2 diabetes, and most of them are overweight or obese.

NEW YORK — At a time when Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are pushing people to put forward their most polished, put-together selves, a new class of mobile applications aims for a bit more honesty.

Among the latest is Secret, created by two former Google engineers who were looking for a way to let people deliver genuine feedback to co-workers. With the app, friends and friends of friends can share their deepest and darkest thoughts, along with gossip, criticism and even plans to propose marriage, under a cloak of near-anonymity.

“This idea that you have to craft this perfect image online,” says Secret’s 30-year-old co-founder Chrys Bader-Wechseler. “That’s stressful. We want to remove that stress.”

Secret joins a handful of apps such as Confide, Whisper and Yik Yak that have become popular — and in some cases, notorious — in recent months, by offering users a way to communicate while cloaking their identities.

What happens when people are free to say what they want without a name and profile photo attached? It’s an experiment in human nature that harkens back to the early days of the Web, when faceless masses with made-up nicknames ruled chat rooms and online message boards.

In the past decade, anonymity has been fading. As Facebook soared to dominate online social networks, the trend shifted towards profiles, real names and the melding of online and offline identities. But as people’s online social circles grew from friends to parents, grandparents, in-laws, colleagues and bosses, many became increasingly reluctant to share as openly as they once did.

“People go on Facebook and say they just got engaged. But what you don’t see is ‘I am going to propose today,’” says Secret co-founder and CEO David Byttow, 32.

Launched in 2012, Whisper is especially popular with teenagers and 20-somethings, with the bulk of its users under 24. Yik Yak, released late last year, made headlines recently when a California high school went into lockdown after someone used the app to post an anonymous bomb threat.

Although anonymity apps are being criticised as platforms for bullying, supporters say they can be tools for preventing mischief. They also have a cathartic value for some users.

“My baby boy passed away recently. I saw his picture today and cried. I cried because I love him and miss him. I’m a guy, so no one thinks to talk to me,” read a recent post on Secret.

Another recent Secret message read: “Fact: It’s downright scary to hire your first woman onto an all-male team.”

On Secret, users are told when a friend has posted a secret — they just don’t know which friend. Whisper, meanwhile does not tell users how, or if, they are connected to a person posting.

“I am a closeted gay guy and the sheer number of hot fraternity guys on campus is a special kind of hell,” read a recent post on Whisper.

Whisper CEO Michael Heyward, 26, says the company’s app does not allow people to “use anonymity to hurt anyone else”. Users, for instance, can’t put proper names into posts unless the names belong to public figures. So Justin Bieber is okay. Justin from Spanish class is not. Whisper also employs 120 human moderators to comb through posts in real time.

“There is no safer space,” Heyward says of Whisper. The company announced a partnership with media site BuzzFeed on Monday, in which BuzzFeed writers will use content posted on Whisper as source material for articles. The deal, reported in the New York Times, does not have a financial component.

Secret, meanwhile, has been especially popular in Silicon Valley and its satellite technology communities outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. Startup gossip — from personal attacks on company founders and venture capitalists to acquisition rumors that turned out to be false — has been a mainstay of Secret in the less than two months since its launch.

Secret tries to add a layer of accountability to anonymous posts by showing users’ secrets to their friends and allowing only friends, or friends of friends, to comment on each shared post. Bader-Wechseler is quick to point out that the app is not exactly anonymous. Anonymish, maybe.

WASHINGTON – Sales of traditional computers will lose more ground in 2014 to tablets and other mobile devices, a market tracker said Thursday.

A report by the research firm Gartner said the overall market for connected devices –– PCs, smartphones and tablets –– is likely to grow 6.9 per cent to nearly 2.5 billion devices in 2014.

More people will dump their PCs for other devices, but the drop in PC sales will moderate to around 6.6 per cent this year, with unit sales of 276 million. Some surveys showed a drop of around 10 per cent in PC sales last year.

“Tablet substitution of notebooks will start to dissipate from this year onwards as consumers and businesses align the right device with the right usage pattern,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

“As they do this, we will see where dedicated devices (such as tablets), or hybrid devices (detachable or convertible devices), fit in the overall portfolio.”

The global tablet market is expected to grow 38.6 per cent , with much of the increase coming outside North America, Gartner said. Total tablet sales will nearly equal that of PCs at 270 million, the firm said.

“The adoption of tablets has been largely concentrated in the US, with the dominance of Apple,” Atwal said. “Market dynamics in other regions are different, as the uptake of lower cost, smaller, non-branded tablets, becomes more apparent.”

Mobile phones, the largest segment, is seen as growing 4.9 per cent to 1.9 billion units –– led by “the lower end of the premium phone market and the higher end of the basic phone market,” Gartner said.

The Google Android platform is expected to extend its lead in overall devices, with more than 1.1 billion units in 2014, mostly in mobile phones. Microsoft Windows will remain the number two platform with 339 million devices and Apple’s iOS and Mac OS will remain third with 286 million devices, Gartner said.

BASEL, Switzerland – Watches that connect to your smartphone or even a satellite to ensure perfect time, regardless of where you are in the world, or alert you if you leave your phone behind?

Although not on prominent display they were a hot topic of discussion this past week at Baselworld, the world’s largest watch and jewellery fair. 

The show in the northern Swiss city was yet again dominated by intricate mechanical watches, symbolising centuries of tradition, and jewel-covered timepieces showcasing the luxury and glamour that never seem to go out of fashion.

But there were a few new offerings for the tech-hungry crowd still waiting eagerly for their wristband to catch up with their phone or tablet.

Japan’s Casio had two new high-tech models on display both set for release later this year.

Its new Bluetooth controlled Edifice watch connects to smartphones, allowing it to adjust to time changes as smoothly as the device in your back pocket, while its new G-Shock model can synchronise with precise time signals broadcasted by radio stations or satellites. 

“We expect huge demand, because people nowadays look for this technology more and more, so we are very confident,” Harald Schroeder, head of marketing at Casio Europe, told AFP.

He stressed the popularity of a range of brightly-coloured plastic G-Shock watches already available, which can control your smartphone’s alarm and music functions, let you know when your phone is ringing in silent mode and vibrate if you leave your phone behind. 

Several other Asian tech giants, including South Korean Samsung, Japan’s Sony and China’s Huawei, have also unveiled new connected timepieces in recent months.

Swiss watchmakers are following the developments closely, but appear reluctant to move down the same route, sticking instead to the tradition and skilled craftsmanship that have won them customers for centuries.

“Technically, there are lots of things that are possible,” pointed out Marc Hayek, who heads Swatch Group’s luxury watch brands Breguet, Blancpain and Jaquet Droz.

“But it’s not just because something is possible that the market will automatically be there,” he said, insisting that a watch should not seek to simply emulate the functions already available in phones and other wireless devices.

 ‘Don’t see big market’ 

“If it’s less comfortable to use... (and) if it’s the same function, I think it will only mean disadvantages, and I really don’t see a big market for that,” he told AFP, stressing that watchmakers should instead reflect on “useful” and “intelligent” new functions.

Stephane Linder, head of Tag Heuer, the top watch brand in French luxury group LVMH’s stable, agreed, pointing out that a connected watch would necessarily be more difficult to use than existing devices.

“With a telephone, I have a large screen, but with a watch, it’s tiny,” he pointed out.

Linder insisted though on the need to keep a close eye on developments, pointing out that technology has the power to suddenly reshuffle the deck, as Apple did when it dethroned the reining mobile phone companies with its iPhone.

Watchmakers must remain ready to jump into the “smart watch” fray once they see the potential to bring true benefits to users.

If that happens “you will see developments in the luxury segment as well,” he predicted.

Patek Philippe chief Thierry Stern said he was not worried by the smart watch hype.

“We saw the same thing when the iPhone was launched. People said it would spell the end of watches, but today watch sales are doing very well,” he told AFP.

Connected watches were not a threat to the market for prestige timepieces, he insisted, pointing out that such tech objects “generally are obsolete after a year, because there is always a new version available”.

WASHINGTON – Switching over to Daylight Saving Time, and losing one hour of sleep, raised the risk of having a heart attack the following Monday by 25 per cent, compared to other Mondays during the year, according to a new US study released on Saturday.

By contrast, heart attack risk fell 21 per cent later in the year, on the Tuesday after the clock was returned to standard time, and people got an extra hour’s sleep.

The not-so-subtle impact of moving the clock forward and backward was seen in a comparison of hospital admissions from a database of non-federal Michigan hospitals. It examined admissions before the start of daylight saving time and the Monday immediately after, for four consecutive years.

In general, heart attacks historically occur most often on Monday mornings, maybe due to the stress of starting a new work week and inherent changes in our sleep-wake cycle, said Dr Amneet Sandhu, a cardiology fellow at the University of Colorado in Denver who led the study.

“With daylight saving time, all of this is compounded by one less hour of sleep,” said Sandhu, who presented his findings at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology in Washington.

A link between lack of sleep and heart attacks has been seen in previous studies. But Sandhu said experts still don’t have a clear understanding of why people are so sensitive to sleep-wake cycles.

“Our study suggests that sudden, even small changes in sleep could have detrimental effects,” he said.

Sandhu examined about 42,000 hospital admissions in Michigan, and found that an average of 32 patients had heart attacks on any given Monday. But on the Monday immediately after springing the clock forward, there were an average of eight additional heart attacks, he said.

The overall number of heart attacks for the full week after daylight saving time didn’t change, just the number on that first Monday. The number then dropped off the other days of the week.

People who are already vulnerable to heart disease may be at greater risk right after sudden time changes, said Sandhu, who added that hospital staffing should perhaps be increased on the Monday after clocks are set forward.

“If we can identify days when there may be surges in heart attacks, we can be ready to better care for our patients,” he said.

The clock typically moves ahead in the spring, so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less, and returns to standard time in the fall. Daylight Saving Time was widely adopted during World War I to save energy, but some critics have questioned whether it really does so and whether it is still needed.

Researchers cited limitations to the study, noting it was restricted to one state and heart attacks that required artery-opening procedures, such as stents. The study therefore excluded patients who died prior to hospital admission or intervention.