US scientists say children who suffer from frequent nightmares or bouts of night terrors may be at an increased risk of mental illness in adolescence.

The study, published in the U.S. journal SLEEP, shows that children reporting frequent nightmares before the age of 12 were almost 4 times more likely to suffer from psychotic experiences in early adolescence.

Similarly, experiencing night terrors doubles the risk of such problems, including hallucinations, interrupted thoughts or delusions.

Younger children between two and nine years old who had persistent nightmares reported by parents has up to almost 2 times increased risk of developing psychotic experiences.

Doctors advise parents to create an environment that allows for the best possible quality of sleep for their child.

They say the study is important because an early warning sign may lead to early intervention that is crucial to help avoid children suffering mental illness when they reach adulthood.

You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Yun Feng in Beijing. You can access our program by logging onto NEWSPlusRadio.cn. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That's [email protected]. Now the news continues.

Harsh US winter extends into March. On the latest snow day in a winter full of them, residents of parts of the South, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast were coping with several inches of snow on top of a layer of slush.

With accumulations of 4-to-6 inches in Washington, last Monday's storm would have been the largest in the U.S. capital in all of last year.

But in this seemingly endless winter, it came 2 and a half weeks after a much bigger storm, and the region settled into a familiar routine of hunkering down.

By early afternoon last Monday, the snow had stopped. But the region is facing yet another challenge: another blast of bitterly cold arctic air.

The storm wasn't all bad news, though.

Ski resorts were delighted with fresh snow that promised to extend their season. In Northern California, the heavy rain boosted a local creek where endangered Coho salmon spawn.

Rainfall over the last month has helped facilitate the salmon's return to their spawning grounds.

In a related development, in the U.S., the flu season seems to be winding down, and it's been an odd one.

It hasn't been as bad as last year and the vaccine worked a little better. And it has been a fairly mild one for the elderly who are traditionally the most vulnerable group.

But it's been a different story for young and middle-age adults, who have been hit harder than expected because of a surge in swine flu.

This flu season started around mid-December and peaked by mid-January.

For weeks, flu has been waning in some parts of the country, although health officials say, there's still a lot of flu virus going around, and flu season is capable of getting a second wind.

One way the U.S. Center for Disease Control measures the flu's severity is by rates of hospitalizations for flu and its complications. Overall, they have been only half what they were last winter despite the higher rates in younger adults.

Health officials say that's because the flu strain that is making most people sick this winter is swine flu, or H1N1. It first showed up in 2009 and caused a global pandemic that was particularly dangerous to younger adults.

Since then, the virus has been around each winter but mostly has been a backstage presence.

Experts say the virus hasn't mutated. It's simply encountering a lot of younger adults who never were infected before and haven't been vaccinated. Working-age adults in the U.S. have the lowest vaccination rates.

Among infectious diseases, flu is considered one of the nation's leading killers. On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season.

Finally, a piece of history revisit.

This Friday, March 14th is the birthday anniversary of Albert Einstein.

Einstein was born in Germany on March 14th 1879.

The physicist created the theory of general relativity, which lead a revolution in physics.

For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history.

Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to theoretical physics. He was honored the prize especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, which was pivotal in establishing quantum theory within physics.

Einstein died on April 18th 1955 at the age of 76.

That brings us to the end of this edition of NEWS Plus Special English. To fresh up your memory, I'm going to read one of the news at normal speed. Please listen carefully.

That is the end of today's program. I'm Yun Feng in Beijing. Hope you can join us every day at CRI NEWS Plus Radio, to learn English and learn about the world.