Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.health From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: health Wed, Jun 24 1992 Date: Wed, 24 Jun 92 05:16:10 EDT Message-ID: 06-24 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update June 24, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network AMA ADOPTS NEW ABORTION POLICY: Doctors do not have to tell parents when a teenager seeks an abortion unless required by law, the American Medical Association decided Tuesday. The decision to protect adolescent confidentiality was passed overwhelmingly by doctors from 50 states and 60 medical specialty societies at an AMA meeting in Chicago. Parental consent for a teen's abortion is currently mandated in 18 states. GROUPS CRITICIZE AMA STAND: Abortion foes say the American Medical Association's new policy supporting teen confidentiality for abortions is "out of step" with parents' views. Olivia Gans of the National Right to Life Committee cited polls showing 80% of parents favor notification laws for abortion. Parents should be involved when possible, but teens have a right to confidentiality, says AMA's Dr. Nancy Dickey. NEW STUDY DEFENDS OAT BRAN: Eating oat bran can make a "modest reduction" in people's cholesterol levels, despite an earlier study suggesting it has little effect. The new findings, in a University of Minnesota analysis of current oat bran research, should "clear up the controversy," says epidemiologist Cynthia M. Ripsin. The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. OATS CAN CUT HIGH CHOLESTEROL: People with high cholesterol levels (above 229) who ate at least three grams of oat bran daily are most likely to benefit from oat bran's cholesterol-lowering properties, says a study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. That's about one large bowl of ready-to-eat oat bran cereal or three packets of instant oatmeal. Why oats lower cholesterol is unknown, researchers say. WOMEN SUFFER FROM APNEA TOO: Women - not just men - can suffer from sleep apnea, according to researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. They found that women experience different symptoms and are less aware of them than men. The condition, in which breathing temporarily stops, tends to cause snoring in men, allowing them to wake themselves. Women, however, may suffer only from daytime fatigue. EKG MAY EXAGGERATE CONDITION: Electrocardiograph, or EKG, tests may exaggerate the prevalence of a heart condition in blacks, reports Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. EKG tests found the condition, caused by an enlarged pumping chamber in the heart, two to six times more common in blacks than whites, but an echocardiograph found only marginally higher rates among blacks. VASECTOMY TO BE BROADCAST: El Paso radio station KLAQ Thursday will broadcast a vasectomy live from the surgical room of the Planned Parenthood Center. The broadcast of the 20-minute procedure is to show that "vasectomy is a very simple procedure and it does lend peace of mind to monogamous couples," says Planned Parenthood's Karen Mendenhall-Davidson. EXPERTS FIGHT OVER DISCOVERY: Dr. Robert Gallo, vying for distinction as the researcher who discovered the AIDS virus, has canceled a presentation at the National Institutes of Health. It would be inappropriate in light of an ongoing investiagtion, a government lawyer said Tuesday. Representatives of France's Pasteur Institute, home of rival Luc Montagnier, planned to counter with a press conference. CRITICS ATTACK COUNCIL: A coalition of environmental, labor and consumer groups asked Congress Tuesday to cut off funding for the Council on Competitiveness, chaired by Vice President Dan Quayle. The council, acknowledged to be pro-business by the White House, has undermined nutritional labeling, worker safety and other measures, the groups say. The White House defended the council. MORE BABIES ABANDONED: More than 7,000 babies will be abandoned at birth in the nation's largest urban hospitals this year, says a report released Tuesday by the Child Welfare League and the National Association of Public Hospitals. Among those abandoned are handicapped, abused and HIV-infected babies. The survey of 72 U.S. hospitals estimates the babies' medical bills will total $35 million. IDAHO REPORTS TAINTED WELLS: Forty out of 401 wells sampled in Idaho in 1991 contained at least one chemical or element that exceeded public drinking standards, according to a state report. Most affected was the southern half of the state. Nitrate topped the list with 20 detections. R.I. TO ISSUE POWER LINE REPORT: The risks from electromagnetic fields can be reduced by rearranging the spacing of power lines or eliminated by burying the lines, says a $81,500 Rhode Island task force report due Wednesday. The creation of the task force was spurred by growing concerns that such fields might cause cancer and other illnesses. Health Editor: Christopher Goldthwaite. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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