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 Mon, Jul 27 1992 Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 04:22:00 EDT Message-ID: 07-27 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update July 27, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network AIDS TREATMENT BEING SURVEYED: The American Medical Association next month will survey 12,000 of the USA's physicians on AIDS treatment and prevention practices. Results of the survey, being done on behalf of the national Centers for Disease Control, will be used to develop AIDS education programs, the AMA says. Research by other groups has shown treatment and prevention practices can vary widely. NO HARM IN EARLY WORKOUTS: Heart patients who regularly exercise in the morning have one less worry: Contrary to previous belief, they run no greater risk of a heart attack than if they exercised later in the day, new research suggests. Heart attacks do strike more often in the morning, but apparently that is due to a wave of hormones upon waking. (For more, see special Attacks package below.) MAGAZINE ENVISIONS YEAR 2002: A scenario in Monday's Modern Healthcare predicts the growth of "holler" hospitals (Hospitals of Last Resort) with pharmacists and nurse practitioners providing short-term medical care to rural areas without doctors by 2002. Other predictions: USA's annual health-care bill will rise to $1.6 trillion, vs. $738 billion today; 28 million lacking access to care, vs. 40 million now. MANY WOMEN UNDERMEDICATED: Women cancer patients under 50 are twice as likely as men the same age to get less-potent pain medication for the amount of pain they suffer, a new study suggests. The University of Wisconsin Medical School study also suggests inadequate pain management may also be worse in clinics treating predominately minority populations. One reason: Patients are reluctant to complain. HELP FOR CHILDREN RESTRICTED: Children who abuse alcohol or other drugs usually have no problem getting professional help. Yet in 32 states, the children of alcoholics - four times more likely than others to abuse alcohol - cannot get preventive counseling without their parents' consent, says a Children of Alcoholics Foundation report. WOMEN CLOSE HEART DISEASE GAP: White American men under age 65 are much more likely to have heart disease than women, but by age 75 the incidence in women nearly catches up, says a new federal report. Between 25 and 64, twice as many men as women have heart disease. That gap narrows between 65 and 75. After age 75, four women have heart disease for every five men. ACTIVIST MAKING HEALTH VIDEO: Health-care activist Bill Halamandaris is traveling the USA, videotaping people in senior centers, hospitals and neighborhoods, talking about their health concerns. His goal: To present "HealthRight: A Video Petition for Health Care Reform" to the president in January. "The heart of the issue really is the people, and the problems they have," says Halamandaris. DRUG CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED: President Bush's Drug Advisory Council has launched Drugs Don't Work, a nationwide drug-free workplace initiative. The program is designed to help small and mid-sized businesses implement drug-free workplace programs. Goal: Establishing statewide drug-free workplace efforts in all 50 states by December 1993. BUREAU SQUANDERS $71 MILLION: The Bureau of Indian Affairs cannot account for $71 million Congress gave it to run an Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program, and took five years to hire a permanent program director, a new Interior Department probe has found. Alcohol abuse is often cited as the leading cause of health problems among Native Americans. HEALTH PACS UP CONTRIBUTIONS: Bracing for a fight over national health insurance, political action committees representing the medical and insurance industries have increased their congressional campaign contributions by 22% in the most recent election cycle, according to a recent study. Most of the PACs oppose a "single player" national health care system that would eliminate the need for many insurers. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON ATTACKS: EXERCISE IS NOT ADDED FACTOR: Exercise carries slight risks to those with heart problems, particularly non-regular exercisers. Heart experts have assumed "the morning risk plus the exercise risk would be additive or synergistic," says cardiologist William Little, Wake Forest University. But based on research he's worked on,"it appears they're not." ATTACKS OCCUR THROUGHOUT DAY: Among findings presented over the weekend at a recent heart conference in Chicago: In 10 years at two cardiac rehabilitation programs, exercising patients had seven heart attacks; they were scattered throughout the day. Patients did more than 200,000 hours of exercise - three one-hour workouts a week - for a risk of three heart attacks per 100,000 hours. EXERCISE RISK IS LOW: By asking 300 patients about their activity prior to a heart attack, researchers found that 21% had been doing at least fairly strenuous activity. The attacks occurred throughout the day. But patients who were doing normal activity prior to their attack were more likely to have the attack between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Bottom line: Exercise can cause heart attacks, but the risk is low. (End of package.) Health Editor: Michele Coleman. (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. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM