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From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com
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Subject: health Tue, Jul 28 1992
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 04:32:03 EDT
Message-ID: <ns.health.1992Jul28.043204@AmeriCast.com>

07-28 0000
DECISIONLINE: Health
USA TODAY Update
July 28, 1992
Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network
    
PREGNANT WORKOUTS OK:
   Healthy pregnant women probably can exercise safely if they use 
a little common sense. That's according to Dr. Jean-Claude Veille 
of the Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. Three 
women monitored in a recent study showed a drop in fetal heart 
rate after exercise, but the rates quickly returned to normal and 
all women delivered healthy infants.
    
DIET CAN DECREASE BIRTH DEFECTS:
   Federal health officials are considering recommending that all 
women in their child-bearing years beef up their daily intake of 
folic acid to prevent birth defects. Not enough folic acid - a B 
vitamin found in fruits, green vegetables, beans and whole grains 
- has been linked to neural tube defects; spina bifida and 
anencephaly are the most common types.
(For more, see special Defects package below.)
    
SAFE BIKING TIPS IN BROCHURE:
   People who like biking might want to pick up a free brochure of 
bicycle safety guidelines. To get a copy of Tips on Bicycle 
Safety, write to Liberty Mutual, Box 777B-H, Boston, 
Massachusetts, 02116. Authors say the brochure was published to 
reduce bicycle injures.
    
INDIANA DOES AIDS SURVEY:
   Ninety-four percent of people in Indiana who test positive for 
AIDS are men, 80% are white, 73% are homosexual or bisexual, and 
8% are intravenous drug users, according to a Health Department 
survey. But state officials say percentages for women, minorities 
and drug users is rising.
    
HOSPITALS LAUNCH ACTIVITIES:
   Seven New York area hospitals will launch the region's Baby 
Friendly Hospital Initiative on August 4 with a 24-hour program of 
activities designed to promote breastfeeding. Participating: The 
New York City Department of Health; actress Eartha Kitt and her 
daughter Kitt. Recent statistics show small declining rates of 
breastfeading in areas outside Manhattan.
    
CALBIOSUMMIT SET FOR SEPTEMBER:
   The San Diego Biocommerce Association, a coalition of business 
leaders who support the biomedical industry, will hold a state 
issues forum for the biotech industry - CalBioSummit '92 - on 
Friday, Sept. 11, at the Sheraton Grande Torrey Pines from 8 a.m. 
to 1:30 p.m. BIOCOM's president James McGraw says layers of 
regulations are burdening the biomedical industry.
    
MANY HEALTH INSURERS DOWNGRADED:
   Downgradings of life and health insurance companies exceeded 
upgradings by a four-to-one ratio in A.M. Best's latest review, 
Bloomberg Business News reported Monday. Of 1,664 companies, 349 
had ratings changes, and only 63 companies were assigned a top 
superior rating.
    
DRUG ABUSE TAKES ITS TOLL:
   Drug abuse cost the U.S. economy $76 billion in 1991, double 
the 1985 amount, reports a new study by the University of Southern 
California business school. Cited: The increase in rising health 
costs, the spread of AIDS among intravenous drug users, a surge in 
drug-related crime and higher police enforcement costs.
    
SPECIAL PACKAGE ON DEFECTS:
    
MANY PREGNANCIES UNPLANNED:
   More folic acid intake is being considered for all women 
capable of becoming pregnant because 40% of pregnancies are 
unplanned, and the defect occurs in the 28 days after conception, 
before most women know they are pregnant, says Dr. Godfrey Oakley 
of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The CDC met Monday 
to consider the matter.
    
FOLIC ACID NECESSARY:
   Officials might recommend women consume 0.4 mg of folic acid a 
day. That's already the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance for 
pregnant women, but "you need to eat enough (folic acid) before 
you get pregnant," Oakley says, and many women's diets during this 
critical time are low in the nutrient. They can get it from 
natural or fortified foods or through supplements, says Oakley.
    
COMMENTS ARE SOUGHT:
   About 2,500 to 3,000 USA infants are born with neural tube 
defects every year. The defects occur when the neural tube does 
not close properly around the brain or spinal cord. The 
recommendation is open to public comment until Aug. 11, and the 
CDC will give its recommendation as soon as possible after that.
(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.
    

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