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, Jul 29 1992 Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 04:32:50 EDT Message-ID: 07-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update July 29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MITOCHONDRIA MAY KEY AGING: Many diseases may be caused by damage to the little power plants in our cells, research suggests. If that turns out to be true, therapies and lifestyles that keep the power plants - known as mitochondria - running at their peak may help prevent many diseases as we get older. Research shows a process that takes place in the mitochondria is like production of fuel that fires a power plant. (For more, see special Mitochondria package below.) BIRTH DEFECTS LINKED TO DUMPS: Babies born to mothers living near toxic waste sites are more likely to have birth defects, but research is needed to determine if toxics or other conditions are to blame, experts say. In a review of 27,115 births in 20 New York State counties, researchers found 30 infants per 1,000 born with defects compared with 34 per 1,000 to mothers living within a mile of a chemical dump. FRAUD IS BIG PROBLEM: Health-care fraud costs every American $300 yearly, and it's likely to get worse, Sen. Joseph R. Biden, D-Del., said Tuesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Most fraud goes undetected, admitted FBI Director William Sessions, who has deployed an additional 50 FBI agents to his health-care fraud battery for a total of 147. "We have seen the proverbial tip of the iceberg." CHEFS STAGE BOYCOTT: Chefs around the USA are backing a restaurant boycott of genetically engineered food. Spago's Wolfgang Puck and the Russian Tea Room's Paul Ingenito are leading the pack. They'll place a logo on menus indicating they don't serve such foods. The action follows the government's decision in May to let some biotechnology companies sell engineered foods without premarketing safety tests. AMERICANS SLACK ON EYE CARE: Americans don't have their eyes examined as often as they should. That's the finding of a Sears Optical Association of Independent Optometrists survey of 300 optometrists. The survey indicates that nearly 80% of patients are waiting three years or more between exams. Doctors say 50% of all blindness can be prevented. MUSIC HELPS EXERCISE ROUTINE: According to a recent study at the University of Tennessee, people who listen to music while exercising feel better and exercise longer. And, amazingly, slow, soft music works better than rock and roll. Dr. Don Franks, author of the study, claims that listening to soft pop rock reduced heart rates and improved endurance of the subjects as they walked or ran on a treadmill. ANGIOPLASTY GIVES EVEN RESULTS: Angioplasty, a treatment to clear clogged heart arteries, has the same longevity benefits for men and women, says a Boston University study. Results of the study of 1,587 men and women, reported at the InterAmerican Congress of Cardiology, show that 89% of women and 91% of men were alive seven years after the treatment, in which a tiny balloon is threaded through arteries and inflated. LYME VACCINE COMING: Federal spending on research and prevention of Lyme disease is up, but more of both is still need, lawmakers said Tuesday. The legislators, from Northeastern states, where the disease is most common, held a press conference near the U.S. Capitol to mark national Lyme Disease Week. A vaccine is probably five years away, said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. CELEBS ON VIDEO WORKOUT TRAIL: The sweat-with-a-celebrity segment of the home video industry will get a boost this fall. Cindy Crawford, Marla Maples and Marilu Henner are all releasing workout videos. Even Cher, whose first workout tape has sold more than one million copies, is putting out a second due in November; and all-time workout queen Jane Fonda's latest hits stores in September. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON MITOCHONDRIA: MITOCHONDRIA ACTS AS POWER PACK: In a new theory of aging, Dr. Douglas Wallace of Emory University, Atlanta, says the mitochondria in cells must produce a certain level of energy to keep the brain, heart and other vital organs working properly. If fuel production decreases for some reason, the energy levels fall and organs go on the blink. ENERGY LINKED TO MITOCHONDRIA: Fuel production and energy output can be diminished "when DNA in the mitochondria are damaged, either by inherited mutations or from environmental toxins" such as smoking and fatty diets, Wallace says. These factors may damage the DNA by making the body produce dangerous molecules called oxygen radicals. HEALTHY LIFESTYLE HELPS: Other studies have shown that substances called antioxidants - vitamins E and C are among them - can prevent oxygen radicals from forming. Wallace (who takes vitamin E himself) says his theory still must be proved, but it's possible that living a healthier lifestyle and reducing the risk of blood vessel disease may keep the cellular power plants running much longer. (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