Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!tamsun.tamu.edu!mtecv2!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Newsgroups: usa-today.health,americast.usa-today.health Subject: health Fri, Aug 28 1992 Message-ID: Date: 28 Aug 92 08:57:03 GMT Organization: American Cybercasting Lines: 111 Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com 08-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Aug. 28-30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PREVENTING TEEN SUICIDE: All teen-agers go through growing pains. But some teen-agers have more difficulty making the adjustment to adulthood and can become depressed. Some teen-agers even turn to suicide as a way to solve their problems. For adults who are worried about a teen-ager, psychologists say there are warning signs. (For more, see special Suicide package below.) IMPLANTS GET BAD REPORT: A new study supports speculation breast implants can trigger severe illness. Apparently the body attacks silicone, used in many implants, just like it attacks viruses and bacteria. Antibodies form treating silicone like a foreign substance. The study was based on two children who had severe reactions after having implants inserted to treat birth defects. MORE SHOULD TAKE HIV TEST: Public clinics performed more than 2 million HIV antibody tests in 1991, but they should do even more to test and educate people at risk for infection with the AIDS virus, says the federal Centers for Disease Control. The clinics found positive results in 2.8% of tests. Gay and bisexual men who shoot drugs are the most likely to test positive. HEALTH MAG TOUTS SPONSOR: Those 30-minute "programs" that masquerade as TV shows while promoting a product have spread to print. Readers should beware of two new "sponsored" magazines about health. An article in Jenny Craig's Your Body, Your Health profiles Jenny Craig weight-loss success stories. And a piece in Beauty talks a lot about opportunities offered by Mary Kay Cosmetics. MAG DISCUSSES PROBLEM ADOPTIONS: The September Atlantic magazine addresses "problem adoptions." A small proportion of the 60,000 annual adoptees have suffered serious trouble, including previous abuse, neglect and emotional abandonment. HEIGHTS MAY MAKE YOU FAINT: Heights make some people dizzy, but a trip to the mountains could make you faint. So suggest a trio of Colorado researchers who studied a year's worth of hospital records from Summit County, Colo. They found 59 healthy young adults from low altitudes (less than 3,300 feet) fainted in their first 24 hours at that height. AIDS-LINKED CANCER APPEARS: Three forms of cancer are included in the definition of AIDS - Kaposi's sarcoma and two forms of lymph cancer. A fourth - Hodgkin's disease - may have to be added to the list, according to a new study. In an ongoing study, researchers have found that those infected with the virus that causes AIDS were five times more likely than normal to have Hodgkin's disease. TRANSFUSION RISK DROPPING: Before 1986, U.S. hospital patients had a 3% chance of getting hepatitis C - a potentially serious liver disease - from blood transfusions. But since 1990, when the culprit virus was identified and blood tests devised, the average patient's risk has dropped to 0.6%, or 6 in 1,000, according to a new study. VIRUS IS UNIDENTIFIED: A small hepatitis C risk remains because another form of the hepatitis virus remains unidentified and tests can't catch tainted blood for a short period after its donor is infected. Improved tests could cut the risk even more, the researchers reported in a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SUICIDE: SYMPTOMS TO WATCH FOR: Dr. Elizabeth Blanchard, a psychologist at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif., says the following factors make teen-agers more vulnerable to suicide: A history of prior attempts by the subject or by someone else in their family or school; a history or current use of drugs or alcohol; depression or a history of mental illness; and serious health problems. SUICIDES RISE DRAMATICALLY: In a 1989 report, suicide was the second leading cause of death for 11- to 24-year-olds. The teen-age suicide rate rose 287% from 1960 to 1980, according to David Lester, professor of psychology from Stockton State College in Pomona, N.J. The struggle to grow up is usually not enough to trigger suicidal thoughts. But combined with other problems, teen-age crises can seem overwhelming. TEENS LOSE SUPPORT: Many teen-agers who contemplate suicide have lost their support system, says Sandy Knepler, of Family Service America in Milwaukee. "Many people today are feeling very isolated, not just teen-agers," says Knepler. "People used to be able to get support from their extended families. The sense of community is not there." Teen-agers can become depressed when they feel isolated. (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