Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.health,americast.usa-today.health From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: health Tue, Sep 8 1992 Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 04:30:16 EDT Message-ID: 09-08 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Sept. 8, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network LIFE SPAN OF 400 YEARS POSSIBLE: Researchers on aging say great strides will be made in the next few decades, but a report in Life magazine suggests the most amazing forecast yet: Life spans lasting centuries. "Some people alive now may still be alive 400 years from now," says yeast researcher Dr. Michal Jazwinski, Louisiana State University Medical Center, in Life's October cover story, out Tuesday. (For more, see special Life package below.) BRAIN DEVELOPMENT HAMPERED: The equipment used to keep a premature baby alive during its third trimester can affect the baby's brain. The delicate activity of moving the brain's neurons into position and forming the electrical system that will help determine IQ are not taking place in a quiet womb but in a noisy, bright, intrusive neonatal intensive care unit. NORMAL FUNCTIONS DELAYED: Dr. Forrest Bennett, a developmental pediatrician from the University of Washington School of Medicine, says "there's a price to pay" for having the brain "out there at that age." The price is what Bennett calls the "new morbidity" of low birth-weight children. Also: A normal birth-weight child might walk at 1, while a low birth-weight child might not start until 15 to 18 months. EXCESS IRON CAN BE DEADLY: Excess iron in the bloodstream may be more deadly than cholesterol or high blood pressure. So says a study in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation. The study says iron in the bloodstream accounts for a much higher rate of heart attacks in men than in young women. The study suggests most women are safe from heart attack until after menopause. FALL HEALTH TIPS AVAILABLE: Get ready for fall with free materials about exercise and nutrition available from the American Heart Association. Information is also available regarding AHA's Food Festival, Sept. 20-26 and the American Heart Walk, Oct. 3-4. Call 1-800-242-8721 for more information. USA LEADS CEREAL FOOD AID: The USA is the major donor of food aid in the world. World Food Program InterFAIS database shows worldwide cereal food aid has grown from nearly six million tons in 1974 to about 10 million tons in 1984. Food aid of mostly cereal is expected to reach 12.4 million tons this year. MANY FACE WORK STRESS: Hundreds of thousands of women and men feel pain in their guts, their heads and their hearts every day because of workplace stress. The number of workers feeling highly stressed has doubled since 1985 to 46%, says Peggy Lawless, a researcher with Northwestern National Life Insurance. Forty-two percent feel some stress; only 4% are stress-free, according to a Northwestern survey. PETS CAN HELP A HEALTHY LIFE: Here's one easy way to lower your heart risk - get a pet. A study in the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia shows those who keep a pet have significantly lower blood pressure than those who don't. Pet owners in the study also have lower cholesterol levels. CONDOM SALES PUSHED: Atlanta businesses that sell liquor - including restaurants, hotels, theaters and caterers - also would have to offer condoms for sale under a proposed ordinance the City Council considers Tuesday. Councilwoman Carolyn Long Banks, the sponsor, says she hopes it will help stop the spread of AIDS. Boston Mayor Raymond L. Flynn last month vetoed a similar measure. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON LIFE: MAG HAS EXTRAVAGANT NOTION: Contributing Life editor Brad Darrach says at least 100 top aging experts were interviewed; estimates are based on the expectation of manipulating "a manageable number of human genes" to control aging. While most of the researchers quoted were less extravagant, the magazine latches on to the intoxicating notion that 400- to 700-year life spans may be possible in a few decades. EXPERT DISAGREES WITH NOTION: Darrach says the article was reported with great care. But Dr. Jeffrey A. Fisher spent two years studying the work of 60 top researchers to write Rx2000 (Simon & Schuster, $22) about medical breakthroughs in the next 40 years; he calls the 400-year life span idea "fanciful." HUMANS ARE NOT FRUIT FLIES: Dr. Huber Warner, National Institute on Aging, agrees with Dr. Fisher. "Extending the life span of yeast or a fruit fly" is one thing; "extrapolating that to humans is a lot tougher." Adding 10 to 30 years in the next half-century is more realistic, he says. (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