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 Thu, Sep 17 1992 Date: Thu, 17 Sep 92 04:53:17 EDT Message-ID: 09-17 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Sept. 17, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SMOKING MAY BE IN THE GENES: Genes may not only help determine whether people smoke - they may influence how much and whether people ever quit. So say researchers who looked at smoking among 4,775 pairs of male twins. Their study is in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. They found identical twins, who share genes, are more likely to have matching smoking profiles than are fraternal twins. TWINS SHOW SIMILAR TRAITS: In identical twins, "if you're a smoker, there's a high probability your twin will be a smoker," says Dorit Carmelli, a researcher at SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif. "If you're a light smoker or a heavy smoker, there's a high probability your twin will be, too." Carmelli's work was partially funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. HEALTH BILL CONSIDERED: Legislation was introduced Wednesday that would create a network of competing health organizations capable of providing affordable health care to all Americans. The plan of "managed competition" would replace the existing private system by using tax incentives to encourage a system of competing health plans offering insurance and medical care by the same group. INSURANCE HOLDS UP OPERATION: A 5-year-old Connecticut boy born with virtually no intestines has been taken off a donor waiting list while his family and the state battle over how much Medicaid will pay for the operation. The state says it will pay 49% of the $350,000 for Joey Rodgers. Pittsburgh Children's Hospital requires a 75% guarantee, according to Joey's mother, Michelle Rodgers. VEGETARIANS HAVE DIFFERENT WAYS: A survey of vegetarians shows that the term covers a wide spectrum of eating habits, including occasionally eating red meat. The Vegetarian Times-commissioned survey of 301 self-described vegetarians and 300 subscribers found that: 79% eat dairy products, 38% eat eggs and 40% eat fish and poultry at least once a week; 10% eat red meat weekly, 11% monthly and 14% a few times a year. MINNESOTA IS A HEALTHY STATE: People looking for a healthy haven should head to Minnesota. It edged out Hawaii as the healthiest of the 50 states in a national ranking by Northwestern National Life Insurance Company. The list is based on 17 indicators, including infant mortality, access to health care, smoking rates and violent crime. West Virginia was named the least-healthy state, for the second consecutive year. ALTERNATIVE CARE TO BE STUDIED: A focus on wellness instead of disease and more respect for unconventional treatment are part of an elaborate blueprint drafted in Chantilly, Va., Wednesday for a new era in medicine and health care. More than 100 experts from "alternative" health fields, assembled by the National Institutes of Health to come up with an agenda for NIH's new Office of Unconventional Medical Practices. GRANTS WILL BE AWARDED: The goal of the new Office of Unconventional Medical Practices, says Dr. Brian Berman of the University of Maryland, is "to bridge the gap - some might say canyon" between conventional U.S. medicine and alternative practices, from Chinese acupuncture to hands-on healing. The office will award 10 to 15 grants of up to $50,000 a year for two years to study unconventional therapies. ALCOHOL-FREE WINE COMING OUT: The buzz in the wine world is wine without the buzz. Sutter Home Winery in California's Napa Valley is rolling out its alcohol-free white zinfandel and chardonnay next month. Sutter Home isn't the first company to market a non-alcoholic wine but it's the biggest. They're going after diet-conscious consumers - it's half the calories of regular wine. MATCHING KIDNEYS A PLUS: Transplanted kidneys that closely match an original last twice as long as those from less compatible donors. So say researchers reporting in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Kidney transplant doctors don't always try to find a compatible donor for fear it might come too late. CONFUSION EXISTS OVER AEROSOLS: It's been 14 years since the Environmental Protection Agency banned ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons in aerosols, but the message still hasn't gotten through. Last fall a Roper poll showed 55% of Americans think they're still used, and only 14% correctly said they're not. For free info, write: "The Aerosol Adventure," c:o MTP, 5000 Park St. North, St. Petersburg, Fla., 33709. DRUG SENT BACK FOR TRIALS: Centocor's experimental drug Centoxin to treat sepsis shock was returned for more clinical trials because of a lack of data on its safety and effectiveness, not cost, the Food and Drug Administration said in a medical journal. Bloomberg Business News said FDA actions were reported in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine. 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