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 Wed, Sep 30 1992 Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 04:52:36 EDT Message-ID: 09-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Sept. 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network VALUE OF MILK DISPUTED: Concerned experts are taking exception to a prominent pediatrician's statement that "we should all stop drinking milk today." An "alarmed" American Medical Association says "there is absolutely no scientific proof to support" the claim that milk is dangerous. Recent studies link cow's milk given to infants to juvenile diabetes, iron deficiency and allergic reactions. COW'S MILK `IS FOR CALVES': Frank Oski, director of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says cow's milk is "for calves. It was not designed for humans." But "substantial" research shows "milk is an excellent source of calcium," says Sandra Raymond of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. ROBOTS ENTERING MEDICAL FIELD: HANC (Home Assisted Nursing Care), a user-friendly home-care robot can check a patient's temperature, pulse and blood pressure and reminds patients to take their medicine. It also alerts a 24-hour central monitoring system if read-outs cause alarm. Robots are quickly becoming a fact of life in today's health-care system, says a recent edition of Modern Healthcare magazine. (For more, see special Robots package below.) BROCHURE HELPS PICK PROVIDER: Healthcare Organizations, a private group that accredits health-care providers, has recently published five brochures to help people choose where to seek health care. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope (with two 29-cent stamps) to "Helping You Choose: Quality Hospital Care" Brochures, Customer Service Center, Joint Commission, 1 Renaissance Blvd., Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. 60181. AIDS RESULTS BETTER WITH MORE: Hospitals that treat a greater number of AIDS patients with pneumonia get better results than those that treat only a few, according to a 1987 Rand Corp. study of 3,126 patients at 73 New York City hospitals. Hospitals treating the fewest patients showed death rates twice as high as those treating the most. Differences flattened when hospitals had more than 160 cases per year. CENTER TO GET LEAD OUT: The new National Center for Lead-Safe Housing opens Thursday. Few standards exist for the best ways to remove lead dust and cracking lead-based paint from buildings. The new center hopes to help set some. Lead poisoning has been linked to mental retardation, hyperactivity and behavior problems in children. KIDS CAN GET LOW RATES: Healthy Steps, a low-cost health insurance for children, was unveiled by Connecticut's Blue Cross:Blue Shield Tuesday. The program will offer insurance to children under 14 whose family income is below $24,240 for a family with 3 children. Annual cost: $60 per child. VEGETARIANS HAVE THEIR DAY: World Vegetarian Day is Thursday, Oct. 1. This 15-year-old international celebration, the brainchild of the North American Vegetarian Society, puts the ecological, ethical and health benefits of a meat-free diet in the spotlight. DELI PATRONS GET SICK: The deli at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord will reopen Wednesday. It was closed last week after 24 people were stricken with salmonella and others with gastroenteritis. The Division of Public Health Service said the likely sources were chicken and tuna salads. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON ROBOTS: ALL TYPES OF ROBOTS IN WORKS: Machines that dispense medicine, analyze blood and even help perform surgery are being developed, says Karen Petitte managing editor of the Chicago-based weekly. Robodoc is a computer system that prepares bone for hip-replacement surgery. The creation of Integrated Surgical Systems of Sacramento, Calif., is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration. ROBOT SAVES MONEY: HANC (Home Assisted Nursing Care) is "about 3 1:2 feet high; he sort of looks like a small portable TV," says inventor Stephen Kaufman, chairman of Healthcare Services Corp., Northbrook, Ill., which hopes to have its talking robot on the market in 12 to 18 months. One big benefit: It could cost $1.25 an hour compared with a nurse's $90 an hour, he says. USA RUNNING BEHIND: The USA is actually lumbering behind Canada and Europe in the development of robot health-care systems, says Petitte, who believes government regulations have slowed approval here. "I think it can be a benefit to patients, to physicians, hospital workers, nursing home workers. There are a variety of functions a robot can perform across the spectrum," she 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