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 Fri, Oct 2 1992 Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 04:56:03 EDT Message-ID: 10-02 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Oct. 2-4, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network STUDY VERIFIES MID-LIFE CRISIS: Mid-life crisis - that fabled rite of fast cars and faster affairs - has gained sudden respectability. A University of Michigan study says it really exists. Adults in their 40s to early 50s are more reflective than the rest of us - and more likely to be propelled toward change by some event in their lives, researchers found. (For more, see special Mid-life package below.) ASTHMA DEATHS UP: Asthma deaths are on rise. A Centers for Disease Control report says two deaths in 100,000 are asthma-related. That's up 46% over 1980. Four in 100 people now have asthma, up 38%. Experts say pollution and poverty are among the culprits. House dust and mites can trigger wheezing and other breathing problems. HYPERTENSION LINKED TO GENE: Researchers have linked the most common form of high blood pressure to a gene. The finding is the first to suggest a possible risk factor for primary hypertension. If results are confirmed, researchers say it may be possible to test people for the gene, then modify diet to prevent high blood pressure. CHRONIC FATIGUE NOT WIDESPREAD: Chronic fatigue syndrome may be less common than some patients and doctors have estimated, researchers will report this weekend. And signs of a possible CFS virus found by some researchers have not been found in follow-up studies, say scientists meeting in Albany, N.Y. SYMPTOMS ARE REAL FOR SOME: The bottom line for most who have studied chronic fatigue syndrome remains the same: CFS is a real illness that affects the immune system and brain, causing not only tiredness, but symptoms ranging from sore joints to forgetfulness. Sufferers are forced to cut back on normal activities; some are bedridden for months or years. The cause or causes are unknown. GROUP PUSHES FOR HEALTH CARE: Pennsylvania lawmakers should make health insurance for children a priority in the special legislative session that begins Monday, says the Children's Health Campaign advocacy group. About 400,000 children in the state lack coverage, and inaction has tied up $20 million set aside since 1991, the group says. MEDICARE PAYMENTS TO INCREASE: Medicare payments for in-patient hospital care will be increased 3.55% for rural hospitals and 2.55% for urban hospitals in the 1993 fiscal year, the Department of Health and Human Services says. Total Medicare payments to hospitals for in-patient care are projected to increase 8.5%, rising to $72.6 billion from fiscal year's 1992 level of $66.9 billion. SMOKING PATTERN SEEN: An ongoing study shows that the most strongly nicotine-dependent smokers are male blue-collar workers and female white-collar workers. The study of 8,045 people showed that between 1985-90, fully 51% of male blue-collar workers were nicotine-dependent. Among women, 26% of professionals. TROUBLED YOUTH GET HOT-LINE: A new hot-line for troubled youth has been set up. The 1-800-2 GET HELP hot-line will refer callers to organizations that provide assistance. Callers will get immediate access to agencies that can provide help and answer questions about drug abuse, pregnancy and birth control, rape, suicide, sexually transmitted diseases, eating disorders, domestic abuse and aid for runaways. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON MID-LIFE: CRISIS VICTIMS MORE REFLECTIVE: Adults in their 40s to early 50s "are more reflective, introspective and interested in changing themselves," a University of Michigan study says. "They also are conscious that changes they make would affect their futures." People who observe or experience mid-life crises first-hand say they've known it all along. TIME IS `RUNNING OUT': "People in their middle years measure what they've done and who they're living with against the hopes and dreams of their youth," says Dr. Glenn Davis, chief of psychiatry at Ford Hospital in Detroit. "The crisis comes when the two views are discordant. "It's a potential turning point. Time is running out. And that's where the sports cars and trophy wives come in." ADULTS CHANGE THEIR LIFESTYLES: The middle years also are a time when people are likely to change their lifestyle for the better, says family law specialist Henry Baskin of Detroit. "They give up alcohol or drugs, or seek therapy," he said. But in Baskin's experience, even positive changes are likely to promote upheaval, and divorce is common. MEN HAVE HARDER TIME: The study, based on interviews with 73 people ages 30-70, appears to uphold the stereotype of older men having a harder time with middle-age than women. "Many women interviewed denied having a mid-life crisis of their own, but said their ex-husbands had experienced one," says researcher Elaine Wethington. TREND WILL BE SEEN LATER: Now that the leading edge of the baby boomers are in their 40s, midlife crisis is likely to create a recognizable economic trend. Gerald Celente, director of the New York-based Trends Research Institute, sees a small but growing pattern of "voluntary simplicity" among midlifers who exchange the rat race for easier lives. (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