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, Oct 8 1992 Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 04:25:12 EDT Message-ID: 10-08 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Oct. 8, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network RU 486 A `MORNING AFTER' PILL: The controversial French abortion pill RU 486 works well as an emergency "morning-after" birth control method, a new Scottish study says. The results provide ammunition for those who want U.S. approval of RU 486, whose import into the USA is banned. (For more, see special Pill package below.) ANTIBIOTIC WOVEN INTO CLOTHING: Hospital bedding, gowns and even workers' clothing may soon join the fight against infection with an antibiotic woven into fabric. Researchers at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy found they could blend silver zeolite - which kills staphylococcus bacteria - into the polyester molecules in a cotton-polyester fabric. ADVICE CAN SPOIL APPETITE: Last week milk was under attack. This week it's margarine. The American Dietetic Association says "People are so weary of conflicting information ... they're saying `Forget it,' " Margarine is under fire now because it raises the "bad" cholesterol in the blood. ELECTRICITY MAY FIGHT INFECTION: Medical devices implanted in the body - such as pacemakers and new joints - are carefully cleaned, but stubborn bacteria may remain and create dangerous infections. Adding a weak electrical field to antibiotic solutions, however, can kill all bacteria, according to a University of Calgary (Alberta) researcher. Contact lenses could also benefit from the treatment, the researcher says. FINE HAIR BEST FOR TRANSPLANT: Not every balding man makes a good candidate for a hair transplant. Doctors from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center describe the characteristics that lead to the best-looking results: Receding hairlines or thinning crowns, because they're easy to work with; hair color that doesn't contrast much with skin color; and fine hair, because it looks more natural. STATES TACKLE REFORM: Oregon, Hawaii, Minnesota and other states are valiantly tackling the health-care cost and access crisis, but it will take action by the president and Congress to accomplish far-reaching reform that covers all Americans, says an editorial in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The author: 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. DUKAKIS WRITES ON HEALTH CARE: Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, now at Northeastern University, says Hawaii's success and the troubles of Massachusetts and Oregon "should provide the president and the new Congress with a better understanding of the possibilities and pitfalls of comprehensive health care reform." States that attempt to increase access face protests from businesses. BRAIN ANEURYSMS DETECTED: About 11 million Americans are living with aneurysms in their brains - weak spots in an artery wall that could burst and cause a fatal hemorrhage. Mayo Clinic neurologists report in the October issue of Stroke that better scanning instruments can detect more aneurysms before they burst. HORMONE CONTROLS SLEEP: A new study done at the Oregon Health Sciences University has found that a dose of the hormone melatonin could possibly help people who are tired after a long plane ride or a long day at work. Researchers believe that this hormone plays a major role in how the body controls sleep and wakefulness. Melatonin is made only at night; exposure to sunlight causes the production to disappear. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON PILL: PILL COULD `PREVENT' ABORTION: RU 486 is used for abortions in France, Britain, Sweden and China. But its maker, wary of a backlash from U.S. abortion opponents, has been reluctant to submit it for approval here. "The real irony is that this drug could prevent abortions," says Dr. David Grimes, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. "Contraception is preferable to abortion." EFFECT OF PILL DISPUTED: But Richard Glasow of the National Right to Life Committee says RU 486 isn't a contraceptive because it works only after fertilization. Most people believe pregnancy begins at fertilization, he says. His group fears RU 486 would increase abortions. PILL TAKEN RIGHT AFTER SEX: The researchers gave the drug to 402 women less than three days after sex. Another 398 got high doses of the hormones in birth control pills. When given soon after sex, both are thought to prevent implantation of fertilized eggs. When used earlier, birth control hormones prevent ovulation; when used later, RU 486 causes the uterus to shed its lining and the embryo or fetus. (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