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 22 1992 Date: Thu, 22 Oct 92 04:38:37 EDT Message-ID: 10-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Oct. 22, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BREAST CANCER STUDY UNDER FIRE: The USA's first major study to prevent breast cancer is being criticized at a congressional hearing Thursday as too risky for younger women. The federally sponsored Breast Cancer Prevention Trial, started in April, is enlisting 16,000 healthy pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women at risk for breast cancer. (For more, see special Study package below.) AIDS VIRUS DETECTED EARLY: A new blood test that detects the AIDS virus can diagnose the disease in nearly half of infected newborns. That would make it possible to begin treatment much earlier than before. French researchers believe the earlier treatment begins, the greater the chances of delaying the disease. The standard test can take up to 18 months to detect AIDS in newborms. CANCER VACCINE PROMISING: Stanford University researchers say they've created vaccines they hope will eventually wipe out tumors. The treatment wouldn't prevent cancer but they hope they can customize a treatment to sensitize the immune system against a specific tumor. The study is in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. HOW TO CUT THE FAT: There are some easy trade-offs to cut fat in the diet. Neva Cochran, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, suggests instead of two-thirds cup of granola cereal, 10 grams of fat; try two-thirds cup of bran with raisin cereal, 0 grams. And try one cup of skim milk with little fat instead of one cup of whole milk with eight grams of fat. SUGARLESS HALLOWEEN STILL SWEET: Halloween can be a depressing time for a child with diabetes. LifeScan, a maker of blood glucose meters, suggests a few ways to keep Halloween sweet for diabetic kids. Arrange special trick-or-treat stops with neighbors where kids can pick up stickers or small toys instead of candy. And let the child host a Halloween party with sugar-free treats instead of going trick-or-treating. ALL FLIGHTS TO BE SMOKE-FREE: International travelers may soon be breathing air as smoke-free as that on domestic flights. The International Civil Aviation Organization recently approved a resolution to end smoking on all international flights by July 1, 1996. At least 51 major airlines and 28 countries already prohibit smoking on most or all domestic flights. ILLINOIS KIDS NOT FARING WELL: Children in almost every Illinois county are worse off than 10 years ago, according to a yearlong study by Voices for Illinois Children. The child poverty rate increased more than 50% in the 1980s in 34 counties. Twenty-seven of the counties were rural. More than 13% of all children don't have health insurance. HERITAGE SUBMITS HEALTH PLAN: The conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation has proposed government cuts, some of which would affect insurance. Heritage would slow growth of Medicare and Medicaid by regulation or incentives to cut costs, with a projected five-year saving of $71 billion. Among those affected: Hospitals, doctors and nurses, insurers, the elderly, the near-poor and poor without insurance. UNINSURED GET SECOND-RATE CARE: Uninsured Americans are three times more likely than insured Americans to receive inadequate health care and suffer adverse health outcomes, according to a report prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment. The study was based on an evaluation of 24 studies. The uninsured are 1.3 times more likely than publicly insured individuals to use fewer health services. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON STUDY: STUDY TESTS TAMOXIFEN: Women in an ongoing federally funded breast cancer study get the breast cancer drug tamoxifen or a placebo. Research shows the drug treats active breast cancer and cuts the risk of a second tumor in the healthy breast. Study goal: To learn whether it prevents breast cancer in healthy women. RISKS INVOLVED WITH DRUG: Critics charge that "a majority" of the 288 centers conducting the trial oversimplify consent forms and minimize the drug's potential risks. Experts who will testify at the hearing also argue the trial should include only post-menopausal women. One study suggests the drug can raise breast cancer risk in younger women. LIVER CANCER CAN OCCUR: Also, rare cases of liver cancer or liver problems may occur, says pharmacologist Michael DeGregorio, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio. Says Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., who heads a hearing on the study: "It is important to make sure federally funded research protects patients from unnecessary risks and makes sure they are accurately informed." (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