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 23 1992 Date: Fri, 23 Oct 92 04:43:42 EDT Message-ID: 10-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Oct. 23-25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ESTROGEN MAY RAISE CANCER RISK: A mother's estrogen level during pregnancy can affect her daughter's risk for developing breast cancer later in life, says a study in this week's Lancet. Women who weighed more than eight pounds at birth had a 30% greater risk of developing breast cancer. Birth weight indicates a mother's estrogen level in pregnancy, say researchers. Low estrogen levels decreased the risk by 75%. BREAST CANCER FINDING PROMISING: Research in this week's Lancet linking a mother's estrogen level during pregnancy to a daughter's risk of breast cancer could help researchers lower soaring breast cancer rates, says Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos of the Harvard School of Public Health. Simply lowering estrogen levels during pregnancy may be the answer, but researchers don't know how to do that yet, he says. ALZHEIMER'S MAY STRIKE EARLY: While all Alzheimer's disease cases may be similar, they can develop differently, with one form striking people as early as their late 30s, suggests new research in Friday's Science. A newly identified genetic defect indicates "there are several different ways you can get Alzheimer's disease," says Dr. Gerard D. Schellenberg, University of Washington, Seattle. PET BIRDS LINKED TO LUNG CANCER: People exposed to pet birds for up to 10 years double their risk of lung cancer, suggests a British Medical Journal study. Based on the findings, exposure to pet birds would account for 17% of lung cancer cases in men and 20% in women, says Dr. Lenore Kohlmeier, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Possible culprits: Airborne bacteria from bird waste and feather particles. BIRD OWNERS BEWARE: Owners of pet birds should keep cages clean and frequently air out rooms where birds are kept, says a University of North Carolina researcher. People exposed to birds for up to 10 years have twice the risk of getting lung cancer, a study in the British Medical Journal finds. The risk triples for more than 10 years of exposure. But more research is needed, researchers admit. VACCINE TO BE TESTED FOR HIV: Polio vaccine tests in what is now Zaire during the 1950s didn't start the AIDS epidemic among humans, experts said Thursday. But to be sure, the remaining vaccine from the trials will be checked. A recent report suggested that the vaccine, grown in animal tissue, may have been tainted with a monkey version of HIV. Zaire is one of the African countries hardest hit by AIDS. POLIO VACCINE SAFETY AFFIRMED: Despite a report suggesting that African trials of the polio vaccine may have begun the spread of AIDS, the vaccine is considered one of the safest in the world, experts said Thursday. They seriously doubted that the trials, done in Zaire between 1957 and 1960 by the Philadelphia-based Wistar Institute, were responsible. AIDS INFORMATION OFFERED: An interactive AIDS telephone line - giving the latest information on drug treatments - has been started by the New York Health Department. It's the first of its kind in the USA, state Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Chassin said. Number: 212-239-5523. HYPERACTIVITY MAY LINGER: Most children with attention deficit:hyperactivity disorder continue to suffer those problems as adolescents and adults, according to research presented Thursday at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in Washington. As a result, they're far more likely to have troubled relationships and job histories. Experts had thought that kids outgrew the disorder. BACTERIA SCREENING RECOMMENDED: All pregnant women should be screened for Group B Streptococcus, the leading cause of preventable infections among newborns, lawyers and medical experts said Thursday. The bacteria, which may be present in up to 40% of pregnancies, is often without symptoms in the mother but kills 2,000 newborns a year and causes thousands to suffer permanent brain damage or disabilities. OKLA. AIDS PROGRAM CRITICIZED: A legislative committee Thursday called the Oklahoma Department of Health's handling of AIDS ineffective. The committee said health officials failed to tell lawmakers in time that funding was running out for a prescription drug program for AIDS patients. MEN FAILING IN DELIVERY ROOMS: Although more husbands are in the delivery room these days, women are less satisfied with what they're doing there, says November's Parents magazine. The survey of 72,000 women, compared to a similar one taken 10 years ago, found that men were 6% less supportive and only half as calm. Average labor is still 15 hours, and 75% of women still nurse their babies. Health Editor: Christopher Goldthwaite. (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