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 29 1992 Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 04:43:05 EST Message-ID: 10-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Oct. 29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FAT CRAVING IS IN THE MIND: Researchers have found a brain chemical that boosts the craving for fat - and a way to block it without affecting appetite for healthier foods. The findings have implications for obesity, heart disease and eating disorders, as well as for predicting in early childhood who will eat high fat diets, says Sarah Leibowitz, Rockefeller University, New York. (For more, see special Fat package below.) DETROIT HOSPITAL LAUNCHES STUDY: Detroit's Harper Hospital is undertaking the world's first study of drug therapy for prostate cancer in healthy men. The drug, 4HPR, has been shown to prevent prostate cancer from forming in animals. It will be given to 60 men daily for one year. FRENCH MAP OUT GENES: French biologists say they've come up with the most complete map so far of how people get their individual characteristics. Researchers say finding out how genes are passed on will help in tackling illnesses that run in families. CAUSE OF DYSLEXIA PINPOINTED: Researchers have gotten to the bottom of learning disabilities. Findings Thursday at a Society for Neuroscience meeting show problems may stem from a split-second delay in the brain's ability to process input. Experts say the delay may be the cause of learning disorders, including dyslexia. ALZHEIMER'S DRUG PROMISING: An experimental drug touted as a treatment to improve thinking in Alzheimer's disease patients achieved small, but measurable effects, a new trial shows. The drug tacrine, or Cognex, "is certainly not the solution," says Dr. John H. Growdon of Massachusetts General Hospital. But people should be optimistic about research into the disease, he says. ALZHEIMER'S PATIENTS SOUGHT: Scientists are looking for help in studying Alzheimer's disease. They're seeking families with at least three living members who have the disease and would participate in genetic research. Call research centers at Indiana University for more information at 800-526-2839. BUSH SIDES WITH COMPANY: The Bush administration has decided to support a federal court ruling allowing employers to slash the health insurance coverage of workers who develop expensive illnesses, such as AIDS. A memorandum urges the Supreme Court not to review the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals involving a case of a music-store employee who saw his benefits cut to $5,000 from $1 million after he developed AIDS. LEAD AFFECTS IQ LEVELS: Exposure to lead before birth or during early childhood can reduce IQ levels by 5% to 10%, and the damage lasts at least through age 7, say reports published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Australian researchers tested the IQs of 7-year-olds born in Port Pirie, Australia, a lead-smelting community where a third had blood lead levels of 25 micrograms per deciliter. NATIVE AMERICANS IN DANGER: Idaho's Native Americans are twice as likely to die at younger ages and from accidents than other state citizens, a study shows. Also, the poverty rate among Native Americans is three times that of other Idahoans. Blamed: Inadequate access to acceptable health care. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON FAT: GALANIN TRIGGERS CRAVINGS: Studies reported Wednesday by Sarah Leibowitz, Rockefeller University, New York, and co-researcher Akari Akabayashi, at a Society for Neuroscience meeting, show the brain chemical that controls fat craving is galanin. Findings show it is present in higher levels in the brains of rats who prefer fat-rich meals as babies and can predict which ones will become fat rats as adults. DRUG CAN BE BLOCKED: Galanin, when injected into the brain, makes rats with ordinary appetites eat huge amounts of fat and affects metabolism by slowing down the burning of calories. It can be blocked in the brain by an experimental drug, killing the appetite for fat while leaving rats hungry for proteins and carbohydrates. HUMAN STUDIES COMING: "Galanin is the only brain chemical found so far that directly correlates with fat intake. Learning to control its levels in humans is right down the road," says Leibowitz. Human studies with the experimental drug may be only one to two years away. If successful, Leibowitz says the drug could be used for people who can't control their appetite for fat. (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