Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.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 30 1992 Date: Fri, 30 Oct 92 09:37:04 EST Message-ID: 10-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BIRTH CONTROL SHOT APPROVED: Upjohn Co.'s Depo Provera, a birth control shot that lasts three months, was approved by Food and Drug Administration Thursday. The drug, used by millions of women worldwide, will be widely available in the USA by January. Approval was stalled by worries that it might raise cancer risks. Depo Provera is 99% effective, although it can cause menstrual irregularities and weight gain. WOMEN SLIGHTED IN DRUG STUDIES: Women are underrepresented in studies that determine which drugs are approved in the USA, a new report says. And it says researchers often get Food and Drug Administration approval without studying whether a drug affects men and women differently. The report, from the government's General Accounting Office, is the latest indictment of the medical establishment's treatment of women. (For more, see special Women package below.) FDA WORKING ON PROBLEMS: The Food and Drug Administration requires drug studies to include representative numbers of those expected to use the drug. But a report, which looked at 53 drugs approved between 1988 and mid-1991, says women were underrepresented in 60% of studies. FDA's response: Studies do include enough women to get good data. The FDA also says it is working on clearer guidelines. AIDS ORPHANS WILL INCREASE: About 55,000 New York City children, teens and young adults will lose their mothers to AIDS by the year 2000. So says a new report from an organization called the Orphan Project. The report says more than half of those left motherless will be under age 18; 58% will be black, 11% white. Some will be infected with the AIDS virus themselves. KIDS GROW UP FAST: Parents who swear their baby sprouted overnight may be right. Findings from a University of Pennsylvania study in Friday's Science suggest infants can grow up to half an inch overnight. Doctors had believed infant growth followed a smoother pattern, just like in baby books. DISABLED STUDENTS PROPORTION UP: The proportion of freshman college students reporting disabilities has risen sharply since the late 1970s, says a study issued by the American Council on Education. The study, "College Freshmen With Disabilities: A Statistical Profile," says almost one in 11 full-time freshmen who enrolled last year reported having a disability, compared with one in 38 students in 1978. COMPANIES PROMOTE PRENATAL CARE: Privately insured women have a low birthweight rate of 6%, vs. 7% for women nationwide, proving that poverty isn't the only factor, says Deborah Chollet, of the Center for Risk Management and Insurance Research at Georgia State University, which surveyed of 59,000 privately insured women. These and other findings have prompted many employers to set up prevention programs. NURSING SHOW TO AIR: Health-minded consumers will have a new source of health-care news in January. "Nursing Approach," a news show, will begin Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. EST on CNBC's American Medical Television. Segments will focus on the work of nurses, including updates on recent research findings. HELP FOR PEOPLE WITH DIARRHEA: Common gastrointestinal troubles are baffling and time-consuming medical problems. Symptoms include diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, gas or feeling bloated. But researchers have a new test in which patients swallow a tiny radioactive "marker" that winds a path through the gastrointestinal track and is recorded. Computers then assemble a 24-hour "portrait" of bowel activity. KEYS FOR DIETING CITED: Dieters who eat sensibly in front of others, but splurge on chocolate and junk food in private, may be less likely to diet successfully, say researchers at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. The successful dieters in the study listed the following as reasons for their success: Determination, commitment, the patience to stick with it and being "sick of being fat." EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS PAINFUL: Patients who arrive at the emergency room with conditions that cause acute pain, such as compound fractures, often do not receive adequate medication to lessen the pain, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Studies have found that only 14% of patients who arrive at an emergency room actually receive any type of pain killer within an hour of arrival. PUT OUT THE FLAMES WITH MILK: When the jalapeno peppers get to hot in the mouth, douse the flames with a swig of milk, says the September issue of Prevention magazine. Milk contains casein, a lipoprotein that has a cooling effect when applied to a burning mouth. Casein is found in milk, including skim milk and in milk chocolate, nuts and some beans. 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