Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.health From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: health Tue, Mar 3 1992 Date: Tue, 3 Mar 92 06:00:08 EST Message-ID: 03-03 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update March 3, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SMOKERS' KIDS ALSO SMOKE: Many kids of smokers also smoke themselves, a Harris survey out Tuesday suggests. It found that 74% of the kids who smoke say there's at least one other smoker in the family. The survey included 1,200 adults and 2,600 kids in grades four through 12. Also, 65% of kids surveyed said that if children see their parents smoke they will feel it's acceptable for them to smoke too. CONFLICT INCREASES HEART RISK: Women torn between career and family are at higher risk of getting serious heart disease than other women, a Yale University School of Nursing study suggests. Most at risk are women who believe their home lives have forced them to make job sacrifices. The study surveyed the health and lifestyle of 311 women, ages 50 to 70 years old, all holders of Yale graduate nursing degrees. (For more, see special Heart package below.) PROSTATE CANCER GOES UNDETECTED: Although prostate cancer strikes men at the same rate breast cancer strikes women, men are much more likely to be diagnosed at a stage when the disease is incurable. Only 44% of cases are detected before the cancer has spread from the prostate gland to surrounding tissues, organs or bone marrow. But 52% of breast cancers are caught at the early stage, says the National Cancer Institute. BLOOD TEST OFTEN NOT USED: In 1992 the primary means of diagnosing prostate cancer is still the doctor's forefinger. "Men would rather kiss a cobra than have a rectal exam," says Dr. William Catalona, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. He says a simple blood test for prostatic specific antigen is better at early detection. Many doctors consider it experimental and don't offer it. SYSTEM HELPS REDUCE PRESSURE: Use of an electronic medication compliance system produces significant reduction in blood pressure through increased compliance, according to a clinical study conducted at the Medical College of Virginia. Almost 90% of high blood pressure victims do not maintain adequate treatment. The results of the study were published in March's Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. SYRINGE BILL IS CONSIDERED: Marin County, Calif., supervisors will be asked Tuesday to support legislation to give drug addicts free syringes to stem the spread of AIDS. The bill would allow AIDS-prevention programs to offer needle exchanges. One way the disease is spread is when addicts share hypodermic needles. Marin has the state's second highest per capita rate of HIV infection. EYE CLINIC AGREES TO PAY: The Department of Justice said Monday Florida Eye Clinic P.A. of Altamonte Springs, Fla., will pay the United States $2.85 million to settle allegations it overcharged the government for Medicare reimbursements. The department said Florida Eye and another company, IncomRx, put together a scheme that charged the government twice for the same services. WORKERS DON'T HAVE TO PAY BILLS: Workers injured on the job don't have to pay for medical bills left unpaid by their employers, Alabama Attorney General Jimmy Evans ruled in an advisory opinion, which doesn't have force of law. Employers say doctors are charging too much and are refusing to pay the complete amount charged by the doctors. WARNING OF INSURER FAILURES: People should be concerned about the possibilty of their health insurer failing and leaving them with unpayable bills, warned Jane Bryant Quinn in a Newsweek column. In the last three years, 121 life and health insurance firms went broke. When Blue Cross and Blue Shield of West Virginia collapsed in 1990, it left $42 million unpaid, Quinn said. Some 131 HMOs failed between 1986 and 1990. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON HEART: TENSION CAUSES RISK: Yale School of Nursing psychologist John P. Dixon found in a study that women who felt tension between work and home were "significantly" more likely to have been hospitalized at least once for heart disease. Those with the strongest feelings of conflict between home and work roles were nearly nine times more likely to have had serious heart problems. CONFLICT IS THE CAUSE: John P. Dixon, Jane K. Dixon and Janet Spinner conducted the study at Yale School of Nursing. Most at risk are women who felt having a family hindered career advancement. "It's not achievement per se or work intensity, it's the amount of conflict felt between home and work that seems to be the important contributor to major heart disease," John Dixon says. RESULTS ARE PRELIMINARY: The study accounted for risk factors such as age, obesity and smoking. Results are preliminary, John Dixon says, and must be confirmed by larger investigations of women and heart disease. Nearly all research in the field has focused on men. While the study relied on women's memories, findings do fit with other research in the field. (End of package.) Health Editor: Ed Kelleher. (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