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 Thu, Mar 26 1992 Date: Thu, 26 Mar 92 05:44:31 EST Message-ID: 03-26 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update March 26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TV LOWERS METABOLISM: In a study of 32 girls ages seven to 11, one-half hour of TV viewing produced a 16% drop in metabolism in obese girls and a 12% drop in normal-weight girls, says Robert C. Klesges, Memphis State University. Klesges, who used an episode of "The Wonder Years," will report his study to the Society of Behavioral Medicine in New York Thursday. Metabolism is the body's rate of burning calories. RELAXATION BRINGS WEIGHT GAIN: TV-induced relaxation may be responsible for the findings of a new study showing that TV can dramatically lower kids' metabolism, says Robert C. Klesges, Memphis State University. Several hours of TV-viewing daily could lead to a few extra pounds a year, he adds. "In other words, they're burning more calories doing nothing," says Klesges. Other studies have linked obesity and TV. FDA INSPECTIONS CRITICIZED: The Food and Drug Administration often misses problems when it inspects factories that make medical devices, and the inspections are often too late, according to a General Accounting Office report out Wednesday. The FDA has had limited success inspecting devices such as heart valves, home thermometers and breast implants since they came under FDA regulation in 1976, the report said. (For more, see special Inspection package below.) CANCER DRUG MAY SLOW BONE LOSS: Tamoxifen, a drug commonly used to treat breast cancer, also slows bone loss occuring in women after menopause, suggests research in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The drug, an anti-estrogen, had been thought to speed up osteoporosis. Other studies have shown that the drug also prevents second tumors and lowers cholesterol levels by 12% on average. CHOLERA CONTINUES DEADLY SPREAD: A dozen cases of cholera were reported last week in Monterrey, Mexico, nearly 150 miles south of the U.S.-Mexican border. "Cholera will be at the border likely by the spring or summer," says Dr. Laurance Nickey, director of the City-County Health Department of El Paso, Texas. The disease, which resurfaced in Peru in Januray 1991, is spread by fecal-tainted food or water. GULF VETERANS REPORT AILMENTS: Army doctors Wednesday were investigating unidentified ailments experienced by approximately 60 members of Army Reserve units from Indiana deployed in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. Among the symptoms are muscle aches, chronic fatigue, diarrhea, aching teeth and gums, thick saliva and hair loss. Although no cause has been found, speculation points to exposure to microwave radiation. PHONE CALLS TO REMIND PATIENTS: Beginning in April, drug manufacturer Searle & Co. will phone patients taking the blood-pressure drug Calan SR to remind them to take their medicine. Patients participating in the program will be called every day the first week, less in later weeks and when a refill is needed. Studies indicate that half of the 1.8 billion U.S. prescriptions filled annually are not taken properly. HEALTH CARE CONFERENCE PLANNED: Leading health care providers will discuss the role of primary care in coordinating affordable and accessible health care at a conference sponsored by several federal agencies such as the Health Care Financing Administration and Centers for Disease Control. The National Primary Care Conference will be held in Washington at the Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H St., N.W., on March 29-31. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON INSPECTION: MANY FACTORIES GO UNINSPECTED: The Food and Drug Administration failed to inspect more than 40% of factories making all but the lowest-risk medical devices in 1989 or 1990, reports the General Accounting Office. Requirements call for making the inspections every two years. The report also found that one-third of recalled products were made in factories that the FDA did not inspect on time. EXAMPLES OF LAXNESS CITED: Nearly three-fourths of Food and Drug Administration inspections within two years of a product recall fail to find serious problems, the report said. The report also told of a gel used in eye surgery that may have caused blindness in some patients before it was pulled from the market and a radiation machine that claimed several lives before the FDA demanded action from the manufacturer. SERIES OF HEARINGS PLANNED: A series of hearings will be convened on the subject of FDA inspections, promised Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich., who added that "the FDA clearly has its work cut out for it." The agency is "now changing direction," and will improve its performance, said James Benson, who directs the FDA office responsible for device regulation. (End of package.) 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