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, Apr 28 1992 Date: Tue, 28 Apr 92 05:41:28 EDT Message-ID: 04-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update April 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CUTTING CAFFEINE REDUCES CYSTS: The problems of painful breast tissue and cysts, affecting about 70% of women, can be significantly eased by cutting out caffeine and taking vitamin E, says Dr. Bruce Drukke of the Michigan State University Medical School. Women often go to a doctor because of the cysts, fearing cancer. Drukke spoke Monday at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists meeting in Las Vegas. (For more, see special Breasts package below.) WARNER-LAMBERT'S PATCH APPROVED: Warner-Lambert Monday became the latest firm to receive Food & Drug Administration approval to market its Nicotrol smoke cessation patch. The key difference between Nicotrol and other patches: Nicotrol is designed to be worn for 16 hours a day, while the others are 24-hour patches. Of 50 million U.S. smokers, more than half have tried to quit at least once. TUBERCULOSIS ON INCREASE: The nation's latest tuberculosis outbreak has the research community scrambling for new facts about an old disease. Medical experts agree it will take years to find remedies for new strains of the resurgent "white plague," an illness they thought had been conquered in the 1950s, after which research was halted. Cases began reappearing in 1985 in crowded urban centers. DIAGNOSTIC IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED: Doctors need better diagnostic methods to treat tuberculosis says Dr. Thomas Daniel of the American Lung Association. It takes months to recognize infection and decide on treatment. Diagnostic improvements could be available within two years, along with a better method of determining whether a strain is resistant to drugs. But pharmaceutical development could take several years. WORKPLACE INSPECTION LAX: Enforcement of job safety and health standards is so lax that the federal government can inspect workplaces only once every 84 years, claims a union study out Tuesday. The study says it would take 100 years or more for OSHA to inspect all work sites in 12 states. The longest: Nebraska, 167; South Dakota, 162; Delaware, 137. The shortest: Nevada, 11; Alaska, 12; Michigan, 13. DOCTORS GETTING GIFT OFFERS: Eight out of 10 doctors say drug salespeople offer them gifts to encourage prescribing their wares, ranging from ballpoint pens to expensive trips. "Some of these offers may be illegal, says a report by Richard Kusserow, inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services. The average doctor can expect to get 28 offers a year, Kusserow says. MASS. COMMITTEE PASS BILLS: The Massachusetts legislative health committee passed two breast cancer bills Monday. One tightens the standards for mammographies. The other requires that the state to pay for the cost of mammographies for poor women. In the USA, 1 in 9 women is affected by breast cancer. SAFETY MONTH ANNOUNCED: In an effort to further reduce the number of electricity-related deaths and injuries, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. have collaborated on a May 1992 National Electrical Safety Month Campaign. The theme of the campaign is home inspection. Contact Janet Goebel, NEMA, 202-457-8455. MORE PEOPLE USING SEAT BELTS: Seat belt use is up 236% since 1984, says a poll being released Tuesday. "Buckling up is becoming a modern American revolution," says Helen Petrauskas, vice president for environmental and safety engineering at Ford Motor Co. While 87% say that buckling up could cut fatalities in half, only 64% say they always use belts. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BREASTS: NOT ALL SEE LINK: Growing evidence suggests a caffeine-free diet, plus 800 mg. of vitamin E daily, provides substantial relief for 2 out of 3 women with benign cysts in the breast tissue, says Dr. Bruce Drukker. Although not all studies have found a caffeine-breast cyst link, Drukker pointed to a National Cancer Institute study comparing 634 women with the fibrocystic tissue to 1,066 not affected. RISK INCREASED WITH INTAKE: A Cancer study found that women consuming caffeine in one 10-oz. mug of brewed coffee a day (256 mgs.) had a 1.5 times higher incidence of fibrocystic disease. Those drinking two 10-oz. mugs had a 2.3 times higher incidence. Some women have been using danazol for the disease, Drukker reports. It costs about $70 a month and can produce hot flashes and excess body hair, he says. ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES MAY HELP: Oral contraceptives low in estrogen and high in progesterone also can produce a 70% to 90% improvement in painful breast symptoms, studies show. There is also some preliminary evidence that vitamin A may help, but more research is needed, says Drukker. (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