Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.health From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: health Fri, May 22 1992 Date: Fri, 22 May 92 05:21:01 EDT Message-ID: 05-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update May 22-25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PLAYGROUNDS MAY BE UNSAFE: A survey of 130 public playgrounds in 12 states finds that 88% lacked adequate surfacing, such as sand, hardwood chips, gravel or rubber tiles. The survey, by U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Consumer Federation of America, found that 58% had play equipment with openings small enough to entrap a child's head and 53% contained equipment higher off the ground than necessary. CANCER DRUG LOOKS PROMISING: A new experimental chemical may be more effective than other forms of chemotherapy, says a report in Friday's Science. The drug, which may be tested in humans in two years, is reported to be able to destroy cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unhurt, say researchers at the Scripps Research Institute. THE USA IS SMOKING LESS: U.S. smoking rates have fallen 1.1% annually since since 1987, says a Centers for Disease Control report. Smoking has declined from 40% in 1965 to 25.5% in 1990, the report found. Other findings: Approximately 24 million men smoke, vs. 22 million women. At 26%, smoking rates were the same for blacks and whites. But only 17% of blacks age 20-24 smoke, compared to 28% of whites. (For more, see special Smoking package.) EPA TO STUDY RARE DEFECT: The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it will spend $352,000 on a two-year study to determine if toxic chemicals are causing an unusually high incidence of rare brain and spinal birth defects in Texas along the lower Rio Grande on the Mexican border. Since 1989, at least 30 babies in Cameron County have been born without most of their brains, a condition known as anencephaly. LEAD FOUND IN N.Y. WELLS: One of every four drinking water samples taken at New York public school districts statewide show high lead levels, reports a state Health Department survey. Children exposed to low levels of lead may suffer impaired mental development. At high levels, lead can cause nervous system damage and even death. Children are in no immediate danger, health officials said. CARBOHYDRATES HELP PERFORMANCE: Endurance athletes, such as marathon runners and cyclists, can improve their performance by ingesting carbohydrates before, during and after exercising, says Michael Sherman, associate professor of exercise physiology at Ohio State University. These athletes often deplete carbohydrate stores, says Sherman, who recommends liquid carbohydrates such as Gatorade, soda and lemonade. MEDICARE FRAUD, WASTE CITED: More money is needed to cut waste and fraud in Medicare, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said Thursday at a Senate Finance subcommittee hearing. Health care reform won't enjoy popular support unless the government demonstrates an intention to cut waste, he added. A recent General Accounting Office study said nearly 10% of $817 billion in health care spending is wasted. INVESTIGATIVE FUNDING DROPS: Although spending on Medicare and Medicaid will increase by $34 billion this year, the inspector general's investigative staff has been cut by 12%, says Michael Mangano, deputy inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services that administers those programs. There is now one special agent for every $2 billion in his department's health care costs, Mangano says. EPA STUDIES SMOKE POLLUTION: Even air that conforms to federal quality standards can hold enough smoke particles to injure asthmatics, says an Environmental Protection Agency study. The study, presented to a meeting of the American Lung Association last week in Miami Beach, Fla., showed that emergency room visits by asthmatics rose and fell with the smoke levels of the previous day. TENN. DOCTOR LOSES LICENSE: A Tennessee doctor whose license was revoked Wednesday for using an untested treatment for AIDS plans to continue seeking an AIDS cure. The state medical board fined the doctor $5,000 and suspended the license of a psychiatrist for six months. SPECIAL SMOKING PACKAGE: SOCIAL PRESSURE CITED FOR DROP: Most smokers in the USA are between the ages of 24 and 44, according to Centers for Disease Control National Health Interview study. Social pressure and the health risk of smoking are convincing more people to quit and fewer to begin, says Gary Giovino of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. SMOKING STILL CLAIMS HIGH TOLL: Despite the decline in U.S. smoking, smoking-related deaths in developed nations will hit two million this year, up from one million in the mid-1960s, according to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study. Also, between the year 2005 and 2010, smoking is expected to kill more women than men in the USA and Britain. (End of package.) ADVISORY: Decisionlines will not be published Monday, May 25, in observance of Memorial Day. Decisionlines will resume publication on Tuesday, May 26. 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