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, Jun 19 1992 Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 05:24:16 EDT Message-ID: 06-19 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update June 19-21, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ABORTION ACT PROGRESSES: A House subcommittee approved a measure Thursday that would protect a woman's right to an abortion. The 5-3 vote in favor of The Freedom of Choice Act was Congress' first attempt to block a possible Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe vs. Wade, the ruling which legalized abortion. FDA TO STUDY BIRTH CONTROL SHOT: Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration Friday will hear evidence that Depo-Provera, a birth control shot used by 30 million women worldwide, doesn't raise overall risks for several types of cancer. Cancer fears lead the FDA to reject it as a contraceptive in the 1970s and 1980s. Some women's health advocates will oppose approval of the hormonal drug. DEPO-PROVERA SAFE, STUDY SAYS: Food and Drug Administration advisors Friday will review a nine-year World Health Organization study of the contraceptive Depo-Provera. The study, which involved more than 11,000 women, suggests Depo-Provera doesn't increase the overall risk for cancers of the breast, cervix, liver, ovary or uterine lining. Some health experts worry the drug may cause bone loss, weight gain and skin problems. SIDS LINKED TO SECONDHAND SMOKE: Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke poses severe health risks to young children and might be linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, says an Environmental Protection Agency draft report. The report, based on examination of dozens of scientific studies, estimates smoke may cause 150,000 to 300,000 severe respiratory ailments annually in children less than 18 months of age. SECONDHAND SMOKE WORSENS ASTHMA: Children who live with smokers are more likely to become asthmatic and have more frequent and severe attacks, according to a draft report from the Environmental Protection Agency. The report says a number of studies show "strong evidence" that infants whose mothers smoke have an increased risk of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. ALLERGY CLUE DISCOVERED: Mothers who avoid allergy-triggering foods while pregnant or breastfeeding may cut in half their baby's chance of developing allergies in the first year, a new study says. Reducing contact with known triggers, such as dairy products, secondhand tobacco smoke and dustmites, "substantially lowers" allergy risk, say the authors of a British study out Friday in The Lancet. BENEFITS OF WINE TOUTED: A glass of wine daily may be good for the heart, according to a report in Friday's Lancet, a British medical journal. French researchers found that alcohol consumption equal to a French person's average daily wine intake - about two glasses - can lower coronary heart disease risk by at least 40%. But researchers say that alcohol also retards the blood clotting process. NORTHEAST POLLEN LEVELS HIGH: Pollen levels in the Northeast last month were four times their usual levels, making spring even worse for allergy sufferers, says Dr. James A. Pollowitz, a Scarsdale, N.Y., allergy doctor. Pollowitz blamed the high levels on a mild winter and cold rainy spring. Harsh winters tend to keep pollen levels low. MORE SINGLE DADS HEAD HOMES: The number of single father-headed homes rose from 1.3 million to 1.8 million between 1985 and 1989, Census data show. The figure is three times the rate of female-headed families. Fathers now head 21% of single-parent household. Causing the trend, according to experts, are judges' willingness to award custody of children to men and an increase in divorced mothers choosing careers. COMPANY HALTS USE OF PRODUCT: Heart Technology Thursday asked its customers temporarily to stop using its peripheral and coronary Rotablator products. The company has received three reports of failures relating to three wires that make up the drive shaft. Heart Technologies is investigating the failures but has not issued a recall. PUERTO RICO AIDS FUNDS RISE: Federal funds for the treatment of AIDS patients in Puerto Rico have more than doubled this year under the "Title I Ryan White Funds," say officials. Funding was set at $3.6 million - up 112%. The funds will be matched by Puerto Rico's government. 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