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, Jul 17 1992 Date: Fri, 17 Jul 92 05:16:17 EDT Message-ID: 07-17 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update July 17-19, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network JUSTICE DEPT. OPPOSES RU-486: The U.S. Justice Department Thursday formally opposed return of RU-486 French abortion pills to a woman challenging the U.S. import ban. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is considering an emergency appeal of a court's ruling that blocks release of the pills. ENLIGHTENING NEWS ON IMPOTENCE: John Hopkins researchers say they have a better understanding of impotence. A new study suggests a gas made in the body links impulses in the brain and the machinery in a man's penis, allowing him to achieve an erection on cue. Researchers say the study may lead first to treatment of a condition that affects 40% of men with sickle cell disease in which the penis remains painfully erect. NITRIC OXIDE IS THE KEY: A study in Friday's Science found that blocking nitric oxide could prevent an erection regardless of the amount of stimulation provided to the animal. Doctors say the next step is to learn how to make nitric oxide, or to make a substance that would trigger its production in the body. Such a drug could be delivered via a patch, like the nicotine patch, or in a cream applied to the penis. FDA CHOOSES NEW LABEL: The Food and Drug Administration has picked out a design for the new nutrition label. It could start showing up on food products, from frozen dinners to cereal, as early as next spring. The favored format is one of half a dozen the agency is reviewing. They'll appear in the Federal Register Monday and are open to public comment until August 20th. CONSUMER GROUP LIKES LABEL: Some critics say the new nutrition design is too complex. But Bruce Silverglade of Center for Science in the Public Interest says the FDA "is moving in the right direction" and hopes it won't bow to industry pressure to provide less information. Comments go to Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), FDA, Rm. 1-23, 12420 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, Md. 20857. FREE SCREENINGS IN MISSISSIPPI: More than 100 volunteer doctors, nurses, dentists and other health professionals will descend on Mound Bayou, Miss., this weekend to conduct free comprehensive health screenings for residents of one of the poorest and most medically underserved areas in the USA. Long-term follow-up care also will be provided through the project. HIV PATIENTS RECRUITED: Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut is recruiting about 100 HIV-positive patients for a study to compare the effectiveness of the anti-AIDS virus drug AZT alone and with two other drugs. The $6 million, four-year research program is federally funded. HALOGEN CAN LEAD TO CANCER: High-intensity halogen lights - used often in homes and offices -emit ultraviolet light that can cause skin cancer. A study conducted in Italy at the University of Genoa found that rays coming from unshielded quartz-halogen bulbs can induce genetic mutations in the DNA of bacteria - a cause of cancer. LYME VACCINE APPROVED FOR DOGS: There's no human vaccine for Lyme disease yet, but earlier this month the Agriculture Department approved one for use on dogs. Fort Dodge Laboratories' LymeVax uses chemically inactivated material from the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, to provoke the dog's immune system into making protective antibodies. Successful human tests could bring it to market in five years. AVOID THE SUMMER HEADACHE: When people squint from sunlight their muscles tighten - the sure start of a headache. Norma Colon, founder of Yoga Fit in New York City, suggests exercises to melt away summer headaches: Lie on your back or sit with your head supported, and close the eyes; loosen the jaw, and "soften" your ears and the back of your tongue; and imagine your features melting from your face. STEPS TO GOOD HEALTH: According to a new study at the Cooper Institute for Aerobic Research in Dallas, a regular, leisurely walk can reduce a woman's risk of heart disease. The study included 102 women between 20 and 40 who didn't smoke, drank fewer than three alcoholic drinks a day and weren't dieting. Cardiovascular fitness, measured by cholesterol levels, increased significantly. AIDS ON A RAMPAGE: AIDS cases are growing. About 1,000 AIDS cases were diagnosed in 1982 compared with more than three-thousand in the first quarter of this year. The Centers for Disease Control reports Washington leads cities with the most AIDS cases with 122 for every 100,000 people. New York is next with 43 out of 100,000 people. States with the lowest number of AIDS cases are North Dakota and South Dakota. Health Editor: Michele Coleman. (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