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 Tue, Aug 18 1992 Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 04:30:58 EDT Message-ID: 08-18 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Aug. 18, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DIFFERENCES PROBED IN NEW AIDS: At first glance, the parallels with the early days of the AIDS epidemic seem frightening: A half dozen, then a dozen, then several dozen patients with strange infections and immune system abnormalities are reported. Then, scientists report possible signs of a new virus in some patients. Could this be AIDS, Part Two? Unlikely, experts say. (For more, see special AIDS package below.) AIDS VIRUS SUFFERERS ABUSED: A third of HIV-infected people responding to a new survey say they've suffered abuse - ranging from name-calling to beatings - because they carry the AIDS virus. About 12% say they've been abused in their own homes. The National Association of People With AIDS based its findings on 1,800 responses to questionnaires distributed to 1,200 locations nationwide. PERSONALITY SET BY AGE 30: If you don't like someone's personality by the time they turn age 30, get used to it. Research shows a person's personality is pretty much set by the age of 30. A report by the National Institute on Aging says if there's something you don't like about yourself at age 20, deal with it before you hit 30, when change is harder. PROCRASTINATORS BIG ON IMAGE: About 25% of adults chronically procrastinate. But it's not so bad. Experts say procrastinating doesn't mean laziness and it doesn't indicate a need for time management training. Researchers say it may just mean you are protecting your self image. A recent study at Cazenovia College in Cazenovia, New York, shows chronic procrastinators are very concerned with how others view them. NEW BIBLE BASED ON AA PROGRAM: An updated version of the Bible is heading to bookstores. "The Life Recovery Bible," (Tyndale House, $19.99), based on the 12-step program by Alcoholics Anonymous, is tailored for people in addiction recovery programs. New Life Treatment Centers is releasing the bible, which features "recovery profiles" of more than 60 biblical figures. COSTS MUST BE CONTAINED: Medical care costs must be contained if the workers compensation system is to regain its health, according to Rodger S. Lawson, president of the Alliance of American Insurers. Lawson, addressing the American Bar Association meeting in San Francisco last week, pointed to a 79.2% increase in workers compensation medical expenses between 1985 and 1989. GUIDE TO PSYCHOTHERAPY OUT: Psychotherapy is a blanket term for the methods therapists use to address emotional, behavioral and interpersonal problems, says Jack Engler, co-author of the new "The Consumer's Guide to Psychotherapy" (Fireside, $16). By far the greatest numbers come to therapists for "problems in everyday living," says Engler, a Harvard psychologist. APA MEETING IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: Psychotherapy teaches "how to deal with feelings, manage conflict, and develop alternate ways of solving problems," says Ellen McGrath of the American Psychological Association. The APA's five-day convention ends Tuesday in Washington, D.C. MANAGED CARE IS THE WAY TO GO: Although often touted as the cure for skyrocketing health costs, managed care has already achieved most of its savings, according to Dr. William Schwartz of Tufts University and Daniel Mendelson of the consulting firm Lewin-ICF. In a article in Health Affairs, the two say that managed care's savings have come in the area of cutting excess hospitalization. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON AIDS: EXPERTS ARE SKEPTICAL: At a hastily called meeting last week at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, experts expressed doubt that a new infectious agent is on the loose, causing AIDS-like illnesses and deaths. "I see no convincing evidence so far the syndromes are caused by an infectious agent, much less an agent that's transmitted in the blood supply," says CDC's Dr. James Curran. NEW VIRUS NOT DISMISSED: Health officials say they cannot dismiss the possibility of a new virus, however. "We're seeing and hearing about at least the footprints of viruses," says Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health. But different researchers are finding different footprints for possibly different viruses, none of which may play any role in the illnesses. IMMUNE SYSTEM IS LINK: The CDC's Dr. Martha Rogers has looked at the records of 30 U.S. patients reported thus far to the agency. All have extremely low levels of key immune system cells called CD4 - the same cells that HIV kills, leaving the body vulnerable to infections and cancers. Despite negative HIV tests, 25 have symptoms that might be associated with weakened immunity. NEW PATIENTS DIFFER: Patients with the new illness differ from AIDS patients: Of the 30 patients found since 1985, 29 are alive. Full-blown AIDS often kills in less than two years. while some of the 30 report AIDS risks - blood transfusions, hemophilia treatment, homosexual sex - 16 do not. Researchers have yet to find a sick sex partner or blood donor linked to any of the patients. (End of package.) 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. 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