Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!tamsun.tamu.edu!mtecv2!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Newsgroups: usa-today.health,americast.usa-today.health Subject: health Tue, Sep 1 1992 Message-ID: Date: 1 Sep 92 08:40:11 GMT Organization: American Cybercasting Lines: 112 Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com 09-01 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Sept. 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TOBACCO CAMPAIGNS INEFFECTIVE: Two tobacco industry campaigns to discourage cigarette sales to children are ineffective, a researcher said Monday. Dr. Joseph R. DiFranza of the University of Massachusetts Medical School said a Tobacco Institute campaign aimed at stores, called "It's the Law," had little effect on sales of cigarettes to kids. DIET PILLS DISCUSSED: A group of the nation's top obesity researchers will meet Tuesday at a National Institutes of Health workshop in Atlanta. Expected recommendations include more long-term studies on the safety and effectiveness of weight-loss drugs, and revising limits on how long the drugs can be taken. Many drugs are approved only for short-term use such as three months. (For more, see special Pills package below.) CONTRACEPTION NOT AVAILABLE: More than 500 million women worldwide lack access to reliable contraception, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation. The agency says there are more than 600,000 unintended pregnancies each year among teenagers in the USA. More than half end in abortion. HUSBANDS AND WIVES CUT BACK: A new study suggests when wives eat less fat, their husbands cut back, too. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle say husbands make the the changes because they're eating what the wives are feeding them. Most experts recommend a diet of less than 30% of calories from fat. FATHER FIGURE NOT CRITICAL: A father's absence from the home is not a major factor in behavior problems or low achievement test scores in young children, according to a new long-term national study from Ohio State University. While some experts have cited absent fathers as a particular problem for black families, the study showed that white boys are most affected by not having a father in the home. AVOID SOME JOBLESS BLUES: Some tips on avoiding depression due to unemployment from David Rosenthal, director of the University of Iowa's Family Stress Clinic: Keep looking for work; keep up a schedule rather than sleeping late in mornings; visit the library; exercise; use low-cost services for displaced workers; join a support group of job seekers; do volunteer work; and see a counselor about stress. DON'T `TRASH' YOUR RETAINER: With school just around the corner, many young children with retainers will accidentally throw them away. According to Dr. Karin Southard, a spokesperson for the American Association of Orthodontists, kids usually remove their retainers to eat, wrap them in a napkin and unknowingly throw them away with their lunch leftovers. RETAINER TIPS GIVEN: Handling the retainer with care is very important, but the American Association of Orthodontists suggests the following: If you are wearing braces, avoid food items that are hard and crunchy or sticky and chewy; follow your orthodontist's instructions on wearing time for the retainer; when not wearing the retainer, keep it in a protective case. WATER IS DRINKABLE AGAIN: The water suplly of Ellsworth, Minn., has been rechlorinated and is drinkable again. That's what Minnesota health officials reported over the weekend. The state had declared the water unfit for consumption after coliform bacteria was discovered earlier this month. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON PILLS: OBESITY CAN BE CHRONIC: For some, "obesity is a chronic problem like high blood pressure, and that suggests you have to be on medication for a lifetime," says John Foreyt, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, who analyzed studies for the workshop. What's needed, says Dr. Richard Atkinson of the Veterans Hospital in Hampton, Va., is long-term research to see what works. STUDY DONE OVER THREE YEARS: The longest-term study so far was done by Dr. Michael Weintraub, University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical School. His work: a 3 1:2-year study of 121 dieters who weighed an average 210 pounds. Besides dieting and exercising, some got two prescription appetite suppressants, phentermine and fenfluramine. Others took a placebo. MOST REGAINED WEIGHT: Dr. Weintraub's findings show subjects on the drugs lost an average 36 pounds with no major side effects, while those on the placebo lost an average of seven pounds. When they went off drugs, both groups regained the weight. Drugs are not for people who need to lose a few pounds, Weintraub cautions. People in his study were 30% to 80% over their ideal weight. (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. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM