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, May 12 1992 Date: Tue, 12 May 92 05:10:23 EDT Message-ID: 05-12 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update May 12, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DOCTORS FACED WITH DILEMMA: The ability to detect prostate cancer earlier than ever before is creating a dilemma. Some say it is safer to have aggressive therapy before there are symptoms and risk the side effects of surgery or radiation. Others say its better to wait and see if the cancer progresses. Doctors at an American Urological Association meeting Monday agreed it's better to be safe than sorry. (For more, see special Prostate package below.) TEST MAY CAUSE DEFORMITIES: Chorionic villus sampling, a prenatal test, may increase the risk of babies being born with missing or shortened fingers or toes. The average risk for such defects is 1 in 5,000. But evidence suggests the risk with CVS may be 1 in 1,000, says Dr. Barbara Burton, Humana Hospital-Michael Reese, Chicago. More evidence is needed, says Dr. Maurice Mahoney, Yale University Medical School. EXERCISE MAKES WORKERS HAPPY: Employees who exercise are more productive, says a new study conducted in company health clubs. Union Pacific Railroad found 80% of its employees thought exercising made them more productive. General Electric found employees who exercised were absent from work 45% fewer days than non-exercisers. EXERCISE DOESN'T ALWAYS PAY OFF: Going all-out while dieting may not be worth the effort. Researchers followed 60 men for 16 weeks. Some kept their diet and did light or vigorous exercise; some ate a low-fat diet and did light or vigorous exercise. Those doing light exercise and eating a low-fat diet lost as much weight as those dieting and exercising hard. The study was done at the University of Western Australia. GENETICS MAY PLAY WEIGHT ROLE: People who can't lose any more weight no matter how hard they train should consider taking it easy. Evidence suggests that genetic makeup affects how the body responds to exercise. An Arizona State University study found that some men do not increase their maximum oxygen capacity during a 12-week regimen of aerobic workouts. Others increase it as much as 14-fold. PUCKER UP TO SUNSCREEN: Many people neglect to use sunscreen on their lips. But the Skin Cancer Foundation says they should. Studies show the lower lip is one of the most susceptible sites for the most common skin cancers, basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. The foundation recommends lip balm, lipstick or sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 15 or higher. PROGRAM PROVIDES INFORMATION: A computer program to help older Americans decide if they need Medicare supplemental health insurance and which policy might be best for them is being made available free as a public service by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. The software program is being made available to select non-profit organizations as well as hospitals and agencies on aging. PBS TO AIR SEX EDUCATION SHOW: Parents nationwide will get a chance to talk to their kids about sex Wednesday (times vary) when PBS stations air "What Kids Want to Know About Sex and Growing Up." In the one-hour program, sex educators talk to kids ages 8 to 12 about the physical and emotional changes that come with puberty. They answer questions on everything from wet dreams to peer pressure. CONDOM PLAN TO BE RECOMMENDED: A recommendation to create a program to make condoms available to Washington, D.C., public school students is expected to be included in a D.C. Commission of Public Health report scheduled to be released Tuesday. The Consortium on HIV Infection in Youth said the program is necessary to stop the spread of the virus among youth. KIDS SHOULD BE READ TO EARLY: Earladeen Badger, professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine says parents who play with their babies have smarter babies. She has developed a learning program built on parent-child participation for children up to 3 years old. "I recommend to start reading books to the child at 6 months," Badger says. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON PROSTATE: PROSTATE CANCER DEVELOPS SLOWLY: Doctors know from autopsy studies that prostate cancer, unlike other tumors, can be very slow growing and not progress for years or even decades. But in the past, no tests could detect early cancers. By the time symptoms appeared, most men had to be treated. New tests can detect prostate cancer before a man has symptoms. This has presented a dilemma for doctors. STUDY DUE OUT IN 16 YEARS: Doctors must decide if they should treat cancer right away, or wait to see if it progresses. "Now that we have the ability to detect cancer early, what do we do with it?" says Dr. William Catalona, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. The National Cancer Institute is studying whether treatment is better than observation, but results won't be in for 16 years. ABOUT 30% MORE CANCERS DETECTED: Blood tests for prostate cancer can detect about 30% more prostate cancers than the older digital rectal exam and about two-thirds of cases in pre-symptomatic stages. The digital exam detects only a third of cases that early. Most doctors say it is unwise to wait. "Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. It only makes sense to treat it," Catalona says. (End of package.) Health Editor: Ed Kelleher. (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