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, Jun 9 1992 Date: Tue, 9 Jun 92 05:19:54 EDT Message-ID: 06-09 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update June 9, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DIETING AND DRINKING LINKED: College women who diet the most also may drink the most, according surveys and interviews of 2,000 female freshman. The surveys, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, found that dieters drink alcohol more frequently and heavily than non-dieters and that intense dieters drink more than casual dieters. Women with eating disorders drink most of all. SPECULATION ON DIET FINDINGS: A possible explanation of a study linking dieting with drinking problems may be that people who deprive themselves of one source of pleasure replace it with another, says psychiatrist Dean Krahn. For example, to get laboratory rats to use alcohol, nicotine, heroine or cocaine, researchers will deprive them of food. TRAVEL'S HEALTH EFFECTS CITED: A USA TODAY survey of 1,136 frequent business travelers finds that 48% report gaining weight in the past year because of their travel diet. Of those who've gained weight, 65% gained more than six pounds and 20% put on more than 10 pounds. Men gained more than women. All traveled more than 100,000 miles yearly and stayed in hotels more than 100 nights a year. (For more, see special Travel package below.) SUPREME COURT PUTS OFF DECISION: The Supreme Court on Monday postponed a decision on whether federal courts can keep protesters from blocking abortion clinics. Without explanation, the court listed a Virginia case for re-argument for the next term, which begins in October. A Pennsylvania case that could end the court's treatment of abortion as a fundamental right for women is still on the spring docket. FETAL TRANSPLANTS HOLD PROMISE: Transplanting bone marrow into fetuses to cure genetic disease could save thousands of lives yearly, says a researcher in June's Journal of Reproductive Medicine. Performing the procedure on fetuses could prevent some permanent damage that might occur during fetal development, says Mitchell S. Golbus, M.D., University of California, San Francisco. KOOP DOUBTFUL OF REFORM: The USA's political leaders lack the "political guts" to solve the health care crisis, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said Sunday in an address to the Health Sciences Communications Association. Koop predicted that health care issues wouldn't dominate upcoming elections and that reform won't take place until the middle class feels more of the burden. N.Y. PRENATAL CARE GROWS SCARCE: Prenatal care is declining in rural New York, says a study by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Six counties lack obstetricians or gynecologists, one of six obstetricians has stopped delivering babies and seven of 10 family doctors have ceased offering obstetric care. Liability insurance costs, lawsuit fears and low Medicaid reimbursements are blamed. SINGLE PARENTHOOD GAINS FAVOR: Fewer unmarried mothers are putting their babies up for adoption, according to the June issue of American Demographics. "Single parenthood is much more acceptable, and abortion is a legal alternative," the magazine says. Researchers Christine Bachrach, Kathy Shepherd Stolley and Kathryn A. London find the relinquishment rates dropped to 2% in 1988 from 9% in 1973. NEW ALZHEIMER'S DRUG OFFERED: The University of Cincinnati is one of eight institutions nationwide offering a test drug, Mentane, to Alzheimer's patients, school officials say. UC's Alzheimer's Research Center is offering the drug free during a six-month trial to qualifying patients. The drug can help patients perform simple tasks but is not a cure and doesn't help all victims. UNIVERSITY ADDRESSES AIDS: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has signed a $3.5 million contract with Family Health International to help stop the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, officials announced Monday. The money is part of a $168 million federal grant awarded the firm in 1991. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON TRAVEL: TIME, PRESSURE HURT DIETS: Many frequent business travelers eat fewer healthy foods and exercise less while on the road, says a USA TODAY survey. Many blame time and social pressure as reasons for the change in eating habits. Loneliness was a factor, too. Some made more trips to the hotel bar, while eating dinner alone - a common practice for 55% of those surveyed - turned into a binge for some. MORE TRAVELERS TURN TO EXERCISE: Of the frequent travelers surveyed, 66% of the women and 49% of the men said they're exercising on the road more than they did in 1987. However, only 38% say they exercise often or all the time when they're traveling. About half do it only occasionally. WALKS ARE TRAVELERS TOP CHOICE: Brisk walks are the most popular exercise - the choice of 40% of those surveyed. Eleven percent practice aerobics in their hotel room, 13% jog and 9% swim in the hotel pool. Despite growing numbers of hotel fitness rooms, only 27% of respondents say they use them. (End of package.) 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. 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