ATW1H%ASUACAD.BITNET@oac.ucla.edu (Dr David Dodell) (08/28/89)
--- begin part 1 of 2 cut here --- Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 +------------------------------------------------+ ! ! ! Health Info-Com Network ! ! Newsletter ! +------------------------------------------------+ Editor: David Dodell, D.M.D. St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center 10250 North 92nd Street, Suite 210, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258-4599 USA Telephone (602) 860-1121 (c) 1989 - Distribution on Commercial/Pay Systems Prohibited without Prior Authorization International Distribution Coordinator: Robert Klotz Nova Research Institute 217 South Flood Street, Norman, Oklahoma 73069-5462 USA Telephone (405) 366-3898 The Health Info-Com Network Newsletter is distributed weekly. Articles on a medical nature are welcomed. If you have an article, please contact the editor for information on how to submit it. If you are intrested in joining the distribution system please contact the distribution coordinator. E-Mail Address: Editor: FidoNet = 1:114/15 Bitnet = ATW1H @ ASUACAD Internet = ddodell@stjhmc.fidonet.org LISTSERV = MEDNEWS @ ASUACAD anonymous ftp = vm1.nodak.edu (Notification List/ftp = hicn-notify-request@stjhmc.fidonet.org) Distribution: North America Australia/Far East Europe FidoNet = 1:19/9 David More Henk Wevers Usenet = krobt@mom.uucp FidoNet = 3:711/413 Fidonet Internet = krobt%mom@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu 2:500/1 Sponsors ======== Dr. Edward Delgrosso Black Bag BBS (FidoNet 1:150/101) Tel 1-302-731-1998 =============================================================================== T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1. Medical News Medical News for Week Ending August 27, 1989 .......................... 1 Medical News from the United Nations .................................. 9 2. News from the National Institute of Dental Research Dental News from NIDR ................................................. 11 3. Food & Drug Administration News News from the FDA ..................................................... 12 4. Meeting Announcements MEDINFO '89 Singapore - World Congress Meeting ........................ 17 Health InfoCom Network News Page i Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 =============================================================================== Medical News =============================================================================== Medical News for Week Ending August 27, 1989 Copyright 1989: USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network Reproduced with Permission August 21, 1989 ---- GENERICS UNDER SCRUTINY: Disagreement between doctors and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about safety and effectiveness of generic drugs might be due to cumbersome procedures that discourage doctors from reporting problems. The FDA says no firm evidence shows generics are less safe or effective than brand names. (For more, see special Generics package below. From the USA TODAY Life section.) TWO DRUGS BETTER THAN ONE: Men with advanced prostate cancer live longer when two drugs inhibiting male hormone production are combined, say researchers at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Using a newly approved drug, flutamide, in combination with leuprolide, the group found that survival rates rose seven months using the combination therapy, compared to leuprolide therapy alone. RECORD MEASLES OUTBREAK IN 1989: Measles are blossoming in Chicago and grabbing hold in Washington, D.C., but overall the rash of outbreaks is slowing. Still, 1989 could be a record year for measles. The latest numbers: 9,189 cases through Aug. 12, vs. 2,046 through the same period in 1988 - a 350 percent increase. Year-end total could reach 10,000 to 12,000 cases. CITIES, COLLEGES HIT BY MEASLES: Measles cases are being reported in several parts of the country, say health experts. Hardest hit by the outbreaks: Kent (Ohio) State University and Texas Tech University in Lubbock had 300 to 400 cases each. Houston (1,800 cases), Los Angeles (1,000) and Chicago (800) combined have 40 percent of U.S. cases. Houston and L.A. numbers are slowing; Chicago's aren't. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON GENERICS: CONCERNS ABOUT CONSISTENCY: Generic drugs can provide substantial savings and in general doctors support their use, say medical experts. Concerns arise about the potential for a generic drug to vary from the brand name in the way it's broken down in the bloodstream and for generics of the same type to vary from one another, says Dr. Stanley van den Noort, of the American Academy of Neurology. PROCEDURES DISCOURAGE DOCTORS: Health InfoCom Network News Page 1 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 Experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians say federal reporting procedures make it too difficult for doctors to document problems with generic drugs. Examples: Drugs that pack too much of a punch and caused a toxic reaction, or packed too little and failed to relieve symptoms. FDA PROMISES MORE SCRUTINY: As investigations of the generic industry and FDA approval practices continue, the agency says it is hoping to restore confidence in both with an overhaul of its generic division. Included: an ombudsman to better address complaints about generics and more scientific scrutiny of how they compare to brand-name drugs. Aug. 22, 1989 ---- MORE PEOPLE BUYING KOSHER FOOD: Concern for good health is prompting more people than ever before to buy kosher foods. More than 6 million U.S. residents -Jews and non-Jews alike - regularly buy kosher food products, and the number of products is increasing. Among the new entries: pizza wraps, ravioli and cookies. About 17,500 kosher products are available in the United States. (From the USA TODAY Life section.) BRAND NAME DRUGS SCRUTINIZED: The brand name drug industry will be in the fray that has rocked generic drug makers and eroded confidence in some prescription drugs. The Food and Drug Administration's Jeff Nesbit said Monday, "a very well-known brand name company that we're wrapping up an investigation of has exactly the same kind of problems as the generic industry." (From the USA TODAY News section.) AIDS HOT LINES BUSY: AIDS hot lines in cities hardest hit by the epidemic are extra hot this week, following news that AZT can postpone the onset of AIDS, even in symptomless infected people. But a nationwide stampede to testing centers appears unlikely, health officials said. (From the USA TODAY Life section.) AIDS POLICY A MUST FOR 1990S: Companies that don't formulate policies to deal with AIDS in the workplace are setting themselves up for enormous economic and public relations problems, an author argues in her new book. Dr. Joan Turner, author of AIDS: Policies and Programs for the Workplace, said the development of company policies and creation of AIDS education programs at work was a necessity for the 1990s. FIRST CHILD INFLUENCE SEEN: A woman whose first child is a boy is quicker to have a second child than one whose first child is a girl, suggests a study of the of 15,000 women tracked by the government's National Survey of Family Growth. Reason: Husbands are more involved with the child and marriages are more apt to last if the first child is a boy, researchers said. (From the USA TODAY Life section.) Health InfoCom Network News Page 2 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 NEW TEST FINDS RARE MS: A new test for a rare type of muscular dystrophy can distinguish it from other forms and avoid potentially life-threatening diagnostic errors. The Muscular Dystrophy Association reports the test - for Becker muscular dystrophy -analyzes the protein dystrophin for abnormalities that are unique to Becker MS. THEORY - MOON SPEEDS BIRTHS: Hospitals across the nation last week reported a surge in births during Wednesday's rare total lunar eclipse. A nurse at a South Florida hospital said changes in barometric pressure could be speeding pregnant women into delivery, but some doctors expressed doubt about the long-disputed theory linking birth and changes in tides and weather. ROBOTS ASSIST DOCTORS: A new generation of advanced robots is assisting doctors at Danbury (Conn.) Hospital. The robots, trademarked "Helpmate," took two years and $2 million to develop. One model can follow wheelchair-bound patients, carrying medication and food, while another, more advanced model has assisted doctors performing surgeries from hip replacements to brain surgery. STOP SMOKING VIDEO DUE OUT: The American Cancer Society has a new weapon to help smokers quit. The society will soon release a video designed to help smokers through what it calls the "critical period" - the first three weeks. The video - dubbed "Freshstart," is hosted by comedian Robert Kline, and includes expert advice from physicians, psychologists and ex-smokers. Price: $9.95. It will be out Oct. 1. DOUBLE TREATMENTS STOP CANCER: Twice-a-day treatments of radiation therapy might be more successful at battling cancer than traditional once-a-day treatments, new research shows. University of Florida oncologists based their findings on success rates in 11 years of treatments. Doctors said the twice-a-day treatments increased the success rate for stopping cancer growth by 20 percent. OBESITY UP AMONG KIDS: Obesity has increased 54 percent among children in the past 20 years, a new study indicates. The study, in the August issue of the American Journal of School Health, says obesity is an increasing cause of personal unhappiness among adolescents. The study also noted that diet programs had average recidivism rates of between 75 and 95 percent. YO-YO DIETING PROMOTES OBESITY: "Yo-yo dieting" and the body's natural tendency to slow metabolism during dieting make weight loss difficult. A University of Florida researcher found that obese people who "weight cycle," or repeatedly lose and gain weight, Health InfoCom Network News Page 3 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 might be predisposed to obesity. The body's natural defense against starvation cause the body to metabolize food more slowly during dieting. POLIO RETREATING AGAINST FIGHT: World Health Organization officials say steps are under way that could wipe out polio in the Western Hemisphere by the end of 1990. A recent report from the Massachusetts Medical Society noted that great strides had been made against the disease, mostly due to immunization programs. Only 11 countries reported any incidence of the disease in the 1980s, down from 19 in 1974. Aug. 23, 1989 ---- KIDS WITH ASTHMA SELF-CONSCIOUS: About half of the United States' 3 million asthmatic children might suffer emotionally and socially because of the illness, says a report out Wednesday. The malady embarrasses children and makes them feel self-conscious and socially restricted, says the report based on interviews with 1,150 parents and adult asthmatics conducted by Cornell University. (From the USA TODAY Life section.) ASTHMA CASES ON THE RISE: In an asthma attack, tubes that bring air into and out of the lungs constrict, causing breathing difficulty. Attacks can be treated with drugs. A recent survey found 72 percent of school nurses and 46 percent of pediatricians reported a rise in asthmatic children in the past ten years; 42 percent of physicians saw more adult patients. (From the USA TODAY Life section.) GENERICS HAVEN'T CAUSED DEATHS: Investigations of the prescription drug industry involving at least a dozen generic and one brand-name company have not uncovered any deaths or serious injuries so far, federal officials say. Competition led some generic drug companies to cheat on testing, use sloppy manufacturing practices and bribe Food and Drug Administration officials. (From the USA TODAY News section.) FDA APPROVES NICOTINE PATCH: The Food and Drug Administration approved a new transdermal nicotine patch for use in smoking cessation programs. Elan Corporation, maker of the Nicolan Patch, said it licensed the patch to Warner-Lambert, and it would be marketed through the Parke-Davis group. Clinical trials found the quit rate among smokers using the patch was twice that of smokers using other cessation programs. TRANSPLANTS RISKY FOR TEENS: The problems of adolescent rebellion makes teen-agers the riskiest candidates for organ transplants and cause transplant death rates twice as high as those for any other age group, doctors are warning. Reasons: Rebellious teens often don't follow the demanding regimens for medication and follow-up treatment, and family support is sometimes lacking. Health InfoCom Network News Page 4 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 INJURED KIDS' FAMILIES SUFFER: The families of injured children often suffer severe emotional trauma within a year of the child's injury, a new survey finds. Doctors at Boston's New England Medical Center studied the families of 57 children who suffered pediatric trauma. Sixty-six percent of the children's uninjured siblings suffered emotional problems and 32 percent of the parents said they had marital problems. MED SCHOOL ANXIETY STUDIED: The number of first year medical students experiencing depression doubled during a recent nine-month study. The study, in the Aug. 18 Journal of the American Medical Association, examined students' stress levels between September and May of their first year of medical school. On the average, anxiety increased and satisfaction with social supports decreased. KIDNEY TRANSPLANT WAIT DOUBLES: The waiting time to get a donor kidney doubled between 1987 and 1988, a leading transplant hospital said this week. The University Hospital at Stony Brook, N.Y., noted that the waiting time for a donor kidney went from 126 days in 1987 to 233 days in 1988. About 30 percent of dialysis patients could return to normal lives with a transplant. LINK TO MENINGITIS SPOTTED: Doctors at Johns Hopkins University have identified a protein deficiency in the immune systems of some children that puts them at higher risk for contracting meningitis. The disease is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Although some 40,000 children contract the disease each year, many more are exposed to the bacteria that causes it. Aug. 24, 1989 ---- UNINSURED INFANTS SUFFER: Babies born to parents without health insurance are 31 percent more likely to die during infancy or suffer serious illness, a study released Wednesday shows. Doctors at the University of California, San Francisco, studied records of more than 146,000 births in the San Francisco area. (From the USA TODAY Life section.) GENERIC INSPECTIONS BEGIN: The Food and Drug Administration has begun inspections of the 20 leading manufacturers of generic drugs, the agency announced Wednesday. The effort adds to the nationwide testing of the 30 leading generic drugs begun last week. The new inspections include brand name companies that also make generic drugs. (From the USA TODAY News section) DRUG REDUCES HAIR PULLING URGE: Doctors at the National Institute of Mental Health say a new drug shows Health InfoCom Network News Page 5 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 promise for treating obsessive-compulsive hair pulling. Tests of the drug chlomipramine appeared to help reduce the urges in 13 women who suffered from the disorder, called trichotillomania. Results were published in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine. (From the USA TODAY Life section.) 8 MILLION HAVE DISORDER: About 8 million Americans suffer from the psychological disorder trichotillomania, the National Institute of Mental Health reported in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine. The obsessive-compulsive disorder prompts its victims - most of whom are women - to pull their own hair out. A recently discovered therapy to fight the disease might be the first effective known treatment for it. SMOKING BAD FOR CAREER HEALTH: More bad news for smokers: A survey shows that one out of four job applicants who smoke will be turned down because of their habit. The survey, conducted by Robert Half International Inc., quizzed 100 personnel directors at top companies. Findings: One-quarter of them would chose the non-smoker if two equally qualified candidates, one of whom smoked, applied for a job. WORKING MOM'S KIDS HAPPIER: Children of single working mothers are happier than kids of single moms who don't work, a study shows. Loyola University researchers also found children of working mothers were more well-adjusted. Reasons: working moms ease the financial tension on the single-parent family, and the kids respond to the mother's sense of accomplishment. The study is in the September Working Mother. TYPE A KIDS MORE COMMON: An increasing number of children are developing the "Type A" personality traits of their parents - impatience, anger and a "must win" attitude, a child psychologist claims. Dr. Paul Bracke reports in the September Working Mother that children develop these tendencies when parents link the child's worth to performance. Type As are thought to be at high risk for heart disease later in life. SEVEN TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE NOTED: A Harvard University researcher claims there are seven different types of intelligence, while the nation's schools test children for only two of them - mathematical and verbal. Dr. Howard Gardner adds linguistic, logical, musical, spacial and kinesthetic to the list in an article published in the September issue of Working Mother. VOICE COMPUTER HELPS IMPAIRED: A new voice-controlled computer system is helping the handicapped operate personal computers. The system, built from a Zenith Data Systems PC and Flat Technology monitor, includes voice recognition software that allows the severely handicapped to operate the PC. Producer Health/Zenith Educational Systems says the system also recognizes slang words and dialects. Health InfoCom Network News Page 6 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 TRANSPLANT FIRST REPORTED: The University of Pittsburgh-Presbyterian Hospital reports 53-year-old JoAnne Smith, who received a double lung transplant five weeks ago, received a new liver this week and was recovering from the latest transplant. Doctors at the hospital said Smith was the first American to undergo both surgeries. Smith remained in a coma Tuesday, but doctors said they were hopeful she would recover soon. Aug. 25-27, 1989 ---- CYSTIC FIBROSIS GENE FOUND: Researchers announced they've discovered the gene that causes cystic fibrosis, a fatal disease that strikes about 1,200 patients a year. Doctors from the Hospital for Sick Children Research in Toronto, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Frederick (Md.) Cancer Research Facility, and the Universities of Pittsburgh and Michigan cooperated in the finding. (From the USA TODAY Life section.) DISEASE ATTACKS LUNGS: Cystic fibrosis is one of the most common fatal diseases striking young people in North America. About 30,000 U.S. residents have CF. The disease causes its victims' systems to produce abnormally thick mucus, clogging and infecting the lungs. About half die from infections before reaching their mid-20s. About 1,200 new cases are diagnosed each year. NEW DRUG FIGHTS HEART ATTACKS: A new class of drugs shows promise for reducing heart attack deaths, according to a report from Baylor College of Medicine. Researchers found that a group of compounds, called lazaroids, have been proven in animal tests to inhibit lipid peroxidation, a process that destroys cells during a heart attack. Heart attacks kill more than 500,000 U.S. residents each year. EXERCISE KEEPS ELDERLY NIMBLE: A consistent pattern of exercise could help keep older people more agile, preventing debilitating accidents, says a study by doctors at Washington University in St. Louis. The study suggests that an organized exercise program improves the brain's central processing time, speeding reflex action that could prevent or lessen the severity of falls and other accidents. QUICK ANGER SHORTENS LIFE: People who express "Type A" personality traits - anger hostility and mistrust - are five times more likely to die before the age of 50 from heart ailments than people who don't have the traits, a new study shows. Doctors at the Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., found that people who angered easily, and who quickly express that anger, have a significantly higher death rate. SLEEP RIGHT FOR LONG LIFE: Health InfoCom Network News Page 7 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 Doctors at the University of California at San Diego have found that people who sleep much more or much less than normal are more susceptible to heart attacks. Their findings indicate that when sleeping patterns greatly deviate from an average of about seven or eight hours a night, death rates are higher. Theory: Sleep apnea, a disturbance in breathing patterns during sleep, could be the key. ANGIOPLASTY SUCCESSES NOTED: Angioplasty - the procedure in which a balloon catheter is inserted into a blocked artery and inflated - has been performed more than 150,000 times per year since its first use. A review of those procedures by a Harvard researcher indicates that the process has more than a 90-percent success rate, and that fewer than one percent of angioplasty patients die when the artery is cleared. TRAFFIC JAMS BAD FOR HEALTH: Motorists stuck in traffic jams inhale four times the air pollution they're exposed to when the car is in motion. Researchers at the California's South Coast Air Quality Management District reported in the September Hippocrates magazine that ozone monitors installed in the cars of 140 Los Angeles commuters showed the higher ozone levels during traffic jams. TEAM FINDS RODEO DISEASE: A team of Seattle sports medicine specialists have discovered a disorder peculiar to the rodeo circuit. It's called bronco-busters elbow, and the researchers found 30 of 39 finalists in one rodeo had it. The painful ailment is caused by bone spurs in the elbow that result from pressure on the arm used to hold onto the animal. The bucking causes the bones to rub together. HORMONES MIGHT HELP WOMEN SLEEP: The same female hormones that drive reproduction might help women sleep better, according to scientists at the University of Colorado. The researchers compared the incidence of sleep disturbance in two groups of women while one received extra doses of the hormones. The group that got the extra doses slept significantly better than those who didn't take the supplement. Health InfoCom Network News Page 8 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 ORGAN DONATION FROM ANENCEPHALIC BABIES: CATCH-22 Despite the fact that organs from anencephalic infants could be transplanted into some of the many infants and children whose tiny organs are defective or have failed, current laws effectively prevent the removal of organs while they are still viable, according to a recent study. Anencephalic infants are born with little or no brain and many die within one week. Current law states that organs cannot be removed until a person is declared brain dead. The criterion for brain death is met when there is no brain-stem activity. The problem with taking organs from anencephalic infants is that if the infants are kept alive for more than one week, their organs undergo irreversible damage. Denying such care until signs of imminent death are apparent also damages the organs. In the recent study, 12 live-born anencephalic infants were given different medical care to determine if their organs could be protected for later transplantation. Six infants received intensive medical care from birth, while the other six were given care only when signs of imminent death occurred. One infant from each group met the criteria for death at the end of one week. When intensive care was given from birth, organ function was maintained but the infant did not die within the week. When care was withheld until signs of death appeared, most organs were too damaged to be used. ``The data suggests that it is not feasible, within the restrictions imposed by current requirements of brain death, to procure from anencephalic infants a substantial number of hearts and livers for transplantation,'' wrote Joyce Peabody, M.D., department of pediatrics, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, Calif. The medical and ethical implications of the study were further debated in two related editorials. About 375 anencephalic infants could be potential organ sources each year in the US, if the laws were changed, estimated Robert Truog, M.D., of the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Truog proposed that these infants, along with brain-dead people, not be judged to be alive. Considering that rarely do anencephalic infants survive more than one week, along with the fact that they do not feel pain as we know it, Dr. Truog wrote that ``transplantations should be permitted without regard for the criteria of brain death.'' However, Donald Medearis, M.D., of the Massachusetts General Hospital, wrote that because of the increasing accuracy of prenatal testing, and the possibility that mothers of such fetuses may elect to abort them, fewer and fewer anencephalic infants are born in the US. He estimated that fewer than 10 infants per year could benefit from organs from anencephalic babies. He concluded that ``medical evidence and ethical and practical arguments strongly favor retaining current law.'' N ENGL J MED August 10,1989; 321:344-350,388-393. (Compiled from Newspapers and Medical Journals for IMTS's Healthweek In Review.) VEGETABLES MAY REDUCE RISK OF LUNG CANCER IN SMOKERS Eating a variety of vegetables may decrease the risk of developing lung cancer, a recent cross-cultural study in Hawaii suggests. According to Loic Le Marchand and colleagues from the Epidemiology Program at the University of Hawaii, the findings of a 1983-85 population-based study lend support to previous claims about beta-carotene's protective role against lung cancer. The investigators further concluded that all vegetables, not just those rich in beta-carotene, showed a dose-dependent negative association with the disease. The risk of developing lung cancer, in both males and females, was inversely related to the amount of vegetables consumed. After adjustments for smoking, men with the lowest total vegetable intake had nearly three times the risk of Health InfoCom Network News Page 9 Volume 2, Number 31 August 28, 1989 --- end part 1 of 2 cut here ---