*** News You Can Use! -- 31 December 1996 ***

New studies promote folic acid, selenium, magnesium, and DHEA

Lately, there's been more attention paid to the healthful benefits of certain minerals, chemicals and hormones. Here are four isolated instances that support the enthusiasm.
*** The Food and Drug Administration has already ordered makers of grain-based foods such as bread and pasta to start fortifying them with folic acid by 1998. The chemical has been found to prevent birth defects and lower the risk of heart disease. There was one concern -- that too much folic acid, which is a trace B vitamin, would make it more difficult to diagnose vitamin B-12 deficiencies, a common problem among the elderly. A new Tufts study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association tackled the problem, and concluded that most older people won't consume enough of the folic acid to pose a diagnosis problem. Even better, they'll still get enough to cut their risk of heart disease.
*** What about selenium? One of the latest health-food store fads, a new study out of the University of Arizona will only bolster its wonder drug image. Patients given daily doses of the mineral had 63% fewer cases of prostate cancer, 58% fewer colon or rectal cancers, and 45% fewer lung cancers, when compared to a control group given a placebo. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Selenium is found naturally in liver, seafood and some vegetables, and is now appearing in certain multi-vitamins.
***Another mineral with a growing reputation is magnesium. It's already given to pregnant women to control high blood pressure and prevent premature labor. These are women who are at risk for delivering babies weighing less than 3.3 pounds, and babies that small have a significant risk of birth defects. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate magnesium may reduce the risk of those birth defects. Very low birthweight babies whose mothers had taken magnesium sulfate were 90% less likely to develop cerebral palsy and 70% less likely to be retarded. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Magnesium sulfate occurs naturally in green leafy vegetables, nuts and whole grains, or in over-the-counter pills.
***And you may have heard extravagant claims about the hormone DHEA. Proponents say it reverses the signs of aging, and can combat everything from cancer to stress. Whatever. One study does find that DHEA lowers the risk of heart disease, and boosts immune function in the elderly. Researchers at the University of Arizona made those findings, and along the way, were intrigued by the way levels of DHEA in the body dropped over time. Scientists learned that DHEA declines steadily and dramatically as humans age. They theorize that boosting levels of the hormone with supplements should reduce some of the problems of aging. And they found no evidence of toxicity or side effects at moderate doses. (Associated Press, 10 December 1996, 14 December, 17 December, 24 December)

$6 million awarded to 3 workers disabled by computer keyboards

It' s believed to be the first judgment handed down against a computer maker, for repetitive stress injuries blamed on keyboard design. A federal jury in New York City has ordered Digital Equipment Company to pay three women almost six million dollars. They have disabling arm and wrist problems after working at computer keyboards designed by Digital. The women's lawyer claimed that the company knew that the keyboards could cause repetitive stress injury (RSI), which results from constant tapping on keyboards, or other repeated motions.
The following day, the U.S. Labor Department said it's putting together regulations to prevent RSI in the workplace. Labor Secretary Robert Reich says efforts will focus on workplace inspections. RSI was termed the fastest-growing type of workplace injury, caused by assembly-line speedups, constant and heavy lifting, as well as long hours typing. The government has brought about 400 cases to court since 1985. (Associated Press, 9 December 1996, 10 December)

Does the U.S. still perform experiments on unwitting subjects?

"The Cleveland Plain Dealer" published a four-part series claiming that the United States still conducts research, such as drug trials, on people who are not given all the facts. The paper reports that in medical research that it could identify as government-sponsored between 1977 and 1995, American test subjects were not fully informed 63% of the time. The newspaper also analyzed internal Food and Drug Administration records, and found that consent forms were unclear in some cases and missing in others. Those forms are evidence that the patient is fully informed of any risks.
And critics of the medical community are up in arms over a new federal rule which would allow doctors, in limited circumstances, to experiment on certain dying patients without their consent. Doctors would be allowed to test promising therapies for untreatable, life-threatening emergencies without consent, if a panel of hospital experts concurred that there was no feasible way to get consent from the patient or a relative. One critic called the rule a violation of the Nuremberg Code, the rules drawn up in the wake of horrifying experiments carried out at Nazi death camps, which require consent of family members before experimental treatments are tried. Thus far, the FDA has approved just one experiment under the new rules: a test of artificial blood that as not yet begun. (Associated Press, 21 December 1996, 23 December)

House hearings on Gulf War Syndrome continue push for information

***As hearings conducted by the U.S. House of Representatives continued in December, more people came forward to press the Pentagon into action against the variety of lingering ailments being termed Gulf War Syndrome. Two Veterans' Administration doctors testified that the sicknesses were likely caused by low levels of chemical weapons. Doctors Charles Jackson of Tuskegee, Alabama, and Victor Gordon of Manchester, New Hampshire, say the government should recognize Gulf War Syndrome as "service-connected," thus making veterans eligible for health benefit payments.
The most gripping testimony was offered by the father of Marine Corps Major Randy Hebert. His son was unable to speak for himself, because his body has been ravaged by Lou Gehrig's disease. Major Hebert believes his medical problems are the result of exposure to chemical weapons. Army Major Michael Johnson said he confirmed the presence of mustard gas while in Kuwait in August 1991. And Major Johnson testified that he saw a British soldier come in contact with a blistering agent.
***The New York Times reported that the scientist who led a Pentagon study on Gulf War Syndrome in 1994, Dr. Joshua Lederberg, believes that report may have to be revised. The Nobel Prize-winning geneticist discounted links between chemical weapons and illnesses reported by servicemen. But Lederberg says the report might have changed in the light of other information, such as the incident where American troops blew up an Iraqi arms depot that contained chemical weapons.
***The American Legion, a veterans' organization, has demanded a Congressional probe into the missing military logs from that incident. Logs are missing from eight days in March of 1991, during which the depot was exploded. The director of the Legion's Persian Gulf Task Force says losing classified documents violates the military's uniform code of conduct. The Pentagon insists there's been no deliberate attempt to conceal information, and logs from the field show that officers were not aware of the chemical weapons.
***Now, the U.S. government wants afflicted veterans to come forward and help them with their research. Dr. Bernard Rostker is the Pentagon's top man on Gulf War Syndrome, and he's still looking for answers. He says investigators are studying a variety of possible causes, from exposure to chemical weapons, to the drugs soldiers were given to ward off such attacks.
***A possible breakthrough occurred on 26 December, when biochemist Garth Nicolson announced that he'd found a genetically altered version of mycoplasma in half of the several hundred veterans he's tested. Nicolson believes the mycoplasma was deliberately altered to be a biological weapon, and he doesn't trust Pentagon scientists to do an objective study. Nicolson also said antibiotics have successfully treated some of the veterans.
See the Gulf War Veteran Resource Pages. (Associated Press, 9 December 1996, 10 December, 11 December, 13 December, 26 December)

Another look at anti-lock brakes and air bags

***Cars with anti-lock brakes are actually *more* likely to be involved in fatal crashes than cars without them. That's the surprising finding from a study by the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety. See the full press release.. Passengers have a 45% greater chance of dying in a one-car crash, and a 65% greater chance of dying if that car was on wet pavement, a surface anti-lock brakes are supposed to handle better. Why? It's believed that years of being taught to *pump* the brakes kicks in during the stressful moments before a crash. Instead of pushing the brake pedal down hard, as you should with anti-lock brakes, people still pump the brake pedal, which turns the anti-lock system on and off, rendering it useless.
***The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have joined The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in calling for putting children under 12 in the back seats of cars. Julie Bolen of the CDC said it's safer for kids, even in cars that don't have air bags. Since 1993, air bags that deploy at speeds up to 200 miles per hour have been blamed for the deaths of 32 children.
***Chrysler is joining in with a public-awareness campaign called "The Back Seat Is Where It's At." On 13 December, the automaker kicked off a $3 million education campaign, which will feature a children's story and a video, sent to elementary schools, preschools and day care centers.
***But despite the rising concern, the government is not allowing people to disconnect their air bags. In the wake of concerns about children being killed by passenger-side air bags, and short adults being killed by driver-side bags, nearly 800 people have requested waivers to disable their devices. Only 80 have been granted, all to people with medical problems. Federal regulators say most people will have to wait until new regulations are issued, probably by the middle of 1997.
***And the delay is coming under fire. Joan Claybrook, the president of the consumer group Public Citizen, criticized the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for dragging its feet on a plan that could prevent some deaths. (See her full statement.) And the head of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association says carmakers have to know *now* what the rules are, if they're going to be required to have less-forceful air bags in place for 1998 models. (Associated Press, 10 December 1996, 12 December)

Outbreaks of flu, valley fever, and a "superbug" that eats antibiotics

***As we mentioned in the most recent News You Can Use! there's an E. coli outbreak in southern Scotland that's sickened about 400 people. The death toll has risen to 12 -- the latest victim was an 83-year-old woman who, like six of the other victims, ate meat at a church luncheon for retirees. The tainted meat has been traced to a butcher shop in the village near Glasgow.
***Also on the British Isles, concern is mounting over this winter's spread of Asian flu. Based on projections by the World Health Organization, "The Sunday Mirror" in London suggested that this year's flu season could be as deadly, when 2,500 Britons -- mostly elderly -- died from the flu.
***In Arizona, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking the rise of a lung infection called valley fever. The number of documented cases has jumped from 255 in 1990 to 623 in 1995. Most victims were elderly or HIV-positive. Many people who contract it don't know it, while others get flu-like symptoms such as fevers and extended fatigue. In rare cases, it can kill. Valley fever is caused by a soil fungus found mostly in the Southwest United States, so people there with respiratory conditions should avoid outdoor activities that stir up dust.
***Doctors in London, England, fear they've got a new "superbug" to deal with, but this bacterium doesn't just resist antibiotics, it thrives on them. The bug infected two elderly men recovering from surgery. They were given a widely used antibiotic. Instead of dying off, the germs adapted and used the drug for metabolism. Doctors switched antibiotics, and both men recovered. In a letter to The Lancet medical journal, the doctors questioned whether the bacteria's adapting and feeding on antibiotics makes it a true superbug.
***And in Sarajevo, Bosnia, dozens of people were sickened with salmonella poisoning by tainted chicken. Among the victims were the deputy commander of NATO-led troops in Bosnia and a top civilian mediator. The banquet was organized by the Red Cross. (Associated Press, 6 December 1996, 7 December, 12 December, 15 December, 29 December)

Good news in the fight against strokes, MS, and Alzheimer's

*** Researchers reporting in the "Archives of Internal Medicine" say the powerful blood thinner warfarin, marketed as "Coumadin," could sharply reduce the risk of stroke, if it was used more. About two million Americans suffer from atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that increases the risk of a blood clot breaking free. Without a blood thinner, the clot can move to the brain, causing a stroke. Yet the study found that warfarin was prescribed in only about 32% of these patients.
*** The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is spreading the word about a new philosophy toward treating strokes. Previously, doctors would wait for the stroke to run its course, and only then begin rehabilitation. Now they're moving with greater urgency. The most common form of stroke is one where a blood vessel to the brain is blocked. A new drug to combat this is available, but it must be given within the first three hours after a stroke, and only to those who suffer this sort of stroke. So rapid diagnosis and treatment can save lives and brain function. See the complete press release.
*** The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new injectable medication for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. MS develops when the body's immune system attacks the lining of nerve tissue. Co-polymer-one, which will be marketed as Copaxone, appears to work by getting the immune system to attack *it* instead.
*** MS is one of several self-destructive illnesses, along with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Now two Canadian scientists have made a discovery that could lead to treatments for all of those diseases. Clinical neurologist Dr. Rick Riopelle and biochemist Dr. Greg Ross, of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, have discovered the conditions which block the self-destruct process in cells. Riopelle and Ross focused on two protein molecules, one a receptor and the other a signal for cells to destroy themselves. They were able to develop a drug that blocked the receptor so the self-destruct message didn't get through. It could more than a decade, but Ross says the breakthrough will help find a drug to stop degenerative diseases. Their findings are published in "Science" magazine. See the complete press release.
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are taking a different approach to the same problem. Susumu Tonegawa and Matthew A. Wilson are principal investigators of several studies reported in the 27 December issue of "Cell." Along with researchers from Columbia University, they created a mutant strain of mouse missing a single protein in part of its brain. Next, they used micro-thin electrodes on the mice to monitor their brain activity while they moved around their cages. Along the way, they created a mouse that cannot remember where it has been. By isolating the precise protein responsible for place memory, the researchers hope to apply their findings to other brain disorders. (Associated Press, 8 December 1996, 14 December, 23 December, 26 December; Broadcast News, 7 December; USA Today, 27 December)

News *You* Can Use! (but *I* couldn't squeeze in)

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