*** News You Can Use! -- 18 July 1996 ***
A heart specialist says cardiac patients shouldn't worry so much about the classic heart attack triggers: having sex, getting angry or exerting themselves. Expanding on comments he made in May, Dr. James Muller says in most cases, the risk of heart attack is still small, even with such "risky" activity. Muller, the director of the Kentucky Heart Institute at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, says the classic triggers of sex, anger, and exertion do account for at least 17% of heart attacks, so they merit more study. But most people shouldn't refrain from those activities just out of the fear of a heart attack. (Associated Press, 14 July 1996)
Acting U.S. Surgeon General Audrey Manley has issued the office's first report on physical activity and health. It's a simple message: an active and healthy lifestyle is possible for almost everyone. Not everyone has the time or interest in heavy exercise. But walking for a half-hour, pushing a stroller for a mile and a half, or swimming laps for 20 minutes are all examples of daily activity that burns up 150 calories. Over a week, that's over 1,000 calories burned off, and that's a step toward better health. (Associated Press, 11 July 1996)
See the USA Today story and the CNN story.
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 216-205 in favor of deleting language that would have prevented the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from writing guidelines to prevent repetitive stress injuries. Thousands of Americans suffer from RSI, including computer operators, truck drivers and assembly line workers. The vote allows OSHA to gather information about RSI to craft guidelines to prevent it in the workplace. The Senate has yet to write its version of the bill. (Associated Press, 11 July 1996, 12 July)
Louis Harris and Associates surveyed 1200 Americans ages 30 to 50 -- what we typically call "baby boomers" -- and asked them about their wrinkles and other signs of facial aging. An improbable eight out of ten said they have fewer wrinkles than other people their own age. You figure it out. If more than half of the people think that, as pollster Robert Leitman told the Associated Press, "many boomers are clearly deluding themselves." The vast majority of boomers say people today look younger than their parents' generation did at their age, and three in four think they look younger than their years. The survey was commissioned by Ortho Pharmaceutical, makers of facial cream. (Associated Press, 15 June 1996)
U.S. government officials acknowledge that they will not achieve their announced goal of reducing smoking to 15% of adults by the year 2000. Quite the reverse: a national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that smoking among American adults rose to 25.5% in 1994, up from 25% the previous year. Officials blame the availability of cheap "generic" brand cigarettes, and nicotine's powerfully addictive hold. the CDC says about 70% of smokers want to quit, but can't. (Associated Press, 11 July 1996, 13 July)
See the CNN story.
Caren and Dan Mahar of Lagrange, NY, have a four-year-old daughter named Katie, who suffers from X-P. Those who have it can die if exposed to sunlight, because they can't withstand ultraviolet radiation. It's a rare degenerative condition that can attack the skin, nerve cells and muscles. X-P sentences its sufferers to a life spent primarily indoors, but the Mahars did something special for Katie. They set up the Sundown Camp for kids like Katie, allowing them to play in the Mahar back yard after the sun sets -- safe under 1800 watts of illumination. (Associated Press, 14 July 1996)
The Natural Resources Defense Council notes that shore closings and pollution-related advisories were up 50% in 1995. The reason was a natural one: above-average rainfall in California and Florida caused increased runoff into coastal waters. But the result was fewer beaches where it was safe to swim. Bad beach water can contain pathogens that cause diarrhea, rashes and infections. The NRDC wants Congress to adopt a national beach water quality standard, and on July 11, two U.S. Senators did just that. (Associated Press, 11 July 1996)
A new study concludes that smokers who exercise can live longer than non-smokers who don't exercise. The study by The Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas is published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Lead author Steven Blair said the results underscore that poor fitness is a very important risk factor for early death. The researchers studied 25,000 man and 7,000 women. They discovered that male smokers -- even with hypertension and cholesterol problems -- *still* had a 15% survival advantage over non-smokers who were out of shape. The findings were roughly the same for women. (Associated Press, 16 July 1996)
STB's News You Can Use! edited and written by --
Tom Connolly, for Infant Moose Web Page Creations.
Past newsletters: 11 July 1996 | 3 July 1996 | 26 June 1996 | 20 June 1996 | 12 June 1996 | 6 June 1996 | 31 May 1996 | 25 May 1996 | 16 May 1996 | 9 May 1996
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