Health Report

THE GOOD NEWS

Radical mastectomy was once standard treatment for even localized breast cancer, but a new study shows that lumpectomy, a procedure in which only the cancerous lump is removed, can be nearly as effective when combined with radiation.

The Food and Drug Administration has struck a blow for the tobacco-addicted. It will ban almost all over-the-counter stop-smoking aids; they don't work.

A cure for influenza has always been elusive to researchers: the virus's outer coat undergoes frequent mutation, so a vaccine can attack only one strain. But newly synthesized enzymes designed by computer may be able to kill a wide variety of flu viruses.

THE BAD NEWS

A major placebo-controlled study has definitively shown for the first time that anabolic steroids, often taken by athletes and fitness buffs to improve strength and endurance, can cause temporary mental problems, including mood swings and violent impulses.

A newborn girl's chance of suffering from breast cancer sometime in her life is higher than previously reckoned: it's 1 in 8. The new estimate is based on more sophisticated statistical analysis.

A study in Kenya has shown that HIV-positive women who are pregnant or taking oral contraceptives are likelier than average to infect their sexual partners, maybe because of changes in the cervix.

SOURCES: Journal of the American Medical Association; Journal of the National Cancer Institute; the New England Journal of Medicine; Nature