Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

GOOD NEWS

BEAN COUNT Apparently beans really are, as the old schoolyard rhyme insists, "good for the heart." After reviewing the dietary habits of nearly 12,000 men and women, researchers report that eating beans four times a week can reduce the incidence of heart disease, including heart attacks, by 20%. Any legume will do, even peas, peanuts and soy. It's thought that the vegetable protein in beans may help reduce cholesterol as well as lower blood pressure.

MEDICAL MANTRA While it's no surprise that transcendental meditation reduces stress, researchers now show that using TM to reach a higher state of consciousness may help unclog arteries. African Americans with high blood pressure who practiced meditation for six months saw a .098-mm decrease in the fatty buildup in arterial walls, compared with an increase of .054 mm among folks who simply tried to change their diet and lifestyle. Getting results takes some effort. First you need to learn how to meditate, which can take hours, and then you should do it for 20 minutes each morning and evening.

BAD NEWS

REEFER MADNESS Tune in, aging hippies. Middle-aged and elderly marijuana users may increase their risk of a heart attack fivefold in the first hour after lighting up. The danger--like the high--seems to subside by the second hour. Pot raises the heart rate by about 40 beats a minute, scientists say, and this is especially problematic for folks with undiagnosed coronary disease. For someone in good physical shape, marijuana is about twice as risky as sex.

TRAFFIC TROUBLE Yet another threat to your kids' health? A study financed by the electric-power industry suggests that children living near heavily traveled streets--where 20,000 or more vehicles pass daily--may have a sixfold-increased risk of developing childhood cancers such as leukemia. (Previously, the electromagnetic fields near electric-power wires were similarly blamed.) Researchers point the finger at benzene and other possible carcinogens that vehicles emit--and kids inhale. --By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Good News--American Heart Association meeting; Stroke (3/00). Bad News--AHA meeting; Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association (2/00)