Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

GOOD NEWS

ROTO-ROOTER It took a study of 62,000 patients to confirm what many cardiologists already suspected: when it comes to heart attacks, angioplasties save more lives than clot-busting drugs. Both treatments aim to clear arterial blockages that deprive the heart of oxygen. But the odds of dying in a hospital after an emergency angioplasty--a balloon-tipped catheter is threaded through the vessel--are 40% lower than after a round of clot busters. Caveat: the finding applies only to centers that perform angioplasties frequently--at least 50 times a year.

GOLDEN OLDIES You might not expect to see an 85-year-old at an 'N Sync concert, but researchers in Italy find that elderly folks with dementia can suddenly develop surprising tastes in music. In one case, a classical-music buff began to enjoy, at full blast, an Italian pop band he had once derided as "mere noise." Explanation? Lesions in the brain may damage areas involved in music perception. Or perhaps dementia simply changes one's attitude toward novelty.

BAD NEWS

SUGAR COATING Sometimes timing really is everything. A blood test used to screen for Type 2 diabetes may miss as many as half of all cases if it's performed in the afternoon rather than the morning. Turns out glucose levels--normal is considered below 125mg/dl--naturally drop through the day, so what appears fine in the afternoon may, in fact, be a problem. Easy solution: lower the standard for what's "normal" for blood drawn in the p.m.

BATED BREATH The use of inhalers containing corticosteroids is one of the most common treatments for chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Now doctors report that while the steroids may improve symptoms like shortness of breath and even reduce doctor visits, they fail to slow the progression of these smoking-induced diseases. And there are side effects, like bone loss. Don't toss the inhalers; talk to your doctor.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Good News--Journal of the American Medical Association (12/27/00); Neurology (12/26/00). Bad News--JAMA (12/27/00); New England Journal of Medicine (12/28/00)