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Today's topics:
(1) Medical news items from HICN 2, nrs. 23 and 24
(2) TOC Human Movement Science 8(2), April 1989
(3) File storage facilities for BIOMCH-L on LISTSERV@HEARN
-----------------------------------
(1) Medical news items from HICN 2, nrs. 23 and 24
Resent from: Health InfoCom Network Newslist
(Subscription via LISTSERV@ASUACAD.BITNET)
Medical News for week ending June 4, 1989
(c) 1989 USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
Reproduced with Permission
HEADGEAR CALLED INEFFECTIVE:
Journal of the American Medical Association reports in its Friday issue.
Doctors at Ohio State University studied 537 college wrestlers, some of whom
suffered permanent deformities to the ears despite wearing headgear. The study
suggests that current headgear offers ineffective protection.
OSTEOPOROSIS THERAPY WORKING:
A dramatically successful treatment is reversing the effects of
osteoporosis - thinning of the bones, Consumer Digest reports in its May/June
issue. The treatment involves the slow release formula of sodium fluoride and
calcium citrate into the body. Bone strength and density improved in all but a
few of the 251 patients tested. The disease will affect one in four women over
the age of 60.
PARKINSON'S THERAPY QUESTIONED:
Swedish researchers casted doubt recently on a new Parkinson's Disease
therapy that transplants human fetal tissue into Parkinson's victims. Doctors
at University Hospital, Lund, Sweden, used neural cells from aborted human
fetuses in two patients. The treatments had no substantial therapeutic effect,
doctors reported in the Archives of Neurology's June issue.
SURVEY - DOCTOR SUPPLY FALLING:
Increasing malpractice insurance premiums, diminishing autonomy and the
diminishing professional stature of physicians might lead to a shortage of
doctors by the year 2000, an executive search firm said this week. A study by
the New Jersey firm Sampson, Neill & Wilkins Inc. countered recent predictions
of a physician surplus.
Medical News for week ending June 12, 1989
(c) 1989, USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
U.S., SOVIETS OK DRUG TESTS:
The U.S. Olympic Committee and Soviet authorities agreed on a plan to test
Olympic athletes in both countries for drugs. The agreements, made final at a
conference in Iowa Sunday, calls for random testing of athletes from both
countries for steroids and other drugs. Penalties: Two-year suspension from
the sport for first offense; life suspension for repeat offenders.
MEAT MIGHT WEAKEN BONES:
Eating lots of meat might weaken bones, researchers at the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center reported recently. High-fat diets might
leach calcium from bones, increasing the risk of osteoporosis, researchers
said. The findings were reported in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology and Medicine.
VW TO HELP ADAPT VANS:
Volkswagen United States on Tuesday announced an innovative program to help
pay part of the costs associated with adapting its vans for use by handicapped
people. The firms Mobility Access Program will provide $1,500 toward adapting
its 1989 Vanagon Carat or Wolfsburg Limited Edition Vanagons to accommodate
handicapped passengers or drivers.
CANCER VERSUS HEIGHT, WEIGHT:
Short men are less likely to develop certain types of cancer. The shortest
group of men in a recent study were found to be only half as likely to develop
colon cancer as the tallest group of men. National Cancer Institute studies
find the same is true for short women and breast cancer. Theory: Kids who eat
fewer calories grow up shorter, and thus are at lower risk of cancer.
FDA APPROVES PARKINSON'S DRUG:
The Food and Drug Administration Wednesday approved a drug called
selegiline to help treat severe Parkinson's disease. The new drug inhibits an
enzyme that deactivates dopamine, the natural neurotransmitter lacking in
Parkinson's patients. The FDA said selegiline would benefit between 20,000 and
50,000 Parkinson's patients.
LASER MIGHT TREAT HEART:
A laser catheter under development might someday eliminate the causes of
two crippling heart disorders. Angeion Corp. is developing a percutaneous
laser catheter that will treat arrhythmias and idiopathic hypertrophic
subaortic stenosis, a thickening of the heart muscle that reduces the amount
of blood flowing through the heart.
SMART SCOPES TO LINK DOCTORS:
Pathologists at 10 Washington, D.C.,-area hospitals will soon be using
"smart microscopes" to view microscope slide images on television screen miles
from the microscope. Bell Atlantic Corp. said Wednesday it will set up the
system, which will send video signals over fiber optic lines to high-
resolution receivers so clear they will allow doctors to make an immediate
diagnosis.
STUDY CHALLENGES YAWN THEORY:
Two researchers have challenged the idea that humans yawn to increase
oxygen in the blood and rid themselves of carbon dioxide. Researchers counted
student researchers yawns while they inhaled various mixtures of the gases and
found the rate remained constant. Results were released in the June issue of
Discover magazine. Theory: Yawning is actually a stretching function.
DIABETES MOLECULES UNCOVERED:
Researchers have uncovered two key molecules in a chain of insulin-
initiated reactions that could spark therapies for diabetes. A study published
in Friday's Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that the
molecules are helping doctors understand the chain reaction that triggers
diabetic difficulties and could help them prescribe therapy.
CELLS KEY TO HEARING RANGE:
The complexities of human hearing are slowly being unraveled at the Center
for Hearing Sciences. Researchers there recently theorized that two types of
cells in the brain's cochlear nucleus might be the key to the unexplained
range of human hearing. Each type of cell, researchers said, deals with a
specific component of encoded nerve impulses humans use to hear.
-----------------------------------
(2) TOC Human Movement Science 8(2), April 1989, pp. 99-200
B. Bril & Y. Breni`ere, Steady-state velocity and temporal structure of gait
during the first six months of autonomous walking (99-122)
M.J. Canic & I.M. Franks, Response preparation and latence in patterns of
tapping movements (123-139)
E.M. Howard, Perceptual problems in cerebral-palsied children: a real-world
example (141-160)
A.E. Patla & W.E. Eickmeier, COMONS: a computer-based movement data management
and simulation system (161-176)
J.-L. Velay, R. Roll & J. Paillard, Elbow position sense in man: contrasting
results in matching and pointing (177-193)
Conferences and scientific meetings (195-200)
NB: Interestingly, about 1/3 of the 33 conference items provide email addresses.
-----------------------------------
(3) File storage facilities for BIOMCH-L on LISTSERV@HEARN
We are still in the process of preparing file storage facilties on BIOMCH-L;
within a few days, further details should be available from an information file
which can be retrieved from LISTSERV@HEARN (but NOT from BIOMCH-L@HEARN!) via
the request
SEND BIOMCH-L INFO BIOMCH-l
where the last argument is optional, but recommended for increased processing
efficiency.
-----------------------------------
*** End of Biomch-l 1989/12
(1) Medical news items from HICN 2, nrs. 23 and 24
(2) TOC Human Movement Science 8(2), April 1989
(3) File storage facilities for BIOMCH-L on LISTSERV@HEARN
-----------------------------------
(1) Medical news items from HICN 2, nrs. 23 and 24
Resent from: Health InfoCom Network Newslist
(Subscription via LISTSERV@ASUACAD.BITNET)
Medical News for week ending June 4, 1989
(c) 1989 USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
Reproduced with Permission
HEADGEAR CALLED INEFFECTIVE:
Journal of the American Medical Association reports in its Friday issue.
Doctors at Ohio State University studied 537 college wrestlers, some of whom
suffered permanent deformities to the ears despite wearing headgear. The study
suggests that current headgear offers ineffective protection.
OSTEOPOROSIS THERAPY WORKING:
A dramatically successful treatment is reversing the effects of
osteoporosis - thinning of the bones, Consumer Digest reports in its May/June
issue. The treatment involves the slow release formula of sodium fluoride and
calcium citrate into the body. Bone strength and density improved in all but a
few of the 251 patients tested. The disease will affect one in four women over
the age of 60.
PARKINSON'S THERAPY QUESTIONED:
Swedish researchers casted doubt recently on a new Parkinson's Disease
therapy that transplants human fetal tissue into Parkinson's victims. Doctors
at University Hospital, Lund, Sweden, used neural cells from aborted human
fetuses in two patients. The treatments had no substantial therapeutic effect,
doctors reported in the Archives of Neurology's June issue.
SURVEY - DOCTOR SUPPLY FALLING:
Increasing malpractice insurance premiums, diminishing autonomy and the
diminishing professional stature of physicians might lead to a shortage of
doctors by the year 2000, an executive search firm said this week. A study by
the New Jersey firm Sampson, Neill & Wilkins Inc. countered recent predictions
of a physician surplus.
Medical News for week ending June 12, 1989
(c) 1989, USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
U.S., SOVIETS OK DRUG TESTS:
The U.S. Olympic Committee and Soviet authorities agreed on a plan to test
Olympic athletes in both countries for drugs. The agreements, made final at a
conference in Iowa Sunday, calls for random testing of athletes from both
countries for steroids and other drugs. Penalties: Two-year suspension from
the sport for first offense; life suspension for repeat offenders.
MEAT MIGHT WEAKEN BONES:
Eating lots of meat might weaken bones, researchers at the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center reported recently. High-fat diets might
leach calcium from bones, increasing the risk of osteoporosis, researchers
said. The findings were reported in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology and Medicine.
VW TO HELP ADAPT VANS:
Volkswagen United States on Tuesday announced an innovative program to help
pay part of the costs associated with adapting its vans for use by handicapped
people. The firms Mobility Access Program will provide $1,500 toward adapting
its 1989 Vanagon Carat or Wolfsburg Limited Edition Vanagons to accommodate
handicapped passengers or drivers.
CANCER VERSUS HEIGHT, WEIGHT:
Short men are less likely to develop certain types of cancer. The shortest
group of men in a recent study were found to be only half as likely to develop
colon cancer as the tallest group of men. National Cancer Institute studies
find the same is true for short women and breast cancer. Theory: Kids who eat
fewer calories grow up shorter, and thus are at lower risk of cancer.
FDA APPROVES PARKINSON'S DRUG:
The Food and Drug Administration Wednesday approved a drug called
selegiline to help treat severe Parkinson's disease. The new drug inhibits an
enzyme that deactivates dopamine, the natural neurotransmitter lacking in
Parkinson's patients. The FDA said selegiline would benefit between 20,000 and
50,000 Parkinson's patients.
LASER MIGHT TREAT HEART:
A laser catheter under development might someday eliminate the causes of
two crippling heart disorders. Angeion Corp. is developing a percutaneous
laser catheter that will treat arrhythmias and idiopathic hypertrophic
subaortic stenosis, a thickening of the heart muscle that reduces the amount
of blood flowing through the heart.
SMART SCOPES TO LINK DOCTORS:
Pathologists at 10 Washington, D.C.,-area hospitals will soon be using
"smart microscopes" to view microscope slide images on television screen miles
from the microscope. Bell Atlantic Corp. said Wednesday it will set up the
system, which will send video signals over fiber optic lines to high-
resolution receivers so clear they will allow doctors to make an immediate
diagnosis.
STUDY CHALLENGES YAWN THEORY:
Two researchers have challenged the idea that humans yawn to increase
oxygen in the blood and rid themselves of carbon dioxide. Researchers counted
student researchers yawns while they inhaled various mixtures of the gases and
found the rate remained constant. Results were released in the June issue of
Discover magazine. Theory: Yawning is actually a stretching function.
DIABETES MOLECULES UNCOVERED:
Researchers have uncovered two key molecules in a chain of insulin-
initiated reactions that could spark therapies for diabetes. A study published
in Friday's Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that the
molecules are helping doctors understand the chain reaction that triggers
diabetic difficulties and could help them prescribe therapy.
CELLS KEY TO HEARING RANGE:
The complexities of human hearing are slowly being unraveled at the Center
for Hearing Sciences. Researchers there recently theorized that two types of
cells in the brain's cochlear nucleus might be the key to the unexplained
range of human hearing. Each type of cell, researchers said, deals with a
specific component of encoded nerve impulses humans use to hear.
-----------------------------------
(2) TOC Human Movement Science 8(2), April 1989, pp. 99-200
B. Bril & Y. Breni`ere, Steady-state velocity and temporal structure of gait
during the first six months of autonomous walking (99-122)
M.J. Canic & I.M. Franks, Response preparation and latence in patterns of
tapping movements (123-139)
E.M. Howard, Perceptual problems in cerebral-palsied children: a real-world
example (141-160)
A.E. Patla & W.E. Eickmeier, COMONS: a computer-based movement data management
and simulation system (161-176)
J.-L. Velay, R. Roll & J. Paillard, Elbow position sense in man: contrasting
results in matching and pointing (177-193)
Conferences and scientific meetings (195-200)
NB: Interestingly, about 1/3 of the 33 conference items provide email addresses.
-----------------------------------
(3) File storage facilities for BIOMCH-L on LISTSERV@HEARN
We are still in the process of preparing file storage facilties on BIOMCH-L;
within a few days, further details should be available from an information file
which can be retrieved from LISTSERV@HEARN (but NOT from BIOMCH-L@HEARN!) via
the request
SEND BIOMCH-L INFO BIOMCH-l
where the last argument is optional, but recommended for increased processing
efficiency.
-----------------------------------
*** End of Biomch-l 1989/12