January 19, 2004 Health

	photo essay
	Animal Attraction There's more than one way to make hay, as birds, bees and bonobos know
	graphic
	Where Our Sex Drive Comes From Mapping the origins of sex drive on the human body
	remedies
	Love Potions A guide to some of the medical treatments available for what ails our libidos
	self-test
	The Passionate Love Scale Determine just how you feel about that special (or ex-special) someone

— L —
L E A D
Lead poisoning doesn't seem like much of a problem these days, but new research gives fresh cause for concern. It seems that blood levels of lead previously thought to be safe can actually cause intellectual impairment. Not only that, but quite a bit of damage seems to occur at low levels of exposure. A five-year study found that kids with a blood-lead level at the acceptable threshold of 10 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dl) scored seven points lower on an IQ test than kids with a level of only 1 mcg/dl. The guidelines for safe lead levels have been revised repeatedly over the years, from 60 mcg/dl before 1970 to 25 mcg/dl in 1985 to 10 mcg/dl. They may have to change again. The CDC estimates that 1 in 10 children under age 6 has a blood level of 5 mcg/dl or higher.

L O N G E V I T Y
Various studies have shown that identical twins live longer than fraternal twins. Researchers think they know why: communication. Identical twins appear to keep in touch by phone or mail more often; such social support is known to improve health. The extra bit of close contact translated into a median life-span of 82 years vs. 80.5 years for fraternal twins.

— M —
M A D   C O W
Word came just two days before Christmas that the dreaded disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), had arrived in the U.S. Tests confirmed that a 6-year-old dairy cow, which had been ground into hamburger two weeks earlier, was a carrier. Although the cow had entered the U.S. from Canada in 2001, more than 30 countries quickly banned U.S. beef imports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in turn recalled 10,000 lbs. of ground beef and instituted a series of measures to reassure consumers, including a ban on the slaughter of cattle too sick or injured to walk. The cow in question was born a few months before a ban on feeding cattle the pulverized remains of their kin, the most likely path of infection, went into effect in Canada and the U.S. Only 20,000 of the 35 million cattle slaughtered in the U.S. each year are tested for BSE.

— O —
O B E S I T Y
What will it take to get our attention? Obesity accounts for 280,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. If current trends continue, the battle of the bulge will overtake smoking as the primary cause of preventable death. Some researchers believe that today's wide-bodied kids will have shorter life-spans than their parents.

The number of overweight kids has tripled in the past 20 years, and some two-thirds of American adults are either overweight or obese. Sure, stomach stapling is all the rage—100,000 operations last year—but the costly, risky procedure is no answer for the massive masses.

Meanwhile, the search is on for a magic pill. One study found that a natural compound called PYY reduces appetite and food intake when given to test subjects intravenously. Another study found that a natural fatty acid, OEA (oleylethanolamide), also seems to regulate hunger and metabolism—at least in mice. Research on both compounds is still in the early stages, but they could be the basis for new treatments targeting obesity. What to do until these wonder drugs arrive at the local pharmacy? Yep. Eat less, and exercise more.

— P —
P A R K I N S O N ' S
The quaking, shaking symptoms of this degenerative disease, which afflicts 1.5 million Americans, have been notoriously tough to treat. For 40 years, efforts have focused on drugs that regulate the function of a key neurotransmitter called dopamine. Now attention is shifting. Doctors have begun implanting electrodes on both sides of the brain to stimulate its inner regions—an approach that has shown some success in treating intractable epilepsy.

And a drug unrelated to dopamine, istradefylline, seems to reduce tremors and slowness in Parkinson's patients with advanced disease.

Given that the condition can only be slowed, not cured, prevention may be the best bet. A long-term study of 140,000 adults suggests that regular use of nonaspirin painkillers such as Motrin or Aleve may offer some protection. Another prevention strategy is to avoid head injuries. Studies have shown that individuals who have experienced a head injury serious enough to require hospitalization have an eightfold higher risk of suffering from Parkinson's disease later in life.

P A X I L
A group of antidepressants called SSRIs may be doing wonders to lift moods in adults, but concern is growing over their use in teens and kids. First, researchers in Britain found that youngsters taking Paxil were more likely to have suicidal thoughts. Regulators there decided the drug should not be given to children. In the U.S. the FDA quickly followed suit. Six months later, the British regulators warned against the use of five other antidepressants in young people. Doctors on both sides of the pond still think that Prozac is O.K., but expect the U.S. to take a closer look at all other SSRIs.

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