The Year In Medicine From A To Z

(6 of 12)

Few would argue that regular exercise and weight loss are not good for your health, but results from a large study of women with heart problems suggest that sometimes it's better to be fit than thin. Active women, no matter how thin or fat, were much less likely to have a heart attack and other cardiac problems than women who didn't exercise, according to the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation. But weight does matter. Researchers in the ongoing Women's Health Study found that overweight and obese women--regardless of how regularly they exercised--were as much as nine times as likely to develop diabetes as women of normal weight. Bottom line? Get active and stay trim.

F

FISH OIL

Sales of fish-oil supplements--one source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids--are booming and poised to climb even higher. The FDA says sellers of food products that contain two types of fatty acids, EPA and DHA, which are found in oily fish like salmon, herring and lake trout, can now add labels listing their EPA and DHA contents and touting their health benefits. But there are limits to how much fish oil you should eat. The FDA recommends no more than 3 g of the fatty acids a day, and only 2 g should come from supplements. The problem is that the same contaminants that pollute fish-- PCBs, dioxin and mercury, among them--can show up in fish oils too. One study of British cod-liver- oil capsules found that they contained flame retardant.

FLU

The flu can be a serious medical issue for people with a delicate immune system, like the very young and the very old. Each year an average of 36,000 Americans die from the disease. This year, however, the flu became a political issue in the presidential campaign when, a few weeks before the election, one of the two companies that manufacture vaccine for the U.S. market was forced to withdraw 48 million doses, creating a massive shortage and triggering something of a flu-shot panic. Government officials scrambled to allocate fairly what was left, and the CDC says 58 million flu shots will be available to those who need them most. Advice for everyone else: wash your hands frequently; stay away from people who have the flu; and consider taking a prescription antiviral medicine like Tamiflu, Flumadine or Symmetrel, which can reduce your chances of getting sick.

FOLIC ACID

There's good and bad news on folic acid this year. First the good: a March of Dimes poll showed that women of childbearing age are heeding the advice on folic acid. Taking the supplement cuts rates of neural-tube defects like spina bifida as much as 70%, and the poll showed that 40% of women 18 to 45 are taking their daily dose--an all-time high. Perhaps as a result, rates of two major types of neural-tube defects have dropped 25% since 1995.

Now the bad news: although taking folic acid reduces blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine-- a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke--no matter how much you reduce your homocysteine with folic acid, your risk of dying from stroke or heart disease doesn't change.

H

HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS