Doctor's Orders: Sep. 5, 2005

ACUPUNCTURE MAY DO YOUR BODY GOOD Patients with fibromyalgia, a chronic, incurable and widespread pain illness, know it's a hard condition to treat. But Mayo Clinic doctors can offer some relief: in a study of 50 patients, six acupuncture treatments given over two to three weeks significantly improved their symptoms of pain and fatigue.

A BETTER BLOOD TEST FOR BABY In a study of 202 infants, published in J.A.M.A., doctors found that the so-called CHr test caught 83% of iron-deficiency cases, while the standard hemoglobin test found just 26%.

COULD YOUR BABY HAVE AN STD? Writing in Sexually Transmitted Diseases, researchers say it's time to create a national system to track cases of herpes--in newborns. One in four moms has genital herpes, often unknowingly, and can pass it on to her baby. Left untreated, up to 85% of the 460 to 2,800 yearly neonatal-herpes cases can be fatal.

HOMEOPATHY: A LOAD OF HOOEY? Lots of alternative therapies are effective, but according to the journal Lancet, homeopathy isn't one of them. In a review of 220 studies, researchers found it was no better than a placebo. --By Sora Song