Health Report: May 9, 1994

THE GOOD NEWS

-- Thalidomide, which caused thousands of birth defects in the 1960s, may one day be used to prevent blindness. In laboratory tests, researchers learned that the drug stops abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eye, which can destroy vision in people with diabetes and other disorders.

-- Many older women take thyroid pills because their bodies no longer produce the hormone. Yet the medication robs their bones of minerals. Doctors have now discovered that taking estrogen at the same time reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

-- Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration have declared Prozac safe and effective in the treatment of bulimia.

THE BAD NEWS

-- From the researchers who brought you bad news about take-out Chinese food: the average "large" bag of movie-theater popcorn, made with supersaturated coconut oil, has as much fat as six Big Macs.

-- About 25% of surgeries to implant tubes in children with chronic ear infections are undertaken too hastily, a new report says. The recommendation: more extensive antibiotic treatment.

-- A procedure for prenatal detection of genetic abnormalities has been linked to an increased risk of birth defects. When performed in the first 60 days of pregnancy, the test, chorionic villus sampling, sometimes leads to the loss of an arm or leg.

Sources -- GOOD: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; Journal of the American Medical Association.

BAD: Center for Science in the Public Interest; Journal of the American Medical Association; Lancet.