Your Health: May 31, 1999

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GOOD NEWS

COLD FRONT This may seem out of season, but researchers are getting closer--just a little--to curing the common cold. An experimental remedy called tremacamra seems to cut the severity of cold symptoms in half, with no bothersome side effects. When sprayed in the nose six times a day, tremacamra blocks the site where cold viruses latch onto cells. Don't toss the tissues yet. Tremacamra was tested on only one cold virus; there are hundreds more out there.

ALLERGIC TO SHOTS? When doctors test for allergies, they often use a method that's scary enough to send anyone into a wheezing fit: they inject up to 50 allergens under the skin and then wait to see which causes a reaction. But the practice may be unnecessary. In pinpointing, for example, cat allergies, the shots turn out to be no more effective than lightly pricking the skin with an allergen or simply testing the blood.

BAD NEWS

RAW DEAL Three recent outbreaks of salmonella poisoning--two in San Francisco, one in Washington--have been traced to cheese made from raw cow's milk. What makes this particularly worrisome is that the strain of bacteria in all three cases is resistant to most antibiotics. The very young, the old and folks with compromised immune systems are most susceptible. Best bet: buy pasteurized cheese.

BABY BLUES Postpartum depression is no fun for Mom, but scientists say it's pretty bad for infants too. A new report shows that depressed mothers and their newborns both have high levels of the stress hormone cortisol and that an infant's cortisol level remains high for months--even after Mom's level returns to normal.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources--Good News: Journal of the American Medical Association, 5/18/99; Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 5/99. Bad News: JAMA, 5/18/99; American Psychiatric Association meeting