Your Health: Nov. 8, 1999

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GOOD NEWS

SHOO, FLU With the flu season just a sniffle away, the public has plenty to fight it with. The FDA last week approved Tamiflu, the second major flu drug to be endorsed in months. The flu-fighting inhalant Relenza got the agency's nod this summer. Unlike Relenza, Tamiflu comes in capsule form. Taken within a couple of days of getting sick, Tamiflu can cut the duration of flu symptoms by about 1 1/2 days and slice in half the risk of complications such as bronchitis and sinusitis. What's more, a new study finds that taken for six weeks before any symptoms, Tamiflu may help prevent flu in the first place. Still, the best first line of defense is a flu shot.

START SWEATIN'! Walking for the cure may help raise money to fight breast cancer, but walking--briskly--can also help reduce your odds of developing the disease. The largest study yet on the subject shows that an hour or more a day of moderate to vigorous exercise may cut the risk of breast cancer by 20%. Too much for you? Try two to four hours a week, which should lower the risk by 10%.

BAD NEWS

GIRTH OF A NATION Just look around: Americans are getting fatter. And now a government report confirms not only that more than half of us are overweight but also that the number who are obese--at least 30% heavier than the ideal weight--has skyrocketed from 12% of the population in 1991 to 18% today. Who is likeliest to put on pounds? Surprisingly, 18- to 29-year-olds and folks in the South, where the hot climate easily wilts enthusiasm for exercise.

INTERNET COME-ONS While some men may be thrilled, doctors are alarmed. During a two-week period, more than 75 Internet sites were selling Viagra directly to consumers without a prescription. And more than a third of them didn't provide any online medical evaluation. The big problem: Viagra can pose serious risks for men with heart conditions and those on hypertension drugs.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources--Good News: FDA and New England Journal of Medicine (10/28/99); Archives of Internal Medicine (10/25/99). Bad News: JAMA (10/26/99); New England Journal of Medicine (10/28/99)