Your Health: Nov. 6, 2000

GOOD NEWS

SHOCK THERAPY Sure, portable defibrillators are designed to save lives, but put them in a public place, like an airplane or a casino, and survival rates soar. Reports show that in casinos the heart-shocking devices rescued 53% of people in cardiac arrest. On airplanes, where it's easier to confuse an unconscious passenger with, say, a sleeping one, they saved 40%. U.S. survival rates, by comparison, are a dismal 5% because of time lost waiting for the paramedics. The findings are so encouraging that doctors want defibrillators (cost: $3,000) to become as commonplace as fire extinguishers.

SCREENING FOR THE SQUEAMISH Can't stomach the idea of colonoscopy? If early reports pan out, there may be a far less intimidating--and still reliable--way to screen for colon cancer. Doctors have developed a simple stool test that analyzes DNA shed from inside the colon. The test has so far accurately detected 91% of tumors and 73% of tiny precancerous polyps. It may be two years or more before the test becomes available, however, so your best bet for now is still the 6-ft. probe.

BAD NEWS

FLASH! Still calculating whether hormone-replacement therapy is for you? Here's one for the minus column. Granted, asthma isn't common in postmenopausal women, but a new study reveals that those who take hormones increase their risk of developing the illness by 60%.

GRAY MATTER Serious head injuries are just that--serious. After poring over hospital records of World War II veterans, doctors now say that a bad blow to the head may be linked to Alzheimer's. The soldiers' injuries were probably more extreme than those suffered by civilians falling off scooters or playing football (the veterans were unconscious at least 24 hours), but the news is a reminder to watch your head--and wear a helmet.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Good News--New England Journal of Medicine (10/26/00); Gastroenterology (10/00); Bad News--American College of Chest Physicians; Neurology (10/24/00)