Health Report: Oct. 10, 1994

THE GOOD NEWS

— A new study confirms earlier evidence that moderate alcohol intake can protect against heart attacks. It seems that alcohol stimulates the production of an enzyme that breaks up clots, a prime factor in heart attacks.

— A team of scientists has concluded that carotid endarterectomy, a controversial and expensive surgical procedure that removes fatty deposits from the main arteries to the brain, can cut the risk of stroke in men by more than half.

— Four decades after polio vaccines were first developed, the disease has been vanquished in the western hemisphere. The last case was in Peru in 1991.

THE BAD NEWS

— African-American women are about twice as likely to die from breast cancer as are white women, says a new study. Much — though not all — of the difference can be attributed to socio-economics: black women have poorer access to health care, on average, and so their disease tends to be diagnosed at a more advanced stage, when it is harder to treat.

— Practice may make perfect, but sometimes it feels better to have the experienced team at your side. A study of pediatric intensive-care units at 16 hospitals across the U.S. has shown that the chances of a patient’s dying are 79% greater if the unit is part of a teaching hospital.

SOURCES — GOOD: Journal of the American Medical Association; The National Institutes of Health; Pan-American Health Association.

BAD: Journal of the American Medical Association; Journal of the American Medical Association.