UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, November 11, 1994
58
Teens heavier than 20 years ago
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — One in five American teens is overweight, the government reported yesterday, and experts are blaming everything from too much junk food and TV to lack of exercise and baggy, figure-concealing grunge clothing.
Through the 1970s, the percentage of overweight children ages 12 to 19 held steady at around 15 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that rate had jumped to 21 percent by 1991.
The increase was not much of a surprise because the CDC had previously tracked a similar trend among overweight adults, from 25 percent to 38 percent, said Jeffrey Lancashire of the CDC's National Center for Health
Statistics.
"We all — adults, adolescents and young children — eat in the same environment and have access to the same healthy and unhealthy foods," he said.
Though baby fat can melt away as a child's hormones shift into adolescent overdrive, too many overweight teens end up struggling with their weight the rest of their lives.
"We know that at least some of these overweight adolescents will grow up to be overweight adults," Lancshire said. That means they will also run a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and arthritis.
The report didn't examine by how much the teens were overweight, or how much body fat they had — a key indicator of health.
What caused the increase among
overweight teens also isn't clear, Lancashire said, though other studies point to too much fat and sugar in children's diets and a sedentary life spent in front of the television.
"Unlike with adults, we have to be careful about instructing adolescents to so on diets," he said.
Lancashire said the CDC would have preferred to encourage exercise rather than dieting, for fear teen-agers will go overboard.
A spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, JoAm T. Hattart, pointed out additional factors in the rise in the number of overweight children: "latchkey" kids eating or snacking without parental supervision, parents keeping children indoors because the streets are unsafe and families spending what time they have together eating.
Eye drop test may detect early Alzheimer's
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A simple test using eye drops may identify patients with Alzheimer's disease, a brain-destroying disorder now diagnosed with certainty only after death.
Although medical science now has little to offer Alzheimer's patients, Huntington Potter of the Harvard Medical School said that the test could be important when new drugs for the disease were developed. He said the test would make an early diagnosis possible, enabling patients to plan, while they still were able, for the inevitable loss of mental ability.
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and at
Harvard report that an eye drop drug called tropicamide causes the pupils in the eyes of Alzheimer's patients to dilate about four times more readily than those of patients without the brain disease.
Potter said that Alzheimer's disease patients were so sensitive to tropicamide that their pupils would change by about 23.4 percent, while patients without Alzheimer's had only a 5 percentage change.
Tropicamide is the drug that ophthalmologists routinely use to dilate pupils during eye exams. Its effects last only briefly. When used for the Alzheimer's test, the drug is diluted to about 1 percent of the concentration used in eye tests.
Alzheimer's disease progressively destroys the brain, wiping out memory, thought and the control of body functions. The disease strikes about 10 percent of the population over the age of 65 and currently affects about 20 million people worldwide.
The eye drop Alzheimer's test cannot be conducted in most doctors' offices because it requires a special instrument to precisely measure the size of pupil dilation. Potter said.
Potter, senior author of a study to be published today in the journal Science, originated the idea of using tropicamide to test for Alzheimer's after noting that patients with Down's syndrome were highly sensitive to the drug.
AIDS activists say that home-test maker has undue pull
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — AIDS activists want the government to hold off approving the nation's first home test for the disease, contending that company promotions are unduly influencing the kit's evaluation by federal regulators.
Three major AIDS organizations filed a complaint that accused Johnson & Johnson of violating Food and Drug Administration prohibitions against promoting unapproved medical products.
The activists content promotions of the experimental Confide home AIDS test, including intensive political lobbying and paying doctors for their support, are an attempt to ramrod the kit through FDA.
They thought the attempt was working because of a memo to White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta that said FDA was expediting its review of home tests — and Confidence is the only test far enough along for approval.
"There are no policy impediments to the approval of a home-use HIV test,"
FDA Commissioner David Kessler wrote Panetta, in the memo obtained by The Associated Press yesterday. "Any remaining concerns about impact of product approval on the public health will be examined through post-approval studies."
Panetta asked about the test in September at the request of House Republican Whip Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who quoted Johnson & Johnson's paid consultant, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop in pushing homestates.
NEW YORK — Prozac, praised as a wonder drug to treat depression and reviled by critics who say it causes violent and suicidal urges, is about to get approval for another high-profile affliction, bulimia.
FDA gives OK to using Prozac to help bulimics
ElHilly & Co. said yesterday that the Food and Drug Administration had issued an approvable letter in support of using the drug for treating the eating disorder.
The Associated Press
That is generally the final step before the FDA grants approval for a new drug or for a new use of an existing product, said Victoria Murphy, spokeswoman for the company, which introduced Prozac in 1987.
Psychiatrists said yesterday that many doctors are already prescribing Prozac, the world's largest selling antidepressant, for bulimia.
Bulimia, which afflicts about 1 million Americans a year, is young women, is a mental disorder in which the victims believe they are constantly overweight.
Breast fed babies might be healthier
The Associated Press
LONDON — A Dutch study provides further evidence that breast milk is better than formula for brain development.
In a study of 526 children traced for nine years, scientists found that those who were breast fed for at least three weeks were half as likely to suffer from neurologic abnormalities, such as coordination problems, compared with those who got formula.
The research, to be published in tomorrow's issue of The Lancet, a medical journal, is the latest in a series of studies suggesting that something in breast milk is good for the brain.
Previous studies linked breast milk to intelligence. This study focuses on neurological development, including reflexes and basic movement abilities.
CONGRATULATIONS NEW Panhellenic Executive Board
Melissa Smith President
Amy Mien Vice President for Administrative Affairs
Heather Short Vice President for Membership
Kathleen Brangan Vice President for Educational Programs
Molly Bukaty Vice President for Public Relations
Becki Carl Vice President for Philanthropy and Community Service
Karyn Oullman Vice President for Interfraternal Relations
Come celebrate 'Pakistan Cultural Night' 7:30 p.m., Friday, November 11 Kansas Union Ballroom, University of Kansas, Lawrence
$7 KU students
$8 non-KU students
$4 children under 12 years
$9 at the door
Experience the richness of our land as we present songs, dances and traditional clothing from its four provinces: Sindh, Puniah, Baluchistan & N.W.F.P
Dinnerby
Shalimar Garden Restaurant
Purchase or reserve tickets through SUA Box Office at 913-864-3477
For information contact Ali Rizvi 913-865-3526
presented by the KU Pakistan Student Association
sponsored by Student Senate
Mortar Board
Outstanding Educators 1994
would like to recognize the following professors for their contributions to the students of the University of Kansas
Michael Doudoroff Spanish Daryl Evans Sociology Grover Everett Chemistry Ronald Francisco Political Science James Orr Biology
Scholars...chosen for leadership...united to serve
GOJAYHAWKS!!!
COLORADO vs. KANSAS SATURDAY at 1:00 p.m.
Come in and enjoy an early lunch before the game!
After the game come in for an appetizer, dinner and dessert
with your favorite beverage!
GO JAXHAWKS!!
SAN DIEGO vs. CHIEFS
SANDIEGO vs. CHIEFS
SUNDAY
Hot Dogs$.50
Game Time Noon
Big Draws $2.00
Watch It Here!
10 T.V.'s and Big Screen
Chili Dogs$1.00
Hours:
11:00am-1:30am
3300 W. 15th St.
841-0033
8:00 p.m.
November 11, 12, 17,
18*, & 19, 1994
2:30 p.m.
Sunday,
November 13, 1994
Crafton-Freyer Theatre
Translated by Richard Wilbur Directed by Ron Popenhagen
Reserved seat tickets are available through the KU box offices (Murphy Hall: 913/864-3082,
Lied Center: 913/864-ARTS, SUA: 913/864-3477); public $U, student $4, senior citizens
and other students $7; VISA and MasterCard are accepted for phone orders; partially funded by
the KU Student Senate Activity Fee.
*Performance will be signed for the deaf and hard of hearing. This production is KU's entry in the 1995 American College Theatre Festival XXVII.
DAILY WALKER
FONTAC/CABAILLE
ONE MONTH
THE UNIVERSITY
THEATRE
1