University Daily Kansan / Thursday, April 2, 1992
HEALTH
9
Failing economy contributes to students' anxiety, studies say
By Katherine Manweiler
Kansan staff writer
The state of the economy could be affecting more than financial health. A tight job market might harm the emotional health of college students.
According to research by the National Institute of Mental Health, 29.6 million people in the United States have disorders at some time in their lives.
College students are no exception, KU mental health professionals say.
Gary Gaffney, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said that he thought college students were susceptible to generalized anxiety disorder.
"I think the economic conditions contribute," Gaffney said. "People are worried about their jobs, and that is generating some of this. Because of the pressure that college students are under, they probably are quite affected."
Gaffney said that changes such as the death of a loved one, moving to a different city or starting new classes could trigger generalized anxiety disorder
"Life events are stressful for everyone, but people with generalized anxiety seem to take them a little harder," he said.
People with generalized anxiety disorder worry excessively about life situations such as jobs or finances, Gaffney said. This worried mood usually lasts for several months.
Physical symptoms of the disorder include muscle tension, fatigue, dry mouth and heart palpitations, he said.
Relaxation techniques and counseling are the most common treatments used to treat anxiety disorders, which are the most treatable mental illnesses, Gaffney said. But medication can be part of the treatment as well.
Gaffney is one of the psychiatrists at the Med Center who is helping to research a new drug with few side effects that could help people conquer generalized anxiety disorder.
The Med Center is looking for people with the disorder to participate in a study of the drug. Anyone who thinks they have generalized anxiety disorder
and is interested in joining the study should call 1-800-221-1923.
Medications such as Valium are the most common prescription drugs used to treat the disorder, but they can have side effects ranging from drowsiness to seizures, Gaffney said.
Frank DeSalvo, director of the KU counseling and psychological services, said that not everyone with generalized anxiety disorder needed medication to control the anxiety.
"The major concern is that it doesn't really help the students deal with the problems in a meaningful way," DeSalvo said. "It's a short-term solution. It doesnt help the students develop coping skills that would help them deal with the problem the next time it comes up."
DeSalvo said that students needed to seek help for their anxiety if it started to affect their studies or relationships.
Counseling and psychological services are not seeing more students with anxiety disorders related to the economy because students are being more resourceful in exploring a variety of options, he said.
Deaths for women who light up expected to double by decade's end
The Associated Press
GENEVA — The number of women killed by smoking-related illnesses will double to more than 1 million a year by 2020, World Health Organization report predicted yesterday.
pares to 2 percent to 10 percent in the Third World, the study said.
The U.N. health agency, which described its report as the first international study of women and tobacco, said that 20 percent to 35 percent of women in wealthy nations smoked. That com-
It said that women in the United States and northern European countries are kicking the smoking habit at the same rate as men but that more young women than men are starting to smoke in many industrial nations.
"If this trend continues, female smokers will outnumber male smokers in the near future," it said, citing the United States and Australia as examples.
Denmark leads the industrial nations in female smoking, reporting that 45 percent of its women smoked in 1988, according to WHO's data. About 34 percent of women in Norway smoked in 1990, compared to 30 percent in both France and Luxembourg. Portugal was the lowest in Europe, with 12 percent smoking in 1988.
About 26 percent of women in the UnitedStatessmokedin1990,the report said.
Study: Sex with infected mate may not lead to herpes
The Associated Press
BOSTON — A man or woman might not catch genital herpes after even years of having sex with an infected mate, according to a study that contradicts the widely held belief that the infection is easily transmitted. The study, however, also raised a danger signal. It said that an uninfected woman with an infected husband can catch the virus at precisely the wrong moment: during pregnancy. If passed on to the baby during birth, the virus can cause severe illness or death.
Researchers found that among married couples, one spouse is frequently
infected while the other is not, and the herpes-free mate may stay that way for years.
Until now, experts had assumed that such "discordant" couples — in which only one has herpes — were rare, because spouses catch the disease quickly from their mates.
"I found it comforting that a large number of discordant couples exist and hadn't infected each other," said Charles G. Prober, author of the study and a researcher at Stanford University. "It suggests that there is no guarantee of catching it, despite being with an infected person for a long period of time."
Genital herpes was the subject of fear and sensationalism in the 1800s. Experts since have learned that these infections are extremely common. Most catch the virus from a partner who shows no symptoms. And most of those who get it never realize it. Only an unlucky few are plagued by recurring genital sores.
The main risk is during pregnancy. Women with long-time infections pose little risk of passing it to their babies during birth. But the risk is thought to be substantial if the woman catches the disease during pregnancy. About 1 in 7,000 babies is born with herpes.
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