Capsules

-- Concerned about the growing misuse of amphetamines, the U.S. Government last year restricted the production of the powerful addictive stimulants, and has proposed still sharper cuts for 1973. Last week the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and the Food and Drug Administration went even further by recalling most diet drugs containing amphetamines. The bureau made it illegal for manufacturers to ship either combination diet pills or injectable amphetamines in interstate commerce. It also requested manufacturers to destroy their stocks of amphetamine-bearing drugs and to recall and destroy those on the market. The action should remove most amphetamines from the market by June 30.

-- Hyperhydrosis--excessive sweat-iness--of the palms may not seem like a major medical problem, but those who suffer from a clammy grip can find the condition both annoying and embarrassing. Antiperspirants provide only temporary relief; radiation, which some physicians use to destroy sweat glands, may cause dangerous skin conditions. Now Dr. Donald Dohn of the Cleveland Clinic reports that a safe and effective remedy has been developed; patients with serious cases of hyperhydro-sis have been cured by surgery. The operation, called an upper thoracic sympathectomy, is performed by making an incision in the side of the neck and removing those thoracic ganglia (nerve connections) that relay impulses from the brain to the sympathetic (nonvoluntary) nerves that influence sweat glands in the hands. So far, all 25 patients who have had the operation have retained warm, dry hands.

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