Health Report

THE GOOD NEWS

-- A report by the National Research Council concludes that fluoride, now in the drinking water of 132 million Americans, poses no health risk. Reviewing studies on fluoride's health effects, the council found no link with kidney disease, cancer, or stomach or intestinal problems.

-- Forget the aphrodisiacs. A report in New Scientist magazine says two Israeli scientists, Mati Fridkin and Illan Gozes, have developed a lotion that may help men who are impotent because of physical problems -- for instance, some men suffering complications from diabetes. Called Stearyl-VIP, the lotion, which would be rubbed onto the penis, is a combination of stearic acid and vasoactive intestinal peptide, a natural agent involved in producing an erection. Israeli officials have yet to approve clinical trials on humans.

THE BAD NEWS

-- Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc) have found yet another way in which smoking is harmful: smokers have a 50% greater chance of contracting deadly myeloid leukemia, which will afict 27,000 Americans this year. Tobacco smoke was determined to cause nearly 25% of all cases.

-- Teenage girls have the nation's highest rate of infection by gonorrhea. Examining gures from 1991, the cdc found that for every 100,000 girls ages 15 to 19, there were 1,043 reported cases -- a rate of infection 22 times as high as that for women 30 and older. In second place? Teenage boys -- 882 cases per 100,000, about six times the rate among men over 30. If not detected early, gonorrhea can lead to infertility as well as heart and joint problems. It can also increase the chances of hiv infection.

Sources -- GOOD: USA Today, the Washington Post; BAD: The Washington Post.