Your Health

By Harriet Barovick

GOOD NEWS ON SIDS

Babies at risk for sudden-infant-death syndrome may be reliably identified by a signal on an EKG. Newborns with the heart abnormality, called a prolonged QT Interval, were 41 times as likely to be at risk for sids as those without it. If detected, the problem can be treated with an 80% to 90% success rate.

BAD NEWS FOR ATHLETES

Parents of high school linebackers can add another worry to the list. Medical questionnaires used by many schools to detect an athlete at risk for heart trouble are inadequate. In 24 states, medical tests of athletes are not even required to be administered by doctors. A new study published last week calls for national standards.

GOOD NEWS: HYPERTENSION

Even if your blood pressure is only bordering on the high side, you should work to lower it. A study released last week suggests that the risk of heart attack and stroke is substantially reduced when you lower your diastolic pressure (the lower number) to 83, from the currently recommended level of 90.

BAD NEWS ON GARLIC

Garlic has been worshipped as a medicinal miracle for centuries, but researchers last week showed that contrary to findings from other studies, garlic-powder supplements do nothing to control cholesterol levels. No significant effect on blood pressure was found either.

--Harriet Barovick

Sources: New England Journal of Medicine; Journal of the American Medical Association; University of Michigan Medical Center; Archives of Internal Medicine