Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

Good News for Hearts

A treatment for heart attacks developed 30 years ago and then largely abandoned may cut death rates as much as two-thirds when used in conjunction with today's clot-busting drugs and angioplasty. The findings are still preliminary, but the treatment is simple: within 24 hours of a heart attack, patients are put on an IV containing sugar, insulin and potassium.

Bad News on Working

Think your job is killing you? You may be right. A study out last week shows that men who have demanding jobs and little control over work flow have significantly higher blood-pressure readings--and increased risk of heart disease--than those without the job strain. The trouble comes home to roost too: the readings remain high out of the office, even during sleep.

Good News on Alzheimer's

An analysis of data on more than 1,200 Alzheimer's patients shows that the drug tacrine works--at least to some degree. Tacrine seems to slow the degeneration of intellectual performance, including the ability to do simple math or remember. But the drug can't necessarily restore lost abilities: that occurs--modestly--in about only 10% of patients.

Bad News on Playpens

Warning: The government has recalled nearly 10 million portable mesh playpens. Toddlers can strangle on pacifier strings or loose clothing that catches on the playpens' protruding rivets. Problem brands include Bilt-Rite, Playskool and Kolcraft.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Circulation, Psychosomatic Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Consumer Product Safety Commission