Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

GOOD NEWS

FANTASTIC VOYAGE Looking inside the intestine to diagnose, say, colon cancer isn't easy. But now, as if in a sci-fi flick, doctors have developed a tiny camera in a capsule that patients swallow and send on a painless info-gathering voyage through the gut. As contractions move it along, the mini-endoscope transmits detailed color images to a belt worn by the patient; then they're downloaded to a computer. Downside? Doctors can't maneuver the capsule to get a closer look. And FDA approval isn't expected for years.

COFFEE SHAKE-UP Hard to believe, but that black sludge you drink each morning may be linked to a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. A study of 8,000 Japanese-American men shows that those who down four to five cups daily are five times less likely to develop Parkinson's than those who never drink the brew. Turns out, though, it may not be the coffee that's helping. Researchers speculate that people who need a rush of caffeine may have a type of brain chemistry that's simply less prone to Parkinson's.

BEAT YOUR CHEST Administering CPR isn't easy. Even former ER doc George Clooney probably couldn't do it. But as long as help is on the way, just pumping the chest may save as many lives as performing both the chest compressions and mouth to mouth. Reason: valuable time is lost while a dispatcher explains the complexities of mouth-to-mouth breathing. And when chest compressions are done by an inexperienced bystander, they're usually done right.

BAD NEWS

LIBIDO LETDOWN So much for equality. The first major clinical trial of Viagra in women shows that the popular male potency pill is--sorry, folks--no better than a placebo in improving female sexual response. While the pill seems to have some effect in women--as in men, it increases blood flow to the genitals--it's not enough to overcome low sexual desire, pain during intercourse or difficulty reaching orgasm. Now that's enough to give anyone a headache.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Good News--Nature (5/24/00), JAMA (5/23/00), New England Journal of Medicine (5/24/00). Bad News--American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists meeting