Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

GOOD NEWS

GET HIP O.K., it's not a fashion statement. But Finnish researchers have found that little oval-shaped plastic bumpers that fit into undergarments can protect fragile hipbones. In a study of seniors, nearly all the oldsters who wore the protectors over their hips survived a fall with joints intact. (Good thing, because up to 30% of the elderly who break a hip can be expected to die within a year.) The crash helmets for hips are recommended for people with osteoporosis, especially those who suffer dizzy spells or are otherwise tumble prone. Whether old folks can be persuaded to wear them, though, is anyone's guess.

SHINGLED OUT For most people, the particularly painful form of herpes known as shingles clears up in a matter of weeks. But for 10% of sufferers, the burning, stabbing pain persists, sometimes for decades. Now there's new hope. Doctors find that a series of spinal injections of lidocaine combined with a type of steroid called methylprednisolone relieved pain in 90% of patients studied.

BAD NEWS

METAL MISCHIEF As if pregnant women don't have enough to worry about. Moms-to-be with low levels of calcium in their blood usually draw on reserves stored in bone. The problem? That's exactly where the body's excess lead is also locked away. Consequently, the heavy metal is also released into the bloodstream, where it can travel to the fetus and impair mental development. Older expectant moms face the biggest risk because they have that many more years of accumulated lead in their bones. What to do? Keep calcium levels high during pregnancy with dairy foods, leafy vegetables or supplements.

TALL ORDER Outgrown clothes may not be the only problem faced by tall kids. A study of 1,000 children ages 3 to 14 shows that height is linked with Type 1 diabetes. The tallest 15% of kids were 40% more likely to develop diabetes. The heaviest children were also at risk. Parents can't stop their children from growing, but they can make sure the kids eat right and get plenty of exercise, which may help ward off the disease.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Good News--1 & 2 New England Journal of Medicine (11/24/00); Bad News--American Journal of Epidemiology (11/00); Diabetes Care (12/00)