Pit bulls are more likely to attack children without any provocation than any other type of dog, according to a study of 168 children who were bitten by dogs in 1989 and treated at the Children`s Hospital of Philadelphia. The bitingest dogs were German shepherds with 35 bites, followed by pit bulls with 33 bites, rottweilers 9, Dobermans 7, terriers 6 and huskies 5. But 94 percent of the pit bull attacks were unprovoked compared with 43 percent unprovoked attacks by German shepherds. Furthermore, 67 percent of the pit bulls were freely roaming at the time of the attack, reported Dr. Jeffrey R. Avner and Dr. M. Douglas Baker in Pediatrics, a journal published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Most of the attacks occurred around the children`s homes, and in more than three-fourths of the cases the dogs were known to the children, whose average age was 8. ”We recommend that measures should be sought which would lead to early identification of a potentially dangerous dog and restrict ownership,” the physicians said.
SINEMET RELIEVES RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME Restless leg syndrome, which is marked by annoying rhythmic leg jerks every half-minute or so during sleep, can be dramatically relieved with a drug used to treat Parkinson`s disease. The syndrome affects between 1 and 5 percent of the population, and is most prevalent among the elderly. Most victims have difficulty falling asleep because of tension and restlessness in the legs while lying in bed and are often tired the next day. In a study of 12 patients, the Parkinson`s drug Sinemet was significantly more effective in relieving leg muscle jerks than Darvocet, which is often prescribed for this syndrome, or a placebo, said Dr. David W. Buchholz of Johns Hopkins University Sleep Disorders Center. Patients taking Sinemet had less restlessness trying to fall asleep and much less leg movement during the night, Buchholz reported at a recent meeting of the Association of Professional Sleep Societies.
INTERFERON HALTS LIVER DAMAGE The liver damage that normally accompanies chronic hepatitis B infections can be halted with interferon and other forms of anti-viral therapy, a Washington University School of Medicine study has found. Liver biopsies of seven patients who had been treated two to seven years earlier showed that the disease had not progressed, and that liver function improved by up to 83 percent, Dr. Robert P. Perrillo reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
”This is the first liver tissue demonstration that patients who receive interferon for chronic hepatitis B achieve lasting benefit from therapy,” he said.
DRUG MAY HALT HAIR LOSS DURING CHEMOTHERAPY Hair loss that commonly occurs during chemotherapy for cancer may be prevented with a new genetically engineered drug. The drug, interleukin 1, has shown promising preliminary results in animal experiments, reported Dr. Adel Yunis and Dr. Joaquin Jimenez of the University of Miami School of Medicine.
”This brings us a step closer to beginning clinical trials for preventing baldness in humans undergoing chemotherapy,” they reported in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. If successful, the drug could join the other medications now given to reduce or prevent chemotherapy side effects.
DRUG FOUND TO EASE SERIOUS VIRUS INFECTION Children hospitalized with a respiratory syncytial virus infection recover more quickly when treated with an aerosolized anti-viral drug called ribavirin, according to Stanford University researchers. Between 80,000 and 100,000 children are infected with the virus each year and about 5 percent have to be treated in hospitals. Ribavirin is routinely given to children with milder cases of this infection, but it was not known if it helped those who were so seriously ill that they needed to be hospitalized. A study of 28 seriously ill patients showed that ribavirin reduced the time children had to be on ventilators and cut their hospital stay by an average of seven days, Dr. David Smith reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
GERM MAY CAUSE ADULT-ONSET ASTHMA A newly identified germ, chlamydial pneumoniae, may cause adult-onset asthma, a University of Wisconsin study has found. Of 19 patients diagnosed with this germ, 47 percent suffered from severe wheezing that is typical of asthmatics, reported Dr. David Hahn in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Four of the patients had newly diagnosed asthma after their respiratory infection, he said. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Roger Bone of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke`s Medical Center said the discovery may help explain the mystery of the increased death rate among asthmatics and may provide a new way to prevent some forms of adult asthma.
BELCHING COWS NOT ALL THAT BAD Cows may have been given a bad rap as major producers of greenhouse gases, according to a Cornell University researcher. Some scientists calculated that methane gas belched from cows may contribute 15 percent of the methane in the atmosphere. But because cows remove a significant amount of carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas, their contribution of these gases may be only 5 percent, said Duane Chapman. ”In our view, cows and agriculture are not the hazard to the atmosphere that some scientists have made them out to be,” he said. ”We`ve got to face the fact that fossil-fuel consumption by industrialized nations is the culprit and must be the focus of any
international agreements slated to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.”
