Your Health

Good News
BONE CANDY Worried about osteoporosis, but can't stand the chalky taste of most calcium pills? Three new chewables on the market this month are designed, with the added help of a little chocolate, to taste more like Tootsie Rolls than limestone. All three products-- , Calburst and Calcium Soft Chew--contain 500 mg of calcium, or half the daily requirement for most adults.

E IS FOR EATING Consuming wheat germ, sardines, whole grains and other foods high in vitamin E may protect your heart better than taking vitamin E supplements. A study out last week found that women whose diet was naturally high in E were more resistant to the presence of dangerous oxidizing chemicals in their blood than were those who took vitamin pills. It seemed that the supplements blocked some of the benefits of vitamins found in food.

Bad News
DON'T PASS THE SALT Researchers reported last week that they may have found a gene that makes some African Americans more likely to suffer high blood pressure when they consume salt. The gene in question controls how much the blood vessels widen, which lowers blood pressure, or narrow, which raises blood pressure. As little as half a teaspoon of table salt can raise blood pressure levels five points (mm Hg) in those who have the gene.

LESS CHARITABLE A

of 11,000 physicians found that those who derive most of their income from managed care are much less likely to provide free services to poor or uninsured patients, compared with doctors whose fees aren't restricted by an insurance company's preset reimbursement schedule.

Sources--Good News: Press reports; American Heart Association meeting on cardiovascular disease. Bad News: A.H.A. meeting; Journal of the American Medical Association (3/24/99)