Health Report: Sep. 19, 1994

THE GOOD NEWS

— Cystic fibrosis patients taking the drug Pulmozyme showed a reduction in lung infection and improvement in breathing, a study has found. The drug is the first new treatment for the disease in three decades.

— A researcher has determined that Lorenzo’s oil, the treatment for the nerve disease adrenoleukodystrophy that was made famous in a 1992 film, can help some patients who take it before symptoms appear.

— By stimulating the action of a brain neurotransmitter, scientists may have found a way to alleviate some of the wrenching symptoms of drug withdrawal.

THE BAD NEWS

— Many doctors who staff emergency rooms were never taught to handle conditions such as heart attacks and severe bleeding, a report says. Problems include educational lapses (fewer than 20% of medical schools require emergency-medicine courses) and moonlighting (many residents supplement their incomes with ER work but lack the necessary skills).

— A consumer group has asked the FDA to ban prescription sales of a drug for nighttime leg cramps; the group says that quinine sulfate, while effective against malaria, is dangerous when used to treat cramps. An fda ban on over- the-counter brands will take effect in February.

Sources — GOOD: New England Journal of Medicine; Kennedy Krieger Institute, Associated Press; Nature.

BAD: Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, AP; Public Citizen Health Research Group, AP.