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MINI-MED SCHOOL, an annual event in which the public gets to "go to school" with the University of South Florida professors who teach future doctors, is now taking registrations.

This year's classes will focus on heart health and disease.

Mini-Med School meets Feb. 17, Feb. 24 and March 3. Classes are 7 to 9 p.m. at Ferguson Hall in the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Topics will include surviving stroke, women and heart disease, palpitations, angioplasty, sleep disorders and menopause.

Classes are free, but those who want to attend should register in advance. They will receive class materials in the mail. For information or to sign up, call (813) 974-3300 or visit the Mini-Med School Web site at www.hsc.usf.edu.

WOMEN who get too little or too much sleep may slightly boost their risk of a heart attack, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Only about one-third of all Americans get the recommended eight hours of sleep each night.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston investigated the link between sleep duration and incidence of heart disease among women ages 40 to 65 enrolled in the long-term Nurses' Health Study. Adjusting for other factors such as obesity, snoring and smoking, the researchers found that women who reported five or fewer hours of sleep a night had a 45 percent higher risk of heart disease compared with a 9 percent higher risk for women who slept seven hours. Women who said they slept nine or more hours a night also increased their risk, by about 38 percent.

Further studies are needed to determine whether the reasons some women get too little or too much sleep -- insomnia, illness, depression, busy lifestyles -- are what truly trigger cardiovascular risk, not simply a lack of sleep.

INTERNET FILTERS used by schools and libraries can block access to porn sites without significantly impeding access to online health information, according to a recent study.

At highly restrictive settings, almost a quarter of health sites were blocked. But when filters were set at the least restrictive level, they incorrectly blocked only 1.4 percent of health sites, reported the study, sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Most filter systems allow schools and libraries to tailor blocking. Under the federal Children's Internet Protection Act, filters are required for all Internet access in schools receiving federal funds.

Kaiser, an independent health-care charity, conducted the study with an eye toward teens, who, surveys show, are likely to turn to the Internet for health and sexuality information they are uncomfortable discussing with parents, teachers or doctors.

-- Staff writer Susan Aschoff and Times wires

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