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Healthline

By Wire services
Published August 23, 2005

IT IS ESTIMATED that nearly 180-million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and the number is expected to rise to 366-million people by 2030. More than half of people with diabetes are at risk for complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, nerve damage and blindness. Exubera, a dry powder form of insulin that is inhaled into the lungs prior to eating with a specially designed inhalation device, has been studied in more than 3,500 patients. Exubera is being developed for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes through a collaboration between Pfizer and Sanofi-aventis.

ALCOHOL HAS BEEN called the nutritional "Jekyll and Hyde." Moderate intake may have some beneficial effects, including a lower risk for heart disease. In excess, it is toxic to the liver and interferes with the body's absorption of nutrients. Ethanol, the alcohol in beer, wine and other spirits, yields 7 calories per gram, more than carbohydrates and protein, less than fat. And those calories are absorbed into your bloodstream quicker than you can say, "Who's the designated driver?" Even moderate amounts of alcohol (one to two drinks a day) can change the shape of your body and your health, however. Extra calories from alcohol are easily converted to fat that tends to reside around your middle - the place that increases your risk for heart disease and diabetes.

WHY DO MEN HAVE NIPPLES?: Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini, by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg (Three Rivers Press, $12.95) This book launches from the premise that patients don't ask their doctors some of the questions that really arouse their curiosity. The writers manage to be funny and informative, addressing a panoply of questions such as "Can you really explode from eating too much?" (Not really, but you can rupture your stomach) and "Is it dangerous to pop zits?" (Potentially fatal, in rare cases.) As to the question posed in the title, they play it straight. (It's because as embryos, we all start out as female.) There is enthusiastic discussion of bodily functions that gives the book a sort of locker-room vibe. If you fall into the right demographic, you'll find yourself laughing out loud at the answers to questions like "Is it true that you can break your penis?" (Yes, sort of.)

FOR GENERATIONS, learning the gender of a newborn has been considered one of life's ultimate surprises. Then along came tests, such as ultrasound and amniocentesis, that let couples find out the gender of their newest family member by the 16th to 20th week of pregnancy. Now, a new test from a company called Acu-Gen Biolab has cut that time to five weeks. Ultrasounds can be done as early as 12 weeks, but aren't reliable until about 16 weeks. And amniocentesis, which is an invasive procedure, is not recommended for all women because there is a small chance of miscarriage from the procedure. Some doctors express concerns that the new test could be used to gender shop, leading to the abortion of a fetus not of the desired sex. The Baby Gender Mentor Home DNA Gender Testing Kit ($25 for kit and $250 lab fee) is available at PregnancyStore.com or by calling toll-free 1-877-816-5055.

[Last modified August 22, 2005, 17:22:36]