Health Report

THE GOOD NEWS

-- Scientists have identified the active ingredients in the kudzu vine's roots, which have been used by the Chinese for 1,300 years to treat alcohol abuse. The extract cut in half alcohol consumption in certain hamsters that prefer booze to water.

-- A fast, simple test has been developed to screen men for chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted disease.

-- Researchers have arrested the most severe form of diabetes in mice, giving rise to hope that juvenile diabetes in humans may someday be prevented.

-- By genetically altering salmonella (the bacteria that cause food poisoning), scientists have rendered female mice allergic to sperm. The technique could lead to a birth-control "vaccine" for humans.

THE BAD NEWS

-- Forty million American adults often find themselves in a bad mood -- bored, restless, lonely, upset or depressed -- according to a government survey. Smokers are particularly susceptible to foul humor, as are men who drink heavily.

-- The U.S. spends $7 billion a year on dialysis treatments, yet kidney- failure patients frequently either die before they stabilize or live in misery, a new report concludes. Patients do better when they are diagnosed early and have longer dialysis sessions.

-- Genetic screening has already cost some American workers their jobs and health insurance, says a panel of experts. Unless laws are passed to protect the confidentiality of DNA-test results, the problem will only get worse as scientists discover genetic links to more and more diseases.

Sources -- GOOD: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; Journal of the American Medical Association; Nature; Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

BAD: National Center for Health Statistics; National Institutes of Health; National Academy of Sciences.