Health Report

THE GOOD NEWS

-- Doctors have a new clue to understanding crib death, the syndrome that causes 5,000 babies a year to suffocate for no apparent reason while sleeping. A study reveals increased numbers of immune cells in the lung tissues of victims. This may be a sign that their immune systems are overresponding to an as-yet-unknown stimulus, generating symptoms analogous to a severe allergic reaction.

-- Patients with sickle-cell anemia are living longer because of more aggressive treatment. Their life expectancy has risen from a median age of 14 in 1973 to 42 for men and 48 for women. Scientists have identified several risk factors, which may lead to new and better treatments.

THE BAD NEWS

-- The dangers of secondhand smoke have been hard to pin down. Now a report says women who live with smokers have a 30% higher risk of lung cancer than those who live in smoke-free homes -- a risk that is still nowhere near that of smokers.

-- Some 35% of college women say they sometimes drink alcohol expressly to get drunk. That's more than triple the 1977 percentage, which means that women have nearly matched their male classmates.

-- Because of the growing popularity of in-line skating, experts predict that it will cause twice as many accidents this year as in 1993, when 37,000 luckless skaters wound up in emergency rooms.

Sources -- GOOD: Lancet; Reuters; New England Journal of Medicine; A.P. BAD: Journal of the American Medical Association; Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University; Consumer Product Safety Commission.