Health Report

By Janice M. Horowitz

THE GOOD NEWS

TAKING A SHOT AT CANCER A vaccine that doctors custom-make for each patient may be able to treat the deadly skin cancer melanoma. In two early studies, the inoculation generated immune cells that attacked cancerous tumors, in many cases shrinking them.

BURN IT UP! Physical activity, even just a daily walk, not only helps your heart, it may also prevent diabetes. How? Burning calories, say researchers, helps your body use insulin more efficiently.

ARTERY AID A study finds that in patients with hardening of the arteries, aspirin improves the condition of the artery lining--one reason why the old standby may help prevent stroke and heart disease.

Sources: Nature Medicine; Journal of the American Medical Association; Circulation

THE BAD NEWS

BLOCK THE BLOCKERS More problems for one of the top-selling kinds of blood-pressure drugs--calcium-channel blockers. Already slammed for their link to cancer and other ailments, the pills may also raise the risk of suicide--and, in people with diabetes, heart attack.

DON'T JUMP! The trampoline, a huge fad in kid fun, now ranks as one of the most dangerous. Fractures, dislocations and other injuries exceed 60,000 a year--up 100% over 1990.

PILL PROBLEM If you're on the blood thinner warfarin, taking 1,300 mg of acetaminophen--equivalent to four regular Tylenol--or more a day can raise the risk of hemorrhage.

Sources: New England Journal of Medicine, British Medical Journal; Pediatrics; JAMA

--By Janice M. Horowitz