Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

GOOD NEWS ON SMOKING

Some 20% of folks may have a genetic flaw that protects them from getting hooked on cigarettes, suggests a new report, and if they start, they smoke less. People with the defect metabolize nicotine more slowly, so it lingers in the body longer. The result: first-time smokers can barely tolerate a cigarette, and habitual smokers need less to satisfy cravings.

BAD NEWS ON COLDS

The same zinc lozenges (zinc gluconate glycine) that in adults reduce the duration and severity of a cold do nothing for kids. Youngsters don't take to zinc either: most complain about the taste; some develop diarrhea. Scientists can't explain why zinc doesn't work for kids-or why it does for adults.

GOOD NEWS ON AIDS

Researchers at the Centers For Disease Control announced last week that they have developed an experimental blood test that can distinguish between patients who have recently been infected with the AIDS virus--before the body has mounted a full antibody response--and those who have been HIV-positive for years. Why should anyone care? When you got infected can influence the kind of treatment you receive.

BAD NEWS ON A PAIN PILL

For the second time in as many weeks, the FDA is recalling a drug. This time it's the painkiller Duract, pulled from pharmacy shelves for causing serious liver damage and even death. Don't despair. Doctors can still prescribe nearly 20 similar- and safer-alternatives.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Nature; Journal of the American Medical Assoc. (2 & 3); FDA