Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

Good News on Brains

Turning conventional thinking on its head, scientists find that human brains can generate new cells. Investigators were able to demonstrate that some actively dividing cells in the brains of terminally ill cancer patients were in fact healthy neurons. The finding may lead to treatments for Alzheimer's and other brain disorders.

Bad News on Pacemakers

If you wear a pacemaker, be advised: research shows that certain kinds of antitheft systems located at store exits may interfere with your device. Though it rarely happens, electromagnetic fields from some surveillance systems may cause a pacemaker to speed up or slow down temporarily. To stay on the safe side, don't linger around exits.

Good News on Big Hearts

It's enough to give anyone palpitations. Scientists have shown that injecting alcohol into a congenitally enlarged heart and deliberately inducing a heart attack can ease the shortness of breath, chest pain and other symptoms of the genetic disorder. The alcohol--it's ethanol, equivalent to 200-proof vodka--kills overgrown heart muscle, enabling blood to flow more freely.

Bad News on Ecstasy

Don't mess with Ecstasy. Doctors report that heavy use of the recreational drug--say, 70 to 400 hits--may cause long-lasting brain damage. Ecstasy appears to attack the brain cells that produce serotonin--the master chemical of mood, appetite and memory.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Nature Medicine; PACE, FDA; Circulation; Lancet