Your Health

By DANIEL S. LEVY

Good News on Exercise

Here's fresh hope for those New Year's resolutions. A study out last week shows that patients who drastically reduced fat in their diets, increased their exercise and learned to handle stress showed a marked reversal of coronary heart disease even after years of self-neglect. The five-year study found participants had, among other things, a more than 50% decrease in heart attacks and other cardiac events.

Bad News on Illiteracy

Not reading well, it turns out, can be hazardous to your health. A new study shows that people who have difficulty reading or understanding health-related materials are more than twice as likely to end up in a hospital as those who don't. This has especially dire implications for many Americans over age 65, nearly half of whom are classified as functionally illiterate.

Good News on Allergies

Medical researchers have debated for years whether allergy shots are effective over the long term. A newly reported 10-year study says the answer is yes. Researchers in Japan monitored a group of children who received injections. More than half overcame their allergies to dust mites.

Bad News on Sunscreen

Parents who slather sun creams on their children often overestimate how much the lotions will protect against harmful rays. As a result, the kids stay outdoors longer, leading to an increase in moles. These growths are the main predictor of skin cancers like melanoma, which accounted for 41,600 new cases this year and 80% of all skin-cancer deaths.

--By Daniel S. Levy

Sources: J.A.M.A., Journal of General Internal Medicine, Archives of Otolaryngology--Head & Neck Surgery, Journal of the National Cancer Institute