Capsules

P: Two long-neglected disorders, cerebral palsy and mental retardation, will get from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness the full research treatment: more than $1,000,000 a year for the next ten years, at least, to track down cause-and-effect relationships involving such factors as heredity, oxygen shortage at birth, injury during delivery, maternal infections and use of drugs during pregnancy.

P: The fire ant (Solenopsis saevissima), recently introduced into the U.S. from South America and already a plague to farmers in ten Southern states, is fast becoming a medical problem as well, reported Tulane University doctors. The tiny creature (from 1/8 to 1/4 in. long, red with a black abdomen) has a savage sting that in mild cases causes a severe blister and swelling, sometimes accompanied by low fever and nausea; in some allergic individuals the sting, like bee venom, can cause anaphylactic shock, and there have been several deaths.

P: Most, if not all, major heart surgery can be performed more safely with the patient chilled to a temperature between 84DEG and 89DEG F., Drs. Henry Swan and S. Gilbert Blount Jr. of Denver suggested in the A.M.A. Journal. They found that hypothermia extends to eight minutes the time during which the heart can be stopped without damage to the brain. They hope to improve the method to cover heart operations that cannot yet be performed within that time limit.

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