Your Health

By David Bjerklie

GOOD NEWS

AIDS EQUATION While pressure mounts to reduce the sky-high cost of HIV drugs in developing countries, a report reminds Americans that treatment in the U.S. is still cost effective. "The price of three-drug combination therapy," says Dr. Kenneth Freedberg, "is an extremely good value compared with other ways we spend money in all areas of medicine." Even at $15,000 a year, the cost of treatment is more than balanced by the dramatic benefits for those living with HIV.

HOLD THE PILLS! Up to 75% of antibiotics prescribed each year are for upper-respiratory infections. Yet most of these are unnecessary. New guidelines should make it easier for doctors to just say no. (The advice doesn't apply to individuals over 65 or those with diabetes or chronic heart and lung disease.) Patients shouldn't think they're getting poor treatment if their doctors don't prescribe antibiotics. Stick to over-the-counter products to ease symptoms. And be patient, patient! The bug will eventually go away.

BAD NEWS

CARDIAC BLUES Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but depression seems to make it weaker. A four-year study of nearly 3,000 Dutch men and women concludes that cardiac deaths are three to four times as high for those who suffer from major depression. The cause is probably a combination of the physiological consequences of depression and an unhealthy lifestyle--more common among the depressed. Treating the blues may be a great way to prevent ailing hearts.

BUZZ BOMB A common species of mosquito found throughout much of North America carries a stealth form of encephalitis called La Crosse virus. Though the virus has been reported in 28 states since the 1960s and can cause serious cognitive impairment, a report finds that it's often overlooked or misdiagnosed. Reasons: look-alike symptoms and no simple lab test.

--By David Bjerklie

Sources: Good News--New England Journal of Medicine (3/15/01), The American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine; Bad News--Archives of General Psychiatry (3/01), NEJM (3/15/01)