Health & Medicine
Health Watch: Hey, Put a Lid on It
Last December, just in time for Christmas, a university audiologist ventured his opinion, quickly and widely circulated, that iPods can damage hearing because many users pump up the volume. And a few weeks later, a Louisiana man sued Apple, alleging that the company hadn't done enough to warn people about that. Last week, Apple introduced a free fix (www.apple.com/ipod/download) that lets users limit the volume on the newest iPod and the tiny Nano. Parents can lock in the setting of a child's iPod by entering a code. For several years, iPods sold in Europe have been capped at a volume of 100 decibels. Even that level is high and should be restricted to 15 minutes at a time, says the National Institutes of Health; 85 dB or more can impair hearing. An iPod or Nano, based on yet-unpublished tests by research audiologist Brian Fligor of Children's Hospital Boston, can hit 110 dB--as loud as down front at a Metallica concert. - Avery Comarow
Health Watch: How to Get Colon Cancer Sooner; No Vitamin C or E for Moms at Risk; Can a Tonsillectomy Cure ADHD?
How to Get Colon Cancer Sooner
Doctors usually decide when to start colon cancer screening based on family history. But after looking at the records of 161,172 colorectal cancer patients nationwide, researchers found that smoking and drinking also play a role in causing the cancer at a younger age. In the latest issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, scientists reported that people who smoke or drink get colon cancer about five years earlier than those who abstain. People who combine cigarettes and alcohol get the disease nearly eight years earlier. Screening for colon cancer usually begins at age 50, but if other studies find similar results, doctors might start testing smokers and drinkers at an earlier age. - Cory Hatch
No Vitamin C or E for Moms at Risk
Vitamins often recommended to ward off preeclampsia don't work, according to a new study in the British medical journal Lancet. Preeclampsia, a complication of pregnancy characterized by skyrocketing blood pressure, occurs in about 5 percent of pregnancies and can be fatal to both mother and child. The condition's causes are a mystery. Some experts think antioxidants like vitamins C and E can help. But in this study of 2,400 women at risk--including those with high blood pressure and diabetes--the vitamins did not reduce it. What's more, women who took them were more likely to have underweight babies. "We were recommending vitamin C and vitamin E to women who were at high risk of preeclampsia," says Ashley Roman, an obstetrician who specializes in high-risk pregnancies at New York University School of Medicine. "I think we're going to stop that practice right now." - Helen Fields
Can a Tonsillectomy Cure ADHD?
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who have their tonsils removed may see post-surgery benefits that extend far beyond a week of ice cream. According to a study published online this week in the journal Pediatrics, after children with ADHD had tonsillectomies, half of them no longer had the disorder when they were checked 12 months later. "ADHD is not a diagnosis you expect to just disappear a year later in a child," says Ron Chervin, director of the study and head of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of Michigan. "These improvements are remarkable," wrote the study's authors, "because hyperactivity and inattention generally are expected to be chronic features in affected school-aged children." - Anna Mulrine
This story appears in the April 10, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
advertisement
