Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

GOOD NEWS

FIBER FILL Who says loading up on fiber is a waste? Just weeks after reports that fiber-rich foods probably don't protect against colon cancer, a study shows that they may benefit folks with a different disease. Diabetics who eat 50g of fiber a day--equivalent to seven or eight portions of fruits and veggies--had lower and more stable glucose levels than those who barely touched the stuff. (There was another advantage: cholesterol dropped an average of 7%.) Best foods are those high in soluble fiber, such as papaya, oranges, zucchini and whole grains like oatmeal. Insulin and some pills have a more powerful effect on glucose levels than a change in eating habits, but a fiber-filled diet may allow patients to reduce their drug intake--or stay off medication entirely.

Source: New England Journal of Medicine (5/10/00)

BAD NEWS

MIGHTY MITES Ever wonder who's really in bed with you? Government researchers did. After collecting dust samples from beds in 800 homes, they declared U.S. bedding to be rife with dust mites--and their excrement. Droppings are estimated to exceed 2 mg per gram of dust, a level known to trigger allergies, in 44 million homes. In half of these, they're fivefold higher, a significant danger for asthma sufferers. What to do? Keep room humidity low (mites love moisture), wash linens in hot water and zip up duvets and pillows in impermeable, allergen-proof covers. Alas, these measures won't safeguard you against yet another intruder: cockroach droppings are present in the beds of 6 million homes. Any sure solution? Extermination.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Source: American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society meeting