Your Health

By Amanda Bower

GOOD NEWS

START SLOW Warming up before exercise not only averts muscle injury but may also help prevent migraines. After 30 sec. of sudden, intense exercise, nitric oxide production--at high levels believed to trigger the crushing headaches--increased significantly in women prone to migraines, and more than half of them went on to develop one. Experts say warm-ups could help sufferers get back to the gym.

SAFER SEX Do condoms protect against genital herpes? Yes, better than doctors once thought. A new study shows that condoms reduce the risk of transmission 90% in women whose partner is infected but has no symptoms. Almost a quarter of Americans over the age of 12 have the virus, but 9 out of 10 don't know it.

BAD NEWS

AUTISM ALERT Developmental disorders among preschoolers are confirmed to be as much as three times as common as once thought. Thanks largely to better screening, nearly 17 in every 10,000 children are found to be autistic. Early intervention is advised.

BEDTIME STORY A good night's sleep can affect more than your beauty. New research finds that adults who sleep an average of five hours a night have a 40% lower insulin sensitivity than those tucked up for eight. The risk? When insulin can't do its job properly, the body is more likely to develop diabetes and even to gain weight faster.

--By Amanda Bower

Sources--Good News: Int. Headache Congress (6/30/01), Journal of the AMA (6/27/01). Bad News: JAMA (6/27/01), American Diabetes Assn. Scientific Sessions (6/25/01)