Faculty Bibliography

To emphasize the differences in the health of the sexes, Dr. Eugenia Eng tells students at the University of North Carolina, 'Women are sicker; men die quicker.' That women in the United States live about seven years longer than men is hardly disputed, though the reason for the gap is a mystery. The perception that women are sicker, not only in their extra years but throughout life, is also widely shared and used to counteract the notion that women are healthier because they live longer. It is also used to justify the need for more health care for women and the way in which research money is allocated. Yet there are little solid data to indicate that women are sicker, and even less about the quality of their health in those extra years. A better understanding could help identify the factors underlying longevity, such as social networks, so that they could be used to improve public health

Dr. David Ho, a leading AIDS scientist, said here today that he had pushed back by up to a year his plans to do crucial tests to determine whether infection with the AIDS virus can be cured in some people. Then Dr. Ho's team at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in Manhattan would test the individual repeatedly to determine if H.I.V. could be detected again. Today, Dr. Ho said that ''we have never popped the question with our patients'' to stop therapy to test the theory that AIDS might be curable. He spoke at a news conference before opening an AIDS meeting here tonight with a talk entitled: ''Can H.I.V. Be Eradicated From an Infected Person?''

Adverse reactions to drugs and mistakes in prescribing them commonly cause illness and sometimes death among hospital patients in this country, three new studies have shown. One problem is an allergic reaction that cannot be predicted or prevented -- which can occur the first time an individual takes a drug. Another reaction can occur if a patient has a known drug allergy that doctors, nurses and pharmacists fail to note before the medication is administered. A reaction can also occur when a patient is given a combination of drugs, even when each drug presents no problems individually. The rates of adverse drug events varied widely in earlier studies, in part because of the way hospitals and those doing studies identify the rates. One study found that about 30 percent of hospital patients had adverse drug events and that 3 percent to 28 percent of hospital admissions were related to such events

The death of former Sen Paul E. Tsongas of Massachusetts on Jan 18, 1997 from complications of treatment for cancer recalls how important it is for candidates for elected office to make full disclosure of their medical information

Since 1996, the widespread use of combinations of new and older drugs has changed the face of AIDS, promising to transform a fatal infection to a manageable chronic disease. But for an unknown number of AIDS victims, the drugs are failing