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Scientists from the NIH reported that they had found low amounts of hormones in the brains and endocrine glands of people with chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition whose symptoms are suffered by tens of thousands of Americans. Research is focusing on a search for drugs that can restore the hormone levels

Some health experts, reacting to shortages in several areas of the US of influenza vaccine due to an unexpectedly heavy demand, on Nov 29, 1991 urged federal health officials to set priorities for those who should receive the available flu shots and to take steps to prevent hoarding of vaccine

Experts attribute the shortage to an unexpectedly heavy demand for flu shots that developed after federal health officials warned in October that the predominant flu virus this year would be unusually widespread and deadly. The shortage has arisen even though the four vaccine manufacturers had anticipated that this would be a bad flu season and had made extra vaccine. But the nature of the demand for flu vaccine is as notoriously unpredictable as the behavior of the virus itself. The companies say they have sold all of this year's supply. Because the vaccine is prepared in eggs, it takes a month to produce a new batch. As a result, even if the companies resumed production, by the time the vaccine was made, distributed to doctors, injected into people and immunity was built up, it might be too late in the winter flu season for it to do much good

The nation's two largest distributors of flu vaccine say they have run out of the vaccine after the heaviest demand in many years. Although some local health officials say they still have adequate stocks of the vaccine, other officials say they are rationing their stocks, offering shots only to the elderly and people with heart and lung conditions and other chronic ailments

The nation is on the verge of running out of influenza vaccine just as the flu season is off to one of its earliest starts, distributors of the vaccine say. The shortage has arisen even though the four vaccine manufacturers had anticipated that this would be a bad flu season and had made extra vaccine. But the nature of the demand for flu vaccine is as notoriously unpredictable as the behavior of the virus itself. The companies say they have sold all of this year's supply. Because the vaccine is prepared in eggs, it takes a month to produce a new batch. As a result, even if the companies resumed production, by the time the vaccine was made, distributed to doctors, injected into people and immunity was built up, it might be too late in the winter flu season for it to do much good

The nation is on the verge of running out of influenza vaccine just as the flu season is off to one of its earliest starts, distributors of the vaccine say. The shortage has arisen even though the four vaccine manufacturers had anticipated that this would be a bad flu season and had made extra vaccine. But the nature of the demand for flu vaccine is as notoriously unpredictable as the behavior of the virus itself. 'We have no way of checking on the extent of the shortage and exactly where the shortages are,' said Dr. Walter Gunn, an influenza expert at the Centers for Disease Control. In spot checks around the country, health officials from Massachusetts, Georgia and the District of Columbia said they were fac ing shortages of vaccine. Doctors and health officials in Minnesota, Tennessee and Colorado said they still had enough on hand, but only because they had scrambled to maintain their stocks

Many doctors believed until recently that the buildup of plaque advanced inexorably to its conclusion: blocked coronary and other arteries. The deposits build up over years to narrow the arteries and promote the formation of blockages that impede and eventually stop blood flow, killing heart muscle cells and causing a heart attack. Like many of the earlier efforts, the new study relied on angiography, in which a tube is inserted in an artery in the leg and guided to the arteries that feed the heart, to detect changes. As a radio-opaque chemical is injected, X-rays are taken in rapid sequence to get an image of the coronary arteries. 'If someone has a precarious coronary plaque and they are scheduled for angioplasty or bypass surgery, they need immediate relief from that plaque,' and medical therapies usually cannot offer it, [David Blankenhorn] said. 'Medical therapy complements surgery and is not an exclusive alternative to surgery.'

A major new study of Mevacor, a cholesterol-lowering drug made by Merck & Co, has found that it can shrink the fatty deposits in coronary arteries that are linked to heart attacks

A major new study of a cholesterol-lowering drug has found that it can shrink the fatty deposits in coronary arteries that are linked to heart attacks. The findings, in a study of the drug lovastatin, hold the promise that significant progress can ultimately be made in reducing the toll from heart disease, the leading killer in the United States and most developed countries. The results of the study add to the evidence that a low-fat diet and drugs can halt and reverse the buildup of fatty deposits, or plaque, in arteries in a process known as atherosclerosis, but it is the first suggestion that a single drug could have that effect

In an interview, the head of the research team, Dr. David H. Blankenhorn of the University of Southern California, said he was withholding details for fear of jeopardizing his chances of reporting the findings in a scientific journal. He had been scheduled to make a presentation last week to the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Anaheim, Calif. But he canceled his presentation in August after learning that there were strong hints of favorable results from the study. The final recommendation to stop the study was not made until the eve of last week's meeting, leaving him too little time to prepare adequately, he said. Many doctors believed until recent years that the buildup of plaque advanced inexorably to its conclusion, blocked coronary and other arteries. The deposits build up over years to narrow the arteries and promote the formation of blockages that impede and eventually stop blood flow, killing heart muscle cells and causing a heart attack