ionists are suggesting that eggs may not be as bad as a superficial dietary analysis might indicate. In an average individual, about 25 percent of the cholesterol in the bloodstream comes directly from dietary cholesterol. But decrease the intake, and the liver manufactures more. Increase it, and less is produced in the body. "For the majority of people, taking eggs out of the diet does nothing," says the chairman of a recent American Heart Association conference on the links between diet and cholesterol.10 It is thought that in a portion of the population, the liver does not properly regulate its cholesterol output. It seems that dietary gurus may have been applying data from this group across the board to the entire population.
A study at Columbia University on medical students consuming low-fat meals found that the addition of eggs to the diet produced three different results in the volunteers' blood cholesterol levels: they either went up, down, or stayed the same. A few years ago, one 88-year-old man who had eaten 25 eggs per day for 15 years tested out at a cholesterol level below 200.11
A few nutritionists are vocalizing the concern that older persons, who may be picky eaters anyway, are being scared away from nutritious meals because of the "cholesterol" word. However, many still maintain that eggs should be excluded from the diet. For example, the chancellor of a medical center in New Orleans recently said, "It's probably prudent not to push eggs. What is the value of eating egg yolks? I don't know of any."12
Lung Cancer and Former Smokers
A study of 685 lung cancer patients at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston13 has gathered some statistics about smoking and that disease. Patients who smoked comprised 41 percent of the group, a statistic which by itself might lead one to believe that smoking has little effect on lung cancer. However, 51 percent of the group were former smokers, leaving only eight percent who never smoked. The average former smoker had quit six years before, though about one-quarter had stopped smoking more than 20 years earlier. While nearly everyone agrees that you can help yourself avoid lung cancer by kicking the habit, this study suggests that the effects of smoking are not as quickly reversed as some might think.
Smoking in the United States has decreased from 42 percent in 1965 to 25 percent in 1993. About 25 percent of the population are now former smokers.
Different Care for Insurance Patients
A study of terminally ill patients in a hospital intensive care unit14 finds that patients without health insurance are withdrawn from life-sustaining treatment almost twice as often as privately insured patients. Researchers do not think that this means uninsured patients are getting inferior care, rather, they feel that insured patients, who incur more than twice the charges, are receiving "futile treatment."
The Price of Being First
China is the largest tobacco producing and consuming country in the world with about 30 percent of all cigarettes in the world being consumed there. In 1989, tobacco pumped about $3 billion into the Chinese economy and in that country. However, the Chinese Academy for Preventive Medicine reports that direct economic losses due to smoking were more, weighing in at $3.3 billion. Essentially, the Chinese spent more on treating tobacco related health conditions that they made in sales.
Respiratory Inflammation from the Gulf War
A small sampling of Gulf War veterans has found that about 90 percent have a chronic inflammation of the upper respiratory system leading to airway obstructions. Some of the subjects were asymptomatic, but many suffered from shortness of breath, fatigue (caused by sleep apnea) and other symptoms. The inflammation is thought to be caused by the thick smoke produced by the burning Kuwaiti oil fields.
Dental Equipment and Legionella
Researchers analyzing water gathered from drills and syringes in dental offices have found high concentrations of legionella bacteria in 40 percent of the samples.15 The bacteria, named for the respiratory disorder 