News in brief - April 7, 2003

AMA's child auto safety brochure starts third print run - HRT has no beneficial effect on general health, study finds - Race and pain

AMA's child auto safety brochure starts third print run

"Protecting Children in Motor Vehicles," a pamphlet published by the American Medical Association and funded by General Motors, started its third print run of more than 4 million copies last month.

The brochure, published in English and Spanish, can be distributed by physicians to parents and grandparents to educate them about appropriate automobile safety restraints for children.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than a quarter of children younger than 4 traveled in cars without a safety seat. More than a third of those 5 to 9 years old were also unrestrained. The lack of restraint is a factor in nearly half of all child fatalities due to vehicle crashes.

"We hope with the proper information, more Americans will be aware of the dangers of children riding unrestrained and the measures they can take to increase their safety," wrote AMA President Yank D. Coble Jr., MD, in a letter to physicians.

Doctors can request copies in multiples of 100 via fax to (312) 464-2450.

HRT has no beneficial effect on general health, study finds

Based on a new analysis regarding hormone replacement therapy, researchers with the Women's Health Initiative found that the quality of life of postmenopausal women who had no vasomotor symptoms was not improved by taking estrogen plus progestin.

They found that HRT had no beneficial effect on women's general health, vitality, mental health or sexual satisfaction.

However, they did find that women plagued by moderate to severe hot flashes had fewer sleep disturbances.

The study was released before its scheduled publication date in the May 8 New England Journal of Medicine and is available on the journal's Web site (www.nejm.org/earlyrelease/early.asp#3-17).

Race and pain

New research on pain differences between blacks and whites shows that blacks may be missing out on effective treatment for chronic pain and, as a result, experiencing outsize effects on their ability to work, play and enjoy life.

"Overall, African-Americans with chronic pain have significantly more symptoms than whites when they first seek pain treatment, as well as more pain, depression and impairment in their physical, emotional and social health," said lead researcher Carmen Green, MD, an anesthesiologist and pain specialist at the University of Michigan's Multidisciplinary Pain Center.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Pain Society in Chicago.

Economic factors seem to play a strong part in producing disparities, said Dr. Green. Although the vast majority of the patients surveyed had health insurance and prescription drug coverage, black patients were more likely to be covered by Medicaid, and reported more difficulties in affording or paying for their health care in the past year, she said.

Pain treatment for both acute and chronic pain has improved tremendously in recent years, said Dr. Green. "No patient should have to suffer without treatment for pain that interferes with their ability to work, play, exercise or care for themselves or others."