April 6, 1999

Here are descriptions of the radio stories available on the Ohio State University Info Line, April 9 through April 16, 1999. Stories are changed at noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All feeds include one wraparound report of approximately 1:00 and at least one other actuality plus background material. If you have questions, want additional information, or need a re-feed of a missed story, call Amy Murray at 614-292-8385.

Friday 4/9-Monday 4/12 - Doctors may sometimes be reluctant to adequately treat the pain of seriously ill patients because they fear legal problems for prescribing powerful narcotics. Timothy Jost, a professor of law and health services management at Ohio State, studied public financing of pain management and concludes that fear of legal problems is just one of the barriers to adequate pain treatment. Others include gaps in insurance coverage for medications.

Monday 4/12-Wednesday 4/14 - Autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are a mystery to physicians. Nearly 79 percent of the 8.5 million autoimmune disease patients in the country are women, but no one knows why women get them more often and in a different form than men. A national task force of researchers is proposing an aggressive research plan for understanding autoimmune diseases. Caroline Whitacre, professor of medical microbiology and immunology at Ohio State and chair of the task force, says the plan calls on researchers to study five questions about the diseases, especially looking at gender differences.

Wednesday 4/14-Friday 4/16 - While participating in school sports may increase self esteem, an Ohio State researcher says it may also prompt athletes to practice risky behaviors regarding weight control and athletic performance. Nancy Ann Rudd, an associate professor of consumer and textile sciences, says certain sports--especially those which emphasize leanness--trigger some students to fast, restrict liquids and engage in other dangerous behaviors. Rudd also found that female athletes were more at risk for eating disorders no matter what sport they participated in.

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