I HEALTH
Art By Scott Mattern
Baker's Dozen: Health Facts
BARBARA PASH
most dangerous, 3 a.m. on
Sunday morning
1. A Winning Smile
Braces may be associated
with adolescence but an in-
creasing number of adults are
choosing to undergo this or-
thodontic treatment for poor-
ly aligned teeth. In the past
10 years, the number of peo-
ple over age 21 who wear
braces has doubled. Of the
four million Americans who
currently wear braces, one in
five is an adult.
2. Sunday Drive
Sunday is both the least
and the most dangerous day
of the week to drive, depend-
ing on the time. According to
the General Motors Research
Laboratories, the least dan-
gerous time to be on the road
is at noon on Sunday; the
3. Smoke-Free Society
Smoking is definitely on
the decline. The 1989 Surgeon
General's report cited the
following statistics: In 1965,
about 40 percent of American
adults smoked; in 1987, about
29 percent; by the year 2000,
it is estimated 22 percent will
smoke. All told, nearly half of
all Americans who ever
smoked have quit.
4. Winter-Wise
You don't have to stop out-
door exercise like running,
cycling, walking and, of
course, skiing, just because
it's winter. Healthy people
who breathe cold air will not
"freeze their lungs." But peo-
ple who suffer from angina,
asthma or high blood pres-
sure may want to loosely pull
a ski mask or scarf in front of
Special to The Jewish News
6-F
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1989
their faces to warm up the in-
haled air.
5. One In Three
The National Institutes of
Health reports that about
one in three Americans suf-
fers from a mental, emotional
or substance abuse problem
in their lives. Mental health
costs, which encompass psy-
chiatric, alcohol and drug
abuse treatment, are esti-
mated at $75 billion per year.
6. Allergy Myth
University of California-
Davis allergy specialist Prof.
Eric Gershwin says that the
belief children outgrow their
allergies is a myth. Symp-
toms may moderate over time
but the potential for an
allergic reaction is always
present, he claims, adding
that allergic youngsters are
more vulnerable to a host of
problems, from recurrent
colds and sore throats to
short attention spans and
poor academic performances.
One in every six children suf-
fers from allergies.
7. Office Complaint
The most frequent com-
plaint among office workers is
eyestrain, the result of poor-
ly designed workspaces and
poor lighting, reports the
American Optometric Asso-
ciation. If much of your work-
ing hours are spent at a video
display terminal, AOA ad-
vises taking a 10-minute
break every hour and relaxing
your eyes by looking at a
point in the distance. Room
lighting should be soft, with
lamps to provide extra light
for paperwork. Driving a car
also strains the eyes; on long
trips, drivers should take a
break and rest their eyes after
the first 200 miles and every
100 miles thereafter.
8. Snow Alert
The major risk in shoveling
snow is lifting, the major risk
in using a snowthrower is ap-
plying too much force to
move the machine through
the snow. Both can cause
heart and back strain if peo-
ple overexert themselves. The
energy required for snow
shoveling is comparable to
playing a game of singles ten-
nis or running at a speed of
nine miles per hour.
9. Longer Life
At a federal conference on
women's health, experts
recommended two key steps
to fewer wrinkles, greater
vitality and longer life. First,
stop smoking. Second, walk
briskly for 20 minutes a day.
Smoking was linked not only
to facial wrinkles but to the
upsurge in lung cancer among
women, eclipsing even breast
cancer. A brisk daily walk