An effective way to prevent coronary heart disease in later life is to concentrate on preventive measures in the early years before coronary heart disease becomes established. Project SuperHeart, a heart disease intervention program for young children, includes physical fitness and classroom activities emphasizing basic nutritional habits. (JN)

Government regulation of recombinant DNA research is addressed. Issues discussed include the potential of such research; National Institutes of Health guidelines; federal, state, and local regulation; the controversy over self-regulation; first amendment protection for scientific research; and problems in drafting legislation. (JMD)

Reviews evidence from research, attempting to reconcile the reports into a unified recommendation for the type and amount of physical activity necessary for health and function. The paper focuses on moderate intensity and moderate amounts of physical activity, accumulation of physical activity, and exercise training intensity. (SM)

Discussion of evidence-based medicine (EBM) focuses on information tools to facilitate the practice of EBM that were developed, evaluated, and made more accessible by the McMaster University (Canada) Faculty of Health Sciences. Highlights include users' guides to medical literature, strategies for improving MEDLINE searches, new journals, and…

Reporting verbs used in reporting statements, or citation, in medical journal articles are described, and their role in the discourse is examined. Choice among Discourse Verbs, Real-Word Verbs, and Cognition Verbs correlates with the rhetorical function of the report; e.g, Cognition Verbs correlate with reports of consensus views of the scientific…

Responding to a report on the Clinical Research Training Program of the National Institutes of Health, the author finds that the low applicant rate among dental students is due less to lack of interest in the program or its emphasis on research but more to a program structure modeled on a medical school rather than a dental school curriculum. (MSE)

This paper on the behavioral manifestations of child sexual abuse first reviews previous research concerning child variables, parent/family variables, sexual abuse in combination with other maltreatment, and physiological outcomes. Criteria for future research are offered and specific research needs in the areas of developmental progression,…

Reviews the research on medical sequelae of child sexual abuse; identifies unanswered questions; and suggests areas of research, including prospective studies of child sexual abuse, follow-up of victims, studies of nonclinic populations, studies of male victims, examination of additional variables (such as regional variation and age), diseases…

This commentary on a previous article (EC 619 261) about medical consequences of child sexual abuse urges prospective studies using large populations to evaluate many variables, as well as selection of projects which are most likely to influence practice or policy and thus affect significant numbers of persons. (DB)

This commentary on an article (EC 619 279) about research issues at the interface of medicine and law concerning medical evaluation for child sexual abuse focuses on empirically testable questions: (1) the medical history--its accuracy, interviewing issues, and elicitation and preservation of verbal evidence of abuse; and, (2) expert testimony.…

A four-year study focusing on American Indian infants and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome found education to be the key to reducing the higher-than-average death rate among Indian infants. Casual factors included overbundling of babies, lack of prenatal and well-child care, poverty, lack of transportation to hospitals, and prenatal smoking and…

On a tour of Cuba, Native scholars from North and South America reconnected with the "extinct" Taino people and shared their knowledge of traditional healing herbs. Western science is just beginning to validate the tremendous knowledge base that indigenous healers have developed--most indigenous medicinal knowledge is useful for finding…

In health research, we depend heavily on the goodwill of study participants. However, the whole social contract of health research is based on the premise that everyone comes to the research table with honorable intentions. What course should we take if we doubt the authenticity of our participants' accounts? Through the use of an illustrative…

Many undergraduate medical curricula have been criticized for not adequately preparing graduates to be independent problem-solvers able to analyze clinical and published evidence. A program in the critical appraisal of medical literature at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine is described. (MLW)

This study investigated the effects of teacher feedback on changes in the spoken language performance of a group of advanced learners of English in the Netherlands. Participants were medical researchers attending a course entitled English for Medical Congresses. The course included a sequence of speaking tasks and culminated in a conference. Tasks…