Issue Date: December 22, 2002
Health briefs
The latest reports
Acne: Light treatment clears up nasty bacteria
Light is the latest way to treat acne; it destroys the bacteria that cause this distressing condition. According to a report presented to the American Academy of Dermatology in October, acne improves after a few light treatments. Just 15 minutes of exposure to low-level blue light twice a week for a month reduced acne symptoms by 60% for most people who participated in a recent study, and the effect lasted up to eight months. Light gets at the core of what causes acne eruptions: P. acnes, the bacteria responsible for causing acne inflammation, pumps out tiny molecules called porphyrins. When those porphyrins are exposed to certain wavelengths of light, they produce free radicals that kill the bacteria. Without P. acnes around to cause inflammation, acne clears up.
AIDS: South hit hardest
| New AIDS cases, 2000-2001 |
| South* |
+9% |
| Midwest |
+2% |
| West |
-4% |
| Northeast |
-8% |
*Ala., Ark., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ky., La., Md., Miss., N.C., Okla., S.C., Tenn., Texas, Va. and W.Va. |
In 2001, 40% of people living with AIDS in America were in the South, says a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. In fact, 18 of the 25 communities hardest hit by HIV and AIDS are in Southern states. Although the number of new AIDS cases is dropping or stabilizing elsewhere, cases in the South rose 9% from 2000 to 2001; the South had 46% of all new cases. Worst hit: African Americans, who make up half the AIDS patients in the South but only 19% of the Southern population. Those alarming statistics spurred the Kaiser Family Foundation and other HIV/AIDS awareness groups to rally in Charlotte, N.C., last month to raise awareness and urge agencies to work together to combat the problem. Visit kaisernetwork.org to learn more about the conference.
-- Peggy J. Noonan
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