Personal Health: News and Notes

A new study of genital herpes sufferers finds that while antiviral therapy reduces outbreaks of sores, it does not stop the virus from multiplying.

That means the illness can still be passed on to a partner during sex.

University of Washington researchers analyzed three previous studies involving 113 patients who took placebo pills or varying doses of antiviral drugs such as acyclovir. Even patients taking the highest doses had short periods when the herpes simplex-2 virus was multiplying, or "shedding," at rates too low to cause symptoms, but high enough to be transmitted.

Once someone is infected, the virus hides in nerve cells. It periodically becomes active, moving to the skin, where shedding occurs.

Efforts by GlaxoSmithKline and others to develop a herpes vaccine have so far failed. Still, the authors of the study, published in last week's Lancet, conclude that vaccines and more potent antiviral drugs "are needed to provide substantial public health benefits." - Marie McCullough

Drugs may not be the best way to treat pain in the neck. New research finds that patients got better results with spinal manipulation and home exercises than with pain medicines and muscle relaxants.

The study, published last week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, followed 272 patients for a year who were split into three treatment groups. It was funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by researchers at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Minnesota, which trains chiropractors, acupuncturists, and massage therapists, and the Berman Center for Outcomes and Clinical Research in Minneapolis.

Over the course of the year, average pain scores on a scale of 0 to 10 dropped by 3.57 points for patients receiving manipulation, an approach used by chiropractors, physical therapists, and osteopaths. Scores improved by 3.07 points for people receiving education and home exercises and 2.7 points for people who took medicines.

An editorial in the journal called the study pragmatic and "sound," but said it suffered from the lack of a placebo group and information about how compliant patients were about taking their medicines or exercising. It called the differences in effectiveness "marginal." It suggested that future studies examine whether neck pain has multiple causes and could be treated more effectively with targeted techniques. - Stacey Burling

Some of the latest surprises from sex researchers: Women's satisfaction steadily

increases

with age even though sexual activity decreases. And 71 percent of sexually active women over 80 reported little or no pain during intercourse.

The findings are based on 806 responses to an ongoing survey of women ages 40 to 100 by researchers at the University of California, San Diego. The women were told that sexual activity could include caressing, foreplay, masturbation, and intercourse, and - a difference from some other studies - that "you do not need to have a partner to answer this questionnaire."

The results indicated that neither a partner nor even sexual activity was necessary for sexual satisfaction. In fact, desire did not precede arousal in most older women, the researchers wrote in January's American Journal of Medicine, "suggesting women engage in sexual activity for multiple reasons, which may include nurture, affirmation, or sustenance of a relationship."

Whatever the reason, women over 80 were nearly twice as likely (47 percent vs. 25 percent) as those under 55 to report being "very satisfied" with their sex lives. - Don Sapatkin

By overfeeding volunteers, researchers added some backing to what health-conscious people knew all along - eating more than you burn off will make you gain weight, but a high-protein diet is more likely to add muscle.

Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., took 25 people who were hospitalized and fed them a weight-stabilizing diet for a few days, then a diet that contained 954 extra daily calories for eight weeks.

Some got 5 percent of their calories in the form of protein, some 15 percent, and some 25 percent. All gained weight, and the high-protein group gained the most. The low-protein group gained an average of 6.97 pounds, but lost 1.5 pounds of lean body mass. The medium-protein group gained 13.3 pounds, which included 6.3 pounds of muscle. The high-protein group gained 14.4 pounds, which included 7 pounds of muscle. The fat gain was about the same for all the groups.

The researchers published their results in the Jan. 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. They say their results will have some application in combating the country's obesity epidemic. - Faye Flam