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Page 4
The Battalion
Wednesday, September?,I)
Findings tie iron to heart attacks
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — A study published
Tuesday suggests a strong link be
tween heart disease and levels of
iron in the blood and says only
smoking is a more significant risk
factor in causing heart attacks.
The study by Finnish re
searchers is the first to clinically
tie iron to heart disease, and even
its authors say more study is
needed before medical practice is
changed.
But the findings bolster a theo
ry that has been largely discount
ed for more than a decade.
If supported by further re
search, the findings could chal
lenge current medical recommen
dations for the amount of iron in
the diet.
Heart attacks are the leading
killer in the United States and in
most other industrial countries. In
eastern Finland, where the study
was conducted, they are the high
est in the world.
Iron is a necessary element in
the blood, allowing it to carrying
oxygen, and its absence can cause
anemia. In addition to over-the-
counter vitamin supplements con
taining extra iron, U.S. wheat
products are required by law to
have added iron.
The study confirms that iron "is
Study suggests lower blood iron level
as reason why women outlive men
a strong risk factor" for heart dis
ease, "at levels previously regard
ed as normal," said Dr. Jerome L.
Sullivan, a researcher at the Veter
ans Affairs Medical Center and
Medical University of South Car
olina in Charleston.
The study said iron stored in
the body was second only to ciga
rette smoking as a predictor of
heart attacks.
"Finally someone has produced
some evidence that my theory
might be correct," said Sullivan,
who predicted the link in 1981.
"People have begun to see this
might be a valid idea."
Sullivan bases his theories on
the much lower rates of heart dis
ease among menstruating women.
"Women lose their iron stores
through menstruating for a large
part of their adult lives, and they
outlive men," Sullivan said.
Many studies have concluded
that the hormone estrogen present
in menstruating women helps
protect them from heart disease.
After menopause, estrogen levels
decrease and the incidence or
heart disease among women rises.
The study, and Sullivan's ac
companying editorial, were pub
lished Tuesday in Circulation, a
journal of the American Heart As
sociation, based in Dallas.
Experts cautioned that the
study raises questions but doesn't
answer them.
"It is impossible until this is
looked at in a carefully controlled
way to know if it's going to he im
portant or not," said Dr. Neal
Stone, a professor at Northwest
ern University who is chairman of
the association's national nutrition
committee.
While he stressed that much
more research needs to be done.
Dr. Henry Ginsberg said the find
ings should tell Americans to quit
taking unnecessary dietary sup
plements.
"If there was any type of take-
home message, it would be that
we all shouldn't be taking extra
vitamins and extra minerals, said
Ginsberg, head of the division of
preventative medicine and nutri
tion at Columbia University's Col
lege of Physicians and Surgeons.
"Supplements are probably not
very useful in most cases," he
said.
Dr. Mary Ann Malloy, who
served on a heart association com
mittee looking at women and
heart disease, said the study
brings into question the "more
better" approach to vitaminsa
minerals.
She said further research#
need to include women,be!
longer periods of time and look
more numbers.
The researchers, led by Dr.jc
ka T. Salonen, tracked 1,931 u
in eastern Finland for fiveyea
ending in 1989. The research
found that for each 1 percenti
crease in the amount of the iris
containing protein ferritin inS
blood, heart attack risk increas
more than 4 percent.
Key findings:
•High level of iron in thi
blood linked to risk of head
attacks.
•Researchers studied 1,93!
j men in eastern Finland for
years, and found that for eact
1 percent increase in the
amount of iron-carrying ferri
in the blood, heart attack rise
increased more than 4 percent
•Data showed high leveld
iron was second only to
smoking as a predictor of hear;
attacks, ahead of high
cholesterol, high blooti
pressure and diabetes and
other risk factors.
Man surrenders after shooting parents-in-law
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FREDERICKSBURG - A 34-year-old man
who police say shot his wife's parents to death
barricaded himself in a small hunting cabin
and held law officers at bay for several hours
Tuesday.
Gillespie County Sheriff Milton Jung said a
murder warrant was issued for the man, Scott
Panetti of Fredericksburg. The bodies of Panet-
ti's parents-in-law — Jose and Amanda Al
varado, both 62 — were found at their Freder
icksburg home after neighbors reported hear
ing gunshots about 5:30 a.m.
Panetti then took his wife and their 3-year-
old daughter to the hunting camp just outside
'the city, but later released the two without se
rious injuries, authorities said.
He had barricaded himself in the one-room
cabin, Jung said. The sheriff said he believed
that Panetti had been armed with a high-pow
ered deer rifle.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokes
woman Laureen Chernow said a SWAT team
of 10 DPS officers had surrounded the small
red cabin by early afternoon and were trying
to establish communication with the man.
Panetti surrendered around 3:40 p.m. after
speaking with some officers, said DPS
spokesman Mike Cox. Cox said no shots were
fired and Panetti was arrested.
Jung said he did not know what was dis
cussed during the meeting with Panetti.
"He just said that I'm coming out I do know
that. He came out with his hands up," Jung
said.
The sheriff's department whisked Panetti
away in a squad car. Panetti's head had been
fully shaved, and Jung said that he had
changed into a suit.
"He was a very strange man," he said.
Fredericksburg Police Chief Bob Werne
said Tuesday's double-slaying wasthefic
homicide in Fredericksburg in more thanJ
years.
Both the police chief and the sheriff sai;
they have known Panetti for years. Theydf
scribed him as an unemployed former Nan
man who had been in the Veterans Adminis
tration hospital in nearby Kerrville severs;
times for mental problems.
"He's on medication and when he doesa’I
take his medication properly he gets violent,
Jung said, adding that he didn't know wlial
medicine Panetti wa^ taJqng.
The officers also said Panetti has had proi
ous brushes with the law for drug -and alco
hol-related problems and that he was arrested
in 1989 on a charge of making a terroristit
threat against a peace officer.
Lobbyists seek health coverage reform
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — A coalition of citi
zen rights groups Tuesday urged
a state task force to reaffirm its
original recommendation of a
health insurance plan to cover
every Texan.
Leaders of more than 15 organi
zations criticized the Governor's
Health Policy Task Force for back
ing away from its proposal to re
place privately purchased health
insurance with publicly-funded
coverage.
Last month, the task force rec
ommended that Texans be cov
ered under a plan overseen by the
state and administered by a single
insurer.
But that proposal prompted im
mediate condemnation by busi
ness and insurance lobbyists as
"socialized medicine."
"Moscow tried that long, long
ago," Larry Milner, a member of
the task force and president the
Texas Chamber of Commerce,
had said.
In the face of the criticism, the
task force watered down its rec
ommendation, and instead sug
gested that the single insurer pro
posal be adopted for children and
pregnant women. The task force
said coverage for all Texans
should be a goal.
But that doesn't go far enough,
according to labor, elderly, dis
abled, and public watchdog
groups.
"The single payer plan is the
only true solution to handle the
health care crisis in Texas," said
Ron Cranston, of the Coalition of
Texans with Disabilities.
Currently, between 3 million
and 4 million Texans, including 1
million children, have no health
insurance, according to the task
force. The panel also reported that
more and more of the uninsured
are coming from working families
who cannot afford insurance.
Gov. Ann Richards has said she
wants health care reform to be
one of the major topics tackled by
lawmakers during the regular leg
islative session that starts in Janu
ary.
Tim Curtis, of Texas Citizen Ac
tion, said Milner's comments
were irresponsible and mislead
ing. He said in so-called socialized
medicine plans, doctors work for
the government, while under the
state task force's original proposal
"the doctors work for us."
Milner defended his comments,
saying, "I don't think telling the
truth is irresponsible. I don't think
that more government and more
taxes are the solution to our prob
lems."
Curtis' group has recommend
ed a 5 percent payroll tax to fad
the health care plan.
That is cheaper than the current
'private insurance system, Curtis
said, and provides coverage to all
Texans.
He said the insurance compa
nies opposing publicly funded
health care "are the same ones
who are plundering the system
and will continue to gainfromin-
action."
An insurance industry
spokesman denied the allegation
by Curtis.
"Insurers are not plundering
the system. They are being forced
to pay for medical charges that
have simply gotten out of con
trol," said Jerry Johns.
But Johns added the insurance
industry opposes "any system
that would tend to socialize
health insurance and removeit
from the private sector."
THE INCOMPARABLE
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MSC Aqqie CiNEMA: B° x Office
847^8478 845-1214
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The Film Society of Texas A&M
- EPIC FILM SERIES PRESENTS -
The 50th Anniversary of
CASABLANCA
starring: Humphrey Bogart
Thursday @ 7:00 & 9:00PM
Presented in Rudder Auditorium
Tickets are $2.50
Next Week: Alternative Film Series presents Falling From
Grace and the Blockbuster Series presents Wayne's World.