TRACE FAMILY HISTORY ON THANKSGIVING DAY

Think turkey, think cranberries, think health this Thanksgiving. Federal officials are asking Americans to document their health histories when families gather on Thanksgiving Day. Why? Because diseases can run in families, and preventive action taken early can save lives -- themes being highlighted in AAFP's 2005 Annual Clinical Focus: Genomics. For information about the initiative encouraging Americans to record their family health histories, go to http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/ . For PDF versions of the Surgeon General's Family Health Portrait in English or Spanish, go to http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/order.html .

STUDY: DRUG HELPS BLACK PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE.

Researchers have identified a medication specifically for treating African-Americans who have moderate to advanced heart failure. Using the medication, BiDil, was found to reduce death rates by 43 percent compared with using a placebo, according to research in the Nov. 11 New England Journal of Medicine. The difference in death rates was so significant researchers terminated the study early. The medication also reduced initial hospitalization by 33 percent. Moreover, patients taking the medication reported an improvement in the quality of life, researchers said. "The results could lead the Food and Drug Administration to approve the pill specifically for African-American patients, perhaps by the middle of next year," reported the Nov. 9 Wall Street Journal. An abstract of the NEJM article is at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/NEJMoa042934 .

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