Risk

Expecting delays in shipments of this year's influenza vaccine, the state health department is asking people at low risk for the disease to wait until late November or early December to get their shots. Included are students and healthy adults younger than 65. "There will be enough vaccine for those who want to receive it, but because of the delay in receiving vaccine shipments, we are asking low-risk people to wait," said Health Secretary Dr. Georges C. Benjamin. Benjamin said yesterday that initial supplies should go to the elderly, people with chronic diseases and women in the second or third trimester of pregnancy.

SAN ANTONIO -- Six million healthy Americans not previously considered candidates for cholesterol-lowering treatment could slash their risk of heart problems by a third with drug therapy, researchers say.But with the cost of treatment as high as $100 per month, the question of who should be treated is likely to be decided by individual doctors and their patients based on additional risk factors, at least until more information is available, experts said."This...

SEATTLE -- Great news for those who want strong hearts but not badly enough to sweat much: Walking or gardening for at least an hour a week will lower your heart-attack risk just as much as running, aerobics and other heavy-duty exercise.That's the central finding of a new University of Washington study, which examined the activities of heart-attack patients and healthy people.Compared with those who don't exercise, people who walk regularly can reduce the risk of cardiac arrest by 73 percent; those who garden regularly can lower the risk by 66 percent.

Q. My husband loves eggs and used to eat them several times a week. When he was told, 25 years ago, that he had a cholesterol problem, he gave up eggs, butter and saturated fat. Even with a good diet, his cholesterol stayed high. The doctor decided five years ago that my husband needed a cholesterol-lowering drug. He now takes Pravachol, which keeps his cholesterol around 180. We just read that eggs are not a problem anymore. This is hard to believe, but would it be all right for him to have an egg once in awhile?

Older people who take heartburn drugs such as Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid and Protonix for long periods have a significantly increased risk of hip fractures, possibly because the drugs block calcium absorption, Pennsylvania researchers reported today. The drugs, which block production of acid in the stomach, are among the most widely used in the United States, with combined annual sales of more than $10 billion. "The perception is that the drugs are completely safe, and doctors dispense them without thinking too much about the risks and the benefits," said Dr. Yu-Xiao Yang of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who led the study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

With billions of dollars in certificates of deposit maturing this month and rates at their lowest levels in years, millions of Americans are scrambling for alternatives.But investment advisers suggest you use caution. To be sure, there are investments that offer greater returns. But almost every alternative has a greater risk, because bank CDs offer federal deposit insurance of up to $100,000.For some people, particularly risk-averse ones, it may be best to renew your CD, even at today's lower rate.

When a study published this spring showed that Avandia, a drug that lowers diabetics' blood sugar, also increased their risk of heart complications, Dr. Mary M. Newman, a Lutherville internist, was in a quandary about what to advise her patients taking the medication. "It was easy for patients to feel the drug was proven to be dangerous and everyone was concerned," Newman said. "But the thing is, there were benefits." In the end, she said, the decision on whether to continue the medication varied with each patient.

Amy carries the BRCA1 gene, which is associated with an elevated risk of breast cancer. Beth has an aunt and a sister who had breast cancer. Five years ago, Cindy had breast cancer, which is now in remission. What these three women have in common is a much higher risk than the average woman of one day developing breast cancer. Should a health insurer be allowed to charge them higher premiums, or deny them coverage altogether, as a result? Last week, the Senate passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

CIENA CORP., a Linthicum telecommunications equipment company, announced last week that it is buying two small firms, Lightera Networks Inc. and Omnia Communications Inc., in separate stock deals initially valued at a combined $981 million.Ciena is only beginning to recover from a streak of severe financial setbacks, and was itself rumored to be a takeover target.How risky is Ciena's purchase of Lightera and Omnia? What does Ciena stand to gain from owning these young, untried companies?David ToungAnalyst, Argus Research Corp.

In the mettle-testing world of stock market investing, individual participants are coached repeatedly to "Be like Warren."That's Buffett, of course, the billionaire investor whose buy-and-hold, in-it-for-the-long-term strategy has evolved into the guiding principle of mainstream investment advisers.All well and good, say several market experts, as long as the average investor doesn't take it to the extreme, holding an ailing-but-beloved investment until it comes to a bitter end.Particularly in times like these, when the market is volatile and many investors are rethinking their appetite for risk, it is important that mom-and-pop investors realize there are times when selling stocks or mutual funds may be a perfectly appropriate move, experts say."