HEALTH WATCH
Here’s an eye-opener from the medical files: Two British eye doctors have reported a case of impaired vision from bungee jumping, “highlighting a potential serious complication of this sport.”
Six hours after a jump, a woman had some loss of vision in both eyes. After one week, her left eye improved, but vision in the right eye remained poor. Within 12 weeks, the right eye had improved but still had not returned to normal.
The thin part of the retina is “particularly susceptible to trauma,” the doctors noted, and may be damaged during a bungee jump by the sudden rise in pressure in the tiny blood vessels within the eyeball.
HMOs Make for a Killer Thriller: A must-read for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is Robin Cook’s new novel, “Fatal Cure,” built around the day’s hottest medical topic: managed care.
Protagonists Drs. Angela and David Wilson practice medicine in a pristine New England town, where David is an internist with the town’s only health maintenance organization.
HMO bureaucracy thwarts David’s attempts to save his patients, who are beginning to die mysteriously. Angela and David discover a murdered doctor who was known to complain loudly about inferior patient treatment under managed care.
Can an HMOvie be trailing?
Shape Up and Ship Out of L.A.: Jumping jacks flash for aspiring and perspiring actresses. Body-Shaping, a TV fitness show, is searching for a female cast member to join the show’s 1995 stint.
The program, airing twice daily on ESPN, includes aerobics, weight training, diet and nutritional information. Body-Shaping is seeking applicants who are fitness enthusiasts and familiar with aerobic and weight training routines.
Send photos, resume and video, if available, to High Bar Productions, P.O. Box 781, Radio City Station, New York, N.Y. 10101.
Don’t break into a sweat--there’s still time to apply. Deadline is June 1.
Take Your--Ooooof!--Medicine Ball: Remember when President Herbert Hoover and his cabinet used to play a sort of volleyball with a six-pound medicine ball?
They’re bouncing back in popularity with sports teams and fitness programs. “We use them quite a bit,” says Tim Bishop, a coach with the Baltimore Orioles.
If you want to have a ball, you can order from Speed City ((800) 255-9930), D-Ball Manufacturing ((800) 500-3225), C&S; Sports ((800) 966-7504) or Ooof Ball ((800) 356-6631).
* This health roundup, compiled by C.A. Wedlan from wire service reports, appears in Life & Style on Tuesdays.