CHECKUP NEWS, TIPS AND TRENDS GET THOSE JOINTS IN MOTION, FOR A GOOD CAUSE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Reports

The Arthritis Foundation is recruiting people this month for its Joints in Motion Training Team to run or walk in the Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 10.

Participants must agree to raise $3,100 for the foundation and in return receive fund-raising clinics, a 20-week marathon training program, marathon entry fee paid, round-trip air fare to Honolulu, five days and four nights accommodations and team apparel.

The head coach of the training team is Pat Connelly from the Second Wind Running Club and the Los Angeles Roadrunners Club. For more information, call [phone].

No laughing matter: Laughter is complex, little understood and one of life's great pleasures. But the constant urge to laugh at inappropriate times may be a sign of something amiss in the brain.

Reporting on three cases in the scientific journal Neurology, Dr. Samuel Berkovic of the Austin and Repatriation Medical Center in Victoria, Australia, found that the patients had small, non-cancerous growths on their hypothalamuses. The growths, called hamartomas, caused mild seizures, which could be controlled with medication, but the drugs did not curb their urge to laugh, which occurred 10 to 15 times a day. Many of the patients found the sensation pleasant but embarrassing.

Studying these patients may give us a better understanding of our funny bone. ``We know the hypothalamus, a tiny structure deep in the brain that is involved in things like thirst, temperature control, appetite and emotions, is very important to the generation of laughter,'' Berkovic said.

Good news, bad news: The bad news about congestive heart failure is that it is increasing, affecting 4 million Americans. The good news is that fewer people are dying from this condition.

A study of nearly 7,000 patients found that those diagnosed with the condition between 1994 and 1996 had a 24 percent lower death rate than those diagnosed prior to 1991, said Dr. Carisi A. Polanczyk of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The time they spent in the hospital declined to 5.6 days from 7.7 days.

The reduction in mortality and hospital stays can be attributed to more patients undergoing heart surgery to unplug blocked arteries and to implantable defibrillators and pacemakers, he reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Antibiotic treatment for Huntington's disease: A common antibiotic slows the progression of Huntington's disease symptoms in mice, scientists have found.

The finding suggests a new avenue of treatment for the devastating hereditary condition that cripples the nervous system.

In the latest issue of the journal Nature Medicine, scientists from Boston, Atlanta, Bedford, Mass., and Bonn, Germany, studied a breed of mice with Huntington's disease symptoms. The mice, genetically engineered to mimic the human condition, lose coordination as they age. Like people with the disease, the mice also accumulate clumps of material in their brain cells.

Another hallmark of Huntington's disease is that certain brain cells die. This is actually a form of ``cell suicide,'' with enzymes inside the cell bringing about its demise.

Because the antibiotic minocycline blocks one of those enzymes, the scientists decided to give the drug to the mice. The mice lost their motor coordination later than mice that didn't receive the antibiotic. They also lived longer.

Although more research is needed to know whether minocycline would be helpful for people with Huntington's disease, the scientists noted that the drug appears to be easy to take. People have taken the drug for extended periods with few side effects.

Confused by anti-depressants: Something else doctors are worried about - the effect of anti-depressants on the elderly. Such psychoactive drugs are often prescribed to improve cognitive function, but new research from Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine provides preliminary evidence that they actually have the reverse effect on people 80 and over. ``Physicians and family members need to be aware that these elderly patients may need help managing their medications,'' said researcher Cheryl Dellasega.

No prescription necessary?: Envision powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs sitting between the cough syrup and dental floss on store shelves - no doctor's prescription required. Just toss a box of Mevacor or Pravachol into the shopping cart and you're off. Is that a safe way to ward off a heart attack? And if the government lets those cholesterol medicines start selling without a prescription, what's next? That's what the Food and Drug Administration has begun debating as it considers major changes in how it regulates over-the-counter drugs. The fate of Mevacor and Pravachol could signal whether a new wave of non-prescription drugs is headed for a store near you.

Sense of well-being ages well: Hair and other things may deteriorate with age, but emotional well-being isn't necessarily one of them. In fact, a new study by California State University, Fresno, and the University of California at Berkeley found that, overall, psychological well-being tended to improve with age. Even those who had a troubled adolescence tended to improve as they grew older.

The latest exercise kick: Still doing step aerobics? You're so out of step. These days, the hottest class in gyms across the country is kickboxing. The number of kickboxers rose 65 percent to 3.8 million from 1998 to 1999, making it the fastest-growing sport, American Demographics magazine reports.