CHECKUP YOUNG BLACKS, LATINOS AT DIABETES DISADVANTAGE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Reports

A USC Keck School of Medicine study has found that African-American and Latino children are at higher risk for insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes.

Researchers tested white, Latino and black children in Los Angeles to see how efficiently their bodies' tissues responded to insulin. Regardless of weight, black and Latino children showed greater insulin resistance than white children. Researchers also discovered that black children compensate for the resistance differently than Latino children.

The study underscores that genetics, along with such environmental factors such as diet and exercise, play a role in the development of the disease.

``This has potential implications for treatment,'' said Michael Goran, associate director of the USC Institute for Prevention Research and specialist in childhood and adolescent obesity. ``The bottom line is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to prevention and treatment for everyone.''

Over the last decade, doctors have reported increasing numbers of type 2 diabetes - once called adult-onset diabetes - among American children. According to the American Diabetes Association, type 2 diabetes is twice as common in Latinos and blacks as in non-Hispanic whites. About 10 percent of Mexican-Americans and 13 percent of African-Americans suffer from the disease.

ECHINACEA VS. COLDS: Despite its popularity, echinacea, an herbal remedy, does not appear to help fight colds, researchers report.

Writing in Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers said that when echinacea was given to 148 college students, it seemed to reduce neither the severity nor their duration of their colds.

But the study, led by Dr. Bruce P. Barrett of the University of Wisconsin, acknowledged that the findings were at odds with earlier research and said additional investigation was needed.

``We do not believe that our trial should be the last word on echinacea,'' the researchers wrote.

The students were given capsules of either echinacea or a placebo, with neither the students nor the people dispensing the preparations knowing which was which. The students then provided daily information about their colds.

The researchers found no differences between groups. The duration of the colds averaged about six days for everyone, and the symptoms were about the same.

Still, the researchers noted that they had used a pure form echinacea, a plant used medicinally by Indians, and not extracts like those used in other studies and sold in stores.

WOMEN SOUGHT: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is looking for women to participate in a clinical trial that will test the effects of a testosterone patch on sexual desire.

To participate in the study, women should have undergone natural menopause, take hormone replacement therapy, and have experienced a decline in libido. Nearly 40 percent of women experience a decrease in sexual desire during menopause. The study will examine whether sexual desire can be increased by very low levels of testosterone administered via a thin patch worn on the abdomen.

The study is being conducted at sites throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Call [phone] or [phone] for more information.