Physicians at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital observed that many diabetic patients did not swab their skin before giving their injections, but never seemed to develop infections. They set up a study to determine whether or not this step was actually necessary. They studied 50 patients with 600 injections among them. None of the patients suffered any indication of infection from the lack of swabbing, but they notice that the injections did not burn or sting if the skin was not swabbed with alcohol. Other risk factors include early age of first intercourse, the number of sexual partners, diet, viral agents, and socioeconomic status.
Vegetarian children grow more slowly than meat-eaters.
Some have suggested that this growth pattern suggests an inadequate diet. Treatment routines vary from one part of the country to another. The number of radical prostatectomies performed increased nearly six times in the time period of 1984 to 1990. A study from the Biomedical Information Communications Center of the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon, suggests that many men with localized prostate cancer may benefit from watchful waiting, rather than radical prostatectomy. They point out that vigorous treatment may result in such unwanted effects as loss of control of the urine and impotence, which may greatly reduce the man's quality of life.