Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 11, 1993 TAG: 9311110022
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: "This whole thing is an enormous can of worms, about how much is being spent on AIDS research," said an official of the U.S. Public Health Service, the agency charged with keeping track of the dollars.
Much money goes to many different projects. Some of them are pure research, directed toward a cure. Other efforts focus on behavior or on causes of the disease - factors that may or may not lead to finding a cure.
It's appropriate to check into every possibility, because researchers historically have stumbled across answers in places they didn't expect to find them.
Here are a couple of figures, though, provided by a Public Health Service media contact: $1.28 billion in fiscal 1992 for pure research. Another chart, for fiscal 1991, showed an even higher figure, but it included money for research into behavior and prevention, not just finding a cure.
The most mind-boggling figure was the total federal spending on AIDS: $4.38 billion in fiscal 1992. That includes research, treatment, education and income support for patients.
Dry skin a sign of winter
Q: I've heard that electric blankets dry your skin quicker than other kinds of heat, such as a heat pump, for example. Can you find out about this? W.S., Roanoke
A: The electric-blanket watchers at Consumer Reports and Virginia Tech never heard this point before.
One Roanoke dermatologist, Dr. Gary Gross, said an electric blanket probably doesn't do much toward making dry skin worse. Another dermatologist, Dr. John Kaufman, said an electric blanket's heat may combine with dry air to bother a few people.
All four experts agreed on one thing: The more we heat air, the drier it gets.
No matter if it's from a wood stove, central heating system or electric blanket, heat causes moisture to evaporate.
Because our skin is dry in winter anyway, Gross recommended using the mildest soap available and applying a skin moisturizer after showering.
Avoid deodorant soaps, Kaufman advised. And nobody should take a long, hot tub bath just before crawling under an electric blanket. The bath soaks moisture out of the skin, and heat next to the body may cause dry, itchy areas, Kaufman said.
Using a humidifier will help with dryness. Even a glass of water in the room is a benefit, Kaufman said.
Just a tenth of a cent
Q: Why do gasoline prices on the pump usually end in tenths of a cent?
V.H., Elliston
A: It was a piece of sheer retailing genius.
Oil companies copied it from department stores that sold goods for 99 cents.
That's the explanation offered straightforwardly by an American Petroleum Institute spokesman.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB