The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 3

GALVESTOiST COUNTY, TEXAS FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1996 SCIENCE MEDICINE 3-A Study: Cigarette ads appeal most to teens The Associated Press WASHINGTON Teenagers are three times as likely as adults to respond to cigarette ads, and 79 percent of teen smokers puff brands depicted by the Marlboro Man, Joe Camel and the fun couples of Newport, says a study published Wednesday. The study does not prove that seeing these ads makes a teen who otherwise wouldn't have smoked take up the habit. But it provides evidence to back pending federal regulation of cigarette ads, showing teens are the most sensitive to tobacco's advertising "battle of the brands," said study author Richard Pollay of the University of British Columbia. "Whatever the intent, of the it is the youth of the nation who pay attention to and respond to the advertising," said Pollay, whose 20- year tracking of cigarette ads was published in the Journal of Marketing. Tobacco companies insist their ads do not target teens, that they are merely an effort terget adults to switch brands.

The industry runs a program that trains store clerks not to sell cigarettes to minors: "Teens follow, adults and they do the popular thing," said Tobacco Institute spokesman Thomas Lauria. Anti-smoking activists have long contended cigarette advertising encourages teens to smoke by portraying the habit as fun, sexy and popular. An estimated 3 million teens are smokers, consuming nearly 1 billion packs a year. The government is preparing to restrict cigarette ads to areas where teens are less likely to spot it, and to curb images it considers appealing to youth. Pollay tracked nine cigarette brands.

On average, whenever a brand increased its advertising budget by 10 percent, its share of the adult smoking market grew 3 percent but its share of teen smokers jumped 9 percent, he said. Childhood diarrhea antibody found The Associated Press WASHINGTON A newly found antibody that stops the action of a virus that causes frequently fatal childhood diarrhea could eventually play a role in vaccines against the disorder, scientists say. Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine and the Uni- versity of Texas Health Science Center have discovered that a protein that is part of the virus may be the fundamental cause of a serious diarrhea that strikes millions of young children worldwide. Mary K. Estes of Baylor, principal author of a study to be published today in the journal Science, said that in studies with laboratory mice, the scientists found that a nonstructural gly- coprotein, called NSP4, could, by itself, cause diarrhea in very young mice.

NSP4 is a molecule that plays a role in the replication of rotavirus, an organism responsible for ttie deaths from dehydrating diarrhea of about 870,000 infants each year in developing countries. Estes said laboratory experiments showed that an antibody against NSP4 was effective in preventing or stopping diarrhea in young mice. The experiments included giving the antibody to mice orally and through their mother's milk. Has the true meaning of Easter gotten a little fuzzy? Give your children more than bunnies and baskets this year. Give them a miracle.

Join us on Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH 2400 21st Street Texas City Easter Service: April 7th 10:45 a.m. Moments in Texas Every 7 minutes an infant is born into poverty. Every 3 hours an infant dies. Every 25 minutes an infant is born too small to be healthy.

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