Calendar

        Screening: St. Elizabeth Medical Center's PrimeWise is offering free screenings for peripheral artery disease Tuesday and Sept. 10. Warning signs are walking pain, calf cramps and foot fatigue. Call (859) 578-5999 for reservations, times and locations.

        Seminar: The Alliance Center for Reproductive Health will hold a seminar 8 a.m. to noon Oct. 13 at the Christ Hospital auditorium, Mount Auburn, on infertility causes, options and treatment. The program and parking are free. Registration required. Information: 585-2273.

Resource

        What works: Arthritis Today,the Arthritis Foundation's consumer health magazine, has compiled a handbook of herbs, vitamins and other natural supplements purported to ease the pain of arthritis, fibromyalgia and other joint diseases. The free handbook lists the source, claims, active ingredients, research notes and contraindications for more than 60 supplements. To order a copy of the 2001 Supplement Guide, call (800) 283-7800, or log onto www.arthritis.org.

Help wanted

        Drug study: The University of Cincinnati Department of Family Medicine needs volunteers 40 and older to test a new medication for osteoarthritis of the knee. Doctor visits and lab tests are included. Participants will be compensated for time and travel. Call 558-2609 and leave a message.

Shelf help

        Heartbeat: The Heart of the Matter: The African-American's Guide to Heart Disease, Heart Treatment and Heart Wellness by Dr. Hilton Hudson and Dr. Herbert Stern (Hilton Publishing; $16.95) looks at lifestyle and dietary issues that directly contribute to the black community's greater risk of developing heart disease. Topics include exercise, treatments for heart disease and hypertension, stress management and nutrition, including recipes.

Just in

        Health hazard: The Tristate is no place to inhale if you work with smokers.

        Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana rank near the bottom among states in protecting workers from secondhand smoke, according to a study in this month's edition of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

        Researchers looked at trends in workplace restrictions from 1993 to 1999.

        Ohio ranks 44th, according to the study. In 1993, 37.56 percent of Ohio workers were protected from secondhand smoke exposure by official workplace policies. In 1999, that figure had increased to 62.77 percent.

        Indiana ranked 46th, protecting 58.1 percent of workers while Kentucky ranked 47th, with regulations protecting 55.9 percent. States that got top marks for protecting workers from secondhand smoke were Utah, Maryland, California, Massachusetts and Vermont.

        Exposure to secondhand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke, causes lung cancer and heart and lung diseases in nonsmokers, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. It is classified as a carcinogen.

        Contact Peggy O'Farrell by phone: 768-8510; fax, 768-8330; email: pofarrell@enquirer.com.

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