Ophthalmology: Researchers Eye Earliest Triggers of Age-related Macular Degeneration Collaborations: Cancer Grants Build Bench-Bedside Links Endocrinology: Hormone Leptin Tied to Fat Breakdown in Muscle In Memoriam: Colleagues Remember Don Wiley, the Scientist and Man The Winter Bookshelf: Recent Books by Faculty of HMS, HSDM, and HSPH Letter to the Editor Genetic Computation Tells Man from Microbe Molecular Logjam May Underlie Huntington's, Parkinson's Diseases Dietary Pattern Sets Stage for Type 2 Diabetes in Men Proceedings of the HMS Faculty Council Two New Hospital Presidents Named Prestigious Public Health Award Presented to HSDM Professor Microbiology Awards Amos Fellowship CDC Director Kicks Off Harvard Health Caucus Series Flier Named Chief Academic Officer at BID New HMS Report on Foot Care Honors and Advances Alliance Expands Global Vaccine Effort The Second-year Show: "Viva Las Vagus" Front Page

To the Editor Focus received this letter in response to Tarayn Grizzard's Forum column on teen pregnancy (Focus, Dec. 14, 2001) Unfortunately, a young teenager below age 18 may think "her body is ready," but the fact is that even well-nourished U.S. girls do not complete their growth in height, weight, and the reproductive organs (including the uterus) until ages 16-18. Maturation of the pelvis is even later, ages 20-21. Fertility of well-nourished U.S. women rises to a peak in the mid-20s. Teenagers are more likely to have low birthweight infants or infants with neurological defects, as Grizzard notes, because they have not completed their own physical growth. They also may not have completed their psychological growth and education. As Grizzard records, only "half of all teen mothers complete high school, and fewer go on to college." Rather than accept the high costs of a too early pregnancy, to the infant, the mother, and the community (and probably the father), physicians and teachers should inform young teenagers of the facts on their physical and reproductive development, and even encourage aspirations for education. Then, at grown-up ages, they can enjoy healthy infants as responsible parents. Rose Frisch Associate Professor Emerita of Population Sciences Harvard School of Public Health