Inflammation

Barry Bonds, sidelined by back pain, took treatment and exercised yesterday but did not take batting practice. The San Francisco Giants outfielder wouldn't talk about the condition of his back, which began to bother him Wednesday. "Ask the trainer, that's what he's for," Bonds said. "There's a baseball game going on - don't worry about me. I'm 40 years old. " Bonds likely will miss at least 1 more day but could return to the lineup tomorrow. Giants trainer Stan Conte described Bonds' condition as inflammation and irritation of the joint at the base of his spine.

Johnson & Johnson said yesterday that it would acquire 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Yardley, in a cash deal valued at $88 million. The pharmaceutical and health-care products giant will pay $5.74 for each 3-Dimensional share, which closed at $5.64 yesterday on the Nasdaq stock market. The announcement sent the small company's shares soaring $2.61, or 86.1 percent, at yesterday's close. 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals has drugs in early-stage research for treating cardiovascular disorders, oncology and inflammation.

The Phillies have survived the losses of several key players and enjoyed what to this point has been a surprisingly successful season. Now comes the biggest challenge of all. One month to the day after starting for the National League in the All-Star Game, Curt Schilling was placed on the disabled list last night with inflammation in his right shoulder. The 32-year-old righthander, who has been plagued by this problem for more than a month, will return to Philadelphia today for concentrated therapy.

Curt Schilling says there's no reason to be alarmed. The Phillies say there's no reason to be alarmed. You can make your own call. In the latest attempt to cool off the tendinitis that has simmered inside Schilling's right shoulder for the last month, Phillies medical personnel administered Schilling a shot of cortisone on Sunday. The injection came one day after Schilling, pitching for the first time in 15 days, was roughed up for eight runs in 6 1/3 innings by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Darrin Fletcher had a memorable return from an eye injury. Fletcher hit two home runs in his first game back to help the Toronto Blue Jays beat the visiting Chicago White Sox, 9-7, last night. Fletcher, hit in the right eye by a ricocheting baseball while he was in a batting cage on May 1 in Seattle, hit the first pitch he saw in the second inning for a home run. The 32-year-old catcher, who originally feared the injury could be career-threatening, gave Toronto a 7-4 lead in the seventh with a two-run homer.

So much for good intentions. After sitting out Sunday's 99-94 victory over Boston with an inflammation in his right knee, 76ers center Theo Ratliff intended to play last night against Charlotte and tonight in Washington. Instead, Ratliff, whose 3.14 blocks-per-game average anks fourth in the NBA this season, made it through only a portion of yesterday's shoot-around. "It was just too sore," Ratliff said after remaining in street clothes for last night's 101-93 loss to the Hornets.

Lamar Johnson, the Woodbury High basketball player who died last month, had a chronic inflammation of the heart muscle, the acting Gloucester County medical examiner said yesterday. Johnson, an 18-year-old senior, collapsed while playing a pickup game of basketball at the Woodbury YMCA on Oct. 27. Later that night, he was pronounced dead at Underwood Hospital in Woodbury. Walter Hofman, the acting medical examiner, said the toxicology report he received yesterday showed no alcohol or drugs in Johnson's system.

Eric Desjardins had not participated in a single practice in the preseason, hadn't played a lick on the ice, and was as much a stranger to the Flyers as to himself. Seeing him play Saturday night against Montreal, you had to wonder how that was possible. In his season debut, Desjardins - who had been sidelined since September with pelvic inflammation - got an assist, had a plus-3 showing on a regular shift with Paul Coffey, and worked with both the power-play and the penalty-killing units.

The mysterious pain that forced Phillies rookie righthander Garrett Stephenson to miss his scheduled start Tuesday night at Olympic Stadium has been given a name. Expos club orthopedist Larry Coughlin examined Stephenson last night and said that he has inflammation of the patellar femoral joint in his left knee. Surgery will not be required. Phillies club physician Phillip Marone will take a look at Stephenson when the team returns home this weekend. It was not immediately clear, however, when Stephenson would be able to pitch again.

BOSTON Inflammation linked to heart attacks Inflammation that smolders for years inside the arteries, perhaps as a result of an infection, appears to be a powerful trigger of heart attacks and strokes and may even be as bad as too much cholesterol, a study has found. Researchers found that after several years of this low-level inflammation, men are three times as likely to suffer heart attacks and twice as likely to have strokes. The inflammation is so subtle that it shows up only on blood tests, and seemingly normal levels may be hazardous.