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Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010

Health

First lady Michelle Obama gets active in the fight against childhood obesity (02/09/10)
WASHINGTON -- By now, it is abundantly clear that Michelle Obama loves french fries. The first lady talks about this "guilty pleasure" all the time, trying to ward off any notion that she is a nutrition nanny even as she cajoles Americans to eat better. Her conversation with the public about the nation's health and fitness is about to get a lot more pointed...
Local look: Childhood obesity (02/09/10)
Local nutrition advocates weighed in on the issue of adolescent obesity and what to do about it. Through our e-mail listserv that reaches members of the health community, they were asked how bad the epidemic is, what lead young children to these unhealthy weights and if weekly meetings with dieticians and exercise experts would help...
Autism risks higher in kids of older mothers (02/09/10)
A woman's chance of having a child with autism increases substantially as she ages, but the risk may be less for older dads than previously suggested, a new study analyzing more than 5 million births found. "Although fathers' age can contribute risk, the risk is overwhelmed by maternal age," said University of California at Davis researcher Janie Shelton, the study's lead author...
Praying for a cure: The number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease will triple by the year 2050 - and there's still no way to prevent or cure the condition (02/06/10)
"She just got up and walked out. She doesn't know me today," says Bob Medlock of Sikeston, Mo. The retired preacher is visiting his wife Bernice, an Alzheimer's patient at a New Madrid, Mo., nursing home. "She knows me sometimes," he says. Still, he makes the 40-mile round trip at least four times a week to visit the "beautiful woman" he married 55 years ago...
Smoking for two (or more): New reports link secondhand smoke to heart attacks (02/06/10)
It's a well-known fact that smoking is an unhealthy habit. But did you also know that smoking is the most avoidable cause of disease and death? That secondhand smoke alone increases the risk of heart disease by 25 to 30 percent? And that at 24.9 percent, Missouri has the fourth-highest rate of adult smoking in the United States? The national average is just 18.3 percent...
FDA debates tougher cancer warning on tanning beds (02/02/10)
WASHINGTON -- Just as millions head to tanning beds to prepare for spring break, the Food and Drug Administration will be debating how to toughen warnings that those sunlamps pose a cancer risk. Yes, sunburns are particularly dangerous. But there's increasing scientific consensus that there's no such thing as a safe tan, either...
Experiment takes aim at genetic learning disorder (02/02/10)
WASHINGTON -- A pill to ease a type of mental retardation? An experiment is underway to develop one, aimed at a genetic disorder that might unravel some of the mysteries of autism along the way. Chances are you've never heard of the target -- Fragile X syndrome -- even though it's the most common inherited form of intellectual impairment, estimated to affect almost 100,000 Americans. ...
Infant suffers uncommon complications from common virus (01/26/10)
When Trudy Davis found out she was pregnant with twins, she was scared and knew it would be hard. When her newborn son Kaiden turned a yellow color and couldn't keep any food down, she was worried and took him to the emergency room. Doctors told Davis, who turned 18 in November, that Kaiden had congenital cytomegalovirus. Though CMV is the most common virus transmitted to an unborn child, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most cases go unnoticed and cause no harm...
Research centers team up to seek cause of childhood cancers (01/26/10)
ST. LOUIS -- Two major research institutions are launching the largest-ever attempt to identify and understand the genetic origins of childhood cancers in hopes it will lead to better diagnosis, targeted treatment and perhaps even prevention. The urgency of childhood cancer, along with genome technology that made the project affordable, prompted the collaboration, said researchers at Washington University's Genome Center in St. ...
Heart attack comeback: Retiree stays busy, active following heart attack (01/23/10)
On Aug. 2, 2009, Norman Ertman was browsing through Barnes & Noble when he began to feel ill. He assumed it was just a spasm of acid reflux. "I tried to go out to my vehicle to get my antacids but I couldn't make it. I couldn't move," says Ertman, age 66, a retired factory worker from rural Cape Girardeau County. Fortunately, he was shopping with his son Tom that day, and the two suspected he was having a heart attack...
About face: Car seat experts now recommend parents keep children in rear-facing seats for longer than a year (01/19/10)
FAIRWAY, Kan. -- Anne Epperson thought little of it when she flipped her daughter's convertible car seat around so she could face forward after her first birthday. But if car seat advocates get their way, parents like Epperson will be delaying the switch, possibly for years...
Task force: Screening children, obesity treatment works (01/19/10)
CHICAGO -- An influential advisory panel says school-aged youngsters and teens should be screened for obesity and sent to intensive behavior treatment if they need to lose weight -- a move that could transform how doctors deal with overweight children...
Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center reports 22 percent of county immunized against H1N1 (01/15/10)
Despite a shaky start in administering the H1N1 influenza vaccine to the public last fall, the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center said it has immunized 22 percent of the county's population through December.
Cape Girardeau County health officials administer nearly 16,000 H1N1 vaccine doses (01/14/10)
The Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center reports nearly 16,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine have been administered this flu season, with 5,300 going to children ages 4 to 18.
TB continued: First case of highly drug-resistant tuberculosis found in U.S. (01/12/10)
LANTANA, Fla. -- It started with a cough, a cool-season hack that refused to go away. Then came the fevers. They bathed and chilled the skinny frame of Oswaldo Juarez, a 19-year-old Peruvian visiting to study English. His lungs clattered, his chest tightened and he ached with every gasp. During a wheezing fit at 4 a.m., Juarez felt a warm knot rise from his throat. He ran to the bathroom sink and spewed a mouthful of blood...
Children's films getting better at promoting safety issues (01/12/10)
CHICAGO -- Characters in children's movies are wising up about personal safety, increasingly using seat belts, bike helmets and crosswalks, but many still aren't ideal role models, a government study found. The trend may reflect efforts by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other groups to get Hollywood to convey positive public health messages. But the study also shows these efforts haven't been universally endorsed...
Boost your eye-Q for healthier eyes (01/05/10)
While many people are resolving to by more healthy in 2010, it is often easy to take good vision for granted, but there are ways to help maintain eye health. "Pretty much the eyes take care of themselves, but studies have shown that wearing sunglasses and reducing sun exposure to the eyes can reduce the risk of macular degeneration," said Dr. ...
Evidence lacking to support special diets for autism (01/05/10)
CHICAGO -- An expert panel says there's no rigorous evidence that digestive problems are more common in children with autism compared to other children, or that special diets work, contrary to claims by celebrities and vaccine naysayers. Painful digestive problems can trigger problem behavior in children with autism and should be treated medically, according to the panel's report published in the January issue of Pediatrics and released Monday...
Cookbooks that help you stick to resolution to shed pounds in 2010 (12/29/09)
Right about now you're probably thinking about those resolutions vowing to eat better, cook more and shed the holiday pounds. To help you get started -- and spend that gift card from your mother-in-law -- here's some advice and the latest healthy-eating, better-living cookbooks...
Study: Swine flu poses a threat to new moms (12/29/09)
LOS ANGELES -- Swine flu is not only dangerous to pregnant women, but it's a threat to new mothers too, the first study to document this risk shows. An analysis of pregnant women and new mothers who were hospitalized with swine flu in California found that those who had a baby in the previous two weeks were at higher risk of severe flu complications...
Twenty-six operations, 13 kidneys and the kindness of strangers gives hope to those who had little (12/22/09)
WASHINGTON -- Twenty-six operations put healthy kidneys into 13 desperately ill people: Doctors in the nation's capital recently performed a record-setting kidney swap, part of a pioneering effort to expand transplants to patients who too often never qualify...
Kidney donor's night-before-surgery poem (12/22/09)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- On the eve of their dual surgeries, Tom Otten of suburban St. Louis tried to ease his nervous wife, Irene, by composing this poem about the impending donation of his left kidney:
Scott County Health Department warns of possible salmonella contamination from head cheese (12/17/09)
SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Scott County Health Department is asking people who may have purchased head cheese that originated in New Hamburg, Mo., to discard it for fear it may be contaminated with salmonella.
Ho-ho-healthy: Parents struggle to help children stick to a diet during the holidays (12/15/09)
NEW YORK -- Pam Vetter's 15-year-old son balked when she told him she was opting for a healthier holiday season this year: fish rather than turkey, fewer carbs and sweets. He threatened to purchase a turkey, stuffing, potatoes and pies and put together his own traditional meal...
Experts say colon cancer deaths could make a large decline (12/15/09)
ATLANTA -- Colon cancer deaths could drop dramatically in America during the next decade because of better screening and treatment, according to an optimistic new prediction by top researchers. The estimate was made in an annual report that shows that, overall, the U.S. cancer death rate is continuing to decline, as it has since the 1990s...
Events: Health and community

Health news
  • Autism risks detailed in children of older mothers
    A woman's chance of having a child with autism increase substantially as she ages, but the risk may be less for older dads than previously suggested, a new study analyzing more than 5 million births found.
  • Bad malaria pills in Africa raise resistance fears
    High rates of the most effective type of malaria-fighting drugs sold in three African countries are poor quality -- including nearly half the pills sampled in Senegal -- raising fears of increased drug resistance that could wipe out the last weapon left to battle a disease that kills 1 million people each year, according to a U.S. report released Monday.
  • China finds 170 more tons of tainted milk powder
    BEIJING (AP) -- The discovery has punched a 170-ton hole in China's promises to overhaul its food safety system. Officials say they've found yet another case where large amounts of tainted milk powder from the country's 2008 scandal that should have been destroyed were instead repackaged.
  • Even if you're careful, drugs can end up in water
    PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- The federal government advises throwing most unused or expired medications into the trash instead of down the drain, but they can end up in the water anyway, a study from Maine suggests.