Psychiatrist Nathalie Maullin testified at the drug conspiracy trial that Anna Nicole Smith, treated at Cedars-Sinai for acute Xanax and methadone withdrawal, also had borderline personality disorder. The piece then outlines what BPD involves and how hard treatment can be.
Rachel Stockton
Food Safety
Does Tylenol Cause Asthma in Teens?
An international study of more than 322,000 13- and 14-year-olds, part of ISAAC Phase Three, reports that adolescents using acetaminophen had a higher risk of asthma, allergic nasal conditions and eczema. The findings rest on questionnaires covering use in the previous 12 months.
Lifestyle
Ella Wins FDA Approval
The FDA approved ella (ulipristal acetate) as a prescription-only emergency contraceptive for use within five days of unprotected sex. The agency said its likely main effect is to inhibit or delay ovulation; opponents point to evidence it may also thin the uterine lining.
Heart & Blood
Statins with your Big Mac?
Imperial College London researchers compared the added cardiovascular risk from a Quarter Pounder with cheese and a small milkshake against the risk reduction from daily statins across seven trials of more than 42,000 patients, and found the two roughly cancel. Experts say not to take it literally.
Lifestyle
Mental Disorders Increase Among College Students
Hofstra's John Guthman tracked 3,265 students who used campus counseling between 1997 and 2009. Moderate to severe depression rose from 34 to 41 percent, students taking psychiatric medication from 11 to 24 percent, and self-injury from 4 to 8 percent.
Lifestyle
Menstrual Cramps Alter Brain Chemistry
Researchers in Taipei scanned 32 women with a history of menstrual pain and 32 without while all were pain-free. Women with cramps showed less gray matter in regions handling pain transmission and mood, more in others, and changes in the hypothalamus.
Avoiding Illness
CDC: Do you Know where your Chicken has Been?
The CDC's 2007 surveillance counted 1,097 foodborne outbreaks, 8 percent below the annual average, causing more than 21,000 illnesses and 18 deaths. Poultry was the leading source at 17 percent, followed by beef at 16 percent and leafy vegetables at 14 percent.
Obesity
Growing Waistline Increases Mortality - at Any Weight
In a large study in the August 2010 Archives of Internal Medicine, a larger waist was linked to higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and cancer at every level of body mass index, in men and women alike, including people who are not overweight.
Lifestyle
Secret to a Good Night's Sleep is in the "Waves"
Harvard, Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's researchers report in Current Biology that how well a sleeper blocks out noise tracks with sleep spindles — bursts of fast brain rhythm rising from the thalamus that punctuate slow-wave sleep.
Cancer
Breast Cancer Risk: One Size May Not Fit All
USC researchers tracking 3,000 women from 1995 to 2006 found 15 years or more of estrogen therapy raised breast cancer risk 19%, and estrogen with progestin raised it 83%. Thinner women faced greater post-HRT risk than obese women, which the team did not explain.
Disease
Worldwide Superbug Threat Frightening
Researchers at Cardiff University and the Health Protection Agency described NDM-1, a gene that leaves bacteria resistant to virtually all known antibiotics and passes easily between species. Most UK cases traced to travel and hospital treatment in the Indian subcontinent.
Heart & Blood
Healthy Hearts Indicate Healthy Brains
Boston University researchers scanned the hearts and brains of 1,500 Framingham Offspring participants and found those with low and middle cardiac output showed about two more years of brain aging than those with high output. Whether the link is causal is still unresolved.
Lifestyle
Cleaning Products Dangerous for Toddlers
Nationwide Children's Hospital reviewed children treated in emergency rooms from 1990 to 2006 for injuries involving household cleaners and found the products still pose a serious risk to toddlers. Spray bottles were the most common container, with such cases up 30 to 40 percent.
Avoiding Illness
FDA Approves Flu Vaccine
The FDA has approved flu vaccines for the 2010-11 season, and adults will need only one shot rather than the two required when swine flu arrived too late for last year's formulation. The CDC now recommends vaccination for everyone over 6 months old.
Heart & Blood
Sleep Duration Linked to Heart Health
A West Virginia School of Medicine study of more than 30,000 adults in the 2005 National Health Interview Survey found people sleeping over nine hours a night were 1.5 times more likely to report heart attack or stroke, and adults under 60 sleeping five hours had triple the risk.
Government
Health Care Bill Gets Plug from Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith fronts a $700,000 Medicare ad campaign that also puts in a word for President Obama's health care law, promising free checkups and lower prescription costs. Opponents counter that seniors may have to give up benefits such as Medicare Advantage plans.
Heart & Blood
Calcium Supplements Linked to Heart Attack Risk
Pooling 11 randomized trials covering more than 12,000 women, Auckland researchers report in the BMJ that those taking calcium supplements were 31 percent more likely to have a heart attack: 143 cases against 111 on placebo. None received vitamin D, and calcium from food is excluded.
Obesity
Maintaining Weight Loss Just a Click Away
In an NIH-funded trial that followed 348 overweight adults for 28 months, participants who logged in to a weight management website at least once a month kept off 9 of the 19 pounds they had lost, while those who checked in for only 14 months kept off 5 pounds.
195 stories