Archive for May 9th, 2012
High BMI before pregnancy is tied to lower childhood test scores
May 9th, 2012 | 
Author: Children born to mothers who were obese before pregnancy had lower reading and math scores compared with those born to women of a healthy weight, according to a study in the Maternal and Child Health Journal. The impact of prepregnancy obesity was equivalent to a seven-year decline in maternal education and lower family income, the lead author said.
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Caffeine might stave off diabetes-induced memory loss
Long-term caffeine intake curbed weight gain and blood glucose and prevented memory loss in mice with type 2 diabetes, according to a Portuguese study in PLoS. However, researchers said the dose found to be effective is excessive, and they do not recommend that people drink eight cups of coffee daily.
Study: Many drug labels lack safety and dosing data for children
Many drug labels don't contain information on proper dosage and safety for children, according to an FDA study of 560 medications for diseases ranging from allergies to high blood pressure.
Memphis tips scales as fattest city in U.S.
With nearly a third of its population considered obese, Memphis is the fattest city in the nation, according to Newsweek magazine.
It's the city that turned barbecue into an art form and bought a special ambulance in March to transport super-sized patients. The ambulance is already broken, but Memphis is trying to fix the obesity rate that has landed it atop list after list as fat and unfit.
Senators probe ties between drugmakers & pain experts
The Senate Finance Committee is investigating financial ties between drugmakers and pain experts. Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent letters to the makers of commonly abused pain medications and to some academic experts seeking information on their relationship to each other.
1 Doc in 5 Reports Being Stalked
More than 20 percent of surveyed physicians said they had been stalked by a patient or former patient at some point, a researcher said here.
Psychiatry Manual Drafters Back Down on Diagnoses
In a rare step, doctors revising psychiatry’s diagnostic manual have retreated from two controversial proposals that would have expanded the number of people identified as having psychotic or depressive disorders.