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Friday, December 07, 2012

Shots - Health News

Doctors And Women's Groups Urge Feds To Relax Plan B Restrictions

With the presidential election decided, doctors and some advocates are calling for the administration to relax restrictions on the sale of Plan B to teens.

December 7, 2012 With the presidential election decided, doctors and some advocates are calling for the administration to make it easier for teenagers to get the morning-after birth control pill.

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Shots - Health News

Unusually Early Flu Season Intensifies

The number of states experiencing widespread flu doubled in the past week.

December 7, 2012 The flu is back early this season. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases

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The Salt

Mushroom Ice Cream, Anyone? Chefs Turning To Veggies For Dessert

A cup of pumpkin ice cream with chunks of frozen candy cap mushrooms. The candy cap variety is said to have the fragrance of maple syrup.

December 7, 2012 Unafraid of the supposed barrier between sweet and savory, many chefs are incorporating vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, and even mushrooms into new dessert recipes. But are they any healthier? Actually, yes, says a nutritionist.

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Shots - Health News

How Miscommunication And A Simple Mistake Led To A Toxic Accident

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the accidental release of chlorine gas at a Tyson Food plant could have been prevented with better communication.

December 7, 2012 Somebody poured a solution of industrial strength bleach into a 55-gallon drum, triggering a release of toxic chlorine gas a Tyson Foods plant. Language barriers contributed to the accident, government investigators concluded.

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Shots - Health News

Post-Election, 'Morning After' Pill Advocates Want Age Rules Revisited

Currently, you need a doctor's prescription to obtain emergency contraception, such as Plan B, if you are younger than 17.

December 7, 2012 A year ago, some of President Obama's biggest supporters were dismayed when the administration did not lift the age requirements for obtaining the pill without a prescription. But advocates now see a new opportunity to push the issue.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Shots - Health News

Nigeria Pressured To Clean Up Lead-Contaminated Villages

A boy works at an illegal gold mine in northern Nigeria. Lead from these mines has sickened thousands of children in the region.

December 6, 2012 Last spring, the Nigerian government pledged millions of dollars to decontaminate a region where hundreds of kids have died from severe lead poisoning. So far, none of the money has been released. The delay in the cleanup puts thousands of kids at risk of getting sick, public health advocates say.

Summary

Shots - Health News

Perfection Is Skin Deep: Everyone Has Flawed Genes

When researchers looked at the genetic sequences of 179 individuals, they found far more defects in the patterns of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs than they expected.

December 6, 2012 Researchers found a surprising number of mutations, including several associated with disease, in the genes of normal healthy people. Their study raises questions about whether widespread genetic sequencing could end up scaring people for no good reason.

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Around the Nation

To Trim Down, Spelman Trades Sports For Fitness

Spelman College has dropped NCAA athletics in favor of a comprehensive fitness program. The school now offers classes like Zumba to help encourage all students to exercise more.

December 6, 2012 Officials at Spelman College, a historically black women's college in Atlanta, have decided to scrap the school's NCAA program. With few students participating in organized sports, the college has decided to devote those funds to a fitness program designed to reach the entire student body.

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The Salt

Fruit Fly Nose Says Steer Clear Of Deadly Food; Human Nose Not So Reliable

Now we know why we'll never see a common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) sitting on a beet.

December 6, 2012 Although we can usually smell when food goes bad, humans just don't have the fruit fly's direct path from nose to brain that alerts it to food poison. But the detection of this pathway could someday lead to more research that could help us develop better bug repellants.

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The Salt

Hours After A Meal, It's The Memory That Matters

In an experiment, people who saw a picture of a big bowl of soup before eating lunch were less hungry a few hours later than those who saw a smaller bowl, regardless of how much they ate at the meal.

December 6, 2012 What a person remembers of a meal hours later, not the actual calories consumed, matters more when it comes to hunger. Eating while watching TV sets us up to eat more food than we should, but a new experiment shows how manipulating our memories of a meal can change how hungry we feel.

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