Singing “Frosty the Snowman” and “Jingle Bells” may not seem like a big deal to most third-graders, but for Joey Finley, 8, doctors say it’s a miracle.
The blond, freckle-faced boy was unable to speak in a normal voice until about a year ago.
“I thought I would sound bad,” he said.
Joey suffers from a rare virus that can get into the cells of the voice box.
“He has a condition called recurrent papillomatosis,” explained Dr. Steven Sobol, director of pediatric otolaryngology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. “It causes growths like warts that you would see in other parts of the body.”
Sobol said lesions in RRP (for the condition’s full name, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis) are caused by the human papilloma virus, or HPV, the same condition that causes cervical cancer.
An estimated 20,000 children and adults in the United States suffer from the disease.
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Editor’s note: David Paterson, a Democrat, is governor of New York.
David Paterson
Special to CNN
Like many New Yorkers, I remember a time when nearly everyone smoked. In 1950, Collier’s reported that more than three-quarters of adult men smoked. This epidemic had a devastating and long-lasting impact on public health.
Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a new public health epidemic: childhood obesity.
What smoking was to my parents’ generation, obesity is to my children’s generation. Nearly one out of every four New Yorkers under the age of 18 is obese. In many high-poverty areas, the rate is closer to one out of three.
That is why, in the state budget I presented last Tuesday, I proposed a tax on sugared beverages like soda. Research has demonstrated that soft-drink consumption is one of the main drivers of childhood obesity.
For example, a study by Harvard researchers found that each additional 12-ounce soft drink consumed per day increases the risk of a child becoming obese by 60 percent. For adults, the association is similar.
Program Note: Don’t forget to watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Anderson Cooper and Lisa Ling on CNN’s award-winning Planet in Peril tonight. Gupta, Anderson Cooper and Lisa Ling travel to the front lines to examine the conflict between growing populations and natural resources. Watch Planet In Peril: Battle Lines Thursday 9p ET
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
As things stand now, it is illegal for a healthy person to take prescription stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall without a prescription. It is happening, though. In surveys of college students, some places reported use as high as 25 percent! They say they use it to boost memory, concentration and focus. And, who wouldn’t want that?
Seven scientists are asking the question aloud in a commentary that caught my eye. I have been doing stories about brain cognition for some time, and they are always some of our most popular stories. That’s because you would be hard pressed to find someone who says their memory, focus and concentration is as good as it can be. I know mine certainly isn’t. And, therein lies the problem. Should I be taking a drug to solve the problem or is our society way too over medicated already?
In case you are curious, the authors were no slouches. The group of scientists includes ethics experts and the editor in chief of the journal Nature. They all call for more research into the risk of the drugs including addiction and long term effects of amphetamines, which are an important ingredient in these brain enhancing drugs. They also want policies to ensure people are not coerced or forced into taking them. For example, you wouldn’t want your employer requiring you to alter your brain chemistry because they thought it made you more productive or focused.
I guess the real question is would you take these medications? Let’s say they went over the counter tomorrow, would you start taking them or recommending them for your family members even if you or they had never been diagnosed an with attention disorder?
Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Ron Wyden
The Wall Street Journal
Not many people are buying cars built 60 years ago. No one is watching TV on a set manufactured in the 1940s. Patients are not lining up to see a doctor who hasn’t cracked a book since before the polio vaccine was discovered. Why, then, do millions of Americans get their health care through an employer-based system from the 1940s?
Employers didn’t start offering health benefits roughly 60 years ago because they were experts in medical decisions. It was a way of circumventing the World War II wage and price controls. Barred from offering higher salaries to attract workers, employers offered health insurance instead. Aided by an IRS ruling that said workers who received health benefits did not have to pay income taxes on them, and by the fact that employers could write off the cost of the health benefits as a business related expense, this accidental arrangement became the primary way most Americans access health care.
The system worked at first, but a lot has changed in 60 years. Back then, the average soldier returning from World War II took a job with a local company where he would work for decades until he got a gold watch at a big retirement party. Today, lifetime employment is dead. By 42, the average American will change jobs 11 times.
Sixty years ago, most American companies competed only against neighboring companies for lucrative contracts. Today, most businesses are up against foreign companies that don’t foot the bill for their employees’ health-care costs.
Today, health-care costs are increasing at twice the rate of inflation. To stay in the black, companies are forced to raise their employees’ premiums and deductibles, opt for cheaper insurance plans, or worse yet, drop health benefits altogether. Since 2000, the percentage of employers providing health insurance has declined by nearly 10%.
John Coles
The Sun
The dramatic moment when a man is helped to end his own life is being shown for the first time on British TV tonight.
Craig Ewert chose to die to escape what he called the “living tomb” which his body had become after he developed motor neurone disease. The retired university professor and father of two was struck down by the illness at 59.
Within five months it had left him unable even to breathe unaided, so he paid £3,000 for an assisted suicide with the Swiss-based Dignitas euthanasia organisation.
Film cameras followed him during his final days in a Dignitas-owned apartment in Zurich.
The resulting documentary — Right To Die? — shows him passing away with Mary, his wife of 37 years, at his side.
Moments before he dies, she asks him: “Can I give you a kiss?”
Craig replies: “Of course” and Mary adds: “I love you.”
Craig says: “I love you, sweetheart, so much.”
Mary then tells him: “Have a safe journey, I will see you some time.”
In law, Dignitas can only assist suicide and cannot carry out the final act. So, with his body barely functioning, Craig is given a timer to bite on which turns off his ventilator.
Retired social worker Arthur Bernard, who has acted as an “escort” in more than 100 assisted suicides for Dignitas, also mixes a lethal dose of barbiturate and pours it into a glass.
He says: “Mr Ewert, if you drink this you are going to die.”
Craig drinks through a pink straw, then says: “Give me some apple juice. Please can I have some music?”
Moments before his eyes close for the final time he says: “Thank you.” His wife then says: “Safe journey. Have a good sleep.”
After 45 minutes he is pronounced dead.
Elizabeth Cohen
CNN Medical Correspondent
It sounds like the medical equivalent of a crystal ball: A single test that helps tell you your chances of developing Parkinson’s disease, prostate cancer, diabetes, alcoholism, obesity, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and more than 75 other diseases and conditions . Wow, I thought, I’ve discovered the holy grail of health care.
The genetic analysis is offered by a company called 23andMe – here’s the section that lists all the things they test for. You just spit into a test tube (don’t worry, you won’t miss; they give you a funnel), mail it in, and pay $399 for a genetic analysis of dozens of diseases that ends up on a secure Web site, which you can peruse at your leisure. The site quotes a satisfied customer: “I thought how fascinating if I could know more about my future. I should be aware for myself. For my children. If there’s something that I could prevent for the future…why not learn? Why not help myself?”
I ran into this Web site while researching a story this week on genetic tests being offered online. The question that keeps coming up in my mind is this: What do you get for your $400? Do you find out for sure that you’re destined to get, say, glaucoma? That you’re more likely than most people to get it? Way more likely or just a little more likely?
“I can’t figure out what you get for the $400,” I said to Brian Naughton, the Founding R&D Architect at 23andMe (yes, that really is his title, and the company name comes from the fact that we all have 23 pairs of chromosomes). “For example, if I get your test and it tells me I have the worst possible heart attack genes, what chance do I have of having a heart attack?”
Keep reading
Elizabeth Cohen
CNN Medical Correspondent
Silly journalists.
By now, you’ve probably heard that the Food and Drug Administration found the chemical melamine in baby formula in the United States. Yes, that’s the same toxic stuff that killed at least three babies in China, and sickened around 50,000 more.
Parents, understandably, are freaking out. So starting on late Tuesday afternoon, when the story broke that melamine had been found in a sample of infant formula made in the U.S., I had the silly thought that the Food and Drug Administration might actually have some information up on its Web site to help sort this all out for parents.
But nothing went up on the FDA’s Web site until Friday afternoon. For three days, the FDA had loads of information up about melamine in Chinese infant formula and in pet food from earlier incidents, but not a single syllable about this potentially deadly chemical in the formula we feed our babies right here in the United States.
“What’s up with that?” I asked FDA Spokeswoman Judy Leon, who was kind enough to answer her cell phone on Thanksgiving Day. “Is something wrong with my eyes? Is it there and I’m just not seeing it?”
No, said Leon, there was nothing wrong with my eyes. The site was indeed devoid of any information on the topic during those three days. “What can I tell you?” she said, sounding resigned. “I have nothing to say about that.”
Here are the basic facts about melamine in U.S. baby formula: the FDA has test results back on 74 samples of infant formula and so far it has found trace amounts of melamine in a sample of Nestle’s Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron. They also found trace amounts of a related compound, cyanuric acid, in a sample of Enfamil LIPIL with Iron, made by Mead Johnson. In addition, Abott Laboratories found trace levels of melamine in a sample of its formula, Similac, according to the Associated Press.
Leon at the FDA says these low levels of melamine – monumentally lower than what was in the Chinese formula — pose “absolutely no risk” to babies. Pediatricians I’ve spoken with concur. “To have these tiny amounts in infant formula is of negligible concern,” says Dr. Harvey Karp, author of “The Happiest Baby on the Block” and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine. “The dictum in toxicology is that the dose makes the poison.”
Click here to read what the FDA posted on its site Friday:
For the FDA’s test results on infant formula made in the US, click here:
Val Willingham
CNN Medical Producer
Every day I wake up and thank God for another day. It’s not a big ceremony. It’s just something I do to calm my soul. I am a blessed person and I feel it’s important to acknowledge that fact.
When I was a little girl, my parents made sure I always said “Thank you” for the things I was given. I never took anything for granted. A kind word, a small token, I was always appreciative. Even as an adult I keep “Thank you” notes in my desk, ready to send to those who have looked out for me, or been there when I needed them most.
Doctors say giving thanks, taking the time to notice positive things in your life is not only good for your psyche but it’s good for your body. University of California at Davis researchers found that practicing gratitude can lower your blood pressure and make you feel less hostile. Grateful people are less angry, less negative and usually look for the cup half full. Studies by Cornell University researchers have shown that those who are thankful appear to have lower risks of developing phobias, alcoholism, even depression. They even have stronger immune systems.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta | BIO
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
Last night, Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed while giving a speech. CNN had a camera rolling during the event, giving us an unusual look at what happened. I got a call in the middle of the night to come take a look. (Watch Video) Even doctors, while we read about diseases and see patients after they end up in the ER, we hardly ever witness things like this. I decided to blog about it this morning, hoping we might all learn something from seeing what happened to Mukasey.
During his speech, he seemed to have word-finding difficulties. He started to say a word, paused and repeated it. He then began to slur his words, and had a slight drooping of the right side of his face. After that, he slumped forward and passed out, requiring assistance to the ground. All of these events serve as clues as to what may have caused the problem in the first place.
Word-finding difficulties are sometimes an indication there is a problem with the speech center of the brain, typically located on the left side of the brain. It could be because of inadequate blood flow to the brain or sometimes bleeding within the brain itself, as was the case in late 2006 with Sen. Tim Johnson. (Read more) The fact that the right side of his body began to droop and he slurred words was also important signs. After all, the right side of the body is controlled by the left brain. Another clue: He seemed to pass out, probably because of overall decreased blood flow to the brain. And, finally, he reportedly is now doing well able to talk and in good spirits. Clearly, whatever caused this seems to be temporary. It could have been a fainting spell.
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