Testing It Up

Although an official cause of death could not be declared pending the release of toxicology results, a police report released on Thursday, February 2, indicated that aspiring singer and ‘House of Carters’ star Leslie Carter may have overdosed on prescription drugs.

Authorities found bottles of Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine), a muscle relaxant; Xanax (alprazolam), a drug used to treat anxiety; and Zyprexa (olanzapine), used to treat bipolar disorder near Carter’s body.

Leslie “was found in the bedroom not breathing or responding” when her father Robert came home at around 4:16 pm, and he attempted CPR. Ginger Carter, Leslie’s stepmother, called 911; Leslie was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Ginger revealed further that Leslie had “a long history of mental illness,” and that she appeared depressed the morning before her death. TMZ sources shared that Leslie had moved in with family, in an attempt to get over prescription drug addiction.

The police report also indicated that Leslie had fallen in the shower earlier in the day, and that she had been sleeping while Ginger took care of her 10-month-old daughter. Ginger was quoted in the report as saying that Leslie “seemed OK in the morning but at times seemed depressed just by the way she was talking.”

The report also recounted that “Ginger stated that [Leslie] did not wake up but seemed to be okay and just sleeping… Ginger states that she looked at [Leslie] and she had all the color to her skin and was breathing. ”

The toxicology reports are expected to be released in four to six weeks.

February is Children’s Dental Health Month, and several events have been lined up across the country to mark the observance.

In New Jersey, Captain Supertooth will be visiting over 25 schools and more than 7,000 children around the states of New Jersey and Connecticut, to talk about good oral health habits.

February 3, Friday, is Give Kids a Smile Day. The local New Jersey Dental Association and the national American Dental Association is sponsoring the free event, which is celebrating its 10th year. Give Kids a Smile offers free cleanings and other dental services for needy children, not just in New Jersey but at various locations across the country.

Captain Supertooth will also be on hand during Give Kids a Smile day; he will be dropping by UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School in Newark (9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) and KinderSmile Foundation in Montclair, N.J. (12:30 to 2 p.m.).

Children’s Dental Health Awareness Day, on the other hand, will be observed on February 26. The free event will consist of a carnival-style program the raises awareness about good oral health and nutrition, and will be held at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City.

Children’s Dental Health Awareness Day will feature hands-on activities staffed by volunteers from Delta Dental of New Jersey and the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation; the Hudson County Dental Society; and Dr. Robert Grunstein and his vintage fire truck equipped with a dental chair, and his therapy dog, Snickers. Captain Supertooth will also be there.

A provocative commentary in the journal Nature has suggested placing sugar in what some people may consider an unlikely category: that of regulated substances, in the same league as alcohol and tobacco.

Sweet, good old sugar? Why?!?

Los Angeles Times shared salient points from the commentary, written by Dr. Robert Lustig and co-authors Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UC San Francisco, who said that added sugars in processed foods and beverages are behind a slew of chronic health conditions and premature deaths.

The authors clarified, however, that they were not advocating having sugar outlawed completely, or removed from the diet. They are, on the other hand, primarily concerned about added sugars, which they defined as “any sweetener containing the molecule fructose that is added to food in processing.”

Today’s reality from a health perspective is that non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, pose the greatest threat to public health – something that even the United Nations acknowledges. More than 35 million deaths could be attributed entirely or partly to these diseases, the risk factors of which include alcohol, tobacco, and diet choices.

The authors point out that of these three factors, only tobacco and alcohol are subjected to regulation. Their main difference from diet is that food is considered necessary for survival, although the choices that we make in terms of what our diets consist of can also be detrimental to one’s health.

They then compare added sugars to alcohol, based on the four criteria used to justify government regulation for the latter. Added sugars, the authors said, are also: unavoidable in society; toxic; can be abused; and is bad for society.

Singer Leslie Carter, sister of former Backstreet Boy member Nick Carter and singer Aaron Carter, passed away on Tuesday, January 31, in upstate New York. She was 25.

Various news reports shared that the Carter family was “blindsided” by her death. A source close to the family reportedly told Us Weekly that “the family legitimately doesn’t know what happened… they’re still trying to find out.”

Leslie, whose single “Like Wow!” was featured on the soundtrack of Shrek in 2001, has a 10-month-old daughter, Alyssa, with her husband Mike, whom she married in 2008. Us Weekly’s source went on to say: “She loved her family, she loved her baby… she was happy stepping away from show business and just living happily with her family in Canada.”

According to a statement from Aaron Carter, who is taking a leave from the off-Broadway production of “The Fantasticks” due to his sister’s sudden death: “Aaron Carter would like to thank all his fans, friends and especially his cast and crew at ‘The Fantasticks’ for their outpouring of love and support during this tragic time.”

The young Carter also gave the following personal message: “I am with my family spending much needed time together as we deal with this private matter.”

An autopsy of Leslie’s remains was completed on Wednesday. According to Richard Mackowiak of the Chautauqua County Coroner’s Office, “There were no visible signs of trauma. We are awaiting a toxicology report to determine a cause of death.”

A report on TMZ.com, however, revealed that the late aspiring singer was battling with addiction to prescription drugs, and there are reports that she may have died from an overdose, although these are technically just conjecture until official toxicology reports are made public.

The leading breast-cancer charity in America, Susan G. Komen for the cure, announced yesterday, January 31, that it will stop providing funds for breast cancer screening and other breast health services to Planned Parenthood Centers.

The charity was halting partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates due to criteria that disallowed providing funding for any organization that is under government investigation. Planned Parenthood is one such organization, as Rep. Cliff Stearns launched an inquiry in September last year into whether Planned Parenthood uses public funds for abortions.

Sue Dunlap, chief executive of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, shared: “We had the sense this was coming and that they were under pressure… I find this really disappointing. I think when women’s health is more of a political conversation than a conversation about healthcare and taking care of people, then we’ve gone too far.”

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, on the other hand, gave the following statement: “We are alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure… Our greatest desire is for Komen to reconsider this policy and recommit to the partnership on which so many women count.”

Planned Parenthood provided about 4 million breast exams and 70,000 referrals for mammograms nationwide over the last five years. Of these, Richards reveals further, around 170,000 breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals are performed through funding provided by Komen.

RealAge recently released a ranking of the “Youngest and Oldest Cities in America,” using RealAge Test results from more than 28 million people.

RealAge Chief Medical Officer Keith Roach, MD shared: “Aging is inevitable, but the rate of aging is not… Each city ranking is a unique assessment of the healthy lifestyles, or lack of them, in that metro area.”

The report reviewed two dozen factors that influences the “real age” of a person in determining the best places to live, in order to stay young. A city’s age, according to RealAge co-founder Michael F. Roizen, MD, are affected in a big way by lifestyle choices made by the people who live there. He shared: “Cities with the lowest stress are basically the youngest. Stress, smoking, diet, exercise — all four of those seem to go together.”

At the top of the list and earning the title “America’s youngest city” is San Francisco, California. This is largely due to the fact that residents of the Bay area rank first in consuming fruits and vegetables, and not smoking. They also rank second for eating whole grains and exercising.

Other cities that earned top spots on the list are: Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, California; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; Denver, Colorado; Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts; Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles, California.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, are Knoxville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Indianapolis, Indiana, which were identified as cities where Americans with the unhealthiest real age lived.

Women who are undergoing in vitro fertilization usually have to suffer through repeated blood tests, in order to measure hormone levels. Researchers at Boston IVF, however, may help women escape all that pain and inconvenience, through a new saliva test.

Women undergoing IVF may need to go through as many as seven blood tests per cycle, while on hormone injections on a daily basis. According to Dr. Michael Alper, medical director of Boston IVF, the hormone injections stimulate egg production in women undergoing treatment, and the blood tests help them adjust the dose of their hormone injections, so as not to over-stimulate their ovaries.

The blood tests are used to measure estradiol, a form of estrogen which is also found in saliva. Dr. Alper said that the saliva test costs just as much as the blood test, at $150. It should be covered by insurance in states where coverage for IVF is mandatory, which includes Massachusetts.

The new saliva test is already being offered to patients at the Waltham office of Boston IVF. Dr. Alper said that other locations, including Boston, will follow suit in the next few weeks, while other fertility centers nationwide will probably offer the test over the next year or two.

While the saliva test presents a painless alternative to blood tests, it still cannot be done at home. Women will have to drop off samples at the doctor’s office every day or two, and come back later in the day for the results.

Dana White, president of UFC, spoke with pride regarding the recently-implemented drug testing policy that requires all new signees to pass a drug test.

UFC officials recently announced that all Zuffa fighters – regardless of whether they are in the UFC, Strikeforce, or “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series – are required to pass a pre-fight drug test for anabolic steroids before they can compete in the cage.

The announcement came on the same day that the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed that Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, a former Strikeforce champion, tested positive for a steroid at a January 7 event in Las Vegas.

White shared: “That’s the commission’s (responsibility)… We’re the most regulated sport on Earth. We’re the last guys on Earth who should be getting [expletive] steroid questions.” He added: “It’s been a very good policy for us… There have been a lot of things we found out medically about guys coming into ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ that was very positive.”

The program is expected to help save UFC from the embarrassment of having new fighters fail drug tests. Failing a drug test, after all, does not just affect the fighter concerned. It can also have an adverse effect on the hosting organization. In addition – and perhaps more importantly – White shared that it will help protect young fighters from the dangerous side effects posed by steroids.

White said: “If you’re a talented guy who could be in the business a long time and make a career out of this, once you get off this stuff – because you can’t do it because here you’re going to get caught — once you get off it, you’re ruined for life – mentally, physically, emotionally… So if we can stop that stuff early with these athletes that are young and have the talent to be here, we feel we’ll win half the battle.”

A study published online by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that an estimated 7 percent of American teens and adults carry the human papillomavirus (HPV) in their mouths.

The study may lead health experts towards understanding the increasing trend of incidence of mouth and throat cancer for nearly 25 years. The evidence also shows that oral sex practices play a major role in transmitting the virus.

Dr. Maura L. Gillison of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, lead author of the study, shared: “There is a strong association for sexual behavior, and that has important implications for public health officials who teach sexual education.”

Oral sex is generally deemed as a safer alternative to sexual intercourse, despite the fact that herpes, HIV, and other diseases may also be transmitted when engaging in it. According to a survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last year, 90 percent of adults, 27 percent of 15-year-old boys, and 23 percent of 15-year-old girls have had oral sex.

Fred Wyand, director of the American Social Health Association HPV Resource Center, shared: “I don’t think people think of oral sex in the same way they do with traditional intercourse… Sometimes younger people engage in oral sex so they don’t have to worry about pregnancy. They may not even make the link between oral sex and STDs.”

This behavior, researchers suspect, may have led to the transmission of HPV through the mouth over the last decade, resulting in oral cancers.

A study supported by the Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars Program determined that patient-collected specimens for DNA testing for the human papillomavirus (HPV) was just as accurate in detecting precancerous cervical lesions as liquid-based cytology and visual inspection with acetic acid.

The researchers shared: “Although it is not specific enough to be a stand-alone test, self-HPV testing provides sensitive results without pelvic exams, medical professionals, or healthcare facilities and thus has the potential to serve as a primary cervical cancer screening method for women, regardless of their geographic location or access to healthcare… Limited resources can then be focused on the clinical follow up of the smaller percentage of women who tested positive.”

While cytology-based screening programs for cervical cancer have led to decreased incidence as well as death rates in developed countries, 85 percent of the global burden of cervical cancer is in less-developed countries, where conducting current screening techniques may prove to be a challenge.

The authors said that testing for HPV DNA has been suggested as an alternative to screening using cervical cytology. DNA testing produced “highly-sensitive, objective, and reliable results in high-risk HPV DNA from cervical and vaginal specimens.”

The study consisted of an analysis of data from 13,004 women, aged 17 to 56, who underwent screening from 19999 to 2007. All the study participants were sexually active, had an intact uterus, and had no history of CIN2+ disease or worse, or a history of pelvic irradiation.