SWITCH: Mobile | ePaper | Subscribe

Homes Rentals Jobs Autos Contests

Karen Kaplan

Doctors may not tell you the truth about medical errors

Last updated Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - 6:15pm

Some things are better left unsaid -- and that includes certain aspects of your medical condition, doctors say.

In a nationwide survey of 1,800 physicians, 17 percent had some level of disagreement with the notion that they should "never tell a patient something that is not true." Not only that, but 11 percent of those surveyed acknowledged that they had told a patient "something that was not true" in the past year.

Doctors, Lawsuits, Medical malpractice, Study, National Read more Comments

The Susan Komen For The Cure international headquarters are shown in the Dallas suburb of Addison, Texas, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. After three days of controversy, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity says it is reversing its decision to cut breast-screening grants to Planned Parenthood. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Komen reverses decision to cut Planned Parenthood funding

Eryn Brown, Karen Kaplan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, February 3, 2012 - 3:28pm

In a reversal of policy after a nationwide uproar over its decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen for the Cure said Friday that it will amend its new funding rules and allow continued funding of breast health programs operated by the clinic.

Breast Cancer, Charity, Planned Parenthood, Politics, National Read more Comments

Kids with high IQs more likely to use drugs as teens, study says

Karen Kaplan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 4:59pm

Children with high IQs are more likely to use marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and other illicit drugs as teenagers and adults, according to new data on nearly 8,000 British men and women who were tracked for more than three decades.

Features, Drug abuse, Research, Teens Read more Comments

School soda bans having little impact on consumption

Karen Kaplan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, November 7, 2011 - 6:34pm

Health experts who would like to reverse the rise in childhood obesity often focus on reducing kids' access to sugary drinks. But a new study has some discouraging news: Students in schools that limited sales of soda and other sugary beverages on campus consumed just as many of the drinks, overall, as students in schools without any such restrictions.

Schools, Features, Children, Health, Obesity, Research, Soda Read more Comments

Stress linked to aggressive breast cancer, study finds

Karen Kaplan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, September 19, 2011 - 9:26pm

LOS ANGELES — Could stress play a role in the development of breast cancer? Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago wondered about this. After all, the components of what experts call “psychosocial stress” — including fear, anxiety and isolation — could take a toll on the autonomic nervous system, which helps regulate heart rate, respiration and other important bodily functions.

Breast Cancer, Cancer, Cancer Research, Health, Medical, Medical research, Research, Stress, Women Read more Comments

Secondhand smoke affects children's brains

Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - 4:10pm

LOS ANGELES -- Children and teens exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to develop symptoms for a variety of mental health problems, including major depressive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and others, according to a study published in Tuesday's edition of the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Features, Health, Secondhand smoke, Smoking, Study Read more Comments

Study: If your mother has Alzheimer's, you are at greater risk

Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, February 28, 2011 - 4:57pm

LOS ANGELES -- Besides age, the biggest risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease is having a parent or other first-degree relative with the condition. A new study adds to growing evidence that inheriting it from your mother is much worse than inheriting it from your father.

Researchers at the University of Kansas School of Medicine recruited 21 adult children (age 63 to 83) of Alzheimer's patients who were still "cognitively intact." They examined their brains using an MRI scanner on two occasions, two years apart. Then they compared those brain scans with those of 32 other healthy adults in the same age group with no family history of Alzheimer's. Members of both groups had similar levels of education and cognitive performance.

Features, Alzheimer's Disease, Health Read more Comments

One-third of Americans are obese, and doctors should learn how to examine them

Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Thursday, December 30, 2010 - 4:37pm

LOS ANGELES -- Apparently, there is one bastion of American life that has not yet been touched by the obesity epidemic -- medical school.

So say a pair of physicians from the University of Pittsburgh. In a commentary published online this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, they argue that medical students should get a whole lot more formal training in how to treat obese patients.

More than one in three American adults is obese, and yet medical textbooks "almost exclusively display normal-sized models with obvious bony landmarks," write Dr. Ann Willman Silk and Dr. Kathleen M. McTigue. Physical exams are usually practiced on healthy-weight patients. So when confronted with a patient whose internal organs are buried beneath a thick layer of fat, doctors are often ill-prepared to assess them.

Features, Health, Obesity Read more Comments

Certain type of baby formula may be making babies fat

Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Tuesday, December 28, 2010 - 7:44am

LOS ANGELES -- Could mothers be putting their children on a path toward obesity from the very first days of their lives?

A study published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics finds that babies fed a particular type of infant formula put on more weight than other babies and continued to gain weight faster than their counterparts during the first 7.5 months of life.

Researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia wondered whether babies would respond differently to formulas based on cow's milk (whose proteins are intact) and those made with proteins that are pre-digested, which are easier for some babies to tolerate. These formulas, known as protein hydrolysate formulas (or PHFs), have about 35 percent more protein than cow's-milk formulas. They also have more free amino acids.

Features, Health Read more Comments

Researchers: It is possible to get sick of chocolate

Karen Kaplan, McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Tuesday, August 24, 2010 - 12:09am

They say that laughter is the best medicine, but some people might endorse chocolate instead.

Features, Health, Medical, Food Read more Comments

Breast cancer genes can't be patented, federal court rules

Karen Kaplan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 8:24pm

LOS ANGELES -- Until Monday, women who wanted to know whether they had inherited a version of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that increased their risk of breast or ovarian cancer could find out only by sending their DNA to Myriad Genetics Inc. The Salt Lake City company patented the two genes in the 1990s and invented a test to identify some of the telltale mutations.

Health, National Read more Comments