Leslie, along with Prevention Magazine, came up with an acronym to help people make those calories work. Just think C.H.E.W.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

‘C’ is for chewing because you tend to expend calories just by chewing. So choosing an apple is better than drinking a glass of apple juice. “When you eat the apple, you have to bit into it. You have to chew it,” Bonci explained. Chewy foods include fruits, vegetables, meat and nuts.

‘H’ stands for hearty. Hearty foods are filling and satisfying like soup, oatmeal and cereal. She gave the example of a bowl of black bean soup with a scoop of brown rice on top. These are high-fiber foods take up more room in your stomach and make you feel full longer.

‘E’ stands for energizing. Foods that are energizing have caffeine in them. Bonci says caffeine stimulates the body and gives it a fat-burning boost. Coffee and tea are good sources. Bonci does not recommend soda, but chocolate, in moderation, works.

‘W’ stands for warming. By that she means warming spices like chili pepper, salsa, ginger, curry, cumin, cinnamon and cloves. Vinegars can also have the warming effect.

But can these simple changes really make a difference? Bonci says if you follow all four steps you could burn about 70 extra calories a day. And any dieter knows every little bit helps.

The FDA’s recent study found lead in all 400 lipsticks and lip glosses they tested, with Maybelline’s Color Sensational in Pink Petal topping the list.

The news has prompted a lot of concern among women.

READ: Full FDA List Of Lipsticks With Lead

The FDA tells us: “In response to a number of inquiries the FDA has received regarding reports of lead contamination in lipstick, we have developed and validated a method for analyzing lead content in currently marketed lipstick. Our results do not show levels of lead in lipstick that would pose a safety concern.”

WBZ-TV’s Karen Anderson reports

The FDA is now considering recommending limits for lead in lipstick.

Dr. Sean Palfrey, Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Boston’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, says, “What they are saying is we don’t want you who have been using these lipsticks for years to panic, it’s probably not harming you. However, when we are trying to make our environment as safe as we can for children, we want to take the poisons out of their environment.”

Dr. Palfrey says lead can harm children’s learning, language and behavior development, which is why he recommends pregnant women take a closer look at their lipstick, and he says moms should keep it away from their kids. He explains, “Our bodies store lead unfortunately. For instance for a mother, that lead that is stored gets mobilized when they are pregnant. A baby could be born with lead poisoning simply because a mom was exposed herself.”

Cindy Luppi, of Clean Water Action, says more needs to be done. Luppi says, “Clean Water Action/Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is glad to see that FDA is considering setting an upper limit for lead in lipstick and we urge them to do so as soon as possible. Since there is no safe level of lead exposure, the limit for lipstick should be based on the lowest lead levels that companies can feasibly achieve.

This is the same logic the FDA used in recommending a limit for lead in candy at .1 ppm — not because that level of lead is safe in candy but because that is the lowest lead levels companies can reasonably achieve with good manufacturing practices. She says, “It’s disturbing to see that L’Oreal makes five of the top 10 most lead contaminated brands, including numbers 1 and 2. L’Oreal owes it to women to do a better job keeping the lead out of their lipstick.”

L’Oreal issued this statement in response:

“The FDA’s independent study, which will be published in the May/June, 2012 issue of the Journal of Cosmetic Science, confirms that lipsticks pose no safety concerns for the millions of women who use them daily. The lead levels detected by the FDA in the study are also within the limits recommended by global public health authorities for cosmetics, including lipstick.

All the brands manufactured and marketed by L’Oréal are in compliance with FDA regulations as well as the European Union Cosmetic Directive and the requirements for consumer safety in the more than 130 countries in which our products are sold. L’Oréal maintains the highest standards for safety and consumers can use all of our products with complete confidence.”

Senator John Kerry is of the lawmakers leading the effort for more accountability. He tells us, “For years, Senators Boxer, Feinstein, and I pressed the FDA to hold these companies accountable and provide strong oversight to ensure the products our families use are safe. It’s hard to believe all these years later we’re still hearing about lead in lipstick. Consumers shouldn’t have to cross their fingers and hope that an FDA-approved product won’t put them at risk, they should know it for a fact. The FDA needs to act fast to set clear safety standards.”

Until there is more accountability, Dr. Palfrey says, “Be smart, try to find out whether it has lead in it, and try to find the safest lipstick you can.”

When Jim Dungee had his first colonoscopy, doctors found several polyps, which are a precursor to colon cancer. “Therefore, I had to come back in three years,” he said. The three year mark was back in December. Knowing the test could save his life, Jim did not hesitate to make an appointment. He even called his insurance company to make sure it was covered. “I was told as long as it was put in as a preventive procedure, it was covered 100%,” he recalled.

WBZ-TV’s Joe Shortsleeve reports

Jim had the test and never gave it another thought until the bills started rolling in for his free screening. “Clearly a bait and switch, I was told one thing and they did the opposite,” he said.

Here is what happened. Doctors found more polyps during Jim’s second colonoscopy and removed them during the procedure. That, according to gastroenterologist Giancarlo Mercogliano, changed everything. “When we do the procedure and we find something, it’s no longer considered preventative. It becomes diagnostic,” he said.

That distinction left Jim on the hook for all kinds of co-payments and deductibles. He got one bill for $388 dollars and another for $64. “While you’re under anesthesia, they are actually changing the way you are going to be billed,” he said.

These surprise bills are not isolated to colonoscopies according to breast surgeon, Dr. Jennifer Sabol. She sees it happening to patients who are called back when their screening mammogram turns up something suspicious. “You have to come back on a separate day for that. That procedure is then called a diagnostic test,” she said.

Some insurance plans will cover the entire cost, but many of the more affordable plans with high deductibles, will not. “It’s been a big problem because patients are going to the less expensive insurance plans,” Dr. Sabol explained.

“It’s sort of an unintended consequence,” explained MIT professor John Gruber, who advised President Obama on health care reform. According to Gruber, the plan is not perfect but it does provide free access to screening tests that many patients might not get if they had to pay for them. “It used to be it cost money no matter what. Now, it might be free and it might cost money,” he said.

Jim Dungee believes doctors need to be upfront about all the potential fees, particularly when it comes to test patients assume will be free. “I just feel so, you know, ripped off,” he said.

When a CBS producer contacted Jim’s insurance company they agreed to waive his fees, but under the rules, they didn’t have to. If you are having a screening test, talk with your doctor to make sure you understand all the potential costs involved.

“I don’t want someone to have to die in order for me to have a heart,” she says.

Ali Khademhosseini is working to change that.

WBZ-TV’s Ken MacLeod reports

The multi-award winning researcher is leading a diverse, 50-member Brigham and Women’s team with the lofty goal of engineering human cells to grow replacement organs in the lab, in order to eliminate one of medicine’s great bottlenecks: the need for donors.

It is complicated, ground breaking stuff.

“We engineer materials that can signal the cells,” says Khademosseini. “We actually make heart-like tissues.”

The cells are grown in a gel-like substance on a scaffold which helps realign and shape the tissue under conditions that closely replicate development in the human body.

He showed WBZ some heart cells from a rat that now beat in sync on their own, after several weeks of nurturing in the lab.

Full human organs are certainly many years off, but an answer for damaged sections of heart might be closer.

“That’s the low hanging fruit,” says Khademhosseini. “To make pieces of heart that can potentially get sutured in place.”

Doctors say in a stressful world, it’s more important than ever because carrying anger or resentment just adds to anxiety.

What’s more, retention of negative emotions of anger and hatred undermine our physical health or mental health, and not surprisingly, our spiritual well-being.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

That’s the theory behind the book “The Forgiveness Project” by Rev. Michael Barry.

Rev. Barry actually considers the “inability to forgive” a disease which can affect our health, especially if you’re fighting a long-term illness.

“We know chronic anxiety and distress causes your digestive system to under-function, we know it effects our cardiovascular system, but it also affects our immune system.”

On the streets of Boston, people agree that holding on to anger has consequences.

Some young women we spoke with compared it to “poison” and even said they believe it endangers heart health.

Rev. Barry says there are no magic steps to forgiving, but he does say we can find forgiveness by understanding our desire to forgive, our humility, our spirituality and admitting when we are angry.

“Knowing forgiveness,” says Barry “is at least teaching people some coping skills when we know we eventually are going to find wounds and bumps and grinds along the way.”

He says once you forgive, you release the burden of hatred and only then can your healing begin.

PowerBar and Stonyfield Farm are among about a half dozen companies who’ve signed up to get the healthy button on their websites.

If a website visitor clicks on the healthy button, it broadcasts their approval of a product or a service to their friends on Runkeeper’s site.

RunKeeper had been testing out the button on its own site.

RunKeeper first started off as an iPhone app for runners but is planning to become a global fitness platform.

Watch Lisa’s report:

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at @lvanderpool.

There are scientists working on the next generation of contact lenses, so called “smart lenses”, and the potential is pretty amazing.

These are so called smart lenses, packed with circuits, sensors, and wireless technology.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

“There’s a possibility to develop a really, really important new tool for medicine,” says Smart Lense developer Babak Parviz. He’s testing a smart lens that could one day replace the standard blood test. “It allows for a very non-invasive, continuous monitoring of the human body.”

Parviz believes bio-markers found in the blood, such as cholesterol, sodium, potassium and glucose can all be found on the surface of the eye.

One lens can monitor glucose and radio out the result. “Someday maybe you can read the result with your cell phone.”

Kim carter has Type 1 diabetes and pricks her finger 5 to 7 times a day. “I hate it,” says Kim, “it hurts.” So, she says she would definitely try it out if one became available on the market.

Some new lenses don’t just monitor disease. They treat it.

Dr. Joe Ciolino is a doctor at mass eye and ear infirmary: “The lens has the ability to release medication to the eye for a long period of time.”

Harvard researchers are also testing such a device. A light brown donut shape in the center of this lens contains a drug. Dr. Dan Kohane of Children’s Hosptial, Boston adds, “The object would be placed in the eye and would slowly leak out over time” thereby delivering the medication.

Perhaps the most amazing idea for a smart lens is this one: Tiny LEDs built into the lens overlay images into your field of vision. The idea is that one day you would be able to stream health data, the internet, even television, right in front of your eyes.

That appeals to grad student Matt Davis: “You could be reading your emails when you walk down the street, things like that.”

Just watch out where you walk!

The 32-year-old San Francisco Internet entrepreneur spoke with WBZ-TV Wednesday from his room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

“It’s kind of amazing that this came together the way it did,” says Gupta.

“I can’t imagine this happening without Twitter or Facebook or Tumblr. It just wouldn’t have been possible to meet so many people so quickly.”

Gupta was diagnosed with Leukemia in September.

To live, he needed a bone marrow transplant. Since he’s Indian-American, he says his chances of finding the perfect match he needed were slim, some estimate one in 20,000.

He turned to social media to get the word out, and his friends in the tech industry even raised a $30,000 reward for a match.

It worked.

WBZ-TV’s Christina Hager Reports

“I had my transplant about a week and a half ago, and right now I’m waiting for the cells to get to my marrow and start producing blood, so that should happen soon,” says Gupta.

His search for a match inspired some 10,000 new potential bone marrow donors to register.

“We don’t get a chance to be heroes in our everyday life. We’re not firemen. We don’t get to run to a burning building, and pull someone out and save their life, but these individuals who are willing to donate their stem cells for blood or marrow, are just like firemen,” says Dr. Robert Soiffer, who specializes in blood cancers at the Dana Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center.

If you’re interested, you can find out how to register at the National Marrow Donor Registry.

Technology has changed the way we live our lives and for many of us, that means working more hours.

Just ask Jeff Prag, who runs his own consulting company in Natick.

“It starts probably about 5:30 in the morning. The phone is going off, checking emails and trying to respond to client needs,” he said.

There are many days, according to Prag, that he is plugged into his business until midnight. That constant contact leaves him feeling exhausted.

Fatigue is only part of the problem. There are a number of ways that technology can have an impact on our physical and emotional health.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

Dr. Matthew Gardiner is an ophthalmologist at Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston.

He sees many patients with what’s called ‘computer vision syndrome.’ It causes burning and irritation.

“Sometimes people have blurring and problems focusing,” he said.

The problem is lack of blinking.

According to Dr. Gardiner, people focus intently on the screen and they forget to blink. That can lead to dry eyes which causes the irritation.

Our ears are also suffering.

Dr. Jennifer Smullen also works at Mass Eye and Ear.

She says while ear buds don’t cause the problem directly, they could lead to hearing loss overtime because of the way people use them.

“An ear bud doesn’t block out background sound so people tend to turn the volume up louder,” she said.

Over time, that can cause hearing loss or tinnitus, which is an annoying ringing in the ear.

Dr. Smullen recommends over-the-ear headphones which do a better job of blocking out that background noise.

Technology has also allowed workers to get more done right at their desks and that means neck and back aches from spending more hours hunched over the computer.

Harvard researchers have found iPads are particularly problematic because people tend to rest them on their lap which makes the neck-strain even worse.

MIT professor Sherry Turkle says technology can also have a negative effect on our emotional health.

“This digital diet that we’re on now is not the one that is going to sustain us,” she explained.

One of the biggest concerns is how technology is changing the way our kids develop.

According to Turkle, many teens have trouble separating from their parents and becoming independent because mom and dad are always just a text away.

“The kid never feels quite alone, that the buck stops here and that they’re launched,” she said.

Apparently the problem starts young.

A recent Stanford University study found that girls as young as eight who spend a lot of time multi-tasking on digital devices tend to have lower self-confidence and social skills.

It’s been well-documented that multi-tasking really doesn’t work no matter what your age.

“You feel like the master of the universe but your performance goes down. That’s very bad for your emotional well-being,” Turkle said.

The most serious problem may have nothing to do directly with technology.

It’s all that sitting.

Research shows the longer you sit, the greater the likelihood you’ll die at a younger age.

You may want to grab that smartphone and go through your email while you take a walk.

But, a new report by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services reveals some eye-opening numbers on the seriousness of the crisis.

The report looked at the number of young people who were treated for a substance abuse problem, and found that alcohol abuse, and not drug abuse, was the biggest problem for college students.

WBZ-TV’s Kate Merrill reports

Officials also found that young people (ages 18-24) who did not go to college were much less likely to be treated for alcohol abuse.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Karen Twomey reports

The most recent data available is from 2009. In that year, there were 12,000 college students admitted to a treatment program.

Right now, 30 colleges and universities, including BU and Wellesley, are taking part in a three-year study that is looking at binge drinking and figuring out the best ways to fight it.

In the MetroWest area, hundreds have visited emergency rooms over the past few weeks.

Doctors say the norovirus, a highly contagious stomach flu is to blame.

Health officials say once it starts, it’s very difficult to contain.

WBZ-TV’s Ken MacLeod reports

To avoid transmission at Marlborough Hospital, employees frequently scrub down door handles and other surfaces.

Doctors say the best defense is to wash your hands on a regular basis. Hand sanitizer does not typically defend against the norovirus.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Mark Katic reports

Alannah Shevenell of Hollis underwent 14-and-a-half hours of surgery in October to remove an aggressive tumor and six organs – her stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, small bowel and the esophagus.

WBZ-TV’s Ken MacLeod reports

The tumor had twisted around the organs, so they all had to be transplanted.

“They come together sort of as a cluster, so it’s almost like transplanting one big organ,” said Dr. Heung Bae Kim, the director of Children’s Pediatric Transplant Center.

“The only way to take out this tumor was to remove all of the organs that were involved.”

“It was like changing the whole engine of the car. You take the whole thing out and put a whole new engine in.”

Dr. Kim said the esophagus transplant was the first in the world, but Alana waited a long time for the perfect match.

“Especially in this type of case, where you need six organs. She waited over a year for these organs, but actually they were the perfect organs for her.”

“We waited 15 months. Nobody ever thought we would wait that long and it was getting worse,” said Alana’s grandmother, Debbie Scolas.

“We’d like to thank, especially the donor family. This was a huge thing, they gave us back Alana.”

If you’d like to be an organ donor, visit Donate Life New England to sign up.

The system operates UMass Memorial Medical Center and four community hospitals. It has 13,500 workers. The cuts would be about six-percent of that.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, UMass Memorial said the job cuts are necessary because of declining patient volumes and reimbursements.

CEO John O’Brien said the system needs to reduce expenses by about $50 million immediately to avoid ending the current fiscal year with a loss.

Dr. Nicholas says it was an intense period of speech and language therapy. “It was extremely exciting,” she says. “As the rest of the world has seen with Gabby, she is a very inspiring person. It was a great honor for me to be able to work with her and be part of her rehabilitation.”

Dr. Nicholas says Giffords has a condition called Aphasia, a language disorder caused by an injury to the brain. The left side of Giffords’ brain, which is associated with language, was injured when she was shot one year ago.

WBZ-TV’s Karen Anderson reports

Dr. Nicholas says, “Even within a very short time frame, we could see that he had a very rapid learning curve.There were things she would improve upon in a very short time.” She says Giffords wanted to work with them as long as possible every day. “She is a remarkable person, she is very determined; she tries really, really hard.”

Some people have said after 18 months, patients with Aphasia will plateau, and their injury will halt. But Dr. Nicholas says that’s not the case. “There is no plateau,” she says. “I really don’t believe that. I think that is a false notion.

“My experience working with people with Aphasia, and I’ve been working with them for more than 20 years, is that that really isn’t true. Everybody continues to improve really for the rest of their lives.”

Dr. Nicholas says she can see why Giffords has so many close friends, and has inspired people from both sides of the aisle.

“She’s really charming. You can see why she makes friends so easily.” She says she respects Giffords’ decision to resign from Congress, but she believes she will achieve her goal to return to public service.

Dr. Nicholas says, “What we’ve all learned from her is you gotta fight, and you’ve gotta have hope.”

While the article angered yoga instructor Gina Minyard, she admits she herself has been injured. She says she hurt her hamstring and her shoulder about a year after she started practicing yoga. But she says the injury wasn’t all bad. “The same poses where I hurt myself, I actually was able to create healing,” she said.

In the article, New York Times senior writer William J. Broad writes that Yoga can cause serious injuries such as nerve damage, strokes, muscle damage, torn cartilage and even cracked ribs. Minyard and others have criticized some of the research behind the article. “Pulling like these studies from the 70’s with what sounded to me like people doing yoga kind of more on their own without the guidance of a teacher,” she said.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

In the 14-years Joe Palese has been teaching yoga, no one has ever been injured in his class. However, he does admit injuries do happen if students don’t use the proper technique. “I think a lot of injuries that this gentleman is describing in the article could possibly be created by doing something over and over incorrectly and/or pushing way too hard in a pose,” he said.

Physical therapist David Pasion says that injuries are possible but he also agrees with many yoga instructors who feel the article was alarmist. “I don’t think it was fair. There were too many negatives thrown out,” he said. “Obviously, with more people doing a form of exercise, you are going to have more injuries, whether it’s softball, baseball, football, whatever.”

The New York Times article suggests injuries happen when people push themselves beyond their physical limits. Many doctors agree and suggest that if you practice yoga, listen to your body. If a pose doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler read her ruling in court Thursday following closing arguments on motions by the drug companies to exclude testimony from experts for the women who believe there is a link between DES, or diethylstilbestrol, and breast cancer in DES daughters over 40.

Bowler rejected those motions and ordered the drug companies to enter mediation with the women.

The women are suing drug companies who made and promoted DES, a synthetic estrogen, from about 1938 to the early 1970s.

The drug companies have not said whether they will appeal the ruling.
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The high court is expected to hear arguments this year on the constitutionality of a requirement in the 2010 law that individuals must buy health insurance if they can afford to or pay a penalty.

Coakley argues in the brief filed Friday that a similar provision in Massachusetts’ first-in-the-nation health care law has been highly successful. She says 98 percent of state residents now have health coverage, the highest percentage in the country, and the cost of providing free care to the uninsured has dropped by $235 million per year.

The attorney general says the 2006 Massachusetts law served as a “blueprint” for the federal law

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The problem is a result of major manufacturing problems at a Lincoln, Nebraska, facility which was shut down last month.

The Swiss drugmaker has recalled bottles of Excedrin, Bufferin, NoDoz, and Gas-X which may have included mixed up pills.

Watch video:

Now the FDA says some of those over-the-counter pills may have accidentally been packaged with powerful prescription painkillers made at the same facility.

The opioid drugs are sold by Endo Pharmaceuticals as Percocet, Endocet, Opana and Zydone.

FDA officials say they are not recalling the drugs because they are medically necessary and the likelihood that they contain stray pills is low.

Novartis is voluntarily recalling them.

Visit their website or call 1-888-477-2403 Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST for more information about returning the bottles and getting reimbursed.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Dr. Rick Donahue of Personal Health MD in the Back Bay said, “It’s amazing how well our body can restore itself.”

Even losing just a few extra pounds can help roll back the clock. “The single biggest quick benefit from losing 10-15 pounds is blood pressure goes down. It also has a huge benefit on reducing blood sugar.”

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

A small amount of exercise can restore the body’s vigor and your state of mind, according to Paul Gozbekian of Equinox, a health club in the Back Bay. “People are not saying they want six pack abs or want toned arms or anything like that, although that’s a benefit. They just want to feel better,” he added.

It’s working for Cindy Commander. She told us as she maintained a brisk clip on a treadmill that she now has more energy.

Kicking some habits, like reducing your intake of alcohol, can help your health more than you might think. When it comes to drinking, Dr. Donahue said, “There’s cognitive benefit, organ benefit, and blood pressure benefit. “

The liver can also bounce back if there is no permanent damage. “The alcohol actually builds up a fatty liver, and that fatty liver is reversible,” explained Dr. Donahue.

Smokers who can quit will see dramatic benefits, both instant and lasting. “If someone stops smoking, especially during the winter flu and bronchitis season, they can reduce their infections more than 50%,” said Dr. Donahue. “It takes about 3-6 years to reduce the risk of lung cancer almost back to a non-smoker’s level.”

The news isn’t as bright when it comes to reversing sun damage. “It starts to induce changes in the skin cells that can someday lead to skin cancer,” said Dr. Donahue. “We call that solar aging, and actually the lines of aging aren’t years of aging, but years of sun exposure.”

The best you can do is preventing further damage by faithfully applying sunscreen.

Robin Cerroni of Lynn faithfully works out at Equinox. She believes all her positive changes have been worth it. “It does make a difference. Carrying things at work, carrying big boxes. There is joke in my office if they have to move something, get her.”

And she’s happy she is able to do it.

Jennifer Komsky still remembers what it was like listening to her daughter Barrie try to draw in air. “You could hear her breathing no matter what room she was in,” she explained.

Barrie also snored loudly and often woke up a crying. The pediatrician recommended Jennifer monitor Barrie’s breathing while she slept. She was shocked when she discovered Barrie would stop breathing for up to 10 seconds at a time. “It was a very rude awakening, and we discovered she had very severe sleep apnea,” said Komsky.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

Joey Levinson would also wake up a half dozen times a night. His mother also noticed he wasn’t growing as well as his twin brother Matthew. She became nervous when she’d hear Joey snore. “It was a snore that was incomprehensible coming from 34 pound peanut,” she says.

Dr. Ali Strocker diagnosed Joey’s problem. “It was a combination of a very large adenoid and very large tonsils that were contributing to his sleep apnea. I removed both of his tonsils and adenoid tissue,” explained Dr. Strocker.

Dr. Strocker says the number of children diagnosed with sleep apnea is on the rise. She now performs up to six surgeries a week to help kids breathe better. She says one of the reasons this is getting picked up more is because parents are more aware of the condition.

Symptoms for sleep apnea include: snoring loudly; pausing and gasping for air; sleeping with the head tilted back; waking up startled; and having trouble staying awake and focused.

The solution is often surgery. Barrie’s mom believes the results were nothing short of amazing, saying Barrie “just appears healthier, and doesn’t seem so frail or week.

Health experts are hoping a lot of quitters will be teens.

That’s because, according to the National Cancer Institute, a lot of young people are smoking, which can lead to dangerous health consequences as they get older.

So in an effort to help young smokers kick the habit, the NCI is creating a new program called Smokefree TXT.

It’s a free text message cessation service that provides 24-hour encouragement, advice, and tips to teens trying to quit smoking.

And it’s easy.

Teens sign up, and select a reasonable date to quit.

After that, text messages timed to their selected quit date are sent on a regular basis.

Following their quit date, they will continue to receive texts for up to six weeks.

Smoking experts say six weeks is a critical time, because that’s when people need the most support to stay off tobacco for good.

And the government agency also provides a website where teens can talk to one another about their efforts to quit.

According to the NCI, 20-percent of American teens are smokers and most will continue to smoke as they age.

Even though many teens want to quit, many don’t know how.

So the NCI is hoping this modern day advice line will help some kids through the difficult process of giving up smoking.

Teens can sign up online at teen.smokefree.gov or text quit to iquit (47848).

The Department of Public Health made the announcement Friday, saying the patient is a man in his 60′s from Barnstable County on the Cape and that he is in the hospital in critical condition.

The exact cause of how he was infected is not yet known, but it was likely from a bat.

Rabies in humans is rare because most people who are bitten seek treatment right away.

Health officials say, in this case, the man was likely bitten in the last several weeks and did not know it.

WBZ-TV’s Jim Armstrong reports

Bats were found in his home and investigators said it’s possible the man never realized he was bitten because the bats’ teeth are so small.

WBZ-TV’s Ken MacLeod reports

In some cases, rabies takes months to develop in humans.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Art Cohen reports

This is the first human rabies case in Massachusetts since 1935 and the sixth in the United States this year.

Read: Rabies Fact Sheet (.pdf)

According to DPH, rabies is almost always fatal:

“After a person is exposed to rabies, they can be given shots (called “immune globulin”) around the bite or scratch to help fight the virus where it entered the body. They will also get 4 or 5 vaccinations (shots) in their arm over several weeks. These shots will also help the person fight the virus. As long as the shots are given before the person starts to get sick, this will prevent them from getting rabies. If a person does not get the shots and then gets sick with rabies, there is no effective treatment.”

The cases were confirmed Friday in one adult and two children. The department says it expects to see many more cases through the spring.

The department’s immunization program has distributed 147,020 doses of flu vaccine to medical providers statewide for children 18 and younger. There is also a nasal version of the vaccine for most people ages 2 through 49 who prefer not to receive the shot.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

Average folks like Jan Brehm now follow it, and give it a thumbs up.

“The difference that I feel is night and day,” she explained.

This diet is based on the philosophy that we what we eat and drink effects our body chemistry or PH levels, according to registered dietitian Erin Palinkski.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

Alkaline levels should naturally measure 7.4.

The goal is to keep it right there by eating the right foods.

“The people that promote the alkaline diet state that by being able to increase your intake of alkaline forming foods, and decrease your intake of acidic foods, you can actually alter the chemistry in your body,” explained Palinski.

The intended effect is to improve weight, immunity, and disease prevention.

Celebrity nutritionist Dr. Lindsey Duncan, a proponent of the diet, says today’s meals are increasingly acidic and that our bodies are paying the price.

He cited the following problems: cardiovascular disease, depression, forgetfulness, poor mood, mind, and memory.

The Alkaline Diet requires reducing the intake of some foods that many of us like, such as dairy, meat, sugar, and caffeine.

“The general rule of thumb is, the more bitter your foods, the more alkaline,” said Duncan.

Some good foods include watermelon, almonds, oranges, and apples.

Jan Brehm said the positive benefits were dramatic.

“Not only does the fatigue lift, but the mood shifts. Energy.”

Palinski says that while this diet focuses on many healthy foods, there is no science behind it.

She also worries the diet can be limiting.

Some people can become too extreme, taking supplements that promise to boost your PH, or ingesting baking soda.

“That can make the body too alkaline, and bring it outside of the optimal range, and that can actually have potentially deadly side effects.”

Some dieters test their daily PH levels with strips that can be purchased at the drug store.

It’s part of a string of more than two dozen recalls of consumer health products, prescription drugs and medical devices over 2 1/2 years.

This time, it’s because the pills may not dissolve and begin working as soon as intended as they approach their three-year expiration date. That could delay relief of pain.

The company says it’s only recalling packages from retailers, not consumers, because there’s no safety concern.

The recall involves about 12 million bottles of Motrin IB coated caplets in bottles of 24 or 30 each. They were manufactured between February 2009 and July 2011.

Affected lot numbers are listed on the Motrin.com Web site.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.