Big Belly, Bad Memory | Newsweek Health

HEALTH
The Price of Pain
Karen Springen 2/12/2008 12:00:00 AM
After what seemed like a minor fall, Bruce Wilson began having back pain. That was 25 years ago. Since then the former manufacturing executive, now 60, has had seven operations—at a cost to insurance companies of $278,000. Yet Wilson's back still hurts, and he spends hundreds of dollars a month on pain relievers and other medications.
Medical Mystery
2/7/2008 12:00:00 AM
Deanna Odom was either delusional or she was suffering from a bizarre and devastating illness that doctors cannot treat. In December 2004 the 36-year-old mother of two teenagers started developing lesions on her arms, legs and backside. At times, she says, it felt as if needles were stinging her. And then she noticed strange, colored fibers emerging from her skin. "They would almost look like dust fibers," says Odom, who lives in Torrance, Calif. "I would put my hands together and my hands would puff off the fibers. Combing my head, you could see the fibers emerging. It's literally almost out of a sci-fi movie. You think, 'This isn't happening'."
The Mysteries of Miscarriage
Karen Springen 1/28/2008 12:00:00 AM
Each year, 4 million parents welcome new babies. More than 1 million others lose theirs before they're born. Why? It's the question of the month, after a headline-grabbing study said women who reported consuming more than 200 milligrams of caffeine a day doubled their risk of miscarriage--from the 12 percent among non-using participants to 25 percent. (A 12-ounce "tall" Starbucks coffee contains 260mg.) Latte lovers flooded doctors' offices with anguished queries. The hysteria is "like an epidemic," says Yale University Ob-Gyn Mary Jane Minkin, author of "The Yale Guide to Women's Reproductive Health."
PREGNANCY
Cup of Contradictions
Karen Springen 1/21/2008 12:00:00 AM
In the age of Starbucks venti lattes, it's tough for expectant moms to go cold turkey on caffeine. But they may want to cut back because of the possibility that the popular stimulant increases the risk of miscarriage.
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Rx: Two Martinis A Day
Mary Carmichael