Hair Dye Allergy Suspected in Teen Death

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LONDON) -- The death of a British teen who screamed in agony and collapsed moments after coloring her hair has put the spotlight on do-it-yourself dye.

Seventeen-year-old Tabatha McCourt from Lanarkshire, England, died in hospital after what medics suspect was a severe allergic reaction to p-phenylenediamine, or PPD, a chemical found in permanent hair dye, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported.

McCourt, a veteran dyer, began pulling her hair and vomiting 20 minutes after applying the color at a friend’s house, according to the story.

PPD allergies usually cause itchy, red and swollen skin on and around the scalp. But in very rare cases, even a small exposure can cause anaphylaxis, or death.

“Severe acute allergic reactions like this are very rare but not impossible” said Dr. Darrell Rigel, a clinical professor of dermatology at NYU Langone Medical Center. “If it happens, the first thing to do is take an antihistamine. And then get to an emergency room right away.”

Anaphylaxis is caused by a massive release of histamine – the same chemical that brings on hives. An overload of histamine causes blood vessels to dilate causing a dangerous drop in blood pressure. Anaphylaxis is also marked by confusion, difficulty breathing and swelling of the eyes and face.

Although dye boxes come with allergy warnings urging users to test the product on a small patch of skin first, many dye-hards skimp to save time. And for people with severe PPD allergies, the skin test alone could trigger a deadly reaction.

Even for routine dyers who have taken and passed the patch test, small changes in ingredients could trigger allergies to once-benign products. Rigel said cosmetic users should take note of minor reactions and go for an allergy test to avoid a more serious episode later on.

“Usually, the first exposure sensitizes you but doesn’t cause the severe reaction,” he said. “If you know you’re allergic to something, you can avoid it.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Hawk with Nail in Head Is Eating, Rescue Group Says

Tom Brakefield/Thinkstock(SAN FRANCISCO) -- Rescuers searching the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for a red-tailed hawk with a nail in its head are heartened by pictures showing that the hawk is eating.

The injured hawk was seen on Wednesday eating a gopher, said Rebecca Dmytryk, director of WildRescue, the Monterey-based group leading the effort to save the bird. Rescuers had spotted the raptor a day earlier killing and trying to eat a squirrel.

"Thank goodness he's eating, but the ongoing stress can compromise his immune system," said Dmytryk. WildRescue has been trying to find the hawk since a Bay Area wildlife group notified rescuers about the nail condition on Sunday.

They believe someone shot the hawk with a nail gun, probably intentionally, and have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter. "Let's get this sucker," Dmytryk said.

Rescuers plan to try to capture the bird again Friday, hoping he's hungry again by then. "The hungrier the animal is, the easier to get it to come in for bait," Dmytryk said. The group uses a special trap rather than nets, which could harm the hawk.

Sympathizers moved by the hawk's plight are sending in photos showing the bird on apartment railings and at other area spots which will help rescuers build a strategy for finding the injured bird, Dmytryk said. "People have really shown concern and interest -- the pictures that are coming in really help us," she said. Contributions from the public enabled WildRescue to up its reward, she added.

If the hawk is captured, it will be taken to the Peninsula Humane Society wildlife center to be treated. Rescuers worry the injury could make the bird vulnerable to a fungal infection of the lungs.

The red-tailed hawk is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

‘Adult Baby’ Cleared of Fraud, Still Getting Social Security Checks

Comstock/Thinkstock(LOS ANGELES) -- The California man who lives his life as an “adult baby,” complete with adult diapers, bottles, a crib and a mother-figure caregiver, says he has been cleared from suspicion of Social Security fraud and will continue to receive his disability checks.

Stanley Thornton, Jr. has a condition called paraphilic infantilism that involves role-playing as an infant. Though paraphilic infantilism is a sexual fetish for some, Thornton explains on his website that he pretends to be a baby because it makes him feel “safe” and helps him cope with the post traumatic stress he suffers from physical and sexual abuse he suffered as a child.

After Thornton’s lifestyle was showcased on National Geographic’s television show Taboo, Sen.  Tom Coburn, R-Okla., accused him of defrauding Social Security because the episode shows him exhibiting work skills such as building a high chair and operating his website.

John Hart, a spokesman for Coburn, told the Washington Times that the senator, also a doctor, questioned how “a grown man who is able to design and build adult-sized baby furniture is eligible for disability benefits.”

Faced with the possibility of losing his source of income, Thornton threatened suicide when questioned on the matter by the Times.

In August, however, Thornton reported on his website that his disability had been cleared and the Social Security administration confirmed that his disabilities are “continuing.” He will continue to receive the $860 monthly checks from the agency that he lives on.

In the same post on his website, Thornton defends his reasons for being on disability.

“I am not getting disability because I am a Adult Baby. No one can get on disability because they are a Adult Baby. I am on disability for legit, tested and well documented illnesses [such as] PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), depression, bipolar 2, spinal injury, heart problems...my role playing is a way for me to relax, not a disability that is being claimed for a disability.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Radiation after Lumpectomy Improves Survival, Saves Breasts

ABC News(NEW YORK) -- Radiation therapy after a lumpectomy reduces the risk of cancer recurrence and improves survival in women with early stage breast cancer, according to a new study, and experts say this research helps validate their belief that women in the early stages of the disease don't have to lose their breasts.

The study, published this week in the Lancet, is an analysis of 17 different worldwide trials looking at the effects of radiation after a lumpectomy.  The research, done by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group, an organization of hundreds of scientists from around the world who study breast cancer treatments, evaluated data from more than 10,000 women with breast cancer for an average of 10 years.

The authors found that 19 percent of women who had radiation therapy had a recurrence compared to 35 percent of women who didn't.  Women who had radiation were also at a lower risk of dying 15 years after diagnosis compared to women who didn't have radiation.

"The overall findings from these trials show that radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery not only substantially reduces the risk of recurrence but also moderately reduces the risk of death from breast cancer," the authors wrote.

Breast cancer specialists not involved in the research say while the finding that radiation following lumpectomy is effective isn't new, the study highlights that radiation is an important component of breast cancer treatment, and methods for delivering radiation have improved so they are safer.  They also say the findings offer proof that double mastectomies aren't always necessary because they are no more effective at preventing recurrence.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Author: Black Women Should Look for Husbands Outside Their Race

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- When it comes to black women and marriage, there are some dire statistics: studies have shown, as many as 70 percent of them are unmarried.

But a new book adds fresh ideas and a new tone to the conversation, suggesting black women need to start looking for suitable mates -- outside their race.

"Many women would do well to expand their options in the same way people of other races have, and look beyond black men in their search for a partner," Stanford law professor Ralph Richard Banks told ABC's Nightline.  "Black women are the most segregated group in our society when it comes to relationships."

For his book, Is Marriage for White People?, Banks conducted roughly 100 interviews with African-Americans about their marriage and dating ideals and experiences.  His explanation as to why marriage rates are so low among black Americans is that there is a shortage of eligible black men.

"There's a social catastrophe going on in terms of black men," he said.  "Imprisonment numbers, unemployment numbers, under-performance academically, these are crisis not just for African-Americans, but for the nation."

Only about 9 percent of black women are married to men of a different race -- compare that to 41 percent of Hispanic women, 48 percent of Asian women and 58 percent of Native American women in the United States.  However only 8 percent of white women marry outside their race.  To Banks, it seems like it is time for a change.

"Interracial marriages have actually been rising for everyone," Banks said.  "Black women have fought the good fight.  They have engaged in what one friend described as a 'noble effort,' trying to lift black men.  That's praiseworthy, but at the same time we should recognize that, that strategy hasn't really worked."

Critics of Banks' book say that he is just a profiteer who is benefiting financially from black females' anxieties at the expense of black male egos.

"I have been called a racial pimp," Banks said. "I think the view is wrong."

After earning his bachelor's degree from Stanford and his law degree from Harvard, Banks then married a black woman.  His contention now is that black women would be better served if -- in his words -- they don't marry down, but marry out.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Better Equipment Won’t Prevent Sports Concussions, Experts and Athletes Say

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Sports are an important part of youth culture, but the risks of concussions need to be addressed, former athletes, neurologists and a representative from the Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) told members of the Senate Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

“I don’t see this problem going away with equipment,” said Dr. Ann McKee, a professor of neurology and pathology at Boston University. “I think equipment is going to improve this issue, but it’s not going to solve this issue. We really have to address the way sports are played.”

Both former college quarterback Steven Threet and Alexis Ball, a former soccer star, testified that they felt pressured to return to games after sustaining concussions more quickly than they should have.

“I don’t think brain injury is viewed as a serious issue throughout athletics,” Threet told the panel. “It wasn’t, for me, until I had a concussion that changed what I was able to do in school and on a daily basis.”

Ball, who suffered 10 concussions in eight years, said she knew the answers to test questions doctors asked and lied in order to play.  

“People have only one brain for life,” she said. “I will never regain the visual memory I once had....Concussions and brain injuries are not minor injuries. In order to prevent more stories like mine, concussion awareness needs to be more prevalent among coaches and athletes in our society.”

Recent cases of athletes developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), leading, in some cases, to suicide, brought the dangers of concussions to the national spotlight.

McKee highlighted the suicides of Dave Duerson, a former defensive end for football’s Chicago Bears, and Owen Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania defensive end. Both experienced repeated concussions during their careers and, when compared, their brains showed similar pathologies.

An understanding of equipment and its purpose is vital to preventing concussions, said Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher of the University of Michigan’s department of neurology.  

“Helmets are extremely effective pieces of equipment,” Kutcher told the committee. “What helmets do not do well is significantly slow down the contents of the skull when the head is struck and moved suddenly. Since concussions occur not as the result of the forces experienced by the skull, but experienced by the brain, it is extremely unlikely that a helmet can be designed that will prevent concussions to the same significant degree that they have been shown to prevent skull fractures.”

The hearing was intended to focus on improper marketing of sports equipment, which Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., highlighted repeatedly. His examples included a mouth guard, a headband and a supplement whose makers all claimed would help prevent concussions.

Kutcher said anything that says it prevents concussions does not “understand the complexity of the issue.”

The claims can be dangerous because of the confidence that develops when wearing gear that is marketed as “protective.”

“A player who has sustained a concussion now sees this, or the parent sees this, as the answer,” said Mike Oliver, executive director of NOCSAE. “If I put this on, everything’s fine. It’s not only a false sense of security from being protected from the first concussion, but being protected because I just had one and this will give me an extra layer.”

Educating athletes, coaches and parents is the most immediate way to prevent the harm concussions cause, the panel said.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Sweethearts Tend to Hit the Sweets, Says Study

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(GETTYSBURG, Pa.) -- As Halloween approaches, parents around the country will warn their kids not to eat all their candy at once. It may rot their teeth out and make them gain a few pounds, but it also may show just how sweet they are.

That’s according to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Brian Meier, an associate professor of psychology at Gettysburg College, and his colleagues analyzed five studies that related to taste and behavior. Even after controlling for positive mood and reward, researchers found that people who eat sweet foods tend to be more agreeable and cooperative than those who eat non-sweet foods.

“It looks like metaphors related to taste sensations in terms of behavior are more than just devices for communication,” said Meier. “There is this theory of embodiment. People who we considered ‘sweet’ preferred sweet foods.”

Those who enjoyed sweets also seemed to be more likely to volunteer. Specifically for one study, people were more likely to help clean up their city after a major flood.

Of course, several limitations put the results in question. The studies were small -- the largest included 108 participants. The results were self-reported, correlated in result, and researchers did not test for other tastes (i.e. Are people who prefer bitter foods more bitter by nature?).

So, it’s a bit early to say that people who eat sweets are sweeter and those who load on the salt are saltier, but researchers plan to expand their research in the future by studying other tastes.

“We’d like to examine taste with other personalities,” said Meier. “It may tell us a lot more about how people differ in nature than we think it does.”

In the meantime, go ahead and eat that bit of chocolate. Hey, you’re just showing others how darn sweet you are.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

'South Park’s' Mr. Hankey as Mascot for Rectal Cancer?

"South Park" writers/creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker arrive at "South Park's" 15th Anniversary Party on Sept. 20, 2011 in Santa Monica, Calif. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The earthy brown visage of South Park’s Mr. Hankey, the “Christmas Poo,” could become the new face of rectal cancer if comedian and cancer patient Michelle Dobrawsky has anything to do with it.

In an open letter that has been circulating the Internet, Dobrawsky petitions the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, to license their famous animated bowel movement as the official “spokesturd” of rectal cancer.

“Yep, I’ve got cancer.  Rectal cancer -- the funniest cancer of all, fortunately! And, frankly, a cancer with a big ol’ marketing problem,” she writes in her letter. “You see, rectal cancer doesn’t even have its own ribbon.”

She hopes to raise awareness for rectal cancer by using Mr. Hankey as its “official ambassador,” slapping his face onto “every ribbon, T-shirt, electric mixer, lipstick, football helmet, mouth guard, sneaker, toaster, stapler and every other endorsable, colorable product in the world!” she writes.

Each year about 40,000 people are diagnosed with rectal cancer in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. In 2011, 49,380 people died from colorectal cancer -- a category that includes both colon cancer and rectal cancer. While rectal cancer traditionally strikes older people, a study from 2010 suggested that it might be becoming more prevalent among those under 40.

When caught early, about 75 percent of rectal cancer patients survive at least five years after diagnosis, but survival rates drop to six percent when the cancer progresses to late stage, according to the ACS.

“Rectal cancer is its own, special (to me) disease, and deserves a higher-profile endorsement,” Dobrawsky writes.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Dirty Farm Equipment Likely Behind Listeria Outbreak

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found that the deadly listeria outbreak in cantaloupe that killed 25 people was probably caused by packing equipment and pools of water on the floor near equipment and employee walkways at Jensen Farms in Colorado.

An FDA assessment of conditions at the farm found that Jensen Farms had recently purchased packing equipment that was not easily cleaned and sanitized. The equipment had been previously used in potato production, an FDA adviser said.

“This was brought into the facility, part of a new practice,” Sherri McGarry told reporters on a background conference call.

The floors of the packing facility were also hard to clean, so pools of water that could have harbored bacteria were close to equipment at Jensen Farms.

During an investigation of the facility, the FDA found a truck used to haul culled cantaloupe that parked adjacent to the packing facility could have introduced contamination into the facility.

The FDA also found that the growth of listeria monocytogenes could have occurred as the result of how the cantaloupes were cooled after coming off the fields. Jensen Farms told the FDA it did not pre-cool its cantaloupe to remove condensation before cold storage. Pre-cooling is used to remove the heat in cantaloupes to protect them from bacterial growth.

McGarry said the investigation of Jensen Farms near Holly, Colo., is still ongoing so there is additional information the FDA has found that it cannot share.

Jensen Farms agreed earlier this week to FDA inspections of its growing, packaging and cold storage operations before it resumes food harvesting, packaging or processing. The company also says it will correct all concerns noted during the FDA inspections.

Health officials continue to monitor the outbreak, which is the deadliest food-borne outbreak in the United States in more than 25 years. There have been 123 cases, and 25 deaths, in 26 states.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Why Are We Still Dealing with Listeria?

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Although voluntary recalls have removed what the Centers for Disease Control identified as listeria-contaminated cantaloupe from the shelves, the numbers of illnesses and deaths continue to climb. According to the CDC’s most recent numbers, 123 people have been infected with one of the four outbreak-associated strains of Listeria monocytogenes and 25 have died, up from the 18 deaths reported as of Oct. 4.

Pennsylvania has now reported its first illness, making it the 26th state to report an illness, the CDC reported Tuesday.

Jensen Farms in California and Kansas food processor Carol’s Cuts – two suspected sources of the outbreak – voluntarily recalled their cantaloupes back in September, so why do the cases of listeria continue to mount?

It has to do with the incubation of the illness. Someone who ate contaminated food might not develop listeriosis, the infection associated with the listeria bacteria, until months later.

“More ill persons may be reported because of the time lag between diagnosis and laboratory confirmation and also because up to two months can elapse between eating contaminated food and developing listeriosis,” the CDC wrote in an investigation update Tuesday.

Older adults, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and newborns are most at risk for developing listeriosis. Anyone who thinks they have become ill from eating contaminated cantaloupes should consult their doctor immediately, the CDC wrote.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio