Amanda Knox: Free But Shackled by Reputation and Stress

Amanda Knox breaks down in tears after hearing the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court on October 3, 2011 in Perugia, Italy. Pier Paolo Cito - Pool/Getty Images(PERUGIA, Italy) -- American Amanda Knox received the one verdict that has set her free to go home with her family to Washington state, but mental health experts say the 24-year-old's traumatic journey is far from over.

Since her conviction in the murder of British roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007, Knox has said that she longs to go home and daydreams of catching up on Harry Potter movies and lying in the grass of her Seattle backyard.

After spending four years in a cramped cell in an Italian prison, Knox appeared elated but emotional as an appeals court in Perugia overturned her 26-year sentence.

But her pale face and thinning hair show the toll prison life has taken on the young woman psychologically.

"She still has had a horrific experience and her sense of trust in police and in people is gone," said Ann Rosen Spector, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University. "Some people may still believe she did it and will treat her differently. Her name is well known.

"It will take time to get back to normal," said Spector, a clinical psychologist who specializes in depression, stress and anxiety issues. "She lost four years of her life."

Amanda Knox’s parents, Edda Mellas and Curt Knox, have told ABC that their daughter has broken out in hives and is having trouble sleeping and eating.

Knox arrived in Italy in 2007, a 20-year-old college student eager to learn another culture, thousands of miles from her Seattle home. But only months into the first semester, her apartment roommate, Kercher, was brutally murdered.

Knox and her then-Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were arrested for the murder, and a jury in Perugia, Italy, eventually found them guilty. Sollecito's conviction was also overturned.

"This is really traumatic for her," said Judy Kuriansky, a psychologist who works with youth at Columbia University's Teachers College. "She is going to be just as wrecked as Casey Anthony -- the trial and the lurid details - the accused sex play and throat slashing and a drug-filled orgy. This will continue to follow her forever."

"There is no way she will have a normal life," said Kuriansky. "No matter where she goes, they will think of her as 'Foxy Knoxy.'"

Alan Kazdin, director of Yale's Parenting Center, said the isolation of prison could have a long-term impact on Knox's physical health.

"You don't ever get over it," he said of the prison experience.

"I don't know her personally -- her strengths and weaknesses, being in a strange land in a strange country, even though she is conversational in Italian, but she could experience extreme isolation and it could have an impact on her morale and she could be really traumatized by it," said Kazdin. "Trauma doesn't always come from an acute activity like war or rape."

"The stress of isolation can have an enduring impact on people's immune systems, particularly warding off bacteria and fighting off inflammation and is implicated in a wide range of diseases," he said. "She is at risk."

Normally, when people are under stress, it subsides and life goes back to normal. "But when it carries on, the changes are real," said Kazdin. "Young children who are stressed all the time have more disease and die younger. This is not tiny stuff. Will she suffer that?"

"Youth gives her body resilience, but she has less experience in coping skills," he said. "The mental and physical go together. You can get depression, trauma, stress and illness in the normal process of enduring stress and isolation."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Alabama Company Turns Deceased Loved Ones into Ammo

Hemera/Thinkstock(STOCKTON, Ala.) -- Gun enthusiasts who have fired their last round on Earth are now being given one last shot.

Two former Alabama law enforcement officers have started a company called Holy Smoke.  For a fee starting at $850, the company will load the cremated ashes of loved ones into shotgun and rifle shells, where they can be fired at will by family members.

The company's website states, "We offer a way to honor your deceased loved one by giving or sharing with him or her one more round of clay targets, one last bird hunt, or one last stalk hunt."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Nobel Prize Winner Ralph Steinman Gets Honor Three Days after Death

The Rockefeller University(NEW YORK) -- Rockefeller University's Ralph M. Steinman was one of three scientists to be awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday, but unfortunately, he won't be able to bask in his accomplishment. That's because he's dead.

According to the university, the cell biologist passed away on Sept. 30 -- just three days before the Nobel committee's announcement -- after a four-year battle with Pancreatic cancer.  He was 68.

Steinman received the honor "for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity."  He shares the award with scientists Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann "for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity."

Steinman's work with the immune system's cells opened the door to new treatments for infectious diseases and cancer.  In fact, Rockefeller University says he managed to extend his own life using a dendritic-cell based immunotherapy he designed.

“Ralph’s research has laid the foundation for numerous discoveries in the critically important field of immunology, and it has led to innovative new approaches in how we treat cancer, infectious diseases and disorders of the immune system,” Rockefeller University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D, said in a statement Monday.

“The Rockefeller University is delighted that the Nobel Foundation has recognized Ralph Steinman for his seminal discoveries concerning the body’s immune responses,” Tessier-Lavigne went on to say.  “But the news is bittersweet, as we also learned this morning from Ralph’s family that he passed a few days ago after a long battle with cancer.  Our thoughts are with Ralph’s wife, children and family.”

The Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously, so the Nobel committee is reportedly deciding if the honor -- and its corresponding cash award -- will be given to somebody else.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Study: Anesthesia Exposure before Age 2 Could Disrupt Development

Photodisc/Thinkstock(ROCHESTER, Minn.) -- Infants who are put under for surgery more than once before the age of 2 may be at increased risk of learning disabilities later in life, according to research from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The use of general anesthesia in infants undergoing surgery is currently considered very safe, but mounting evidence -- first in animals and more recently in humans -- suggests that repeated exposure to anesthetics in the first few years of life could cause brain damage if carried out during certain key developmental periods.

The Mayo Clinic study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, tracked the medical and school records of a thousand children born between 1976 and 1982 in Rochester, Minn., 350 of which were given general anesthesia at least once in the first two years of life.

Among infants who had had more than one surgery during those years, almost 37 percent experienced a learning disability later in life, compared with only 21 percent in the children who did not undergo surgery.  Even for those children who had only one surgery during infanthood, the rate of learning disability was slightly higher, at 24 percent.

Learning disabilities seemed to center on speech and language difficulties, says Dr. Randall Flick, Mayo Clinic pediatric anesthesiologist and lead author of the study.

Researchers controlled for characteristics that might also affect development later in life such as birth weight, gestational age and maternal education level, by matching each of the 350 study subjects to two control children in the same population who shared similar characteristics.

"Kids who were exposed were three times as likely to later need a special education program to address speech and language difficulties than kids who weren't exposed to anesthesia," he says.

The research is preliminary, and shouldn't change surgical protocol at this time, the authors say.  But even the possibility that anesthesia is damaging to infants' brains is disquieting for physicians and parents, especially because infant surgery is so seldom elective -- surgery in infants is almost always medically necessary.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Denmark Introduces ‘Fat Tax’ on Foods High in Saturated Fat

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(COPENHAGEN) -- Denmark has introduced what’s believed to be the world’s first fat food tax, applying a surcharge to foods with more than 2.3 percent saturated fats, in an effort to combat obesity and heart disease.

Danes hoarded food before the tax went into effect Saturday, emptying grocery store shelves. Some butter lovers may even resort to stocking up during trips abroad.

The new tax of 16 kroner ($2.90) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of saturated fat in a product will be levied on foods like butter, milk, cheese, pizza, oils and meat.

The Nordic country isn’t known for having a grossly overweight population — only about 10 percent of Danes are considered obese, compared to about one-third of adults (33.8 percent) and approximately 17 percent (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents age 2—19 years in the United States, according to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

But perhaps Denmark has its obesity rate relatively under control because of its policies. In 2004, Denmark made it illegal for any food to have more than 2 percent trans fats.  In July 2010, the country increased taxes on ice cream, chocolate and sweets by 25 percent. At the same time, Denmark increased taxes on soft drinks, tobacco and alcohol products, beyond the minimum levels established by the EU.

“Denmark will not only increase general health amongst the population but will also ease the burden on the public health care system and increase its resources at a time of recession when Member States are cutting public expenditure,” Monika Kosinska, the secretary general of the European Public Health Alliance, said in 2010.

Kosinska said the tax increases should be complemented by measures to make nutritious food more affordable.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Doctors Sue Over ER Limits in Washington State

Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Thinkstock(OLYMPIA, Wash.) -- The American College of Emergency Physicians is suing the state of Washington in an effort to overturn the decision that low-income Medicaid patients will be limited to three non-emergency visits to the emergency room each year, which went into effect Saturday.

The suit seeks to get rid of the limit, which it says puts patients at risk.

The limit, which was created to reduce costs in emergency rooms, comes with a new list of 700 non-emergency symptoms, including difficulty breathing, dizziness, early-pregnancy hemorrhage, gall stones, abdominal pains and chest pains not related to a heart attack.

Patients with any of the 700 symptoms are urged to visit the regular doctor's office instead of the emergency room.

But doctors say patients may not be able to tell if their symptoms are indicative of an emergency.

"The ACEP is opposing the limit primarily because of the list of diagnoses that the state is proposing to be non-emergencies, like chest pains and heart arrhythmias and dysrhythmias, which can result in sudden death, sudden blindness, and hemorrhages during miscarriage," ACEP Washington Chapter president Steve Anderson said. "Their proposal is dangerous. It's almost funny it's so scary they would have them on the list."

The limit, which will cut $72 million in state and federal funds, is included in the 2011-13 Washington State budget.

"We want to save the state money. We want to work with the state," Anderson said. "But they were given a number to reach for the budget, and the only way to do so was to add diagnoses to the list that they originally decided were unquestionably emergencies. That's where we have to draw the line."

The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA), the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), and the Washington Chapter of the Academy of Emergency Physicians (WCAEP) have also released statements saying they object to the change.

"We share the state's goal of reducing preventable emergency room visits. However, this benefit limit is not a reasonable approach to the problem," read a statement on the WSHA website.

"[The list] contains many emergency conditions such as chest pain, women having miscarriages, and children who are ill and in pain," the statement read. "In addition, the list creates a public health concern as patients who have sexually transmitted diseases are being asked to wait until they can get a primary care office visit."

If a Medicaid patient comes in for a fourth emergency room visit with non-emergency symptoms, he or she will be treated, but the state won't pay the hospital. Instead, the hospital will have to pay for it.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Research Finds Humor Therapy Effective with Alzheimer's Patients

HANS-ULRICH OSTERWALDER/Getty Images(CHICAGO) -- New Australian research found that "humor therapy" was just as effective in calming Alzheimer's patients as psychiatric drugs, according to HealthDay.

The study looked at nursing home residents subjected to humor sessions that involved music and pantomime. Laughter was found to prevent aggressive behavior in the patients.

The scientists reported a 20 percent drop in agitation.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Missing Cyclist's Cancer Relapse an 'Emergency'

National Cancer Institute/Thinkstock(PORTLAND, Ore.) -- The Portland, Ore., family of missing bicyclist Mark Bosworth is desperate for leads now that his doctor says a recurrence of lymphoma may have spread to his brain, causing disorientation and, eventually, immobility.

The missing map expert and two-time cancer survivor had been touring the countryside as a volunteer with Cycle Oregon, a weeklong bike event that raises money for each of the small communities where the 2,300 riders travel.

On the night of Sept. 16, one day before the bike ride would end, the group pitched tents in Riddle, Ore. Around 11:15 p.m. his wife, Julie Bosworth, said her 54-year-old husband told friends he didn't remember where his tent was. A friend offered to show him, and handed Bosworth a bike headlamp.

"He took the light, he said 'No, I'll be fine,' and that was the last time he was seen," said Julie Bosworth.

Now, two weeks later, the search for her husband has become even more urgent because Mark Bosworth's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) may have returned.

Bosworth was first diagnosed with the most common form of NHL, diffuse large B cell lymphoma, in the summer of 2007. The cancer went into remission after he underwent chemotherapy, but in the summer of 2009, the same cancer returned, this time spreading to his eyes and crossing the blood-brain barrier, which works to prevent foreign substances from entering the brain. After eight months of treatment he had a bone marrow transplant in April 2010 and appeared to be in remission.

Mark Bosworth's lymphoma has a three to five percent chance of spreading to the brain, said Dr. Paul Barr, who treats lymphoma patients at the Wilmot Cancer Center in Rochester, N.Y. But the risk increases when patients relapse.

"When lymphoma is in the brain or nervous system, we consider that situation to be an emergency requiring immediate therapy," Barr said. "Once you have a headache, it suggests there's enough cancer to increase pressure inside the brain -- that's where you get headaches, nausea … if it increases it doesn't take that much extra pressure to make someone unconscious."

About three weeks before the bike event, Bosworth complained to his wife about severe headaches, but he told her they were probably due to a pulled muscle in his neck.

He made appointments with his doctors but scheduled them for the days following Cycle Oregon, insisting he was well enough to volunteer.

During the ride participants said Mark Bosworth seemed confused. As a volunteer, he was supposed to drive a van every day but he stopped when it became clear he had trouble following the traffic signs. Sometimes he would just stand alone and stare. During a phone conversation with his wife around 8 a.m. on Sept. 14, he told her he was on the East Coast and was excited to be there, and then, during the same conversation, he told her he was in Canada.

"I said, What are you talking about? He said, 'Oh, they flew us here.' He said it was a surprise. I said, 'Mark, you're crazy -- what are you talking about?'" Julie Bosworth, 57, recalled. "When we connected later in the day, he said he must have been waking up from a very vivid dream and wasn't that funny. Again, he was covering up that he was experiencing confusion."

His family now worries he could be anywhere -- especially because three credible eyewitnesses saw a person who looked like Mark Bosworth hitchhiking and shining an LED light erratically near the I-5.

The family fears it's possible he had even tried to hitchhike to New York City, where he and his wife lived for 10 years during the 1980s.

"Other than Portland it's the place we're most connected to," his wife said.

This week Julie Bosworth met with the doctor who has been treating her husband for four years and learned "the only scenario that matches Mark's symptoms is that the lymphoma has spread to his brain."

Her husband's doctor believes the cancer may be exerting pressure on his frontal lobe, she said, which can cause headaches and confusion. It's a gradual process that will only get worse.

For now, the family holds out hope that Mark Bosworth is still able to walk and talk. Cycle Oregon organized a Saturday bike ride in his honor, and his family started a blog, Twitter account and Facebook page to raise awareness.

On Wednesday, the $10,000 reward offered by Julie Bosworth's employer, Deckers Outdoor Corporation, was featured on a digital billboard in Times Square.

Lance Armstrong spread the word Tuesday on Twitter, and on Sunday three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond did the same.

But the Douglas County Sheriff's department isn't any closer to finding him. Spokesman Chris Merrifield told ABC News, "We've had lots of people call in that have said they thought they saw him" but "nothing to give us any lead as to where he moved."

Deer hunting season starts Saturday, so Merrifield is cautioning hunters to remain vigilant.

The Bosworths were planning to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this week by renting a flat in London. On Wednesday, Julie Bosworth canceled their Saturday plane tickets.

Now, instead of packing for London, she thinks about the ring her husband gave her on the day of their anniversary, June 28. It was engraved with a special message: "You are my compass, my direction, my description of the world."

"And that's just what I want to be for him because that's what he is for me too," she said.

Mark Bosworth is six feet tall, and approximately 180 pounds with grey hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a grey hoodie sweatshirt, black bicycle pants, shoes and a hat. Anyone who sees Mark Bosworth is asked to call 911.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Hospital Privacy Curtains Covered with Germs, Researchers Say

Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock(IOWA CITY, Iowa) -- A new study shows that hospital privacy curtains are full of germs and may give patients more than privacy.

For this study, researchers swabbed more than 40 privacy curtains, twice a week over a three-week period at the University of Iowa Hospital. Their results, presented at an infectious disease conference, showed that virtually all of the curtains were contaminated with bacteria, including the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant strain know as MRSA.
 
Some curtains were contaminated with the same germs over and over. Even new curtains became contaminated within a week.
 
In addition to being difficult to disinfect, most privacy curtains hang for a long time,
 
The study's authors stress the need to reduce the risk of infecting patients with this bacteria. The first, most practical and inexpensive defense is by making sure health care workers wash their hands between pulling the curtain and interacting with the patient. Second, patients should take an active role in protecting themselves. They should not be afraid to speak up if they notice the doctor or nurse did not wash their hands after touching the privacy curtain.
 
Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Study: Baby Boomers 'In Denial' About Their Health in Retirement

Comstock Images/Thinkstock(BOSTON) -- Most baby boomers are planning to be pretty active and healthy when they retire -- that's if they aren't already.
      
But a new poll shows that baby boomers need to take off the rose-colored glasses when it comes to their health.
 
Some experts say baby boomers are not just unprepared, they're delusional about their health in retirement.
 
Only 13 percent of those over 50, but not yet retired, expect their health to go downhill after retirement.
 
Three times as many retirees said their health has already worsened.
 
The poll -- conducted by NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health -- showed that more than 70 percent of boomers have stepped up their physical activity and exercise. More than 65 percent have changed their diets and more than 80 percent are watching what they eat.

Still, only a handful (one percent) of boomers expect their exercise to decrease when they retire, while more than one-third of retirees say they already exercise less.
 
Furthermore, more baby boomers than ever are aware that expenses for long-term care, such as nursing homes, assisted living or home care could lead to financial hardship. And the majority expressed concern concern about whether they would be able to afford it.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio