Jolie's Double Mastectomy Not Always a Lifesaver

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Rachel Joy Horn's breasts were ticking time bombs. She lost trust in her body and no longer felt comfortable in her own skin.

This is how she felt, she said, when her doctor broke the news to her that she'd tested positive for a gene mutation that put her in the high-risk category for developing breast cancer. So at the age of 21, Horn chose to undergo double mastectomy surgery to remove both her breasts – and hopefully, the future threat of cancer.

"By the time I was tested, my mom had gone through breast cancer twice so I already had it in my mind that surgery was a possibility for me," Horn said.

Horn is certainly not alone in her decision. Stars like actress Christina Applegate, talk-show host Sharon Osborne and, most recently, Oscar winner  Angelina Jolie have revealed they too have chosen to preemptively remove their breasts due to a strong genetic predisposition for breast cancer.

It sounds like an extreme choice but a woman who has inherited a harmful mutation of either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene is about five times more likely than average to develop breast cancer and up to 40 percent more likely to develop ovarian cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. Experts increasingly believe that removing as much breast tissue as possible can be a lifesaving strategy.

As Dr. Mehra Golshan, director of Breast Surgical Services at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston explained it, "For women who know in advance there is a good chance they will develop breast cancer sooner or later, having prophylactic surgery can make sense. It lowers the risk of developing cancer by more than 90 percent."

In one recent study which followed nearly 2,500 women who carried one of the two dangerous gene variants, having a double mastectomy did appear to lower their risk of breast cancer. None of the women who opted to have their breasts or ovaries removed were diagnosed with breast cancer in the three decades they were followed, while seven percent of those who chose not to have surgery were.

Horn said that removing her breasts gave her the sense that she had dodged a bullet.

"I remember waking up after surgery and feeling groggy but happy," she recalled. "I immediately felt relieved that I no longer had this cancer diagnosis hanging over my head."

But even though the data shows a preemptive strike against breast cancer can improve the chances of survival in women with inherited risk, some medical experts are concerned that instead of fighting to save their breasts as they did in the past, many women are choosing to remove them at the slightest whiff of cancer.

The Journal of Clinical Oncology reported a 188-percent jump in the surgery between 1998 and 2005 among women given a new diagnosis in one breast of ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS, the so-called "stage zero" cancer. Among women with early-stage invasive disease, the rates soared over 150 percent.

"Many women choose to have other breast removed to avoid the trauma of going through breast cancer again even though in reality the chances of reoccurrence are very low," said Dr. Julian Kim, chief of oncologic surgery at the UH Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland, OH.

Kim stressed that there is no evidence to support the idea that removing both breasts after a diagnosis of breast cancer increases survival rate. And indeed, one recent University of Michigan study found that 70 percent of women who had both breasts removed following a breast cancer diagnosis did not get any benefit from the procedure because their risk of developing cancer in the healthy breast was no greater than in women without cancer.

"For a woman with a gene mutation or a family history, the surgery makes sense," Kim said. "For most other women who are opting to have it, it is very controversial."

Kim said that breast cancer survival is less affected by how much of the breast tissue is removed than by how aggressive the cancer is and how much it has spread at the time of surgery. If the disease has spread into lymph nodes and the blood stream by the time of surgery, then removing more breast tissue will not affect a patient's outcome, he noted.

However, Kim said he does understand why a low-risk patient might opt for a mastectomy.

"In my mind if a patient is well informed about risks of having or not having the surgery, it's often more than just survival that influences a person's decisions," he said.

And even when it's a proven cancer-avoidance tactic, Horne said the decision to remove your breasts is not an easy one.

"I wasn't sure if my breasts would ever feel like mine again or how my future boyfriends would feel or if I would feel like I was lacking in any way," she said.

Her doctor told her she could monitor her health with frequent screening to put off the surgery but ultimately Horn felt it was the only choice she could make.

"Ultimately I had no second thoughts because with my mom having cancer I had played out the numbers in my head and knew what I had to do," she said. "I have no regrets. And I really like my new breasts."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Google CEO Larry Page Says Vocal Chord Paralysis Caused His Voice Problems

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page has broken his silence about...his silence. Page, who has missed a few of the company's earnings calls and large events over the past year, revealed Tuesday that he had been battling vocal chord paralysis.

"About 14 years ago, I got a bad cold, and my voice became hoarse. At the time I didn't think much about it. But my voice never fully recovered. So I went to a doctor and was diagnosed with left vocal cord paralysis," Page wrote in a Google Plus post. "This is a nerve problem that causes your left vocal cord to not move properly. Despite extensive examination, the doctors never identified a cause, though there was speculation of virus-based damage from my cold. It is quite common in cases like these that a definitive cause is not found."

Page reveals in the post that in addition to the problems with one vocal chord, last summer his second vocal chord began to have limited movement. He says he is now, after his initial recovery, "able to do all I need to at home and at work."

The 40-year-old CEO, in addition to missing a few of Google's earnings calls, also missed last year's Google I/O conference. Page, who created Google with co-founder Sergey Brin, became the CEO of the company in early 2011.

Through battling these medical problems since 2003, Page says in the post that he has learned a lot about vocal problems, and while his condition is rare he will fund a research program through the Voice Health Institute. Page posted a link to a patient survey so the organization can gather information about other people with similar conditions.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Angelina Jolie’s Choice: Should You Get BRCA Gene Testing?

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Angelina Jolie’s decision to get tested for gene mutations linked to a heightened breast cancer risk has many women wondering whether they should get tested, too.

Women with mutations in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2 are five times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, according to Cancer.gov.  That means that 60 percent of women with a BRCA mutation will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, compared to 12 percent of women in the general population.

But less than 1 percent of women actually have a BRCA mutation, making costly genetic testing unnecessary for most.  Could you be one of them?  You can learn a lot from your family history.

For women who are not of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, Cancer.gov recommends genetic testing if you have:

• Two first-degree relatives diagnosed with breast cancer, with one of them before age 51. First-degree relatives include your mother or sister;
• Three or more first- or second-degree relatives diagnosed with breast cancer. Second-degree relatives include your grandmother or aunt;
• A combination of first- and second-degree relatives diagnosed with breast cancer or ovarian cancer;
• A first-degree relative diagnosed with cancer in both breasts;
• A combination of first- or second-degree relatives diagnosed with ovarian cancer;
• A first- or second-degree relative diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer;
• A male relative diagnosed with breast cancer.

For women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, who are more likely to carry a specific BRCA2 defect passed from generation to generation, Cancer.gov recommends genetic testing if you have:

• A first-degree relative diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer;
• Two second-degree relatives on the same side of the family diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer.

About 2 percent of adult women have a family history pattern described above but, again, less than 1 percent of women will have a BRCA mutation.

“Not every woman in such families carries a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, and not every cancer in such families is linked to a harmful mutation in one of these genes,” according to Cancer.gov.  “Furthermore, not every woman who has a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation will develop breast and/or ovarian cancer.”

Women without one of the family history patterns described above are unlikely to have a harmful BRCA mutation, according to Cancer.gov.

Based on her genetic testing results, Jolie opted for a preventive double mastectomy -- the surgical removal of both breasts to reduce the risk of breast cancer.  

Studies suggest that preventive mastectomy can reduce breast cancer risk by about 90 percent in high-risk women, according to Cancer.gov.  But surgery carries risks, too, so women are advised to talk to their doctors about the procedure’s pros, cons and possible alternatives.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Dining Out on a Calorie Budget Nearly Impossible, Studies Find

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Fast food may have a reputation for being a diet disaster, but as two studies published in Tuesday's Journal of the American Medical Association found, sitting down to a meal at a restaurant does even more damage to your waistline and overall health.

When University of Toronto researchers analyzed the nutritional information of food ordered at 19 sit-down restaurant chains, they discovered the average meal contained a whopping 1,128 calories -- 56 percent of the average daily 2,000-calorie intake recommended by the Food and Drug Administration for a healthy adult.

As the researchers noted, previous research found the average fast food meal delivers just 881 calories.

Belt-busting calorie counts weren't just found in the restaurant's dinnertime portions either.  A typical lunch packed more than 1,000 calories on average.  At 1,226 calories on average, breakfast meals totaled even higher.

"This was a little surprising, but the volume of food served in many breakfast options is comparable to those served at dinnertime," said Mary Scourboutakos, one of the study's authors.

The calorie count was only one worrisome aspect of the meals Scourboutakos and her colleagues analyzed, however, she said.

"On average, they contained 151 percent of recommended daily salt intake, 89 percent of daily fat, and 60 percent of daily cholesterol," she said.

The Canadian study reviewed 685 meals from popular restaurant chains that post nutritional information publically.

However, dining at smaller, independent eateries appears to be even more disastrous to weight control efforts, according to a second JAMA study performed by researchers at Tufts University in Boston.

In this study, researchers analyzed the calorie and nutritional content of more than 40 of the most frequently purchased dishes from the nine most common food categories purchased at independent and small chain eateries.  All the establishments evaluated had less than 20 locations and won't be required to post nutritional information when new health care laws go into effect later this year.

Using a method known as bomb calorimetry to measure the heat given off in the form of calories when food is burned up, the researchers calculated that the average lunch or dinner entree with sides contained 1,327 calories -- 17 percent more than similar menu items offered at larger chains.

Tufts investigator Lorien Urban said the difference between a meal ordered at an independent restaurant versus one ordered at a larger chain can be upwards of 600 calories. 

More than 90 percent of the small chain restaurant meals analyzed in the study dispensed more than a third of daily calorie requirements.  Nearly 10 percent contained more than a day's worth of calories.  And a few packed nearly two day's worth of calories onto the plate.

As Urban pointed out, the totals didn't include beverages, appetizers or desserts.

"Considering that more than half the restaurants in the U.S. are independent or small chain and won't be covered by labeling requirements in the future, this is something consumers need to pay attention to," she said. "It's also important because nearly 40 percent of meals are now eaten outside the home."

Both the Canadian and Tufts researchers singled out "rack of ribs" as one of the worst nutritional offenders.  Both found that a rib dinner with all the trimming carried between 1850 and 3500 calories.

"This also highlights the variability of calorie counts for similar meals," Urban said.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

SARS-Like Virus Vaccine Unlikely, Experts Say

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A virus similar to SARS has spread through hospitals in Europe and the Middle East, prompting fears of human-to-human transmission. But health officials said vaccines were unlikely to play a role in controlling the outbreak, which has sickened 34 people and killed 18.

Instead, they've focused on detecting the novel coronavirus, dubbed nCoV, and have quickly isolated patients.

"Because of the challenges with developing medicines for coronaviruses, those are the most effective measures we have at this point," Gregory Hartl at the World Health Organization told ABC News.

The tactic worked in the fight against SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, a coronavirus that killed 775 people during a 19-month outbreak a decade ago.  The virus, which spread through coughs and sneezes, vanished in May 2004.

"Once we figured out that infection control worked to stop the transmission, people started to get serious about it," said Thomas Ksiazek, who served as chief of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Special Pathogens Branch during the SARS outbreak.  "We were pretty lucky, but the key was infection control and mindfulness."

Ksiazek, who is currently a professor in the department of pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, said "mindfulness" is key once again, as a vaccine for nCoV could take years to develop and test.

"The thing that really takes time is the regulation aspect of it," he said, describing the lengthy process of proving safety and efficacy in animal models before even thinking about testing in humans.

It also takes money, and lots of it, according to Dr. Robert Atmar, who studied candidate vaccines for SARS.

"To bring a vaccine all the way through clinical development and licensure, it's going to cost tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars," said Atmar, a professor in the departments of medicine and molecular virology and biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.  "So part of the decision to go down that pathway will be driven by how important the pathway is."

"There was no vaccine for SARS," Atmar said.  "But the public health system was able to control the infection and basically eradicate it.  That might also work for this new coronavirus."

But it's more than a matter of time and money.  Coronaviruses, prickly pathogens that invade the body through the respiratory tract, are notoriously difficult when it comes to vaccine development, according to Atmar.  Some of the candidate vaccines for SARS caused lung damage in mice exposed to the virus.

"We don't know why.  And that's the problem," said Atmar, co-author of a 2012 study published in the journal PLoS One.  "The concern is that if these vaccines were to be used in people, they could end up causing harm."

So for now, experts agree that early detection and patient isolation are the best way to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.  The good news, for lack of a better term, is that the virus is nowhere nearly as infectious as SARS, according to Hartl.

"One of the big differences between the novel coronavirus and SARS is the fact that SARS transmission was much better than this," Hartl said, adding that human-to-human transmission of nCoV appears to be limited to patients with prolonged contact in closed spaces, such as hospital rooms.

"From that point of view, it's a lot easier to isolate cases and stop the transmission," he said.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Brain Science Upstages DSM-V, So-Called Mental Health 'Bible'

American Psychiatric Association(NEW YORK) -- Since the 1970s, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, has reigned as the so-called "bible" of psychiatry.  But now, with the May 22 release of its fifth edition, the DSM-5 is losing some of the support of its faithful.

For the first time, the National Institutes of Mental Health, the world's largest mental health research institute, has shifted its funding support away from the DSM, citing a "lack of validity" and diagnoses based on "clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure."

The DSM-5 includes a plethora of new diagnoses, some of which have been contentious: It removes Asperger's syndrome from a larger umbrella of autism spectrum disorders and creates new conditions like social anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder, which critics say could label patients who are physically sick as mentally ill.

"Patients with mental disorders deserve better," NIMH Director Dr. Thomas R. Insel said in a recent statement.

Instead, NIMH will put more of its research dollars into a new classification system, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), to incorporate genetics, imaging and cognitive science that focus more on neurological systems than just a collection of symptoms.

According to Insel, the overriding premise of the 18 months of work developing the RDoC is that the brain is the "alleged seat and cause of psychiatric suffering."

RDoC would classify psychopathology based on observable behavior and neurobiological measures.

The shift comes after President Obama proposed the BRAIN Initiative, a $100 million brain-mapping project designed to promote American innovation and job growth while finding ways to treat and cure diseases such as Alzheimer's and brain damage from strokes.

The RDoC assumes that mental disorders are "biological disorders involving brain circuits that implicate specific domains of cognition, emotion or behavior."  It's aim in mapping these circuits is to yield "better targets for treatment," according to Insel.

But Dr. David Kupfer of University of Pittsburgh, chairman of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) DSM-5 task force, responded to Insel's blog post, saying that the decades-long search for biomarkers associated with mental illness remains, "disappointingly distant. ...We're still waiting."

The DSM revisions are the first in 20 years, a "generation" for clinicians, patients and their families, he said.  Numerous conditions have been renamed or recategorized and the 1,000-page manual is now an electronic version with references and hyperlinks.

"It is important to understand that it is only a guidebook to help clinicians diagnose behaviors and symptoms, not a treatment guide or research manual," said Kupfer.  "I think we need to put that in perspective. ... It's not what many people call the Bible or the 10 Commandments."

The DSM-5 task force included 160 experts from around the world, as well as 400 research advisors.  The book went public three times for input on language.

"We are very proud of that," said Kupfer.

Disorders are framed in context of age, gender and cultural expectations.

The revised manual also looks at "commonalities" that may exist between conditions like bipolar disorder, psychosis and schizophrenia, as "clues to early intervention," said Kupfer.

Psychology Today called the funding cuts to DSM-5 research in favor of RDoC, a "humiliating blow to the APA."

But Dr. Bruce Cuthbert, coordinator of the RDoC project and director of the division of adult transitional research at NIMH, said research will continue in both camps.

"Science is changing for the future, and it's not at all a slap to the APA," he said.  "We have cordial relations with people who developed the DSM and we have a shared interest in psychiatric diagnosis.  It still remains the best instrument for diagnosing medical disorders today and to direct people to effective treatment."

But, he said, the way scientists are looking at mental illness is a "real shift" from the past.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

‘Real Money’ Ways to Save Families on Hospital Costs

ABC News(NEW YORK) -- Noah Clayson, 3, is in need of a tonsillectomy.

The good news is that Noah will get all the ice cream he could ever want, but the bad news is that the procedure isn’t covered under his parents’ limited insurance plans and they expect to pay roughly $5,000.

Like 30 million other Americans, Holy and Alex Clayson -- both small business owners in Charleston -- are considered “underinsured,” and pay high deductibles.

Hospitals can charge wildly differing amounts for the same procedure, according to a report released last week by the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which studied data from 3,300 hospitals across the country.

One Florida hospital, for example, billed nearly $40,000 to remove a gall bladder using minimally invasive surgery, while another just 45 minutes away charged more than $90,000.

To find out how the Claysons can get a fair price for their son’s tonsillectomy, ABC News teamed up with health care expert Michelle Katz. She contacted five hospitals and clinics in the area.

The price quotes varied significantly -- from $2,800 to $3,500, to $12,000, and even $21,000. That means the price of the same procedure varies by as much as 750 percent.

Experts claim that whether you choose to go to a surgery center or a hospital for relatively simple procedures like tonsillectomies, the quality of care is typically the same, except in cases of an emergency.

If an emergency were to arise in a surgery center, you would have to be transported to the E.R., which though rare, can occur. Whether the procedure is done at a hospital or surgical center, there is always an anesthesiologist who monitors the situation and is able to address most problems that arise.

If the child undergoing the procedure is a special case with an increased risk of complications, the surgeon will advise the parents beforehand that he or she would prefer to do the operation in a hospital.

ABC News reached out to the American Hospital Association, which explained the price differences in the following statement:

“Each patient’s course of care is different and the costs also reflect more than the cost of serving an individual patient but reflect the costs of maintaining essential health care services for their community 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

“In performing this ‘public service’ role each hospital will incur different costs. One hospital might have a large role in training health care professionals or conducting research. Another may maintain the community’s only trauma or burn unit. And still another may provide a higher portion of its care to patients unable to pay. Surgery centers are likely to have substantially lower prices because they do not fund the public service role nor do they typically serve in the safety net role.”

In many cases, Hospitals and clinics can and do charge whatever they want for procedures, but armed with some money saving tips, you can make sure you’re paying a fair price.

Tips that could save you money:

1. You can get a pricing menu.   Brand new applications like Health Care Blue Book allow you to type in a procedure, and provide a fair price based on your area, even breaking down each cost into categories including physician, facility, and anesthesia.

2. Take that fair price quote, and negotiate.   Before the procedure, negotiate the price with the billing office or your doctor. The doctor may not be bound to the price quoted, and opening up the conversation could give the consumer a talking point, and leverage.

3. Find out what the government pays.   You can find out what government programs, like Medicare and Medicaid, pay for the same procedures by doing some digging on the CMS website. Through the website, you can also find out what those procedure codes really mean. After you get your bill, you can use those codes to make sure there haven’t been any billing errors.

With the help of Katz, the Claysons found a clinic just three miles away that charged just $2,800. More than $2,000 less than they expected to pay, and almost $18,000 less than the most expensive option in the area.

Which means peace of mind for mom and dad, and more ice cream for little Noah.

For more, check out Michelle Katz’ tips on her blog.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

'Lunchtime Lipo': Is the Lightning-Fast Fat Blasting Procedure Safe?

Hemera/Thinkstock(LOS ANGELES) -- Who wouldn't want Angelina Jolie's stunning arms, Jessica Biel's small waist or Beyonce's, well, anything? And what if you could get those seemingly flawless red carpet results over your lunch break?

Dr. Aaron Rollins, a liposuction expert based in Los Angeles, claims he can help mere mortals look like Hollywood's starlets with his own patented laser-assisted liposuction technique.

"We oftentimes have people coming in with pictures from various magazines and they want to look like their favorite celebrity's arms or their waist," Rollins said.

Though he won't name names, Rollins is a self-proclaimed, "lipo doctor to the stars." Come award season, he said, celebrities flock to his Beverly Hills office when they need fat removed fast.

"You can only fit the dress to the body so much, and then you have to fit the body to the dress," he said.

Rollins claims his technique is much safer and more precise than the crude fat extraction of years past. Indeed, his approach is so minimally invasive that patients remain awake during the procedure and can even return to work when it is over, earning Rollins' procedure the nickname "Lunchtime Lipo."

Rollins, the founder of Elite Body Sculpture who went to medical school at McGill University in Montreal, considers himself an artist, and the human body is his canvas.

"I tell people this is 90 percent art and 10 percent medicine," Rollins said. "When someone asked Michelangelo how he did create the statue of David, he said, 'I just removed the stone that didn't belong.' And in my case, I'm just removing the fat that doesn't belong."

Blanca Ramirez, one of Rollins' regulars, comes in for appointments during her lunch break from work at a nearby doctor's office. Over the years, Rollins has sculpted her chin and carved fat from her stomach. When Nightline was visiting, Ramirez was back to rid herself of a trouble spot that had plagued her since childhood.

"No matter how much I diet or exercise, I feel that my arms don't trim down," Ramirez said. "[The goal is] to look good in tank tops, bikini, and anything, all of my clothes. It will be a quick fix. A jump start."

In the time it takes to do one long workout -- or take a leisurely lunch -- Ramirez's arms received the full lipo treatment in just 45 minutes. A canister on the floor quickly filled with her fat cells, about enough to fill a soda can. Shortly afterwards, she was headed back to her keyboard to finish her afternoon at work.

Later, Rollins went to work on the face of another patient, Jamie Stone. The 30-year-old L.A.-based blogger never had lipo before, but she said she always hated her chin and now that her blog has gotten more exposure, she hoped Rollins could help enhance her online profile photos.

For Stone's procedure, she received a hit of laughing gas to take the edge off, then Rollins numbed the puncture point and broke out the fat-melting laser. Stone said she could only feel a vibration.

Rollins said it has taken him more than 5,000 procedures to prefect his technique, and now he can comfortably work on just about any part of the body: Stomachs, thighs, butts, almost anything. Recovery time varies from a few days to a few weeks.

This quick fix doesn't come cheap. Rollins usually charges between $3,000 and $10,000, depending on the procedure. But he claims his patients do not keep returning to him for continuous quick fixes.

"Most of the people who come here have had a problem area...since puberty. We're talking a decade or more," he said. "So no, I think it's actually more of a self-help kind of thing, where people are ready to move on with their life and change something that's bothered them for a long time."

Rollins acknowledges that "Lunchtime Lipo" can come with risks, but he claimed that the chance of infection or complication using his method are roughly equivalent to what a patient could contract after getting a tooth pulled. Critics warn that if used improperly, laser-assisted lipo can carry a high risk of deformity.

"There is no such thing as doing anything to the body without risk especially making permanent change like this," Rollins said. "People have died from liposuction, and to the best of my knowledge, the vast majority of complications with liposuction have happened with older techniques, for example, under general anesthesia, which has its own factors and complications."

Aside from the obvious physical change, Rollins claims that instant fat removal can be a big self-esteem booster and even motivate people to change their lifestyle habits.

"Suddenly your arms are beautiful and skinny it's very encouraging," he said. "And you want go to the gym even though you're tired after work and you're excited about your results and want more."

But he said he is always looking for the next challenge.

"I try not to bring my work home with me, OK? But occasionally when I'm driving, I see a double chin, and I'm just like, 'Oh, please. I really just need you to come in and let me take care of that,' Rollins said. "It probably really bothers them. And I could take care of it. And they probably don't know that 20 minutes later they could be rid of that forever."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

The 7-Minute Workout to Get in Shape Fast

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Can you really get the perfect body in just seven minutes? A regular seven-minute workout may be all you need to stay in shape, according to the authors of a new study that’s getting buzz in fitness circles.

The high-intensity circuit training workout uses your own body weight and is backed up by science.  The study, published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal, shows that when you work close to your maximum capacity with resistance for even a short time, you can change your muscles in the same way that a few hours of running can.

“What makes this workout stand out is the pure efficiency of the entire model, as well as the fact that it can be done completely with body weight,” said Brett Klika, a performance coach at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla., and a co-author of the study.

A story on the workout was first published in the May 12 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

ABC News’ Claire Shipman tried out the workout for Good Morning America.  Click here to watch.

All you need is a chair to take on the 12 exercises in the sequence, which alternate between upper and lower body moves, with 10-second breaks in between. The breaks, as short as they are, are key to the results -- from metabolic benefits to body weight and fat loss, according to the study. Plus, a shorter rest time means a shorter overall workout time to fit into a busy lifestyle.

Shipman commissioned Aaron Sterling, owner of the Sterling Gym in Washington, D.C., where she exercises, to help her run through the circuit of jumping jacks, crunches, push-ups, squats, planks and lunges.

“Because the right combination and the right sequence of muscles were fatigued, your actual performance improved,” Sterling told Shipman. “You look, for being so tired, much better and much more energized.”

Then, Sterling made her do it twice to prove that the quick, intense workouts can make you feel stronger, “even as you think you might die,” Shipman said.

Exercisers can repeat the seven-minute workout two to three times, depending on how much time they have, according to the study.

While there are pros to the workout plan, celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak suggested proceeding with caution if you’re just starting out.

“I would say there is a big danger factor if you’re sedentary or moderately sedentary and you, all of a sudden, try and do the intensity that’s suggested,” Pasternak, author of The Body Reset Diet, told ABC News.

Here’s the routine:

1. Jumping jacks
2. Wall sit
3. Push-up
4. Abdominal crunch Core
5. Step-up onto chair
6. Squat
7. Triceps dip on chair
8. Plank
9. High knees/running in place
10. Lunge
11. Push-up and rotation
12. Side plank

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Hot Off the Grill: Test Tube Burger (Really!)

Rendering. iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A Dutch scientist hopes he’ll change minds about the viability of test tube meat when his first genetically engineered hamburger, made from billions of stem cells, is served hot off the grill.

Mark Post, the head of physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, has spent years growing the synthetic hamburger from bovine stem cells, which his team turned into thin strips of muscle tissue before mincing them into a patty.

While the process has taken time and run up considerable expense — the project received $325,000 from an anonymous donor — Post told the New York Times he hoped the cost of cultured meat could come down in the future, making it a viable food source.

After conducting an informal tasting, Post gave the synthetic tissue his seal of approval, telling the Times, it “tastes reasonably good” and that he planned to add just salt and pepper before serving it, perhaps at an event in London this summer.

Post told ABC News in 2011 that he expected meat consumption to double in the next 40 years.

“In my mind, meat consumption is here to stay, and if you want to do that at a higher efficiency than what is currently done by cows and pigs, you have to explore the possibility of doing that in the lab,” he said.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio