THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER (voice-over): Today on YOUR HEALTH:
LESLIE NEWBORN: He could not tell the difference between a gun and a toy. To him, this was just another toy to be explored.
ANNOUNCER: What would your child do if he or she found a gun? An experiment offers some startling results. Energy drinks like Red Bull and Hype. They are the latest rage in the club scene, but could mixing them with alcohol be dangerous? And women and migraines, what's at the bottom of all those pounding headaches, and is there hope for getting rid of them?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, HOST: Hello and welcome to YOUR HEALTH. I'm CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It's an alarming statistic: more than 400 children each year are killed by unintentional gunfire in the United States alone. An additional 3,000 are injured. Many studies have shown that more than one-third of households that have kids also have guns. While many parents think that they've educated their kids about the dangers of guns, a new study of boys in particular shows the message may not be getting through.
Here's medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Almost any parent will tell you boys are fascinated with guns. We saw it when CNN invited these boys to play with toy water guns. But what happens when boys find a real gun? 5-year-old Rudy Newborn found a loaded handgun in a relative's nightstand drawer. He shot himself in the eye. The bullet came out the side of his head.
(on camera): Did it hurt?
RUDY NEWBORN: I thought it was one of those pretend guns.
ROWLAND: So you thought it was a pretend gun? LESLIE NEWBORN, RUDY'S MOTHER: He did not know. He could not tell the difference between a gun and a toy. To him, this was just another toy to be explored.
ROWLAND (voice-over): In fact, a new study shows most boys will play with a real gun if they find one.
DR. ARTHUR KELLERMAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY: We found in the 29 sets of boys we tested, all between the ages of 8 and 12 -- old enough to know better, you'd think -- that over 75 percent of these boys put in a room for only 15 minutes found the real handgun that had been hidden there.
ROWLAND: As you can see in this video taken through a one-way mirror, the boys found both the real gun and toy guns concealed in drawers. A radio transmitter documented when the trigger was pulled. Of those who discovered the gun in the study, 76 percent handled it. Almost one-half pulled the trigger, and only half thought the gun was real or were unsure.
DR. HAROLD SIMON, PEDIATRICIAN: The families that were surveyed thought that most children in this age group would be able to recognize the difference between a toy gun and a real gun and would avoid touching them or playing with them or pulling the trigger, and that's not what we found.
ROWLAND: We asked these boys what they would do if they found a real gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say, stop playing with that gun, you might kill yourself.
QUESTION: Would you tell someone?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ROWLAND: But in the study, only one of the 29 groups of boys told an adult about the gun.
(on camera): These latest findings support the American Academy Of Pediatrics' recommendations that the best way to prevent gun- related deaths and injuries in children is to get rid of firearms in homes and communities.
(voice-over): Despite her son's accident, Leslie Newborn is not against gun ownership, but says:
LESLIE NEWBORN, RUDY'S MOTHER: Lock them away. Lock them away, because you can't let your guard down for it, not even for a day -- not even for a day.
ROWLAND: Although Rudy survived his gun injury two months ago and shows no brain damage, he will be blind in one eye for life.
Rhonda Rowland, CNN, YOUR HEALTH.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: They thought their battle was over, but now millions who beat polio decades ago are facing a new threat. That story in a moment when YOUR HEALTH returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: In the United States from the 1920s to the 1950s, the warmer months of the year were known as "nightmare summers of quarantine and contagion," because the summer season was when polio epidemics were more common.
GUPTA: Millions of people who conquered polio during their lifetimes are now facing the threat of a second bout with the disease. It's called post-polio syndrome. And to make matters worse, few doctors actually recognize the disease.
CNN medical correspondent Rea Blakey has more.
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REA BLAKEY, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Lauro Halstead fought polio as a college student in the 1950s and eventually won. It was a time when just the word "polio" could panic a crowd, deserting beaches and playgrounds because it was so contagious.
LAURO HALSTEAD, NATIONAL REHABILITATION HOSPITAL: You could go to bed one night and wake up the next morning paralyzed.
BLAKEY: Like many polio patients whose chest muscles were paralyzed by the virus, he temporarily lived inside an artificial breathing machine called an iron lung. That was before a vaccine was created, when harsh measures were employed to combat polio's spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Literally, tons of DDT are used on this dread disease that attacks our young.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKEY: Today millions of polio survivors must face the challenge again. This time it's post-polio syndrome, or PPS, and Dr. Halstead has it.
HALSTEAD: To have an illness you think you defeated, to have it recur is extraordinarily unpleasant and psychologically devastating, which is why a lot of people throw up barriers, you know, barriers of denial.
DR. CHRISTOPHER HOWSON, MARCH OF DIMES: There is no definite test for PPS, so it's very hard to diagnose and is generally done through a process of excluding other disease conditions.
BLAKEY: Maria Montero had polio when she was 10 years old, and beat it. Then, suddenly, four years ago, she began feeling weakness and pain in her muscles and severe fatigue. She was in denial for a year before she began searching for answers in her native Peru, then in the U.S., where she found Dr. Halstead.
MARIA MONTERO, POST-POLIO SYNDROME PATIENT: I am sure that Polio patients, survivors, all over the world, including in Peru, they don't know what's happening to them.
BLAKEY: In the initial episode of acute polio, patients can lose 60 to 70 percent of their nerve cells. Surviving cells find muscle fibers that still work and attach to them, regaining function. But after 30 to 40 years the ability to repair nerve cells seems to be lost, causing post-polio syndrome. No one knows why.
(on camera): Dr. Halstead says in general the patients who had the most severe cases of polio are at greatest risk of developing PPS, but even a very mild case of polio can return with a vengeance. That includes some survivors who never knew they had polio.
HALSTEAD: It was sort of like a silent infection, but serious enough that now, 40 years, 45 years later, they're having very significant problems.
BLAKEY (voice-over): The March of Dimes estimates up to 20 million polio survivors around the world are at risk of developing post-polio syndrome. Survivors who conquered the disease and went on to live full, active lives are being told to rest and conserve their limited personal energy whenever possible, forcing them back to the braces, crutches and wheelchairs they fought so hard to abandon.
MONTERO: It's difficult when you realize you're having something nobody told you about, because they said before, you had to use it or lose it, your muscles. Now they say, they tell you, "Conserve it to preserve it." So now you can't do anything.
HALSTEAD: You're only walking a block or two during the day, it's like running a marathon.
BLAKEY: Forty years later, many polio survivors face losing the strength and the independence they once struggled to gain.
Rea Blakey, CNN, YOUR HEALTH.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: YOUR HEALTH headlines are just minutes away, including a progress report on the fight against cancer. Plus, why some are suggesting parental guidance should be the norm for even those good old G-rated movies. And later, is there a link between hormones and migraine headaches? But first, can mistletoe help fight cancer? The latest research and the debate when YOUR HEALTH returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Welcome back to YOUR HEALTH. I'm medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta with this week's "Health Headlines."
Fewer Americans are dying from cancer, according to a report from the National Cancer Institute. Experts say better screening techniques are detecting breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers earlier. However, the report also warns of a future lung cancer epidemic, citing the number of teens now smoking.
Does your local hospital have the staff it needs? A survey by the American Hospital Association warns quality care at hospitals is already being affected by the shortage of health care workers. Experts had predicted problems in about 10 years, but the AHA says its survey, carried out with hundreds of hospitals, shows action needs to be taken immediately to fill the large number of vacant positions.
Are those G-rated movies as healthy for your kids as you think? Harvard researches looked at 81 animated movies made between 1937 and 2000. They found nearly half the films show characters using alcohol or tobacco, sometimes to excess. The study's authors say the review is not meant to suggest that parents prevent their kids from watching movies, but that parents should discuss the dangers of alcohol and tobacco as their children watch.
That's a look at this week's YOUR HEALTH headlines.
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GUPTA: When Suzanne Somers recently captured headlines, revealing she was taking mistletoe extract to fight breast cancer, many doctors argued that the herb was useless.
But now, CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reports one study that might actually show that it's harmful.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suzanne Somers isn't the only one taking mistletoe to fight cancer.
DR. ALEXANDER EGGERMONT, ONCOLOGIST: This use is so widespread in Central Europe that it's actually is estimated to be used by 60 to 70 percent of cancer patients.
COHEN: Dr. Alexander Eggermont, an oncologist in Holland, has studied some 200 patients with advanced malignant melanoma, or skin cancer. He said his findings, which have already been presented in Europe, show mistletoe might cause brain tumors. He said the skin cancer metastasized to the brain in 19 percent of the patients who took mistletoe, but in only 7 percent of the patients who didn't take it.
EGGERMONT: There is strong suggestion from our data that it could -- that it could harm, and actually significantly harm.
COHEN: The medical director of Weleda, a Swiss company that makes mistletoe extract, said in a statement: "Weleda cannot offer a comprehensive response because Weleda has not yet received a final report of the study." He said other studies have shown that mistletoe, sold as Iscar, is not only harmless, but actually shrinks tumors.
(on camera): Many American oncologists say these European studies are seriously flawed. So despite the herb's popularity in parts of Europe, most American doctors have not embraced it.
(voice-over): Dr. Molly McMullen-Laird, an internist in Michigan, is an exception. She advises many of her patients to use conventional treatments, like chemotherapy, and mistletoe.
DR. MOLLY MCMULLEN-LAIRD, INTERNIST: By stimulating the immune system, patients almost universally say that they have more energy, they sleep better, their appetite is improved.
COHEN: But Dr. Larry Norton, incoming president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said there's no proof mistletoe stimulates the immune system.
DR. LARRY NORTON, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY: Natural products are not necessarily safe by definition. Strychnine is a natural product. Hemlock is a natural product. Tobacco is a natural product.
COHEN: As for Suzanne Somers, her spokeswoman says that actress still believes in mistletoe injections, just as she did in March when she appeared on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
SUZANNE SOMERS, ACTRESS: This is what I'm doing for me. I'm not telling anybody else to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: So she says she'll continue, even though her own doctors are against it.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, YOUR HEALTH.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: They're touted as energy boosters and have become quite the craze in the club scene, but do energy drinks really live up to their claim? And what about mixing them with alcohol? We'll ask the experts in this week's "Feeling Fit."
But first, our "Doctor Q&A" from our CNN health Web site.
(BEGIN DOCTOR Q&A)
Q: What do the herbs "all heal," "bird lime" and "devil's luge" all have in common?
A: They are all names for mistletoe.
(END DOCTOR Q&A)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUPTA: Welcome back to YOUR HEALTH.
In today's "Feeling Fit," what's really in all those energy drinks? And more importantly, are they safe?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN (voice-over): At this dance club in Atlanta, it's one order for energy drinks after another.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It kind of makes me stay awake where I get, I get energized.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just makes me feel alert, awake.
COHEN: Sport nutritionist Liz Applegate is one of the few researchers who studied energy drinks, so we asked her what's in them that seems to perk people up. Her answer was very simple.
LIZ APPLEGATE, SPORTS NUTRITIONIST: And frankly they're nothing much more than caffeine in a can with a lot of sugar.
COHEN: One can of Red Bull, the most popular energy drink, has about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. The makers of Red Bull told us other ingredients such as vitamins and amino acids, help boost energy, too.
APPLEGATE: And these are sexy sounding ingredients, and while they may give the allure that they're going to help athletic performance or help you feel energized, research studies actually don't support that.
COHEN: Most of the people we met here actually weren't thinking much about athletic performance. They like their energy drinks mixed with vodka, sometimes one after another.
DR. LAURENCE SPERLING, CARDIOLOGIST: If they were to drink multiple glasses of this mixture or concoction, I think there'd be a danger such as racing heartbeat, elevation of blood pressure and even, potentially, a heart attack.
COHEN: A spokeswoman for Red Bull declined to be interviewed on camera, but in a statement said, "Red Bull does not actively market itself as a mixer for alcoholic drinks."
So the experts we talked to said the bottom line is there's nothing wrong with these drinks in moderation and yes, they will pep you up, but so would anything with that much caffeine.
For "Feeling Fit," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: About four out of 10 patients say migraine headaches drive them to their beds, sometimes for days at a time. Earlier research found that migraine attacks caused Americans to spend about 112 million days in bed in 1998 alone.
GUPTA: Migraine headaches are a reality for millions of women. New research suggests both stress and hormones may play a role.
Here's Toria Tolley with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MARSHALL NASH, NEUROLOGIST: What time of day do they start? Is there any pattern to it?
TORIA TOLLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kiva Schindler is one of the 28 million Americans that suffer from migraine headaches. As many as five times a week, she gets a pulsating feeling that is accompanied by pain, nausea and light and noise sensitivity. Her work and home life comes to a halt when one hits.
KIVA SCHINDLER, MIGRAINE SUFFERER: When I have a severe headache, it affects them because I can't really do anything to take care of them. I usually have to get someone, my mother or sister-in- law or somebody to come and actually get my children.
NASH: So it takes one or two other people to come in, fill in your shoes, when...
KIVA SCHINDLER: Exactly, exactly, because they are truly not something that you can just go on with your day-to-day routine.
TOLLEY: As a woman, she is far from alone. According to the National Headache Foundation, nearly one in five women experience migraine headaches, compared with about one in 20 men. Why the difference?
Dr. Marshall Nash, a headache specialist and researcher, says there are several biological and environmental reasons some women get more headaches.
NASH: There's a genetic predisposition to have shifts in the chemical called serotonin. And serotonin in the brain, which is a big factor in pain and depression; lowering level of serotonin will set off part of the headache. And the other thing that lowers serotonin levels is a drop in estrogen.
TOLLEY: But there is also a less clinical, more logical reason.
NASH: Why do you think more women have headaches than men?
KIVA SCHINDLER: I think that a lot of it is lifestyle. I think that women have a lot more that they're expected to take care of and juggle. NASH: Men work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done. So there's a sleep deprivation that comes from just being a woman and having to take care of a family and their husband, after their husband gets home from work, even though they work during the day. And that stress triggers the migraines.
TOLLEY: Many migraine patients depend on prescription help to live with headaches. Better relief, however, could be on horizon. Schindler is now part of a clinical study headed by Dr. Nash to find better drug to treat migraines. In the past, virtually all migraine drug studies were conducted on men. Now, knowing the frequency and hormonal roots of women's headaches, researchers are focusing more on women, and hope to develop medicines more suited to their specific needs.
NASH: It's acceptable to take over the counter medication once a week, but if you have severe headaches that are causing you to lose your ability to work, to disable you in some way, then medical treatment should be prescribed.
TOLLEY: Dr. Nash's clinical trial won't be finished for more than year. After that, if data shows new drug is safe and effective, it may be the answer for other women who, like Kiva Schindler, dread that next migraine.
Toria Tolley, CNN, YOUR HEALTH.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Well, that's all we have time for today, but there's much more health information at your fingertips. If you'd like more information on post-polio syndrome or any of today's stories, just log on to CNN.com/health. As always, your AOL keyword is CNN. Our Web site is produced in conjunction with WebMD.
For everyone at the CNN health team, I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Thanks for watching.
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