Tuna sushi. (credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Following 316 salmonella cases in 26 states, the Center for Disease Control last week issued a recall on a brand of ground tuna that’s found in sushi products often sold as ‘spicy tuna.’

Four of those cases happened in Texas between Jan. 28 and May 3, according to CDC statistics. The product in question is Raw Scraped Ground Tuna, a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product sold as Nakaochi Scrape by the Moon Marine USA Corporation.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based business voluntarily recalled nearly 60,000 pounds of the tuna, the CDC says. The ground tuna is actually tuna back meat that’s scraped off the bones and then often formed into frozen blocks.

Companies scrape the meat, they say, because tuna is too expensive to waste. This product is not treated with ammonia or any other chemical –– it’s FDA approved and supposed to be safe.

On March 8, Texas became the first state to have a cluster of eaters become ill after eating at the same Japanese restaurant, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

A week later, Wisconsin reported the same incident at a Japanese restaurant there, and the CDC launched its investigation.

“Preliminary information from 22 ill persons revealed that in the week before illness 80 percent reported eating seafood and 55 percent reported eating sushi,” results from a March 16 CDC test reads.

These numbers jumped as the weeks went on: On March 27, 90 percent of the 29 newly ill individuals reported eating sushi and 81 percent of those said they had spicy tuna.

On April 13, Moon Marine USA recalled three production dates of the fish. An import alert was issued the next day, and on April 24, the CDC traced the salmonella to a fishery in India and found the strain in unopened packages of the yellowfin tuna packages.

The company expanded its recall on May 10, including 22-pound boxes of “Tuna Strips” that were marked as either AA or AAA grade.

“The product has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella,” the CDC wrote.

In addition to sushi and sashimi, sickened individuals also reported eating ceviche. The CDC has asked restaurants to stop serving the product in question. For those that don’t know where it came from, check with the supplier, the CDC advises.

Customers are suggested to ask the restaurant or grocer which company supplied the tuna before eating it.

Other states with salmonella cases linked to the yellowfin include Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Thirty-six people have been hospitalized nationwide, none of whom have died.

State Representatives are meeting to consult with experts on why so many Texas families don’t have enough food. The group will also toss around ideas on addressing the problem of child hunger during the summer months.

The Texas Department of Agriculture will brief the committee on their Summer Food Service Program.

“It’s about making sure that kids are not going hungry. It’s something that we work hard at the Texas Department of Agriculture to try and overcome,” Agriculture spokesman Bryan Black explained. “And we’re trying to get mayors involved with it, we’re trying to get communities involved with it.”

In the past, participation in the summer program has been low, with less than 20-percent of low-income Texas children participating.

According to the USDA, Texas is the second hungriest state in the union and leads the nation in child hunger. While the USDA provides grants for lunch programs during the school year, providing nutritional assistance to the summer months is more difficult.

“We have hungry children, but the services are there to feed these kids,” Black said. “So hopefully our legislators will see the programs and be able to bring it back to their communities as well.”

This summer, parents can dial 211 to find feeding sites in their neighborhoods.

Last year the report “Hunger by the Numbers: A Blueprint for Ending Hunger in Texas”, by the Texas Hunger Initiative and the Texas Food Bank Network, revealed that 18-percent of Texas households or some 4.2 million residents are at risk of hunger.

“We’ve been reaching out to mayors… to communities,” Black said. “We’re doing a lot more outreach than we’ve done in the past, to try to get communities to understand that ‘Look, these programs are there, you just need to access them.’”

The House Human Services and Public Health Committees is also expected to discuss federal Nutrition standards and congressional activity on the 2012 Farm Bill during the meeting.

The meetings are meant to help lawmakers decide what bills they’ll introduce next year.

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The House Human Services and Public Health Committees have asked experts to explain why so many families don’t have enough food and why some communities don’t have grocery stores. Lawmakers on Tuesday will also look into what state government can do to address the problems.

Texas has the second highest rate in the country of people who have trouble getting enough food to eat. In 2010 that was more than 4 million Texans.

Among the solutions the committee will consider are farmer’s markets and community gardens. Lawmakers are also considering applying nutritional standards to state food aid programs.

The committee’s findings will determine what bills lawmakers introduce next year.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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The first time he tried it two years ago, he ran a third of a mile on grass. Within three weeks of switching over, he was clocking six miles on the road.

During a training run with a friend along a picturesque bike path near downtown Minneapolis, Carter suddenly stopped, unable to take another step. His right foot seared in pain.

“It was as though someone had taken a hammer and hit me with it,” he recalled.

Carter convinced his friend to run on without him. He hobbled home and rested his foot. When the throbbing became unbearable days later, he went to the doctor. The diagnosis: a stress fracture.

As more avid runners and casual athletes experiment with barefoot running, doctors say they are treating injuries ranging from pulled calf muscles to Achilles tendinitis to metatarsal stress fractures, mainly in people who ramped up too fast. In serious cases, they are laid up for several months.

Many converts were inspired by Christopher McDougall’s 2009 best-seller “Born To Run,” widely credited with sparking the barefoot running trend in the Western world. The book focuses on an Indian tribe in Mexico whose members run long distances without pain in little more than sandals.

While the ranks of people running barefoot or in “barefoot running shoes” have grown in recent years, they still represent the minority of runners. Some devotees swear they are less prone to injuries after kicking off their athletic shoes though there’s no evidence that barefoot runners suffer fewer problems.

In some cases, foot specialists are noticing injuries arising from the switch to barefoot, which uses different muscles. Shod runners tend to have a longer stride and land on their heel compared with barefoot runners, who are more likely to have a shorter stride and land on the midfoot or forefoot. Injuries can occur when people transition too fast and put too much pressure on their calf and foot muscles, or don’t shorten their stride and end up landing on their heel with no padding.

Podiatrist Paul Langer used to see one or two barefoot running injuries a month at his Twin Cities Orthopedics practice in Minneapolis. Now he treats between three and four a week.

“Most just jumped in a little too enthusiastically,” said Langer, an experienced runner and triathlete who trains in his barefoot running shoes part of the week.

Bob Baravarian, chief of podiatry at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, Calif., said he’s seen “a fair number” of heel injuries and stress fractures among first-timers who are not used to the different forces of a forefoot strike.

“All of a sudden, the strain going through your foot is multiplied manifold” and problems occur when people don’t ease into it, he said.

Running injuries are quite common. Between 30 to 70 percent of runners suffer from repetitive stress injuries every year and experts can’t agree on how to prevent them. Some runners with chronic problems have seized on barefoot running as an antidote, claiming it’s more natural. Others have gone so far as to demonize sneakers for their injuries.

Pre-human ancestors have walked and run in bare feet for millions of years often on rough surfaces, yet researchers surprisingly know very little about the science of barefoot running. The modern running shoe with its cushioned heel and stiff sole was not invented until the 1970s. And in parts of Africa and other places today, running barefoot is still a lifestyle.

The surging interest has researchers racing for answers. Does barefoot running result in fewer injuries? What kinds of runners will benefit most from switching over? What types of injuries do transitioning barefoot runners suffer and how to prevent them?

While some runners completely lose the shoes, others opt for minimal coverage. The oxymoron “barefoot running shoes” is like a glove for the feet designed to protect from glass and other hazards on the ground. Superlight minimalist shoes are a cross between barefoot shoes and traditional sneakers — there’s little to no arch support and they’re lower profile.

Greg Farris decided to try barefoot running to ease the pain on the outside of his knee, a problem commonly known as runner’s knee. He was initially shoeless — running minutes at a time and gently building up. After three months, he switched to barefoot running shoes after developing calluses.

Halfway through a 5K run in January, he felt his right foot go numb, but he pushed on and finished the race. He saw a doctor and got a steroid shot, but the pain would not quit. He went to see another doctor, who took an X-ray and told him he had a stress fracture.

Farris was in a foot cast for three months. He recently started running again — in sneakers.

“I don’t think my body is made to do it,” he said, referring to barefoot running.

Experts say people can successfully lose the laces. The key is to break in slowly. Start by walking around barefoot. Run no more than a quarter mile to a mile every other day in the first week. Gradually increase the distance. Stop if bones or joints hurt. It can take months to make the change.

“Don’t go helter skelter at the beginning,” said Dr. Jeffrey Ross, an associate clinical professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of the Diabetic Foot Clinic at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston.

A year and a half ago, Ross saw a steady stream — between three and six barefoot runners a week — with various aches and pain. It has since leveled off to about one a month.

Ross doesn’t know why. It’s possible that fewer people are trying it or those baring their feet are doing a better job adapting to the new running style.

There’s one group foot experts say should avoid barefoot running: People with decreased sensation in their feet, a problem common among diabetics, since they won’t be able to know when they get injured.

Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman runs a lab devoted to studying the effects of running form on injury rates. He thinks form matters more than footwear or lack of — don’t overstride, have good posture and land gently.

In a 2010 study examining different running gaits, Lieberman and colleagues found that striking the ground heel first sends a shock up through the body while barefoot runners tend to have a more springy step. Even so, more research is needed into whether barefoot running helps avoid injury.

“The long and the short of it is that we know very little about how to help all runners — barefoot and shod — prevent getting injured. Barefoot running is no panacea. Shoes aren’t either,” said Lieberman, who runs barefoot except during the New England winters.

Carter, the ultramarathoner, blames himself for his injury. Before he shed his shoes, he never had a problem that kept him off his feet for two months.

In April, he ran his fourth 100-mile race — with shoes. Meanwhile, his pair of barefoot running shoes is collecting dust in the closet.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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A UCLA study showed that when a fructose solution was given to rats, they had a harder time figuring out a complicated maze. However, when rats were given both the sugary substance and a supplement high in omega-3 fatty acids, they were able to get through the maze much faster than rats that didn’t receive omega-3s.

“Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of integrative biology and physiology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science, said in a written statement. “Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage.”

The findings were published on May 15 in The Journal of Physiology.

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PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - North Texas woman are already feeling the fallout from the funding fight for women’s health clinics. Some clinics are starting to close. That is leaving women with fewer choices, and other health clinics being forced to pick up the slack.

The Collin County Adult Clinic is a nonprofit primary care facility. They handle things like asthma, diabetes and blood tests. Now, they’re getting ready to add pap smears and mammograms to their services.

Guadalupe Hernandez was diagnosed with asthma last year. She came to the Collin County Adult Clinic for a checkup. “We pay only $20 at first and then $15 every time we come here,” Hernandez said.

Margie Lopez came in because she was feeling pain in her joints. She pays $15. “That’s one of the things I like,” she said. “I wish they would make more like this to help out people. I really do.” Lopez goes to another clinic for her women’s health checkups.

Hernandez goes to Planned Parenthood for her pap smears and mammograms. “They always provide low prices and I think I had the mammogram last year free,” Hernandez said. Where would she go if her Planned Parenthood clinic shut down? “Good question. I don’t know. We need to do something about it.”

Two low cost Collin County clinics not affiliated with Planned Parenthood have already shut down. One was the McKinney Family Planning Center and the other was a clinic operated by Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas in east Plano. “I am sorry the other clinics are closing down, because other women need these clinics,” said Collin County Adult Clinic executive director John Ernst.

The Collin County Adult Clinic is already seeing 5,000 patients each year. Now, they’re planning to take on more women. “We have to step it up, because we’re seeing more people and we will be seeing more women,” Ernst said. They will open an additional clinic only treating women’s health issues. “We’ll be seeing women, probably, who are over 40 and who are needing some of these issues, who are needing the breast exams and then the mammography and pap smears.”

The clinic will not perform abortions. It will only provide women’s health care one Saturday morning every month.

As for the fight over state funding for Planned Parenthood, and the future of the Women’s Health Program, Ernst did not want to comment. “We’re just here to help women. That’s all we do,” he said.

The Collin County Adult Clinic will see women at its facility located on 4100 West 15th Street. It will also be known as the West Side Clinic. They will start seeing their first patients the third week of June, and then expand as they are able. “It’ll stress them out and stress out our finances, but it’s good work. It’s good work. It really is,” Ernst said.

For Hernandez, it is already a relief to know that she will have somewhere to go if she needs it. “Wow! That’s wonderful,” she said.

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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Hundreds of health-conscious kids will take part in a community expo at TCU on Saturday that highlights the benefits of an active lifestyle. It is part of the Kids in the Kitchen program, which was started six years ago by the Junior League of Fort Worth.

This year, two Fort Worth elementary schools are participating — McLean 6th Grade Center and North Hi Mount Elementary. “We, like, learn how to drink a lot of water,” said McLean student Maggie Hurst, “and how to make that choice instead of soda.”

The entire school is taking part in Kids in the Kitchen, a nationwide program that empowers children to be healthy. “We’re teaching them to make healthy lifestyle choices,” said Lisa Ferrand with the Junior League of Fort Worth. “Today, it can be found at about 200 communities in North America, representing one of the largest grassroots efforts to fight childhood obesity.”

As part of the program, the students have two 10-day challenges; one focuses on drinking more water and the other focuses on adding exercise. “If they drink eight glasses of water, we put a sticker by their name,” said McLean student Ricky Escobedo, “and if they walk 10,000 steps, then they get another sticker by Wild Walk.”

There’s also a three-day challenge that takes into account what the kids eat. It’s called ‘Junk the Junk,’ and it challenges kids to give up junk food and soda in exchange for healthy foods like fruits and vegetables.

But a healthier body isn’t the only benefit to the program. “Every time they complete a challenge, their name goes in a drawing for sports equipment that they can take home,” said McLean principal Laura Stegall.

The program’s goal is to reverse the childhood obesity trend in America, one student and one community at a time. “Childhood obesity is one of the largest issues we have today. It is also one of the most costly,” Ferrand said.

“They were also challenged to involve the family in the challenges,” Stegall added, “to make a healthy lifestyle choice for their families as well.”

“It’s kind of healthy for the whole school,” Escobedo said, “and it could affect your whole family.”

Sixth grader Lilli Ingram doesn’t find the challenges too difficult. “It’s pretty easy,” she said of the 10,000-step challenge, “because we rotate a lot in classes and I have basketball and sports.”

The program will conclude this weekend with a health expo at TCU, of which both schools will participate. The event is open to the public.

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Shannon Walthall holds her baby, Faith, who has a rare form of Dwarfism and wasn’t supposed to live for more than five minutes. She’s now four months old. (Credit: CBSDFW.com)

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – Shannon Walthall spends every second she can at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth.

There she watches over her baby girl and prays for another second.

“We pray all the time,” says Walthall. “That’s what makes it better.”

Every single second of the little baby’s life is a second more than she should have had –– that’s no exaggeration. The little baby’s name is Faith and she was only expected to live for five minutes.

“She hasn’t stopped fighting since the minute she was born,” says the Fort Worth mother. “I look at her and I think I was told five minutes and we are going on four months.”

Faith has a rare form of dwarfism. Her chest is small and she can’t expand her lungs, which means she can’t breathe on her own.

“This is the first time I have ever seen this condition,” says Dr. Karen Schultz, a Pediatric Pulmonologist at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth.

Dr. Schultz says the condition occurs in one in a million children.

“We go one day at a time. There have been times when we have gone one moment at a time with faith,” explains Dr. Schultz. “Mom and I were going second to second at one point and we have gone from moment to moment – hour to hour and now day to day.”

Faith has had two surgeries already and has even fought off pneumonia. She has a long road ahead. Her mother says her faith has gotten her family through the tough times.

“I believe she is here to stay and accomplish unbelievable things in her life,” says Walthall. “Is it going to be easy? No. Is anything easy that’s worth it? No.”

Faith’s mom says doctors knew something wasn’t right when she was pregnant, but the family decided to carry to full term and meet their baby girl.

Even Faith’s doctors say they can’t explain, but they, too, are hopeful.

“Faith is a miracle,” says Dr. Schultz. “Oh, she will go home.”

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – Whooping cough is making a deadly resurgence in Texas.

In all of 2011, there were 961 reported cases statewide. Through April of this year, though, there have been 424 cases, including one that resulted in the death of a Dallas child.

“Every cough he gets I get scared,” said Jasmine Eagle as she waited to have her toddler immunized on Thursday. “I hope it’s not that serious.”

Unlike some parents, Eagle is having her son immunized against whooping cough, or pertussis.  But a lack of immunizations is causing an unsettling spike in the number of pertussis cases, doctors say.

“It could be it’s on the uptick right now,” said Dr. Jeffery Kahn of Children’s and UT Southwestern. “Certainly we’ve more pertussis at children’s medical center than we did all of last year.”

Children’s Medical Center saw 10 cases all of last year. So far this year they’ve seen 14. And 12 of those cases, including the infant death, were during the past month.

The Tarrant County Health Department has seen fewer cases: 30 through the end of April last year compared to 17 through April of this year.

Denton County’s cases, though, have soared from 14 at this time last year to 30 this year.

Doctors say it’s often the parent who develops whooping cough.

It’s just a nagging cough to the adult. But they may be unknowingly spreading the disease to their children. Even if parents were immunized as children, they should see the doctor again.

“Immunity to pertussis wanes over time and now there’s a recommendation, there has been for a few years now, to immunize adults against pertussis,” said Kahn.

Kahn said doctors recommend a battery of immunizations in infancy, but no child is too old to be immunized.

Here are tips from the state about pertussis:

Students celebrate during their graduation ceremony. (credit: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBS NEWS) - Higher education could help people in more ways besides finding a job. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found educated Americans are less likely to be obese and suffer from chronic diseases, compared to those with less education.

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released its 35th annual report on health in the United States on Wednesday, which compiled data from government and private sector resources on Americans’ health habits.

This year’s edition spotlighted the role socioeconomic status has in determining a person’s health. It found between 2007 and 2010, heads of households with a bachelor’s degree or more were less likely to have obese children, with rates around 11 percent for boys and 7 percent for girls. Meanwhile, in households where the head holds a high school education or less, 24 percent of boys and 22 percent of girls were obese.

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Packed cannabis at a growing facility. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Is marijuana addictive? A University of Texas at Dallas professor is preparing to launch a $2 million grant-funded study to get a more conclusive answer to that question.

Dr. Francesca Filbey already has a history of studying addiction. In an informative Q&A on UTD’s Center for Brain Health website, Filbey says her passion is studying brain changes that often lead to addictive behavior.

In past studies, mostly at her former post at the University of New Mexico, Filbey says she’s found proof some pot users are dependent upon the drug and wants to further study its effects upon the brain.

“It isn’t as addictive as alcohol, for instance, but 10 percent of the population –– or, of people who use marijuana –– actually do end up becoming addicted and carrying the diagnosis of dependence,” she said.

Her past studies showed proof that some individuals had a genetic predisposition to marijuana addiction, Filbey said.

A variance in a gene that affects the development of the portion of the brain that THC, the active chemical in marijuana, latches onto is different in some users, the professor said.

Her past studies have found that some people are simply more susceptible to the rewarding effects of marijuana than others. This study, she says, will hope to further research why that is and what factors determine it.

“Initiation is usually in adolescence when the brain is developing rapidly,” Filbey said. “And when changes occur to the brain they could be long-lasting.”

The study needs 100 “chronic, heavy” marijuana users and another 100 nonusers. Filbey said the marijuana users are anonymous and will not be charged with a crime.

“We’ve also received a certificate of confidentiality from the National Institute of Health, which protects each individual from any legal consequences,” Filbey said.

Participants will undergo brain imaging while researchers show them marijuana triggers, such as paraphernalia like pipes. From here, researchers will “examine the neural mechanisms of craving.”

Funding for the research came from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which offers grants for professors wishing to study how drugs affect the brain.

Filbey said anyone wishing to participate in the study should contact the university’s Center for Brain Health at 214.905.3007.

Athletes listen as US First Lady Michelle Obama addresses the 2012 Team USA Media Summit on May 14, 2012 in Dallas,Texas. (Photo JOE KLAMAR/AFP/GettyImages)

DALLAS (AP/CBSDFW) – First lady Michelle Obama has announced a plan to get more than 1.7 million children involved in Olympic-style activities as part of her “Let’s Move!” initiative.

Mrs. Obama, who will lead the U.S. delegation at the London Olympics, has made combating childhood obesity a priority over the past few years.

She was joined by more than two dozen Olympians and Paralympians on Monday to announce the plan, which has received support from the Partnership for a Healthier America, the U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Paralympics and numerous national governing bodies.

USA Cycling, for example, will provide free memberships and clinics. The U.S. Tennis Association plans to introduce 620,000 youths to the sport, and USA Swimming will enroll 530,000 learn-to-swim participants in its “Make a Splash” program.

Surrounded by young athletes the First Lady took the stage at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas Monday afternoon.

Mrs. Obama said that her program is all about combating childhood obesity, encouraging children to eat healthier and take part in more physical activities.

“All it takes is that first lesson that first clinic or class to get a child excited about a new sport,” said the First Lady. “And once they’re engaged that’s when coaches and instructors can step in and become mentors.”

Mrs. Obama was also in North Texas hoping to score gold, or green, for her husband.

“She’s the perfect person to be raising money,” said CBS 11 political analyst John Weekley about the First Lady’s fundraising abilities. “Mrs. Obama is enormously popular throughout the United States and in Texas. She has the kind of appeal where you can tell she is a partner to the President.”

Mrs. Obama appeared at a fundraiser spearheaded by The Democratic Party of Collin County. The minimum to attend was $250 dollars.

The fundraiser comes the same day as polls opened for early voting in Texas’ Republican Presidential Primary.

The race to the White House could come down to undecided and independent women–a group many analysts say Mrs. Obama can reach.

“She has struck a cord with the American public in terms of things that are important,” said Weekley.  “And I don’t know anything much more important than our children.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Mother’s Day can be tough for Andrea Betts.

“It’s hard because I want to be a mother, but I can’t be yet,” she said.

Last February, she and her husband, Ryan Smith, were approaching their one year anniversary, the date they planned to start trying.

“My brain and my heart and everything was really set on doing that right now,” she said.

But, when doctors diagnosed Betts with breast cancer, her well laid plans came crashing down.

“All this information and news is raining down on you, and the one question I had for him was, ‘what about kids?,’ said Betts.

Dr. Walid Saleh, of the Sher Fertility Institute said, her response was a common one among young women diagnosed with cancer.

“For some women, the infertility is more stressful than the cancer diagnosis,” he said.

The Institute’s fertility rescue program, though, helps cancer patients freeze eggs or embryos for the future, free of charge. The normal cost for the service is about $10,000, according to Dr. Saleh.

Betts and her husband had only one shot, though, to produce a fertilized egg before she had to start chemo. Their attempt paid off.

“We got an amazing number of little embryos,” she said. “We feel close to them.  They’re like our little guys.”

Betts still has to wait another six years to make sure she’s free of cancer and the drugs, before doctors can implant an embryo.

“There’s still not certainty, but there’s a really good chance. It feels like the reward at the end of a very long tunnel,” said Smith.

That hope, they say, is enough – for now. For more information on the fertility rescue program, visit haveababy.com.

The study, conducted by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), showed that 21.8 percent of white women aged 15 to 44 admitted to having cigarettes while having a baby. Black and Hispanic women reported lower rates at 14.2 percent and 6.5 percent respectively.

When it came to illicit drug use, 7.7 percent of pregnant black women admitted to using illicit substances, compared with 4.4 percent of pregnant white women and 3.1 percent of pregnant Hispanic women, the study revealed. Alcohol use was also relatively high with 12 to 13 percent of pregnant black and white women admitting to drinking. Hispanic women reported the lowest alcohol consumption rates.

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University of Texas Arlington graduate student Hung Cao kisses his son on the cheek shortly after he was born. He said this is where he got the idea to develop a sensor to help battle Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (Credit: UTA)

ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Gone are the days of audio and video-based baby monitors –– if University of Texas at Arlington researchers have their way.

They’ve secured a patent for a wireless sensor that detects carbon dioxide exhaled by sleeping babies. Parents can buy monitors that detect movement, but this device will directly tell the parent if their child stops breathing.

“If anything happens, for instance the baby stops breathing, the carbon dioxide concentration will vary, then the system will issue an alert through the wireless system to warn the parents,” said J.C. Chiao, an electrical engineering professor at UTA.

The sensors can be attached to a baby’s crib or car seat. Hung Cao, a doctorate student, came up with the idea after his son was born in 2006.

He said he remembers watching his baby shortly after he was born in the hospital.

“I didn’t see any equipment to monitor the baby, I said, ‘Why it’s like this? What happens if something suddenly happens with the baby and no one knows?,’” Cao said.

Christina Lara is a first-time mom. When her daughter Annabelle Grace was born, the family hurriedly invested in a pair of baby monitors.

“We got one that goes under the mattress that senses movement and we also got one that clips to her diaper that sense movement,” Lara said.

The Keller mother still wakes up four times a night to check on her baby girl –– the UTA sensors, she said, would help ease her concern.

“If I don’t hear her, I go and check on her and feel her and maybe poke her,” Lara said. “I think something like (the sensor) would be amazing; just that extra peace of mind to help you get rest would be worth it.”

To create the sensor, Chiao and Cao teamed up. They each said they believe their product can help lower the rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.  According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, SIDS happens unexpectedly mostly among children between two and four months old.

“It remains a significant cause of death in infants under one year old,” the government website says.

“If we can save just one baby and that baby can become the next Einstein or President of the United States, then we have done our jobs,” Chiao said.

The two researchers hope to have the device on the market in five years. It would cost about $100.

Time’s May 21 issue, featuring a 26-year-old mother breastfeeding her 3-year-old son. (Credit: TIME)

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – It’s certainly attention grabbing, but does it go too far?

Time Magazine’s forthcoming issue focuses on the doctor who –– literally –– wrote the book on the extreme parenting method known as “attachment parenting.”

That’s all well and good, but TIME’s eye-catching cover just-so-happens to sport a mother framed in front of a sparse white background breast-feeding her three-year-old as he perches atop a chair.

“The subjects on this week’s TIME cover aren’t models in pose,” writes TIME scribe Feifei Sun in the magazine’s photo blog.

Perhaps taking a cue from New York Magazine’s much lauded yet oft-criticized approach in teasing its cover story on nearly-elderly pregnant women –– in fairness, that one was staged and manipulated, unlike TIME’s –– the national magazine’s angle is a brash one: There’s also the point of the accompanying tagline, “Are You Mom Enough?” What’s that imply?

Considering how other magazines have received the jet-black-placard-over-the-cover treatment from area grocers for much less, it’ll be interesting to see how the TIME cover is received.

Attachment Parenting’s goal, according to Attachment Parenting International, is “to raise children who will become adults with a highly developed capacity for empathy and connection.”

Breastfeeding, as the site notes, is considered to be “the optimal way to satisfy an infant’s nutritional and emotional needs.”

But, as noted in a Baltimore Sun editorial, visualizing the act remains divisive in current American culture. Is putting such a striking image just going to further ill attitudes toward breastfeeding?

We’ll leave that up to you: What do you think of the cover? Is it appropriate? Effective? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

SEATTLE (CBS NEWS) - The kids and staff at Seattle Children’s Hospital’s hematology oncology unit are proving that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Using the song “Stronger” by North Texas native Kelly Clarkson, the group has created a music video to show that they won’t be brought down, despite being diagnosed with cancer. The video showcases many of the patients’ lip synching and dancing talents, gleefully displaying “the robot” and other impressive moves.

According to Seattle Children’s Hospital “On the Pulse” blog, the music video was the idea of Chris Rumble, a 22-year-old Children’s cancer patient who had been diagnosed with leukemia. In April 2012, he went to the hospital because he had swollen glands, thinking it was mono – eight hours later, he had been transferred to Children’s with a cancer diagnosis.

Since his old hockey team had sent him a music video for his birthday, he wanted to return the favor.

“I’m everyone’s big brother and I have a lot of friends here at Seattle Children’s,” Rumble told On the Pulse. “I wanted to make a video to send back to my team and I thought what better way to do it then with the kids on my floor.”

Rumble said one of the best parts of the video was seeing the kids do something that made them happy, and also seeing their parents happy since their child was enjoying themselves through a difficult time.

Click Here To Read More From CBS News

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On Monday, South Dakota-based Beef Products Inc. announced it would shutter three of its plants and begin operating a fourth at a limited capacity after incurring a “substantial” decline in revenue because of the pink slime controversy.

The Associated Press reported the closures –– which include a plant in Amarillo –– would mean the loss of 650 jobs. On Tuesday, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said he is upset about the job slicing and that there’s nothing wrong with the processed beef.

“Never, ever was it introduced that this was an unsafe product by those that really focus on it,” Staples said.

The so-called “pink slime” is lean, finely textured beef that’s made from throwaway trimmings, which are heated and the fat is rendered out. It’s then treated with small amounts of ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria and then flash-frozen for use as an additive in other foods.

It’s been on the market for years and meets federal food safety standards.

“We have to keep in mind that hamburger patties don’t start out round and frozen and pre-packaged and ready to put between two buns,” Staples said. “Chicken doesn’t come boneless and skinless and ready for the microwave.”

Staples said he hopes Beef Products, Inc. can reopen the plants that are going offline later this year as the company rebuilds consumer confidence in its product.

“To provide food for a growing world is a process,” Staples said. “We just don’t think about it because we show up at our grocery stores and the shelves are full that’s the way that we like it.”

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in every five American kids is obese, three times more than just 30 years ago. In a world of fast food restaurants and vending machines, a local company is trying to bring healthy alternatives to the community, starting with area schools.

At the Academy of Dallas Charter School, students love buying snacks from the vending machine. But these ones are a little bit different. “It’s like, good for you,” said student Jamie Lopez. “Helps you have more energy and helps us be healthy in school.”

School officials recently put the new vending machine in the cafeteria as part of a healthy eating initiative. “We have growing concerns about what our students are eating, with childhood obesity, juvenile diabetes,” explained Principal Ross Williams. “So, we wanted to bring something into the school that gets students moving and teaches them appropriate eating habits.”

Wallace Wright II and Lori Wright are the first franchise owners of Fresh Healthy Vending in Dallas County, the company offering these healthier vending machines. “When we installed the machine, we had a kid joke, ‘What’s going in there, apples and oranges?’ And we laughed,” Lori recalled, “because kids don’t realize when you snack, it’s still snacks, but it’s so healthy.”

The options are similar to what one might find in a more traditional vending machine. But unlike the unhealthy options, these alternatives have no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors. And the ingredients are all natural. “All organic, gluten-free products. All the products are just better for you,” said Wallace Wright II. “It’s going in schools, businesses all throughout the City of Dallas.”

“I think this will be huge for Dallas to have these options in our schools, hospitals, gyms,” added Lori Wright. “It’s just really important for our community.”

The new vending machines are already a hit with students, who realize that changing their eating habits now will have lasting benefits when they are older. “It’s actually better,” said Lopez.

“It also tastes really good,” said student Stephanie Fiscal. “My mom said the same thing, because I used to eat a lot of junk food. And she says if you start early, you won’t be able to stop later on.”

If students can drop bad habits now, replacing them with good ones, school officials are hopeful they will see a similar drop in obesity.

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A suggestion was made last month as part of the Big Idea program to help save the city money by not hiring smokers. Supporters said it would help cut healthcare costs. City spokesman Jason Lamers says city staff will not suggest the council discuss it at Tuesday’s meeting after reviewing all suggestions from employees.

“This (idea) about smoking was very divisive and we knew that going in,” Lamers said. He adds that what the controversy over the idea did was cause the city to take a closer look at health conditions and health habits in Fort Worth.

Critics called the idea overreaching and questioned whether potential hires who had recently quit might be excluded.

Baylor Health System made news earlier this year for a similar policy that excludes smokers from being hired. The only way the proposal will move forward in Fort Worth is if the city council mounts a push to keep the idea alive.

DALLAS (CBSDFW.com) - Football is a way of life in North Texas. Maybe that’s why some players think concussions are just part of the game. But parents worry.

Orlando Swift, a 16-year-old junior, plays football for Adams High School in Dallas. He said he doesn’t tend to think about injuries.  When asked about concussions, he said, “”Basically, a concussion is just something that happens in football. You have to be ready for it.”

But Greg Hettrick says when it comes to worries about sports injuries, concussions are at the top of his list.  Hettrick has two sons, ages eight and ten. Last fall, Hettrick says, his oldest son suffered a mild concussion playing football.

“It was a little bit frightening,” Hettrick said.

His fear?

“The long term effects that can occur to the developing brain,” he said.

Jarrod Snell, who’s 17 now, knows all about concussions. He suffered a series of concussions in a single game on September 16, 2010.

“I was a sophomore in high school and I got four concussions in one football game,” he said.

He was 15 then and a quarterback at Keller High.  Three of the concussions happened in one play.  The fourth happened in the very next play.

His mother, Mary Ann Precht, says coaches didn’t immediately take him out of the game though something was clearly wrong.

“For the third play, he took the ball and handed it to another team member on the other team,” she said.

She remembers seeing him on the sidelines. He didn’t look right.

“When he came to the sidelines and pulled his helmet off, he was rubbing his cheek and his neck and said it felt tingly. And when he turned around to look at me, he had two different sized pupils. Kind of a greyish tone to him. So, I knew then something was wrong,” she said.

Jarrod had suffered a brain injury.

“I don’t really remember it at all. I lost about a month of memory,” Jarrod said.  “I was sleeping 20 hours a day,” he said.

He didn’t go out much. He didn’t like being around people then.  And he had developed a hyper-sensitivity to lights.

“I couldn’t leave my room for a very long time,” he said.

Concentration was another problem.

“That’s one thing I still have trouble with is concentrating, like in school.  “I have a hard time paying attention in school,” Jarrod said.

He has improved with the re-training of his brain at the Center for Brain Health in Dallas.

“They helped me a lot with my memory,” Jarrod said.

Dr. Lori Cook says the best advice she has for coaches and parents is to take a child, who’s been hit hard, out of the game to make sure they’re okay.

“Definitely. If in doubt, sit them out. Don’t throw them back in harm’s way because you’re a lot more likely to see long-term effects from repeated hits before your brain has had a chance to fully recover from that first hit,” Dr. Cook said.

Neither Jarrod nor his mother are in favor of taking children out of sports.

Jarrod’s mother hopes that through awareness other parents will avoid a similar fate because, she says, “We’re still dealing with this.”

Jarrod always wanted to become a Navy Seal. Right now, he can’t play sports.  He’s a junior now, attending school part-time at Keller High School.  His mother says he’s getting good grades and already has his sights set on college. He hopes to attend Texas A & M.

Jarrod’s mother invites everyone to log onto her son’s Facebook page called “Jarrod’s Odyssey” or to email them at tbiIathelete@gmail.com.

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Anyone could end up in the emergency room due to a car crash or another life-threatening injury. But North Texas doctors believe they may have found a wonder drug –– something that could help patients heal up to six times faster.

It’s something many have heard of before; especially women.

Nineteen-year old Adriana Camarillo and 57-year old Gary Sears have never met.  However, these two strangers have something in common that saved their lives and could save yours.

They’re part of a groundbreaking clinical trial in North Texas involving trauma patients.

“I try to remember it, but it’s blank,” Camarillo says about the day she was in a terrible car accident. “The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital during an MRI.”

She suffered a brain injury, broken neck and back.  Doctors said her initial prognosis wasn’t good, but Dr. Jane Wigginton from UT Southwestern Medical Center met Camarillo in the emergency room at Parkland and decided to help.

“When cells are injured or killed, they start sending out this signal for other cells to die,” explained Dr. Wigginton.  “You may end up with an injury that’s three or four times as large as that initial injury if you can’t stop those signals.”

North Texas researchers believe they’ve found a way to stop those signals by injecting –– of all things –– estrogen.

“You can see less brain cells destroyed if they’ve been protected with estrogen than if they’re not,” said Dr. Michael Ramsay, President of the Baylor Research Institute in Dallas.

He says tests on animals prove the female hormone surrounds dying cells, keeps them alive, and even begins to heal them.

“It’s a really incredible anti-inflammatory drug,” said Dr. Wigginton. “It decreases inflammation in all the organs all over the body.”

In fact, in those animal studies, when a single dose of Estrogen was used, the effects of the initial injury were lessened by as much as 65 percent.

However, no one had studied whether or not the science would work in humans –– until now.

“The evidence was just incredible to this being a really easy to give life-saving safe drug,” said Dr. Wigginton.

For the last two years, teams at Parkland and Baylor have used estrogen to treat incoming trauma patients, including men like Gary Sears. He was shot in the stomach during a random shooting last November.

“I felt the burn,” he said. “It just hit me and the sharp pain; and I looked down and seen the blood.”

Doctors gave him a dose of estrogen hoping to lessen the damage caused by the bullet, which remains lodged in his body today.

“Besides the pain, I really didn’t have many problems,” Sears said.

“This will have a direct clinical effect on you if you’re unfortunate enough to be in a car wreck or be injured in some fashion,” said Dr. Ramsay.

The next step is to get the estrogen treatment to trauma patients before they come to the emergency room.

“The treatment will be given by the paramedics in the field before the patient even gets to the hospital,” explained Dr. Ahamed Idris.

He says Parkland and Baylor will be teaming up with fire and EMS departments around North Texas hoping earlier treatment will mean even better outcomes.

“To be able to think that we could have an impact in the future on patients around the world that we’ll never see, never touch, is just an incredible feeling for a physician,” said Dr. Wigginton.

Sears and Camarillo both healed quickly, spending only a few days in the hospital. Doctors believe a single shot gave them a better chance at recovery.

“I think it’s pretty cool, I’m like guinea pigs,” Camarillo said.

The clinical trial has even caught the attention of the U.S. Military.

According to the doctors, the estrogen shots could soon be given to the troops as a first-line treatment on the battlefield.

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – Operators of a large group home for the disabled in Fort Worth are preparing to evict a paralyzed woman from her home of 11 years after she appeared on CBS 11 News and talked about neglect at the facility.

The charges, made amid a CBS 11 News investigation in March, were ultimately substantiated by the state.

And while the resident and a former nurse at Westchester Plaza said they feel the action is a clear case of retaliation, two state officials said there is little they can do to stop the eviction because of the way Texas laws are written.

“I’ve got no place to go,” a shaken Fatima Jalilian told CBS 11’s Jason Allen in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. “This is 100 percent retaliatory. Everybody saw this coming except me,” said Jalilian, who was paralyzed in a car wreck 19 years ago.

On March 19, CBS 11 reported Jalilian’s fears that the management at Westchester was blocking deliveries that were being sent there for her, including needed medical supplies.  The state, which initiated an investigation once CBS 11 began looking into Jalilian’s claims, agreed with her, saying in a final report that Westchester “failed to allow resident Jalilian to receive her mail.”

The report also found that “the facility failed to provide a non-retaliatory environment through which resident Jalilian can voice grievances.”

While finding that the facility violated regulations meant to protect patients, the state did not punish Westchester, saying that it felt breakdowns were being corrected.

Now, Westchester is retaliating again, according to Jalilian, as well as her former nurse at the facility, Tammy Sides.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that they’ve decided to evict her,” Sides told CBS 11 on Wednesday. “I heard that from the get-go right after she was on Channel 11 News.”

Jeff Bryant, manager of Westchester, denied that Jalilian was being evicted because of her complaints against the facility. Instead, Bryant said, she was being made to leave –– within 30 days –– because her paralysis makes it difficult for the Westchester staff to meet her needs.

“This woman has been here, unfortunately, for an extended period of time in an inappropriate fashion,” he said, after meeting a CBS 11 News crew that was attempting to go up to Jalilian’s room.

“She is totally inappropriate for this setting,” Bryant said, adding: “What we’re doing is completely legal.”

After speaking to CBS 11, Bryant had a staff member posted outside Jalilian’s room,  pen and pad in hand, as reporter Jason Allen interviewed the distraught woman.

Afterwards, the staffer was instructed to follow the news crew as it left the building.

Jalilian, who is virtually bed-ridden, received her 30-day eviction notice on Tuesday. It said, in part, that the decision to force her out was made after “consulting” with state health officials, including a state ombudsman and representatives of the Department of Aging and Disability Services, also known as DADS.

The letter also told Jalilian “we regret to inform you” that she had to go “no later than May 31.”

Allison Lowery, lead spokesperson for DADS in Austin, said the agency had some limited conversations with Westchester’s management about Jalilian being evicted.

“But just to be really clear, the fact that we had that conversation … does not mean that the state in any way is onboard with that decision,” Lowery said.

She said Jalilian could easily stay at Westchester, as she desires, if the management agreed to make some changes in their level of care. But the facility’s operators “would have to agree” to make those changes …”we will be having a conversation with them about that.”

“They can accommodate her if they take additional steps to do so,” Lowery said.

Jalilian can also appeal her eviction, but ”there’s not much to it” because Westchester, by law, is allowed to have total control of the appeal proceedings and its findings, said Patty Ducayet, the state’s chief ombudsman for long-term-care patients.

“As an advocate, I think that is a real weakness when it comes to protecting the rights of people who live in assisted living facilities,” Ducayet said.

“This is specifically something that ombudsmen really want to see changed … so that there is some real protection for somebody being threatened with discharge,” she said.

Even if the state finds that Westchester operators had acted in a retaliatory way in forcing Jaililian from her home, there is still nothing the state can do to prevent the eviction, both Lowery and Ducayet said.

“Sometimes the odds are not in the resident’s favor … this assisted living (industry in Texas) is very much a business,” Ducayet conceded.

“It is not regulated by federal laws,” she added, “and it functions differently than, say a nursing home, where we have a lot of federal laws and protections.”

Meanwhile, Jalilian remains in the room she has called home for more than a decade, confined to a bed, where she is beginning to feel defeated – not only by her body, but by the people entrusted in caring for her.

She told CBS 11, almost in a whisper, “I am being bullied.”

IRS agent search a southern Dallas medical clinic on May 1, 2012. (Credit: CBSDFW.com)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – According to a federal search warrant, the target of Tuesday’s raid at his southern Dallas medical clinic earned more than $2 million in the past year by issuing illegal narcotics prescriptions to any patient who had proper state identification.

In the warrant, filed by an IRS agent, Dr. Lee Roy McCurley is accused of operating Mid-City Clinic in a nearly clandestine storefront at 111 Ledbetter Pkwy. It lacked a sign and a website, the document says, but maintained lines of patients since it opened in Nov. 2010.

The document says McCurley’s clinic served operations known as “Pill Mills,” which employ recruiters who pay often-homeless participants to obtain narcotics prescriptions using flimsy complaints of back pain and guttural coughs.

The clinic frequently prescribed hydrocodone painkillers, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and promethazine/codeine cough syrup, which creates a dissociative, hypnotic intoxication when overused.

After acquisition, the drugs are often sold on the street, the document says.

“When all three are prescribed together, this is often indicative of illicit use and distribution,” the federal document reads.

McCurley also owns a Grand Prairie clinic in the 700 block of Westchester Parkway. This clinic appears much more legitimate: The location is featured on the doctor’s website and his name is emblazoned on its sign.

McCurley was never spotted at the Mid-City Clinic during surveillance, the affidavit says.

Federal agents first organized an undercover operation on April 27 of last year. According to the document, a detective posed as a homeless person at the Bridge homeless shelter at 1818 Corsicana near downtown.

While there, a man later identified as Robert Brown approached the detective about procuring a prescription. The detective reportedly told Brown he had two friends who were also interested and was told to go get them.

Brown drove the three to a nearby gas station and asked who had proper Texas ID. One detective was told to leave because he only had a paper license. The other two were driven to Mid-City Clinic, the document says.

Brown told the detectives to complain of back pain and a cough with yellow mucus.

The suspect added, “They know why we are here and don’t care because they are getting their $245.” Brown asked the detectives, “You know the illegal drug house? This is the legal dope house,” the affidavit says.

The undercover officers were ordered not to use phones inside because clinic employees would kick them out.

The two were sent to an exam room and given prescriptions, X-Ray cards and business cards for Mark’s Pharmacy, the document says. It does not say who was issuing the prescriptions.

Once back in the vehicle, the document says Brown called a man named “Black, the money man,” who was later identified as Tyrance Lewis. Brown drove the men to Mark’s Pharmacy in southwest Dallas and met with Lewis.

The document says Lewis escorted the detectives inside and got the prescriptions. Lewis then ordered the undercover officers to not give him “the dope in the open.”

Each detective got $40 for the buy, the affidavit says. The detectives did another undercover sting with similar results on Oct. 14, 2011.

On March 8, 2012, the affidavit says a confidential informant told investigators that Mid-City Clinic sees between 50 and 60 people a day and only accepts cash. Payments usually ranged between $165 and $200, but sometimes were as much as $280.

The clinic would’ve generated between $10,000 and $12,000 a day, if the reports are accurate.

According to the affidavit, the Pill Mill operations could sell a single hydrocodone for $4, Xanax for $2 to $4 a pill and bottles filled with four-to-six ounces of promethazine/codeine cough syrup for between $200 and $300 in Dallas.

The informant said a man named Tony would arrive at Mid-City Clinic each day between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and retrieve money from the office secretary, who hid the cash in a drawer under the front desk.

Tony, later identified as Anthony Rolfe, would hop in his silver Mercedes or white Hummur and take the day’s money to McCurley at his Grand Prairie clinic, the affidavit alleges.

The physician would then take the money home overnight and deposit it in the bank the following morning.

“These cash deposits were structured in a way to avoid federal reporting requirements,” the affidavit says.

The affidavit estimates McCurley deposited $2 million solely in proceeds from the Mid-City Clinic in the past year.

“These structured cash deposits are believed to be the proceeds of the Pill Mill operation,” the document says. “No checks, credit cards or insurance payments have been deposited to that account.”

On Tuesday, IRS agents swarmed Mid-City Clinic and departed with computers and patient records dating back to Nov. 2010, when it opened. The IRS now has phone numbers addresses and listings of all the clinic’s patients, along with what they were prescribed, the affidavit says.

Mid-City Clinic was bustling as recently as April 23: An investigator observed more than 20 vehicles in the parking lot, “with numerous people moving back and forth between the vehicles and the clinic itself, consistent with the behavior of the undercover officers during their operations at the clinic.”

The unsealed arrest affidavit says McCurley, who’s been licensed to practice medicine in Texas for more than two decades, has been charged with manufacturing, dispensing or possessing a controlled substance; structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements; and money laundering.

Officials say others have been arrested, but decline to say whom.

COLLEYVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) – It’s been a year and half and coping with her son’s death hasn’t gotten any easier for Myra Sinunu. When she talks about Brad her face immediately lights up.

“It’s been difficult but Bradley’s memory stays he had left a beautiful footprint,” says Myra from Colleyville.

In the last few years of his life Brad Stoner was in and out of the hospital.

Stoner, 20, needed a new heart and kidneys but he never got them. “He waited and waited and never got his organ donation and it was shame,” says his father Steve Sinunu “He was such a great kid and had so much to offer the world and yet his prayers went unanswered.”

A few weeks after his death Brad’s family formed a nonprofit called the Bradpack foundation which encourages people to become organ donors.

They admit recruiting is hard. But it may not be for Facebook. “It’s the difference between someone living a full life and someone being in heaven like Bradley is,” says Steve.

Facebook is now allowing users to enroll as donors, if they aren’t already and those who are can add their donor status to their timelines.

Mark Zuckerberg is taking on an initiative to increase organ donations. “It could mean a donor would be available,” says Debbi Buttermore from Rockwall “I’m excited about that. I really do think it would make a difference.”

Buttermore hopes her chances of getting a new kidney is greater now thanks to the millions Facebook users. “After three years you get sort of down when nothing happens,” says Buttermore.

Buttermore is just one of more than 2,000 North Texans waiting for a transplant. In Texas right now two-and-a-half million people are registered organ donors.

In the Dallas region last year, 1,000 transplants were completed from the organs provided by 230 donors. “Every day in the United States 20 out of 113 thousand people dye waiting for an organ transplant they never get,” explains Jim Cutler with Southwest Transplant Alliance “Hopefully it means we can eliminate people dying waiting – we can shorten waiting times.”

As for Brad’s family they had hoped to find a donor for their son. He was one, “Two people have the gift of sight now,” says Steve Sinunu “That was his generous gift!”

For More Information:

• bradpack.org
• organ.org
• donatelifetexas.org

The new air ambulance in use for Medical City Dallas' high-risk pregnancies

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A newly-formed team of neonatal and maternal care nurses is ready to take flight and their mission is to bring some of the sickest unborn babies to Medical City Dallas’ Children’s Hospital.

The program doesn’t have an official name but the nurses on the flight team say they know what to do when a prenant woman has a high-risk pregnancy.  Beginning this week they are ready to fly to rural towns in the Southwest and beyond.  Those patients will be treated by specialists at Medical City.

For more information on the program, check out the Advanced Maternal and Newborn Institute page on the Medical City Dallas webpage.

(Photo Credit: Simon & Schuster)

Mayim Bialik wrote ‘Beyond the Sling’ to offer her real-life advice as a real mom who has a Ph.D in neuroscience. She believes in Attachment Parenting, which emphasizes strong emotional bonds between children and parents, because it encourages her and her husband to follow their intuition. This intuitive style of parenting extends beyond the baby stage. It even includes how they treat babies and kids (and themselves!) for medical ailments. Added bonus: she played Blossom Russo on the hit show ‘Blossom.’

Between our two boys, ages six and and three-and-a-half, we have dealt with just about every ailment, sickness and flu out there. However, neither of our sons has ever been on antibiotics, nor do we give them Tylenol, Motrin, antihistamines or cough syrup.

I’ve learned from talking to other moms that almost everything you have right now in your home and your heart is enough to deal with most everything. I’m not arguing to be negligent. But too often, I see children being medicated when an ice pack, rest, temporary dietary modifications and good old-fashioned TLC would do the trick!

(Photo Credit: Thinkstock)

General Guidelines

Never second-guess the feeling that something isn’t right.

Don’t hover, but don’t ignore your intuition either.

If you have a feeling that something is not right, check on the baby.

Present parents often have an intuitive sense of their baby’s status that translates to knowing their well-being even from afar. It’s not hocus-pocus, it’s for real!

Watch how you speak.

Phrases like, “You’re OK,” “Stop crying,” “Big boys/girls don’t cry,” and “There’s nothing to cry about” send a message that getting hurt and expressing pain makes people uncomfortable.

(Photo Credit: Thinkstock)

Top Sicknesses

Here’s how we handle the top four sicknesses most households see:

Earache

About 70 percent of earaches are NOT bacterial and do not need antibiotics. What they need is rest and treatment for discomfort such as garlic drops or breast milk (!) in the ears, or hydrogen peroxide dosed appropriately.

Fever

Fever can be bacterial but is most often viral. Fever is there to kill the virus, so give tepid baths and dress the child in minimal clothing to keep them from overheating.

Plugged tear duct/eye inflammation (not diagnosed pink eye)

Gentle and frequent massage of a baby’s tear duct (towards the bridge of the nose) and breast milk dropped into the eye every time you nurse should clear this up!

Flu

For respiratory flu, a few drops of eucalyptus oil in the bottom of a shower with hot water running can steam up a bathroom for relief from congestion; a cut-up onion wrapped in a cloth handkerchief and placed near a pillow stimulates a runny nose to get the virus out. Rest and tons of fluids are crucial. For stomach flu, wait out the vomiting and diarrhea but don’t stop it up with medicines. It needs to get out! Encourage bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. Know the signs of true dehydration (dry lips, weakness, unresponsiveness) and stay close to your child to monitor them.

Children hurt for a lot of different reasons, and a parent’s desire for a child to be free of pain is universal. I implore you to take very seriously the charge given to you. Protect this tiny, dependent person not only with what Western medicine can offer you, but also with the intuition that is yours simply because you are a caring and loving parent.

Visit the Mother’s Day Section at CBS Local.

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Siding with Planned Parenthood, a district judge in Austin on Monday ordered the state to temporarily lift its ban that prevents affiliates from receiving funding under the Women’s Health Program.

In a 25-page opinion, Judge Lee Yeakel found reasonable evidence that the ban may be unconstitutional, and ordered an injunction against enforcing it until he can hear full arguments.

According to Texas law, any organization that receives federal or state funding must be legally and financially separate from clinics that perform abortions.

A new provision enacted in the last legislative session also banned organizations affiliated with ones that provide abortions from participating in the Texas Medicaid Women’s Health Program.

Texas Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said that the entire program could now be eliminated, because the judge’s decision creates a stalemate between the state and federal government over abortion-related funding. “The most immediate effect would be that, of course, we could not fully enforce state law, and so affiliates of abortion providers would still be in the program as of tomorrow,” Goodman said.

Most Planned Parenthood clinics do not perform abortions, and the small percentage that do are legally separate from the larger majority.

The 2011 state law excludes all clinics that provide wellness exams and contraception to women with low incomes from receiving money as part of the Women’s Health Program, because of their affiliation with Planned Parenthood. The affiliate provision would have ceased funding the Planned Parenthood clinics on May 1.

About 130,000 Texas women depend on the Medicaid Women’s Health Program.

“So, what we’re talking about is clinics who truly only provide breast and cervical exams, STD tests, HIV tests, birth control, so women can plan and space their families,” said Sarah Wheat, the co-CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capitol Region, earlier this month when the suit was filed. “That’s who was targeted. That’s who’s been de-funded.”

Eight Planned Parenthood organizations that do not offer abortions filed the suit about three weeks ago. Wheat said close to two dozen clinics have shuttered since the affiliate provision passed the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature.

In its original filing, Planned Parenthood says it received $13 million from the Women’s Health Program in 2010, and losing that money would cause “severe, irreparable injury” to the clinics. “Without this funding, plaintiffs will be forced to reduce services, close clinics and/or lay off employees,” the suit reads. “Once these actions are taken… it would be very expensive — if not impossible — for them to resume operations as they are today.”

Pete Schenkkan, the attorney representing the eight Planned Parenthood organizations, said that the state rule violates both the 1st and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. “Because the law is clear, government, any government, cannot deny government funds to otherwise qualified participants on the grounds that they are exercising their rights of free speech or association,” Schenkkan told CBS 11 News earlier this month. “The government can’t say ‘you’re perfectly qualified to deliver these services, as you’ve been doing for five years, but we’ve decided not to let you because we don’t want you exercising your free speech.’”

The state has defended the affiliate provision. Goodman maintains that Texas has every right to restrict associations from participating in the Women’s Health Program. However, 90 percent of funding for the Texas Medicaid Women’s Health Program comes from Medicaid. So, when the state began enforcing this ban, the federal government began slicing funds. This meant the program lost about $30 million of its annual $40 million price tag.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the ‘affiliated with’ provision violates the federal law that guarantees Medicaid recipients will be able to choose care from any qualified provider willing to provide a service.

The federal government is currently deciding whether the program should be completely defunded.

Planned Parenthood has filed similar lawsuits in Indiana, South Carolina, Kansas and Tennessee.

State Attorney General Greg Abbott is appealing the judge’s decision. The office of Governor Rick Perry released a statement saying, “Texas has a long history of protecting life, and we are confident in Attorney General Abbott’s appeal to defend the will of Texans and our state law.” The final decision will come after a trial — where more appeals are expected. In the meantime, the Governor’s office maintains that they will pursue all legal options available.

(The Associated Press, Phyllis Smith of 1080 KRLD News and Stephanie Lucero of CBS 11 News contributed to this report.)

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Type 2 diabetes was never seen in young people as recently as 15 years ago. Now, it’s occurring with alarming frequency. Doctors know that a major risk factor is obesity. Beyond that, they were mostly in the dark about this disease. “Very little is known about the right way to both prevent it and treat it,” said Dr. Robin Goland.

A new study out in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that the standard treatment for type 2 diabetes in children is ineffective because the commonly prescribed drug Metaformin — effective in adults — has a high failure rate in children. Still, a combination of two diabetes drugs is far more effective in treating young people. “Two drugs right off the bat, that’s an important finding,” Goland said.

It is important because type 2 diabetes appears to be more aggressive in young people between the ages of 10 and 17, putting them at great risk for life-threatening illnesses typically associated with seniors. “We want them to grow up and have healthy lives and not be having heart attacks and strokes at terribly young ages,” Goland said.

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Anthony Varela was killed by a drunken driver, but he donated his organs and saved lives. (Credit: Varela family)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Renee Varela still cries every time she tells the story: Her 18-year-old son, Anthony, was on the road one night in August of 2010 when a drunken driver hit his SUV, throwing him from the vehicle.

“After hours of running tests, they determined he was brain-dead, and he was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m.” she said as she wiped away tears addressing the families of organ donors at the annual Southwest Transplant Alliance annual meeting.

Varela then recalled how she made the decision to donate her son’s organs.

“He loved to help people. He always put others before himself, so we didn’t have a hard time deciding at all,” she said.

Those organs saved the lives of three strangers while his bones and tissues helped more than a hundred others.

Varela has since befriended her son’s organ recipients. Eric Ford Jr., who received Anthony’s heart and kidney, allows her to listen to her son’s heart beating inside his chest.

Varela never imagined, though, she’d be the one waiting for an organ.

Last summer, though, doctors diagnosed her father, Pedro Pesina, with liver cancer and told the family he’d need a transplant to survive.

On March 2, the family got a call. A liver was available.

So, they rushed to the Baylor Medical Center –– the same hospital where Anthony died and where his picture now hangs on a wall of heroes.

This time, though, they were the ones receiving the gift of life.

“When it happens to your family, you appreciate every day more,” said Varela.

Today, her father is doing well, and so is she.

As hard as it can be, though, Varela continues to tell her story, hoping to inspire others to register as organ donors.

To learn about how you can register, go to donatelifetexas.org

ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) –  With autism now at what some experts call “epidemic” levels, some North Texas entrepreneurs say technology is the key to making treatment more affordable and therefore available to more families.

But, the creative minds at Arlington-based Hanson Robokind aren’t just writing software; they’ve created a new platform to deliver computer based lessons: His name is ‘Zeno’, a 27-inch life like talking robot.

To the amazement of onlookers at the CBS 11 studios, ‘Zeno’ enters his spiel: “I am the latest technology in autism therapy from Hanson Robokind. I have a wide range of expressions … I can also connect to the internet and send videos and summaries of each session to the parents and doctors to help evaluate learning and development.”

Zeno, a $16,000 humanoid robot is a prototype set for mass production this summer. Its North Texas creators hope it will be a game-changer in the world of treatment for mid and higher functioning autistic kids.

Fred Margolin, Hanson Robokind CEO says Zeno is “going to  revolutionize the amount of treatment kids can get and also the quality of the treatment and also by the way, how the kids are going to feel about the treatment. They’re not going to feel pressure or put on or anything like that because they’re going to have fun with the robot.”

Experts at the Autism Treatment Center of Dallas have already been amazed at the impact.

“We took the robot over to work with two mid to lower spectrum kids who had not been talking whatsoever to staff and in ten minutes the kids started talking to the robots, the staff was teared up and crying,” says Margolin.

One theory, says Margolin, is that children find robots less threatening and infinitely patient in situations where repetition is critical to learning. Hi-definition cameras in Zeno’s eyes allow therapists to monitor sessions remotely.

Another key factor in Zeno’s ability to connect with autistic kids is how eerily he mimics human expressions. The robot’s soft, flexible, life-like skin– created from a product the firm patented called ‘frubber’– allows him to smile, frown, and even register disappointment.

“A lot of the therapies that are involved with some of these kids have to do with mimicking things that are appropriate,” says Margolin.  “So the robot may say to them, tell me when you think I’m sad, tell me when you think I’m happy, tell me when you think I’m mad at you, tell me when you think I’m disappointed … and the kid will work on it and it’s all based on the ability of the robot to have expressions.”

Margolin says a team of world renowned autism specialists are creating lessons plans –– called modules –– for the line of robots.  The ever-changing software is expected to keep interest in the robots high, with its creators arguing that the modules will make the robot less an object of fascination, and will instead simply become a platform for delivering the information.

The mass produced versions will also have modifications that will make them more affordable.  Less emphasis, and therefore expense, will be dedicated to having the robot’s body move.  But, nine distinct motors in the face will make the mass produced versions even more lifelike.

The versions set to roll off assembly lines this summer are expected to cost between $3,000-$5,000.  Still, Margolin believes that the treatment platform will be a bargain for parents who often spend upwards of $25,000 a year on specialized treatment for a disease that has no cure.

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) speaks to her peers on January 21, 2009 at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. (credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is pushing to get more federal funding to pay for rape kits.

Speaking from the Senate floor Thursday, Hutchison asked her colleagues to support her version of the Violence Against Women Act. The act and funding package, which was created in 1994, has expired and is due to be renewed.

She said her version of the act would help “get the backlog of these rape kits put forward so that we can stop people who are perpetrating these crimes from being out loose doing it again.”

Both Democrats and Republicans agree that the act should be renewed, but they disagree on what should be included in the new version.

Republicans disagree with the Democrats’s plan to include protections for victims who have been battered by a same-sex partner. The Democrat plan also offers protections for abused illegal immigrants and Native Americans.

Hutchison disagrees with this version, which also offers protection for transgender victims.

In her appeal, Hutchison asked for the Republican version to be approved to speed up the process in helping victims.

“Sen. Cornyn has been trying for a long time to strengthen the ability to stop this backlog and get the rape kits tested so that the perpetrators, we have the evidence to get them so that they will not commit these crimes against other innocent people,” she said.