In what may be the strongest link yet between lead exposure and crime rates, researchers at the University of Cincinnati released new evidence, spanning more than 20 years, that draws a direct relationship between the amount of lead in a child’s blood and the likelihood he or she will commit crimes as an adult.

Controlling for a host of factors, including parental IQ, education, income and drug use, the team found that the more lead in a child’s blood from birth through age 7, the more likely he or she was to be arrested as an adult. The tie between high lead levels and violent crime was particularly strong.

[Read](http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-05-27-lead-levels-crime_N.htm?csp=34 “Read the Article”) (USA Today)

Juices made from apples or purple grapes – and the fruit themselves – protect against developing clogged arteries, a study suggests.

Researchers fed hamsters the fruit and juice or water, plus a fatty diet. The animals who were fed grape juice had the lowest risk of developing artery problems.

Compared with animals given water, those given fruit or fruit juice had lower cholesterol levels, less oxidative stress, and less fat accumulation in their aorta. Purple grape juice had the strongest effect, followed by purple grapes, apple juice and apples.

[Read](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7405566.stm “Read the Article”) (BBC)

Can Help, Even With No Training – New York Times
Even people without CPR training can save the life of an adult whose heart stops, and the American Heart Association has issued an advisory urging everyone, trained or not, to act immediately in such an emergency.

The procedure is simple: if you see an adult collapse after having a heart attack, immediately call 911 and then push hard and fast in the middle of the chest continuously, until emergency medical personnel arrive or an external defibrillator can be used.

[Read](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/health/research/01heart.html?ex=1364788800&en=41956ef9508a1412&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss “Read the Article”) (New York Times)

Having a big belly in your 40s can boost your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia decades later, a new study suggests.

It’s not clear why abdominal fat would promote dementia, but it may pump out substances that harm the brain. It’s not just about your weight. While previous research has found evidence that obesity in middle age raises the chances of developing dementia later, the new work found a separate risk from storing a lot of fat in the abdomen. Even people who weren’t overweight were susceptible.

That abdominal fat, sometimes described as making people apple-shaped rather than pear-shaped, has already been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

[Read](http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/26/belly.dementia.ap/index.html “Read the Article”) (AP via CNN)

In Dallas, health officials are seeing children that young being brought to hospitals with signs of heroin withdrawal. The city is in its third year of what drug abuse experts call a “mini-epidemic” among young Hispanics snorting a mild but addictive heroin called “cheese.”

Cheese heroin is Mexican black-tar heroin that has been diluted with crushed tablets of over-the-counter sleep medication such as Tylenol PM.

Sniffing heroin is not particularly new, but addiction experts say this outbreak in Dallas is unprecedented. Typically, people who inhale heroin are older and they’re white. In Dallas, however, users are mostly Latino, and they’re young.

[Read and/or Listen](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89070113&ft=1&f=1001 “Read and/or Listen”) (NPR’s Morning Edition)

HIV can survive the apparently effective onslaught of antiviral drugs for years by hiding away in the body’s cells, research shows.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute found low levels of dormant HIV in patients seven years after they started – and responded well to – standard therapy.

The finding confirms patients must take drugs indefinitely, and that any break runs the risk of rekindling infection.

Read (BBC)

Body-conscious teenagers may believe cutting out breakfast will help them lose weight, but the opposite appears to be the case, research suggests.

In a five year study of more than 2,000 youngsters, those who skipped breakfast weighed on average more than those who ate first thing. This was despite the fact that the breakfast-eaters consumed more calories in the course of the day. The study also found that the breakfast eaters were likely to be much more active.

Read (BBC)

Middle-aged non-drinkers can quickly reduce their risk of heart disease by introducing a daily tipple to their diet, South Carolina researchers say.

New moderate drinkers were 38% less likely to develop heart disease than those who stayed tee-total, a four-year study involving 7,500 people found.

Those who stuck to wine had the biggest reduction in cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks, compared with non-drinkers, heavy drinkers or those who drank other types of alcohol.

The study also found some improvement in HDL or “good” cholesterol in those who took up drinking.

Read (BBC)

Virginia officials are preparing for a sharp increase in requests for community mental health services from troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and they are concerned that the system will be overwhelmed. Mental health experts and officials said they are seeing a growing number of recently returned military personnel with PTSD, depression and other ailments seeking services from behavioral health clinics.

With a waiting list of about 5,700 for community mental health services, many officials are concerned that the state will not be able to adequately serve the veterans and family members going to these clinics, operated by community services boards.

[Read](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022904190.html?nav=rss_metro/va “Read the Article”) (Washington Post)

Salt-rich diets could be the key to why some children battle with obesity, University of London researchers say.

In a study of data on 1,600 children, they found that children eating a salty diet tended to drink more, including more fattening, sugary soft drinks. Halving the average daily salt intake of six grams a day could cut 250 calories a week from a child’s diet.

Read (BBC)

Obesity is on its way to being deadlier than smoking as a cause of cancer. Being obese is currently associated with about 14 percent of cancer deaths in men and 20 percent in women, compared with about 30 percent each for smoking.

[Read](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iK777WmeXw5KL-wNcIvcu_ZWAliQD8UR0FJ00 “Read the Article”) (AP via Google)