Well: Caffeine Linked to Low Birth Weight Babies

New research suggests that drinking caffeinated drinks during pregnancy raises the risk of having a low birth weight baby.

Caffeine has long been linked to adverse effects in pregnant women, prompting many expectant mothers to give up coffee and tea. But for those who cannot do without their morning coffee, health officials over the years have offered conflicting guidelines on safe amounts during pregnancy.

The World Health Organization recommends a limit of 300 milligrams of caffeine a day, equivalent to about three eight-ounce cups of regular brewed coffee. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated in 2010 that pregnant women could consume up to 200 milligrams a day without increasing their risk of miscarriage or preterm birth.

In the latest study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, researchers collected data on almost 60,000 pregnancies over a 10-year period. After excluding women with potentially problematic medical conditions, they found no link between caffeine consumption – from food or drinks – and the risk of preterm birth. But there was an association with low birth weight.

For a child expected to weigh about eight pounds at birth, the child lost between three-quarters of an ounce to an ounce in birth weight for each 100 milligrams of caffeine from all sources that the mother consumed each day. Even after the researchers excluded from their analysis smokers, a group that is at higher risk for complications and also includes many coffee drinkers, the link remained.

One study author, Dr. Verena Sengpiel of the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden, said the findings were not definitive because the study was observational, and correlation does not equal causation. But they do suggest that women might put their caffeine consumption “on pause” while pregnant, she said, or at least stay below two cups of coffee per day.

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Correction: The story was revised to clarify that the child lost up to an ounce in birth weight for each 100 milligrams of caffeine that the mother consumed daily.

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Herbalife CEO confirms discussions with investor Carl Icahn

Herbalife Ltd. Chief Executive Michael Johnson said the company has had "short discussions" with billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who last week disclosed that he had purchased 13% of the company's stock and would consider efforts to take the company private.

Johnson, speaking to analysts in a conference call Wednesday morning, did not elaborate.

"Yes, we’ve had short discussions with Mr. Icahn but beyond that nothing concrete to discuss," Johnson said.

Icahn and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman have engaged in a public battle about the value of Herbalife, a Los Angeles maker of weight loss and nutritional products.

In December, Ackman accused Herbalife of operating a fraudulent pyramid scheme in which about 90% of its independent distributors make no money while a fortunate few at the top of the pyramid get rich from commissions of those they brought into the business. He said his fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, had a $1-billion short against Herbalife shares. If the stock falls, Ackman and his investors profit.

Icahn said he thinks Ackman's attacks were misguided. He disclosed last week that he had gone long on the stock, buying nearly 13% of the company's shares and planned to discuss bringing the company private, a move that could drive up its share price.

In his call with analysts, Johnson said Ackman's attacks were "unprecedented, untrue and unfair." He noted that many of the company's independent distributors do not get into the business to profit, but instead to obtain the opportunity to buy its products at wholesale prices for personal consumption.

In response to Ackman's allegations, the company has decided to include a new compensation disclosure to all potential distributors, Johnson said. The disclosure will note that about 90% of distributors make little or no income.

On top of that, Johnson said, the company intends to create a new job title for distributors who buy for personal use, a title that would make it more clear that they're not selling the product for a profit.

Herbalife said it sells its weight-loss shake mixes, supplements and vitamins through a network of independent distributors who counsel consumers about their health needs while selling them appropriate products.

In a regulatory filing Tuesday, Herbalife said it achieved record sales of $4.1 billion in 2012. The company also raised its guidance for 2013, but disclosed that it planned to spend $10 million to $20 million fighting Ackman's allegations.

Herbalife also said the Securities and Exchange Commission was reviewing the company's business model and it's possible that regulatory agencies from other countries might also get involved.

Herbalife shares were down 93 cents, or 2.3%, in morning trading.

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O.C. shootings: Ladera Ranch neighbor heard a 'bunch of ruckus'

Authorities believe the man suspected of killing three people in a series of slayings and carjackings in Orange County early Tuesday also fired at vehicles on the 55 Freeway, causing minor injuries to at least one person.

Officials said the suspect fired either while driving or that he stopped, got out of his vehicle and fired rounds at passing cars. At least three victims have reported minor injuries or damage to their cars.
Authorities asked people to contact police if they believe they were targeted.

Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said the series of shootings ended when the gunman shot himself to death as police attempted to stop him in the city of Orange.

Amormino said a shotgun has been recovered and that there may be additional weapons. In addition to the Sheriff's Department, the FBI, Santa Ana police, California Highway Patrol and Tustin police are assisting the investigation.

The suspect's alleged series of killings appeared to begin early Tuesday at a home in Ladera Ranch, where Amormino said deputies found a woman shot to death about 4:45 a.m.

Deputies were called to the house on Red Leaf Lane when someone inside reported a shooting, Amormino said. It was unclear whether anyone else was home at the time, but no other injuries were reported.

The suspect, initially described as a man in his 20s, fled the area in an SUV to Tustin, where "multiple incidents" occurred in the city and near the Santa Ana border, Amormino said.

"There's a lot to sort out," he told The Times. A news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Tustin Police Lt. Paul Garaven said the suspect attempted to carjack multiple vehicles in Tustin, with each shooting occurring a few minutes apart.

Police received a report about 5:30 a.m. of a carjacking near Red Hill Avenue and Nisson Road near the 5 Freeway in Tustin, Garaven said.

The carjacking suspect opened fire and wounded a bystander, he said.

Soon after that, another carjacking was reported near the southbound 55 Freeway at McFadden Avenue, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. There, the suspect allegedly confronted a man in a BMW, ordered him out of the vehicle, walked him to the curb and "executes our victim," Bertagna said.

Another shooting was reported on Edinger Avenue near the Micro Center computer store in Tustin, Garaven said. Officers confirmed that another carjacking had taken place, he said.

One person was killed and another was taken to a hospital. Officers spotted the suspect in a stolen vehicle, followed him into the city of Orange and initiated a traffic stop near the intersection of East Katella Avenue and North Wanda Road, Garaven said.

The suspect then shot and killed himself, Garaven said.

Amormino said deputies were still trying to piece together a possible motive and the relationship between the suspect and victims, including the woman at the first incident in Ladera Ranch.

"Ladera Ranch is a very quiet community," Amormino said. "It's very rare for something of this nature to occur there."

Jason Glass said he was across the street from the Ladera Ranch crime scene, working in his garage, when between 2 and 3 a.m. he heard what he now believes were three to five gunshots. About 4 a.m., Glass said, he "heard a bunch of ruckus" -- no yelling, but lots of doors slamming -- before a car sped away from the house.

"I just thought somebody was being really loud and obnoxious," Glass said.

Glass said a couple had lived at the home for about a year with three children. The family was quiet, he said.
"No noise ever came out of that house," he said. "No cops ever came to that house, nothing. This is really weird."

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McCartney, Mumford top eclectic Bonnaroo lineup

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — There will be a British invasion of the main stage at Bonnaroo this year.

Paul McCartney and Mumford & Sons are among the headliners for the 2013 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

The four-day festival, held on a rural 700-acre farm, always features an eclectic roster, but this year's event, to be held June 13-16, is even more varied than usual.

Returnees Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers also hold down a headliner spot. R. Kelly, Bjork, Wu-Tang Clan, Wilco, Pretty Lights, The Lumineers, The National, Kendrick Lamar, Nas and ZZ Top also top the list announced Tuesday by "Weird" Al Yankovic via Bonnaroo's YouTube channel.

Tickets will go on sale at noon Eastern Standard Time on Saturday.

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Ask Well: Coaxing Parents to Take Better Care of Themselves

Dear Reader,

Your dilemma of wanting to get your parents to change their ways to eat better and exercise reminds me of an old joke:

How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change.

Sounds like your parents may be about as motivated as the light bulb right now. Still, there are things you can do to encourage them to move in a healthier direction. But the first step should not be to hand them a book. Unless you lay some prior groundwork, that gesture may seem almost as patronizing as an impatient tone of voice – and probably as likely to backfire.

Instead, start a conversation in a caring, nonjudgmental way. Ask, don’t tell. “Say, ‘You know, I might not know what I am talking about, but I am really concerned about you,” suggested Kevin Leman, a psychologist in Tucson, Ariz., and author of 42 books on changing behavior in families and relationships. Ask simply if there is anything you can do to help.

Leading by example is also more effective than lecturing. “The son can role-model health by inviting his parents to dinner and serving healthful items that he is fairly certain they will find acceptable, or ask them if they are interested in going out dancing with him and his wife,” suggested Ann Constance, director of the Upper Peninsula Diabetes Outreach Network in Michigan.

Pleasure is a better motivator for change than pain or threats. Use the grandchildren as bait. Ask if they want to take the grandchildren to the zoo or a park that would require a good bit of walking around for everyone. Or the grandchildren could ask them to come along on one of those 2K fund-raiser-walks that many schools hold. After all, a day with the grandchildren is always a pleasure in itself. (O.K., usually a pleasure.)

Tempted to give them the gift of a health club membership? “Save your money,” Dr. Leman said. Try a more indirect (and cheaper) approach. Create a mixed-tape of up-tempo music from their era. (“Songs they listened to from the ages of 12-to-17, which is what we all listen to for the rest of our lives,” said Dr. Leman) They will enjoy it any time — maybe even while walking.

If you really want someone you love to make a change, the key is to ask them to do something small and easy first because that increases the chances they will do something larger later. Psychologists call that “the foot in the door technique,” said Adam Davey, associate professor of public health at Temple University in Philadelphia, referring to a classic 1966 experiment called “Compliance Without Pressure.” In the study, which has been duplicated by others in many forms, researchers asked people to sign a petition or place a small card in a window in their home or car about keeping California beautiful or supporting safe driving. About two weeks later, the same people were asked to put a huge sign that practically covered their entire front lawn advocating the same cause.

“A surprisingly large number of those who agreed to the small sign agreed to the billboard,” because agreeing to the first small task built a bond between asker and askee “that increases the likelihood of complying with a subsequent larger request,” Dr. Davey explained.

Any plan for behavioral change is most likely to succeed if it is very specific, measurable and achievable, according to Ms.Constance.

And the new behavior should also be integrated into daily life — and repeated until it becomes a habit. For example, if you want to walk more, start with a 10-minute walk after dinner on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Ms. Constance suggested. The next week, bump it up to 12 minutes.

Don’t give up, even if you meet initial resistance — it is never too late for your parents or you or any of us to change. “Taking up an exercise program into one’s 80s and 90s to build strength and flexibility can result in very tangible and enduring benefits in a surprisingly short time,” insisted Dr Davey.

As for instructive reading, Dr. Leman is partial to one of his own books, “Have a New You by Friday,” and Dr. Davey recommends “Biomarkers: The 10 Keys to Prolonging Vitality,” by William Evans. Ms. Constance recommends the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site on physical activity and exercise tips for the elderly, as well as the National Institute of Health’s site on the DASH diet.

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Samuel Adams beer now in a can

Cans of Samuel Adams Boston Lager will be available in 12-packs nationwide by early summer. (Boston Beer Co.)

By Stuart Pfeifer

February 19, 2013, 10:38 a.m.

Add Samuel Adams to the growing list of beers available in cans.

The Boston Beer Co. said it will start selling its popular Samuel Adams Boston Lager in cans for the first time this summer, the Associated Press reports.

The move will allow beer fans to take the popular lager places where glass bottles may not be allowed, such as pools, parks, beaches and sporting events.

Once considered to impair the taste of fine beers, cans are now used by more than 180 craft breweries, according to the website ontaponline.com.  

Brewers have long been using a thin, plastic lining inside cans to reduce the dreaded metallic taste.

There are other benefits: Brewers appreciate that cans are lighter and more compact than bottles, reducing shipping costs, and they won’t shatter into a thousand pieces if dropped, ontaponline.com noted.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, Calif., already sells its Torpedo Extra IPA in cans. Redhook Ale Brewery in Woodinville, Wash., recently started offering Long Hammer IPA in cans.

The Boston Beer Co. says cans of Samuel Adams lager will be available in 12-packs nationwide by early summer. It suggests a price range of $14.99 to $17.99.

Shares of Boston Beer Co. were up $4.19, or 2.8%, in trading Tuesday morning.

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Jerry Buss dies at 80; Lakers owner brought 'Showtime' success to L.A.

Longtime Lakers owner Jerry Buss has died at the age of 80. Last week, it was revealed that he was hospitalized with an undisclosed form of cancer.

When Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979, he wanted to build a championship team. But that wasn't all.

The new owner gave courtside seats to movie stars. He hired pretty women to dance during timeouts. He spent freely on big stars and encouraged a fast-paced, exuberant style of play.

As the Lakers sprinted to one NBA title after another, Buss cut an audacious figure in the stands, an aging playboy in blue jeans, often with a younger woman by his side.

PHOTOS: Jerry Buss through the years

"I really tried to create a Laker image, a distinct identity," he once said. "I think we've been successful. I mean, the Lakers are pretty damn Hollywood."

Buss died Monday of complications of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to his longtime spokesman, Bob Steiner. Buss was 80.

Lakers fans will remember Buss for bringing extraordinary success — 10 championships in three-plus decades — but equally important to his legacy was a sense of showmanship that transformed pro basketball from sport to spectacle.

Live discussion at 10:30: The legacy of Jerry Buss

"Jerry Buss helped set the league on the course it is on today," NBA Commissioner David Stern said. "Remember, he showed us it was about 'Showtime,' the notion that an arena can become the focal point for not just basketball, but entertainment. He made it the place to see and be seen."

His teams featured the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard. He was also smart enough to hire Hall of Fame-caliber coaches in Pat Riley and Phil Jackson.

"I've worked hard and been lucky," Buss said. "With the combination of the two, I've accomplished everything I ever set out to do."

A Depression-era baby, Jerry Hatten Buss was born in Salt Lake City on Jan. 27, 1933, although some sources cite 1934 as his birth year. His parents, Lydus and Jessie Buss, divorced when he was an infant.

His mother struggled to make ends meet as a waitress in tiny Evanston, Wyo., and Buss remembered standing in food lines in the bitter cold. They moved to Southern California when he was 9, but within a few years she remarried and her second husband took the family back to Wyoming.

His stepfather, Cecil Brown, was, as Buss put it, "very tight-fisted." Brown made his living as a plumber and expected his children (one from a previous marriage, another son and a daughter with Jessie) to help.

TIMELINE: Jerry Buss' path

This work included digging ditches in the cold. Buss preferred bell hopping at a local hotel and running a mail-order stamp-collecting business that he started at age 13.

Leaving high school a year early, he worked on the railroad, pumping a hand-driven car up and down the line to make repairs. The job lasted just three months.

Until then, Buss had never much liked academics. But he returned to school and, with a science teacher's encouragement, did well enough to earn a science scholarship to the University of Wyoming.

Before graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, when he was 19 he married a coed named JoAnn Mueller and they would eventually have four children: John, Jim, Jeanie and Janie.

The couple moved to Southern California in 1953 when USC gave Buss a scholarship for graduate school. He earned a doctorate in physical chemistry in 1957. The degree brought him great pride — Lakers employees always called him "Dr. Buss."

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McCready's ex: Anyone close could see it coming

HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — Mindy McCready's ex-boyfriend says she threatened to kill herself earlier this month after she lost custody of her sons, but was somehow released from rehab days before apparently following through on her threat.

Billy McKnight, a former longtime boyfriend who shares a son with the country singer, says the mother of two stayed in court-ordered substance-abuse rehabilitation for about 18 hours before checking out.

McKnight said Monday by phone from Tampa, Fla., that it was a "big mistake" to allow McCready to leave rehab, in light of her fiance David Wilson's recent suicide and the loss of her children.

McKnight is working with authorities to get his son Zander out of foster care.

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DNA Analysis, More Accessible Than Ever, Opens New Doors

Matt Roth for The New York Times

Lillian Bosley, 13, watched cartoons on an iPad at her Myersville, Maryland home. Lillian has Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a rare orthopedic disease. More Photos »

Debra Sukin and her husband were determined to take no chances with her second pregnancy. Their first child, Jacob, who had a serious genetic disorder, did not babble when he was a year old and had severe developmental delays. So the second time around, Ms. Sukin had what was then the most advanced prenatal testing.

The test found no sign of Angelman syndrome, the rare genetic disorder that had struck Jacob. But as months passed, Eli was not crawling or walking or babbling at ages when other babies were.

“Whatever the milestones were, my son was not meeting them,” Ms. Sukin said.

Desperate to find out what is wrong with Eli, now 8, the Sukins, of The Woodlands, Tex., have become pioneers in a new kind of testing that is proving particularly helpful in diagnosing mysterious neurological illnesses in children. Scientists sequence all of a patient’s genes, systematically searching for disease-causing mutations.

A few years ago, this sort of test was so difficult and expensive that it was generally only available to participants in research projects like those sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. But the price has plunged in just a few years from tens of thousands of dollars to around $7,000 to $9,000 for a family. Baylor College of Medicine and a handful of companies are now offering it. Insurers usually pay.

Demand has soared — at Baylor, for example, scientists analyzed 5 to 10 DNA sequences a month when the program started in November 2011. Now they are doing more than 130 analyses a month. At the National Institutes of Health, which handles about 300 cases a year as part of its research program, demand is so great that the program is expected to ultimately take on 800 to 900 a year.

The test is beginning to transform life for patients and families who have often spent years searching for answers. They can now start the grueling process with DNA sequencing, says Dr. Wendy K. Chung, professor of pediatrics and medicine at Columbia University.

“Most people originally thought of using it as a court of last resort,” Dr. Chung said. “Now we can think of it as a first-line test.”

Even if there is no treatment, there is almost always some benefit to diagnosis, geneticists say. It can give patients and their families the certainty of knowing what is wrong and even a prognosis. It can also ease the processing of medical claims, qualifying for special education services, and learning whether subsequent children might be at risk.

“Imagine the people who drive across the whole country looking for that one neurologist who can help, or scrubbing the whole house with Lysol because they think it might be an allergy,” said Richard A. Gibbs, the director of Baylor College of Medicine’s gene sequencing program. “Those kinds of stories are the rule, not the exception.”

Experts caution that gene sequencing is no panacea. It finds a genetic aberration in only about 25 to 30 percent of cases. About 3 percent of patients end up with better management of their disorder. About 1 percent get a treatment and a major benefit.

“People come to us with huge expectations,” said Dr. William A. Gahl, who directs the N.I.H. program. “They think, ‘You will take my DNA and find the causes and give me a treatment.’ ”

“We give the impression that we can do these things because we only publish our successes,” Dr. Gahl said, adding that when patients come to him, “we try to make expectations realistic.”

DNA sequencing was not available when Debra and Steven Sukin began trying to find out what was wrong with Eli. When he was 3, they tried microarray analysis, a genetic test that is nowhere near as sensitive as sequencing. It detected no problems.

“My husband and I looked at each other and said, ‘The good news is that everything is fine; the bad news is that everything is not fine,’ ” Ms. Sukin said.

In November 2011, when Eli was 6, Ms. Sukin consulted Dr. Arthur L. Beaudet, a medical geneticist at Baylor.

“Is there a protein missing?” she recalled asking him. “Is there something biochemical we could be missing?”

By now, DNA sequencing had come of age. Dr. Beaudet said that Eli was a great candidate, and it turned out that the new procedure held an answer.

A single DNA base was altered in a gene called CASK, resulting in a disorder so rare that there are fewer than 10 cases in all the world’s medical literature.

“It really became definitive for my husband and me,” Ms. Sukin said. “We would need to do lifelong planning for dependent care for the rest of his life.”

Now, when doctors bill for medical services, insurers pay without as many questions. And Eli’s schools recognize how profound his needs are. “This isn’t just some kid with dyslexia,” his mother said, adding: “My son needs someone who literally is holding his hand. He runs, he doesn’t know ‘no.’ And he does not talk.”

The typical patient with a mystery disease has neurological problems, and is often a baby or a child. There are reasons for that.

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Burger King's Twitter account hacked, made to look like McDonald's

Hackers have taken over Burger King's Twitter account and changed it to look like it belongs to McDonald's. The account's profile photo has been changed to the McDonald's logo, and the cover photo and background have been changed to images of McDonald's food.

The account appears to have been taken over Monday morning, when hackers tweeted out "We just got sold to McDonalds! Look for McDonalds in a hood near you."

PHOTOS: Tech we want to see in 2013

The hackers also clarified that "For the record, our password was not "whopper" or anything!"

Burger King last seemed to be in control of the account on Sunday, and as of this writing, its Facebook and Google+ accounts are still under control. Burger King could not be reached for comment.

The hackers claim to be a part of the LulzSec group, which since 2011 has gone after a number of high-profile targets including Sony and several government agencies.

Based on a tweet retweeted by the account, it appears the group may have waited for Presidents Day to pull off the hack in order to catch the company on a day its employees may be not working.

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