CDC: West Nile cases rise 40 percent in 1 week

"FILE - In a Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 file photo, dead mosquitos are lined up waiting to be sorted at the Dallas County mosquito lab in Dallas. Federal health officials said Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012 that West Nile virus cases are up 40 percent since last week and may rival the record years of 2002 and 2003. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)" title

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Methadone linked to 30 percent of painkiller overdoses

"A drug addict receives his daily dose of methadone. The prescription drug methadone is linked to over 30 percent of painkiller overdose deaths, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention Tuesday. (AFP Photo/Hoang Dinh Nam)" title

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Etan Patz Mystery: 99 Percent of Abductors Never Kill

Despite stereotypes to the contrary, the recidivism rate among sexual predators is among the lowest, according to Levin.

"It is conceivable that Hernandez never again molested a youngster," he said. "This is particularly likely in light of his confession."

Feelings of remorse and empathy -- not typical in a sociopath -- might have kept Hernandez from repeating his behavior as he matured, he said.

The cold case was reopened in 2010 and, in April, investigators excavated a basement apartment steps away from Patz's home and the bodega where Hernandez said he killed the boy.

The new focus on the case led one of Hernandez's family members or a friend to alert police that they suspected Hernandez's involvement.

His neighbors in Maple Shade, N.J., said he led a quiet life and belonged to a Pentacostal Church, according to The New York Times.

Though Hernandez doesn't seem to fit the typical profile of a child killer, pegging a suspect into a psychological box can be misleading, according to according to Ken Lanning, a former special agent in the Behavioral Science Unit at the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.

"It's complex, and no two cases are alike," said Lanning, who said he, too, doesn't know all the facts in the case. "But

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Novo obesity drug seen with 43 percent chance of approval

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Study: Obesity Weighs in at 21 Percent of Medical Care Costs

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A new study from Cornell University indicates that an obese individual not only racks up higher medical costs per capita, but the costs associated with obesity make up 21 percent of all medical care costs.

According to research led by John Cawley, lead author of the study and professor of policy analysis and management and economics, the costs attached to obesity touch just about every aspect of the medical care field. Cawley, with Chad Meyerhoefer of Lehigh University, conducted the government study using 2000-2005 data from 24,000 non-elderly adults, doctors, and medical care providers.

"Historically we've been underestimating the benefit of preventing and reducing obesity," he told Medical Xpress. "Obesity raises the risk of cancer, stroke, heart attack and diabetes. For any type of surgery, there are complications with anesthesia, with healing

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Monthly shots of Amgen drug slash cholesterol 66 percent

Reuters – 2 hrs 10 mins ago CHICAGO (Reuters) - Monthly injections of an experimental drug from Amgen Inc slashed levels of cholesterol by up to an additional 66 percent in patients already taking statins, researchers said on Sunday, making it a potential strong rival to a similar drug being developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Amgen and Regeneron are racing to develop medicines that cut cholesterol through a new strategy, by blocking a protein called PCSK9.

In earlier studies, both drugs cut levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol by up to two thirds, although Amgen's AMG 145 had been tested in healthy volunteers taking no other cholesterol medicines, while Regeneron's REGN 727 was tested in patients with high cholesterol that also took statins.

Amgen on Sunday reported its first results from an early-stage trial of AMG 145 in patients with high cholesterol also taking statins, and impressive findings were seen in those getting injections every two weeks or every month.

In the 51-patient study, patients receiving monthly injections of AMG 145 and taking low to moderate doses of statins had up to a two-thirds reduction in LDL cholesterol by the eighth week of the study.

"We gave two doses four weeks apart and at the eighth week there was minimal tapering off" of the drug's potency, Clapton Dias, Amgen's medical services director, said in an interview. "The 66-percent reduction of LDL was maintained."

In patients receiving injections of AMG 145 every two weeks in combination with low to moderate doses of statins, LDL reductions of up to 75 percent were seen after six weeks, Amgen said.

Those taking the Amgen drug every two weeks in combination with high doses of statins had LDL reductions of up to 63 percent.

Data from the Phase 1 study were presented at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology being held in Chicago.

Researchers on Monday are slated to release the full data from a Phase II study of REGN 727, and the findings will better enable investors to size up the pros and cons of the rival therapies.

Neither drug has shown any serious side effects so far in clinical trials.

Dias said the ability of drugs like AMG 145 to slash LDL beyond decreases attributed to statins such as Pfizer Inc's Lipitor could help enable millions of heart patients to finally get their cholesterol levels tightly controlled.

"A good 60 percent of high-risk patients in the United States are unable to meet their aggressive goals of getting LDL levels down" to target levels, Dias said, making them prime candidates for AMG 145 if it continues to do well in trials and is approved.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, Editing by Gary Crosse)

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