“It's very clear from DNA from the two of you, both trace ancestry to Europe,” explained Joanna Mountain, Senior Director of Research for 23andMe. “But two very different parts of Europe.”

Starling’s ancestry is clearly northern European, particularly Britain and Ireland. Her husband’s, Peter, are Ashkenazic Jews from Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Joanna Mountain is Senior Director of Research for 23andMe, a health and ancestry DNA service. She examined Starling and her husband’s DNA reports to try and predict some fun facts about their baby. For instance, their little girl has a 40-percent chance of having blue eyes.

“You Alison, are the one whose DNA will determine whether the baby has blue or brown eyes,” said Mountain.

Another surprising aspect to the test, you can find out if you have any celebrity relatives. It turns out that celebrity chef Mario Batalli and Starling share a common genetic line. And her husband is related to his colleague, Matt Lauer on their father’s side.

According to researchers, working out too much can cause depression, anxiety and a weakened immune system, making you more susceptible to getting sick. In fact, the wheelhouse for working out, according to the study, is between 2.5 and 7.5 hours per week.

Personal trainer Lisa Lynn agrees with the study, saying that moderation is the key with any fitness plan.

"We set ourselves up for overuse injuries, which could take you out of the game for a month or a month and a half," Lynn said.

The Columbia study also says that roughly 65 percent of people who worked out for more than four hours per week had poorer mental health than those who worked out less than that.

Lynn suggests that an hour a day is a good target to set.

"The goal is to come in an hour each day," she said. "One hour equals seen hours in a week."

The goal for most people who exercise on a regular basis is to lose weight, and Lynn suggests a diet that's packed with lean protein, fruits and vegetables. She says moderate exercise and a balanced diet are the real key to seeing results.

"If you feel like (seven hours) is not enough because you're not losing weight, what that really means if your food is out of whack," she said.

You can check out the full Columbia study here.

But despite those long-awaited changes, many sunscreens continue to carry SPF ratings that some experts consider misleading and potentially dangerous, according to a consumer watchdog group.

A survey of 1,400 sunscreen products by the Environmental Working Group finds that most products meet new federal requirements put in place last December. The rules from the Food and Drug Administration ban terms like "waterproof," which regulators consider misleading, and require that sunscreens filter out both ultraviolet A and B rays.

Previously some products only blocked UVB rays, which cause most sunburn, while providing little protection against UVA rays that pose the greatest risk of skin cancer and wrinkles.

Despite that broader protection, one in seven products reviewed by the watchdog group boasted sun protection factor, or SPF, ratings above 50, which have long been viewed with skepticism by experts. In part, that's because SPF numbers like 100 or 150 can give users a false sense of security, leading them to stay in the sun long after the lotion has stopped protecting their skin.

Many consumers assume that SPF 100 is twice as effective as SPF 50, but dermatologists say the difference between the two is actually negligible. Where an SPF 50 product might protect against 97 percent of sunburn-causing rays, an SPF 100 product might block 98.5 percent of those rays.

"The high SPF numbers are just a gimmick," says Marianne Berwick, professor of epidemiology at the University of New Mexico. "Most people really don't need more than an SPF 30 and they should reapply it every couple of hours." Berwick says sunscreen should be used in combination with hats, clothing and shade, which provide better protection against ultraviolet radiation.

Some dermatologists say there may be some rationale for using higher SPF sunscreens, since users often don't apply enough of the lotion to get its full effect.

"The challenge is that beyond 50 the increase in UV protection is relatively small," says Dr. Henry Lim, chair of dermatology at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

The SPF number indicates the amount of sun exposure needed to cause sunburn on sunscreen-protected skin compared with unprotected skin. For example, a SPF rating of 30 means it would take the person 30 times longer to burn wearing sunscreen than with exposed skin.

There is a popular misconception that the SPF figure relates to a certain number of hours spent in the sun. However this is incorrect, since the level of exposure varies by geography, time of day and skin complexion.

The FDA itself said in 2011 that "labeling a product with a specific SPF value higher than 50 would be misleading to the consumer." At the time the agency proposed capping all SPF values at 50 because "there is not sufficient data to show that products with SPF values higher than 50 provide greater protection for users." But regulators have faced pushback from companies, including Johnson & Johnson, which argue that higher SPF products provide measurable benefits.

As a result, the FDA says it is still reviewing studies and comments submitted by outside parties, and there is no deadline for the agency to finalize an SPF cap.

It took the agency decades to put in place last year's sunscreen changes. FDA first announced its intent to draft sunscreen rules in 1978 and published them in 1999. The agency then delayed finalizing the regulations for years until it could address concerns from both industry and consumers.

The FDA is also reviewing the safety of effectiveness of spray-on products, which use different formulations from other sun-protection solutions. Among other concerns, the agency is looking at whether the sprays can be harmful when inhaled.

The survey by the Environmental Working Group found that one in four sunscreens sold in the U.S. is a spray product.

"People like the sprays because they are quick to put on and cover a lot of area," said Dr. Darrell Rigel, a dermatologist in New York. "The downside is that you usually have to apply two coats."

More than 76,000 men and women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with melanoma this year and 9,480 are expected to die from the aggressive form of skin cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. The disease, which is often linked to ultraviolet exposure, is usually curable when detected early.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the "Pee in the Cup" initiative is being pushed by Bob Pack, a technology mogul and former executive at AOL Inc. and NetZero Inc.

His young son and daughter were killed a decade ago by a driver under the influence of alcohol and prescription pills.

Pack's campaign already is armed with $2 million in funding and will launch this summer.

The newspaper reports the initiative might also seek to lift the cap on damages in medical malpractice cases.

The goal is to get the measure on the November 2014 ballot.

A spokesperson for the California Medical Association calls the effort a "publicity stunt."

Aimee Copeland, 25, is returning from Hilliard, Ohio, where she was fitted with a pair of "bionic" hands with 24 programmable functions that will improve her dexterity, her father, Andy, told the Associated Press.

Copeland, of Snellville, contracted a rare infection called necrotizing fasciitis in May 2012 after falling from a zip line and gashing her leg. She spent two months at the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation clinic in Atlanta, learning to move, eat and bathe without prosthetics.

She spent part of the week at Touch Bionics being fitted for the prosthetic hands that her father says will be controlled by her muscle movements and arm positions.

"All four days she sent us videos of things she could do," Copeland said. "The second day she was moving water between cups. On the third day she was cutting a cucumber. On the fourth day she was doing more typical things, like applying makeup to her face and more personal things."

Copeland said the hands were given to Aimee in exchange for her serving as a Touch Bionics ambassador. He said Aimee is likely to begin looking for a prosthetic leg with a computer-controlled knee joint to allow for more natural movement than a mechanical one.

"I just really look forward to her regaining her confidence about certain things she's been unable to do," Copeland said, "Really I just want to see her enjoying life the way that she should."

Among other things, Copeland said, the prosthetic hands will help his daughter learn to prepare meals from scratch, which she enjoyed doing before the amputations.

The retreat lasts all day long, every day and with a silent break for meals and sleep. No phones. No TVs. No reading. No writing.

“The first couple of days were hard because I wasn't used to not doing anything external,” explained Zarrinkafsh.

With more and more people growing over-worked and tired, 10-day Vipassana retreats are selling out across the country.

ABC7 was allowed unprecedented access inside a retreat held on Maryland's eastern shore. It was attended by people of all ages, races and backgrounds.

“If you try to learn how to calm your mind and control your mind then you become more peaceful and more happy,” said Umesh Giri, a participant.

Jonathan Penn still feels the same, months after attending his retreat. The 34-year-old NASA engineer says it gave him more control over his own mind, allowing him to better deal with stress on the job and at home.

“If some emotion comes up in the regular life, it comes. I experience it,” said Penn. “And it just passes away quicker and I'm able to get back to whatever I wanted to be doing.”

People describe the Vipassana meditation as a life-changing experience. And it doesn't cost anything, though donations are accepted. The next local silent retreat is in October.

According to LiveScience, the fecal matter that is typically found in swimming pools gets in in two ways: by swimmers not showering before getting into the water and by people defecating in the pool itself.

The CDC says that an average person has about 0.14 grams of fecal matter on their skin that could find its way into a pool if a person doesn't shower before getting in.

READ MORE at livescience.com.

According to a report published in the medical journal Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, a test run by scientists on lab rats shows that they performed twice as well on maze tests after drinking a bit of champagne every week for six weeks.

Men's Health says that the reason behind champagne potentially being good for memory is that champagne contains the same compounds in red wine that have been proven to reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease.

The magazine says, though, to never go overboard. The scientists behind the study say that it takes at least a year of drinking a couple of glasses of the bubbly every week to see any benefits.

READ MORE at menshealth.com.

When it opens in October, "Yoga: The Art of Transformation" will feature temple structures, devotional icons and manuscripts as well as early photographs, books and films about yoga. The Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery is organizing the exhibit.

Curators pulled together more than 130 objects from collections in the U.S., India and Europe.

To fund the exhibition, the Smithsonian also plans to launch its first major crowd-funding campaign. Between May 29 and July 1, the museum will be seeking donations to support exhibit production and programs related to the exhibit.

The exhibit will eventually travel to the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Women's Health magazine reports that at a dermatology conference held last week, researchers said that sunlight exposure may be linked to a decrease in blood pressure and a lowering in the risk of heart attack or stroke.

In the study, which was conducted at the University of Edinburgh, groups of test participants who sat under tanning lamps for 20 minutes at a time saw their blood pressure drop for an hour after their exposure. Women's Health reports that researchers believe that the release of nitric oxide in the bloodstream is contributing to the drop in pressure.

That said, experts still say that you must protect your skin from the sun's rays by continuing to use sunscreen and limit your direct exposure.

The disorder, chronic wasting disease, was most recently found in deer that live within 25 miles of Shenandoah National Park, which stretches all the way east to Front Royal.

According to wildlife officials, herds of deer have already been quarantined in both Frederick and Shenandoah counties in Virginia, but that may not stem the tide.

"The disease is very likely to come out of that quarantine area," Ed Clark, the president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, told the Daily Progress. "There has been no effective strategy in the United States to contain the disease."

The Centers for Disease Control says that there is no quantifiable evidence that chronic wasting disease can be picked up by humans.

READ MORE at dailyprogress.com.

After Karen's hysterectomy, the couple tried in-vitro fertilization and had the embryo implanted in a surrogate. But that pregnancy ended in miscarriage. That's when they turned to something new in the world of infertility treatment: a donor egg bank.

Until now, only fresh eggs were used in donor programs. But this past fall, the FDA approved a once experimental procedure which freezes eggs.

“The egg is a very large cell and it gets damaged easily in a freezing process,” explained Dr. Michael Levy, a fertility doctor with Shady Grove Fertility Center. “But that's been fine-tuned to the point it's done incredibly fast and no damage occurs when it is done right.”

Now, like sperm banks, egg banks can have huge data bases of donors. One donor can now supply one lot of eggs for use by several recipients. Then frozen eggs are stored and kept ready to ship at anytime, anywhere in the country and inseminated and implanted into women wanting to have a child. All of this, egg banks claim, has dropped the price of this type of fertility treatment in half.

“You can select your donor, you can have those eggs shipped to your facility and you can be going through treatment in less than a month,” said Heidi Hayes, Donor Egg Bank USA.

Six months ago, Jim and Karen went through the Egg Bank's online profile and picked their donor, who lives in the southwest U.S. Her frozen egg was shipped to Rockville, inseminated with Jim's sperm in Rockville and the embryo was implanted into their surrogate who lives in Colorado.

“Our doctor was hesitant using my eggs in the first place because of my age,” said Karen Arnaiz. “But when we told him we were using a donor egg he said ‘Congratulations you're going to have a baby.’”

In three months their son is scheduled to arrive.

The findings were revealed in a new study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“Prospective mothers should take common sense preventive measures, such as getting flu shots prior to and in the early stages of pregnancy and avoiding contact with people who are symptomatic,” said Alan Brown, of Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute,according to the NIH study.

“In spite of public health recommendations, only a relatively small fraction of such women get immunized. The weight of evidence now suggests that benefits of the vaccine likely outweigh any possible risk to the mother or newborn.”

The study found that the nearly fourfold increased risk was due to influenza infection at any time during pregnancy—but, evidence suggested a slightly higher risk if the flu occurred during the second or third trimesters.

According to results from research done at Oxford Brookes University in England, a person's waistline-to-height ratio is a better judge of life expectancy than body mass index.

The Guardian says that researchers found that people with an extremely high waist-to-height ratio - averaging a waistline of 80 percent of their height - lived 17 years less than people of an average ratio.

A waist-to-height ratio is a simple comparison of the size of a persons waist judged against their height. BMI, on the other hand, is the calculation of a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters.

The study also concluded that a lower waist-to-height ratio can help prevent strokes, diabetes and heart disease, according to the BBC.

This latest round of research from Oxford Brookes supports conclusions drawn by Dr. Margaret Ashwell, an England-based doctor who once worked for the British Nutrition Foundation. In a study she published in 2012, Ashwell also concluded that the waist-to-height ratio was a better judge of health than body mass index.

You can read Ashwell's full study here.

This month, tuber processing giant J.R. Simplot Co. asked the U.S. government to approve five varieties of biotech potatoes. They're engineered not to develop ugly black bruises - McDonald's, which gets many of its fries from Simplot, rejects those. They're also designed to have less of a natural but potentially cancer-causing neurotoxin, acrylamide.

Much has changed in 12 years, according to the Boise-based company.

Unlike transgenic varieties Monsanto commercialized in the 1990s using genes from synthetic bacteria to kill insect pests, Simplot's new "Innate"-brand potatoes use only potato genes.

Haven Baker, Simplot's Yale- and Harvard University-trained vice-president of plant sciences, said his scientists journeyed inside the vegetable's genome to "silence" unwanted attributes, while making sure it remained 100 percent potato.

"You'll never get as much beneficial effect from traditional plant breeding," he said. "And it'll take twice as long."

Those in the industry remember Monsanto's ill-fated foray and say Simplot's major challenge in avoiding a similar fate is ensuring its product is acceptable among growers, processors and, ultimately, people eating it.

"Unless your customers are prepared to embrace this product, it's not going to be successful," said Frank Muir, president of the Idaho Potato Commission that represents Idaho's $3 billion industry. His group, whose website currently boasts Idaho potatoes aren't genetically engineered, hasn't weighed in on Simplot's endeavor.

But Muir does think the company is making the right moves: Reaching out to the industry, as well as consumers who may eventually buy Innate potatoes as big, un-bruised bakers or golden fries. "They're taking all the appropriate steps."

As the USDA and Food and Drug Administration embark on vetting Simplot's potatoes, the agencies are nearing completion of a similar review of a genetically engineered apple created by a Canadian company, Okanogan Specialty Fruits, to resist browning when cut.

The apple industry has opposed Okanogan's "Arctic" apple, on grounds it could create marketing headaches for growers of unmodified apples. Christian Schlect, the Northwest Horticultural Council president, said he hopes the potatoes go to market first.

"We'd just assume the potato people take the initial foray on marketing this technology, and we'll follow their experience," he said.

In fact, the two products, should they win the government's blessing, could hit customers about the same time, 2015 or 2016.

Baker said with Simplot's new potatoes, growers would earn more money with less wastage from bruising, something that can affect up to 5 percent of their harvest. Additionally, the spuds are designed to produce acrylamide levels so low they skirt California's strict, voter-mandated cancer labels on french fries and potato chips, he said.

McDonald's didn't return a call seeking comment about the tubers. A big Simplot processing rival, ConAgra, says its potatoes are not genetically engineered.

Twelve years on, St. Louis-based Monsanto remains tight lipped about jettisoning its "New Leaf" potatoes - engineered, among other things, to kill Colorado potato beetles. That was a business decision "not influenced by any negative reaction to genetically-modified organisms," spokeswoman Carly Scaduto said.

But experts say plunging interest - including from Simplot, which told farmers in Idaho and North Dakota in 2000 to quit planting New Leaf potatoes after restaurants like McDonald's banished them from their fryers - drove the spuds from the fields. Monsanto's biotech potatoes, planted on 55,000 acres in North America in 1996, disappeared by 2002.

Joe Guenther, a University of Idaho professor of agricultural economics, in 2011 won funding from Simplot to survey potato industry players about re-introducing genetically engineered potatoes into the food chain. His conclusion: It could succeed, provided potatoes were modified with potato genes, not foreign microorganisms that in the 1990s spawned terms like "frankenfood."

"The Monsanto product crossed that species line," Guenther said. "The exciting thing about the Simplot product is, it stays within the potato species."

Another thing Guenther's 2011 report said would help was backing from an environmental group, something that remains a scarce commodity. Groups worried about corporations commandeering potato genes a decade ago remain no less alarmed.

Bill Freese, science policy analyst with Washington, D.C.-based Center for Food Safety, said Simplot's potatoes join a litany of other genetically engineered crops that don't face rigorous-enough USDA or FDA testing.

While Simplot's Baker said 20 field trials demonstrate Innate potatoes exhibit characteristics virtually identical to their unmodified cousins, Freese painted a darker picture: Genetic engineering is a noisy, unpredictable process, where the best-intentioned genome tinkering could be accompanied by unforeseen effects on human health and the environment.

Freese said the absence of long-term animal feeding trials and labeling requirements is also cause for worry, since potatoes are staple crops people eat directly. Freese predicted Innate potatoes will fail, just like Monsanto's did.

"The question is why do they continue to so miscalculate public perception?" he said. "The biotech approach is to change the food on a genetic level in quite frankly risky ways with inadequate regulation to adapt a crop to an industrial food system that's really unhealthy in so many ways."

Simplot's Baker pointed to, among other sources, the FDA, which says genetically-engineered foods it reviews meets the same safety requirements as those from traditionally-bred plants. "The nutrients and allergens are no different from conventional potatoes," he said.

The Washington, D.C.-based National Potato Commission, representing 45,000 U.S. growers, learned of Simplot's plans several months ago. Chief Executive Officer John Keeling said it supports scientific advancements to improve potatoes, but has advised Simplot to avoid past mistakes.

For instance, some Monsanto tubers found their way into Japan, where they weren't approved. After that, Japan-bound U.S. potatoes had to be tested, he said.

"If some parts of the marketplace are saying they don't want Innate technology and others want it, you've got to be able to address both of those issues." Keeling said. "Simplot seems to have taken to heart the thoughts that we had."

Simplot is seeking approval in Japan, as well as Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

When she found out an increase in oral decay and gum disease could lead to pre-term labor, though, the priority of getting her pearly whites looked went up.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control revealed that almost half of women in Maryland who gave birth in 2009 and 2010 reported poor oral hygiene. In addition to potentially going into labor early, doctors say that not taking care of your teeth during pregnancy could put an unborn child at risk of infections or low birth weight.

"All of these things you've got to look for and be careful with," Dr. Idalia Rosado-Torres, the chair of the OB/GYN department at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, said. "I think sometimes we forget."

Morning sickness can play a major role in the health of your teeth during pregnancy. During a woman's first trimester, when morning sickness is frequent, women can develop a condition called pregnancy gingivitis. It can affect a future mother even if there are no signs of nausea or vomiting.

"You're eating a little more frequently, and you still have to take care of your teeth," Dr. Rosado-Torres said."

Just like everyone else, doctors recommend that mothers-to-be brush and floss daily. If you have morning sickness, doctors recommend a dimple mouth wash of water and baking soda.

The Oscar-winning actress and partner to Brad Pitt made the announcement in the form of an op-ed she authored for Tuesday's New York Times under the headline, "My Medical Choice." She writes that between early February and late April she completed three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts.

Jolie, 37, writes that she made the choice with thoughts of her six children after watching her own mother die too young from breast cancer.

"My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56," Jolie writes. "She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was."

She writes that, "They have asked if the same could happen to me."

Jolie said that after genetic testing she learned she carries the "faulty" BRCA1 gene and had an 87 percent chance of getting the disease herself.

She said she has kept the process private so far, but wrote about with hopes of helping other women.

"I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made," Jolie writes. "My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer."

Phone and email messages left by The Associated Press late Monday night seeking comment from Jolie representatives were not immediately returned.

Local doctor also undergoes double mastectomy

Local doctor Christy Teal made that same decision two years ago.

Her mother was twice diagnosed with breast cancer. And although she does not have the BRCA1 gene, she knew she wanted to reduce her risk of getting the disease.

“I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that just wouldn't go away, that someday I might face breast cancer and just as soon as I did the surgery that nagging went away,” she says.

Women who have inherited the BRCA1 gene are about five times more likely to get breast cancer.

The head of Medstar Washington Hospital Center's breast center says Jolie made the right decision.

“What I'm hoping is it will raise awareness of genetic risks for Breast Cancer and have more women ask the questions,” says Marc Boisvert, medical director Center for Breast Health. “Am I at risk for this genetic cancer and what do I need to take care of it?”

Jolie is anything but private in the details she provides, giving a step-by-step description of the procedures.

"My own process began on Feb. 2 with a procedure known as a 'nipple delay,'" she writes, "which rules out disease in the breast ducts behind the nipple and draws extra blood flow to the area."

She then describes the major surgery two weeks later where breast tissue was removed, saying it felt "like a scene out of a science-fiction film," then writes that nine weeks later she had a third surgery to reconstruct the breasts and receive implants."

Many women have chosen preventive mastectomy since genetic screening for breast cancer was developed, but the move and public announcement is unprecedented from a star so young and widely known as Jolie.

She briefly addresses the effects of the surgery on the idealized sexuality and iconic womanhood that have fueled her fame.

"I do not feel any less of a woman," Jolie writes. "I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity."

She also wrote that Brad Pitt, her partner of eight years, was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Southern California for "every minute of the surgeries."

Jolie, daughter of Hollywood luminary Jon Voight, has appeared in dozens of films including 2010's "The Tourist" and "Salt," the "Tomb Raider" films, and 1999's "Girl, Interrupted," for which she won an Academy Award.

But she has appeared more often in the news in recent years for her power coupling with Pitt and her charitable work with refugees as a United Nations ambassador.

“It was like someone turned on the lights,” explained Kim Oshirak, Winnie’s owner. “She started snuffing around all the corners of the house.”

Dr. Anke Langenbach, Chief Surgeon at Veterinary Surgical Centers, says plastic surgery for dogs is actually quite common.

“Hardly ever a day that I don't perform a procedure that is in one form or another a plastic surgery procedure,” said Dr. Langenbach.

Dr. Langenbach is talking about procedures like eyebrow lifts, wrinkle reduction, even reconstructive work after removing cancerous tumors. And while plastic surgery in people is generally done for cosmetic reasons, in pets it's primarily done to improve their overall quality of life.

One-year-old Georgia's right eyelid used to turns in, causing her lashes to rub against her cornea. Her owner said Georgia would wake up with her eye virtually closed. So Dr. Jennifer Hyman, a veterinary opthalmologist with "Eye Care for Animals" essentially gave her an "eyelift", or a skin-tuck procedure.

A month later, Georgia's eye, and her comfort level, are much better.

“She's so much happier,” said Joni Morgan, Georgia’s owner. “Before, tears streaming down her eye continually and now she's fine.”

Most canine plastic surgery procedures are medically necessary. They can cost thousands of dollars. But unlike with human cosmetic surgeries, these procedures are typically covered by pet health insurance.

U.S. District Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn last week refused to delay enforcement of his month-old decision while the government challenges his ruling, but said it would have until Monday to appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

Korman said politics is behind efforts by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to block the unrestricted sale of the Plan B One-Step morning-after pill and its generic competitors.

Justice Department lawyers want the ruling stayed while they appeal.

If the government fails, it would clear the way for over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to younger girls. The FDA announced earlier this month that the contraception could be sold without a prescription to those 15 and older, a decision Korman said merely sugarcoated the appeal of his order lifting the age restriction.

Sales had previously been limited to those who were at least 17.

The government warned that "substantial market confusion" could result if Korman's ruling was enforced while appeals are pending. The judge dismissed the reasoning as a "silly argument."

Korman ordered levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives be made available without a prescription, over-the-counter and without point-of-sale or age restrictions. The order was supposed to take effect on Friday.

The judge said he ruled against the government "because the secretary's action was politically motivated, scientifically unjustified and contrary to agency precedent" and because there was no basis to deny the request to make the drugs widely available.

In court papers, attorneys for the Center for Reproductive Rights have said that every day the ruling is not enforced is "life-altering" to some women.

Then there's the cloth diapers of today. They are simple and fast. Even fashionable.

Angela Torres is trained to spread the word about modern cloth diapers from the Real Cloth Diaper Association, and she used them on all three of her children.

Torres is a Real Diaper Association "circle leader," so she holds workshops for women on how to use the cloth diapers. And she says there has been an increase of some 30 percent in cloth diaper use in the last several years.

“Someone said to me, you know if you put her in cloth diapers she'll train faster, and I said ‘done,’” Torres says.

Torres used to be a military police officer and then wanted to become a lawyer. But her husband's military career moved them all over the world. So instead, she dedicated herself to helping new mothers as a doula, or birth worker and cloth diapering expert.

Torres says she was shocked at the benefits of cloth diapers.

“Then I realized, this is so much easier than running out to the store and running out of diapers and wipes and things,” she says. “It's already in the house and it's less trash and it doesn't stink as much.”

And Torres maintains you can save hundreds of dollars and help the environment. She says there is no good answer to how long it takes a disposable diaper to disintegrate in a landfill.

“They're guessing somewhere between three and five hundred years that's a lot of poop and plastic to stay in a landfill,” she says.

Lopez smacked Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Matt Campoy in the face Tuesday as he left the main jail at the end of his shift. He grabbed her and took her inside the jail, where she slapped his arm as soon as he turned her loose.

Once she was handcuffed, the 5-foot 1-inch Lopez told Campoy she picked him because he was in uniform and she wanted to make sure she struck a law enforcement officer.

"She waited all day for a deputy to come out because she knew if she assaulted a deputy she would go to jail and be inside long enough to quit her smoking habit," Campoy told The Sacramento Bee.

The deputy said he tried to sidestep Lopez as he left the jail through the usual gathering of family members who linger outside the facility a few blocks from the state Capitol.

"I stepped to the left again and she suddenly stepped into me and slapped my face," he said. "I've been telling everybody that I have a new Irish name: Nick O'Derm."

Lopez, 31, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery on a peace officer and was sentenced Thursday to 63 days in jail, with credit for the three days she served this week, said Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the county district attorney's office. Lopez also was sentenced to five days for violating her probation from a 2010 drunken driving conviction.

Among the conditions included in her sentence: an order to have no contact with deputies.

Last Saturday’s little league game was the best of 7-year-old Jake Layman’s young life.

“My triple went into the fence,” he says.

Afterward, he and his teammates celebrated with a popular sports drink.

“I took five sips and then went to my brother’s baseball game itching bad,” Jake says. “More bumps kept coming and coming.”

“I saw then he had welts all over his chest and back,” says Jeanee Layman, his mother.

Layman knew her son was allergic to soy, but he’d never had a reaction like this. She thought her son was going into anaphylactic shock.

After visiting the ER and taking Benadryl and steroids this week, Layman zeroed in on an ingredient she hadn’t noticed before: brominated vegetable oil, or BVO.

“It’s illegal in 100 other countries. I was told the vegetable is soybean. I believe it should be listed on a label,” she says.

But Layman also found out, according to the FDA, if BVO is made from highly refined oil, labeling is not required under the Food Allergen Labeling Consumer Protection Act.

“I don’t understand that,” she says. “I believe it is a drink that gave him anaphylaxis.”

This week, Layman posted a Change.org petition to urge Coke and Pepsi to label their products anyway or dump BVO altogether.

“I hope they take it off shelves,” she says.

And Jake hopes to be well enough to knock another one to the fence this weekend.

A similar petition with 200,000 signatures convinced Pepsi to stop putting BVO in Gatorade this year. That will take full effect this spring. 

ABC7 asked Coca Cola if it plans to follow suit with Powerade. The company released the following statement: 

"We are in contact with the family and wish the consumer speedy recovery. The safety of our products is our number one priority, and we are taking this matter very seriously. Our products comply with all federal labeling regulations."

Her profession may have also saved her own life.

She saw a lump and it felt hard as a marble. Two mammograms and a sonogram showed nothing. Craig says she pushed for a biopsy. It was cancer.

She first thought about her family and her mother.

"I was terrified that I was going be leaving them, I'm sorry. That's what I think about,” she says.

Craig endured six months of chemotherapy instead of three because her lump was so large.

Then she had seven weeks of radiation followed by a mastectomy of her left breast.

"Eleven years later I am,” she says. “I'm here for my patients, I'm here for my friends, I'm here for my cousins, my mom, I'm here."

Just blocks from where she grew up in Anacostia, Craig is now a primary care physician at Family Medical and Counseling Services in Southeast D.C. It’s a community health clinic for patients with HIV and AIDS.

"I want people to know that they should check themselves,” she says. “I’ve been practicing for 25, 26 years and the majority of my patients find the lumps themselves."

Starting with pilot programs in eight Asian and African nations, the ambitious project ultimately is intended to inoculate more than 30 million girls in more than 40 countries by 2020. Given that most women killed by cervical cancer live in developing countries, the project could have a huge impact.

The endeavor was announced Thursday by the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership that's worked with drugmakers to deliver affordable vaccines to poor countries to treat childhood illnesses that are big killers.

"This is a transformational moment for the health of women and girls across the world," said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI, which is short for Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.

"A vast gap currently exists between girls in rich and poor countries. With GAVI's programs we can begin to bridge that gap so that all girls can be protected against cervical cancer no matter where they are born," he said in a statement.

Drugmakers Merck & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC initially will provide 2.4 million doses of their vaccines against cancer-causing human papilloma virus - for a fraction of the cost commanded in Western countries.

Merck will supply its Gardasil for $4.50 per dose, and Glaxo its Cervarix for $4.60 per dose. In the U.S., the shots cost well over $100 apiece, and a three-dose series over six months is required.

The vaccines protect against the strains of human papilloma virus, or HPV, that most commonly cause cancer. The virus, transmitted during sex, causes cervical cancer as well as vaginal, vulvar, anal and oral cancers. The vaccines prevent roughly 70 percent of those cancers.

In developed countries, older girls and women routinely get Pap tests to check for cervical cancer or signs of precancerous changes in cervical tissue. They're treated promptly, often before cancer begins, and few die. And increasingly, young girls and now boys as well are vaccinated with either Gardisil or Cervarix, starting as young as age 9 so they're protected well before they become sexually active.

Not so in poor countries.

"They don't have the benefit of screening to catch cancer early, when it can still be treated," Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, president of Merck Vaccines, said in an interview.

As a result, 85 percent of the 275,000 women killed by cervical cancer each year live in poor countries, where HPV is most prevalent.

"It is a disease that has devastating, life-threatening consequences and it is preventable," said Gerberding, an infectious diseases expert who's a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Our aim is to do what we can to make the vaccine available."

The GAVI project will begin "demonstration projects" administering the vaccines to girls aged 9 to 13, starting in Kenya as early as this month. Then it will be expanded to Ghana, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

The goal is for the governments of those countries to show they can set up a national system - with medical staff, clinic supplies, distribution systems and supply management all well organized - to provide the vaccines over the long term. The program also will bring an opportunity to teach the girls about nutrition, sexual health and HIV prevention.

Already, GAVI is planning to provide the shots nationwide in Rwanda, starting next year.

Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., is providing 93 percent of the shots initially. It's also agreed to provide more shots at an even-lower price in the future, if higher volumes of vaccines are ordered, as that would reduce production costs.

Merck and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline are among the world's biggest makers of vaccines, and both have long provided many for free or at discounted prices to health programs in poor countries.

GAVI also will work with the heavy hitters of global health and development groups, including the CDC, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank. Other partners include the charities, corporations and 18 wealthy countries that help fund GAVi.

In the U.S., the vaccines have become steady money makers since they were launched a half-dozen years ago, but they haven't turned into the mega-sellers initially envisioned.

That's partly because of their high price here, but also because of political fights. Some conservative groups opposed the vaccines, arguing that giving adolescents a vaccine to protect them against a virus transmitted by sexual activity would encourage it.