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A blood test may be able to predict a woman’s risk of breast cancer years ahead of time, a new study suggests. The blood test looks for methylation of a gene called ATM. Methylation happens when small molecules called methyl groups attach to a gene’s DNA. High levels of methylation can stop a gene from working properly. The new study included 640 women with breast cancer and 741 women without breast cancer. Researchers analyzed blood samples from all of the women. They were taken an average of 3 years before cancer diagnosis. Women who had the highest levels of methylation were twice as likely to develop breast cancer as those with the lowest levels. The effects were especially strong for women under age 60, one of the study authors told HealthDay News. Researchers said this type of test might be used to help predict women’s risk of breast cancer.

The growth of painkiller use and abuse has led to another surge in drug dependence, this one among newborns, a study finds. The study takes the first close look at the problem. Newborns go through withdrawal symptoms if their mothers take opiate drugs. These include street drugs such as heroin. But similar effects occur with prescription painkillers. Hydrocodone (Vicodin and others) and oxycodone (Oxycontin and others) are the best known. Researchers looked at data on U.S. hospital stays between 2000 and 2009. They found that in those 10 years the number of babies with withdrawal symptoms tripled. Babies need to be weaned off these drugs slowly, in the hospital. Usually, they are given smaller and smaller doses of methadone, which is used to treat addicts. This can take weeks or months.

Exercise and healthier eating may help to keep cancer from returning after treatment, the American Cancer Society says. The new advice was based on dozens of studies published in the last five years. The studies found lower rates of cancer return (recurrence) and longer survival for people with better diet or exercise habits. The studies were mostly observational. The cancer survivors were not randomly assigned to one program or another. So the studies can’t prove that exercise or diet caused the better outcomes for these patients. But the cancer society said the number of studies made their results worth trusting. Most involved prostate, breast or colon cancer survivors. The new guidelines urge doctors to talk to cancer patients about moving more, eating healthier foods and losing weight, if needed.

Doctors may be able to diagnose appendicitis with a scan that uses a much lower dose of radiation, a new study finds. The study included 891 people. All of them were between ages 15 and 44. All had suspected appendicitis. Researchers randomly assigned half of them to receive a low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen. The others had a standard-dose CT scan. In all, 172 people in the first group were diagnosed with appendicitis. In the standard-dose group, the number was 186. During surgery, doctors discovered that just over 3% of each group did not have appendicitis. So the low-dose scan was just as accurate as the standard scan, researchers said. The standard scan used about 8 millisieverts of radiation. The low-dose scan used 2 millisieverts, or one-quarter as much. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it April 25.

Though Americans have high levels of obesity, only 13% have high total cholesterol. That’s the finding of a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The numbers come from a survey of 6,000 adults in 2009 and 2010. They also had blood tests taken. The group was chosen to represent the variety of U.S. adults. The 13% with high total cholesterol is less than the U.S. government goal of 17%. Women met that goal about 5 years ago and men about 10 years ago. The CDC did not find out why cholesterol has dropped. But officials said they believed it was related to less smoking and more people taking drugs to lower cholesterol. The CDC released the report April 25. The Associated Press wrote about it.