A new study seems to indicate that perfluorinated compounds (PFCs)  keep childrens’ immune systems from getting the full benefit of their vaccines. The chemicals are used to coat the popcorn bags, and are also part of many other products such as non-stick cookware and stain repellants.

Previous studies have demonstrated that PFCs don’t break down easily and can build up to toxic levels in mammals’ blood.

The most recent study, conducted by a research team at Harvard, found that mothers with higher amounts of PFC in their blood had children with less protection from diphtheria at age five. (Specifically, a doubling of PFC levels in the mother’s blood correlated to a 39% reduction in diphtheria antibodies in their children.)

Among the children themselves, those with double the PFC levels were found to be two to four times more likely to have an immune response that was too low to effectively fight off the disease.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

She said that while she wasn’t planning to make any major lifestyle changes in the wake of the diagnosis, she did make changes “in” her life, including taking more walks and taking a drug called Victoza. Other than drinking less sweet tea she didn’t mention any dietary changes. Diet, of course, plays a huge part in both preventing and managing Type 2 diabetes.

Deen’s mention of the drug she takes is no accident: She also announced she’s a paid spokesperson for the drug.

And that admission, along with her lack of acknowledgement that her high-fat recipes could contribute to the disease, is drawing fire from many nutritional experts, health care professionals and some fans. When asked if the diagnosis would cause her to re-examine her recipes, she said “I’m your cook, I’m not your doctor. You are going to have to be responsible for yourself.” (Her son, incidentally, recently landed his own show, “Not My Mamma’s Meals” which focus on lighter versions of the same kind of foods Deen makes.)

No doubt, people are responsible for what they put in their own mouths. But the average American’s nutritional ignorance is well-documented. It’s easy to believe that many people treat recipes touted by someone as popular as Deen as a normal and healthy way to eat — not as the type of high-carb fat-bomb they should treat as an occasional indulgence.

Even other chefs have been critical of Deen’s position. Chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain once said of her cuisine (before the announcement of her diabetes), “If I were on at seven at night and loved by millions of people at every age, I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it’s OK to eat food that is killing us.” After her announcement he tweeted a response that likened her stance to “getting into the leg-breaking business” in order to sell a lot of crutches.

Does Deen have a responsibility to model healthier eating patterns to her audience? Or is it up to grown adults to figure out their own path to healthy eating? Sound off in the comments.

About 20% of Americans suffer from some sort of mental illness each year. About 5% have a disorder serious enough to disrupt their family, work or social life. Four percent consider suicide.

Those figures come from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual overview of the state of mental health in the country. The survey is overseen by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The survey is an intensive undertaking, with data pulled from more than 68,000 interviews of randomly selected Americans.

Those most likely to report mental illness to the survey were women, young adults and lower income people.

Of course, being ill is one thing, having access to treatment is another. And on that score, the health care infrastructure isn’t working. Just under half of those with a mental illness receive treatment in any given year. More troubling, only 60% of those with a serious mental illness receive treatment.

Of those who said they needed mental health care and didn’t get it, the reason they gave was an inability to afford it.

Whites and Native Americans were most likely to receive mental health care. Blacks, Hispanics and Asians were less likely.

A handful of patients have been documented in Italy and Iran since 2003. But these are the first documented cases in India.So far, the cases have been limited to poorer regions and haven’t spread much.

The patients were treated by doctors in Mumbai with 12 different antibiotics over as many as three years, without success. Although the World Health Organization doesn’t recognize the term “totally resistant” TB, preferring to call it “extensively drug-resistant,” at least one US TB expert said the phrase “totally resistant” appears to be accurate.

That means that for all practical purposes, patients with the strain cannot be treated. TB is fatal without treatment.

One small sliver of good news: Indian health officials said the strain doesn’t appear to be spreading. In fact, almost all of the cases came about from mutations of the disease within patients who received inadequate care. One patient was infected by person-to-person contact while living with her mother in close quarters.

The experimental treatment uses a large electromagnetic coil placed against the scalp, which some researchers believe encourages brain cells to form new connections and repair damage caused by a stroke.

One study that touts the benefits of magnet stimulation, including improved muscle strength and motor skills, was conducted by the Santa Lucia Foundation in Italy and published in the journal Neurology.

In the study, 20 recovering stroke patients received standard brain retraining for two weeks. Ten of them also received magnetic therapy over the same time period, while the other half were given a placebo treatment.

The patients were tested at the beginning of the two weeks and again at the end. The tests involved crossing through lines and copying figures and shapes, as well as every day activities such as dialing phone numbers and sorting coins. Those who received magnetic therapy improved 22%, while those under the placebo treatment did not improve at all.

While TMS isn’t being widely used in medical facilities, larger clinical trials may lead to greater acceptance, according to some stroke specialists.

Many current asthma treatments work in part by using anti-inflammatories to fight eosinophilic airway inflammation. But the researchers found that almost half of the patients in the study don’t have the condition.

Only 17% of those who used the inhaled steroids (an anti-inflammatory) had the condition, while 36% of those not taking inhaled steroids did.

Further study and treatment with inhaled steroids indicated that patients who had the condition responded  and experienced better airflow, but those without the condition saw no improvement. Patient response to treatment with bronchodilators which help open the bronchial tubes were similar in both groups.

Unfortunately, the tests to determine if a particular asthma patient is likely to respond to inhaled steroids isn’t feasible to do in a clinical setting.

The researchers said that many patients with mild to moderate asthma have a type of disease with a mechanism we don’t full understand and that will require new types of treatments.

The report was published by American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Eleven of the patients are children, two of whom were in the some day care facility. All of them have recovered.

The CDC believes the virus is transmitted from workers who pick up the bug from pigs and then pass it on to other people. The agency has asked public health labs nationwide to be alert for other cases, which should be reported to the CDC.

This virus is different from the strain that was behind the 2009 pandemic. This year’s flu vaccine included the H3N2 strain. Patients looking for more information on how to prevent infection with the flu should check out CDC’s site.

The study, published recently in BMJ, looked at more than 64,000 women pregnant with a single child, who gave birth between April 2008 and April 2010.

For the purposes of the study, planned C-section births, C-sections before the onset of labor and unplanned home births weren’t included. The study compared the location of the birth (at home, a midwifery unit, a hospital, etc.) to see the number of medical interventions needed, as well as outcomes for the mother and child.

Overall, there were no significant differences and all types of birth options were relatively safe. But fewer interventions were done during births that took place outside of an obstetric unit. The mother’s medical history also made a difference: Women giving birth for the first time had a statistically significant jump in poor post-birth outcomes.

However, the study’s authors said a variety of birth environments should still be offered to women with low-risk pregnancies.

From hard-to-believe HIPAA violations to dogs performing medical tests, here are the top 10 most popular stories on HealthExecNews from 2011:

10. 5 things doctors wish more of the patients would do

9. Outrageous! Visitor hurt, nurse says: ‘Call 911′

8. Doctor sues patient’s family — and everybody loses

7. Want the most depressing job? Work in health care

6. Doc convicted of murder for lipo gone wrong

5. Patient says ‘leaked’ medical info ruined her life

4. The scary truth about two common drugs

3. Paging Dr. Pooch: Dogs almost as accurate as colonoscopies

2. Doc disciplined, fined over Facebook posts

1. One dumb move nets first civil HIPAA fine

Overall, measures of factors, such as wait time and one-on-one time with doctors, show that most patients are satisfied with the care they receive.

A recent study looked at doctor rankings at Dr.Score.com. The data, from nearly 15,000 patients, ranked six years worth of their doctor visits. Doctors were ranked on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being the highest rating.

The verdict: Health care pros are doing a good job of leaving patients satisfied.

The average overall satisfaction rating was an excellent 9.28. About 85% of ratings were a 9 or higher. Less than 2% of ratings were below a 1.

That may seem at odds with common public perception that a doctor’s appointment is little more than a date with frustration. The researchers said that perception is driven mainly by things that are out of doctors’ hands, such as opaque insurance company policies, and bad-news headlines. But most patients realize that their doctors are doing a good job of taking care of them.

The study appeared in Health Outcomes Research and Medicine.