The 'mysterious' Tourette-like syndrome plaguing a N.Y. town (The Week)

New York ? Over a dozen girls from a single high school in upstate New York developed a strange muscle disorder ? seemingly overnight

What if your child came home from school only to wake up the next morning with symptoms of Tourette syndrome? That's the confounding situation confronting the families of at least 13 girls from LeRoy Junior-Senior High School in upstate New York. Local officials aren't helping, insisting that there is no clear connection between the condition and the school. What's going on? Here's what you should know:

What happened to these girls?
In the case of 17-year-old Thera Sanchez, last fall she developed a "mysterious movement disorder, seemingly overnight," says Jacqueline Burt at The Stir. The girl's parents say her outbursts forced her to give up the things she used to enjoy doing, "from art to cheerleading to simply attending school." The strangest part? Twelve other girls from the high school reported experiencing the same Tourette-like symptoms.

SEE ALSO: 6 strange objects found in people's stomachs

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What is Tourette syndrome?
It's a muscle disorder that typically shows up in childhood, between the ages of 7 and 10, and is more common in men than women. Tourette syndrome "is characterized by tics, which include things like eye-blinking, head-jerking, eye-darting, shoulder-shrugging, and yelling or throat-clearing ? all of it uncontrolled."

Why would the symptoms hit so many people at once?
School officials say they've found no connection between the cases, infuriating the girls' parents. But neurologist Dr. Laszlo Mechtler, who is treating some of the girls, tells MSNBC the girls may be suffering from "conversion disorder," commonly referred to as mass hysteria. "It's happened before, all around the world," says Mechtler. ?"It's a rare phenomena. Physicians are intrigued by it." It occurs when patients appear to suffer from a common disease or ailment, typically after a stress event. Conversion disorder is psychologically rooted, but the symptoms are real. The bright side, Mechtler says, is that "the bottom line is these teenagers will get better."

SEE ALSO: Does yoga really 'wreck your body'?

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Sources: Huffington Post, MSNBC,?The Stir

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Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin can see Vols in NCAA play

KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin admits he's not a big reader, at least when it comes to what's being written about his basketball team.

That would explain why he missed what Kentucky coach John Calipari said about the Volunteers after the second-ranked Wildcats' close win in Knoxville on Saturday. It turns out the two coaches are in agreement.

Calipari ignored UT's 8-9 record an called the Vols an NCAA tournament team, and given how UT has played in its three SEC games, Martin said Monday he felt the same way

"Like I told our guys," said the first-year coach, "from Florida up until now, you say [we're] one of the 65 or 68 teams, I would say yes. But you have to put a lot of work to cover some ground. I would definitely say from the time we started league play up until now, when you pick 65 or 33, 35 [at-large] teams, I would say yes."

Since a loss at Memphis when they looked as bad as they have all season, the Vols have beaten a top-15 Florida team and gone toe-to-toe with 18th-ranked Mississippi State on the road and a Kentucky team loaded with NBA talent. UT has done it using Martin's style of tough, hard-nosed defense, holding the three ranked opponents to 44-percent shooting or less.

"You've got to buy into his system," said center Kenny Hall, who's averaging 11 points per game in SEC play. "We all bought into his system, and we've seen what it can do for us. [If] we continue to play hard and keep working and keep grinding out, amazing things can happen."

That has yet to translate into wins, though. UT has a chance at evening its league record and earning its first road win of the year at Georgia on Wednesday night. With a losing record, bad losses to Oakland and Austin Peay and an RPI of 181, there's too much ground and not enough season for the Vols to make a run at an at-large bid.

With that in mind, UT has taken on the nothing-to-lose mindset at the start of league play.

"It's a whole new season," said Hall, a junior. "We felt with our record, we were going into each game and we don't have anything to lose. We tell each other we need to step it up [because] this is the SEC, we don't have anything to lose and people don't expect us to win. So why not go out there and play as hard as we can? That's it."

More Stokes?

Martin said freshman forward Jarnell Stokes, who had nine points and four rebounds in 17 minutes of his collegiate debut Saturday after practicing less than a week, will get more minutes as his conditioning allows.

UT used the powerful 6-foot-8 bruiser in spurts against Kentucky, and Martin hinted he'll use the same strategy in Athens on Wednesday. Stokes' natural skills carried him on the offensive end, but Martin noted how Stokes' teammates helped him defensively in his debut.

"They did a good job of communicating and helping him through situations and making him understand," Martin said. "This is a team and not a bunch of individuals. It's a credit to the guys that are currently on the team -- before he got here -- to make the adjustments necessary for him to be successful. These are good guys and they want to be successful.

"They understand what it means bringing a new guy in. They've done a great job of really embracing him."

Hall's embraced him enough already to have given him a nickname.

"I call him 'Big Future,'" Hall said. "He's going to be the future of this program. The kid is talented.

"It's funny because as big as he is, he's still a kid and he's still got the baby-faced look. But he's a man out there in the paint. We're going to expect big things from him this season."

Woolridge, Inc.

Martin said he'll start incorporating forward Renaldo Woolridge more at UT's small-forward position, which would allow the Vols to play some combination of Stokes, Maymon and Hall at the power forward and center spots.

"He has to readjust his mind to really defending," Martin said. "I think that'll be the biggest adjustment for him -- guarding smaller guys off the dribble and chasing him off screens. I think it depends on more him than the opponent. You can put him in situations, especially right now, until he gets a feel for it."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com or 901-581-7288. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/patrickbrowntfp.

about Patrick Brown...

Patrick Brown has been the University of Tennessee beat writer since January 2011. A native of Memphis, Brown graduated from UT in May of 2010 with a bachelor?s degree in Journalism/Electronic Media and worked at the Knoxville News Sentinel for two years on the sports editorial staff and as a freelance contributor. If it?s the NBA, the NFL or SEC football and basketball, he?s probably reading about it or watching it on TV. Contact him ...

Source: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jan/17/cuonzo-martin-can-see-vols-in-ncaa-play/

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Nick Cannon: I'm 'good' after health scare

Nick Cannon is speaking out for the first time since his recent kidney ordeal, saying he?s back to his old self.

The ?The America?s Got Talent? host spoke out about his recent health scare on Howard Stern?s SiriusXM radio show on Tuesday morning.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hot Shots Of Nick Cannon

?They thought it was kidney stones, then a kidney infection,? Cannon told Stern, who will be joining him on the upcoming season of ?AGT? as a judge. ?They found out my kidneys were not functioning well. So we said ?mild kidney failure.??

Cannon said he still has a few more procedures to undergo but explained, ?I?m good. I?m feeling 100 percent ? Because of this situation I know that I don?t need to go so hard,? said Cannon. ?It?s more about just my way of living ? It?s really about taking some time.?

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hot Shots Of Mariah Carey

Cannon also spoke about his marriage to wife Mariah Carey, who he says cared for him tremendously during the ordeal.

?I?m happier than happy,? he said of his pop super star wife. ?Especially through this entire process, we?ve become so much closer? I even got a chance to see a different side of my wife where she became so nurturing. I?m in debt to her forever. ?

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood Dads & Their Adorable Little Ones!

Copyright 2012 by NBC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46026587/ns/today-entertainment/

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Smith leads annual MLK Parade

Hundreds of Baxley and Appling County Citizens joined millions across the country in honoring civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday. In the top photo, Nettie Smith, the Grand Marshal of the 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade, is shown in the lead car at Monday?s annual event.

The other three pictures are scenes from the parade. On Saturday, January 14 a reception was held honoring Smith at the Parker-Harrell Social Hall. Both events were sponsored by the Appling Branch of the NAACP. This year?s theme was ?We Are Family: Past, Present and Future.?

(MORE PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND ONLINE ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE - www.facebook.com/baxleynewsbanner)

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Tigers' Martinez injures knee, out much of 2012 (AP)

DETROIT ? Tigers star Victor Martinez has injured his left knee and is likely to miss most of the 2012 season.

The Tigers said Tuesday that the 33-year-old Martinez tore his left ACL last week during offseason conditioning. An MRI exam Monday in Lakeland, Fla., revealed the injury.

The team said the slugging designated hitter will be re-examined next week and surgery is expected.

Martinez hit .330 with 103 RBIs in 2011, helping Detroit win the AL Central in his first season with the Tigers. He signed a $50 million, four-year contract before last season.

Martinez and Miguel Cabrera were a formidable pair in the middle of the lineup, and manager Jim Leyland had nothing but nice things to say throughout the year about Martinez's upbeat presence in the clubhouse.

Although he spent some time on the disabled list early in the season with a right groin problem, Martinez was still able to play 145 games. He was brought in to fill the DH spot and also play occasionally behind the plate, but by the end of the season, it was hard for him to catch. Detroit signed Gerald Laird this offseason to be its backup catcher.

Martinez also hurt his ribcage during the postseason.

It's been a quiet offseason so far for the Tigers, who added reliever Octavio Dotel but kept their everyday lineup largely intact. With Martinez out, they might need to make another move to replace his bat. The pressure will also fall on Cabrera, catcher Alex Avila and shortstop Jhonny Peralta to repeat the productive seasons they had at the plate in 2011.

Detroit won its division by 15 games last year and reached the AL championship series, but if the Tigers were favorites in the AL Central heading into this season, their outlook just became a whole lot murkier.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bba_tigers_martinez_injured

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iPad 2 caught on camera running Cydia with an untethered iOS 5.01 jailbreak

Chronic Dev Team member pod2g has again teased everyone waiting for an iPhone 4S and iPad 2 untethered jailbreak. This time he has released a picture of an iPad 2 running Cydia after being jailbroken by the soon to be released untethered iOS 5.01 jailbreak.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/zuv82h_J_iw/story01.htm

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FDA approves BTG's drug for cancer toxicity (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? U.S. health regulators gave the nod on Tuesday to a drug from British specialty drugmaker BTG Plc that helps cancer patients get rid of toxic levels of a chemotherapy treatment.

The drug, called Voraxaze, helps eliminate methotrexate in patients whose kidney function has been compromised by treatment with high doses of the chemotherapy agent. Methotrexate is normally eliminated from the body by the kidneys, but prolonged high doses of the drug used to treat cancer can result in kidney failure.

BTG's injectable treatment can quickly break down the chemotherapy medicine and allow the body to expel it.

The Food and Drug Administration granted Voraxaze orphan drug status, meant for rare diseases or conditions that affect a very small portion of the population. As incentive for companies to develop such drugs, the orphan designation comes with seven years of marketing exclusivity before a rival medicine could be approved.

Methotrexate is used to treat breast, bone and lung cancer as well as leukemia. In much lower doses, it is commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

Prolonged exposure to the chemotherapy treatment can cause kidney and liver damage, skin rash and severe mouth sores, damage to the lining of the intestines, and death because of low blood counts, said Richard Pazdur, the head of the FDA's cancer drugs division.

"Voraxaze is an important new treatment option for cancer patients aimed at preventing these toxicities associated with sustained high levels of methotrexate," Pazdur said in a statement.

In a clinical trial of 22 patients, Voraxaze eliminated 95 percent of methotrexate from their blood. For 10 of the patients, the methotrexate fell to a low level within 15 minutes and stayed that way for eight days, the FDA said.

Common side effects included low blood pressure, headaches, nausea and vomiting.

(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov; additional reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/hl_nm/us_fda_voraxaze

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