If you survived a 43-inch-long iron rod shot through your skull, people would still be talking about you more than 150 years later too. Journey back a moment to September 13, 1848. Phineas Gage, 25, was working as a railroad construction supervisor in Vermont. In preparation for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad that was to be laid down, he was blasting and removing rock. But an explosion went awry, shooting a 13-pound iron rod through Gage's left cheek, passing behind his left eyeball and through his brain. The fateful rod was found later "smeared with blood and brains," according to reports about the case. Gage survived for almost 12 years after this accident, but people who knew him said he was no longer himself – he exhibited personality and behavior changes. He couldn't come back to his railroad job, so he took up some manual labor jobs. He ended up traveling in New England and down to Valparaiso, Chile; his iron rod never left his side. He rejoined his family in San Francisco and died on May 21, 1860, probably because of seizures connected to the freak accident. Now, scientists have new insights into Gage's brain. A new study in the journal PLoS ONE examines the damage to the connections between the networks in Gage's brain, finding that this probably contributed to Gage's documented behavioral changes. Researchers compared information about Gage's skull to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brains of 110 right-handed men between ages 25 to 36, the age range at which Gage lived with his injury. In this way, they simulated the trek of the rod through Gage's skull and assessed damage to cortical gray matter (found in memory regions among others) and white matter (which has been implicated in learning and cognition ). "If the rod had penetrated his brain at any other angle, even slightly different than the trajectory that it took, it might have pierced some major cerebrovasculature, and taken his life," said the study's lead author Jack Van Horn, assistant professor in the department of neurology at UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles. Researchers concluded that while the rod intersected with about 4% of the cortex, the accident damaged 11% of white matter. That means that the damage wasn't localized to the part of the brain the rod traversed and the gray matter within. Instead, the connectivity between many important regions of the brain broke down. The patterns of damage they found is not much different from what's seen in Alzheimer's disease , frontotemporal dementia and traumatic brain injuries . Mapping strategies like this would be important for measuring the degree of damage that people with traumatic brain injuries experience, Van Horn said. They reveal the effect of the damage on the network connectivity of the brain and the properties of the networks. This could have implications for assessment, monitoring and treatment opportunities for patients. Over 1 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury every year in the United States, but perhaps no one is as historically famous for surviving one as Gage. "Hopefully this kind of thing helps us to understand a little more about what he went through, about what his brain injury meant, and how, by understanding that, it might be helpful for modern day traumatic brain injury and degenerative disease patients," Van Horn said. Gage's skull is currently on display at the Warren Anatomical Museum at Harvard University . Filed under: Brain , Mental Health , Traumatic brain injury Tagged: Elizabeth Landau – CNN.com Health Writer/Producer

The Centers for Disease and Prevention released their annual health report for 2011 on Wednesday. The report contains more than 150 data tables on the U.S. population's well-being, with a special focus on socioeconomic status. Here are a few of the interesting tidbits we found. For more, visit www.cdc.gov . The Bible Belt needs more doctors. On average, there were 25 physicians for every 10,000 people in the U.S. in 2009. The Northeast, Hawaii and Minnesota had the highest ratio of doctors to patients, while states in the South and Rocky Mountain-areas had fewer than 21 per 10,000. Your education level affects your kids' weight. The CDC collected data on childhood obesity between 2007 and 2010. Where the head of the household had a college degree, 7 to 11% of children aged 2 to 19 were obese. But when the head of the household was a high school dropout, 22 to 24% of the children were obese. Cigarette smoking is still on the decline. In 2010, 19% of U.S. adults smoked, down 2% from 2009. Over the last decade cigarette smoking among students in 12th grade has decreased from 33% to 22% for male students and from 30% to 16% for female students. Fewer teens are giving birth. Between 1998 and 2008, birth rates declined 27% for teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17. The gap is widening in education… In 2006, men without a high school diploma were expected to live 9.3 years less than those with a Bachelor's degree. The difference is two years more than it was in 1996. A similar gap increase holds true for women. … and narrowing in racial disparities. While the gap between life expectancy rates for African Americans and whites still exists, the gap has narrowed over the last two decades. Hispanics still have higher life expectancies than both ethnic groups. We're getting better at getting check-ups. In 2010, 59% of people over the age of 50 underwent a recent colorectal test or procedure, compared to 34% in 2000. Heart disease is still the No 1. killer. In 2008, 617,000 people died from heart disease-related causes. The prevalence among adult men and women has remained fairly steady for the last decade. Our children are fat, but not getting fatter. In 2010, approximately one in every five children was obese. Yet that rate has stayed pretty steady since 2007. That year, 19.6% of children aged 6 to 11 were obese. In 2010, it was 18%. Most people aren't moving enough. In 2010 more than half of American adults failed to meet the government's recommended daily physical activity levels. It was worse for the elderly – approximately 70% of those over 75 didn't meet the requirements. Filed under: Adolescent Health , Cancer , CDC , Children’s Health , Living Well , Men’s Health , Obesity , Smoking , Women’s Health Tagged: Jacque Wilson — CNN.com writer/producer

If you're turning 50 or you're already there, colorectal screening is in your future.  Although you would only have to be screened every 10 years (if no polyps are found), the prospect of getting prepped for procedure is a big turn-off for many.  You've probably heard some of the horror stories about the pre-screening laxatives, the taste, the amount, the ensuing "cleansing." But for those who are a little squeamish about all that liquid going in–and coming out, a new laxative free colonoscopy might be on the horizon.  A study of 605 adults published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows this type of colonoscopy has promise. This new exam is called a laxative-free computed tomographic colonography (CTC) or virtual colonoscopy.  Study author Dr. Michael Zalis, Director of CT Colonography at Massachusetts General Hospital says the hope is that more people will find this preparation easier to stomach and result in more people getting this life-saving test. "When we do a virtual colonoscopy we give a safe contrast agent that patients ingest over 2 days with snacks," Zalis said. "It's about 5 milliliters, about the volume of food you would see in a ketchup packet." The contrast is taken orally 1-3 times a day, mixes easily with a low-fiber diet a patient is consuming and shows up on an x-ray.  The feces are tagged and have a distinctive appearance on the cat scan.  The contrast is not absorbed by polyps or the colon wall.  Researchers have developed computer software that cleanses the colon images electronically. "We observed with this laxative-free version we could identify patients who had one or more polyps 1 centimeter or greater in size and we could do that with a performance that was very similar to optical colonoscopy and in a range that many people would consider acceptable for screening.  We could detect 91% of these larger lesions, in our study, OC detected 95%.  In this study that's the difference of 1 polyp." Currently there are 2 main types of colon screenings, says Zalis: The regular optical and the virtual colonoscopies. For the optical colonoscopy (OC), a gastroenterologist inserts a 6-foot long scope with a camera at the end into the colon.  This allows the doctor to see any polyps (pre-cancerous tumors) and immediately remove.  The patient sedated for the entire procedure, so they shouldn't feel a thing.  To prepare for this procedure, patients usually have to drink a laxative solution on the day before.  This means they are drinking anywhere between 2 quarts and a gallon of liquid until the bowels are empty. The computed tomographic colonography (CTC), sometimes called a virtual colonoscopy, requires the same preparation, it's the test that's different. A tiny tube the size of a pinkie is inserted.  This screening uses a low-dose x-ray cat-scan instead of a scope that takes pictures of the colon that are fed into a computer and later read by a technician, after the patient has left the exam.  If polyps are found, the patient has to come back and have a regular colonoscopy to have the precancerous lesions removed. "They both require a full laxative prep and the prep is found to be so unpleasant that it deters people from participating in screening," Zalis said. "Nobody should be dying of colon cancer.  It's a slow-growing disease." And largely preventable.  Polyps are not cancerous, but they are a benign precursor that can  turn into cancer if left unchecked.  According to the American Cancer Society , colon cancer deaths has been dropping over the last 2 decades.  Still, there are about 104,000 new cases of colon cancer each year and approximately 51,000 deaths. There is a  caveat when using this new type of "cleanse" – while the laxative-free test accurately detected polyps 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) and larger during the study, it was less successful finding smaller growths.  But Zalis says smaller lesions are clinically less important. "We can't ignore them, but we know that the most important lesions to get are the advanced adenomas and 90% of them are 1 centimeter or larger." Researchers say results from this study need to be validated by another larger study.  In the meantime, Zalis is making this test available to his patients at Mass General, even though it is not yet fully covered by Medicare or insurance.  The cost for this test is not higher than a traditional virtual colonoscopy, Zalis says, because the method of cleansing the bowel is all that changes. "We've known for a long time if we could make and validate a colon exam that was far more patient-friendly, then we might be able to bring the benefit of screening to many people who are not participating in screening and who are at risk for colon cancer, " Zalis says. A second colon cancer study also releasing in Annals looked at whether having an immediate family member such as parents, siblings and children with adenomatous polyps (larger polyps that can turn into cancer over time) increased a person's risk of colon cancer. Researchers looked at 12 different studies and concluded that more studies are needed before a conclusion can be made. Filed under: Cancer Tagged: Saundra Young – CNN Medical Senior Producer

It sounds like something out of a horror film – a micro-organism that enters through an open wound and begins to consume your body from the inside out. Unfortunately flesh-eating bacteria, or necrotizing fasciitis, isn't fiction. Aimee Copeland, a 24-year-old graduate student from Georgia, is fighting for her life in an Augusta hospital after contracting one type known as aeromonas hydrophila during a zip line adventure. Aeromonas hydrophila is found in most, if not all, freshwater or brackish water environments (water that contains salt but is not saltwater), according to the Food and Drug Administration's " Bad Bug Book ." It is sometimes swallowed by swimmers, causing stomach or intestinal problems such as vomiting and diarrhea. It can also be found in fish and shellfish. The severity of the gastrointestinal infection depends on your immune system's ability to fight it off, according to the Mayo Clinic . Aeromonas hydrophila can also enter the body through an open wound, as happened in the Copeland case. When that occurs the flesh-eating bacteria quickly reproduces, giving off toxins that destroy skin and soft tissue. Such bacteria is adept at hiding from the body's immune system, according to the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation . If necrotizing fasciitis is detected early, only skin or fat may need to be removed. But if the infection is detected later, amputation may be necessary to stop the spread of the bacteria. Dr. William Schaffner, president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases , says when Aeromonas hydrophila enters through an open wound, early diagnosis is difficult. The bacteria does its damage deep in the tissue and doesn't manifest itself on the skin's surface. Patients should pay attention to any pain coming from a closed wound, as well as redness or drainage, he told CNN. The frequency of Aeromonas hydrophilia infections is unknown, the FDA notes, because researchers only recently began trying to collect numbers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year there are about 10,000 U.S. cases of group A streptococcus, a collection of bacteria that includes necrotizing fasciitis. Approximately 20% of the cases of necrotizing fasciitis are fatal, according to the CDC. Filed under: Conditions , Infectious diseases Tagged: Jacque Wilson and John Bonifield — CNN

MIAMI (CBSMiami) — A South Florida woman has given her mother an incredible gift just in time for Mother’s Day, the gift of life. Yolanda Mixon, who served in the Army for nearly 19 years, including a stint in the Gulf War, was diagnosed with lupus which eventually led to kidney failure and pulmonary fibrosis, scarring of the lung tissue which makes it difficult to breathe. “I started out having arthritis-like pain in my joints so I went to the clinic and did the blood work and came back with lupus,” explained Yolanda. Doctors told Yolanda, a single mother raising two children; she would eventually need a kidney transplant. Her daughter, Lekisha Mixon, immediately volunteered to be tested and was the perfect match. “I feel like my Mom has given me the most wonderful life, said Lekisha, a forensic psychologist who lives in Miami Beach.”I’ve never had to want for anything and this was my way of giving back to her.” The illness forced the military to retire her after more than 18 years of service and soon her body would retire itself if she didn’t get a new kidney. “I told my daughter and she said ‘Mom, I’ll give you a kidney’,” said Yolanda. Unfortunately, the organ transplant was delayed in 2006 because Yolanda’s condition was deteriorating. Doctors had to wait until she was strong enough for the transplant. Doctors placed her on dialysis, a process that filters waste from the blood, three times a week. Over the next few years, Yolanda was in and out of the hospital many times, often critically ill in intensive care. But Yolanda wasn’t going to give up. She drew from her military roots and began to work out and train for it. Six years later, she was ready. University of Miami /Jackson transplant surgeons, George Burke, M.D., and Junichiro Sageshima, M.D., operated on Yolanda and Lekisha at Jackson Memorial Hospital on May 9th. “With all the training that she’s done, with all the exercise that she’s done, rarely do we take the breathing tube out at the end of the surgery which was really surprising in a positive way,” said Dr. Burke. “I was surprised myself when I woke up,” said Yolanda. The surgery was a success and Yolanda now has complete kidney function. Yolanda, who now works as a civilian IT specialist at the U.S. Southern Command in Doral, said she will never be able to repay her daughter for saving her life. “My daughter gave me the gift of life and she is in my debt forever,” said Yolanda. “Showing her that I appreciate everything and keeping her around so I can give her grand babies because she keeps bothering me,” joked Lekisha.

Glenn Keller is one of seven CNN viewers training to race the Nautica Malibu Triathlon with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. This weekend, the team and Dr. Gupta will head to Hawaii for a training trip. Keller just completed a 5k held in his honor in his hometown of Burleson, Texas. I heard it said that everyone gets 15 minutes of fame in their lifetime. If this is my 15 minutes, it is creating a lifetime of memories. On Saturday May 5, 2012, there was a 5k race in Burleson, Texas. This 5k was different from every other 5k that I had ever heard of. The distance was the same. The rules were the same. The difference is this 5k was called “Let’s get started with Glenn.” Mayor Ken Shetter has a health initiative that he put into place in Burleson. When he got the news of a local resident being selected for The CNN Fit Nation Challenge , he and the administration started planning The Be Healthy 5k. Nothing so far has compared to having family, friends and neighbors come together and do something of this magnitude in my honor. More than 100 of my neighbors registered and turned out to participate. The race started only a few blocks from my home. I left home an hour and a half before things were scheduled to get started. When I got to the corner of my block I saw a lawn sign that said “Nothing is impossible with God." That was very encouraging and inspiring. I was the first to arrive at the race location and it was unbelievable. Signs were being put up, cones were marking the course and people were gathering to support me. One of my neighbors and I started some idle talk about running and how long it had been since he ran. I told him this was my first 5k. Just before race time Mayor Shetter called me up to the platform to address everyone that had arrived. The very first thing I did was thank God for this unbelievable moment and then I continued to address my family, friends and neighbors. I expressed my disappointment in having an injury but went on to explain how it in no way was going to preventing me from starting and finishing this 5k. I said, “This was going to be a no excuse day!" After all, it was excuses that allowed my weight to balloon to over 300 pounds. We were there to get started and that was exactly what we were going to do. I talked about how in order the become a Fit Nation we were going to have to start with fit individuals. As those individuals would have to share it with their families, then spread it to communities, churches, employers, our cities, then states, and eventually we would be a Fit Nation. When I stepped down from the platform the neighbor I had been talking to approached me and said “Glenn, you didn’t tell me you were the man!” That was a moment. I was the man. Wow! Do you recall my blog after we went to Atlanta for kick-off of The Fit Nation Challenge? I talked about how as I was attempting to hike Stone Mountain, it seemed an angel came out of no where just when I needed encouraging most.Well on race day the angels were everywhere. First there was Joann, who has been a runner for more than 20 years and who I’m sure would have done extremely well in this race. However every step of the 3.1 miles she was right by my side coaching me and giving me tips and encouraging me. From the starting line to the finish line she was right there. When the race was over Mark, a police officer, introduced himself and invited me to part of a running club that meets every first Saturday of the month, and said everyone in the group would help me. Then there was Frank, the director of the Burleson Recreation Center, that offered all the resources of his center, including swim coaches, to assist me in this endeavor. The movie "Akeelah and The Bee" was about a young lady who was selected to participate in the national spelling bee. When her community found out that she had been selected, they were ecstatic. As she would be walking or riding her bike through her neighborhood, people all along her route would call out spelling words to help her get prepared for the championship. This is exactly how I felt on the day of the 5k. In Atlanta it was a pulled hamstring that slowed me down, and now I think it is a strained tendon. There will always be some obstacle, and I understand that. But whatever this is, and what ever the next thing will be, I am refusing to allow anything to prevent me from achieving my ultimate goal of crossing the finish line with my six teammates in Malibu, California – each of whom I’m able to draw inspiration from. I’ve learned life is full of challenges, obstacles and stumbling blocks, but none of them in my life are going to ever be allowed to stop me. I pray that whatever your life’s challenges, obstacles and stumbling blocks, they won't stop you either. Filed under: 2012 Fit Nation Triathlon Challenge , Diet and Fitness , Glenn Keller Tagged: Glenn Keller – Fit Nation Participant

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from espnW here on FitSugar! By Luke Cyphers Dara Torres once wrote a book called Age Is Just a Number . Nowadays, though, the feel-good story of the 2008 Olympics admits to, well, feeling her age. Torres won two silver medals as a 41-year-old mother and swimmer in Beijing, but she harbors no illusions about repeating the feat four years later. “You have to be realistic,” Torres said. “I am 45 years old. I’m that much closer to being 50, and my body just can’t recover the way it used to.” Her goal was gold in 2008. In 2012? “I don’t feel like I have anything else to prove going into these Olympic Games,” said the 12-time medalist. “It’s not about medals. I have enough.” So why does she put herself through grueling training five days a week in the hopes of making her sixth – and she swears last – U.S. Olympic team? Because, at her best, she’s still one of the fastest sprinters in the world. She placed second in the 50-meter freestyle (25.24 seconds) at the winter nationals. Last month, she swam a solid 25.36 seconds in the prelims of the Indianapolis Grand Prix, but faded to 25.47 in the final to finish sixth. She’ll need to place within the top two at the Olympic trials in Omaha in June to make it to London. Dara Torres says it is harder for her body to recover compared to when she competed in the 2008 Olympics. “If I had to just swim the race once, I don’t think it would even be an issue making the team,” she said. “But I have to swim it three times, and having my body recover for those three races is my issue.” Torres embraces the actuarial challenge of capping an Olympic career 28 years after it began in 1984, even as her world has changed and her body has creaked. Her longtime coach, Michael Lohberg, died of a rare blood disorder in 2011. One of Lohberg’s assistants, Bruno Darzi, now coaches her. Her daughter Tessa is now 6. And her left knee required surgery and more than a year to rehab. Through it all, “I still have a passion for the sport of swimming,” she said. But there’s also a sense of obligation to the public following she has built through her success and frequent television appearances. (The former telecommunications major and frequent morning-show guest announced her comeback on “Live with Regis & Kelly.”) “I have so many people come up to me and say I’m inspiring them to do things that they thought they couldn’t do because they were too old, or that they put off because they couldn’t find a balance in their life to do it,” Torres said. Keep reading for more on Dara Torres’ Olympic past and present.

Some days I feel like my vitamins and supplements are holding my apartment hostage. In a small city space, if I’m not constantly cleaning up, my dresser and medicine cabinet get a little overwhelmed whenever there’s a new addition. While some ladies have their own go-to morning cocktail of nutrients and vitamins women may not be getting enough of and others don’t worry about vitamin deficiencies to the same degree, I’m curious as to what you think. Do you share my sentiment and feel like your vitamin and supplement bottles have taken over your life? Chime in with your comments below. Are Your Cabinets Filled With Vitamins? Yes – they’re packed to capacity. Nope – I don’t take too many vitamins.

Sometimes a healthy life isn’t the easiest to live. It can be so hard to resist temptations in the form of desserts and comfy couches. And although regular exercise is one of the best ways to combat any bad effects from those temptations to prolong your life, it doesn’t always have to be about getting in a strenuous, sweaty, heart-pumping workout. Here are two low-key ways to help you live a long life. Get up and go: The more you sit, the more years you shave off your life, so make a habit of getting up and moving around as much as possible if your job requires you to sit in front of your computer all day. Haven’t moved from your seat in a while? Read our tips for staying active while at work , even if you can’t fit in a workout. Take a jog: You don’t have to always do high-intensity intervals to get the benefits of cardio. In fact, a recent study found that regularly taking a leisurely jog can add up to six years to your life . Just a few moderately paced jogs totaling around one- to two-and-a-half hours per week have been shown to be able to help you live longer, so try an easier walking-jogging routine the next time you’re not exactly in the mood for a sweat session.

For Cinco de Mayo make vegan nachos with cashew sour cream – Healthy Happy Life Lose it and fast! Most effective way to drop 10 pounds – Shape A diet plan to flatten your belly just in time for sporting that bikini – Fitness Work while standing and other ways to add years to your life – Yahoo! Shine Come on get happy! 10 secrets shared by happy women – Prevention Always wanted to make your own yogurt? Here’s how – Vegetarian Times