American Morning
Detecting and treating the warning signs of mental illness
On May 25, 2007 31-year-old police officer Jason West was responding to the report of a large fight on Altamont Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. When he arrived at the scene, one of the young men, Timothy Halton Jr., fired multiple shots at West before attempting to shed his clothes and flee the scene.
Timothy Halton Jr., then 29 years old, is now serving a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Jason West that day.
And similar to the story we hearing this week with the case of Jared Loughner and the shooting in Tucson, Arizona...the warning signs were there. Halton had a prior convictions. He was convicted of assaulting a police officer. He had displayed violent behavior in the past, convicted on domestic violence charge. But he was also mentally ill, suffering as a paranoid schizophrenic. If Halton had been accurately diagnosed and comprehensively treated from the beginning, could a tragedy have been prevented?
Jeannette Halton-Tiggs is the mother of Timothy Halton Jr. and Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, is the chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. They talk to Alina Cho.
There 'weren't two sides' to autism-vaccine link debate, author says
Author Seth Mnookin says the medical community has seen alot of precious time wasted that could have been devoted to researching the cause of autism. Instead, he says, the debate about whether autism was linked to childhood vaccines filled the airwaves for years– a debate, Mnookin says, that didn't really have two sides.
CNN's T.J. Holmes spoke with Seth Mnookin this morning. Hear what Mnookin told T.J. he has "no problem saying" to parents.
Chief of neurosurgery: Rep. Giffords is "holding her own"
Editor's Note: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is blogging at CNN.com/Health on what helped Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords survive the shot to the head
The University Medical Center in Tucson is expected to give an updated diagnosis on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head after an attack on Saturday, later this morning.
But on American Morning Kiran Chetry speaks to the chief of neurosurgery at the hospital, Dr. Michael Lemole, for a quick update. Dr. Lemole remains optimistic saying that "no change is good" when it comes to Giffords current state.
The mystery of autism
(CNN) - A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines is an "elaborate fraud," according to a medical journal - a charge the physician behind the study vigorously denies.
The British medical journal BMJ, which published the results of its investigation, concluded Dr. Andrew Wakefield misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study - and that there was "no doubt" Wakefield was responsible. The journalist who wrote the BMJ articles said Thursday he believes Wakefield should face criminal charges.
However, Wakefield said his work has been "grossly distorted." Speaking on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," he said Wednesday he is the target of "a ruthless, pragmatic attempt to crush any attempt to investigate valid vaccine safety concerns."
But what are the implications of this fraudulent study? Why are the number of autism cases still rising? Kiran Chetry talks with Alison Singer, Founder and President of the Autism Science Foundation, and Dr. Bradley Peterson, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center.
Newark mayor Cory Booker using Facebook to lose weight
During 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama invited Newark mayor Cory Booker to be an Honorary Co-Vice Chair of her "Partnership for a Healthier America" as part of her larger national campaign against obesity called Let's Move!. As Booker writes on his Facebook page "he proudly and readily accepted" the position but soon ran into a problem:
"Michelle Obama came to Newark on November 18, 2010 to celebrate our progress and talk about the issue. On that morning, with a national audience soon to be watching our city, I went to my closet and ignominiously found my last suit that actually still fit me well. You see, the stresses of 2010 weakened my resolve to watch my weight, and I had ballooned. I was preaching a good sermon but my practice was pathetic. As I sat with the First Lady exhorting Newark school children to eat healthy foods, exercise more, and have fun while doing it – my stomach was still trying to digest the French fries and cookie dough from the night before, and I hadn’t exercised for more days than I could remember."
So Mayor Booker made a new years resolution...to lose weight. He tells American Morning's T.J. Holmes and Kiran Chetry about his goal weight and how he plans to do it.
Reporter: Autism study motivated by 'money'
(CNN) - A physician accused of an "elaborate fraud" in a now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines is defending himself, telling CNN his work has been "grossly distorted."
Speaking on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," Dr. Andrew Wakefield said Wednesday he has been the target of "a ruthless, pragmatic attempt to crush any attempt to investigate valid vaccine safety concerns."
An investigation published by the British medical journal BMJ concludes Wakefield misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study - and that there was "no doubt" Wakefield was responsible.
The journalist who authored the report for BMJ, Brian Deer, tells Kiran Chetry and TJ Holmes on American Morning that his motivation was purely journalistic while saying that Dr. Wakefield's motivation was "to make money."
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