Daily Rounds: Don't Bogart The Joint, Mom; Obesity Genes ID'd; Persistent Racial Disparities In Breast Cancer; Seeking Natural Immunity

Marijuana, Once Divisive, Brings Some Families Closer - NYTimes.com "Bryan...began making [his parents] brownies and ginger snaps laced with the drug...At their age, his mother said, they were not concerned about it leading to harder drugs, which had been one of their worries with Bryan. 'We have concerns about the law, but I would not go back to not taking the cookie and going through what I went through,' she said, adding that her dizzy spells and nausea had receded. 'Of course, if they catch me, I’ll have to quit taking it.'” (The New York Times)

Health News: Gene Sites Linked to Obesity Found - WSJ.com "An international research consortium says it has identified 18 new gene sites linked to obesity and 13 others associated with how fat is distributed in the body, advances that shed new light on the complex biology underlying one of the world's most pressing public-health problems. The findings are based on studies involving nearly 250,000 people, making the effort the largest so far to unravel the genetic basis of common human traits, researchers said. They were published online Sunday in two papers by the journal Nature Genetics." (Wall Street Journal)

Insurance, income don't explain racial gaps in breast cancer care - White Coat Notes (Boston.com)

Lifelong Immunity? With Vaccines, It Depends (npr.org) "The moms at the get-together wonder if it would be easier on babies' brand-new immune systems to spread those shots out. And they wonder if vaccines for diseases like chicken pox, which usually causes mild illness, are really necessary. 'I think natural immunity for non-serious illnesses like chicken pox may be better than getting the vaccines,' says Katie Combs, mother of 6 1/2-month-old Charlotte.'"