Girls Starving, Superbowl Health Hazard

Medical headlines for Tuesday, February 2.

Text of Dr. Sapna Parikh's report:

GIRLS STARVING THEMSELVES: Nine out of 10 teenage girls say they feel pressure by the fashion and media industries to be skinny. That's according to this new online survey by the Girl Scouts Research Institute. It polled about 1,000 girls between the ages of 13 and 17. Seventy-five percent of them say they are more likely to buy clothes they see on real size models. One in 3 girls said they have starved themselves or refused to eat in an effort to lose weight.

NICOTINE PATCH USAGE TIME: For smokers who are trying to kick the habit, wearing your nicotine patch for longer may help. It's recommended to wear it for two months, but a new study from the University of Pennsylvania found that smokers who wore the nicotine patch for six months were twice as likely to quit. However, after a year there was no difference between how many people had completely quit. The researchers say that multiple treatments and long term therapy options are needed.

SUPER BOWL HEALTH HAZARDS: For some people watching the super bowl this weekend could be hazardous to your health. Several studies have linked important sporting events with heart attacks. One report looked at German fans during the 2006 World Cup. The number of cardiac emergencies went up on days the German team played. Another study last year looked back at the people of Los Angeles when their teams were in the Super Bowl. In 1980 when the Rams lost, deaths from heart attacks went up, but in 1984 when the raiders won, death rates went down.