Health Headlines: Here Come the Marijuana Recipes

Pregnancy tests can detect testicular cancer. That’s right. It started as a joke when a man decided to pee on the stick and see what happens, but he was shocked when it came back positive. After posting the results on Reddit, users told him to check for testicular cancer. Turns out, they were right. Pregnancy tests work by determining levels of beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in urine. Oncologist Dr. Mark Pomerantz told ABC that just a few things in the body produce beta hCG, and testicular cancer is one of them. This man owes Reddit his life. [ABC News]

Massachusetts pharmacy board director has been fired for ignoring a complaint that the company linked to the deadly meningitis outbreak was shipping drugs in bulk, which is a violation of state license. The Colorado pharmacy board complained about the New England Compounding Center in July, before the third of three batches of tainted steroids linked to the outbreak was shipped. No action was taken and as of Wednesday, November 7th (the last time the CDC updated it’s numbers), 424 people have been diagnosed with fungal meningitis in 19 states, resulting in 31 deaths. [USA Today]

Colon cancer survivors who eat a lot of sugar and carbs have a higher risk of cancer recurrence and death from the disease, according to a new study by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. High insulin levels increased risk, especially in overweight and obese patients. [Harvard Gazette]

Dracut baby becomes Internet sensation after open heart surgery. The three-month-old baby boy named Joey was born with a heart defect had open heart surgery at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Five days later, his month snapped a picture of the grinning boy and the memes and Internet famed followed. The Huffington Post and radio stations as far as London have all reported on the story. [CBS Boston]

Now that medical marijuana was approved by Massachusetts voters, the onslaught of marijuana recipes are infiltrating our state, since smoking it is not good for the lungs. WBUR is asking readers (from the 17 states where it is already legal) to submit marijuana recipes, preferably staying away from your typical pot brownie. Be creative! We’ve already seen recipes like marijuana ice cream, garlic bread, and lasagna. [WBUR]