I've never been pregnant, yet drinking during pregnancy is an issue that I'm very familiar with. My son's biological mother drank while she was pregnant with him. As a result, my son has Fetal Alcohol Effect. While he doesn't have the craniofacial features that are typical of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, he has many of the behavioral and cognitive impairments associated with the spectrum disorder. For example, though he is 11-years-old, my son's ability to comprehend cause and effect is about the level of a 2-year-old's.

So suffice it to say that I'm glad to see this study stating that even a few glasses of wine in early pregnancy can cause some fetal cell death. The researchers studied the effects of alcohol on fetal development in mice. Evidence shows that a few glasses of wine over an hour can have lasting effects on fetal development.

If you're pregnant, or there's any chance you might be pregnant, don't drink. It's just not worth it. One fun night might turn into permanent impairment that your child has to manage and live with for their rest of his or her life.

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Sometimes, my kids tell me their legs hurt. Once, Joey even claimed he couldn't walk. He sat still all day and I carried him to the playroom, the bathroom, his bed. A trip to the pediatrician turned up nothing but the old standby: Growing pains. He must be growing, the doc told us. A day later, Joey was back to his usual antics.

When kids begin reaching adolescence, we'd be wise to not dismiss leg pain -- because it could be restless leg syndrome (RLS), a neurological condition affecting about 2 percent of children. Signs of RLS include leg discomfort that interferes with sleep but improves with movement and a tingling or itchy bug-crawling feeling. Since RLS can be genetic, tell your doctor if anyone in your family has the condition.

Better sleep habits and minimizing TV and computer time before bed can help milder RLS cases. But if these strategies don't work, be sure to see a pediatric sleep specialist, a developmental pediatrician, or a pediatric neurologist who can help you chart a course toward pain-free legs.

For more information about children and RLS, visit rls.org.

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Irritable bowel syndrome can be a pain to live with (literally). Scientists already know that switching off that pain in the brain is harder for people with IBS. And dieting for these symptoms can be a tricky element to deal with as well. Researchers are slowly starting to learn more about IBS and what causes it. For example, they have recently made a connection to irritable bowel syndrome and allergies.

Seasonal allergic rhinitis upped the likelihood of having IBS by nearly three times. Patients with allergic eczema (like skin inflammations) were almost four times as likely to have the syndrome. Interestingly enough, depression also factored in with 2.56 times the likelihood of having it, which contradicts an earlier study that discredits depression as indicating a higher risk for IBS.

Now these are correlations, not direct causes. They still don't know exactly why these symptoms crop up in certain individuals, but they can pinpoint connections among them to help identify risk factors. Hopefully more research will address specific causes in the future.

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More good news about dark chocolate, this time for those suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

It seems dark chocolate, which contains a high cocoa content and no milk, can alleviate CFS symptoms like no other chocolate can. And this makes it a tried and true prescription for patients of this condition who are urged to consume moderate amounts of the dark stuff.

Researchers believe it's the polyphenols found in large quantities in dark chocolate that do the trick because they affect levels of serotonin in the brain. The chocolate doesn't seem to affect weight gain, though. Participants didn't put on any pounds during dark chocolate pilot studies.

I don't know about you but for those plagued by profound fatigue, this seems like one great recipe for relief!

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Ouch! I have shin splints. It's a common running-related injury with the official name medial tibial stress syndrome. This highly medical term really just refers to pain along the shinbone (tibia), the long bone in the front of the lower leg. The pain is caused by an overload on bones and tissues. The bad news is that the discomfort I feel when I run is slowing me down. The good news is that my problem can be alleviated.

Rest is one treatment plan. I don't mean giving up on exercise altogether, but switching to a low-impact program is certainly wise. I could try swimming, biking, walking, and weight training, for example, while my legs heal. I can ice the affected area for 15 to 20-minute intervals, four times per day, for several days. I can elevate my shins above my heart, take an over-the-counter pain reliever, make sure my shoes fit my foot, my stride, and my sport, look into arch supports to disperse stress on my shinbones, strengthen the area with exercises such as toe raises, and then gradually resume running. I can also broaden my running horizons -- which I plan to do starting this week.

A free series is being offered here in town to prep area runners for a local marathon in February. I don't have any big plans to run 26.2 miles anytime soon, but there's no doubt I can learn a thing or two about proper running. So I'm headed to the first seminar on Tuesday. The topic: Core Strengthening, Form Running, and Dynamic Flexibility. I'll be back to report on what I learn. In the meantime, tell me what you do about shin splints. Any words of wisdom about how you prevent or treat this irritating injury?

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Menstrual toxic shock syndrome is fatal for women everywhere, although the death rates from it are low compared to other conditions. But, with TSS, it may be easily preventable in many cases if a new kind of tampon makes its way to market.

On the new tampon design, a fiber layer called glycerol monolaurate (GML) was found to reduce the production of a toxin that directly leads to most cases of TSS. GML is already used in many food products.

In recent research, the new fiber coating not only did away with toxin production, but promoted vaginal health, as it created an environment in the vaginal area where there is a balance of protective bacteria.

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If you feel tired and worn down all the time, resting doesn't help, and exercise of any kind -- even just thinking too hard -- actually makes things worse, then you may be in with thousands of other Americans who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome -- or CFS. The cause of CFS is not completely understood, and as of now there is no cure. But with treatment can you recover from it?

A recent study looked at whether Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was effective in helping people heal from CFS, and although the results were mixed the overall result seems to be that reducing symptoms is very possible and some can even fully recover. That's encouraging!

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Toxic shock syndrome is a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection that has been most often associated with the use of super absorbent tampons and occasionally with the use of contraceptive sponges. While the infection often occurs in menstruating women, it can also affect men, children and post menopausal women. Other risk factors for toxic shock syndrome include skin wounds and surgery. Signs and symptoms of toxic shock syndrome develop suddenly, and the disease can be fatal.

Can your child develop Toxic Shock Syndrome? Yes they can. A related infection, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, or STSS, is caused by streptococcus bacteria. Most often STSS appears after streptococcus bacteria have invaded areas of injured skin, such as cuts and scrapes, surgical wounds, and even chickenpox blisters.

Sign of Toxic Shock Syndrome are signs of shock, cold hands and feet, a pulse that is fast and weak, confusion or other mental changes, their skin is pale and moist, shortness of breath or abnormally fast breathing, a fever, a rash that looks like sunburn, nausea and vomiting and watery diarrhea, decreased urination, and confusion or other mental changes.

Call your child's doctor or get them to an emergency quickly if they have these symptoms because the sooner they get attention the quicker they recover. Men can develop this infection also. Keeping your child's hands washed is a good way to fight the bacteria that can cause and spread this illness.

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