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It's increasingly clear that bad experiences during childhood are associated with long-lasting health effects, including higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and depression. And childhood abuse in particular has been associated with psychiatric problems and chronic diseases years down the line. But whether that translates to a higher risk of early death for abuse survivors isn't well studied. According to research published Wednesday, there is an association between reports of childhood abuse and premature death, but only in women. And because of the nature of the study, the link isn't definitive. (Hobson, 8/17)

Five years ago in Germany, a bland vegetable caused one of the more devastating outbreaks of food-born illness in recent years. Fifty three people died and nearly 4,000 were hospitalized due to a particularly gnarly strain of E.coli. ... It took officials weeks to 60 days to officially identify the culprit: German grown bean sprouts sold through grocery stores. Scientists at IBM want to drastically cut down on the time it takes to pinpoint the cause of a food-born illness like E.coli, norovirus and salmonella. Its researchers have developed a way to tap into grocery stores' existing scanner data to quickly identify possible foods using big data and machine learning. (Kelly, 8/17)

The Food and Drug Administration put the experimental drug esketamine (also known as ketamine) on the fast track to official approval for use in treating major depression, Janssen Pharmaceutical announced Tuesday. This designated "breakthrough therapy" would offer psychiatrists a new method for treating patients with suicidal tendencies and would qualify as the first new treatment for major depressive disorder in about half a century. In some quarters, though, this potentially effective medicine can't escape its reputation as "Special K," a street drug known for producing a high similar to an out-of-body experience -- and sometimes used as a date rape drug. (Scutti, 8/17)

An unidentified patient in Florida is being treated after being infected with a brain-eating amoeba last week, according to the Florida Department of Health. It is the fourth known case this year of infection by the parasite Naegleria fowleri. ... The parasite is almost always deadly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1962 and 2015 there were 138 known cases of primary amebic meningoencephalitis, the infection caused by the amoeba, and only three of those patients survived. (Goldschmidt, 8/18)

Mindfulness meditation is designed to settle and ground you in the present moment. That's something that Carole Kinder had a difficult time with after her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Then one day, the couple was sitting in the waiting room at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and Kinder saw a flyer about a meditation program for cancer patients and their caregivers. She thought it could be just what she needed after a stress-filled eight months.  (Ochoa, 8/17)

McDonald's is removing Step-It activity trackers from Happy Meals due to concerns over skin irritations, according to a statement sent to CNN on Wednesday. ... The exact number of reports was not specified. Casey Collyar of Arkansas, wrote on Facebook last week that her child was burned by the Happy Meal toy after playing with it for eight minutes. (Chen, 8/17)