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We already know that the night shift may be hazardous to your health. And now, a new study finds that mixing up night shifts with day and evening work hours is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

Researching Lefties: Experts are studying left-handed people for clues to disorders including ADHD, dyslexia and schizophrenia, the WSJ reports. Those problems are more common in lefties for reasons that aren’t known, though some scientists speculate that the 30% of lefties who rely on their right brains (or a mix of the right and left brains) as their language centers may be more at risk.

Painkiller ODs Rise: New data from the CDC show that prescription painkillers now kill more people each year than heroin and cocaine combined, the WSJ reports. Painkiller overdoses killed 14,800 people in the U.S. in 2008, compared to 4,000 in 1999, the report says. The CDC says the pills have become easier to get, including from storefront “pill mills.”

We often eat what’s convenient. So those who live near fast-food restaurants, you’d think, are more likely to be overweight, or to gain weight, than those who live farther away.

But that conventional wisdom — backed by some previous research — isn’t true, says a study that will be published in the Nov. 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Is it true first-year college students are destined to put on the infamous “freshman 15″?

That’s the question the Health Blog posed to Franca Alphin, director of nutrition services at Duke University. She’s been working with students there for more than a decade. Watch the video below to find out why freshmen — and other people experiencing major life transitions  — might be particularly susceptible to weight gain.

Is obesity-drug development the regulatory graveyard that it’s now widely thought to be?

The last year hasn’t been kind to makers of potential obesity treatments. The FDA has rejected one after another. Among those getting the Heisman were Qnexa from Vivus, lorcaserin from Arena and Contrave from Orexigen and Japan’s Takeda.

Under FDA pressure, Abbott last year removed its weight-loss drug Meridia from the market.

Maybe it’s because dinner is only an hour away, but some of the winners of the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s annual Xtreme Eating Awards actually sound pretty good.

Take the Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt, for example. Four fried mozzarella sticks and melted American cheese on sourdough, plus a side of fries, would go down fairly easy right now, especially with a Cold Stone Creamery PB&C (for peanut butter and chocolate) shake as a chaser.