(Getty Images)

A California-based program that sends teenagers free condoms in the mail has expanded to San Diego and Fresno counties, which have a combined population of over 4 million. The initiative, the Condom Access Project, is meant to help lower teenage STD and pregnancy rates in the state.

Teenagers in participating areas can enter their name and address into an online form and request up to 10 free condoms per month.

Launched last year, the project is run by the nonprofit California Family Health Council and has sent approximately 30,000 condoms through the mail over the last year, or about 3,000 mailings total. In addition to the mailings, the program designated 65 youth-related organizations to receive free condoms to hand out to adolescents.

According to the California Board of Public Health, San Diego County has the state’s second highest rate of chlamydia for teenagers between the ages o f 15 and 19. Fresno county has the seventh highest number of gonorrhea cases in California for adolescents between 15 and 19. In 2011 there were 0.29 births for every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19 in California.

“We really can’t keep our heads in the sand and pretend like there isn’t a problem,” Amy Moy of the California Family Health Council told ABCNews.com affiliate WAFB-TV.

The program costs approximately $5,000 per county and, in addition to San Diego and Fresno county, operates in select San Francisco districts, Alameda, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Kern counties. Teens can request up to 10 condoms per month through mailings, they also receive educational material in the package.

“We have high STD rates in San Joaquin County, and youth are most affected,” said Dr. Cora Hoover, the assistant health officer in San Joaquin County. “Increased availability of condoms through the Condom Access Project is an important strategy to reduce STDs and unintended pregnancies for youth in our county.”

The program’s expansion was announced a few days before the Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency contraceptive Plan B for over-the-counter use for women over the age of 15.

Jennifer Coburn, director of communications at Planned Parenthood of Pacific Southwest, said that even though there are centers that provide free condoms to teenagers, some adolescents might be wary of using them.

“It’ s a combination of things,” Coburn told ABCNews.com. “I think it’s an embarrassment, but if you haven’t been to a Planned Parenthood it might be a scary prospect to go to a reproductive health center.”

Coburn said a friend of her teenage daughter asked for help getting condoms after being too intimidated to enter a Planned Parenthood center on her own.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2011 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 represented 18 percent of all gonorrhea cases and 26 percent of all chlamydia cases in California.

ABC News’ Lisa Stark and Enjoli Francis report:

Pop an Ambien – or its generic version, zolpidem – and you’re supposed to get a good night’s rest. But according to a new study released today, a growing number of users are ending up in the emergency room because of adverse reactions to the medication.

The study by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that adverse reactions to the sleeping pills – which may include hallucinations, paranoia, confusion and drowsiness – sent nearly 19,500 people to ERs in 2010, a 220 percent increase from 2005.

According to IMS Health, combined prescriptions for zolpidem and Ambien increased from 39 million in 2008 to almost 44 million in 2012.

Credit: JB Reed/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Dr. Bob Rothstein, an emergency physician and vice president of medical affairs at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., said zolpidem is a safe drug.

However, he added, “If it’s used more and more by a lot of people, you’re going to see those side effects. … It’s just a law of averages.”

Forty percent of those who ended up ERs in 2010 had taken the sleeping pill alone. The remaining 60 percent had mixed it with other medications, such as pain relievers and antidepressants, as well as alcohol. All of the combinations can boost the side effects.

In the new study, women users seemed especially vulnerable. They made up two-thirds of the ER visits in 2010. Of those nearly 44 million prescriptions for Ambien and zolpidem in 2012, about 64 percent or more than 29 million were filled for women.

“I think we know that women clear the drug from their system more slowly than men and, in fact, the FDA recently recommended a lower dose for women just recently,” Rothstein said.

In January, the Food and Drug Administration said that the manufacturers of Ambien, Ambien CR, Zolpimist, Edluar and other sleeping medications that contain the active ingredient zolpidem must lower their recommended doses for women.

The decision came after a series of clinical trials and driving simulation studies showed that even after eight hours of sleep, zolpidem levels in women may be high enough to impair alertness in tasks, including driving.

Sanofi, the company that manufactures Ambien, said in a statement today that patients should consult with their health care professionals regarding their specific treatment regimens.

“Sanofi takes all matters of patient safety seriously and we stand behind the substantial body of clinical data demonstrating the safety and efficacy of Ambien and Ambien CR, which were approved by the FDA in December 1992 and September 2005, respectively, amounting to 20 years of real-world use and 23 billion nights of patient therapy worldwide,” the statement said.

Rothstein said zolpidem should not be used for a long period of time.

“You become less sensitive to the drug over time so you will need more and more and you might mix it with other drugs so you’re just putting yourself at risk,” he said.

A New York City elementary school cafeteria is one of the first in the nation to go meatless.

Students at P.S. 244 , the Active Learning Elementary School, are being treated to eclectic fare, including black bean and cheese quesadillas, falafel and tofu in an Asian sesame sauce.

“It’s been a really great response from the kids, but they also understand it’s about what is the healthiest option for them,” principal Bob Groff told ABCNews.com. “Because we teach them throughout our curriculum to make healthy choices, they understand what is happening and believe in what we’re doing too.”

When the school opened in 2008, they started serving vegetarian meals three days a week. The campus became a vegetarian test kitchen for the city, Groff said.

“We then started to try out recipes with small groups of students, see what they liked, see what they didn’t like,” he said.

The recipes were a hit, Groff said, prompting the school to expand its meat-free meals to four days a week and then adopting a 100 percent vegetarian kitchen in January.

“The big thing I would like people to know is, this isn’t just about a vegetarian menu,” Groff said.  ”It’s about living a healthy lifestyle and educating students on what options are out there.”

All meals have to adhere to USDA standards, he said, making sure students get plenty of nutrients, including protein, for their growing bodies.

That means nutrient-dense foods such as chickpeas, kidney beans and tofu.

If the herbivore-friendly grub doesn’t suit students,  Groff said they’re always welcome to pack their lunch, including meat.

The school operates on an application and lottery system, meaning it’s not zoned to a particular neighborhood. It serves 400 students from pre-kindergarten through grade three.

(Image Credit: WABC)

Scott Napper is seen in this undated photo from the University of Saskatchewan. (Credit: University of Saskatchewan)

Scott Napper has a hypothesis: What if his daughters’ tendency to pick their noses and eat the dried nasal mucus —  their boogers — actually had some health benefits?

Napper, who teaches biochemistry at the University of  Saskatchewan in Canada, told the CBC  that he’d wondered whether the “sugary” taste of the dried mucus was meant to signal to the body that consuming pathogens caught in the mucus was a good thing.

RELATED: Allergies for the Super Rich

“I’ve got two beautiful daughters, and they spend an amazing amount of time with their fingers up their nose,” Napper told CBC. ” And without fail, it goes right into their mouth afterwards. Could they just be fulfilling what we’re truly meant to do?”

The hygiene hypothesis has long blamed allergies, asthma and autoimmune disorders on a lack of exposure to certain pathogens early in life. Napper contends that eating boogers exposes people — and their immune systems — to the pathogens inside.

Napper said he uses his  hypothesis to engage his first-year biochemistry students.  He told  the CBC that he’s already been approached by people looking to participate in a study.

But Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, said it’s not likely that eating boogers would offer much additional immune system support, because people already unconsciously swallow nasal mucus.

“It happens naturally all the time, and the cells in your own mucous membranes are exposed to whatever is in the mucus constantly,” he said. “Because it’s part of your own body fluids, you swallow nasal secretions all the time during the day and while you’re asleep.”

One of Niki Kuklenski's therapy llamas gives a patient a kiss at Bellingham Health and Rehabilitation Center in Washington state. (Credit: Jen Osborne for COLORS Magazine)

A kiss from a llama is more like a soft, furry lip bump, but people still seem to like it.

That’s why when Niki Kuklenski brings her therapy llamas, Marisco and Flight, to Camp Korey for children who have serious medical conditions, they set up a kissing booth. Her llamas also kiss patients at nursing homes and hospitals.

“One guy wanted to kiss her but didn’t want his wife to know,” Kuklenski, 42, said. “I always enjoy sharing my animals.”

PHOTOS: See therapy llamas Marisco and Flight in action!

She knows her nearly 300-pound llamas are enjoying the attention when their ears are up and they’re not humming. When they’re humming and their ears are back, it usually means they’re aggravated. Or that they need to go to the bathroom.

“Very few of them in my opinion are cut out for this type of work,” said Kuklenski , who owns 25 llamas in Bellingham, Wash. “It takes a very special llama.”

Lori Gregory agrees. She said her first llama, Rojo, wasn’t fazed by anything. (It’s also his 11^th birthday on April 26.) She takes him to visit with hospice patients and children who have mental and emotional problems.

“He has eyes the size of golf balls,” said Gregory, 57, of Vancouver, Wash. “People just stand there and look into their eyes. It’s pretty wonderful to be able to do that with a large animal that doesn’t ask anything.”

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She said although she can’t detect a change in patients, she often hears nurses marvel at how introverted patients open up and interact with the llamas.

“Every room we went to, they [the staff members] were just freaking out,” Gregory said. “‘Herald hasn’t spoken in a month, and I heard him say ‘cute.” ‘Helen hasn’t sat up in a long time, and she’s trying to move.’”

She said she felt as if  she were watching “miracles.”

Gregory and Kuklenski volunteer their time through MTN Peaks Therapy Llamas and Alpacas and JNK Llama farm, respectively.

Dr. Meera Dalal tests a smartphone app that measures blood pressure at TEDMED. (Image courtesy TEDMED)

By Meera Dalal, M.D.

During our medical training, we’re taught to gather and use information from three sources: a patient history, a physical exam and lab tests. By far the most difficult to master is the physical exam. A good exam requires knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and awareness of normal variations that allow a doctor to recognize abnormalities.

Technology can help, and at TedMed 2013, the SmartPhone Physical exhibit by MedGadget/Nurture showcased some of the latest advances. The goal was to bring complex tests that are pricey to perform with traditional equipment into primary care clinics.

The result: accessible, affordable $200 phone accessories, most of them approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as “equivalency standards,” meaning they’re equal to the industry standard. This technology could improve access to these tests, cut down on referrals, and provide overall better care.

“It’s great for primary care physicians, new doctors with less experience, teaching and even some patients,” said Shiv Gaglani, a medical student at Johns Hopkins and curator of the exhibit. “Some physicians can go through their entire training without really learning to look into an eye.”

But I was skeptical. In medicine, we learn to question everything. If my own mother came to me saying hugs were good for a cold, I would take the hug, then ask to see the evidence. So I decided to try it out. Gaglani would be my “doctor” for this 10-minute exam using the following gadgets:

Blood Pressure Monitor by Withings and Blood Oxygen Monitor by iSp02

We started off, like in all physical exams, by taking the vital signs: blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygenation. The screen buzzed with colorful readings and real-time measurements, and then uploaded my information into an iPad, where I could get it through an app.  It was a start, but I wasn’t that impressed. The technology for “automated vital signs” had been around for a while, and a few years ago I taught my 7-year-old cousin how to use the machine on my grandmother.

ECG Cellphone Case by AliveCor

By squeezing my thumbs onto the metal plates of this iPhone cover, I was able to get a partial ECG that was uploaded and emailed to me. Interesting! One of the problems physicians have is that patients with heart symptoms often improve and the ECG normalizes by the time they see the doctor. This device was simple enough that patients with symptoms could get this cell phone case and be taught how to use it. So the next time symptoms occurred, we could get an ECG from during the cardiac event. One of the women who tried it earlier had palpitations during her exam and was diagnosed with a rhythm abnormality.

iExaminer by Welch Allyn

The eye exam, or “fundoscopy,” is the only way we can look directly at blood vessels inside the body without having to cut anything open. It can tell us a lot about diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of practice, so many of us end up referred to an ophthalmologist. The iExaminer was able to take an impressive visual photo of the inside of my eye and turn it into a .pdf.

SpiroSmart

This smartphone looked at lung function, which usually is tested at a special lab during an uncomfortable exam. Guidelines for chronic lung diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease  suggest these tests should be done regularly, but because it is often inconvenient to make a separate trip, they’re  underused. It would be great if these tests were more accessible.

“Unlike the lab machine, which uses pressure, this device uses sound and has been shown to be almost as accurate,” said SpiroSmart co-creator Mayank Goel. “This opens up so many doors; imagine even being able to do this test over the phone!”

Other devices included ThinkLabs’ ds32A digital stethoscope that records body sounds (like heart murmurs), the MobiUS SP1 handheld ultrasound machine that looked at the carotid arteries in the neck and was surprisingly accurate compared to the full ultrasound machines, and an otoscope that looked at my eardrum and took a picture.

Overall, I was grudgingly impressed. The devices seemed to combine the best parts of human experience and technology, using technology to gather reliable information, especially for those with less experience, and the physician to interpret the results.

Studies looking at “inter-rater reliability,” the concept of how likely is it that different people interpreting the same physical exam sign will get the same diagnosis, show that technology is often better for gathering consistently objective information.

The long lineup at the SmartPhone Physical Booth at TedMed included the surgeon general and Dr. Daniel Kraft, faculty chair of medicine at Singularity University in San Diego, who was impressed by the  potential for improving access to care, whether in remote areas or overseas.

“It can enable primary care anywhere. And even though we need to do more testing to ensure accuracy, the potential is great,” Kraft said.

One of the problems, however, is that each device has to be attached to the phone in a separate way, and data is uploaded to different apps, creating a huge amount of information to sift through.

“Our ability to gather data is overtaking our ability to pare it down and use it to improve our health,” said TedMed editor-in-chief John Benditt.

And it’s true. The creation of complex devices and technology is surpassing our ability to learn it and use it to its full potential before the “next big thing” comes out. What I’d really like to see is an ECG machine and BP machine that combines data with the lung machine and uploads it to the same profile. Arguably, the next big challenge in medicine may not be the creation of new technology but finding a way to integrate existing ones.

Sherry Longbottom, a registered nurse and yoga instructor, has developed fertility yoga.  In her classes she is careful to avoid yoga poses that could strain the body; instead, she favors simple gentle poses that help lessen anxiety.

“Our goal is to get blood flow in the pelvic area,” said Longbottom. “I’m very excited to be helping these women, it’s so rewarding”

While practicing fertility yoga is not exactly as beneficial as in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments or hormone therapy, Longbottom said yoga can help women trying to conceive by helping them take a moment to relax and calm down.

“We live in fight or flight mode,” said Longbottom. “That kind of life goes completely against what we’re trying to look for in creating a fertile environment.”

Many of the women attending Longbottom’s class started after they were recommended by the Reproductive Medicine Group in Tampa, Fla., to help them cope.  She estimates about half of the attendees are receiving some kind of fertility treatment.

“[Yoga] still can’t correct a tubal issue or necessarily correct an egg issue,” Dr. Betsy McCormick of the Reproductive Medicine Group told ABCNews.com affiliate WFTS-TV. “But what they can do is help someone get through that process.”

Dr. James Goldfarb, the director of infertility and in-vitro fertilization at University Hospital Cleveland, said he approves of patients trying safe alternative therapies such as yoga or acupuncture as long as the patient feels better after a session.

“The bottom line I always tell patients is, it certainly can’t hurt,” said Goldfarb. “We’re very encouraging [that they] try whatever they find relief through.”

While fertility treatments such as IVF have helped millions of women conceive, Goldfarb said these women often have a tremendous amount of anxiety at the same time.

“To say someone is going through IVF is going to be stressed is like saying someone is going to hit their thumb with their hammer and it’s going to hurt,” said Goldfarb. “It’s incredibly stressful.”

Longbottom said that the ability of yoga to help with a person’s mental health in addition to their physical health was one reason she wanted to start the fertility yoga class.

“Mind, body and spirit are all tied together; once you address those areas, you’re taking care of your whole body,” said Longbottom.

5-year-old Gus Dorman has already memorized the periodic table of elements. (Photo courtesy of Robert Dorman)

Most parents believe their child is the smartest kid in the class, but when Robert Dorman says this, he’s likely right.

His son, 5-year-old Gus Dorman, with an IQ of 147, became one of the youngest members admitted to Mensa, the exclusive high IQ society.

Now in kindergarten, Gus is already reading such books as “Charlotte’s Web,” while his classmates work on mastering the ABCs.

For fun, Gus memorizes the periodic table and a world map. And sometimes he corrects his father on geography.

“He got into an argument with me because I told him that the capital of Alaska is Anchorage,” said  Dorman. “But it’s not, it’s Juneau.”

Dorman first noticed  Gus’ advanced intelligence when he started to potty train his son at 18-months. Gus started to bring  a newspaper to read on the toilet, and was also reading his father’s copies of “Wired” magazine.

Since Gus was their first child, Dorman and his wife, Kotomi, simply thought this was how all children acted.

“We didn’t realize he was gifted,” said Dorman. “We just thought he was like all kids.”

RELATED: Mensa Offers Free IQ Test, Brain Tips

On  a camping trip with another family, Gus read the slogan off  a fellow camper’s clothing. The family friend was stunned that at age 4  Gus could read, even though her 5-year-old daughter was still learning the alphabet.

“She said, ‘He can read?’ He shouldn’t be able to read,” recalled Dorman of the family friend’s reaction. “I said, ‘He reads all the time. We brought books [on the trip.]‘”

Dorman decided it was time to take  his son to get an IQ test, hoping that he might qualify for an out-of-state gifted program.

Gus scored within the 99^th percentile in nearly all categories of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, which qualified him for  Mensa, whose members  must have an IQ of at least 135; Gus’ IQ was 12  points higher than that.

Despite Gus’ high IQ, his father said his son had problems when he  started school. Gus would get restless when it came to learning  addition or the alphabet. According to Dorman, Gus was already on multiplication and long division.

“He goes to kindergarten, and he likes going to school [but] he gets in trouble,” said Dorman. “He really has a hard time sitting there and listening to low-concept stories, because he’s used to being able to ask questions and do research.”

Dorman has lobbied his school district  to provide special advanced education for his son. But Dorman said it’s unlikely Gus would receive special treatment.

“I know there’s no money for gifted programs in Illinois,” he said.

Dorman hopes that Gus will at least qualify for a school for the gifted that provides supplemental online courses through the eighth grade.

“As parents we’re lost,” said Dorman of Gus’ school options. “I don’t think homeschooling is the way to go. He needs the camaraderie in the social portion of school. The books are one thing, but you have to have the social part too.”

For now Dorman said he’s happy to teach his son what he can about Gus’ newest interests, black holes and astrophysics.

Credit: Getty Images

ABC News’ Paula Faris reports:

If you think those hard to open, child-resistant caps will always keep your children safe from pills, think again.

In the blink of an eye, children can gain access to medication that poses a risk to their health.

Every year, the Poison Control Center receives more than 500,000 phone calls related to children 5 and under gaining access to medications. That is one call every minute, every day.

It happened to Amany Mansour-Awarde. Her son took concentrated Tylenol, which she left on the dresser. The bottle had a child-resistant cap that had not been properly closed.

“He was covered in pink Tylenol,” Mansour-Awarde told ABC News. “I had no idea how much he had taken.”

In 2011, over 67,000 children 4 and under were rushed to the hospital for medicine poisoning. That’s one child every eight minutes, up 30 percent in the last decade, according to Safe Kids Worldwide.

In some cases, children were exposed because parents and caregivers left pills out — on a kitchen or bathroom counter, even on the ground. And sometimes pills are in easy-to-open containers. But in others, kids opened pill bottles that were labeled “child-resistant” and their parents thought were safe.

To determine how easy it could be for children to open child-resistant bottles, ABC News recruited 6 children, ages 3 through 6, which we gathered at the Museum of Motherhood in New York City.

Before the demonstration officially started the youngest child in the group popped open a child-resistant pain prescription bottle in just six seconds.

Though the younger kids could not open the containers, kindergarteners opened every single bottle in a seven-minute period.

“If you give kids enough time with a device, they will be able to figure it out,” Vinya Agbor, a mother in the group, told ABC News.

So why is it so easy?

There’s no such thing as child-proof bottles and child-resistant means that the majority of children under 5 – some 85 percent — cannot open it in under 5 minutes, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Pill boxes – the kind many senior citizens rely on – are also a concern because most are not child-resistant at all.

After six hours of testing in the hospital, Mansour-Awarde was told her son was okay.

“I should have never have, for a moment, left that bottle on the dresser,” Mansour-Awarde said. “Tylenol overdose can lead to liver failure and death.  I was very scared.”

The CPSC acknowledged that some children can get into pill bottles, and tells ABC News that there has to be a balance because seniors’ need to access their medication as well.

The lesson to parents is to keep your medications out of reach, or even better, lock them up. Even children’s vitamins, when taken in excess, can cause damage to the intestines and stomach.

Make sure you have the Poison Control Center’s number programmed into your phone (1-800-222-1222).

Here’s yet another reason for giving up soda: A new study out today suggests that just one 12 ounce serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage can raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 22 percent.

Since most research on the evils of soda has looked at North American populations, researchers at the Imperial College of London wanted to see if they could establish a link between sugary drink consumption and type 2 diabetes in Europeans too.

Drinking just one soda increases the risk of diabetes. Photo credit: Getty Images.

To test their theory, the researchers combed through over 15 years of data on sugar-sweetened beverage consumption that included more than 27,000 people from seven European countries. During that time period more than 40 percent developed type 2 diabetes, with those who said they drank at least one soda or some other sweet drink each day showing an 18 percent higher risk of developing the disease. When factors like body weight and body mass index weren’t controlled for, the risk rose to 22 percent.

This is consistent with findings from U.S. studies that find that soda drinking is associated with a 25 percent increased diabetes risk.

Notably, even diet soda drinkers had to worry about developing diabetes. However, when body weight and exercise levels were factored in, the link disappeared. In other words, healthy-weight, exercising diet soda drinkers were no more likely to develop type two diabetes than non-soda drinkers.

Why is sipping just one small can of soda daily so damaging to health? Sweetened drinks are the largest contributor of empty calories and processed sugar in both the American and European diet according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It’s been pegged as a major contributor to a variety of health issues.

“Aside from sugar, there are nine other potentially dangerous ingredients in soda, including carcinogenic artificial colors and phosphoric acid, which can contribute to everything from obesity to cancer to the depletion of micronutrients essential for strong bones,” noted Jayson Calton, co-author of Rich Food, Poor Food, a book that explains the hidden dangers in food and beverages.

The British study is not without issues. Each country’s study center analyzed their data a little differently which might have introduced errors. It’s also what scientists call an association study, meaning the information is culled from self-reported drinking patterns – a technique that always chances inaccuracies.

However, it does seem to reinforce the clear message that sugary drinks have an unhealthy effect, not only on the waistline, but on overall health.