The rate that an infant's head grows could help indicate whether the child is autistic, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study found that the head circumferences of autistic children were smaller than normal, but the children's heads and brains grew at a rapid rate. By 14 months, heads of autistic children in the study were larger than normal, Staying Healthy's Stacia Matthews reported.

"The children who have more severe signs and symptoms of autism were those ... whose head circumference had grown at the most rapid rate and grew to the greatest size," Eric Coucchesne, an autism researcher, said.

Researchers said the findings could serve as an early warning signal for risk of autism and allow for early intervention, Matthews reported.

Study Links Fat To Breast Cancer

A new study shows a diet loaded with red meat and dairy products -- both high in fat -- may increase a woman's chance for breast cancer by 33 percent before she reaches menopause, Matthews reported.

Researchers don't know why the foods cause the risk to increase, but they say the apparent correlation is one good reason for women to stay active and keep weight within a reasonable range.

Lilly Drug Approved For Bipolar Disorder Treatment

Eli Lilly & Co. on Tuesday said it won regulatory approval for wider use of its top-selling drug, the anti-psychotic Zyprexa, to treat bipolar disorder.

Zyprexa is the first drug approved for use in combination with other mood stabilizers to treat acute bipolar mania, Lilly said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Zyprexa in combination with lithium or Depakote to treat manic episodes of bipolar disorder, a condition characterized by mood swings that often can be controlled only through combination therapies.

Lithium is a generic medicine, and Depakote is produced by North Chicago, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories.

The approval comes as Zyprexa faces increasing competition from newer anti-psychotics, including Bristol-Myers Squibb's Abilify and Pfizer's Geodon.

Zyprexa has been prescribed to more than 12 million people worldwide since its approval in 1996 to treat schizophrenia. Zyprexa's sales of $3.7 billion last year exceeded those of Lilly's previous blockbuster, the anti-depressant Prozac, which lost patent protection in 2001.

In 2000, the FDA approved Zyprexa as a stand-alone therapy for short-term treatment of manic bipolar episodes. It remains the only atypical anti-psychotic -- a class of drugs that began replacing old-line treatments a dozen years ago -- approved to treat bipolar mania.

Even before Tuesday's announcement, doctors have had discretion to prescribe Zyprexa in combination with other drugs for bipolar patients. But with the FDA clearance, the Indianapolis-based drug maker can now promote Zyprexa for that use, Lilly spokeswoman Marni Lemons said.

The FDA decision was based on data from two trials that showed bipolar patients treated with Zyprexa in combination with other therapies responded better than patients treated only with lithium or Depakote.

"It was sort of everyone's intuitive belief that the combination therapy was better, but no one had actually proven it," said Dr. Paul Keck, a psychiatrist at the University of Cincinnati who has consulted for Lilly and other drug companies.

The findings and FDA approval "may lead to greater awareness of the efficacy of combination treatment," Keck said.

Lilly's Lemons declined to comment on whether the FDA's expanded-use approval would boost Zyprexa sales. Lilly shares on Tuesday closed down $1.52, or 2.3 percent, at $65.83 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The FDA also is reviewing whether to expand approval of Zyprexa for long-term maintenance of bipolar patients, rather than limiting it to short-term treatment. The agency also is considering approval of Lilly's Symbax, a combination of Zyprexa and Prozac, for bipolar depression.