Health roundup: Women who quit smoking live decade more

Your Monday morning health roundup:

Smoking and women: Women who smoke nearly triple their risk of premature death, but women who quit the habit by age 40 eliminate most of that excess risk -- a difference that amounts to about an extra decade of life, a large new study shows. Quitting even earlier is better and quitting later still helps. Bottom line: It's always a good time to stop smoking. (TIME)

Pharmacy crackdown: Massachusetts officials are cracking down on compounding pharmacies -- operations that mix their own medicines -- as a result of an outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to one such operation. In the latest development, the state closed down Infusion Resource in Waltham after an inspection found unsanitary conditions. No illnesses have been linked to that pharmacy. (NBC News)

Flu vaccine benefits: A flu vaccine prevents flu but may also prevent some heart attacks, new research suggests. One reason is that the flu may trigger heart attacks in some vulnerable people. (HealthDay)

Today's talker: One Texas mom has managed to feed hundreds, if not thousands, of premature babies -- by donating a record 86.8 gallons of breast milk to a milk bank, says Guinness World Records. Alicia Richmond pumped and donated the milk between June 2011 and March of this year, while also feeding her son. She said she got the idea when she ran out of room in her freezer. (New York Daily News)