Health roundup: Early flu season is in full swing

Your Monday morning health roundup:

Flu report: The flu is now widespread in 29 states and increasing in most regions of the country, confirming that the season is off to an early start, say officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors are seeing high levels of flu-like illness in 12 states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. It's still not too late to get a flu vaccine, health officials say. (HealthDay)

Pot and pain: Pot doesn't do much to reduce pain but does seem to make some people care less about it, say doctors who looked at MRI scans to see how the active ingredient in marijuana affected brain activity. They saw a reduced emotional reaction to pain in some people but not others. (BBC News)

Med school express: Does it take too long to become a doctor? Some medical schools say the traditional four-year plan may be discouraging some students, so they are offering pilot three-year programs. They say they won't skip anything important. (New York Times)

Today's talker: You might want to do Santa a favor tonight and replace a few of those cookies with celery sticks. It seems that Santa is putting on weight. Companies that make Santa suits say they are making them bigger and bigger -- and getting fewer requests for padding, ABC News reports. Apparently, super-sized meals have made it to the North Pole or at least to all of the malls and parties where Santa hangs out in the weeks before Christmas.