Top 10 health stories of 2010

From a new fitness craze to mapping cancer  to fighting heroin, here are the top health-related stories of 2010.

10. DROPPING LBS: Some determined Long Islanders lost a whole lot of weight in 2010. See how they did it, and how you can follow in their steps in 2011.

9. TOP DOCTORS: Long Island's top doctors gave advice on a wide range of major health problems.

8. ZUMBA: Carol Rodriguez’s Zumba students clapped their hands and kicked their feet off the Plainview Middle School gym floor to the beat of African drums. Rodriguez, who was once seriously ill, has been teaching the popular fitness-oriented dance style for a year and a half.

7. TESTING ON MONKEYS AT BNL: Brookhaven National Laboratory stirred up backlash from doctors and animals rights groups when it planned to do a series of radiation experiments on squirrel monkeys at the lab.

6. SEX STUDY: Researchers published the most comprehensive national study on sex in nearly 20 years. Vaginal intercourse remained the most common sex act, although respondents reported more than 40 unique combinations of behaviors during their most recent sexual experience.

5. DEPRESSION: Even as fewer Americans have sought psychotherapy for their depression, antidepressant prescription rates have continued to climb in recent years.

4. SCHOOL DRUG CENTER: Faced with growing numbers of students in need of help for drug and alcohol addictions, the William Floyd school district announced a plan to house a substance abuse treatment clinic at its high school -- the only such treatment facility in the state. The outpatient clinic would represent the most dramatic step a Long Island school district has taken since a recent surge in teenage opiate abuse.

3. CANCER MAP: It is now possible for New Yorkers, using an interactive map, to find out how many cancer cases and what the state labels as "environmental facilities" are in their neighborhood. The map -- which may be the first of its kind -- lists the number of cases of the 23 most common cancers within a census block, the smallest area measured by the U.S. Census.

2. HEROIN ON LI: From teenagers to adults of all ages, a spate of heroin-related arrests, deaths and incidents kept the issue center stage on Long Island. 

1. BULLYING: Being bullied has become a way of life for some students on Long Island. Old-fashioned bullies haven’t gone away. They’re still in the schoolyard, the bus, the locker room. And now they’re also on the Internet. Bullying comes in many forms: taunting, criticizing, physically intimidating, shoving, name-calling in person or online.