Mayo Clinic in the News is a weekly highlights summary of major media coverage. If you would like to be added to the weekly distribution list, send a note to Emily Blahnik with this subject line: SUBSCRIBE to Mayo Clinic in the News. Thank you.

Editor, Karl Oestreich;  Assistant Editor: Emily Blahnik

 

CNN
The health condition that concerns Americans most
by Jacqueline Howard

What health condition concerns Americans the most? Cancer -- more so than obesity, neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and even infectious diseases, such as Zika, Ebola and HIV/AIDS. That's just one of many findings about Americans' opinions on health that emerged in the latest Mayo Clinic National Health Checkup survey results, released Tuesday. The idea behind the survey was to simply "listen to our patients," said Dr. John Wald, medical director for public affairs at the Mayo Clinic, who helped conduct the survey. "This survey allows us to extend this same principle beyond the walls of our campuses to assess the current state of the American health consumer and to begin to define gaps and opportunities to better interact and educate these same consumers," he said. "It is only through effective listening that you begin to define the best solutions."

Reach: Cable News Network (CNN) is a worldwide news and information network providing live, continuous coverage of news from around the globe, 24 hours a day. CNN online received more than 55 million unique visitors to its website each month.

Additional coverage: Science Daily, WPTZ Burlington, com, WJXT Jacksonville, AOL News, KTVI-FOX, KOMO-ABC, WPBF-ABC, Twin Cities Business, WNAX-Radio, WBRC-FOX

Context:  While Zika remains a hot topic in the news, a new survey by Mayo Clinic reveals that Americans believe the country’s most significant health care challenge is cancer. In fact, the survey findings report “infectious diseases, such as Zika and Ebola,” are tied with HIV/AIDS as the least important health care challenges listed by respondents following cancer; obesity; neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; diabetes and heart disease. These findings were uncovered as part of the Mayo Clinic National Health Checkup, which first launched in January 2016 and provides a quick pulse on consumer health opinions and behaviors several times throughout the year. More information can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact: Kelly Reller

 

NBC News
New Breast Cancer Test Could Become Lifesaver For Some Women — There's exciting new hope in the fight against breast cancer: a new test performed in addition to mammograms that's showing it can be up to four times better at finding cancer.

Reach: NBC News provides information about breaking news in business, health, entertainment, politics etc… and receives more than 21,547,025 unique visitors each month.

Context: Deborah Rhodes, M.D., is a physician with Mayo Clinic's Breast Diagnostic Clinic. Dr. Rhodes studies the application of a new breast imaging device, molecular breast imaging, to breast cancer screening. The long-term goal of Dr. Rhodes' research is to develop an individualized approach to breast cancer screening that incorporates breast density, age, and other factors that impact breast cancer risk and mammography sensitivity.

Contact: Joe Dangor

 

Wall Street Journal
The Office Walk-and-Talk Really Works
by Rachel Bachman

They don’t require yoga pants or a shower, but the research is clear: Walking meetings count as exercise. “If corporations were to adopt this ubiquitously, you just start to think of those health benefits adding up,” says James Levine, co-director of obesity solutions at the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University. “It’s an amazingly simple thing and it costs nothing.”

Reach: The Wall Street Journal, a US-based newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, has an average circulation of 2.3 million daily which includes print and digital versions.

Context: Having trained in clinical nutrition as a scholar at the University of Cambridge, James A. Levine, M.D., Ph.D., has dedicated his scientific career to promoting health in adults and children through education and innovation. Dr. Levine currently serves as a principal investigator for National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded studies focused on improving health for immigrant families through increased activity and better nutrition, interactions between sleep and obesity, and multilevel approaches to reduce obesity in working mothers and their children.

Contact: Jim McVeigh

 

WTTW-PBS
Head of Mayo Clinic on ‘Epidemic of Burnout’ Among Doctors

It is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control that more than a quarter of a million Americans die each year because of medical errors. Many of those mistakes happen because doctors and other medical staff are often burned out and consequently more prone to error. Dr. John Noseworthy, president and CEO of the Mayo Clinic, joins host Carol Marin in discussion.

Reach: Chicago Tonight airs on WTTW, Chicago's PBS affiliate at 7 pm weekdays. The program reviews the past week's biggest business, political, and social stories and issues in the city of Chicago.

Context: John Noseworthy, M.D. is Mayo Clinic President and CEO. Mayo Clinic has taken a leadership role in identifying solutions to address the physician burnout issue. This research has been led by  Tait Shanaflet, M.D., a Mayo Clinic hematologist. He is the director of the Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine Program on Physician Well-being, a clinical laboratory evaluating personal and organizational factors that contribute to physician satisfaction. His research in this area has involved physicians at all stages of their career from medical school to practice had has include several multi-center and national studies. This research is intended to identify personal and organizational factors that can be modified in order to promote physician well-being and enhance the quality of care physicians deliver. More information on his physician burnout research can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contacts: DuskaAnastasijevic, Joe Dangor

Huffington Post, Want To Keep Medical Costs Down? Hit The Gym by Erin Schumaker — We all know that exercise is good for your health. But did you know that it’s also good for your wallet? A recent study found that adults with cardiovascular disease ― think: coronary artery disease, stroke, heart attack, arrhythmias or peripheral artery disease ― who also exercised regularly spent $2,500 less on health care than their sedentary counterparts. It’s encouraging news on top of what we already know about exercise’s myriad health benefits, including a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as improved mood and help preventing excess weight gain, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Huffington Post, Children Pay A Long-Term Price For Their Parents’ Smoking Habits — “It is a socio-economic and a health care associated disparity issue,” said Dr. Avni Joshi, a pediatrics researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota who wasn’t involved in the statement. “Parents do not understand or are oblivious to the gravity of second and third hand smoke exposure and possible effects,” Joshi added by email. “This may be related to their level of education, access to health care and role modeling in the community.” Additional coverage: West Central Tribune

Huffington Post, 7 Home Remedies Your Doctor Wishes You’d Stop Using by Brittnay Risher — “It’s a good thing that people want to take an active role in their health,” says Philip Hagen, M.D., vice chair of the division of preventive medicine at the Mayo Clinic… “If you feel really horrible, have a fever, or your symptom is the outcome of something traumatic like a car accident, use common sense and go to the doctor,” Hagen says. Same goes if you have a diagnosed condition or disease, such as diabetes or cancer. See your physician before you try anything yourself.

New York Times, Helping Patients Make the Right Decisions by Dhruv Khullar, M.D. —…The Mayo Clinic and other institutions have developed online decision aids, available to all, to help doctors and patients more easily conceptualize the pros and cons of a given treatment. Mayo’s Statin Choice Decision Aid, for example, allows patients to enter personal health characteristics and, through visually engaging charts and graphics, assess their risk of a heart attack. It then prompts them to select various options to see how likely they are to have that heart attack with treatment or without treatment. It also presents information on how the risks and benefits vary by statin dose, how many people need to be treated for one person to benefit, and what the costs are to both your bank account and your daily routine.

Reuters, Second-hand smoke can hurt kids years after exposure by Lisa Rapaport — Poor and non-white kids were disproportionately affected… “It is a socio-economic and a health care associated disparity issue,” said Dr. Avni Joshi, a pediatrics researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota who wasn’t involved in the statement. “Parents do not understand or are oblivious to the gravity of second and third hand smoke exposure and possible effects,” Joshi added by email. “This may be related to their level of education, access to health care and role modeling in the community.” Additional coverage: FOX News

Los Angeles Times, Pneumonia: What does Clinton's affliction say about her health? by Melissa Healy — On Sunday, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s bout with pneumonia put this common, and commonly dangerous, infectious disease in the spotlight. When we posed some questions about pneumonia to physicians who specialize in lung health, primary care and women’s health, some surprising facts came to light…Most people who get pneumonia do just fine,” said Dr. Pritish Tosh, an infectious disease physician and researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who has not examined Clinton and declined to speak specifically about her health. “Usually within a few days, people will start to feel better without any long-term ill effects,” he added.

Nature, The office experiment: Can science build the perfect workspace? by Emily Anthes — In late May, eight employees of Mayo Clinic's medical-records department packed up their belongings, powered down their computers and moved into a brand new office space in the heart of Rochester, Minnesota. There, they made themselves at home — hanging up Walt Disney World calendars, arranging their framed dog photos and settling back into the daily rhythms of office life…These people are the first guinea pigs in the Well Living Lab, an immersive, high-tech facility where Big Brother meets big data. The lab — a collaboration between Mayo Clinic in Rochester and Delos, a design and technology firm based in New York City — was built to host studies on how the indoor environment influences health, well-being and performance, from stress to sleep quality, physical fitness to productivity. Additional coverage: Scientific American

Nature, Alcohol: Fortifying spirits by Jesse Emspak — …The diuretic hypothesis is the simplest: by encouraging urination, alcohol reduces the amount of time that potential carcinogens spend in the kidney. Some researchers have suggested that the connection could be tested by looking at the relative risk of renal-cell carcinoma and fluid intake — drinking lots of any fluid should provide similar protection. But no strong link has been found. Alexander Parker, who studies the molecular epidemiology of kidney cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, adds that if the diuretic hypothesis by itself were correct, there should be some protective effect with other diuretics. There's no evidence of that. “This hypothesis, if true, would also mean the same for the bladder — where fluids hang out much longer than in the kidney,” Parker says. But that is not the case. “We do not see a protective effect of alcohol on bladder cancer,” he says.

STAT, Tough Call For Surgeons: Should They Tell Transplant Patients Their Donor Was An Addict? by Eric Boodman — This dilemma has become surprisingly common for transplant patients, as the nation’s opioid epidemic yields a tragic surge in organ donors. And surgeons themselves face a quandary: How much of the overdose victim’s story should they reveal to desperate transplant candidates?... Dr. Charles Rosen, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., feels required to explain why a donor is at an increased risk of transmitting diseases, but doesn’t feel particularly worried about it. “It’s not a very major issue for me,” he said. “There are far greater risks that we take: If the liver is fatty, if the liver had prior damage from trauma, if the liver is from an older donor …” Additional coverage: Huffington Post

USA Today, Can I lose weight intermittent fasting? by Ashley May — While fasting for 16-hour intervals might sound like a great way to drop pounds, some results of a popular diet trend don’t entirely prove true. Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where people typically eat within an eight-hour window. Then, fast for 16 hours of the day. …Donald D. Hensrud at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine wrote in 2014, regular fasting could help cholesterol, and reduce "risk of gaining weight and developing diabetes."

Reader’ Digest, 8 Silent Signs You Have Uterine Fibroids by Colette House — “The uterine cavity is lined with tissue you shed every month for a normal menstrual period. When that fibroid grows either right next to it or indents the cavity, it likely increases the amount of tissue that you’re going to have to shed,” says Shannon Laughlin-Tommaso, MD, consultant and assistant professor at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Excessive bleeding can be a sign of cancer in women, so it’s important to seek medical attention.

US News & World Report, Should You Quit Smoking or Lose Weight First? by Anna Medaris Miller — Bob Gaudreau used to book cross-country flights with layovers on purpose. He knew he couldn't make it the five-plus hour journey without a cigarette. "When you smoke, it controls your life," says Gaudreau, a 54-year-old vice president of global sales in Harrison, New York…For Gaudreau, an individualized combination of nicotine replacement patches and antidepressant medications – plus intensive counseling and the Mayo Clinic program's tobacco-free environment – were what he needed to quit once and for all.

Minnesota Monthly, Mayo Clinic Hosts Innovation Competition by Mo Perry — As evidenced by Target and General Mills’ recent innovation initiatives, even the largest companies stand to benefit from dabbling in an entrepreneurial mindset and partnering with scrappy startups. Mayo Clinic is the latest Minnesota institution to jump on the innovation bandwagon with its Think Big Challenge. Mayo is inviting entrepreneurs to put their vision, creativity, and commitment to disruptive technology to work solving tough problems in healthcare. Competitors were invited to develop a market strategy for one of several new Mayo Clinic Ventures technologies. The finalists, announced today, include two Minnesotans: Brandon Johnson of Minneapolis and Dale Fasching, who was born and raised in Mound, Minnesota.

Twin Cities Business, Mayo Clinic’s Think Big Challenge Competitors Narrow To Five Finalists by Sam Schaust — Two Minnesotans advanced to the final round of the Mayo Clinic’s Think Big Challenge. Brandon Johnson, a Minneapolis entrepreneur, and Dale Fasching, a pharmacist from Mound, were selected for their strong pitches to bring a Mayo Clinic technology to market. Rochester-based Mayo kicked off the competition in July, as it called for innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses to develop a go-to-market strategy for one of four Mayo med-tech properties. The winner of the Think Big Challenge will score a $50,000 cash prize, along with the opportunity to lead a team at Mayo and license the chosen technology.

HealthDay, COPD Deaths Down for Most Americans: CDC by Alan Mozes — Fewer Americans are dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but not black women and the middle-aged, a new government report shows. Between 2000 and 2014, there was a 12 percent overall drop in deaths from the progressive lung disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…Michelle Mielke is an associate professor and epidemiologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "This report further highlights the need to consider sex as part of individualized medicine," she said. "Indeed, future research should continue to stratify by sex when considering [the] risk of COPD-related mortality."

Star Tribune, Notebook: Mortenson selected for Destination Medical Center's Discovery Square — by Nicole Norfleet M.A. Mortenson Co. has been chosen as the developer for the research campus of Mayo Clinic’s Destination Medical Center, often called the DMC, in downtown Rochester. The six-block subdistrict, to be called Discovery Square, is supposed to “serve as a point where physicians and scientists will come together with businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate advancements in medical research and technology for critical advances in patient care,” according to an announcement. “Discovery Square’s establishment is a critical component of the greater DMC vision, and the collaboration with Mortenson brings Mayo Clinic closer to realizing the positive impact that Discovery Square will make,” said Jeff Bolton, vice president of administration for Mayo Clinic, in a statement.

KIMT, Mayo study analyzes benefits of staying active by Adam Sallet —There are even more reasons to get up and exercise while it’s still nice out. A Mayo Clinic medical journal is highlighting two recent studies. One links being inactive for a week or so with depression or being in a bad mood. The other suggests elderly who exercise at least 150 minutes a week are at a lower risk of getting Alzheimer’s. We talked to a Mayo doctor about these findings and he says even a little activity can do the body good.

Star Tribune, Former Totino-Grace hockey standout Matt Olson returns home 199 days after paralyzing injury by Jason Gonzalez — Matt Olson returned home Wednesday 199 days after the injury that left him paralyzed below his shoulders…Olson underwent surgery and received experimental stem cell therapy in the month after his injury, and in April relocated to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for a spinal cord injury rehabilitation program. The Mayo Clinic explained Olson had broken bones in his neck and the spinal cord was pinched at the C-4 level, leaving him paralyzed below the shoulders, though he has some feeling in his biceps and forearm. Dr. Ronald Reeves, a spinal cord injury specialist at the Mayo Clinic, said Olson has done a very good job making progress and learning to direct his care. Dr. Reeves added that Olson's experience as an athlete and awareness of his body likely provided a strong foundation to do well so quickly.

Becker’s Hospital Review, Mayo Clinic, radio station partner to pipe classical music into patient rooms — Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and Minnesota Public Radio have teamed up to provide patients at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Phoenix and Jacksonville, Fla., with free classical music streaming in their rooms. "Among the various art forms, music is the best studied and the most convincingly demonstrated to provide health benefits to patients," said Paul Scanlon, MD, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Dolores Jean Lavins Center for Humanities in Medicine. "We are delighted to join with MPR to bring high-quality classical music programming to our patients and visitors."

Star Tribune, Mike Sherels: A strong will, through football battles and life-threatening surgeries by Chip Scoggins — Mike Sherels doesn’t remember five days last month. Five days when his life changed. Five days spent in ICU, on a ventilator, near death. The former Gophers football captain and current assistant coach underwent four surgeries in one week as doctors discovered that his intestines were ravaged… He hopes to eat food again someday. Sherels is receiving care at Mayo Clinic in his hometown of Rochester, and he hopes doctors can someday reconnect his stomach to his large intestine. The prospect of advances in intestinal surgery and transplantation “gives me hope,” he said.

GQ, Should You Work Out After Smoking Weed? by Jeff Vrabel — I figured I'd call doctors and athletes, ask this question, listen to them say, "No, what's wrong with you?" and go home. Turns out the answer is far cloudier. "In terms of the science, we just don't know enough about it," says J. Michael Bostwick, a professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic who's written extensively about medical marijuana. "One person's anxiety medicine can make somebody else sluggish. That said, we also don't have enough long-term evidence to say it's not problematic."

Broadly, Why Women Bruise More Easily Than Men by Bethy Squires — A bruise doesn't show up immediately; they usually appear a day or two after the injury. The color of the bruise depends on the depth of the injury. "There's something called the Tindell effect," explains Mayo Clinic dermatologist Dawn Davis, M.D., "where colors can look different depending on what layer of skin they're in. Things look darker the deeper they go in the skin." A bruise that would be brown or reddish near the surface of the skin would look purple or even black if the injury is hypodermal.

KIMT-TV, Why the misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is common by DeeDee Stiepan — According to Mayo Clinic neurologists, common conditions like migraines or fibromyalgia can be misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis or MS. Neurologist Brian Weinshenker, M.D. says he would consider the misdiagnosis of MS to be fairly common. “Once you put the patients on treatment, if they’re doing well, you usually assume that’s because of the treatment but in fact it may have nothing to do with the treatment, it may be that the diagnosis was wrong,” he explains.

Post-Bulletin, City issues $220M in bonds for Mayo Clinic by Jeff Kiger — To raise funds for Mayo Clinic, the City of Rochester is issuing $220 million in tax-free bonds this month. A 216-page preliminary offering memorandum for potential investors was filed Thursday. The bonds are being offered in denominations of $5,000 "and integral multiples thereof. …" Starting on Nov. 15, 2016, interest on the bonds is payable every May 15 and Nov. 15. "This bond issue will be used to pay off existing bonds and gives Mayo Clinic an opportunity to restructure part of our debt. We are extending certain bond maturities, locking in low, fixed rates and reducing our overall interest rate risk," stated Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Susan Barber Lindquist. "No new proceeds will be generated and no capital projects are connected to this bond issue."

Post-Bulletin, Report: Minnesota has nation's top health care by Brett Boese, — A new study released this week says Minnesota has the best health care in the United States. While it isn't specifically mentioned in the report, Minnesota likely benefited from the presence of Rochester-based Mayo Clinic, which recently returned to the top spot in U.S. News & World Report's annual hospital rankings. "Mayo Clinic is just one part of the health care landscape in Minnesota, but we are proud to be top ranked for quality by more well-known national assessment organizations than any other academic medical center in the nation," Mayo Clinic said via statement.

Post-Bulletin, Mayo insurance to cover intensive autism therapy by Heather J. Carlson — Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Susan Barber Lindquist confirmed in a statement that Mayo's health insurance for employees will begin covering intensive behavioral intervention for autism. That includes a type of one-on-one therapy known as Applied Behavior Analysis. "Mayo Clinic recognizes the medical challenges faced by parents of autistic children. We're now including intensive behavioral interventions, including applied behavioral analysis, to treat autism spectrum disorder within the employee benefits package," Lindquist said. The coverage will take effect Jan. 1. It affects all Mayo employees in Minnesota, as well as those in Arizona and Florida.

Post-Bulletin, Answer Man: Who pays the bill if Mayo One flight is cancelled? — I'm wondering why it seems that Mayo One appears at a lot of accidents or incidents that don't seem to merit its response. Does law enforcement still have to request it? Who pays for the flight when it's not needed?.... These are interesting questions and I took them to Glenn Lyden, the public affairs maestro for Mayo Clinic Medical Transport. First responders and law enforcement personnel make the call for a Mayo chopper, with an assist from a program called Autolaunch, "which is based on certain injury, medical and crash information and guidelines." Mayo provides training on "when it's advisable to call for Mayo One," he said by email. Early activation is "critical to outcomes … for those patients who need Mayo One care, it is having a significant impact on morbidity and mortality."

Post-Bulletin, Answer Man: Need a logo for Rochester? Here's an old one — Dear Answer Man, I'm a Harvard man, and as I walked down Second Street Southwest the other night playing Pokemon, I noticed that the Mayo Medical School student center has the Harvard logo carved into the stone. Can I assume that the Mayo brothers had some connection to Harvard? No, the Mayo brothers weren't Harvard men, and I highly doubt they would have played Pokemon as they wandered down Second Street, or Zumbro Street, as it was known in their day. They may have received honorary degrees from Harvard at some point, but that would have nothing to do with the Mayo Medical School building, which is the former Rochester Public Library building.

Post-Bulletin, Heard on the Street: Mayo Clinic spends $10.2 million to buy Rochester buildings — Mayo Clinic started September off with some real estate shopping. On Sept. 1, Mayo Clinic purchased the 4111 West Frontage Road building, which houses its Mayo Family Clinic Northwest, for $10 million. Olmsted County estimated the market value of the building at $7.57 million for 2016. Mayo Clinic bought it from New York Life Insurance Co., which has leased the space in the 41st Street Professional Campus to Mayo for years. Rochester's Hamilton Real Estate Inc. was involved in the deal.

Finance & Commerce, Mayo Clinic buys former IBM campus in Rochester by Matt M. Johnson — The Mayo Clinic has bought a big block of office space it plans to use to free up room at its St. Marys and downtown campuses in Rochester. Mayo paid $10 million in cash for the 41st Street Professional Campus at 3033 41st St. NW, 4111 W. Frontage Road and 3055 41st St. NW, according to a certificate of real estate value made public on Monday. The deal closed Sept. 1. The institution acquires 435,000 square feet of office space across three buildings on a 19.6-acre campus, which is about 5 miles northwest of Mayo’s St. Marys and downtown campuses. The buildings were once occupied by IBM, but have since been leased to other users, including Mayo. The 41st Street campus is a few hundred yards north of IBM’s main Rochester campus. Additional coverage: Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Post-Bulletin

Volume One, Flu season is coming, so it’s time to get the shot by Renee Bonjour — Everyone has the opportunity to protect babies by getting vaccinated themselves. Cocooning is an easy and effective way that people can work together to prevent the spread of influenza to babies. “This year, the CDC is recommending that everyone get the shot and not the influenza nasal spray,” said Dr. Teri Stevenson, a pediatrician with Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire. “The efficacy of that version of the vaccine was shown to be very minimal last year. The influenza shot is your family’s most effective tool for protection from the flu.”

LaCrosse Tribune, Gundersen, Mayo-Franciscan pledge $30,000 each for Farm2School by Mike TIghe —The two health systems in La Crosse are setting aside any competitive inclinations to help cultivate the Coulee Region Farm2School Program as a perennial part of efforts to promote healthy eating. The partnership among Farm2School, Gundersen Health System and Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare — in which each health system will kick in $30,000 during the next three years — will be announced at a press conference at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Holmen High School.

PsychCentral, Stress & Unhealthy Habits Can Afflict Health Care Workers Too by Janice Wood — A new study by Mayo Clinic researchers has found that stress and burnout are major problems faced by medical industry employees and can lead to unhealthy behaviors. “It’s important to teach individuals to monitor their stress levels over time and practice effective, ongoing stress-reduction strategies, such as getting involved in wellness programs. This will, in turn, help health care employees live a happy and healthy life,” said Matthew Clark, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a resiliency expert at the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. Additional coverage: DOTmed.com, Medical Xpress

LaCrosse Tribune, Ginger: A small but powerful root by Jennifer Kanikula — Ginger. It may be small, but it’s fierce — both in its pungent taste and its ability to provide health benefits. The use of ginger goes back hundreds of years when it served as a digestive aid and remedy for nausea. This still is a common use for ginger today, hence the reason why many of your moms probably gave you ginger ale when you had an upset stomach….Jennifer Kanikula is a registered dietitian at Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare.

Erie News Now, Jvion Selected as Finalist for Mayo Clinic Think Big Challenge — The Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation and Mayo Clinic Ventures today announced that Jvion of Johns Creek, GA has been selected as one of five finalists for the Mayo Clinic Think Big Challenge, a national competition for innovators and entrepreneurs to earn the opportunity to license Mayo Clinic technology, lead a team, and score a $50,000 cash prize. Jvion has chosen to present a market strategy for the Mayo Clinic technology, Bedside Patient Rescue, a bedside patient monitoring system that uses machine learning technology and is scalable to any sized hospital. The system calculates a risk score for hospitalized patients and provides both prompt alerts in cases when a hospitalized patient’s health is deteriorating as well as a framework for building a care escalation plan.

Superior Telegram, Lanterns to Heaven event honors organ donors — Life changed for the Grams family in the year since Aria Rose, 2, received a new heart. Although the regular treks to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., are now farther apart, they've pulled up the carpets in their South Range home and stocked it with Aria in mind…As they waited for a heart at the Mayo Clinic, they grew close to other families in the same situation. Some of those children were lost waiting for transplants that never came. "People don't know how needed it is," Grams said. Tuesday marks Aria's one-year anniversary with the new heart. To honor Aubrey and other donor families, the Grams will host a "Lanterns to Heaven" event 7:30-8:15 p.m. at the Barker's Island pavilion.

Health Imaging, RLI Summit: Radiologist, brand thyself by Dave Pearson — Amy Kotsenas, MD, of Mayo Clinic described in a panel discussion how her efforts at personal branding paid off in, for one thing, her being selected to receive the 2016 Women in Neuroradiology Leadership Award. “I happen to be passionate about radiologists coming out of our dark rooms and talking to our patients. I put that on social media, I’m invited to write blog posts, and that’s become part of my brand,” Kotsenas said. This was not the first year she applied for the award, she added, stressing that social media has come to play a key role in her approach to networking as well as branding. Kotsenas related how several colleagues took to Twitter to encourage her to again apply for the award. Plus she got a personal note from the influential radiologist Geraldine McGinty, MD, who offered to write a letter of recommendation.

WEAU Eau Claire, Mayo Clinic Health System awards $250,000 grant for Confluence Arts Center by Andrew Fefer — Mayo Clinic Health System of northwest Wisconsin has awarded the Eau Claire Community Foundation a $250,000 grant for the Confluence Arts Center in downtown Eau Claire. “The Confluence Arts Center highlights the value placed on the arts in the Chippewa Valley,” said Randall Linton, M.D., president & CEO of Mayo Clinic Health System of northwest Wisconsin. “Mayo Clinic Health System is proud to play a role in making this performing arts center a reality. It will be a destination landmark for years to come and will also help attract and retain highly skilled healthcare workers in the Eau Claire area. We look at this as an investment in both our community and our employees.” Additional coverage: Volume One

eCancer, ERß expression predicts breast cancer risk in hyperplasia — Dr Tina Hieken - Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, speaks with ecancertv at EACR 2016 about the significance of a potential biomarker for breast cancer in hyperplasia patients. She describes how the subpopulation of patients, those ith atypical hyperplasia of the breast and high levels of ERß, can act on this information with further breast cancer treatment, and the choice faced in risk reduction.

WEAU Eau Claire, Pneumonia: common sickness in area emergency rooms by Abigail Hantke — Doctors with Mayo Clinic Health System say they see pneumonia quite frequently in our area, diagnosing patients several times a week. Often times, symptoms are similar to a common cold or allergies, leaving you short of breath or with a cough. And if not treated or treated correctly, pneumonia can reoccur. “The elderly are certainly more at risk and if they have all these conditions, pneumonia can be very serious and it can be life-threatening,” said Sue Cullinan, M.D., with Mayo Clinic Health System. “For the average young person, antibiotics usually take care of it and it isn’t a life-threatening condition.”

WKBT-TV, Area hospitals team up with 'Farm2School' program — The Coulee Region Farm2School program announced Monday it's teaming up with Gundersen and Mayo Clinic Health Systems. The program helps kids improve their eating habits by getting them excited about growing and eating their own vegetables. As part of the partnership, the hospitals will help support the program, while also bringing more locally-grown food to their cafeterias. "I think Mayo really sees the value in our coming together and really providing the resources and the expertise to take Farm 2 School forward into the future," said Mayo Clinic Health System's Teri Wildt.

Morning Ticker, The shocking truth about suicide by Dan Taylor — J. Michael Bostwick, a psychiatrist with mayo Clinic and the lead author of the study, which was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, said he sought to “address the shortcomings” of prior studies. This study examined those not only who survived their first lifetime suicide attempt, but also those who ended up dead on their first try…“We hoped to address the shortcomings of earlier studies by including two groups previously overlooked by other studies,” says J. Michael Bostwick, M.D., a psychiatrist on Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus and the lead author of the study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Healthcare IT News, Secrets to engagement: Start with the patient and work backward by Tom Sullivan — A major challenge of patient and physician engagement, of course, is that healthcare providers do not have a lot of evidence about what specifically works and what does not, added Nilay Shah, MD, Associate Professor of Health Services Research at the Mayo Clinic. "These tools can seem simple but it’s a process between patients and clinicians," Shah said.

HIT Consultant, Mayo Clinic, iSpecimen Collaborate on Cancer/Normal Serum Biobank by Jasmine Pennic — Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine has selected iSpecimen, a customized human biospecimen collections company to serve as the exclusive channel partner for the Mayo Clinic Cancer/Normal Serum Biobank, connecting biomedical researchers with the samples and associated data for their studies… “As is the case with many biorepositories, intensive resources have been put into creating a variety of sample collections along with state-of-the-art facilities,” said Stephen Thibodeau, Ph.D., the David F. and Margaret T. Grohne Director, Biorepositories Program, Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine in a statement. Additional coverage: BioSpace, Health Data Management

Treehugger, Turn off the TV to save your health by Katherine Martinko — The American Medical Association has also stated that the risk of heart disease increases by 15 percent for every two hours spent watching TV daily. It "is similar to what you see with high cholesterol or blood pressure or smoking,” says Mayo Clinic cardiologist Stephen Kopecky. One study compared adults who watched two hours of TV daily versus four hours, and found that those watching longer had about “a 125 percent increased risk of events associated with cardiovascular disease, such as chest pain (angina) or heart attack.”

Big Think, The Science behind Artificial Sweeteners and Natural Sugars by Arpan Bhattacharyya —The New York Times revealed his week that the sugar industry, when checks on conflicts of interest within the science community were much weaker, systematically shifted the national conversation on dietary health harms away from sugar toward fat…Mayo Clinic organizes over 20 sweeteners into four distinct categories: artificial sweeteners (e.g., aspartame), sugar alcohols (e.g., sorbitol), novel sweeteners (e.g., stevia), and natural sweeteners (e.g., molasses). Every group contains many members under many names, each of which merits its own analysis.

HIT Consultant, Carolinas Hospital Joins Mayo Clinic Care Network: 5 Things to Know by Fred Pennic — On Wednesday, Carolinas Hospital System and Mayo Clinic announced that Carolinas Hospital System has joined the Mayo Clinic Care Network of independent health care providers committed to working together to benefit patients and their families. Here are five things to know about the collaboration…Additional coverage: WBTW Myrtle Beach, SCNow

Florida Times-Union, Stroke does strike young people, Jacksonville woman had one at 27 by Beth Reese Cavey — Bethany Fonseca had a stroke in October 2014. She was just 27. “I was completely shocked, but it made me look back on the warning signs I had before, the warning signs I just shoved off as if nothing was wrong,” she said…David Miller, Stroke Center director at the Mayo Clinic, said increasing numbers of stroke victims are young people. The risk factors most at play for them, he said, are smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and birth control. Being overweight and having a sedentary lifestyle can also contribute, he said. Any one of those factors can lead to stroke, he said, and eliminating any one of them can decrease the risk. “It’s never too late to significantly decrease your chances. The affects are often pretty immediate,” Miller said.

CBC News, New study questions Type 2 diabetes treatment by Kelly Crowe — "Does controlling your sugars reduce the risk of complications?" Dr. Victor Montori, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., asked in a paper released this month in the journal Circulation. "Most experts say yes. The evidence appears to say 'not so fast.'" "We have taken for granted or assumed that the evidence was very clear that if you control you blood sugars tightly, you will prevent diabetes complications," Montori said. "The answer is less clear than expected and, as a result, it would suggest that our thinking about it may have been flawed."

Heavy Duty Trucking, ATRI, Mayo Clinic to Examine Impact of DOT Medical Examiner Registry — The American Transportation Research Institute and Mayo Clinic launched a set of surveys to gather carrier and driver input on the impact that the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners has had on the driver medical exam process since it went into effect in 2014…"We can help shape and improve the medical examination process if we can better understand how motor carriers, truck drivers and medical examiners address the changes resulting from the NRCME process," said Clayton T. Cowl, MD, MS and principal investigator for Mayo Clinic.

KEYC Mankato, Popular FluMist Vaccine Found Ineffective by Sara Knox — Health officials at the Mayo Clinic and across the country are readying themselves to give only shots this season, as new reports are saying that the easy–to–use nasal spray flu vaccine, FluMist, just doesn't do the trick. Recent studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that during that last couple years the painless alternative to the seasonal needle prick does not help protect against certain strains of influenza… "We're well prepared with the vaccine, and ready to give it to as many people as possible." says Mayo Clinic Health System Nurse Practitioner Sara Beske. "It doesn't appear there will be any type a shortage, and we're aware of the CDC recommendation not to use the FluMist, so they have plenty of the vaccine on hand."

MobiHealthNews, Patient engagement tip: Start with the patient and work backward by Tom Sullivan — A major challenge of patient and physician engagement, of course, is that healthcare providers do not have a lot of evidence about what specifically works and what does not, added Nilay Shah, MD, Associate Professor of Health Services Research at the Mayo Clinic. "These tools can seem simple but it’s a process between patients and clinicians," Shah said.

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