April 28, 2017

Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights

By Karl Oestreich

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.

Editor, Karl Oestreich;  Assistant Editor: Emily Blahnik

 

Star Tribune
How to survive a 250-day flight to Mars? Mayo tests an answer
by Jeremy Olson

Considering that astronauts on a mission to Mars will face more than 250 days of confinement, stress and boredom, an extra bag of peanuts isn’t likely to cut it. So Mayo Clinic has been asked to study whether medically induced hypothermia might help them endure the medical and logistical rigors of a journey that NASA hopes to launch less than two decades from now.Star Tribune newspaper logo Anxiety, depression and personal conflict are just a few of the risks that would face astronauts who remained fully conscious in a cramped craft for a journey of that duration.But cooling them into a hibernation-like state could make the trip passable, said Dr. Matthew Kumar, an anesthesiologist with Mayo’s Aeromedical Unit. And it would simplify and shrink the design of their spacecraft.

Reach: The Star Tribune Sunday circulation is 518,745 copies and weekday circulation is 300,277. The Star Tribune is the state’s largest newspaper and ranks 16th nationally in circulation.

Context: Matthew Kumar, M.D. is a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist.  Research in the Aerospace Medicine & Vestibular Research Laboratory primarily focuses on investigating problems that emanate from human exposure to the high and extreme altitude, acceleration, and spatial disorientation environment. This team studies the ability to influence and enhance spatial orientation by use of galvanic vestibular stimulation. This work also encompasses the mitigation of motion and simulator sickness, making it of broader relevance in flight simulation.

Contact: Susan Barber Lindquist

 

CBS News
States with the highest child vaccine rates
by Mary Brophy Marcus

The MMR vaccine, given as a two-dose series, protects against measles, mumps and rubella and could reduce those numbers, said Dr. Gregory Poland, who studies the immunogenetics of vaccine response in adults and children, and heads up the CBS News logoVaccine Research Group at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota….There are generally two types of people who don’t vaccinate their children or themselves, the Mayo Clinic’s Poland told CBS News.“On one end of the spectrum, you have some people who are ignorant of vaccine recommendations. They just may not know or may not have access to care. At the other end of the spectrum, you have people who should have access and have health care and education but reject vaccines,” Poland said.

Reach: CBSNEWS.com is part of CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation. The CBS web properties have more than 250 million people visit its properties each month.

Context: Gregory Poland, M.D. is a Mayo Clinic infectious disease expert. Dr. Poland and his team within the Vaccine Research Group aim to improve the health of individuals across the world by pursuing challenges posed by infectious diseases and bioterrorism through clinical, laboratory and epidemiologic vaccine research.

Contact: Bob Nellis

 

Phoenix Business Journal
Mayo Clinic to study blood test to detect breast cancer early
by Angela Gonzales

Mayo Clinic in Arizona has begun a clinical trial to develop blood tests for early-stage breast cancer. Mayo campuses in Minnesota, Florida and Wisconsin will join Sutter Health sites in California to enroll upwards of 120,000 women who will give blood samples when they get their mammograms. Mayo and Sutter are working with Menlo Park, California-based Grail Inc. to test Grail's blood tests.

Reach: The Phoenix Business Journal is published by American City Business Journals which owns more than 40 other local business newspapers.

Additional coverage:
US News & World Report, Star Tribune, KTTC, Post-Bulletin, Austin Herald, MedCity News, WSAW WausauWXOW La Crosse, WEAU Eau Claire, La Crosse Tribune, Idaho StatesmanGenome WebMedPage Today

Related coverage:
La Crosse Tribune, New Mayo-Franciscan screening method expected to escalate breast cancer detection; WIZM News Talk, WXOW La Crosse, WKBT La Crosse

Context: GRAIL, Inc., a life sciences company whose mission is to detect cancer early when it can be cured, announced that it has commenced its second multi-center clinical study, the STRIVE Study, to facilitate the development of GRAIL’s blood tests for early-stage cancer detection. STRIVE is a longitudinal, prospective, observational study that will enroll up to 120,000 women at the time of their screening mammogram to train and validate a blood test to detect breast cancer. Additionally, the study will be used to develop a pan-cancer test to detect multiple cancers at early stages. The STRIVE Study is a prospective, multicenter, observational study of 120,000 women undergoing screening mammography. The purpose of the STRIVE Study is to train and validate a test for detection of breast cancer. The cohort will also be utilized to train and develop a pan-cancer test. The STRIVE Study will include medical centers throughout the Sutter Health system that serves Northern California, and Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic locations include Rochester, Minnesota; Jacksonville, Florida; and Phoenix, Arizona; as well as the Mayo Clinic Health System Franciscan Healthcare locations in La Crosse and Onalaska, Wisconsin. More information can be found in GRAIL's news release.

Contacts: Susan Buckles, Rick Thiesse

 

HuffPost
Why You Should Always Ask For A Second Opinion
by Ann Brenoff

Two years ago, when actress-singer Rita Wilson was 58, she underwent a double mastectomy and had this to say about it: Huff Post LogoGetting a second opinion saved her life. Wilson was right to insist on a second opinion, according to a Mayo Clinic study released this month…Knowing that more than 1 out of every 5 referral patients may be completely [and] incorrectly diagnosed is troubling,” Dr. James Naessens, the study lead and a health care policy researcher at Mayo Clinic, said in a statement. “Not only because of the safety risks for these patients prior to correct diagnosis, but also because of the patients we assume are not being referred at all.”

Reach: Huff Post attracts over 38.7 million monthly unique viewers.

Additional coverage: HealthlineHospiMedica

Previous coverage in April 7, 2017 Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights

Context: Many patients come to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion or diagnosis confirmation before treatment for a complex condition. In a new study, Mayo Clinic reports that as many as 88 percent of those patients go home with a new or refined diagnosis – changing their care plan and potentially their lives.  Conversely, only 12 percent receive confirmation that the original diagnosis was complete and correct. These findings were published online recently  in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. The research team was led by James Naessens, Sc.D., a health care policy researcher at Mayo Clinic. More information can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact:  Elizabeth Zimmerman Young

New York Times, Could Be the Thyroid; Could Be Ennui. Either Way, the Drug Isn’t Helping. by Paula Span — With 121 million prescriptions annually, levothyroxine outpaced statins, blood pressure meds — and everything else. A Johns Hopkins survey published last year found that more than 15 percent of older Americans were taking it. So you’d think these study results would come as shocking news: The European team reported that in older people with mild hypothyroidism, the drug had no significant effect on symptoms. At all. Instead, the results bolstered what a number of geriatricians and endocrinologists have suspected for years. “It’s a strong signal that this is an overused medication,” said Dr. Juan Brito, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic. “Some people really need this medicine, but not the vast majority of people who are taking it.” Additional coverage: Star Tribune

CNN, What that energy drink can do to your body by Jacqueline Howard — Most energy drinks typically contain large amounts of caffeine; added sugars; vitamins, such as B vitamins; and legal stimulants, such as guarana, a plant that grows in the Amazon; taurine, an amino acid that's naturally found in meat and fish; and L-carnitine, a substance in our bodies that helps turn fat into energy. "Overall, the concern is that these vitamins, amino acids and herbals are often in higher concentrations than naturally in food or plants, and the effects when combined especially with caffeine may be enhanced," said Katherine Zeratsky, a clinical dietitian at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Additional coverage: San Francisco Chronicle, News4Jax

Reader’s Digest, 10 Mistakes New Parents Make That Could Put a Baby’s Life in Danger by Jen Babakhan — According to the Mayo Clinic, around six months a baby is developmentally ready to learn how to move food from the front of the mouth to the back and swallow. This is also the time when an infant develops stomach enzymes that facilitate the digestion of solid foods, which are only produced in low levels prior to four to six months.

Reader’s Digest, Here’s Why Millennials Need to Worry About Autoimmune Diseases—Like Right Now by Tina Donvito — Lupus is difficult to diagnose: There are many autoimmune diseases, but here are a few you should know about. This disease causes inflammation in many different parts of the body, including the joints, skin, kidneys, brain, blood vessels, heart, and lungs. The Lupus Foundation of America says 16,000 new cases are reported each year in the U.S., with 1.5 million Americans living with lupus. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms can mimic other diseases and all symptoms aren't always present, making lupus hard to diagnose.

HuffPost, Blood Pressure, Estrogen And Menopause — Over the past 10 years, my colleagues and I have shown that the ability of the fight or flight (sympathetic) part of the nervous system to tighten up or constrict the blood vessels of young women is reduced, compared to men. However, at menopause, the fight or flight system comes roaring back and is able to cause marked constriction in the blood vessels of middle-aged and older women. These simple observations, made in the volunteers we study in our lab at Mayo Clinic, explain a lot…Michael J. Joyner, M.D., is the Caywood Professor of Anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic where he was named Distinguished Investigator in 2010. His research focuses on exercise physiology, human performance, blood pressure regulation, metabolism, and transfusion practices.

CBS Pittsburgh, Clinical Study Exploring Use Of ‘Avatars’ For Cancer Treatment — Dr. John Weroha is overseeing a clinical trial for recurring ovarian cancer treatment at the Mayo Clinic. “As a clinician, I have no reliable way to predict which chemotherapy is going to work. They’re really crowding each other out right here,” Dr. Weroha said. His study could put an end to the guesswork using the patient’s own cancer cells and placing it in a so-called avatar. “We’re essentially creating another version of the patient’s tumor, just in a different location,” Dr. Weroha said. “In this case, it’s going to be a mouse.” Researchers carefully monitor the avatar’s tumor growth over four months. Once the patient’s tumor is present in the avatar, researchers then test which drugs shrink the cancer.

Men’s Health, This Experimental Prostate Cancer Treatment Is Shrinking Tumors by Julie Stewart — …Even if it works, Dr. Denmeade's bipolar androgen therapy won't necessarily be a cure-all for prostate cancer."The disease is a whole bunch of different cells," says Eugene Kwon, M.D., a professor of immunology and urology at the Mayo Clinic. Some are sensitive to chemo, some to radiation, and some to hormone therapy. "The cell manipulations they're exploring are a slice of the pie when you talk about the spectrum of prostate cancer," he says.

Healthcare IT News, Epic adds Mayo Clinic educational health info to patient-facing apps by Mike Miliard — Epic will embed authoritative health information from Mayo Clinic in its MyChart and MyChart Bedside portals, aiming to give patients the opportunity to put their healthcare into context. Mayo Clinic medical experts routinely review and update the evidence-based content – articles, videos, slideshows, Q&As and more – with new material, provided in English and Spanish, which is added weekly. "Making Mayo Clinic's world-class health knowledge available within MyChart and MyChart Bedside can help patients understand and better manage their health and well-being," Epic President Carl Dvorak said in a statement. Additional coverage: American Nursing Informatics Association

Business Review, Top 10 American employers by Nell Walker — Mayo Clinic: Started in 1889 in Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic is a national non-profit research group that spends over $660 million a year on vital medical research. The healthcare giant employs over 4,500 doctors and scientists, plus 57,100 health staff – staff who are clearly very happy in their jobs. US News & World Report named the Mayo Clinic the number one hospital in America, and it has ranked highly on Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 13 years straight.

Quartz, For years, we’ve been told fat clogs our arteries. Now, scientists say that’s all wrong. by Katherine Ellen Foley — On April 12, a team led by researchers from the US National Institutes of Health, the Mayo Clinic, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill published previously unreported data from the early 1970s. According to STAT, Mayo Clinic researchers tracked down stowed-away punch cards and magnetic tape that contained the results from a study that ran from 1968 to 1973. The study followed the diets of 9,750 men and women aged 20 to 97 living in either mental health hospitals or a nursing home in Minnesota. Patients—who subsisted entirely on food provided by the facilities—were randomly assigned to eat meals with fats from traditional animal sources, like butter or margarine, or meals where these fats had been replaced with things like vegetable or olive oil.

MedPage Today, Daytime Sleepiness, Brain Pathology: A 2-Way Street? by John Gever — Older individuals with normal cognition reporting excessive daytime sleepiness showed relatively greater increases in beta-amyloid plaque burdens in their brains, according to a new analysis from the longitudinal Mayo Clinic Study of Aging reported here. Among 283 study participants undergoing serial brain scans with the beta-amyloid tracer Pittsburgh Compound B, the fastest rates of amyloid accumulation were seen in those who indicated frequent daytime sleepiness, said Diego Carvalho, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., speaking at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) annual meeting. Additional coverage: Neurology Advisor

ALS Research Forum, Scientists target engagement in future C9orf72 ALS clinical trials by Michelle Pflumm — An emerging biomarker may facilitate testing of potential therapies for C9orf72 ALS according to a new study led by Mayo Clinic’s Leonard Petrucelli in Florida. The study found that C9orf72 ALS patient-derived neurons pre-treated with antisense oligonucleotides targeting C9orf72 repeat expansions (C9orf72 ASOs) exhibited a dose-dependent decrease of polyGP. What’s more, the researchers saw a similar dose-dependent decrease in this C9orf72-associated dipeptide repeat protein in CSF which correlated with a drop in C9orf72 expanded repeat RNAs in the brain of a C9orf72 ASO-treated mouse model of the disease. Together, the results suggest that polyGP may help researchers evaluate potential treatment strategies for C9orf72 ALS in the clinic by monitoring target engagement.

Yahoo! Finance, MRI Interventions Announces Joint Development Agreement With Mayo Clinic for Development of MRI-Guided Stroke Therapies — MRI Interventions, Inc. (MRIC) today announced it has signed a joint development agreement with Mayo Clinic to design, develop and commercialize MRI-guided, minimally invasive therapies for stroke. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, and the leading cause of permanent disability among Americans.  The initial focus of the collaboration is the development and commercialization of a novel, MRI-guided product for the treatment of intra cerebral hemorrhage (“ICH”).

Good Houskeeping, This Teen Was Hours From Death After Getting Toxic Shock Syndrome by Carolin Piard — According the Mayo Clinic, Toxic Shock Syndrome is a rare, life-threatening complication caused by bacterial infections, The condition is most commonly associated with using superabsorbent tampons, or wearing tampons for an extended period of time. To reduce your risk, the Mayo Clinic advises using the lowest-absorbency possible and changing tampons at least every four to eight hours. Using pads and liners when your flow is light can also help.

HealthCareBusiness, Mayo research shows surgery adds years for kidney cancer patients — Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that surgery could more than double life expectancy for many patients with late-stage kidney cancer, giving them anywhere from two to almost 10 years more than they'd have without the surgery. A paper, published recently in The Journal of Urology, found a "clinically meaningful difference in survival" between renal cell carcinoma patients who had surgery to completely remove secondary tumor growths, called metastases, compared to those who didn't. "The research found patients who had surgery to remove metastases were about half as likely to have died from their metastatic disease at every point in time after diagnosis," says Bradley Leibovich, M.D., a Mayo Clinic urologist and the paper's senior author.

HealthCareBusiness, Mayo Clinic and MRI Interventions partner to develop guided stroke treatments by Lauren Dubinsky — Mayo Clinic and MRI Interventions announced on Thursday, a partnership to design, develop and commercialize MR-guided, minimally-invasive therapies for stroke patients, with an initial focus on intracerebral hemorrhage. The initial MR-guided product will build on MRI Interventions’ ClearPoint Neuro Navigation System. The company believes that the system’s intra-procedural visualization capabilities would create a “powerful foundation for minimally-invasive therapies to treat ICH.”

Healio, ACC/AHA/HRS guideline provides recommendations for diagnosis, prognosis for syncope — Syncope affects up to 41% of the population, and recurrent syncope occurs in 13.5% of patients, according to the guidelines. In addition, women have a higher prevalence of syncope, and older patients face a higher risk for hospitalization and death caused by syncope. “The purpose of this ACC/AHA/HRS guideline is to provide contemporary, accessible and succinct guidance on the management of adult and pediatric patients with suspected syncope,” Win-Kuang Shen, MD, professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix and chair of the writing committee, and colleagues wrote.

Tech Times, Electric Brain Stimulation May Help Boost Memory In Dementia Patients by Anu Pessary — To conduct the study, the researchers collected data of 150 patients in collaboration with 20 other scientists hailing from institutions such as Mayo Clinic, Emory University, University of California, and more. "Using recordings from neurosurgical epilepsy patients with intracranially implanted electrodes, we trained multivariate classifiers to discriminate spectral activity during learning that predicted remembering from forgetting, then decoded neural activity in later sessions in which we applied stimulation during learning," noted the researchers.

Medical Xpress, Telestroke guidelines from American Telemedicine Association in Telemedicine and e-Health — Bart Demaerschalk, MD, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ, and a team of authors contributed to the article entitled "American Telemedicine Association: Telestroke Guidelines." The guidelines describe the network of audio-visual communication technologies and computer systems available to link an expert stroke team with a stroke physician at a distant site and the clinicians caring for a remote stroke patient, and to deliver telestroke clinical services. Rapid diagnosis and treatment with a clot-disrupting drug in appropriate patients following ischemic stroke can improve outcomes. The timing of treatment delivery is a critical factor in ischemic stroke.

Twin Cities Business, Regenerative Medicine Minnesota Biobusiness Award Winners Named by Don Jacobson — As scientific techniques are refined and regenerative medicine develops into a potentially major industry, Minnesota has a head start thanks to the expertise of the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota. Representatives of those two institutions sit on the board of Regenerative Medicine Minnesota (RMM), which was established by the Minnesota Legislature three years ago…

Finance & Commerce, Colliers to market Rochester’s Discovery Square development by Clare Kennedy — Colliers International has been tapped to spearhead leasing at the Discovery Square development, an innovation center that will be built by M.A. Mortenson Co. in Rochester. The development will be a Mayo Clinic-anchored complex designed to accommodate biological and life sciences research companies. In September 2016, Mayo chose Golden Valley-based Mortenson to be master developer of the project.

Minnesota Department of Health, Officials announce Minnesota’s CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award recipient — Jennifer Brickley, a registered nurse from Rochester, Minn., has been named Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Childhood Immunization Champion for her outstanding efforts to promote childhood immunization in Minnesota. Caring for children in the intensive care unit suffering from vaccine-preventable diseases has fueled her passion for improving immunization practices within Mayo Clinic Health system and her surrounding community…“Jennifer's drive and leadership have led to improvements in our vaccination rates as well as the reduction of errors,” said Dr. Robert M. Jacobson, a pediatrician at Mayo Clinic. “She is an inspiration to everyone she works with and is a true immunization champion.”

KSTP , Fighting Back: Former Players Battle NHL — The National Hockey League has refused to ban fighting despite private fears by its executives that a player may die as a result of a fight on the ice, according to documents contained in a federal lawsuit filed in St. Paul against the league… "The swiftest way to get (fighting) out of hockey is to make it a game ejection for anybody who drops their gloves," Dr. Michael Stuart, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Rochester said in a March interview. Stuart provides second medical opinions to NHL players, and his three sons have played in the league. In 2013, he helped organize Mayo's Ice Hockey Summit, which concluded that fighting should be banned at all levels of the game. "There is no doubt in our mind that fighting increases the risk of concussion — therefore should be eliminated from the sport," Stuart said. Additional coverage: KAAL

Post-Bulletin, How many more are ready to ride? By Randy Petersen — Stuart Geltman, senior transit planner with Aecom, the consultant hired to develop the city's latest five-year transit plan, said overcrowding is likely to continue. "As Mayo Clinic continues to grow — and associated downtown employers grow — the demand for park-and-ride systems are going to continue to grow," he said…To some extent, Mayo Clinic already encourages the use of parking alternatives that by limiting options for employees and providing bus passes for those who use the city's park-and-ride services. With two and a half years as a clinic employee, Bjugan said she's not sure what her options would be, and she said downtown parking privileges aren't provided until people are deep in their careers.

KTTC, Mayo Clinic partners with Gold Cross to build a multi-million dollar ambulance facility by Ala Errebhi — Mayo Clinic is making a big investment in Albert Lea, saying that the $2 million facility will be the new home for ambulance operations. The new facility is the result of a study of the rising number of requests for paramedic care and needs for the community. Gold cross says this is the most costly building they will invest in, but it is an investment in patient care -- one that it is worth it. The facility is designed to be energy efficient and is not expected to cause any traffic or noise issues. Gold Cross said the new facility will be closer to the hospital and more centrally located. Additional coverage: Albert Lea Tribune

KIMT, DNA uses strawberries to show importance of genes by Adam Sallet — They are considered the building blocks of life and on Tuesday a Mayo Clinic doctor showcased how much DNA is in living things. "Dr. DNA" and his two assistants, his sons, showed how you can take DNA out from strawberries to celebrate DNA Day. Right now, DNA is in the spotlight with places like Mayo Clinic using precision medicine, which uses DNA to see what treatment would best for you. You can try and get DNA out of strawberries at home. The following are instructions.

KAAL, Little Girl Living Life to the Fullest Thanks to Ultimate Donation from Stranger — You don't expect to have to handle the stress of a disease, a stroke and an organ transplant all in one lifetime, but one girl has experienced all of these things, by the age of 12. BilliJo Bowman was diagnosed with Henoch Schonlein Purpura when she was 7-years-old. It's a disease that causes inflammation of the blood vessels…After a visit to Mayo Clinic a year ago, BilliJo was on the transplant list by May 12, 2016. Less than a year later, a doctor called with some life-changing news. "And when mom answered, he said, 'How fast can you get here?'" BilliJo said.

KROC Rochester, Latest Mayo Clinic Project to Be Unveiled Thursday by Kim David — Details about a new Mayo Clinic building are scheduled to be released to the public for the first time Thursday. Mayo plans to begin work this year on the first building located in its Discovery Square district, which is part of the DMC initiative. A presentation of the project will be given Thursday to the DMC Corporation Board. The first building is expected to be located on the south side of 4th St SW, between 2nd and 3rd avenues.

Florida Times-Union, Training camp promotes healthy habits by Ann Friedman — The American Heart Association, Mayo Clinic and Jacksonville Farmers Market are teaming up to host the third annual Healthy Family Training Camp Saturday… Dr. Amy Pollak, a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, said staff physicians, nurses and members of the administration will be on hand at the event to answer questions and provide health screenings. “We’re passionate about improving the cardiovascular health of those in our community and this event is a great way to talk about the ways we can improve the health of our children as they grow,” she said. “It’s also important as adults to take steps to decrease heart attack and stroke risks, so there’s a little something for everyone at this event.”

Jacksonville Journal Carrier, Editorial: Anti-vaccine trend is risky gamble for all — The debate continues, despite the findings of several well-respected and non-political medical groups, such as the Cochrane Collaboration, which determined “we could assess no significant association between MMR immunization and the following conditions: autism, asthma, leukemia, hay fever, Type 1 diabetes, gait disturbance, Crohn’s disease, demyelinating diseases, or bacterial or viral infections.” The Mayo Clinic was more straightforward: “Vaccines do not cause autism. Despite much controversy on the topic, researchers haven’t found a connection between autism and childhood vaccines. … Although signs of autism may appear at about the same time children receive certain vaccines … this is simply a coincidence.”

AZ Family, Other options to consider when told to get hysterectomy — Dr. Grace Knuttinen, an interventional radiologist with the Mayo Clinic joins us with her patient to talk about the most innovative procedures to combat excessive gynecological bleeding.

AZ Bio, ASU faculty chosen for prestigious Mayo Clinic summer residency —The six-week program is designed to facilitate long-term collaborations between faculty members and research teams at Mayo Clinic and ASU. This includes fellows involved in science, engineering, biomedical informatics, economics, information systems and biomechanics. Fellows will spend time working as part of a Mayo Clinic team at Mayo Clinic sites in Rochester, Minnesota; Jacksonville, Florida; or Arizona. “The Alliance Fellows represent a diverse array of research expertise,” said Mark Searle, executive vice president and ASU university provost. “By representing multiple disciplines across the university in combination with Mayo Clinic, we will develop innovative new ways to improve health and more effectively treat patients.”

Albuquerque Journal, Mayo Clinic News Network: Become and organ donor and be a lifesaver for up to eight people — “Organ donation is a generous and worthwhile decision that can be a lifesaving gift to multiple people,” says Dr. Burcin Taner, chair of the Department of Transplantation at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus. “Thanks to the availability of donated organs, along with regular blood donations that replenish the blood supply so critical to the transplant process, many people will live who might not otherwise have hope.”

Mankato Free Press, Report: Blue Earth County’s chlamydia rate soars by Brian Arola — Echoing an upward state trend, sexually-transmitted disease rates in Blue Earth County rose considerably in 2016, according to an annual report from the Minnesota Department of Health…Lauren Havens, nurse practitioner in the family medicine department at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato Northridge, said barriers in access to care, including funding cuts to health care programs, are among the contributors to the rising STD rates. To overcome access issues, she said the medical community needs to continue its education efforts. One way to do this is to recommend screenings on regular visits, as many who have an STD might be hesitant and embarrassed to come in and receive treatment.

Mankato Free Press, Community gardens sprouting up throughout area by Eddie Schmierbach — Dr. Heather Wells tends to the garden she started at Mayo Clinic Health System – Mankato-Eastridge Clinic during Community Gardening Day.

WKBT La Crosse, Mayo hosting electronic recycling collection for Earth Day by Troy Neumann — Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse will offer a free electronics waste and cell phone recycling site this Saturday. Anyone can bring in old electronics they are trying to get rid of.Mayo officials say it's a good chance to dig through old and broken electronics. "We want all your waste. I've been picking up from different sites all week and I know I've found stuff that's probably been buried for at least 10 years with the amount of dust and debris on things,” said Mayo Clinic Health System Director of Environmental Services Dave Bagniewski.

WKBT La Crosse, Mayo runs successful electronic waste drive by Matt Clark — In honor of Earth Day, the Mayo Clinic is accepting old electronics for recycling. Employees with the hospital spent the day collecting old computers, TVs and other electronics as part of its electronic waste drive. All of the waste collected Saturday will be delivered to Dynamic Recycling where it will be broken down and recycled.

WEAU Eau Claire, National Volunteer Week — Jennifer Loew, director of Volunteer Services, volunteers Beth De Rosier and Eugene Gagnon, and Eugene’s dog, Bernie, joined WEAU 13 News Today anchor Judy Clark to talk about volunteer opportunities. Additional coverage: Part 2

WEAU Eau Claire, Students learn consequences of drinking and driving by Ruth Wendlandt — Students at Fall Creek participated in a mock car crash. Organizers say students play the parts of an intoxicated driver and a critically hurt prom date. Mayo Clinic Health System is partnering with schools and local organizations to show students a trauma scene and the consequences of driving drunk. School leaders said the scene of the crash stirs up many emotions with students.

Austin Herald, Servant hearts; Volunteers keep giving to clinic auxiliary by Mike Stoll — Ken and Joanne Jensen sat at the information desk at the main entrance of Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin, answering visitor questions and providing assistance where they could. They volunteer every other Monday and Friday and are two of 70 volunteers who are part of the Mayo Clinic Health System Auxiliary…“It gives you a warm feeling knowing that you’ve helped people,” Ken said. “It’s just a service that we feel we’re doing to the community, in particularly to the hospital.”

Construction Dive, Trinity Health picks contractor to replace Mortenson on $275M ND hospital complex by Kim Slowey — …Perhaps the most ambitious medical project with which Mortenson is involved is the Mayo Clinic's 20-year, $6 billion Destination Medical Center in Rochester, MN. Mortenson is developing Discovery Square, one of the center's six sub-districts. When complete, it will provide Mayo and private companies with space for research. The complex will also make room for firms engaging in product development, those needing commercial space and an urban bioresearch campus.

BioWorld, Early diagnosis good, but good targets better in Alzheimer's by Anette Breindl — At the presidential plenary session of the 2017 annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Ronald Petersen freely admitted that "I'm biased." But Petersen, a faculty member and practicing neurologist at the Mayo Clinic, was hardly voicing an isolated opinion when he called Alzheimer's disease (AD) "the disease of our profession," one whose importance is rapidly increasing as the population ages. Though the topic of Petersen's talk was "How early can we diagnose Alzheimer's disease?" a good part of the talk focused on how to diagnose AD more accurately.

Hollywood Reporter, Tragedy, Suicide and New York's "King of the Red Carpet" by Chris Gardner — Six months after the death of media fixture Jeffrey Slonim, family and friends like Lena Dunham and Julianne Moore reveal their struggle to understand what went wrong: "For all of us, this was a complete shock."… But health woes loomed. During the late '90s, Slonim was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer known as polycythemia vera, often called PV. "It took a long time to figure out what it was," recalls Anne. "He went through a depression [after the diagnosis] but minimized it as much as possible. According to PV expert Ruben Mesa, deputy director of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, many patients deal with fatigue, insomnia, difficulties with physical intimacy, mood disorders and depression. "We see patients who live a normal life expectancy, but others can progress and pass away from the disease," notes Mesa. "It can go either way."

OncLive, Go on Treatment of Patients With Thrombotic Microangiopathy — Ronald Go, MD, associate professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, discusses treatment for patients with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). One of the most prominent treatments of TMA is plasma exchange, which is used in most patients if the cause of the disease is not obvious. There is a high mortality rate in this disease, says Go, so treatment must be started as soon as possible.

Fierce Healthcare, Minnesota regulators not happy with Mayo Clinic response to charges of patient cherry-picking by Paige Minemyer — Minnesota state regulators aren't satisfied with Mayo Clinic’s response to the backlash that followed reports that it cherry-picked patients with commercial insurance. Representatives of the state’s Department of Human Services sent a letter to the system’s CEO John Noseworthy, M.D., asking him to make a clear statement the neither he nor Mayo Clinic intend to prioritize patients with commercial health plans over those with Medicare or Medicaid coverage, according to an article from Medscape Medical News. "I remain concerned that Mayo has yet to offer the community a strong, clear position on the equal treatment of patients on Medicaid," Nathan Moracco, assistant commissioner of DHS, wrote.

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