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

 

NBC News
Study: 1 in 6 Breast Cancer Patients Have Symptoms Other Than Lumps

A new study of more than 2,300 women in England showed 1 IN 6 patients have symptoms other than lumps — some symptoms far more subtle than others. Interview with Dr. Deborah Rhodes.

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

 

KARE11
Mayo chef shares healthier holiday recipes
by Pat Evans

Chef Jen Welpert, Executive Wellness Chef for Mayo Clinic’s Healthy Living Program joined us on KARE11 News@4 to serve up some recipes. She showed some ways to use less fat, sugar and other rich ingredients making dishes lighter and healthier.

Reach: KARE-TV is the NBC affiliate serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul market.

Related coverage of Mayo Clinic's Healthly Living Program:

WGN Radio, Healthy Thanksgiving Leftovers — Executive Wellness Chef at The Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program Jen Welper talks about the healthy things you can make with Thanksgiving leftovers.

KAAL, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program: Nutrition

KAAL, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program: Fitness 

KAAL, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program: Elements of Movement 

KAAL, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program: Stress Management & Wellness Coaching

KAAL, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program: Rejuvenate and Restore

Context: The Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program is redefining healthy living. It’s a comprehensive, whole-body wellness experience guided by medical research and evidence-based medicine to offer guests trusted solutions to improve quality of life.

Contact: Kelley Luckstein

 

Arizona Horizon (PBS)
Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care

Arizona State University and Mayo Clinic are joining forces to improve health care delivery, increase research and open up a Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Arizona. ASU president Michael Crow and Dr. Wyatt Decker, Mayo Clinic Chief Executive Officer, Arizona, will discuss the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care.

Reach: Eight, Arizona PBS is a PBS station that has focused on educating children, reporting in-depth on public affairs, fostering lifelong learning and celebrating arts and culture. Its signal reaches 86 percent of the homes in Arizona. With more than 1 million viewers weekly, Eight consistently ranks among the most-viewed public television stations per capita in the country. Eight is a member-supported service of Arizona State University.

Previous coverage in October 28, 2016 Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights

Context:  Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University have announced the launch of a comprehensive new model for health care education and research: the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care. The goal of the alliance is to innovate health care delivery to improve patient care, accelerate cutting-edge research discoveries, and transform medical education. The alliance further links two of the Phoenix area’s most recognizable institutions. ASU recently was named the nation’s No. 1 “most innovative” university by U.S. News & World Report.Mayo Clinic earned the No. 1 top ranking nationally on 2016 U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals, as well as the No. 1 spots for top hospitals in Arizona and Phoenix, Minnesota and Florida. The formalized alliance provides cohesion to a collection of joint projects, which have evolved over the past decade and sets the stage for many more. This expansion promises growing impact and scale. More information can be found on Mayo Clinic New Network and on Mayo Medical School's website.

Contact:  Jim McVeigh

 

News4Jax
Doctors warn of extremely contagious virus this holiday season
by Francesca Amiker

Many doctors have been seeing patients with an extremely contagious virus this holiday season, causing appointments to book up at after-hours clinics across Jacksonville. The virus, which can include symptoms similar to the stomach flu, usually lasts two to three days, but doctors said it's lasting much longer than that this year. Vandana Bhide at Mayo Clinic said the outbreak has already spread to many of her patients. She said it's a virus that can be one of two types. "It's usually the norovirus or rotavirus," Bhide said. "Both of them can cause watery diarrhea and it can be in adults and kids."

Reach: WJXT is an independent television station serving Florida’s First Coast that is licensed to Jacksonville. This Week in Jacksonville is a weekly public affairs program on WJXT.

Context: Vandana Bhide, M.D. is a Mayo Clinic internist and pediatrician.

Contact: Kevin Punksy

 

WCCO
Mayo Clinic Nurse Recounts 100-Foot Fall

Six months after surviving a huge fall down an Arizona canyon, a Rochester woman is heading back to work, reports Jennifer Mayerle.

Reach: WCCO 4 News is the most-watched newscast in the Twin Cities, in 5 out of 7 newscasts.

Context: Amber Kohnhorst loves animals and adventure. The trip she'd planned to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah promised both. She'd spend time volunteering at the shelter and do some hiking in nearby Cane Beds, Arizona. But what sounded like a perfect vacation quickly became a nightmare when the 25-year-old Mayo Clinic nurse fell 100 feet down a cliff during what was supposed to be a short hike. You can read more about Amber's story on Mayo Clinic In the Loop.

Contact:  Ginger Plumbo

 

Reuters, Patient characteristics influence readmissions after colorectal surgery by Lisa Rapaport — When patients wind up back in the hospital in the months following surgery, it may reflect more than just the quality of the hospital, a recent study suggests…Larger hospitals and teaching hospitals also had lower readmission rates than other places in the study, suggesting that patients seeking elective procedures may still want to consider hospital characteristics, said Elizabeth Habermann, a researcher at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, who wasn’t involved in the study. “Patients with other underlying health conditions, or comorbidities, were more likely than patients with none to face readmissions; therefore, it is important to make sure chronic conditions such as diabetes or hypertension are adequately controlled prior to surgery,” Habermann added by email.

Reuters, Health industry breathes easier as post-Obamacare path stabilizes by Caroline Humer — Hospitals and health insurers are gaining confidence that their nightmare scenario - millions of Americans instantly losing health insurance once President-elect Donald Trump delivers on a promise to "repeal and replace" Obamacare - is looking more like a bad dream than becoming reality. ..Kathleen Harrington, chair of Policy of Government Relations for the Mayo Clinic, said so far she likes what she hears from Republicans on changes to health insurance. "We are very encouraged with the approach we're hearing so far from President-elect Trump in terms of having a focused review and removing certain parts of it," she said. Additional coverage: New York Times, The Peninsula Qatar

Reuters, Americans' cholesterol, triglyceride levels continue to fall by Andrew Seaman — In U.S. adults, levels of fatty substances in the blood have continued to fall over the past few years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and "bad" LDL cholesterol fell between 1999 and 2010 among U.S. adults, and that trend continued in 2013 and 2014, researchers write in JAMA Cardiology…LDL cholesterol is pivotal since it is the particle most likely to promote the formation of plaque inside arteries, said Dr. Scott Wright, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Death rates after heart attacks are lower if LDL cholesterol levels are lowered by medication, Wright, who wasn't involved in the new study, told Reuters Health in an email. "For every 1 percent we lower LDL, risks are reduced by 1 percent," he said.

Forbes, The Six Customer Service Silver Bullets by Micah Solomon — 1. Build a simple customer service statement of philosophy. I’m not talking about a philosophical statement that’s wordy and long, and destined for a dusty file cabinet. I’m talking about something short, memorable, and believable. The Mayo Clinic’s “The needs of the customer come first” is one of the best ever written. It’s seven words, every word is in English (as opposed to jargon and consultant-ese), and only one of those words is longer than a syllable. Because of the power of this approach, everybody at Mayo is able to learn this short, memorable credo from their first day of orientation–and to never forget it, as long as they’re employed.

Huffington Post, The 10 Things You Need To Know About Cataract Surgery by John Welsh — Surgeries are increasing and patient age is dropping. The number of cataract surgeries is rising every year, and the median age of the surgery patient is falling. A Mayo Clinic study showed that between 1980 and 2010, the cataract surgery rate had increased five times and there is no evidence this is slowing. The median age of a patient undergoing cataract surgery is now 65, according to another recent study of U.S. patients. In 2004, the average age was around 73 to 75.

Today.com, Why those last 5 pounds really don't count by Bonnie Taub-Dix — It's not only the pounds that count. People can have a normal body-mass index and still be fat, researchers at the Mayo Clinic have found. This ‘inner fat’, known as visceral fat, is fat that surrounds your organs and is more dangerous for your health than external, or exogenous, fat. There are methods to test your percentage of body fat through processes like underwater weighing or skin-fold caliper measurements, which can predict health risk (men with a body fat measurement over 23.2 percent of body fat, and women with 33.3 percent of body fat are at greater risk).

Reader’s Digest, I Used a Light Therapy Box for a Week. Here’s How It Changed Me. by Claire Nowak — Symptoms of SAD can be similar to those of major depression, like feeling hopeless and drained of energy, losing interest in activities you love, and suicidal thoughts. But Craig Sawchuk, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, describes the signs that distinguish SAD from other forms of depression as “hibernation-like symptoms:” Excess sleep, increased appetite, cravings for carbs, weight gain, and overall sluggish feelings. Light boxes are made to treat and prevent those feelings with the specific type and intensity of their lights, measured in lux (the typical intensity is 10,000 lux). “It’s like a control-alt-delete where we reset our biological clock,” Sawchuk says.

MSN, Mayo Clinic Using Cancer Avatar To Find Cures For Ovarian Cancer — Doctors re-create the tumor in the human patient in a lab rat and test treatments. Interview and story at link.

Business Insider, The Mayo Clinic shows us how they use 3D printing technology to treat patients by Lydia Ramsey — I spoke to Dr. Jay Morris, neuroradiologist at the Mayo Clinic, in a Facebook Live segment Tuesday from the RSNA industry conference in Chicago. Dr. Morris gave me a tour of the 3D printed models used to treat patients in institutions around the world. The Mayo Clinic began using sophisticated 3D printing technology eight years ago to separate a set of conjoined twins. The surgeons had wanted a model of the twins' internal organs and anatomy to study in advance of the complex surgery. Today, the technology is widely used, both at the Mayo Clinic and other medical institutions globally.

Business Insider, Here's why emergency services tell you to 'Run Hide Fight' in an active-shooter situation by Rebecca Harrington — …"The problem is that there are no one-size-fits-all answers for these questions," Dr. Matthew D. Sztajnkrycer, an emergency physician at the Mayo Clinic, said in a Clinic publication. "No one can tell us how we should or will act under these circumstances. The general concept of 'run, hide, fight' is a good one. "The best thing to do, really, is to empower everyone to do what they feel most comfortable doing, without fear of subsequent repercussions or recriminations."

National Post, Your Brian on Texting by Sharon Kirkey — When neurologist William Tatum and his team stuck scalp electrodes on people undergoing video EEG monitoring for epilepsy, they stumbled upon what might be the first biological evidence that texting physically messes with the brain. Tatum’s chief technician at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., noticed odd brain waveforms when some people texted. The brain patterns caught her attention because they were weirdly similar to what she was looking for: potential seizure activity. The findings, reproduced in a recently published study involving 129 people, monitored 24 hours a day over 16 months, add tantalizing new insights into smartphone-brain “interfaces,” Tatum says.

CBS News, Failed study, dimmed hopes in hunt for Alzheimer's treatment — The failure of solanezumab doesn’t necessarily doom other drugs that take the same approach, said Dr. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Petersen noted earlier this month that other drugs target amyloid beta proteins in different ways. Even so, shares of other drugmakers developing Alzheimer’s treatments, like Axovant Sciences Ltd. and Biogen Inc., dove in early trading Wednesday.

Yahoo! Sports, How to Have Healthy Teeth and Avoid Crazy Dental Fees by Donna Freedman — According to the Mayo Clinic, dental disease may be linked to such health issues as premature birth and low birth weight, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, endocarditis (infection of the inner lining of the heart), osteoporosis and even Alzheimer’s disease. A twice-annual cleaning and exam can help you stay healthy — and that ounce of prevention will help save you far more costly work — but even a cleaning can run up a bill of several hundred dollars.

Modern Healthcare, Bringing world-class cancer care closer to home by Elizabeth Whitman — …Comprehensive data showing the breadth and depth of these partnerships across the U.S. haven't been gathered yet. Gerson said the AACI is developing a survey of its 95 members to determine how partnerships have changed in nature and number in recent years. Every oncology partnership is a little different. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has a care network, not geared specifically toward cancer but through which members can still access oncology specialists and eTumor Board Conferences, among other clinical resources.

SELF, Meet Adenomyosis, Endometriosis’ Evil Sister by Zahra Barnes — It’s a gynecologic mystery. One potential trigger might be uterine inflammation after childbirth, says the Mayo Clinic. Another might even be endometrial tissue that wound up in the wrong place when the uterus originally formed all the way back when you were a fetus. The cause may still be up in the air, but experts do know that the hormone estrogen plays a role somewhere. “Regardless of how adenomyosis develops, its growth depends on the circulating estrogen in a woman's body,” the Mayo Clinic says. “When estrogen production decreases at menopause, adenomyosis eventually goes away.”

Twin Cities Business, Mayo Researchers Score Another Neurodegenerative Disease Patent by Don Jacobson — A medical team led by a renowned Mayo Clinic researcher has patented a drug treatment method for frontotemporal dementia, a rare, genetic and rapidly progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder that can affect behavior, cognition, language and motor skills. It’s the second notable dementia-related patent awarded in the last three months to Mayo researchers based at the clinic’s Jacksonville, Florida facility. The latest patent is for a novel type of molecular compound designed to stimulate the production of a key brain protein that is lacking in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and also covers its delivery to the brain via a virus. One of the inventors cited is Mayo neuroscience professor Rosa Rademakers, whose lab has made several significant discoveries in fighting devastating neurological diseases such as FTD, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as Parkinson’s disease-related syndromes.

Star Tribune, Wolves, Lynx name 'founding partners' for $130M in arena upgrades by DeeDePass — The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx named five new “founding partners” on Monday who will help pay for the $130 million renovation of Target Center now underway. Along with the “naming rights partners,” Target and Mayo Clinic, the new “founding partners” have made “long-term commitments and significant investments,” the professional basketball teams’ officials said Monday. The new partners are U.S. Bank; Federated Insurance; Jack Link’s; Treasure Island Resort & Casino; and TCL, the massive, China-based TV manufacturer that has its North American headquarters in Irvine, Calif.

Star Tribune, Holiday books: Readers write about books they love to give — My favorite book to give is Dr. Amit Sood’s “The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living.” Backed by brain research, Dr. Sood explains how and why our daily stress causes unhealthy anxiety and restlessness, as well as how our lives can become fuller, more peaceful and meaningful. The book is a breath of fresh air, a “cleanse” in our tense world. This “it makes so much sense” book is at the top of my gift-giving list…Jane Kepple Johnson, Albert Lea

Star Tribune, Attorney General Swanson examines problems fueling Minnesota's opioid epidemic by Jeremy Olson — Research doesn’t support the use of opioids alone for long-term or chronic pain, said Dr. Michael Hooten, a Mayo Clinic specialist who helped draft the guidelines, so ICSI instead recommends using low-dose opioids in combination with alternatives, or avoiding opioids altogether. “I think we can really close the door on this whole era of using high dose opioid therapy alone,” he said. “Those days are gone.”

Phoenix Business Journal, Mayo, Harvard, MIT researchers develop new material to stop bleeding by Angela Gonzales — Researchers at Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a biomaterial that has the potential to protect patients at high risk for bleeding in surgery.

PR Week, Inviting the world inside: The Brand Connection Roundtable by Gideon Fidelzeid — Inside-out brand building creates those coveted lasting relationships with stakeholders. As emphasized by the industry leaders who joined Gideon Fidelzeid in New York for this PadillaCRT-hosted panel, your values and employees - and the stories they bring to life - can be your greatest asset… Amy Davis (Mayo Clinic): Employees create our brand in every patient interaction they have. If you come to Rochester, Minnesota, we actually have people working full-time at the airport. Their job is to greet patients because the experience for patients starts way before they ever see the physician. It’s about the maintenance workers, who make sure we have tulips in the spring. It’s the HR people, who help us hire the best people. Everyone at Mayo Clinic feels connected and plays a role in taking care of our patients, even if they aren’t direct caregivers.

Minnesota Medicine, The Pursuit Of Happiness by Kim Kiser — Every time he encounters someone, be it a patient, a nurse or the person behind the counter at the coffee shop, Amit Sood, MD, tries to see an individual who is special to someone and who has struggles in life. “There’s no judgement, no negative emotions,” he explains. For Sood, viewing people through this lens is an antidote to burnout. “The more people you see, the more uplifted you get. It’s the opposite of how we usually work: the more people we see, the more depleted we get,” he explains. That’s one of the lessons the Mayo Clinic professor of medicine shares in his workshops on resiliency. Sood imparts his approach, which can be learned in as little as an hour, to more than 50,000 patients, physicians, medical students and other health care professionals each year. The success of his workshops and his two books, The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress- Free Living and The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness, both of which have landed on Amazon Top 100 lists, have made him a sought-after speaker at medical conferences, at medical schools and on the TEDx circuit.

HealthDay, Can Surgery Trigger Rare Muscle Disorder? by Maureen Salamon — Patients who've recently undergone surgery -- especially those with cancer or autoimmune diseases -- experience slightly higher risks of developing a rare muscle disorder soon afterward, new research suggests. Evaluating 20 years of data, Mayo Clinic scientists found that 15 percent of patients who developed Guillain-Barre syndrome had undergone a surgical procedure in the prior eight weeks. "I don't think patients for any reason should be dissuaded from undergoing a surgical procedure they need because of this [research]," said study author Dr. Sara Hocker. She is an associate professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "Out of 50,000 surgical procedures, we found 31 patients [who later developed Guillain-Barre]," Hocker added. "It's a rarity."

Medium, What the World Needs Now:Answers to Post-Election Bullying, Fear, and Division by Adam Sussman — It’s Day 2 after the big election result and my Facebook feed is filled with stories of friends being bullied for their gender and ethnicity. Feeling a sense of sadness and disbelief, I turn to my favorite self-improvement book grounded in neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and spirituality. Dr. Amit Sood is the author of “The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living.” As Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic and Chair of Mayo’s Mind Body Institute, he has helped hundreds of thousands of people enhance resiliency and happiness, and reduce stress and anxiety. “How can we stop this senseless bullying?” I ponder. At that very moment, I realize there is no one better to help answer this question and provide wisdom than the Doctor himself. Below is the transcript of our interview.

Twin Cities Business, Mayo Spinoff HB Healthcare Safety Lands $200K Rochester City Subsidy by Don Jacobson — A Mayo Clinic doctor and engineer cited as one of the top patient safety experts in the country landed a $200,000 economic development subsidy from the city of Rochester to fund the growth of her web-based hospital analytics company. Jeanne Huddleston, M.D., an associate professor of medicine and the medical director of Mayo’s healthcare systems engineering, is also the founder of HB Healthcare Safety SBC, which launched last year in the city. The start-up offers a commercialized version of the machine-learning data analysis tool she and colleagues developed to address unexpected patient deaths in Mayo hospitals. Huddleston is Mayo’s first “hospitalist” – a physician whose professional focus is on the general medical care of hospitalized patients – and her interests in that field led her to obtain an engineering degree so that she could integrate big data concepts into efforts to predict and avoid such “adverse events” as patient deaths and misdiagnoses.

Healio, Nine strategies to reverse physician burnout — Building upon a decade of research on the rise and cost of physician burnout, researchers at the Mayo Clinic proposed nine strategies that health care organizations can implement to reverse the trend, limit the risk and promote physician well-being, according to a recent news release. “Research has shown that more than half of U.S. physicians are experiencing symptoms of burnout, and the rate is increasing,” Tait Shanafelt, MD, director of Mayo Clinic’s Program on Physician Well-being, said in the release. “Unfortunately, many organizations see burnout as a personal problem to be addressed by the individual physician. It is clear, however, that burnout is a system issue, and addressing it is the shared responsibility of both the individuals and health care organizations.”

Healthcare Business News, Mayo Clinic shares clinical benefits of 3-D printing in radiology at RSNA by Lauren Dubinsky — It was a packed house of RSNA attendees on Sunday, listening as Dr. Jonathan Morris of Mayo Clinic spoke about the potential 3-D printing has for revolut At first, the most obvious use for the 3-D printer at Mayo Clinic was for spine applications like scoliosis. An intraoperative O-arm is conventionally used to determine the placement of screws during surgical thoracic junction procedures, but it fails about 30 percent of the time, according to Morris. ionizing radiology. "The surgeons want more things — they want models that feel like tissue and arteries and veins," he said.

Science Daily, Comparing gait parameters can predict decline in memory, thinking — Walking is a milestone in development for toddlers, but it's actually only one part of the complex cognitive task known as gait that includes everything from a person's stride length to the accompanying swing of each arm. A Mayo Clinic study recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found that problems associated with gait can predict a significant decline in memory and thinking. Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, Mayo Clinic researchers examined medical records of Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents, who were between ages 70 to 89 as of Oct. 1, 2004. The analysis included 3,426 cognitively normal participants enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging who had a complete gait and neuropsychological assessment. Additional coverage: Tribune India

Life Science Daily, Mayo Clinic discovers potential cause and treatment for tumors affecting children and young adults — A team of researchers at Mayo Clinic have identified a possible cause and treatment for inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors, a rare form of sarcoma. The 12 investigators from Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine, who published their study in Annals of Oncology, have shown that their new treatment may address soft cancer tissue that was previously unresponsive to traditional radiation or chemotherapy. Additional coverage: News-medical.net

mHealthIntelligence, Study: Telemedicine Helps Small Hospitals Reduce NICU Transports by Eric Wicklund — A Mayo Clinic study focusing on complicated births finds that a telemedicine link to NICU specialists can help small hospitals reduce patient transports by 30 percent. In yet another example of how telemedicine helps small hospitals hold onto their patients, a Mayo Clinic study found that online access to specialists helped one of every three complicated births avoid a transfer to a larger hospital with an NICU. "The enhanced access to neonatologists, who could remotely assess the newborn and guide the local care team through the resuscitation, allowed one-third of the babies to stay with their families in the local hospital," Jennifer Fang, MD, a Mayo Clinic fellow in neonatal-perinatal medicine, says in a release issued by the Mayo Clinic.

Duluth News Tribune, Mayo Clinic News Network: Memory lapses — normal aging? Or is it time to see your doctor? — Q: My father, who is 79 years old and in good health, has become quite forgetful. He seems to recognize that it’s happening, but laughs it off and chalks it up to old age. I know memory problems are common as people get older, but I’m worried. Should I have him see his doctor? A: Although memory lapses are a normal part of aging, they can be a sign of an underlying medical problem. In older adults, memory problems are of concern when they affect information that is particularly important or familiar, when the lapses become more frequent, or when difficulty with memory interferes with daily activities.

Health Data Management, Mayo Clinic uses emergency telemedicine for newborn resuscitations by Greg Slabodkin — The Mayo Clinic is using emergency video telemedicine to effectively assist community hospitals less familiar with advanced newborn resuscitation interventions during high-risk, complex deliveries. Mayo’s Division of Neonatal Medicine initially offered newborn telemedicine consultations to six of its health system sites, where local care teams used wireless tablets running HIPAA-compliant video conferencing software from Vidyo to communicate with neonatologists at Mayo in Rochester, Minn. Video consults are now conducted at all 10 of Mayo’s health system sites that deliver babies in the Rochester region.

Business Standard, Walking style can predict memory, thinking decline: study — The analysis included 3,426 cognitively normal participants enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging who had a complete gait and neuropsychological assessment. Alterations in several gait parameters were associated with decline in memory, thinking and language skills, and visual perception of the spatial relationship of objects. The study results also supported the role of computerised analysis because the computer tool detected modifications before impairment was detected with a standard neuropsychological test. "The presence of gait disturbances increases with advancing age and affects the independence of daily living, especially in the elderly," said lead author Rodolfo Savica from Mayo.

Twin Cities Business, Mayo Researchers Score Another Neurodegenerative Disease Patent by Don Jacobson — A medical team led by a renowned Mayo Clinic researcher has patented a drug treatment method for frontotemporal dementia, a rare, genetic and rapidly progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder that can affect behavior, cognition, language and motor skills. It’s the second notable dementia-related patent awarded in the last three months to Mayo researchers based at the clinic’s Jacksonville, Florida facility. One of the inventors cited is Mayo neuroscience professor Rosa Rademakers, whose lab has made several significant discoveries in fighting devastating neurological diseases such as FTD, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as Parkinson’s disease-related syndromes.

Valley Public Radio, Accurate Valley Fever Counts Elude Health Officials by Harold Pierce and Stephanie Innes — “I think the mandatory piece of reporting is very important and at least that way we know what is being tested for,” said valley fever expert Dr. Janis Blair, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. “It doesn’t tell us everything, but at least it we would have some sense of how many people out there are walking around with a known diagnosis of valley fever.”

WDAZ, Jack Jablonski Thriving Five Years After Spinal Injury — Jack Jablonski continues to be an inspiration to anyone facing a life-altering illness or injury. In 2011, Jablonski suffered a severe spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down. His "BEL13VE Foundation" fundraiser before a Minnesota Wild game two weeks ago raised more than $350,000. The money will primarily be used by the Mayo Clinic to continue its groundbreaking work on "epidural stimulation" that is showing great promise. The Mayo Clinic is expected to reveal more about this remarkable new treatment in the near future. It could be one more step toward Jablonski reaching his ultimate long-term goal: Getting back on skates and hitting the ice.

MPR, Wanted: Workers to fill Rochester's growing labor shortage by Catharine Richert — Area businesses are begging for skilled trade and service workers to help build the city's present as well as its future. With the downtown Destination Medical Center project expected to add 30,000 more jobs in Rochester over the next 20 years, the problem is likely to get much worse. As urban dilemmas go, it's not bad. But that doesn't make the solutions any easier.

Pain Medicine News, Symptoms, QOL Worse in Younger Fibromyalgia Patients — Researchers from Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., noted that there is little in the medical literature on the role age plays in fibromyalgia, with disparate findings seen in those studies that have been conducted, including some finding no differences between age groups. Senior author Terry Oh, MD, a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician at Mayo Clinic, said the study’s findings were surprising, given that advancing age associated with better health outcomes appears to be counterintuitive. Among the three age groups of young, middle-aged and older, symptom severity and quality of life differs,” said Dr. Oh, who also noted that women in all three groups with fibromyalgia reported a lower QOL than women in similar age groups without fibromyalgia.

Alzforum, Field Loses Chad Dickey, 40, to Cancer — Chad Dickey, associate professor at the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute at the University of South Florida, Tampa, passed away last Friday, November 25, after a short bout with cancer. “Chad was an incredible scientist who was just starting to shine, and he was a genuinely good person. He will be sorely missed by me and many who knew him,” said Leonard Petrucelli, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. Dickey had just turned 40 in July.

Post-Bulletin, Mayo Clinic researchers find link between cancer, heart attacks by Brett Boese — New research from Mayo Clinic shows cancer patients are experiencing additional health-related issues, including the most severe type of heart attack and a three times higher risk of non cardiac death. Mayo identified this "emerging subgroup" in a new article published this week in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. This concept of care has been dubbed "cardio-oncology." The paper was written by a team of nine researchers, led by Dr. Joerg Herrmann, the senior author. It examined 2,346 patients covering a 10-year span before determining that one in 10 who experienced an ST-elevation myocardial infarction, the most severe form of heart attack, also had a history of cancer.

Post-Bulletin, Mayo staff forms music ensemble for concert by Tom Weber — Mayo Clinic staff members who are also musicians will participate in a concert at 7:3 Bringing world-class cancer care closer to home0 p.m. Dec. 1 in Nathan Landow Atrium of the Gonda Building subway…Mayo musicians: Robin Aggarwal, medical student, euphonium; Dr. Allen Bishop, orthopedic surgery, oboe; Dr. J. Michael Bostwick, psychiatry, clarinet; Dr. Christopher Jankowski, anesthesiology, trumpet; Grace Kim, medical student, violin; Matt Schuelke, graduate student, French horn; Tiffany Strande, pulmonary function technician, violin; and Mimi Tung, development, piano.

Post-Bulletin, Key to preventing calcium oxalate stones is to get the right amount of calcium — DEAR MAYO CLINIC: What's the difference between almond milk and regular milk? When I was drinking regular milk, I was getting calcium oxalate kidney stones every couple of years; however, when I stopped dairy, the kidney stones stopped. I'm hesitant to start dairy again, so am wondering if drinking almond milk will make a difference… It sounds like your concern about milk and other dairy products is that their calcium may spur the development of more kidney stones. In fact, people who've had calcium oxalate kidney stones do need a certain amount of calcium in their diets. And, although almond milk and other plant-based milks, such as soy milk, contain calcium, they also contain oxalate. People with a history of calcium oxalate stones often are cautioned to avoid oxalate-rich foods. Cow's milk doesn't have oxalate, and it does have the calcium you need, so it is a good choice for you. — Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.N., L.D., Endocrinology/Nutrition, Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

Post-Bulletin, For many, autumn is time to fall into depression by Daphne Jebens — As the cold air begins to blow the leaves off of the trees, it is clear that fall is here. To some, fall means leaves, sweaters, and pumpkin spice lattes. However, to those with Seasonal Affective Disorder, like me, fall means the beginning of darkness, sadness, and sleepless nights. Fall means the fall of our mood. Many people out there have probably felt the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but have never heard of the disorder itself. According to Mayo Clinic, "SAD is a type of depression that is related to changes in seasons. SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year." — Travis Roethler, PA-C, works at Mayo Clinic Health System in Faribault.

Post-Bulletin, Kasson clinic to close on Saturdays — Saturday clinics at Mayo Family Clinic in Kasson will end Dec. 31. Site medical director Anne Kramlinger said people aren't coming to the clinic on Saturdays as much with Mayo Clinic Express Care Online available. The Saturday clinic at the Baldwin Building in Rochester will include the Kasson Saturday team going forward.

KIMT, Christmas at Mayowood by Adam Sallet — One of the most well-known homes in our area is getting dressed up for the holidays. Mayowood Mansion in Rochester was built in 1911 by one of the co-founders of the Mayo Clinic. Since the Mayo family left the residence in the 1960’s it’s been home to tours and remodels ever since. That includes the ever popular Christmas tours. We got a look inside to see what you can expect when you go on it.

KIMT, Creating the Plummer Building Christmas Tree display by DeeDee Stiepan — We’re getting a look at what goes into one of the largest Christmas displays in our area. From Thanksgiving through the end of the year, Mayo Clinic’s Historic Plummer Building is lit up in the shape of a tree. It takes 7,000 LED bulbs to create the massive display which is 96 ft tall and 108 ft wide. Mayo’s Head of Facilities Operations Thomas Behrens helps it all come together, and he took us inside the building to show us. About 64 panels with colored lights attacked are strategically placed in the windows of the south side of the building.

La Crosse Tribune, Mental health advocates welcome decline in suicides by Mike Tighe — On the other hand, mental health professioals find a clear explanation for the drop nearly as elusive as they did for the spikes in 2013, 2014 and 2015 — but they hope it is at least partly the result of their efforts to increase community awareness of suicide and how to curb it. “I wish we did know so we can keep doing it,” said Christine Hughes, a member of the La Crosse Area Suicide Prevention Initiative, which hosts events and provides materials to educate people about resources to help those considering harming themselves. As far as the ultimate explanation for the optimistic downswing, “it’s hard to know — it’s the hardest part, because we don’t know for sure” how many people might have considered suicide but changed their minds after receiving help, said Hughes, a clinical therapist at Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare in La Crosse.

KEYC Mankato, Mayo Gives $5000 To Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office For AEDs — Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato is giving officers funding for a tool to help save lives. The Mayo Clinic Health System Mankato Health Care Foundation has awarded $5000 to the Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office. The money will allow the department to increase the number of Automated external defibrillators available to officers on patrol.

Chippewa Herald, Mayo Clinic Health System volunteer says every day is rewarding — “As a volunteer, every day is rewarding regardless of what you do,” says Donna Koranski. “You really can make a difference.” For five years, Koranski has volunteered her time at Mayo Clinic Health System–Red Cedar in Menomonie. Koranski volunteers for approximately nine hours a week in the Occupational Medicine Department, where she answers phones, greets patients and helps nurses with various tasks. Previously, she volunteered in the gift shop. When asked why she enjoys volunteering, Koranski says volunteering makes her feel good. She says she feels appreciated and hears “thank you” more often than she ever would have expected.

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.

To unsubscribe: To remove your name from the global distribution list, send an email to Emily Blahnik with the subject: UNSUBSCRIBE from Mayo Clinic in the News. 

Tags: 3D printing, active shooter situation, adenomyosis, Alzforum, alzheimers, Amy Davis, Arizona Horizon (PBS), ayo Family Clinic in Kasson, Breast Cancer, Business Insider, Business Standard, calcium, Cancer, cancer care, cataract surgery, CBS News, Chippewa Herald, cholesterol, Christmas, colorectal surgery, dementia, destination medical center, DMC, Dr. Allen Bishop, Dr. Amit Sood, Dr. Christopher Jankowski, Dr. Craig Sawchuk, Dr. Deborah Rhodes, Dr. Elizabeth Habermann, Dr. J. Michael Bost, Dr. Janis Blair, Dr. Jay Morris, Dr. Jeanne Huddleston, Dr. Jennifer Fang, Dr. Joel French, Dr. Joerg Herrmann, Dr. Jonathan Morris, Dr. Leonard Petrucelli, Dr. Matthew D. Sztajnkrycer, Dr. Michael Hooten, Dr. Ronald Petersen, Dr. Rosa Rademakers, Dr. Sara Hocker, Dr. Scott Wright, Dr. Tait Shanafelt, Dr. Terry Oh, Dr. Vandana Bhide, Dr. William Tatum, Duluth News Tribune, election, fitness, Forbes, gait, Guillain-Barre syndrome, Healio, Health Data Management, Healthcare Business News, HealthDay, heart attacks, hospital readmissions, Huffington Post, Jack Jablonski, Jen Welper, KAAL, KARE11, Katherine Zeratsky, Kathleen Harrington, KEYC Mankato, KIMT, La Crosse Tribune, LDL cholesterol, Life Science Daily, light therapy box, Lynx, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living, Mayo Clinic Health System, Mayo Clinic Health System Franciscan Healthcare, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Mayo Clinic News Network, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, Mayo Clinic’s Program on Physician Well-being, Mayowood, Medium, memory decline, memory lapses, mental health, mHealthIntelligence, Modern Healthcare, MPR, myofibroblastic tumors, National Post, NBC News, Neonatal Medicine, New York Times, News-Medical.net, News4Jax, NICU, Nutrition, obamacare, Opioid Epidemic, Pain Medicine News, Phoenix Business Journal, physician burnout, Plummer Building, Post Bulletin, PR Week, Radiology, Reuters, RSNA, SAD, sarcoma, Science Daily, seasonal affective disorder, SELF, Star Tribune, stress, suicide, Target Center, Telemedicine, texting, Thanksgiving, The Peninsula Qatar, today.com, Travis Roethler, triglyceride levels, Twin Cities Business, Uncategorized, valley fever, Valley Public Radio, virus, Volunteer, WCCO, WDAZ, Wellness, WGN Radio, Yahoo! Sports