December 9, 2016

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. Thank you.

Editor, Karl Oestreich;  Assistant Editor: Emily Blahnik

 

Los Angeles Times
A senior-friendly workout to improve movement and prevent injury

Jogging outdoors, running on a treadmill or lifting weights at the gym aren’t always practical — or enjoyable — activities for everyone. However, one type of exercise works for everyone, no matter your age or ability, because it relies on improving practical movements often involved inLogo for Los Angeles Times newspaper everyday activities. “Natural movement is universal, and it’s about bringing movement back to the basics,” says Bradly Prigge, wellness exercise specialist with the Mayo Clinic’s Healthy Living Program. “It’s not about following the latest fitness craze or learning the newest secret to weight loss. Natural movement is about connecting with your body and cultivating an awareness of your full abilities.”

Reach:  The Los Angeles Times has a daily readership of 1.9 million and 2.9 million on Sunday, more than 8 million unique latimes.com visitors monthly and a combined print and online local weekly audience of 4.5 million. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Times has been covering Southern California for more than 128 years.

Additional coverage: Mountain Grove News-Journal

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.

Contacts: Kelley Luckstein, Joe Dangor

 

Prevention
4 Easy Moves To Ease Your IBS Symptoms

When you're dealing with the abdominal pain, bloating, cramping, constipation, or diarrhea that comes along with irritable bowel syndrome Prevention logo(IBS), the last thing you probably want to do is exercise. Yet according to research, moving your body can decrease the pain associated with this condition that affects an estimated one in six Americans. Brent A. Bauer, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program, says many movement practices, such as yoga and tai chi, as well as meditation and guided imagery, benefit those suffering from IBS thanks to the fact that they induce the relaxation response. "This in turn balances the autonomic nervous system," says Bauer, which influences the function of many internal organs, including the digestive system.

Reach:  Prevention magazine has a monthly circulation of more than 1.5 million readers and covers practical health information and ideas on healthy living. Its website has nearly 1.3 million unique visitors each month.

Context:  Brent Bauer, M,D., is director of the Mayo Clinic Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program. As director of the program, Dr. Bauer has broad and varied research interests. Since its founding in 2001, the program has promoted a collaborative spirit that enables researchers from both within and outside Mayo Clinic to share resources, ideas and expertise regarding research in this exciting realm.

Contact: Kelly Reller

 

Post-Bulletin
Mayo Clinic co-sponsoring World Stem Cell Summit
by Brett Boese

The Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine is co-sponsoring next week's World Stem Cell Summit in FloLogo for Post-Bulletin newspaperrida. More than 1,200 people are expected to attend the 12th annual event. Mayo will have a delegation of administrators, researchers and clinical experts participating in presentations and panel discussions involving stem cell discoveries, promising clinical trials and therapy options currently available.

Reach: The Post-Bulletin has a weekend readership of nearly 45,000 people and daily readership of more than 41,000 people. The newspaper serves Rochester, Minn., and Southeast Minnesota.

Context: The Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine is a co-sponsor of the 2016 World Stem Cell Summit. More than 1,200 attendees are expected at the 12th annual event in West Palm Beach, Florida. A delegation of administrators, researchers and clinical  experts from Mayo Clinic will participate in featured presentations and panel discussions highlighting advances in discovery science, promising clinical trials and available therapies. Diverse topics to be covered include cardiovascular regeneration, restoring eyesight, and growing stem cells in a microgravity environment in space. Mayo Clinic experts also will be involved in panel discussions regarding education, consumer information and stem cell clinics. More information can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact: Angela Bingham

 

KIMT
Study: Changes in how someone walks could predict decline in memory and thinking
by DeeDee Stiepan

Researchers at Mayo Clinic believe that changes in how someone walks over time could help predict if they will develop memory loss. The study KIMT LOGOanalyzed gait, which is the manner in which someone walks that includes everything from stride length to speed, even arm swing. They found that changes in those parameters were associated with decline in memory, thinking and language skills. “The goal will be to identify these individuals that develop these changes through time and potentially do something to prevent the decline if possible,” explains Rodolfo Savica, M.D. a Mayo Clinic Neurologist and lead author of the study.

Reach: KIMT 3, a CBS affiliate,  serves the Mason City-Austin-Albert Lea-Rochester market.

Context: 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. More information about the study can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact: Susan Barber Lindquist

 

KAAL
3D Printing Improving Surgery Outcomes at Mayo Clinic

For nearly ten years, Rochester’s Mayo Clinic has been creating life-like models of people’s organs, vascular systems, and bones to help with surgery. This is all done using a three dimensional printer, which Mayo Clinic says says the demand for is only growing. The very first modelKAAL 6 News Rochester Logo surgeons created was a liver, and neuroradiologist Dr. Jonathon Morris says the rest was history. "So then we went into spine models, complex congenital scoliosis cases, from there we went into tumor, and then after we went into tumors we went into cancer, and then there was no turning back," Dr. Morris said.

Reach: KAAL is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., which owns all ABC Affiliates in Minnesota including KSTP in Minneapolis-St. Paul and WDIO in Duluth. KAAL, which operates from Austin, also has ABC satellite stations in Alexandria and Redwood Falls. KAAL serves Southeast Minnesota and Northeast Iowa.

Context:  Mayo Clinic’s 3-D anatomic modeling program started with a realization that surgeons needed a new way to look at human anatomy that went beyond two-dimensional images. Surgeons who were planning the separation of conjoined twins in 2008 approached the Department of Radiology about producing a 3-D model of the babies’ shared liver. More information can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact: Ethan Grove

Huffington Post, Can Tech Reduce Your Health Care Costs? by Lee Schneider — As any expecting mom knows, taking proper care of yourself when pregnant can get expensive. OB-GYN practices, too, are looking to manage costs, and they are facing a lot of uncertainty next year. What will their insurance company reimbursements be like? Some forward looking practices are looking to tech to help manage costs and track patients. The Center for Innovation at the Mayo Clinic has been testing a program called OB Nest that intends to give patients “care at a distance” via remote monitoring of vital signs and metrics.

Wall Street Journal, Cancer Breakthrough Aids One Patient, Raises Hopes for Many by Thomas M. Burton — National Cancer Institute researchers have produced an immune-cell therapy that for the first time successfully targeted a genetic mutation involved in causing tens of thousands of gastrointestinal cancers…This is truly exciting,” said Axel Grothey, a Mayo Clinic oncologist. “At this point in time I consider the presented data as an intriguing proof of principle that cellular immune therapy can be used to target cancer cells with specific molecular alterations. That alone is important and could represent a game-changer in the future.”

Wall Street Journal, Nation’s Death Rate Rises as Progress Against Heart Disease Stalls by Betsy McKay and Ron Winslow —The death rate from heart disease rose 0.9% last year, according to U.S. mortality data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death rate also rose 3% for stroke, the fifth-leading cause of death in the U.S…Raymond Gibbons, a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, said the findings call for continued support for the Million Hearts Initiative, an ongoing five-year effort led by the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes in the U.S. The initiative has set ambitious goals for improving compliance with various prevention strategies including controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.

Prevention, 9 Things Butt Doctors Want You To Know About Your Rear Fiber Is Your Friend: "Fiber plays a huge role in colon health—it bulks your stool by binding water, preventing issues like hemorrhoids and diverticulitis [inflammation in one or more small pouches in the digestive tract]. Women under 50 should aim for 25 grams daily through foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes, and nuts and seeds." —Amy Lightner, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

CNN, Study: More than a quarter of medical students are depressed, suicidal by Susan Scutti — Although the newly published study has statistics that were not previously known, the problem among physicians is. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, with help from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Mayo Clinic, has created a campaign to provide support to medical students and doctors. The resource page, which shares information about programs and resources, even includes recommendations for how training programs should respond if a resident dies by suicide. Additional coverage: Fierce Healthcare, HC Pro, Associations Now

HealthDay, After Cancer, Higher Risk of Severe Heart Attack — Cancer survivors are at increased risk for the most severe type of heart attack and require close attention to their heart health, a new study suggests. "We've watched cancer survivorship increase over the past two-and-a-half decades, which is wonderful. But, it has led to new challenges, such as handling of downstream illnesses and side effects to an extent never encountered before," said study senior author Dr. Joerg Herrmann. He is an interventional cardiologist at the clinic.

Washington Post, Minnesota woman with rare illness develops allergies to everything — including her husband by Peter Holley — For someone battling a life-threatening illness, being surrounded by loved ones can be a source of strength and recovery. But for Johanna Watkins, a Minnesota woman locked in a desperate struggle for survival, being close to others is not an option. Watkins suffers from a particularly brutal strain of mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), a rare immunological condition in which the body overproduces the chemicals responsible for controlling allergic reactions. Most cases of MCAS are treatable with medication, but the condition's symptoms manifest in so many ways it can be difficult to diagnose, according to Thanai Pongdee, an allergenic disease expert who works with the Mayo Clinic. The diagnosis is only about a decade old, Pongdee said, noting that the medical community considers its understanding of the condition “a work in progress.”

TIME, 12 Ways to Burn Fat Without Setting Foot In the Gym by Laurel Leicht — Shake a leg: Enjoying a holiday movie binge? During commercials, stand up, pace and fidget. Mayo Clinic research shows that doing this can crush an extra 350 calories over the course of a day. Also good: This can help counteract the negative effects of sitting down for long periods of time.

TIME, You Asked: How Do I Burn Calories With an Injury? by Markham Heid — For people with back or abdominal injuries, or for those recovering from many surgeries, nearly all forms of vigorous or dynamic exercise may be off limits. What then? Try non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, as it’s called by the experts who study it. “NEAT refers to all our spontaneous daily movements that aren’t dictated by sports or work: everything from getting up out of a chair to fidgeting,” says Dr. Michael Jensen, a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic. Jensen’s research has shown that these NEAT movements vary significantly from person to person and may help explain why two people who eat similar diets and participate in the same exercise activities gain or lose weight at significantly different rates.

VICE, The Mental Costs of Being a Refugee in America by Sheila Mulrooney Eldred — In 2004, Mayo Clinic researchers analyzed hospital records of Somali immigrants to Minnesota, noticing references to "Sick Somali Syndrome." Often, the researchers concluded, the culprit of the mystery symptoms—vague physical symptoms such as headaches or stomachaches that couldn't be traced to a root cause —was undiagnosed mental illness. Mental illnesses often manifest as physical headaches and stomachaches when left untreated.

FOX News, The truth about emergency medical evacuations by Eileen Ogintz — You get seriously ill on a cruise or at a resort, or you get injured on a ski trip or a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, and you need to be evacuated to get proper medical care — at the cost of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. It happened last week to 86-year-old former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. He suffered altitude sickness at the South Pole, 9,000 feet above sea level, and he needed to be evacuated to Christchurch, New Zealand…Age is not necessarily a factor in travel-related illnesses like altitude sickness, and people don’t get ill or injured only in remote locations, added Dr. Jan Stepanek, chairman of the Mayo Clinic’s Division of Preventive Occupational & Aerospace Medicine and the High Altitude and Harsh Environments Medical Clinic in Arizona. He noted that people are often evacuated from the Grand Canyon due to excessive heat or dehydration.

FOX News, Americans' cholesterol, triglyceride levels continue to fall — 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.

Yahoo! News, 3 leading health organizations aim to reduce suicides by physicians, medical trainees — As increasing rates of stress, depression and fatigue fuel concern about physician well-being, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and Mayo Clinic today launched an initiative to prevent physician and medical trainee suicides. "Physician well-being is crucial to the health of our entire system of medical care," says Fredric Meyer, M.D., executive dean of education, Mayo Clinic. "For the welfare of patients and the next generation of physicians, the nation's providers of medical education must strive to cultivate an environment that promotes both stress management and resilience."

National Geographic, Exclusive: Celebrated Mountaineer Suffers Heart Attack at 20,000 Feet by Mark M. Synnott — On November 16, Conrad Anker, 54, one of the world’s most accomplished alpinists, had a heart attack while climbing in the Himalaya. National Geographic reached Anker via Skype, shortly after he returned to his home in Bozeman, Montana. Sitting at his desk, with a framed photo of Yosemite Valley in the background, Anker spoke candidly about the incident that nearly cost him his life… What are some projects outside of climbing you’re working on?: I started working with the Mayo Clinic back in 2012 when we did the Everest trip, and I’d like to keep building on that relationship. Mayo Clinic does a lot of testing for wearable devices, and I’d like to see these devices work on health prevention. The data can be used to identify children at risk for type 2 diabetes.

HealthDay, Normal Blood Pressure in Clinic May Mask Hypertension — It's commonly believed that anxiety in the doctor's office causes patients' blood pressure to rise. But for some people, the opposite occurs: Their blood pressure is normal at their medical appointment but elevated the rest of the day. This phenomenon is called "masked hypertension." The best way to uncover it is to wear a small monitoring device for 24 hours, researchers said… Dr. Gerald Fletcher, a spokesman for the American Heart Association, said that while it may be beneficial, it's not possible to monitor everybody's blood pressure for 24 hours. But if you have high cholesterol, are overweight or have a family history of high blood pressure, you might benefit from this type of monitoring if your pressure is normal in a doctor's office, said Fletcher. He's also a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

HealthDay, Rising Price of Opioid OD Antidote Could Cost Lives: Study by Karen Pallarito — Escalating prices of the drug naloxone may threaten efforts to reduce opioid-related deaths across America, a team from Yale University and the Mayo Clinic warns. Naloxone is a drug given to people who overdose on prescription opioids and heroin. If administered in time, it can reverse the toxic and potentially deadly effects of "opioid intoxication.""The challenge is as the price goes up for naloxone, it becomes less accessible for patients," said Ravi Gupta, the study's lead author. Gupta, a fourth-year Yale medical student, with Dr. Joseph Ross of Yale and Nilay Shah of the Mayo Clinic concluded, "Taking action now is essential to ensuring that this lifesaving drug is available to patients and communities."

Neurology Today, Scientists Crowdsource for Next-Generation Seizure Detection and Prevention Algorithms — Reviewing EEGs to identify seizure activity is time-consuming and challenging, and seizure diaries kept by patients are notoriously inaccurate, said Benjamin H. Brinkmann, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and biomedical engineering at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, who helped coordinate the competition. The field has been searching for tools to detect even more subtle characteristics of a seizure-prone state, he said….To address that challenge, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and the Mayo Clinic sent raw EEG data from dogs and humans with epilepsy out on the web, and challenged researchers and programmers to develop accurate computer algorithms to more precisely identify from recordings when a seizure is starting and predict future events.

Nature, Sex on the brain: Unraveling the differences between women and men in neurodegenerative disease by Mike May — Clifford R. Jack Jr., a neuroradiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and his colleagues used positron-emission-tomography imaging to track amyloid levels in the brains of 1,246 cognitively healthy human volunteers ranging from 30 to 95 years old. When the team compared the volume of the hippocampus—a structure deep in the brain involved with memory—and memory performance in these people, the results did not favor men: after the age of 40, men had smaller hippocampal volumes and worse memory performance than women. Given that women do not, according to Jack's research, show more risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, yet many studies show that women develop the disease more often than men, he concludes that the disparity probably arises from aging. “Women do not have a biologically greater risk of Alzheimer's,” he explains. “But they live longer, and this is a disease of old age.”

Health magazine, Why Crawling Is the Ultimate Total-Body Exercise by Anthea Levi — When you think of crawling, you probably think of adorable little rugrats. But according to Mayo Clinic physical therapist Danielle Johnson, crawling is an essential move for grown-ups too. She actually does it every day—and she’s not alone. Health and fitness experts are raving about the benefits of crawling, and other so-called fundamental movements. Squatting, jumping, running, hanging, balancing—they all fall into the same category. Essentially, fundamental movements are things we master as kids, but stop doing as we age. And that’s a shame because these activities engage our muscles in perfectly natural ways.

Boston Globe, Senate committee calls for ban on surgeons conducting simultaneous operations by Jonathan Saltzman and Jenn Abselson — The new Finance Committee report, scheduled to be released Tuesday, follows a Spotlight Team series in 2015 on the issue. The committee will urge hospitals to clearly prohibit “concurrent surgeries,’’ which it defined as two operations, managed by the same surgeon, whose critical parts occur at the same time...But a study of 3,640 orthopedic surgery cases at one outpatient center by the University of California at San Francisco found no increased risk for complications with overlapping operations. Similarly, a study by the Mayo Clinic of more than 26,000 surgeries of various types there found no difference in risk between overlapping and non-overlapping procedures.

Ottawa Citizen, Watch for behaviour changes for clues of dementia onset by Lauran Neergaard — Researchers on Sunday outlined a syndrome called "mild behavioural impairment" that may be a harbinger of Alzheimer's or other dementias, and proposed a checklist of symptoms to alert doctors and families. "It's important for us to recognize that not everything's forgetfulness," said Dr. Ron Petersen, the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's research chief. He wasn't involved in developing the behaviour checklist but said it could raise awareness of the neuropsychiatric link with dementia.

WebMD, After Cancer, Higher Risk of Severe Heart Attack — Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., reviewed data on more than 2,300 patients who suffered this type of heart attack, called ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). One in 10 had a history of cancer, the investigators found. "We've watched cancer survivorship increase over the past two-and-a-half decades, which is wonderful. But, it has led to new challenges, such as handling of downstream illnesses and side effects to an extent never encountered before," said study senior author Dr. Joerg Herrmann. He is an interventional cardiologist at the clinic.

MedPage Today, Tool Improves Shared Decision-Making for Low-Risk Angina by Nicole Lou — A web-based decision support tool for patients gave them more involvement in care decisions when presenting to the emergency department with low-risk chest pain, a randomized multicenter trial found. The first multicenter trial for the electronic decision-making aid -- tested in six emergency departments across the U.S. -- found that users knew more about their risk for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and options for care compared to those who got usual care (4.2 versus 3.6 questions correct, mean difference 0.66, 95% CI 0.46-0.86), reported Erik P. Hess, MD, of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues in a study published online in The BMJ. Additional coverage: Cardiovascular Business

Cardiology Advisor, STEMI vs Non-Cardiac Morality in Cancer Survivors — Cancer survivors with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) have increased acute in-hospital and long-term noncardiac mortality risk but no increased acute or long-term cardiac mortality risk with guideline-recommended cardiac care, according to a study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, reviewed data on 2346 patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention. One in 10 had a history of cancer.

Elle, Everything to Know About Probiotics by Lauren Sherman — To help along your gut, many experts suggest taking a probiotic, either in food or supplement form. Sales of probiotics are estimated to reach $44.9 billion globally by 2018, according to a report by Albany, New York–based Transparency Market Research… There's been a lot of anecdotal evidence that suggest [taking a probiotic] could help a lot, but it's hard to frame it in a scientific way," says Nicholas Chia, PhD, associate director of the microbiome program at the Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. "The probiotic field is not one that has included a lot of controlled clinical trials, so there's no firm answer."

Healthcare Business News, From guns to implanted clips, avoidable MR injuries have not gone away by John W. Mitchell —…Radiologists must also be on the alert for new medical devices, such as the vast array of neurostimulators that are being implanted into patients. According to Yunhong Shu, Ph.D., assistant professor, Radiology at the Mayo Clinic, these devices regulate a growing list of body functions, and deep brain neurostimulators are the most common devices encountered in conducting MR scans. According to Shu, the website for each neurostimulator manufacturer must be consulted for very specific protocols for conducting MR scans on such patients.

Cardiovascular Business, Myocarditis remains difficult to diagnose, treat — A news release from the Mayo Clinic mentioned that myocarditis is responsible for up to 45 percent of heart transplants in the U.S. and accounts for approximately 5 percent of sudden cardiovascular infant deaths and up to 20 percent of sudden cardiovascular death in adolescents. Leslie T. Cooper Jr., MD, a study co-author from the Mayo Clinic, said in the news release that the most common cause of myocarditis is an infection that can damage the heart even in healthy people. The researchers noted that patients often have a viral syndrome before the presenting with acute myocarditis and typically have concurrent chest pain or dyspnea.

Oncology Times, Investigators Pinpoint Cause, Possible Treatment for Rare Form of Sarcoma — Researchers at Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine have discovered a potential cause and a promising new treatment for inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors, a rare soft tissue cancer that does not respond to radiation or chemotherapy. New research from Aaron Mansfield, MD, an oncologist at Mayo Clinic, and George Vasmatzis, PhD, the Co-Director of the Biomarker Discovery Program of Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, finds the drug ceritinib shows promise as a new treatment for inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors. The study also traced tumor growth to chromoplexy: a complex chromosomal rearrangement that causes genes to scramble, break DNA strands, and then reassemble in a defective way..

Healio, Noncardiac mortality risk higher after PCI in patients with STEMI, cancer — In a contemporary registry of patients who underwent PCI for STEMI, one in 10 had a history of cancer, and those with cancer had elevated risk for noncardiac mortality but not cardiac mortality, according to new findings. “We’ve watched cancer survivorship increase over the past 2 ½ decades, which is wonderful, but it has led to new challenges, such as handling of downstream illnesses and side effects to an extent never encountered before,” Joerg Herrmann, MD, interventional cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, said in a press release. “In particular, as cardiologists, we wanted to know if cancer and its therapies left these patients debilitated from a [CVD] standpoint.”

Pioneer Press, Struggling to get pregnant? There’s an app for that by Leah Kodner — Q. What haven’t we asked you that we should understand about your business? A. How did we develop the science behind Welltwigs’ solution? The science behind our solution, including the need for hormone measurements and algorithms, were developed under the guidance of the head of reproductive health from the Mayo Clinic.

Pioneer Press, Rochester’s boom drives demand for labor that could be tough to supply — Area businesses are begging for skilled trade and service workers to help build in Rochester both for the present and the future. The problem is likely to get much worse with the Mayo Clinic’s downtown medical center project expected to add 30,000 more jobs over the next two decades. In September, officials opened a new facility that houses a vocational program to help students find careers that don’t necessarily require a four-year degree. The program would also speed students into the workforce to address Rochester’s shortage.

Star Tribune, Senate vote clears way for 21st Century Cures Act by Jim Spencer — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, called the bill’s broad approach and widespread support “significant” in a chamber often unable to act because of partisan gridlock. In an interview, Klobuchar cited as highlights funding for the National Institutes of Health and research initiatives for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease that the Mayo Clinic will participate in, as well as $1 billion set aside for fighting the country’s opioid addiction crisis, a cause she helped lead.

Twin Cities Business, The Twin Cities' Next Wave of Healthcare Innovation by Don Jacobson — Mayo Clinic spinoff OneOme LLC says it has lined up its first non-Mayo customers, including some well-known health care providers who have signed up for the company’s “pharmacogenomics” technology platform. It was always anticipated that OneOme’s first customers would be large health care providers, joining the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine in that regard. That assumption proved correct when the company revealed that Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia and Centra Health’s Stroobants Cardiovascular Center in Lynchburg, Virginia, have been snagged as customers.

Post-Bulletin, Rochester named best place in U.S. for working women by Brett Boese — A new study has ranked Rochester as the best city for working women in the United States. SmartAsset, a New York-based company that produces rankings on a wide array of topics, crowned Med City after crunching the numbers on gender pay gap, unemployment rate among women, percentage of women in the labor force, ratio of working women to working men, and a woman's leftover income after paying for housing. Sharonne Hayes, Mayo Clinic's Director of Diversity and Inclusion since 1990, touted the study's findings as a great recruiting tool for the nation's top-ranked hospital and its host city. It's also possible — if not likely — that Mayo's policies on gender equity played a key role in Rochester earning the distinction.

Post-Bulletin, Mayo submits plans for future projects in Rochester by Andrew Setterholm — Mayo Clinic has a host of plans to expand its Rochester campuses in the next five years, and the city's Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday put its support behind those plans. Mayo Clinic representatives at a Wednesday commission meeting presented the clinic's 2017-2021 five-year plan, a regular update on its planned activities in Rochester. The city has two special zoning districts for Mayo campuses: the Medical Institutional Campus Special District is an overlay district in the downtown area and along the Second Street Southwest corridor to the St. Marys area; and the May Mayo Clinic has a host of plans to expand its Rochester campuses in the next five years, and the city's Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday put its support behind those plans.

Post-Bulletin, Help design St. Marys District at event by Andrew Setterholm — Your input could help shape the future design of the Destination Medical Center district St. Marys Place, a high-priority corridor of Second Street Southwest in Rochester. The DMC Economic Development Agency on Thursday will host a community input open house, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at its offices at 195 South Broadway Avenue in Rochester. The event is a chance for the people interested in the district to share thoughts on three design concepts that could guide development decisions in the corridor, according to a DMC newsletter.

Post-Bulletin, Heard on the Street: 108 'ambassadors' honored — On Wednesday, 108 people who help Rochester's visitors were recognized for their commitment to the Certified Tourism Ambassador program. The Tourism Ambassador program was launched in 2011 to train front-line employees at hotels, restaurants, transportation companies and others to "polish the apple" for Rochester and enhance visitor experience of people traveling for treatment at Mayo Clinic and other reasons.

Post-Bulletin, Shift work often presents sleep problems — DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I started working a night shift six months ago, and I just can't get enough sleep. I'm having a hard time staying asleep during the day. Most days, I get five hours of sleep or less. What can I do to get more sleep? I'm worried that lack of sleep is going to affect my health… Trying to sleep during the day rather than at night can be difficult. As you've found out, humans naturally are wired to be awake during the day and sleep at night. But there are steps you can take to help your body adjust and get the sleep you need. Your body has an internal sleep-wake rhythm. In most people, that rhythm generally fits a 24-hour cycle. Because of your sleep-wake rhythm, you get sleepy at certain times of the day and become more alert at other times. The main influence on this rhythm is exposure to external light — Meghna Mansukhani, M.D., Sleep Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

Post-Bulletin, Mayo Clinic applauds passage of medical research funding — Mayo Clinic's leader lauded the U.S. Senate for overwhelmingly passing a bill that would boost medical research funding and streamline the process for drug and medical device approvals."Mayo Clinic applauds the U.S. Senate for their vote today to approve the 21st Century Cures Act. We are confident that this comprehensive legislation will help advance research and accelerate the approval and delivery of safe treatments to the benefit of patients," Mayo Clinic President and CEO John Noseworthy said in a statement. Additional coverage: Star Tribune

KTTC, National Symphony Orchestra member and Mayo Clinic staff perform in concert by Francisco Almenara-Dumur — Mayo Clinic's Gonda building was filled with music Thursday night with a mini-concert including Mayo Clinic staff members. Lewis Lipnick of the National Symphony Orchestra put on the ensemble of classic music and Argentine Tango, including one original piece commissioned for this concert by Argentine composer Noelia Escalzo. Lipnick was once a patient at Mayo Clinic and helped put the show together as a thank you and to try to use music as a healing element. Several Mayo Clinic employees who played Thursday night are doctors.

KAAL, Monitoring Pain Killers in Young Athletes by Karsen Forsman — ABC 6 News wanted to take a look at where addiction could start and how the medical community is working to prevent it. Some athletes have a greater chance of being prescribed painkillers because of the high risk of an injury. Mayo Clinic provides athletic trainers for 27 schools in southeast Minnesota. Supervisor Chad Eickhoff says an athletic trainer’s role is more important now than ever before in the fight against ending addiction.

KIMT, Drug to battle Alzheimer’s needs more questions answered by Adam Sallet — We talked to the director of Alzheimer’s research at Mayo Clinic — and he tells us some questions still need to be answered. “Is that the best way to attack the protein, is it early enough, should we do it later and when we are still looking at people who have developed the dementia stage of Alzheimer’s — so should we be treating people earlier in the course,” said Ronald Peterson, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. He also said Mayo is doing two research trials of their own when it comes to Alzheimer’s.

KIMT, Mary’s nurse returns to work after hiking accident by DeeDee Stiepan — It’s an incredible story of survival that we first brought you in May when a St. Mary’s nurse fell 100ft while hiking in Arizona. Amber Kohnhorst spent 24 hours in extreme pain, without food or water until she was rescued by helicopter. Now, the 25-year old is back in Rochester, and it’s been quite some time since she was working as a Registered Nurse on the 5th floor at St. Mary’s Hospital. “My last shift was Friday May 13th, she tells us. “I’ve never really believed in Friday the 13th but now it kind of freaks me out.”

Rochester magazine, ‘This person is a cheeky heretic’ by Paul John Scott — The views of Dr. Michael Joyner – on genetics research, on Precision Medicine – don’t necessarily represent those of the Clinic. (But the medical world wants to know what he thinks anyway). Starts on page 35.

WXOW Eau Claire, Mayo Clinic study finds overlapping surgeries are safe — A Mayo Clinic study of thousands of operations found that overlapping surgeries are safe. Spacing operations so a surgeon has two patients in an operating room at the same time is common at Mayo and other medical institutions. These overlapping surgeries are staggered so the critical parts of operations don't happen at the same time. Additional coverage: KTTC

Albert Lea Tribune, Mayo Clinic awards scholarships — Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea and Austin recently awarded four $1,000 non-traditional scholarships to students in its service area who are currently pursuing post-secondary education in a health care field five or more years after completing high school or receiving a GED, according to a press release.

Preeceville Progress, Preeceville toddler on road to recovery by William Koreluik — Almost one year ago the Heskin family of Preeceville was faced with an unexplained medical emergency that left their 18-month-old daughter Chelsa with having multiple seizures a day. Today, the family is rejoicing as their daughter has now been seizure-free for one and half months. Chelsea was accepted as a patient at the Mayo Clinic after a team of physicians had reviewed all of her medical records. Her appointment was scheduled for October 11. “We traveled approximately 3,000 miles before we arrived at the clinic,” she said. “At the Mayo Clinic her doctors were Dr. David Hsu and Dr. Elaine Wirrell. Her diagnosis stands ast Idiopathic Generalized Myoclonic Astatic Epilepsy. The Mayo Clinic’s modifications suggested filling her daily carbohydrate intake with berries.

AZFamily, Want to try a Fitbit? Check one out from the Mesa library by Ian Schwartz — Wearable tech like Fitbits is all the rage, but maybe you are not sure if it is worth the price. Now, a local library is lending a helping hand in health that may surprise you. The main branch of the Mesa Public Library started a new program called the Healthbrary. The Mayo Clinic recently got wind of this and asked if they could donate 10 Fitbits for people to borrow.

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, Off life support: Local physician residency program could be reborn by Chrisena T. O’Brien — Dr. Randall Linton, president and CEO of Mayo Clinic Health System in northwestern Wisconsin, said his system “supports any efforts to train more physicians across the state …” “A new report by the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce forecasts that Wisconsin may see a shortage of more than 2,000 physicians by 2030,” he said. “The best hope for averting a projected physician shortage is increasing the number of resident programs and filling them with graduates from the state’s medical schools.” The Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Residency Program in Eau Claire plans to welcome its first class of five residents in July and will add five additional residents each in 2018 and 2019 for a total of 15.

KEYC Mankato, Mayo Clinic Health System Urges Steps To Prevent Norovirus by Brittany Kemmerer — It's that time of year for family gatherings, shopping trips, and of course.. Holiday potlucks at work. But these activities can also lead to uninvited guests... of the viral nature. "Norovirus is a highly contagious virus. It presents as a stomach or a GI illness," Mayo Clinic Health System's Kathleen Frederick said. Symptoms include feeling very ill, throwing up, and having diarrhea many times a day. "Those symptoms can last several days. You are contagious with the virus when symptoms first appear and up to about two or three days when symptoms are all gone," Frederick said.

Chippewa Herald, Counting blessings, giving thanks for ultimate Christmas gift — Every night Carol Allen says a prayer for a man she never met — but a man she owes her life to. His selfless choice to be an organ donor is the sole reason she’s here today. For years, Allen had been battling a rare autoimmune liver disease, exacerbated by a myriad of other health issues, including muscle pain, weakness, diabetes and portal hypertension. She underwent what seemed like endless procedures; among them, 150 blood transfusions due to persistent bleeding, and required frequent hospitalizations and clinic visits. Her health steadily grew more fragile, and her prognosis became grave. “The doctors here in Eau Claire kept me alive,” says Allen, who receives care at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “I think I had every internist at Mayo Clinic Health System, and none of them would give up.

Healthcare Guys News, 5 Reasons Why Mayo Clinic Dominates Social Media in Healthcare — The 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend survey named the Mayo Clinic website the top Health Information Website, ahead of WebMD. Health and medical research has been and is still one of the most popular activities of online consumers, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The most popular searches are about a specific disease or medical problem; a particular medical treatment or procedure; diet, nutrition and/or vitamins and exercise or fitness information. And when consumers do research healthcare-related information, Mayo Clinic is one of the first websites to pop up. The Mayo Clinic, a healthcare center with facilities in Rochester, Minn., Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz., and Jacksonville, Fla., have been able to leverage and enhance its reputation as a trusted source of information through a robust online presence and an expansive social media program

Mankato Free Press, Ask Us: Mystery of disappearing hilltop houses solved by Mark Fischenich — Q: What is going on in the hilltop area around Bethany Lutheran College and the hospital? There seem to be many empty houses that rumor has it have been bought by one of those two entities. A: Mankato homeowners have the right to sell their homes without informing the city or seeking permission, City Manager Pat Hentges said. And both Bethany Lutheran College and Mayo Clinic Health Care System, the owner of the hospital, have the right to buy up homes and move them or raze them…The college and the hospital would prefer to go the rental route, putting the homes to use until campus expansion plans come to fruition sometime in the future. "We would like nothing more than to be able to provide affordable housing," said Kevin Burns, spokesman for Mayo Health System in Mankato. "Under the city ordinance, we can't do that."

WEAU Eau Claire, TODAY INTERVIEW: Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Recipes, Two part cooking demo with Executive Wellness Chef, Jen Welper of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. As we enter into the holiday season, it becomes more difficult for people who are watching their weight but there are ways to make decisions that include healthy meal options that taste good, too..

Consumer Affairs, Shoulder replacement surgeries rising dramatically by Mark Huffman — The Mayo Clinic has also seen an increase in partial and total shoulder replacement surgeries. It conducted a study that found the surgery to be an effective way to reduce arthritic pain, especially in patients whose rotator cuffs are still intact. “What we’ve learned from this study is that if people do develop significant pain in their shoulder due to arthritis associated with rheumatoid arthritis, shoulder arthroplasty really is a predictable and reliable operation to help them improve their function and relieve pain,” said senior author Dr. John Sperling, an orthopedic surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

American Medical Association, Value-based care, an elusive concept, enters the curriculum by Timothy M. Smith — Medical students at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Rochester, Minn., are among the first in the country to be studying high-value care, one of several elements of a new four-year longitudinal course aimed at complementing basic and clinical scientific knowledge with an understanding of how patients access and receive health care. “We recognized that there was a huge gap in the curriculum,” said Neera Agrwal, MD, consultant, Hospital Internal Medicine, and assistant professor of internal medicine at Mayo’s new Scottsdale, Ariz., campus.

Waseca County News, Mayo Clinic Health System in Waseca to conduct emergency response exercise by Suzy Rook — Mayo Clinic Health System in Waseca will be conducting an emergency response exercise on Friday afternoon, Dec. 16. The exercise will test the organization’s preparedness and response to an active shooter scenario. It will be held in conjunction with local law enforcement and other response agencies. Patients and visitors may notice an increase in activity at the medical center during the time of the exercise, but patient care will not be affected. “Participating in exercises such as this helps our staff practice their emergency response procedures and gives us an opportunity to identify areas in which we can improve,” says Tom Borowski, administrator at Mayo Clinic Health System in Waseca.

WKOW Madison, UPDATE: Joshua Adler recovering from leg amputation surgery by Andrea Albers — So many of you have been wondering about and praying for Joshua Adler, a 5-year-old boy from Eau Claire. Tuesday afternoon Joshua's parents contacted News 18 to say he is out of his leg amputation surgery and recovering at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, MN. He's even had a visit from a therapy dog. His parents say he is doing well, all things considered. The best news is what was learned during the surgery. Doctors say the lymph nodes in Joshua's groin/hip area are clean. All visible evidence of cancer is now out of his body!

WEAU Eau Claire, Local hospital flying flag from USS Arizona by Ruth Wendlandt — As the country reflects on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, a local hospital is flying an American flag which was flown over the USS Arizona. It’s flying outside at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire. The flag belongs to retired Army veteran Master Sergeant Guy Rex, who works at the hospital, Rex says he received the flag when he re-enlisted on the USS Arizona Memorial in 1996 and raised the flag over the memorial following the re-enlistment ceremony. “To have one of our employees to share the flag that flew on Pearl Harbor the day he re-enlisted is a wonderful opportunity,” said Bruce Fredrickson, veteran, Mayo Clinic chaplain.

Undark, Good for the Heart, Good for the Brain by Joshua C. Kendall — “Brain games are already a big industry. They are a good idea, but some manufacturers sell products which are not backed up by much evidence,” says Ronald Petersen, who directs the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. In fact, last winter, the Federal Trade Commission slapped the brain-game company Luminosity with a $2 million fine for the false advertising used in touting its “Brain Training” program. “The best advice to keep dementia at bay,” says Prashanthi Vemuri, Petersen’s Mayo Clinic colleague, “is simply to keep a busy mind.”

MobiHealthNews, Connected medical devices pose many security risks, but pacemaker assassinations aren't a big worry — Connected medical devices do pose security risks, but the nightmare scenario of a hacked pacemaker being used for an assassination is not top-of-mind for the executives in charge of security at major health systems...“Nobody’s figured out quite how to monetize direct-to-patient harm,” Kevin MacDonald, director of clinical information security at the Mayo Clinic, said. “That may be coming up. We never thought we’d see ransomware five or ten years ago. And we have patients who are of great geopolitical importance — there’s always a ‘not on my watch’ for those guys and we still have to be wary of that. But for your average patient, we aren’t too worried.”

White Mountain Independent, Summit joins Mayo Clinic Care Network collaboration by Michael Johnson — Summit Healthcare Regional Medical Center is the newest member the Mayo Clinic Care Network, hospital officials announced Wednesday. As a member of the network, Summit Healthcare will obtain access to resources, knowledge and expertise at the Mayo Clinic to enhance health care services to local patients, though there will be no additional expense for the patients, officials said. Physicians at Summit Healthcare’s Show Low facility will collaborate, if needed, with physicians at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., and its exclusive network of 45 hospitals across the country.?

WAOW Wisconsin, Central Wisconsin native returns to work after hiking accident — It’s an incredible story of survival that we first brought you in May when a St. Mary’s nurse fell 100 feet while hiking in Arizona. Amber Kohnhorst spent 24 hours in extreme pain, without food or water until she was rescued by helicopter…Amber says she’s also grateful for all the of the support she has received in Rochester and in her hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin. She adds that Mayo has been making the transition back as smooth as possible. “Mayo Clinic has been absolutely amazing making sure that I have the time needed and giving me options to do besides patient care.”

Jacksonville Daily Record, Workspace: Donna Deegan thriving in role as ‘chief eternal optimist’ by Maggie FitzRoy — When First Coast News anchor Donna Deegan was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, she didn’t hesitate to share the experience with viewers. She started a charity called The Donna Foundation to aid women struggling financially as a result of the disease. And she launched the 26.2 With Donna Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer to raise money for breast cancer research at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville. That annual race, held the second Sunday in February, will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. Registrations already are up 30 percent over last year.

El Universal, Nuevo tratamiento puede curar un raro tipo de sarcoma — Los científicos del Centro para Medicina Personalizada de Clínica Mayo descubrieron una posible causa y un nuevo tratamiento esperanzador para los tumores miofibroblásticos inflamatorios, un raro tipo de cáncer del tejido blando que no responde a la radiación ni a la quimioterapia. La nueva investigación de Aaron Mansfield, médico oncólogo de Clínica Mayo y de George Vasmatzis, doctor en investigación y codirector del Programa para Descubrimiento de Biomarcadores del Centro para Medicina Personalizada de Clínica Mayo, descubrió que el fármaco ceritinib es esperanzador como nuevo tratamiento para el tumor miofibroblástico inflamatorio, un tipo de sarcoma.

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