February 24, 2017

Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights

By Karl Oestreich

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

Editor, Karl Oestreich;  Assistant Editor: Emily Blahnik

 

Associated Press
AP Exclusive: Twin tragedies give survivor a new face
by Sharon Cohen

He'd been waiting for this day, and when his doctor handed him the mirror, Andy Sandness stared at his image and absorbed the enormity of the moment: He had a new face, one that had belonged to another man. His father and his brother, joined by several doctors and nurses at MayoAssociated Press Wire Service Logo Clinic, watched as he studied his swollen features. He was just starting to heal from one of the rarest surgeries in the world — a face transplant, the first at the medical center. He had the nose, cheeks, mouth, lips, jaw, chin, even the teeth of his donor. Resting in his hospital bed, he still couldn't speak clearly, but he had something to say. He scrawled four words in a spiral notebook: "Far exceeded my expectations," he wrote, handing it to Dr. Samir Mardini, who read the message to the group.

Reach: The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative, owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members. News collected by the AP is published and republished by newspaper and broadcast outlets worldwide.

Additional coverage: New York Times, STAT, Washington Post, USA TODAY, CBS Minnesota, KSTP, Louis Post-Dispatch, ABC News, MSN, NWF Daily News, AP Big Story, Stamford Advocate, Medical Xpress, CTV News, WTOP, Evening Standard, DailyMail.com, Olean Times Herald, Evening Standard, TribLivePeople, News-medical.net, Morning Ticker, KARE 11, WCCO, The West Australian, KAAL, Star Tribune, Mirror UK, BBC,CBC, US Magazine, GoMN, Chicago Tribune, KGWN, FOX News, Arizona Republic, Pioneer Press, Latinos Health, Science Alert, iTech Post, The Columbian, Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, Knoxville News Sentinel, BABW News, Canada Journal, Jackson Hole News & Guide, Counsel & HealBecker’s Hospital Review, New York Post, Herald-Whig, Sky News, Business Insider, com.au, Metro UK, UPI.com, Yahoo! Australia, The Inquisitr, WDEF, Deccan Herald, Aurora Sentinel, KRNV, Rapid City Journal, WNYT, Cortez Journal, Daily Star, Metro UK, Tri-City Herald, Tech Times, India.com, WQOW, Gephardt Daily, Hindustan Times, Pulse Headlines, KBMT, Sumter Item, ABC13 Houston, FuturismStar TribuneNew York Times, RedOrbit, Catholic Online, NBC 6 South Florida, The HitavadaBecker’s Hospital Review, NBC ChicagoTCT magazine

Context:  A multidisciplinary team of surgeons, physicians and other health professionals recently completed a near-total face transplant on a Wyoming man on Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus. The extensive, life-changing surgery will improve the patient’s ability to chew, swallow, speak, breathe and smell. The recipient, Andrew Sandness, is a 32-year-old man from eastern Wyoming whose face was devastated by a gunshot wound at the age of 21. He is doing well. “I am absolutely amazed at the outcome so far,” says Sandness. “I am now able to chew and eat normal food, and the nerve sensation is slowly improving, too. My confidence has improved, and I’m feeling great ― and grateful. I am so thankful to my donor and the donor’s family, and to all of the people who have supported me throughout this process.” For more information on the face transplant, the following segments are available on Mayo Clinic News Network:

Mayo Clinic announces successful face transplant on Wyoming man

Mayo Clinic Radio: Face transplant — how the surgical team prepared

Transforming a life: Mayo Clinic announces its first face transplant

Contact:  Ginger Plumbo

 

Florida Times-Union
Mayo researcher Abba Zubai is sending stem cells for study on the International Space Station
by Charlie Patton

As a boy growing up in Nigeria, Abba Zubair dreamed of becoming an astronaut. But as he prepared to apply to college, an advisor told him to Florida Times-Union newspaper logofind a different path. “He said it may be a long time before Nigeria sends rockets and astronauts into space, so I should consider something more practical,” Zubair saud. He decided to become a physician, and is currently the medical and scientific director of the Cell Therapy Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. And while he’ll almost certainly never get to make a journey outside the Earth’s atmosphere himself, if the weather stays good Saturday he’ll be sending a payload into space.

Reach: The Florida Times-Union reaches more than 120,000 daily and 173,000 readers Sunday.

Additional coverage: Action News Jax, Augustine Record, KTIV, Spaceflight Now, KTTCTechnology Networks

Context: Consider it one physician’s giant leap for mankind. Today, the latest rocket launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, included a payload of several samples of donated adult stem cells from a research laboratory at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus. The launch by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, is part of NASA’s commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station. The biological cells come from the laboratory of Abba Zubair, M.D., Ph.D., who says he has eagerly awaited the launch following several delays over the past couple of years. Dr. Zubair, who specializes in cellular treatments for disease and regenerative medicine, hopes to find out how the stem cells hold up in space. He says he’s eager to know whether these special cells, which are derived from the body’s bone marrow, can be more quickly mass-produced in microgravity and used to treat strokes. Microgravity is the condition in which people or objects appear to be weightless. The effects of microgravity can be seen when astronauts and objects float in space. Microgravity refers to the condition where gravity seems to be very small. More information can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact:  Kevin Punsky

 

USA Today
Can't sleep? When is it time to seek professional help
by Mary Bowerman

It’s no secret that Americans aren’t getting enough sleep. For those who are self-medicating or tossing and turning, it may be time to look at your sleeping habits once and for all, according to Timothy Morgenthaler, co-director of Mayo’s Center for Sleep Medicine in Rochester. "I think it'sUSA Today newspaper logo becoming increasingly clear that sleep is a vital component of health; for many years we've been aware of nutrition and exercise, and I think we now realize that sleep is very closely entwined with overall health," Morgenthaler said.

Reach: USA TODAY  has an average daily circulation of 4.1 million which includes print, various digital editions and other papers that use their branded content.

Context: Timothy Morgenthaler, M.D., is a Mayo Clinic Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine physician who also practices in Mayo Clinic's Center for Sleep Medicine.

Contact: Sharon Theimer

 

KARE 11
Mayo Clinic National Health Checkup
by Pat Evans

New findings about America’s heart health awareness, opinions, and behaviors have been uncovered as part of the Mayo Clinic National Health KARE-11 LogoCheckup, which first launched in January 2016 and provides a quick pulse on consumer health opinions and behaviors at multiple times throughout the year. “The Mayo Clinic National Health Checkup helps us to better understand the health knowledge and practices of all Americans, beyond the patients that walk through our doors,” says John Wald, M.D., Medical Director for Public Affairs at Mayo Clinic.

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

Additional coverage: KGUN TucsonCNBCKAALKXLY Spokane

Context: A new survey by Mayo Clinic revealed that more than two-thirds of African-Americans are concerned about their heart health (71 percent), which is significantly more than Caucasian (41 percent) or Hispanic (37 percent) respondents. Respondents from the South (51 percent) were also significantly more likely to express concern than those in the Northeast (39 percent) or West (35 percent). These findings were uncovered as part of the Mayo Clinic National Health Checkup, which first launched in January 2016 and provides a quick pulse on consumer health opinions and behaviors at multiple times throughout the year. More information can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact: Kelly Reller

 

FOX 13 Tampa Bay
Vaccine could prevent breast, ovarian, lung cancer
by Dr. Joette Giovinco

It's a dream many parents would welcome for their children: a vaccine that could prevent breast, ovarian and some lung cancers. It'Fox 13 Tampa Bay Logos also the dream of immunology professor Dr. Keith Knutson. "The hope is we can develop vaccines before the development of cancer much in the way that we use a polio vaccine or a flu vaccine," Dr. Knutson tells us in in his Mayo Clinic Jacksonville laboratory.

Reach:  Fox 13 is the Fox affiliate in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Context: Researchers on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus have been awarded a $13.3 million, five-year federal grant to test a vaccine designed to prevent the recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer, a subset of breast cancer for which there are no targeted therapies. The grant, the Breakthrough Award from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Program, will fund a national, phase II clinical trial testing the ability of a folate receptor alpha vaccine to prevent recurrence of this aggressive cancer following initial treatment. More information, including a video interview with Dr. Knutson, can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact: Paul Scotti

Wall Street Journal, How to Get the Benefits of Fasting With Less Deprivation by Sumathi Reddy — Diets that require patients to sharply reduce the their caloric intake on certain days or at certain times are a hot field of research in the antiaging world. They have been shown to extend longevity in animals and improve health in humans...James Kirkland, director of the Kogod Center on Aging at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said it is always difficult to get patients to adapt to lifestyle intervention. “The advantage of this is people feel full, so it’s not the same as intermittent fasting,” he said of fasting-mimicking.

Wall Street Journal, How to Get Venture Capital to Places Left Behind by Deborah Gage —…I think many of the answers will be in the middle of the country, because for many of the perspectives that are needed—for instance, to reimagine agriculture—it’s helpful to be working with farmers and be close to farmers. If you really want to rethink health care, spending time in Cleveland at the Cleveland Clinic or in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic or in Texas at MD Anderson or in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins is important.

Huffington Post, Heart Health Disparities in African-American Women — “African-American women have the highest burden of cardiovascular disease than any other racial group,” says cardiologist Dr. LaPrincess Brewer. “This makes our efforts even more important in this population.” Dr. Brewer says most African-American women are not aware heart disease is their No. 1 killer, and Mayo Clinic wants to increase awareness. “The disparities that exist among African-American women is the No. 1 reason they die. And they are more likely to die than any other racial group.” She says African-American women often have a unique set of risk factors, compared to other groups. These are called social determinants of health.

New York Times, Are Fat Cells Forever? by Alice Callahan — The size of individual fat cells is remarkably variable, expanding and contracting with weight gain or weight loss. And as with most cell types in the body, adipocytes die eventually. “Usually when old ones die, they are replaced by new fat cells,” said Dr. Michael Jensen, an endocrinologist and obesity researcher at the Mayo Clinic. Cell death and production appear to be tightly coupled, so although about 10 percent of adipocytes die each year, they’re replaced at the same rate.

USA Today, What a dementia diagnosis may mean for 'Partridge Family' star David Cassidy by Mary Bowerman — Dementia addresses symptoms, which may include memory loss, personality changes, confusion and disorientation, anxiety, difficulty planning and organizing or handling complex tasks, according to Mayo Clinic. While some symptoms of dementia may be the cause of medication or deficiencies, and be reversible, others like Alzheimer's disease are not, according to Mayo.

SELF, David Cassidy, 1970s Pop Icon, Reveals That He's Battling Dementia by Korin Miler — Along with memory loss, major symptoms include difficulty communicating or finding words, difficulty with problem-solving, planning, and organizing, confusion, and disorientation, per the Mayo Clinic. The disease can also change a person’s personality, because depression, anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations can be symptoms, Mayo reports.

SELF, Jillian Harris Feels Guilty About not Breastfeeding- but She Shouldn’t by Korin Miller — Jillian Harris, a former star of The Bachelorette, is speaking out about her decision to stop breastfeeding her son, Leo, and transition him to formula when he was six months old. “I’m not breastfeeding anymore, which is so sad, but it does make life a lot easier,” Harris tells Us Weekly in a new interview. “It’s controversial, as you know.” … Certified lactation education counselor Rebekah Huppert, R.N., B.S.N., a lactation consultant at the Mayo Clinic, agrees. “It can be tricky once formula supplementation enters the picture,” she says. The more you supplement, the less milk your body needs to produce, and the more you have to supplement in response.

Reader’s Digest, 14 Subtle But Powerful Health Benefits of Exercising (Other Than Weight Loss) by Claire Nowak and George Miata — It lowers blood pressure: Even if you have hypertension or prehypertension, exercise can get your BP down to safer levels by changing the stiffness of your blood vessels, so blood can flow more freely. The Mayo Clinic suggests walking, cycling, swimming, and strength training to combat high blood pressure. These foods can also help slash blood pressure levels.

STAT, First Look: Lab-grown voice boxes aim to offer a new option for larynx cancer patients by Megan Thielking — It’s estimated that more than 13,000 new cases of laryngeal cancer will be diagnosed this year — some of which will cost patients all or part of the voice boxes — but new research using stem cells aims to save their speech by growing new larynges right in the lab. Dr. David Lott and his colleagues at the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine are leading the charge to change how laryngeal cancer is treated. “Tissue engineering really expands the number and types of patients we can treat,” he said. They would start by taking in-depth images of a patient’s larynx, which will be used to 3-D print a model that exactly matches the portion that will be resected during surgery.

Reuters, Many pacemaker recipients can safely get non-chest MRIs by Gene Emery — "This is very significant in terms of clinical practice because for years and years and years it's always been that scanning pacemaker patients with MRI was contraindicated" unless they had a newer device specifically designed to be safe during the test, said Dr. Robert Watson, chairman of neuroradiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. But it's also "absolutely imperative that people not misconstrue this study with the sound bite that MRI is safe in patients with pacemakers. You can still kill a patient with an MRI if you do it wrong," said Watson, who was not involved in the study.

Reuters UK, Doctors who find meaning in their work are less likely to feel burnout — Doctors who feel burned out or overwhelmed by the demands of work are less likely to view their work with patients as a “calling” that has meaning, according to a recent study. Burnout - characterized by emotional exhaustion, a loss of a sense of self-identity and a reduced sense of accomplishment - can happen in any occupation, the researchers write in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

HealthDay, Tired of the Ups and Downs of Yo-Yo Dieting by Dennis Thompson — Dr. Donald Hensrud, editor of "The Mayo Clinic Diet," said the study "demonstrates that some follow-up in this period through telephone calls could be beneficial." Hensrud also directs the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, a wellness program that offers six months to a year of follow-up from coaches. "We haven't done a research study like this, but we designed it [the program] for similar reasons," Hensrud said. "We think that staying in touch with people during this so-called maintenance phase is important. People respond to it." Additional coverage: Philly.com, CBS News

MedPage Today, Pearls from: Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD by Kristina Fiore — Questions have been raised about the amyloid hypothesis since several therapeutics aimed at the protein have failed. But Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, argues that the amyloid hypothesis isn't dead yet. The following is a transcript of the discussion.

Outside magazine, Does Altitude Increase Your Risk of a Heart Attack? by David Shultz — Last November, 54-year-old Conrad Anker had a heart attack at 20,000 feet while climbing in Nepal. He was roped to an ice wall at the time of the attack and had to rappel down to base camp before a helicopter could take him to the hospital…In a strange twist of irony, Anker has been working with the Mayo Clinic for the past five years on a series of studies investigating altitude’s effects on the human body. Mayo’s medical scientists have been looking into how altitude affects everything from breathing patterns to gene expression.

NPR, Ice Fishing Has Its Rewards, But Bring A First Aid Kit by Jessica Brody — The researchers found that 35.6 percent of patients had small injuries, like cuts and hook punctures. But close to half the patients – 45.9 percent, to be precise – had muscle or bone injuries, like sprained ankles and broken arms. "That was the surprise — not only did we see an increase in drowning and cold injuries from the water, but they occurred at the same rate of hot thermal injuries," says Dr. Cornelius Thiels, general surgery resident at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and lead author on the study.

Field & Stream, New Study Reveals the True Dangers of Ice Fishing by Joe Albert — When considering the risks involved with ice fishing, anglers would be excused for thinking that falling through the ice poses the greatest threat. Though a danger, it’s only the tip of the iceberg, and far from the most common ice-fishing mishap, according to a new Mayo Clinic study, published recently in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. “Falling through the ice is the most feared risk of ice fishing,” the study’s lead author, Cornelius Thiels, said via the Mayo Clinic News Network. But burns, he added, are just as common, and rarely discussed. “Ice-fishing huts often contain rudimentary heating systems, and we have seen injuries from fires and carbon-monoxide inhalation.”

Duluth News Tribune, Study finds hazards of ice fishing are many and varied —"Falling through the ice is the most feared risk of ice fishing," said Cornelius Thiels, a Mayo surgical resident who was the lead author of the report. "However, it turns out that burns are just as common, but rarely discussed." Nearly half the injuries were orthopedic or musculoskeletal — broken bones, sprains and strains, Thiels said. About one-third involved minor trauma such as cuts, abrasions and, of course, fishing hook punctures. Four burns were reported, likely due to contact with space heaters inside ice fishing shacks. Some cases of carbon monoxide inhalation were reported as well.

First Coast News, Local brain surgeon's life to be made into movie by Brad Pitt's production company by Monica Garcia — From undocumented immigrant, to migrant worker to brain surgeon. That’s the story of one of the country’s top neurosurgeons and the chair of Neurological Surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Doctor Q, or Alfredo Quiñones Hinojosa, said his path to becoming a brain surgeon started in 1987 as a Mexican migrant worker in California.

WOKV Jacksonville, Jacksonville neurosurgeon's life to be adapted in major film by Bridgette Matter — A Jacksonville neurosurgeon who crossed the border in search of a better life will soon be the center of a major movie. Dr. Alfredo Quinones is an internationally renowned neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, but the journey that led him into scrubs wasn’t easy. Originally from Mexico, he began working at just  5 years old at a gas station.

Modern Healthcare, Storefront clinics, expanded telehealth gaining ground by Shelby Livingston — A handful of major providers such as Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Renton, Wash.-based Providence Health & Services, and Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic are partnering with or opening their own retail health clinics to meet demand. It's all about finding “creative ways to be available and accessible to patients outside of traditional work hours,” said Dr. Lynne Lillie, a practicing family physician in Rochester, Minn., and a board member at the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Mayo Clinic invests in virtual-nurse startup by Katharine Grayson — Mayo Clinic has joined in an $8 million round of funding for tech startup Sense.ly, a developer of virtual-nursing technology. Techrunch has a report on San Francisco-based Sense.ly and its app, which presents patients with an avatar named Molly. During five-minute check-in sessions, patients speak to Molly about how they're feeling. The app feeds data collected during the conversation into an electronic medical-records system that physicians can securely access.

Twin Cities Business, Mayo Clinic Spin-off Ambient Clinical Analytics Raising $5.4M by Don Jacobson — Mayo Clinic technology spinoff Ambient Clinical Analytics has raised $3.9 million of a planned $5.4 million private placement stock offering, regulatory filings show. The Regulation D filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, published earlier this month, indicated the offering is part of a Series A and Series A-1 convertible preferred stock deal offered by Ambient, an early-stage company spun off from Mayo Clinic research and housed in its Rochester startup incubator, the Mayo Clinic Biobusiness Accelerator.

KTTC, Healing the Hurt: Some patients turn to acupuncture for relief from grief by Caitlin Alexander — Sara Bublitz is an acupuncturist within Mayo Clinic, including at Mayo Rejuvenate Spa. While she said most patients come in for some kind of pain management, several stumble across this extra use. She said many of those who do experience an emotional release. "It's like a weight has lifted off your shoulders and that sadness can be released. It's really powerful," Bublitz told KTTC.

Healthcare IT News, Mayo Clinic physician proposes smart system to curb alert fatigue by John Andrews — When clinicians are getting annoyed by an overabundance of alerts, it is time to ascertain why the problem exists and plan a strategy for fixing it. And not only is "alarm overload" a prevalent issue – it is listed as the number one health technology hazard by the Emergency Care Research Institute. Vitaly Herasevich, MD, associate professor of anesthesiology and medicine at the Mayo Clinic, attributes the proliferation of alerts to the massive influx of technologies available to clinicians.

AAN, Prognosis of carotid dissecting aneurysms: results from CADISS and a systematic review — Prognosis of carotid dissecting aneurysms: results from CADISS and a systematic review 2) What's Trending: CRISPR gene editing in neuromuscular diseases 3) Neurology Today® paper – spotlight on Dr. John Noseworthy.

National Premier Soccer League, Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Becomes The Title Sponosr of Med City FC by Med City FC — Today Med City FC announced that Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine will be the title sponsor for its inaugural National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) season, which includes marquee placement on the team’s home and away jerseys. “We are excited to announce that Med City FC has joined forces with Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine,” says Frank Spaeth, general manager. “The clinical services, performance training, nutrition and sport psychology that the team will receive from experts at Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine is a huge asset to our growth as a group and the development of our individual players."

ASU Now, Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care: Health Care Payment Reform Summit — The Mayo Clinic - Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care Payment Reform Summit will convene subject matter experts from around the country, including the voice of patients, to inform the development of alternative payment models. The objective is to ensure access to and sustainability of high quality health care in America. With a focus on the needs of patients, the expert participants will examine data drawn from a variety of sources to assess the impact of various payment models on patient access and patterns of health care use.

Myeloma Crowd, Can Social Media Improve Patient Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials? by Lynne Lederman, PHD — Joseph Mikhael, MD, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Phoenix, Arizona, acknowledged that many patients who may be eligible for clinical trials may not be on social media, but that often their family members or caregivers are. However, some patients will never be on Twitter, so other means of patient contact will be needed. “Recruiting underrepresented minorities in clinical trials remains a grave challenge in medicine, and the use of social media might help by broadening the scope of information about clinical trials and research in general,” he said.

Fierce Healthcare, In Mayo’s $5.6B medical technology-focused neighborhood, culture and talent gaps are hurdles to innovation by Gienna Shaw — Anchored by the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, is working to become a showcase for healthcare innovation, but it faces two challenges: the healthcare industry’s aversion to risk and a talent gap the size of the Grand Canyon. Destination Medical Center (DMC) is a 20-year, $5.6 billion economic development initiative “designed to position Minnesota as a global center for the highest quality medical care and to generate high-value jobs, new tax revenue and businesses,” according to the organization’s website.

WTHR, How to talk to your children about tragedy by Wes Anderson — As we learn more about what happened to two teenagers in Delphi, we begin to think about how difficult it is to have conversations about it with our children. We turned to the Mayo Clinic for some expert advice on how to talk to kids about any tragedy you may encounter in your community: They suggest talking about it with your child because it can help them understand what's happened, feel safe, and begin to cope. If you don't tell them, they may hear it from someone else.

Detroit Free Press, Science experiment shows the amazing powers of breast milk by Mary Bowerman — …There's a lot that goes into the decision of whether a woman will continue breastfeeding or stop, including whether she is actually able to produce enough milk or other health reasons, according to Angela Mattke, M.D. in Community Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "If it’s working for both the mother and child and the child is also getting good nutrients from their diet because they can’t survive on breast milk alone ... I think it’s something they can do and there is no reason to stop in most cases," Mattke said.

Fierce Biotech, New culture method boosts T cells' ability to recognize multiple cancers by Amirah Al Idrus — Now researchers from Mayo Clinic and the University of Washington have developed a new process to improve the efficacy of these treatments…“Even though it is relatively easy to collect billions of T cells directly from patient blood, it has historically proved difficult or impossible to unleash those T cells’ natural ability to recognize and target cancer cells,” says Peter Cohen, M.D., a Mayo Clinic immunotherapist, in the statement.

Florida Times-Union, Pet therapy dog Sugar makes her rounds at Mayo — Jacksonville resident Bob Hayes has a golden retriever named Sugar that he uses as a therapy dog at Mayo Clinic and the nearby Community Hospice McGraw Center for Caring, which is part of Community Hospice of Northeast Florida. Hayes and Sugar have been visiting patients at Mayo's oncology and radiology units through the Caring Canines program since 2015. Their visits to McGraw just started a few weeks ago for their Pet Therapy Volunteer Program.

Post-Bulletin, Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees adds new members — There will be some new faces on Mayo Clinic's Board of Trustees. The clinic announced the names of the new trustees on Friday. Three new public trustees will serve four-year terms on the board. They are Xerox Corp. Chairwoman and CEO Emeritus Ursula Burns, U.S. Bancorp Chairman and CEO Richard Davis and former Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Alan Mulally. Also joining the board this year as an internal trustee is Dr. Heidi Nelson, chairwoman of Mayo Clinic's Department of Surgery.

Post-Bulletin, Entrepreneurs cite DMC's 'regional connection' by Brian Todd — While many think of DMC as a health care initiative, Jim Rogers, chairman of Mayo Clinic's newly formed Department of Business Development, said there is plenty of opportunity for growth across the spectrum of businesses including hospitality, service, manufacturing and other sectors of the economy. Diversifying the economy has always been a goal of DMC. One reason, he said, is the spouses of those who come to work at Mayo Clinic need opportunities that fit their skills since many are not health care professionals. "Separately, we want to make sure we have a very vibrant community," Rogers said.

Post-Bulletin, Answer Man — Dear Answer Man, has Mayo Clinic reported its financial results for 2016 yet?...Cleveland Clinic put out its financial report this week and it was dismal. Dismal is in the eye of the beholder, but Cleveland's results last year certainly went the wrong way from 2015 — its operating income dropped by half, from $481 million in 2015 to $243 million last year. But Cleveland officials would say they had their best year ever in 2015, so it was a tough year to match. Mayo hasn't put out its 2016 numbers yet and I'm awaiting a call on when the report will be issued, but the annual report came out in late February last year, and in 2015 Mayo had operating income of $526 million, even better than Cleveland's.

Post-Bulletin, Soccer: Med City FC annouces team sponsor — Med City FC announced Wednesday that Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine will be the title sponsor for its inaugural National Premier Soccer League season. Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine's name will be on the team's home and away jerseys. "We are excited to announce that Med City FC has joined forces with Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine," team general manager Frank Spaeth said. "The clinical services, performance training, nutrition and sports psychology that the team will receive from experts at Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine is a huge asset to our growth as a group and the development of our individual players." Additional coverage: Becker’s Orthopedic & Spine

Post-Bulletin, Who designed Mayowood? The good doctor, of course by Tom Weber — The most famous home in Rochester was designed not by some highly trained architect, but by the owner himself. Of course, the owner was Dr. Charlie Mayo, and the home was Mayowood, the estate Dr. Charlie built starting in 1910 southwest of Rochester. "It's often been asked, 'Did this house have an architect?'" said Ken Allsen, a Rochester architecture historian. "No, it had Dr. Charlie. This was all Dr. Charlie's design."

Post-Bulletin, Kidney stone treatment based on size, type, location of stone — DEAR MAYO CLINIC: How do doctors decide on the best treatment for kidney stones? When I had a calcium stone, my doctor gave me medication and told me to drink plenty of water until it passed. When my mother had one, she went through a procedure to break up the stone. Why the difference? Also, what makes these stones so painful?... Because you have a history of kidney stones, if you haven't already done so, talk with your health care provider about strategies you can use to help prevent stones in the future. In many cases, dietary changes, an increase in fluids and, sometimes, medication can help reduce the risk of kidney stones. — David E. Patterson, M.D., Urology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

Post Bulletin, Heard on the Street: Ambient Clinical trying to raise $5.38 million — A Rochester medical software start-up with deep financial ties to Mayo Clinic is trying to raise $5.38 million. Ambient Clinical Analytics filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 9 to raise the money through the sale of Series A and Series A-1 Convertible Preferred Stock. The filing states the sale of the stock began on Feb. 1, and $3.92 million already has been sold. Ambient CEO Al Berning said this week that once the round of financing has closed in the next few weeks, the firm will announce details about its plans to use the money.

Post-Bulletin, Report: Accidental hospital deaths fall to 4 in 2016 by Brett Boese — Despite some progress at the state and local level, Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler, Mayo's patient safety officer, said he was "disappointed" with the latest report. "We want that number to be zero," Morgenthaler said. "We have as our goal to be the safest place on the planet to be a patient."

Star Tribune, Annual Report on Minnesota hospital errors finds problems with lost tissue samples by Jeremy Olson – A biopsy sample smaller than a pinhead was placed on a sterile towel at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester last year and whisked to a pathology lab. On arrival, the dab of human tissue was nowhere to be found. “We were never able to discern what exactly happened to that specimen,” said Dr. Tim Morgenthaler, Mayo’s chief patient safety officer. Nor could they test the sample to solve the mystery of their patient’s illness. Additional coverage: Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, KROC AM

Star Tribune, Unfriending Facebook: Overwhelmed by social media, more Minnesotans are taking a break by Sharn Jackson — “I hear the words ‘digital detox.’ You cannot do that,” said Dr. Amit Sood, a physician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and the author of a book on happiness. “We live in a world where immediate access to information is the rule of the game, and you cannot be a dinosaur.” Instead of a total withdrawal from social media, what Sood suggests is “digital discipline.” “It’s a bit like spices in your food,” he said. “We need a little bit. But we have overdosed on it.”

KIMT, Plummer Building illuminated to spread awareness of Encephalitis by DeeDee Stiepan — On certian occasions, one of Mayo Clinic’s oldest buildings is lit in recognition of a person or event. On Wednesday evening, the Plummer Building was illuminated red for World Encephalitis Day. “Encephalitis can be deadly, and survivors often face brain injury and a long rehabilitation, making return to school or work difficult,” says Mayo Clinic neurologist Michel Toledano, M.D. “More awareness of the disease is needed by the public and health care providers.”

KAAL, Family Honoring Son's Memory by Giving Back to Pediatric Patients at St. Marys Hospital — A family who lost their two-year old son to Stage Four Neuroblastoma in January is honoring his memory by giving back to the community. Drew Becker spent almost a year going back and forth to Mayo Clinic. The Becker family decided to collect and donate some of Drew's favorite toys to St. Marys Hospital pediatric floor. Drew's mom, Heidi, told ABC 6 News, it's the least they can do after spending more than 160 days coming to the hospital.

KIMT, Area hospitals are Acute Stroke Ready by Hannah Funk — Mayo Clinic Health System – Albert Lea and Austin are being designated as an acute stroke ready hospital by the Minnesota Department of Health. This mean the state believes the hospitals’ emergency department is able to evaluate, stabilize and provide emergency care for patients who are showing stroke symptoms. Dr. Gisli Haraldsson, Medical Director of Emergency Medicine at Mayo Health Systems in Austin says they are honored to be recognized “This is a big deal because 12,000 people a year in Minnesota will have stroke-like symptoms and they’ll need to be treated,” said Dr. Haraldsson.’

Mankato Free Press, Report details preventable events at hospitals statewide by Brian Arola —Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato had nine adverse events among its 37,182 surgeries or invasive procedures performed in this year’s report. Two of the events led to serious injuries, one caused by a fall while being cared for in their facility, the other for the “retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery or other procedure.” Amy Brien, patient safety officer for Mayo Clinic Health System Southwest Minnesota, said in a statement that patient privacy laws prevented her from discussing the details of any of the events. “At Mayo Clinic, our highest priority is the care and safety of our patients,” she said. “Adverse events are not just statistics — they impact the lives of real people with real families. We deeply regret each and every instance.”

Mankato Free Press, Second-grader makes unexplainable recovery after being shot with arrow by Kristine Goodrich — Kirsten and Ron Bressler decided they'd be the ones to tell their 8-year-old son he would never walk again. They recalled how overwhelmed they were by the stream of doctors who filed into a waiting room. The stray arrow that struck their youngest child in the chest had shattered part of his spine and he would be paralyzed from the chest down, the doctors told them. “Sometimes we don't have explanations from a medical standpoint,” said Mayo Clinic pediatric surgeon Denise Klinkner in a video about Curtis. “But with this kind of outcome, I'm OK not having an explanation.”

Albert Lea Tribune, Telemedicine program to benefit patients with behavioral health needs by Sarah Stultz — Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea has expanded its services for patients with behavioral health needs. Bo Madsen, medical director of emergency medicine at Mayo Clinic Health System throughout southeast Minnesota, said many smaller hospitals aren’t able to have psychiatrists and psychologists on hand all the time, so the option for telemedicine gives patients the opportunity for access to these services without having to wait or travel. “Instead of sitting in an emergency department for potentially 72 hours … I think people appreciate that we’re doing things immediately,” Madsen said.

Barron News-Shield, Paramedic program features home visits; Mayo Clinic Health System-Northland in Barron — Recovering from surgery rarely is a walk in the park, but Mike DiPasquale’s journey has been especially challenging. Getting anywhere, let alone to his many medical appointments, is an exhaustive process, which is why DiPasquale is so grateful for Mayo Clinic Health System’s new Community Paramedic Program piloting in nearby Barron. In 2016, Gold Cross Ambulance, in conjunction with Mayo Clinic Health System, launched a pilot program in which paramedics perform in-home visits for at-risk patients. Mayo Clinic Health System providers refer patients to the program.

WQOW Eau Claire, 18th Annual Healthy Heart Fair — Fearghas O’Cochlain, M.D., discusses the upcoming Healthy Heart Fair with WQOW Daybreak anchor Aaron Rhody. Additional coverage: WEAU Eau Claire

La Crosse Tribune, Mayo-Franciscan join for free skin cancer screening by Mike Tighe — Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare and Gundersen Health System and will co-sponsor a free skin cancer screening clinic from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday in the Dermatology Department at Mayo-Franciscan’s Onalaska Clinic. Early diagnosis and treatment makes skin cancer a very manageable condition — even in the case of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.

Becker’s Hospital Review, Physician sues Mayo Clinic Health System for defamation, retaliation by Brian Zimmerman — A former family medicine physician with Mayo Clinic Health System in Lake City, Minn., is suing the Rochester-based system for retaliation and defamation after administrators allegedly took reprisals against him after he raised patient safety concerns in January 2016, according to the Red Wing Republican Eagle. In the lawsuit, John Renelt, MD, alleges he was denied a promotion and threatened with termination after he raised safety concerns regarding service reductions at the Lake City clinic including plans to replace emergency room physicians with nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Crow River Media, Move.Connect. Tip: 5 winter survival tips for beating cabin fever by Mary Henke — With spring still a long way off, many of us are facing a case of the blahs. Call it cabin fever, winter doldrums or winter blues, it is significantly different from the more serious seasonal affective disorder or SAD but still affects our emotional well-being. Dr. Mark Frye from the Mayo Clinic’s Psychology and Psychiatry Department reminds us that a healthy lifestyle strategy is especially helpful during these winter months. Here are a few simple steps from Frye that we can all do.

Greatist, The 44 Healthiest Companies to Work for in AmericaMayo Clinic: Headquarters: Rochester, MN — If working to make people healthier doesn’t inspire you, the Mayo Clinic’s beautiful architecture and extensive art collections probably will. The company is focused on helping its 59,500 employees feel happy and motivated, offering an online wellness portal as well as inpatient treatment coverage for mental health and chemical-dependency issues. The company also supports adoption, offering up to $10,000 reimbursement for related expenses.

Alain Elkann, Combatting stress, the global epidemic of the 21st Century — Dr. Sood, stress is one of the most pronounced words in the world today. How come? Is the concept of stress abused in today’s medicine?...Currently, three out of four people in the world have excessive stress, hence its common usage. This is because of a number of factors that all converge to excessive load on our brain, and the limited capacity of our brain to lift that load.

MedCity News, Mayo Clinic CIO on AI: This stuff is really real by Arundhati Parmar — It’s widely known that patient recruitment is cancer trials is slow. Part of the challenge in low participation is the multitude of clinical trials that are currently available with each of them having lengthy inclusion/exclusion criteria. “It’s also written in technical English language. It’s not structured. It’s not consistent from trial to trial,” explained Cris Ross, CIO of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, which has been doing a trial with IBM Watson Health’s Clinical Trial Matching.

The Sun UK, Fitbit-like sensors to measure OAP’s sleep, balance and heart rate ‘could help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease by Nick McDermott — Researcher David Knopman, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said: “The idea of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease is that, for people who are destined to develop dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, in the years before they become overtly cognitively impaired, there might be subtle things that change in their daily behaviour that, if we knew what to look for, would disclose who might be at risk.”

Becker’s Hospital Review, Opinion: Letting CMS negotiate prices will limit seniors' access to drugs by Mackenzie Bena — President Donald Trump's proposal to let CMS negotiate drug prices could limit seniors' access to beneficial treatments, Rafael Fonseca, MD, a hematologist and oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, said in an op-ed for The Hill. Here are five takeaways….

Austin Daily Research, Faster, higher, stronger’ – Pacelli students explore Mayo research — On Tuesday, Feb. 7, five members of the Pacelli Chapter of HOSA attended the Mayo Clinic “Celebration of Research”in Rochester. The event, themed “Faster, higher, stronger,” started with a keynote address which explored the science of studying elite athletes to understand the limits of human performance. Following the address, individual schools split up to explore the various research conducted at Mayo Clinic

Herald & Review, CDC stresses vaccine need — “Vaccinations prevent infections before they occur,” says Dr. Vandana Bhide, a pediatrician and internal medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic. “Childhood diseases, once thought to have been eradicated, such as measles, mumps, rubella and whooping cough, are making a resurgence in the U.S.” from waning immunity or lack of immunizations,” she says.

Impact Alpha, Rochester positions itself as a hub of medical startups by Jessica Pothering — It might seem audacious for a Minnesota town of 100,000 people to try to become “the Silicon Valley of medicine,” but Rochester has a major ace in its sleeve: the giant Mayo Clinic. The clinic is the state’s largest employer, but it has difficulty finding talent and skilled workers. Mayo, the city and the state of Minnesota will invest $6.5 billion in Discovery Square, a downtown tech park it hopes will attract medical startups. Mayo recently reversed policy to let employees own or manage outside companies; a business accelerator helps employees develop products.

General Surgery News, Study Finds Costs of Inpatient Inflammatory Bowel Disease Care ‘Mind-Boggling’ — Sunanda Kane, MD, professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., called the study “intriguing” and “an important step in sorting out variations in care, as well as costs of care, to help prioritize outpatient medical therapy that might be denied because of expense.”

Men’s Health, Can Your Anxiety Impact How Long You Last In Bed? by Alisa Hrustic — What’s more, there weren’t many severe cases of premature ejaculation reported in this study. It all boils down to whether or not you actually have a problem in the first place: Your average, “normal” American man only lasts 13 minutes in bed, says Landon Trost, M.D., a urologist and Head of Andrology and Male Infertility at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Prensa Libre, Cuándo deben preocuparnos las "lagunas mentales" — En los adultos mayores, los problemas de la memoria son preocupantes cuando afectan la información que es particularmente importante o conocida, cuando las lagunas mentales son más frecuentes o cuando las dificultades de la memoria interfieren con las actividades diarias, comenta la médica Ericka Tung, de departamento de Atención Primaria de Medicina Interna, de Mayo Clinic de Rochester, Minnesota.

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