May 26, 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

 

Pioneer Press
Once a migrant worker, he’s revolutionizing brain surgery, cancer fight
by Ruben Rosario

Dr. Q’s eyes widen and the hands that once picked grapes and now perform surgeries spring into action. He explains in layman’s terms how he and a plastic surgeon teamed up to perform anterior brain tumor removals through an incision on the eyelid. “The way traditional surgery has been done is to remove the scalp forward, and then you do the removal of the bone,St. Paul Pioneer Press Logo and then you take the tumor out,” Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa explained during a chat Thursday at a hotel in downtown Rochester, Minn. Now, he explained, the plastic surgeon teammate “makes the same incision used for movie stars when their eyelids get droopy.” And tumors as large as three centimeters have been excised through this eyebrow-raising technique. Supremely impressive. The same could be said of Quiñones-Hinojosa, who now serves as chair of Neurologic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic complex in Jacksonville, Fla. Colleagues tagged him with that catchy Dr. Q moniker years ago.

Reach: The St. Paul Pioneer Press has a daily circulation of 208,280 and its Sunday newspaper circulation is 284,507. Its TwinCities.com website had approximately 20.4 million page views (March 2013). Mobile page views on smartphones and tablet computers totaled more than 11.4 million in March 2013.

Additional coverage: MedCity Beat

Previous coverage in May 12, 2017 Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights
Previous coverage in January 13, 2017 Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights
Previous coverage in September 23, 2016 Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights
Previous coverage in April 22, 2016 Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights

Context: Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, M.D., prominent neurosurgeon, researcher and educator, joined Mayo Clinic in 2016 as chair of the Department of Neurosurgery on the Florida campus, along with several members of his research team from Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Quinones-Hinojosa is renown nationally and internationally as a surgeon, researcher, humanitarian and author. His laboratory has published many manuscripts and articles, submitted a number of patents and obtained three NIH grants. Students and fellows who worked with Dr. Quinones-Hinojosa have gone on to join leading neuroscience programs throughout the world. Mayo Clinic's world-renowned neurosurgeons perform more than 7,000 complex surgical procedures every year at campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota.

Contact: Kevin Punsky

 

Kiplinger
Joint-Replacement Surgery Gets Boomers Back in the Game
by Pat Mertz Esswein

… Joint replacement is not just a boon to hurting baby boomers; it is also a lucrative business. Surgeons and hospitals often compete for patients by touting a particular product, technique Kiplinger Logoor surgical strategy. For instance, some surgeons repeat manufacturers’ claims that the replacement they use produces the “best knee for an athlete” or “best knee for a woman.” In fact, all hip and knee implants have become more durable and anatomically accurate than they used to be and function more naturally thanks to innovations in design and materials, including a wear-resistant plastic that all manufacturers use. These implants come in all sizes and can be mixed and matched to create an exact fit for any patient, says Dr. Mark Pagnano, professor and chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn.

Context: Kiplinger is a Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice, available in print and online. Its monthly personal finance magazine has more than 618,000 subscribers and its website has more than 3.1 million unique visitors each month.

Context: Mark Pagnano, M.D. is a Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon. Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeons are recognized nationally and internationally for their surgical technical excellence and innovative abilities to solve both simple and difficult orthopedic problems.

Contact: Rhoda Fukushima Madson

 

Post-Bulletin
Just 24, he gives Mayo's carillon new peal
by Matthew Stolle

As Mayo Clinic's newest carillonneur, Austin Ferguson has one foot planted in a 500-year-old musical tradition and one finger on his Twitter feed. High above the Mayo campus, in the belfry of the Plummer Building, Ferguson serenades clinic employees and patients alike on his carillon, a medieval piano-like instrument that uses bells instead of strings. Ferguson is onlyLogo for Post-Bulletin newspaper the fourth carillonneur (you have to say it like the French, "care-uh-lawn-NUR") ever employed by Mayo since it installed the instrument in 1928. And, at 24, he is by far the youngest Mayo player and perhaps the youngest in all of North America.

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.

Additional coverage:

KIMT, Mayo Clinic's bells play in honor of Manchester bombing victims
KAALRochester's Special Musical Tribute to Manchester
KTTCPlummer Building carillonneur performs tribute to Manchester
MPR,  In a tower 300 feet above Rochester, a new carillonneur plays songs for all to hear

Context: Since its dedication on Sept. 16, 1928, the Rochester carillon has become a Mayo Clinic landmark. In honor of its 85th anniversary, long-lost chimes and songs will return to the original 23 bells of the Rochester carillon, and many new musical selections will become possible — all through a computerized clock function.

Contact:  Kelly Reller

 

Cronkite News
Officials hope new Mayo Clinic medical school in Scottsdale will help ease state’s doctor shortage
by Amanda Luberto

Dr. Amit Shah smiles as he demonstrates the new technology at the Mayo Clinic’s new medical school campus in Scottsdale. “There is no center stage in the middle, (with) just a person Cronkite News Logobeaming down information at you, as many of us – unfortunately – learned in medicine,” he said. Shah said the school will provide a new way to learn the practice of medicine. “You’re not smart anymore as a physician because you know some small detailed fact,” Shah said. “You’re great as a physician if you know how to communicate to patients, to work in teams and how to access information.”

Reach: Cronkite News features stories, photos and video packages about Arizona issues. The news service is a part of Arizona State University and serves as a professional experience for the students of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Cronkite News is also the news division of Arizona PBS. Its website receives more than 5,200 unique visitors each month.

Related coverage:
Post-Bulletin, Dear Answer Man, did you know that Mayo Medical School is expanding to Mayo Scottsdale?

Context: Mayo Clinic School of Medicine matriculated its first class in 1972. For over 40 years, a world-class faculty of physicians and scientists has educated aspiring physicians in patient-centered, science-driven, team-based, high-value health care. Founded upon Mayo Clinic's 150-year-old tradition of patient-centered care, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is highly innovative and selective, cultivating future physician leaders through a broad array of unparalleled learning opportunities.

Contacts:  Deborah Anderson, Jim McVeigh

 

WCCO
Mayo Clinic Researchers Declare ‘Smartphone Thumb’ War
by Angela Davis

Doctors say more and more patients complain about pain in their thumb each year…The repetitive motion appears to be leading to cases of tendonitis as people use their thumbs to tap out their thoughts on their smartphones. “One of the hypotheses is that, you know, the joints get loose and lax, and because of that the bones kind of move differently than they would in a normal situation,” said Dr. Kristin Zhao, a biomedical engineer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Dr. Zhao and a team of doctors have been looking into what’s called “smartphone thumb” for the last seven years. She says the movements we require our thumbs to make as we hold our phones are awkward.

Reach: WCCO 4 News is the CBS affiliate for Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Additional coverage: MSN

Other WCCO coverage:
WCCO, How Much Vitamin D Should We Be Getting?

Context: Kristin D. Zhao, Ph.D., uses innovative technologies, device fabrication and imaging methods to investigate pathogenesis related to the musculoskeletal system. The long-term goal of Dr. Zhao's research team is to develop and use diagnostic tools to enable earlier diagnosis, prescribe effective interventions for individuals with disabilities and diseases, and assess outcomes. You can learn more about her research here.

Contact: Rhoda Fukushima Madson

CNN, Experts' tips for choosing the safest sunscreen by Robert Jimison — … A new report released Tuesday by the Environmental Working Group claims that 73% of the 880 sunscreens it tested don't work as well as advertised or contain "worrisome" ingredients. The authors of the annual report say they hope to help consumers make smarter choices when choosing the right products -- because not all sunscreens are made equal. … Dr. Dawn Davis, a dermatologist at the Mayo Clinic who was not involved in the new reports, says SPF is a ratio of how long a person without sunscreen can be in the sun without experiencing any redness divided by the amount of time you can spend in sunlight with a product on. Additional coverage: Inhabitat

CNN, Not stretching? Companies will do it for you by Amy Chillag — There are many stretch routines you can try, depending on your comfort level and your body's quirks. Just taking a beginner's yoga or therapeutic yoga class will help you get started with some ideas you can use at home. For older adults, the National Institute on Aging recommends stretches for the neck, shoulders, back and upper body. And the Mayo Clinic offers 10 basic stretches you can do every day.

CNN, A drink a day tied to higher breast cancer risk, report says by Jacqueline Howard — … Now, a new report from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research reveals just how much of a risk daily drinking might pose for both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. … On the other hand, Dr. Kathryn Ruddy, a breast medical oncologist at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, questioned whether eating or avoiding specific foods can help prevent breast cancer. "As the report describes, it is very clear that vigorous exercise protects against the development of breast cancer, and alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer, but the data are much more limited regarding the impact of any particular food on risk," Ruddy said. Additional coverage: News4Jax

Los Angeles Times, Is this normal forgetfulness or should I be worried about Alzheimer's? by Amber Dance — If the diagnosis is Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. David Knopman of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., says he might offer medications that can dull the symptoms. Patients might want to sign up for clinical trials of novel drugs. Physicians also bring up safety concerns. A person might have to stop driving or caring for grandchildren. In addition, she or he may need assistance with managing money, medications and meals.

Star Tribune, Construction boom sweeps away worries about Rochester's DMC project by Matt McKinney — It was just a year and a half ago that city leaders here wondered aloud about their downtown’s future, with a $5.6 billion Mayo Clinic expansion project seemingly bogged down in meetings and endless public comment. What a difference a crane makes. A construction boom in recent months has swept away worries that work on the ambitious Destination Medical Center project might never begin, with hard-hatted crews, “Help Wanted” signs and a pair of towering steel cranes filling the streets and instilling leaders with a new sense of optimism about the development’s next phase. Additional coverage: Post-Bulletin

ELLE, These Types of Skin Cancer Are On the Rise, Says New Report by Lilian Min — As reported by Allure, a Mayo Clinic-led research team discovered that new diagnoses of two types of skin cancer are increasing at pretty startling rates. Between 2000 and 2010, new basal cell carcinoma (BCC) diagnoses rose 145%, and new squamous cell/cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) diagnoses rose 263%. When compared to earlier decades of skin cancer research, women across the board bore longer-term increases in carcinoma diagnoses. Additional coverage: TeenVogue, New York Post, Huffington Post Canada

Nature, China expands DNA data grab in troubled western region by David Cyranoski — Police in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, China, have been collecting DNA samples from citizens and are now ramping up their capacity to analyse that genetic cache, according to evidence compiled by activists and details gathered by Nature…Megan Allyse, a biomedical-ethics researcher at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, says that DNA profiling is especially fraught in China, because there seems to be no clear framework governing how the samples can be collected, transferred or stored, or when they are allowed to be used in court, and other matters. She hopes that countries can work together to use the data justly. “We need broad, international consensus on the appropriate use of DNA in national-security collections,” she says.

Washington Post, People love probiotics, but do they really help? by Christine Yu — Few well-designed human studies offer conclusive evidence that manipulating the gut’s microorganisms can prevent or treat specific diseases, says Purna Kashyap, an assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic and a member of the scientific advisory board for the American Gastroenterological Association’s Center for Gut Microbiome Research and Education…“We’ll see a new wave of probiotics coming out that can be used to treat disease” in the coming years, Kashyap predicts. Additional coverage: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Star Tribune

Reuters, With mental health problems, fitness is tied to reduced risk of death by Carolyn Crist — For men experiencing emotional distress like depression, anxiety or thoughts of suicide, having high cardiorespiratory fitness may cut the risk of death in half compared to those in poor condition, researchers say.Mental health conditions cost the U.S. about $2.5 trillion in 2010 and are projected to cost the country $6 trillion by 2030, the authors write in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Reuters, U.S. FDA panel backs Puma Biotech's breast cancer drug by Toni Clarke — Puma Biotechnology Inc's experimental breast cancer drug reduces the risk of disease recurrence and should be approved, an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Wednesday… "The benefit in absolute terms is relatively modest," said Dr. Grzegorz Nowakowski, associate professor of medicine and oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, adding: "toxicity appears to be manageable." The most significant side effect of the drug was diarrhea, which affected 95 percent of patients. In 40 percent of cases, the diarrhea was severe. In total, 28 percent of patients discontinued neratinib due to a side effect.

Newsweek, Women in Medicine: Female Physicians Get Called ‘Doctor’ Less Than Their Male Colleagues by Stav Ziv — Dr. Julia Files was the only woman onstage with three male physicians and a male moderator. Each doctor had given a presentation on his or her area of expertise, and the event—a large and formal meeting with about 500 people in attendance—was coming to a close. The moderator then thanked Dr. So-and-So Man, Dr. Such-and-Such Guy, Dr. This-and-That Dude. And he thanked Julia. Files, a physician and associate professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic Arizona in Scottsdale, was rattled. “I was really quite taken aback. I thought, Did that just happen? Am I being sensitive? Is it me? Did he do that? Did he mean to do that?” Files tells Newsweek.

HealthDay, Too Many Americans Still Go Without Cancer Screenings by Dennis Thompson — Screening can catch certain cancers while they are still treatable, but too few Americans are receiving regular testing, Sauer and her colleagues found. The lowest rates of screening tend to be among the uninsured, noted Dr. Jan Buckner, an oncologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Recent immigrants also were less likely to receive regular cancer screening, possibly because they either are uninsured or don't know how to access health care. "What does stand out is the unevenness of screening and prevention, and it's pretty clear that a lot of the disparity relates to income," Buckner said.

US News & World Report, California Botulism Outbreak Is Rare Case of Deadly Disease — A deadly botulism outbreak linked to contaminated nacho-cheese dip sold in a California gas station is a rare case of the disease that can cause paralysis and death. The outbreak in the Sacramento area left one man dead and sent nine people to a hospital…The Mayo Clinic reports that symptoms of foodborne botulism typically begin between 12 and 36 hours after the toxin gets into a body. However, the time can range from a few hours to several days, depending on the amount of toxin ingested.

MedPage Today, Long-Term Opioids May Not Help in Polyneuropathy—Patients had worse functional outcomes than controls; some became dependent by Kristin Jenkins — Long-term opioid therapy in patients with polyneuropathy appears to increase the risk of adverse outcomes without benefiting functional status, researchers said. Data from a retrospective, population-based cohort study showed that 18.8% of 2,892 patients with polyneuropathy received opioids continuously for at least 90 days compared to 5.4% of 14,435 controls. They were also more likely to rely on gait aids and have difficulty climbing stairs (adjusted HR 1.7) and experience depression (adjusted HR 1.53), opioid dependence (aHR 2.85), and opioid overdose (aHR 5.12) compared to controls, Christopher J. Klein, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, and colleagues reported online in JAMA Neurology.

Washington Times, Cannabis shows promise for rare seizure disorder by Laura Kelly — Elaine Wirrell, a co-participant and principal investigator in the study at the Mayo Clinic, said that its “modest” findings offer at least one more option for patients and families hit by the disease. “Even though it did reduce seizure burden, it did not stop the seizures completely, and so you still have that uncertainty: When is that next seizure coming? When is the next prolonged seizure coming?” said Dr. Wirrell, a pediatric epileptologist. “We haven’t by any means fixed this, but it certainly gives us one more option.”

Men’s Fitness, The new 3D scanning ShapeScale can measure exactly how you're gaining and losing body mass by Brittany Smith — Earlier this month, the Mayo Clinic rolled out its 'Body Volume Indicator' app to slay the Body Mass Index for good. But while the BVI was hailed as a vast improvement over the often inaccurate BMI, the Mayo Clinic's app had one problem: It wasn't accessible to everyday men and women. To measure your volume of body fat, visceral fat, abdomen volume, waist-to-hip ratio, BMI, and your unique BVI number, you'd have to make an appointment with a doctor, exercise physiologist, or dietician who has the BVI Pro app—not exactly a useful metric if you're trying to track your progress day by day or week to week.

Becker’s Hospital Review, 4 questions with Mayo revenue cycle chair Mark Norby by Kelly Gooch Mark Norby's tenure at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic spans more than two decades. Mr. Norby currently serves as Mayo's revenue cycle chair overseeing a team of more than 2,000 employees. He previously served in accounting and administration. Mr. Norby recently answered questions from Becker's Hospital Review about his greatest challenges as a revenue cycle leader and how he would improve the revenue cycle process.

Fierce Healthcare, Your next supply chain recruit may not need healthcare experience by Ron Shinkman — … The five hospital C-suite and supply chain executives said during the event that they are looking beyond the healthcare industry for recruiting, with a focus primarily on those skilled in moving and tracking many items at once. Dan Schmitz, senior director for procure to pay and account/supply chain informatics at the Mayo Clinic, said the venerable Minnesota-based system has in recent years recruited supply chain executives from the military and the cargo shipping industry.

Men’s Health, Can Porn Really Kill Your Sex Life? by Alisa Hrustic — There is no official diagnosis for “porn addiction,” says Tobias Kohler, M.D., professor of urology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota who was not involved with the study. But he emphasizes that he has seen patients let it consume their lives, which certainly has the potential to harm your quality of life and relationships—and even your sexual function.

Healio, Kidney health, chronic kidney disease: What PCPs need to know — According to the CDC, diabetes and elevated BP both increase a patient’s risk for developing chronic kidney disease. Other risk factors include lupus, high cholesterol, obesity and CVD, or a family history of kidney disease. Healio Family Medicine spoke with LaTonya Hickson, MD, nephrologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, as well as Anna Burgner MD, associate program director, Nephrology Fellowship Training Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, about what primary care physicians (PCPs) can do to promote kidney health and kidney disease.

Modern Healthcare, Few doctors discuss cancer costs with patients, study finds — Cancer patients are three times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people without cancer are, but many doctors are not having the conversations that might help prevent this and sometimes don't know the cost themselves, the results suggest. "That would not occur in any other industry I can think of" where a service or product is sold, said the study leader, Dr. Rahma Warsame of the Mayo Clinic. Additional coverage: The LedgerWLWT Cincinnati, Savannah Morning News

Medical Xpress, A new resource that could change community and public health: Rochester Epidemiology Project's Data Exploration Portal — The Rochester Epidemiology Project's new Data Exploration Portal places regional disease prevalence data at the fingertips of health care providers and researchers. It pulls from the database that includes nearly all health information for Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents back more than 50 years… Patients, too, can find the portal informative as they seek to learn more about their disease. "A patient recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis can find out how common the disease is in the area and know that she is not alone," says Walter Rocca, M.D., a neurologist and epidemiologist at Mayo Clinic, and co-director of the Rochester Epidemiology Project. "A son whose father has Parkinson's disease can learn how common the disease is and how the risk increases with age, and is greater for men."

Cardiovascular Business, Edwards Lifesciences’ philanthropy project estimated to impact 1 million people by 2020 by Katherine Davis — The Every Heartbeat Matters initiative, launched in 2014, is estimated to impact 1 million underserved people by 2020, according to a press release. "Millions of people around the world suffer from heart valve disease, yet unbeknown to most, the disease is highly treatable once detected," said Maurice E. Sarano, MD, professor of medicine at Mayo Medical School and director of the Valvular Heart Disease Clinic and consultant in Cardiovascular Diseases and International Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in a statement. The initiative helps support cardiac and patient-focused non-profit organizations that screen and treat underserved populations who may be at risk for heart valve disease. More than $15 million has been donated to the cause.

MobiHealthNews, The vision of precision medicine takes shape — The HIMSS Precision Medicine Summit was created to help advance the growing body of knowledge. It will bring together healthcare professionals who are engaged in both research and pilot projects. They’ll be sharing their findings and their plans for future investment…Sharon Zehe, attorney at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical Laboratories, will talk about the legal barriers facing providers and researchers in precision medicine initiatives. Specific topics will include the need to prepare privacy protections for patients, and how to provide affordable testing for patients without running afoul of laws governing fraud and discrimination.

Medscape, Long-Term Opioids for Neuropathy Linked to Adverse Events by Fran Lowry — "In general, opioid chronic therapy did not tend to have benefits for patients with peripheral neuropathy in our study, and if anything, it was associated with negative outcomes," lead author, E. Matthew Hoffman, DO, PhD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, told Medscape Medical News. "Another key finding was that there was a subset of patients who were on chronic opioid therapy who did not seem to have had an adequate trial of non-opioid medications that are commonly recommended for neuropathic pain. That was a small group, but that is a group of patients in whom we could have done better," Dr Hoffman said.

Disabled World, Life Expectancy for People With Parkinson's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia — A new Mayo Clinic study in the JAMA Neurology has some answers for patients with Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia, multiple system atrophy with parkinsonism and Parkinson's disease dementia. "As doctors, we want to be able to counsel our patients appropriately when they ask, 'What will happen to me?'" says Rodolfo Savica, M.D., Ph.D., lead author and a neurologist at Mayo Clinic. "Understanding long-term outcomes can help clinicians better inform patients and their caregivers about what to expect." Additional coverage: AlzforumMedscape

Florida Times-Union, Go Red Luncheon to focus on heart-healthy living by Ann Friedman — Amy Pollak, chair of the Go Red for Women Luncheon and Mayo Clinic cardiologist, said the event helps raise money for educational efforts and research to help more women affected by stroke and heart disease. “We wanted to create an event we think will not only be a meaningful time together to focus on this cause, but a time for fellowship and camaraderie to learn to live more heart-healthy lives,” she said. We’ll offer health screenings for the attendees so they can have their blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose checked, and we’ll have a chef who will give advice on making healthy eating more fun,” she said. “There are so many fun and creative ways to get more vegetables and fruit into our diets.”

News4Jax, Frances Bartlett Kinne turns 100 — Dr. Frances Bartlett Kinne, Jacksonville University's chancellor emeritus, celebrated her 100th birthday on Monday. Kinne was a trailblazer in education in Jacksonville and across the nation. She was the first female dean of a college of fine arts. She was then named president of JU, becoming the first female college president in the state of Florida.

South Florida Reporter, 4 Keys To Healthful Snacking (Video) — Eating the right snacks at the right time could be the key to better managing your weight. Margaret Brown, a registered dietitian with Mayo Clinic, offers four keys to healthful snacking. In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Brown explains the factors that can make it easier to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

Alzforum, Finally, a Dye to Visualize Pericyte Function — Researchers identified a dye that selectively labels perivascular cells in capillary beds of live mice, while eschewing adjacent smooth muscle cells that surround larger arterioles… However, Takahisa Kanekiyo at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, noted that it remains possible the dye labels only a subpopulation of pericytes. He said further studies will be needed to fully settle the debate over whether any pericyte population contributes to brain blood flow.

KARE 11, Cloud State professor searching for liver donor by Bryan Piatt — Bel Kambach has traveled the globe - 103 countries, to be exact. After noticing a severe itch on her feet, Bel was diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis, or PBC, back in 2009. PBC is an auto-immune disease that essentially destroys the liver. Bel says her liver is failing. “This is end stage, this is the last that you get with PBC. Already, your liver is dying,” she says… The donor's liver would eventually grow back, but Mayo Clinic Transplant Center Director Dr. Charles Rosen says it's a procedure that doesn't come without risk. “With kidney transplantation, for instance, a living donor kidney, the risk of that donor’s life is one in a couple of thousand. For living liver donation, the risk to a donor's life is about one in 300,” Dr. Rosen says. Dr. Rosen, who isn't directly treating Bel, says it's an extensive process to figure out if someone is a match and that most organ donations come from people close to the patient, like friends and family.

Star Tribune, Cybersecurity experts gather to try to prevent future attacks like WannaCry by Joe Carlson — An entire team of experts works at the Mayo Clinic to ensure that 25,000 networked medical devices — everything from digital cameras to proton beam therapy systems — are hardened against cyberattacks like the WannaCry worm that affected hospitals from England to China last week. It’s no easy job, but — knock on wood — there have been no reported successful cyberattacks or malicious outsiders hacking Mayo’s systems. Still, the WannaCry worm has infected at least some medical devices in the U.S., and well-funded hospitals like the Mayo Clinic may not be the first medical centers where successful hacking would crop up. Rather, the public ought to think about the more than 600 financially struggling hospitals in smaller communities that are on the verge of closure. “Those are the people that we need to keep in mind for medical devices, not Mayo,” said Kevin McDonald, Mayo’s director of clinical information security. Additional coverage: Healthcare IT News

Star Tribune, 5 nasty Minnesota bugs to watch out for this summer by Allie Shah — Blacklegged Ticks: Most active time: These crittters (also known as deer ticks) are actively biting in late spring and early summer. Risk of human infection from a tick bite is highest now, said Dr. Bobbi Pritt, a parasite expert at Mayo Clinic.

Twin Cities Business, Rochester Medical Analytics Firm Apri Health Lands $500K Debt Financing by Don Jacobson — Rochester-based medical data analytics firm Apri Health, cofounded by former Mayo Clinic doctor Mark Ereth, landed $500,000 in convertible debt financing as it seeks to expand its market focus. Apri Health was founded four years ago as Transfuse Solutions in the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator startup incubator. It had the backing of Rochester Area Economic Development Inc., which administers city- and state-funded small business loan programs and runs the incubator with a mission to translate Mayo medical innovations into local entrepreneurism.

Post-Bulletin, Mayo's Florida campus designated as pancreas center by Brett Boese — Mayo Clinic now has two of the country's 35 facilities designated as a National Pancreas Foundation Center. Mayo's Jacksonville campus was added to that list last week, joining Mayo's Rochester campus on the distinguished list. A National Pancreas Foundation Center is considered premier health care that focus on the multidisciplinary treatment of pancreatic cancer by treating the "whole patient," with a focus on the best possible outcomes and an improved quality of life, Mayo said via news release. Additional coverage: Florida Times-Union

Post-Bulletin, Mayo Clinic requires staff to 'Fly Local' by Jeff Kiger — Most Mayo Clinic employees are now required to fly out of the Rochester International Airport under a new policy announced this week. "Mayo Clinic has recognized the importance of local air service to our patients since the Mayo brothers established Rochester's first airport with commercial air service in 1928," according to a statement from Mayo Clinic Spokeswoman Kelly Reller. "To the extent the airport flourishes so will our community, and travelers will be rewarded through competitive pricing, schedules, and reliability at RST." Additional coverage: Minneapolis/St. Paul Business JournalMPR, Becker’s Hospital Review

Post-Bulletin, Health officials: Vaccines create 'walls' against measles infection by Brett Boese — Southeast Minnesota hasn't had a single measles case since at least 1989, but health officials are on edge as the state's worst outbreak in nearly 30 years rages just 90 miles to the north. Mayo Clinic pediatrician Nusheen Ameenuddin told a predominantly Somali crowd Monday night that she's spent a significant amount of time googling "those wacko websites" in order to know what information she needs to debunk in order to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

Post-Bulletin, Slight change in HPV vaccine guidelines for children younger than 15 — DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I recently took my 12-year-old daughter to the doctor for her third HPV vaccination and was told the third shot no longer is required. Why did this change? Also, why doesn't the HPV vaccine work for people older than 26?...Updated guidelines recently published for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine remain largely the same as the previous recommendations. But, as your doctor told you, there has been a change from three to two required shots in most healthy children ages 9 to 14. The HPV vaccine has proven to be a safe and effective way to prevent HPV infection. But the vaccine does not effectively treat an existing infection. So the best time for girls and boys to get the vaccine is before they are exposed to the virus. — Gerardo Colon-Otero, M.D., Hematology/Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.

KTTC, Stay Out of the Sun Run promotes melanoma and other skin cancer research by Justin McKee — "The objective of the run has really been to make people aware that skin cancer can be a fatal disease and to make folks aware of the risks of skin cancer and that of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, so that people can avoid developing risk factors, sunburns, and so forth in the summer months," said Mayo Clinic Melanoma Program Chair Dr. Svetomir Markovic. Along with the Stay Out of the Sun Run, Mayo is hosting a melanoma education conference for survivors, patients, and their caregivers. It's a day long event and will be held Saturday in Geffen Auditorium at the Gonda Building in downtown Rochester.

KTTC, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine students are the first graduating class from the recently renamed school by Ala Errebhi — The school was formerly known as Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. But for students, that doesn't matter because they're about to enter the next chapter of their lives. It may be the end of a journey, but it's the beginning of a new adventure. Students from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will begin exciting new chapters as researchers or resident doctors. Forty-three medical students and 21 PhD doctoral students saw the fruits of their labor as they wore their sashes and got their degrees Saturday morning. Additional coverage: Post-Bulletin

KAAL, Young Mayo Clinic Patients Build Memories Through Woodworking — Friday morning pediatric patients at Mayo Clinic's Children's Center had the chance to be carpenters for a day. Chad Scheer, a carpenter with the North Central States Regional Council of carpenters, said every month the purpose is to give these kids a break from whatever they're going through. "But if it's two hours a month that we can come down here and do a project with them it relieves their day just for a moment, “ said Scheer. Additional coverage: KIMT

KEYC Mankato, Mayo Clinic Opens News Ambulance Facility by Angela Rogers — The Mayo Clinic's new ambulance facility had an open house Sunday. People from around the community were able to check out the new space and have some fun with a rollover simulator, a fire safety simulator, play with rescue equipment. The construction of the facility cost Mayo Clinic 1-point-6 million dollars. They moved into the building in November and say even though they already had an impressive response time of less than 2-minutes, the building has allowed them to be even faster and in this business, every second counts.

Austin Daily Herald, Our opinion: Take advantage of free screenings for area athletes — Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin will offering free sports qualifying physicals to area school athletes, grades sixth through 12th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on June 7 in the Musculoskeletal Center, located on the lower level of the medical center, 1000 First Dr. NW, Austin. Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea will provide free sports-qualifying physicals next week for athletes in grades six through 12.

Government Technology, Cybersecurity Experts Gather In Wake of WannaCry Attacks — An entire team of experts works at the Mayo Clinic to ensure that 25,000 networked medical devices -- everything from digital cameras to proton beam therapy systems -- are hardened against cyberattacks like the WannaCry worm that affected hospitals from England to China last week. It’s no easy job, but -- knock on wood -- there have been no reported successful cyberattacks or malicious outsiders hacking Mayo’s systems.

WisContext, Lyme Disease Is Underreported In Wisconsin, But How Much Does It Matter? By Scott Gordon — … So far, the Mayo Clinic researchers who discovered (and, of course, named) Borrelia mayoniihave found it only in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and only a few cases at that. Like Borrelia burgdorferimayonii is carried by deer ticks, so cases of Lyme disease caused by the two organisms may follow a similar distribution. "I think it does raise the question of whether there are other species that can cause Lyme disease," said Bobbi Pritt, who leads the Mayo Clinic lab group that discovered the bacterium.

Israel21C, Longevity and aging: focus of Israeli int’l biomed confab by Abigail Leichman — … Some 6,000 researchers, physicians, hospital executive life-science entrepreneurs, academics, industrialists and investors from 45 countries are expected to attend. “Among the co-organizers of the conference are the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic, both among the leading medical centers in the US and worldwide. In addition, we are expecting delegations from East Asia and Europe,” said MIXiii Biomed co-chair Ruti Alon.

Medical Xpress, Dentists in good compliance with American Heart Association guidelines according to Rochester epidemiology project — In the first study examining dental records in the Rochester Epidemiology Project, results show that dentists and oral surgeons are in good compliance with guidelines issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) in 2007, describing prophylactic antibiotic use prior to invasive dental procedures. Additional coverage: Economic Times

KEYC Mankato, Truman Woman Battles Flesh Eating Bacteria — Tammy Steven's battle with necrotizing fasciitis began the night of January 18th…Tammy was then taken to the progressive care unit and diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis. But everything wasn't adding up to nurse practitioner Kelly Taylor. Mayo Clinic Health System Nurse Practitioner Kelly Taylor says, "The thing that struck me was they had done a cat scan of the chest which showed a mass on her right chest. What I was expecting to find when she told me she had hip pain and I sent her back down to the scanner was that she had metastatic breast cancer." But when the call came back that there was free air in her thigh indicating an infection, Kelly knew they didn't have much time. Taylor says, "We hadn't even gotten the cat scan of the abdomen and pelvic yet I contacted Rochester to get the ball rolling because I knew that this was and she needed surgery."

EScience Times, Bone Marrow Stem Cell Treatment (BMAC) for Knee Osteoarthritis – Mayo Clinic by Amjad Shahzad — Shane Shapiro, M.D., orthopedic physician at Mayo Clinic in Florida, discusses a regenerative medicine clinical research trial to treat knee arthritis, which is the… (video).

San Diego Union-Tribune, Second opinion not your first thought by Doug Wiliams — James Naessens, a health care policy researcher at Mayo Clinic, summarizes the results of a study on results of second opinions (video). Additional coverage: Nine News Australia

Samaritan’s Purse, Sampson and Greta Van Susteren Return to Liberia! — After receiving life-changing surgery in the United States—thanks to Mayo Clinic and Greta Van Susteren—a 16-year-old named Sampson has returned home to Liberia…Once he arrived at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in January 2017, it was determined that he had an incurable genetic condition known as neurofibromatosis type 1, with large neurofibroma plexiform tumors of the face. His left eye had been blinded by the tumors long ago and that vision cannot be restored by current medical science. His right eyelid and eye area had large tumors that were threatening to destroy his right eye, which retains good vision.

AccuWeather, Heat and medication: Pharmacists share tips to keep your prescriptions safe by Bianca Barr Tunno — With warmer days on the horizon, pharmacists recommend to ‘keep it cool’ when you are storing prescription and over-the-counter medication. Many medications should be stored at controlled room temperature, which is considered to be 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, and some can handle a temperature range of 59 to 86 degrees for short bouts, according to Emily Holm, Pharm.D., Mayo Clinic Health System pharmacist. Holm told AccuWeather that patients run into trouble with medication safety and effectiveness when storage locations exceed 86 F. If your home is unusually hot during spring and summer, your medications could lose their potency.

EMS World, Mayo Clinic Paramedic Careers: The Value of Teamwork — In a new series of videos from Minnesota's Mayo Clinic/Gold Cross Ambulance, paramedics talk about what they like about working for the system. For Kathy Lamont, that includes the education available, great supervisors and a sense of teamwork with colleagues.

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