August 25, 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

 

Wall Street Journal
Who’s on First? Great-Grandpa! Softball Bends the Rules for Seniors
by James Hagerty

An estimated 393,000 Americans over 55 regularly play slow-pitch softball, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. It isn’t clear how many are over 70, but league managers around the country say the 70-plus set is a fast-growing segment. That reflects demographics. There were 13.9 million men aged 70 or over in the U.S. in 2016, up 17% from 2011, according to census estimates. Dr. James Kirkland, director of Mayo Clinic’s Kogod Center on Aging, credits medical care that allows more people to survive heart attacks, cancer and strokes.

Reach: The Wall Street Journal, a US-based newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, has an average circulation of 2.3 million daily which includes print and digital versions.

Context:  James Kirkland, M.D., Ph.D. is a Mayo Clinic internist. Dr. Kirkland's research focus is on cellular aging (senescence) on age-related dysfunction and chronic diseases, especially developing methods for removing these cells and alleviating their effects. Senescent cells accumulate with aging and in such diseases as dementias, atherosclerosis, cancers, diabetes and arthritis. Dr. Kirkland is also the director of the Mayo Clinic Robert and Arlene Kogod Center of Aging.

Contact: Megan Forliti

 

Star Tribune
Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota develop 'robocop' stem cells to fight cancer
by Jeremy Olson

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota say they’re on the brink of a new era in cancer care — one in Star Tribune newspaper logowhich doctors extract a patient’s white blood cells, have them genetically engineered in a lab, and put them back to become personalized cancer-fighting machines.. “I often tell patients that T-cells are like super robocops,” said Dr. Yi Lin, a Mayo hematologist in Rochester. “We’re now directing those cells to really target cancer.”

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

Additional coverage: St. Cloud Times

Context: Yi Lin, M.D., Ph.D. is a Mayo Clinic hematologist.

Contact: Joe Dangor

 

Post-Bulletin
Medica to buy Mayo Clinic's MMSI
by Jeff Kiger

A Minnesota insurance giant announced this morning that it is buying Mayo Clinic's health benefits division called MMSI. Minneapolis-based Medica is buying MMSI from Mayo Clinic by the end of 2017. No details were released about what theLogo for Post-Bulletin newspaper change could mean for customers or MMSI employees in Rochester. Also, the announcement did not include how much Medica is paying Mayo Clinic for its for-profit division..."Complementing each organizations' strengths is important in this decision," stated Mayo Clinic Chief Financial Officer Kedrick Adkins in today's announcement. "This new arrangement offers technologies and opportunities to explore that can benefit patients and clients."

Reach: The Post-Bulletin has a daily readership of more than 32,000 people and more than 442,000 unique visitors to its website each month. The newspaper serves Rochester, Minn., and Southeast Minnesota.The newspaper serves Rochester, Minn., and southeast Minnesota.

Additional coverage: KTTC, Star Tribune, KAAL, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Twin Cities BusinessHealthcare Dive

Context: Mayo Clinic and Medica announced recently that Medica is acquiring Mayo Clinic Health Solutions (MMSI), a division of Mayo Clinic. The move represents a new business arrangement for the two organizations. The change will be effective by the end of 2017; financial details are not being announced. MMSI, based in Rochester, Minn., and doing business as Mayo Clinic Health Solutions, is a health benefits management company and licensed third party administrator that provides plan administration services and health care products to 260,000 members through 28 customers.

Contact: Karl Oestreich

 

KAAL
96-Year-Old Employee Celebrates 61 Years at Mayo Clinic
by Elise Romas

The average person is likely to have few jobs in one lifetime, and retire one day, but that's not the plan for everyone. “I was KAAL 6 News Rochester Logoassigned to come out here to Saint Marys after I finished my novation, and I've been here ever since," said Mayo Clinic employee Sister Lauren Weinandt. Located down the hall from administration, you'll find Sister Lauren, Mayo Clinic’s longest serving employee.

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:  Sister Lauren Weinandt is a Mayo Clinic treasure.  The extended KAAL interview with Sister Lauren can be found here.  Learn more about her from our friends at Mayo Clinic in the Loop.

Contact: Kelly Reller

Revisionist History, The Basement Tapes — Malcolm Gladwell interviews Robert Frantz, M.D., for this podcast.

Today.com, Did marijuana kill this young man? Doctors may never know for sure by Maggie Fox —Michael Ziobro was just 22 when his mother, Kristina, found him unconscious on his bedroom floor… Michael smoked pot to help with painful irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, she said. There’s no hard medical evidence to support that use. However, Dr. Michael Bostwick, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, says people who like the effects of marijuana may indeed find benefits from using it. “It’s psychoactive, so even if it doesn’t cure what you have got, it’ll make you feel different,” he said.  “I think there are people who like how it makes you feel. But that doesn’t translate into any proof for any conditions. We have many anecdotes and groups of people who report amazing benefits, but we don’t have, in most cases, rigorous studies to confirm that.”

STAT, ‘Beyond amyloid’: A look at what’s next in Alzheimer’s research by Damian Garde — It’s neuroscience’s oldest and most acrimonious debate. On one side, scientists who aver that blasting away toxic plaques called amyloid is the best path toward treating Alzheimer’s disease. On the other, frustrated skeptics ready to ditch the amyloid hypothesis once and for all. But a parade of failed clinical trials has seeded a growing middle ground of agnostics and stoked a bevy of new research efforts, as “the field in general — and our pharma colleagues — are recognizing that they need to think beyond amyloid,” said Dr. David Knopman, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic.

New York Times, Maybe We All Need a Little Less Balance by Brad Stulberg — Nearly all of the great performers I’ve gotten to know — from athletes to artists to computer programmers to entrepreneurs — report a direct line between being happy, fulfilled and at their best and going all-in on something. Rich Roll, a top ultra-endurance athlete, told me that “the path to fulfillment in life, to emotional satisfaction, is to find what you really excites you and channel your all into it.” Dr. Michael Joyner, a top researcher at the Mayo Clinic, says “you’ve got to be a minimalist to be a maximalist; if you want to be really good, master and thoroughly enjoy one thing, you’ve got to say no to many others.” Nic Lamb, one of the best big-wave surfers on the planet, speaking of his relentless pursuit of excellence in the water, puts it like this: “The best way to find contentment is to give it your all.”

HuffPost, Miscarriage Is Usually Beyond A Mother’s Control — DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Six months ago, after becoming pregnant for the first time, I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks. My husband and I want to become pregnant again, but we’re worried about another miscarriage. Are there things I can do to prevent it this time? I’m 27 years old, and I don’t have any health problems. ANSWER: Having a miscarriage can be shocking, stressful and sad. It’s understandable that you want to do everything you can to avoid going through it again. Although there are some steps you may be able to take to lower your risk of another miscarriage, in most cases, a miscarriage isn’t related to anything a pregnant woman did or did not do. The majority of miscarriages are due to chromosomal abnormalities that happen for no clear reason. Many women who have a miscarriage go on to have normal pregnancies and deliver healthy babies. — Yvonne Butler Tobah, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

SELF, So You Need a Cervical Biopsy—Here's What That Actually Means by S. Nicole Lane — There's a difference between a Pap smear (also called a Pap test) and a biopsy. A Pap smear screens for any changes in cervical cells that could be precancerous or cancerous, according to the Mayo Clinic. (And, contrary to popular belief, a Pap smear doesn't test for STIs, though your doctor may give you an STI test at the same time.) During the Pap smear, the speculum is inserted into the vagina so that your doctor can gently scrape away cells from your cervix, which is located at the opening of the uterus. The cells are then examined for any abnormalities.

CBS News, McCain, battling brain cancer, finishes first round of radiation, chemo — The daughter of U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona says the 80-year-old lawmaker has completed the first round of radiation and chemotherapy as he battles an aggressive form of brain cancer… McCain tweeted Friday "thank you to the wonderful team Mayo Clinic -- we appreciate everything you do!"… Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix say they removed a blood clot above the senator's left eye and managed to remove all of the tumor that was visible on brain scans. Additional coverage: News-Talk 1480 WHBC, WDEF Chattanooga, People, WFAA Dallas, ABC News

BuzzFeed, Here's Exactly Why It Hurts So Much To Get Kicked In The Balls by Sally Tamarkin — We all pretty much know it hurts like hell to get kicked in the balls. Or for your testicles to endure any similar trauma — whether it’s catching an errant soccer ball with your crotch, a playful nut-punch gone wrong, or even just a gentle flick. But have you ever stopped to wonder why? BuzzFeed Health reached out to Dr. Seth Cohen, assistant professor in the department of urology at New York University, and Dr. Landon Trost, assistant professor of urology and head of male infertility and andrology at the Mayo Clinic, to understand more about just why a blow to the ‘nads is so uniquely and painfully unpleasant.

Chicago Tribune, For weight loss, exercise is important — but calories move the needle by Marlene Cimons — "I think the role of exercise in weight loss is highly overrated," says Marc Reitman, chief of the diabetes, endocrinology and obesity branch of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, or NIDDK. "I think it's really great for being healthy, but I'm a strong believer that overeating is what causes obesity. To exercise your way out of overeating is impossible." Michael Joyner, a Mayo Clinic researcher who studies how people respond to the stress of exercise, agrees. "The key for weight loss is to generate and maintain a calorie deficit," he says. "It's pretty easy to get people to eat 1,000 calories less per day, but to get them to do 1,000 calories per day of exercise - walking 10 miles - is daunting at many levels, including time and motivation," he says.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The standing desk debate: Does standing at work better your health? by Carolyn Cunningham — Dr. James Levine, co-director of the Mayo Clinic/Arizona State University Solutions Initiative and author of the book "Get Up! Why Your Chair Is Killing You and What You Can Do About It," is the inventor of the treadmill desk. Through three decades of research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Levine's team has pioneered the science of nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) and studied the harm associated with too much sitting, which is a major cause of obesity, diabetes, breast cancer and 24 more chronic diseases and conditions.

Consumer Reports, The Health Risks of Too Much Salt by Sally Wadyka — A study published in 2011 in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety noted that 18 percent of nursing-home residents suffered from mild, chronic hyponatremia. “Older adults with hyponatremia may show signs of cognitive changes, lethargy, headache, and nausea,” says Paul Y. Takahashi, M.D., a geriatrician at the Mayo Clinic. He recommends that you be checked for hyponatremia regularly if you're on any of the medications that put you at risk. “We also check older patients if they get pneumonia, a urinary tract infection, flu, or gastroenteritis, which puts them at risk of dehydration and thus hyponatremia,” Takahashi says.

Teen Vogue, 7 Tips to Help Cope With Your Eating Disorder by Dana Hamilton …The radio station, when it’s discernible, says stuff like “exercise every day” or “you should feel bad for eating that” or “your belly’s disgusting." One of the things I did 10 years ago when the radio station was blaring nearly every day was enter Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is a type of talk therapy, according to the Mayo clinic, that helps you recognize negative thinking so you can better cope with challenges.

Neurology Today, Crowdsourcing the Next Big Neurology Study — Novel Approaches to Cull ‘Big Data’ by Dawn Fallik — From basic research using a mouse cortex to the search for detecting early signs of seizures, investigators are using crowdsourcing techniques to elicit more data and answers to basic and clinical neurology questions. Here, they discuss the challenges and opportunities of next-generation research techniques.

Neurology Today, Professionalism: A Proposed ACGME Curriculum in Telemedicine for Neurology Residents by Aliyah Baruchin — While training exists as part of some residency programs and continuing medical education (CME) offerings, there are no national standards for teleneurology curriculum and certification… “We want to present a compelling argument and recommendations to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education [ACGME] to make the teleneurology curriculum an elective for all residencies,” said Bart M. Demaerschalk, MD, MSc, FRCPC, professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Phoenix, AZ, medical director of Synchronous Telemedicine Services at the Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care, and a member of the AAN Telemedicine Work Group. “Mayo has specified a telestroke requirement in our vascular neurology training, and ACGME will hold us accountable to that, but that's not coming from the top down. There remains an opportunity for ACGME to standardize teleneurology training.”

The Lancet, Phillip Low: the autonomic expert by Jules Morgan — With more exposure to common conditions in their education and training—together with less funding investment in so-called smaller-market conditions—setting off down a rarely-trodden path can be less alluring for young researchers or doctors. This was not the case for Phillip Low (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA): “I was attracted to the autonomic nervous system because it was regarded as the Cinderella of medicine. There was interest but it was totally neglected because there was a lack of coherent knowledge in the field”, Low explains. As a reward for taking a research path less travelled, scientists can develop their field in unique and ground-breaking ways. Low is one of these scientists, and his contribution to autonomic research is, so far, unrivalled.

Romper, If You Had A C-Section Can You Have A Natural Birth After? It Depends by Alexis Barad-Cutler — Despite the best efforts of all involved, your child's birth doesn't always go down the way you may have planned. The best you can do is set yourself up to be in the most competent of hands while labor and delivery occurs. For example, if you underwent an unplanned cesarian birth for your first baby, you may yearn to go the vaginal route for your second. But if you had a C-section can you have a natural birth after?... The Mayo Clinic explains further, saying, "research on women who attempt a TOLAC shows that about 60 to 80 percent have a successful vaginal delivery." According to the American Pregnancy Association (APA), 90 percent of women who have had C-sections are candidates for VBAC.

Science Daily, Fundamental pathology behind amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — A team led by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Mayo Clinic has identified a basic biological mechanism that kills neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and in a related genetic disorder, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), found in some ALS patients. ALS is popularly known as Lou Gehrig disease. The researchers were led by J. Paul Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the St. Jude Cell and Molecular Biology Department and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator; and Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. The findings appear today in the journal Neuron. Additional coverage: Medical XpressAlzforum, ALS News Today

Practical Pain Management, Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Steroid Side Effects: New Findings by Kathleen Doheny — New research suggests most of those adverse effects are no more common in PMR patients treated with glucocorticoids than in matched control patients without PMR who aren't treated with the drugs.1 "The event rates for the side effects that we often attribute to steroids were actually the same in the control group, except for cataract development," said Eric L. Matteson, MD, MPH, a consultant and professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic Rochester and senior author of the study. He believes this is the first study to compare side effects in PMR patients treated with steroids and patients without a PMR diagnosis and not on steroids.

MedPage Today, High Childhood BMI Linked to Early Adult Stroke by Kristin Jenkins — Asked for her perspective, Josephine F. Huang, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who was not involved with the research, said: "Lifestyle management is a well-established key component in the primary prevention of stroke in adults, and this study suggests that we may need to start targeting weight loss and management at an even earlier age. At a time when about one-third of the children in the United States are overweight or obese, we have the potential to implement interventions to reduce the risk of many comorbidities associated with obesity, including stroke."

Cure, Women More Likely to Survive Essential Thrombocythemia Than Men by Brielle Uriciuoli — Until now, gender had not been considered a factor in survival rates of individuals with essential thrombocythemia (ET), a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN). But according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and the University of Florence in Italy, being male may lead to inferior overall survival (OS). In other words, women survive more frequently than men with ET. The study was published in the American Journal of Hematology. Altogether, 1,494 patients were involved in the study — 904 from the Mayo Clinic and 590 from the University of Florence. Researchers found that “[i]n the univariate analysis of the primary Mayo Clinic cohort, male gender was associated with inferior OS.”

Healthcare IT News, Mayo Clinic says neonatology telehealth saves infants' lives, avoids transfers by Bill Siwicki — As a center of excellence in neonatology, the Mayo Clinic is using telemedicine to provide remote consultations throughout the region for high-acuity neonatology needs, such as resuscitation assistance. Mayo’s program has been successful in providing coverage to areas that previously would not have direct access to specialists and enabling those locations to reduce the need to transfer patients. “Our tele-neonatology program focuses on assisting local care teams during high-risk newborn resuscitations that occur in the community setting,” said Jennifer Fang, MD, who works in Mayo’s tele-neonatology and resuscitation program. “This most commonly includes pre-term infants, newborns with respiratory distress, or babies who require advanced resuscitation.”

India-West, An Indian American Cardiologist in Minnesota: Mending Hearts and Restoring WWII Jeeps — An Indian American cardiologist in Minnesota uses his spare time to pay homage to war veterans from the Second World War. Dr. Guri Sandhu, who works at the Mayo Clinic’s catheterization lab in Rochester, restores World War II jeeps when he’s off the clock, according to a WREX report. Thus far, Sandhu has restored a 1945 Willys MB that had been sitting in someone's barn for four decades, the report said.

McAlester News-Capital, MRHC selects Mayo Clinic as primary reference lab by Adrian O’Hanlon — Local medical patients should soon start seeing quicker test results. McAlester Regional Health Center recently selected Mayo Medical Laboratories as its primary reference laboratory to gain access to a more “extensive menu of tests and clinical expertise,” according to a press release. McAlester Regional Health Center CEO David Keith said in the release that the move will help MRHC serve southeast Oklahoma. “Seventy-five percent of medical decisions are based on laboratory results and having Mayo Medical Laboratories as our partner gives Southeast Oklahoma the ultimate medical advantage,” Keith said.

Alzforum, Granulins: The Missing Link between Progranulin and Lysosome Function? — Mutations in the progranulin gene cause a form of frontotemporal dementia, most likely because levels of the protein fall in the central nervous system. How this affects brain function is unknown. Theories pegged progranulin functions as a growth factor, or an antiinflammatory protein. More recent work put progranulin front and center in lysosome function, but did not explain what it did there. Now, a trio of studies promises to change just about everything scientists think about this protein, particularly its role in the cell… Two additional reports, one from Leonard Petrucelli’s lab at Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, and the other from Fenghua Hu, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, identify cathepsin L, a lysosomal cysteine protease, as a major progranulin processing enzyme. Petrucelli’s work was published in the July 25 Molecular Neurodegeneration; Hu’s paper is in press in the same journal. Taken together, the studies provide circumstantial yet compelling evidence that granulins represent the business end of progranulin in lysosomes, say the researchers.

KMSP, Mayo Clinic: Gut bacteria may lead to multiple sclerosis treatment — A human gut microbe discovered by researchers at Mayo Clinic may help treat autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, according to findings published in the journal Cell Reports. While many people have eaten probiotics to improve digestion, this study goes beyond the digestive system. The Mayo research team, including researchers from the University of Iowa, tested gut microbial samples from patients on a mouse model of MS. Of three bacterial strains, they found one microbe, called Prevotella histicola, effectively suppressed immune disease in the preclinical model of MS.

Twin Cities Business, Vyriad's Cancer-Fighting Viruses to Get First Clinical Trial Against Solid Tumors by Don Jacobson — Mayo Clinic spinoff Vyriad Inc. of Rochester has reached a landmark with the first use of its genetically engineered, cancer-fighting viruses against solid tumors in a clinical setting. The early-stage trial is to be conducted by Sanford Health at its cancer center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Vyriad, led by Dr. Stephen Russell, director of Mayo’s molecular medicine program, recently leased 25,000 square feet at the now-vacant Building 110 at Rochester’s IBM campus in a major expansion from its origins at the clinic’s Business Accelerator startup incubator.

KTTC, 5-year-old Rochester boy fights genetic disorder like a superhero by Chris Yu — He wears a mask and a cape for a reason. A Rochester boy is fighting his genetic disorder like a superhero, and he has received a national award for his bravery. Gus Erickson, 5, was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) when he was just 9 months old. NF1 causes tumors to grow throughout a person's body. "They can be seen on the skin, under the skin, or basically anywhere where nerves are. And they are benign tumors, but they grow over time. And sometimes, they can produce significant discomfort and pain, neurological deficits. And in about 10 percent of time, we would see that these tumors can transform into malignant tumors," explained Dr. Dusica Babovic-Vuksanovic, who heads Mayo Clinic’s Neurofibromatosis Clinic, which is providing care for Gus. Additional coverage: KIMT, KAALPost-Bulletin

Post-Bulletin, 'So much amazing knowledge abounds here' by Jeff Kiger — In every James Bond movie, there's a scene where someone shows off a string of amazing gadgets being designed in a busy, secret laboratory. That's what it feels like when Samuel Prabhakar enthusiastically tours a visitor through his bustling Elite Custom Solutions facility, while his 15 team members manufacture and design a variety of high-tech devices and products… It all dates back to when Mayo Clinic decided to make and market some its diagnostic devices — the Interactive Breath-Hold Control System and the BC-10 MRI Coils — developed by its researchers. In 2003-04, Prabhakar's IBM department began manufacturing the devices.

Post-Bulletin, Our View: Should Mayo be among Super Bowl super-donors? — The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee is in charge of preparations for the Twin Cities' star turn, and it raises money for the event by recruiting "founding partners," one of which is Mayo Clinic. There are 18 others, including some of the most iconic brands in Minnesota, from Land o' Lakes and 3M to U.S. Bank and Cargill…We agree that Mayo, as one of the state's premier institutions, has an obligation to help out in an important project of this kind. It also makes sense, in context with Mayo's sponsorship of the Minnesota Lynx, the growth of its sports medicine facility in Minneapolis -- Mayo Clinic Square -- and other strategic moves that it believes it's worth the money to be identified with the Super Bowl.

Post-Bulletin, Answer Man: 'Founding partners' at Super Bowl pay a super sumDear Answer Man, I'm trying to find out how much it costs to be a "founding partner" of the Super Bowl in Minneapolis next year because Mayo Clinic is one of them. Do you happen to know either that figure or specifically how much Mayo has committed to spending on it? — Jennifer I happen to know what I read in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal last winter. Prepare to be astounded. Mayo is a "founding partner" of the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee, which as you know is the organization whose task is to make sure the whole Super Bowl extravaganza, aside from the game itself, goes off without a hitch.

Rochester Magazine, 10 (or so) questions with ... Jim Maher by Steve Lange — Jim Maher, biochemist and molecular biologist at Mayo Clinic, dean of The Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Rochester Magazine: Your college thesis at UW Madison was titled [butchering pronunciation) : “Antisense oligonucleotides and oligonucleoside methylphosphonates as inhibitors of eukaryotic mRNA translation.” Jim Maher: That’s really good. RM: What grade did you get on that? JM: I passed, so I got my Ph.D. So I got the “P.”

KCCI Des Moines, Blind Iowa man hopes to see again today by Elizabeth Klingle — Steve Myers of Boone is legally blind, but that could all change Thursday. He had a bionic eye implanted in July. It's a retinal prosthesis system, the world's first approved device to restore some vision for the blind. He'll put on special glasses and see for the first time in decades. The bionic eye will be activated at the Mayo Clinic.

Lancaster Online, Study: Nearly half of cancer patients can't answer basic questions about their disease by Heather Stauffer — Nearly half of cancer patients cannot correctly answer basic questions about their disease, according to a local study that experts say has national implications… Lancaster General hematologist and oncologist Dr. Shanthi Sivendran was lead author of the study, which included researchers from Mayo Clinic and American Institutes for Research… But, she said, people should rely on reputable sources like the American Cancer Society, the Nation Institutes of Health or the Mayo Clinic. “We find that Internet sites like message boards can cause distress and are a source of misinformation because they reflect the experience of only one person who may or may not have a condition similar to the patient,” she said.

News-Gazette, Mayo Clinic Minute: What to expect during your child’s physical — Before the start of the school year, many kids get physical exams. Dr. Alva Roche-Green, a family medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic, says yearly visits to your health care provider help make sure your child is healthy and ready to learn. Additional coverage: Williston Daily Herald

WQOW Eau Claire, Students gain medical experience through Mayo Clinic Health System program by Clint Berge — We rely on medical professionals in our darkest times, but your favorite doctor won't work forever. So, how does the next generation get the experience to treat complicated medical conditions? It's called the Medical Experience Program, started in 2013 by Dr. Jose Ortiz Jr. It's a 10-week program, taking high school students through a variety of different specialties. It could be the perfect foot in the door for teenagers interested in medicine…Dr. Ortiz Jr. started the program four years ago. Students are required to volunteer at Mayo Clinic Health System for 30 hours, have good grades in school, a clean background and a desire to make a difference in the lives of others to qualify."I could be very selfish and just say that in about 20 years I am going to need a doctor and we're not going to have a lot of them," Dr. Ortiz said. "So, we've got to build that population up."

WKBT La Crosse, Wisconsin healthcare system ranked best in the country by Troy Neumann —Wisconsin's healthcare system is ranked as the best in the country. The announcement comes from a study released by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Tuesday. AHRQ determines the best healthcare systems using 130 different aspects of health care performance. "Everybody takes quality seriously and we're transparent in our results, so we share it with everybody else, and when you do that, and with patients, you are motivated to improve,” said Mayo Clinic Health System Southwest Wisconsin Regional V.P. Tim Johnson. Of the 130 health care aspects, Wisconsin's strongest performance was in acute and chronic care, and patient safety. The study also pointed out room for improvement.

WQOW Eau Claire, Preparing for the eclipse with eye glass protection by Camille Walter — If the Chippewa Valley has clear skies on Monday afternoon, you won't want to miss seeing the solar eclipse during your lunch break, but you also don't want to look too closely without eye protection. News 18 spoke with Dr. Dong-wouk Park, an ophthalmologist for Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire on Friday. He said if you're preparing to watch the solar eclipse, eye safety should be your top priority.

WQOW Eau Claire, Eau Claire hospitals prepared for mass-casualty situations by Clint Berge — As the nation reels from recent tragic events, News 18 wondered, are our hospitals equipped to handle such a tragedy here? News 18 spoke to both Mayo Clinic Health System and HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital. Emergency physicians at both institutions said they have plans in place to handle massive trauma situations in the Eau Claire area.

KEYC Mankato, Mayo House Acknowledges The Le Sueur Tigers by Tyler Seggerman — The Mayo Clinic is one of the best in the country, but did you know the founder went to war? Today, individuals had an opportunity to tour a historic residence. This small–white building is the house that William Worrall Mayo built in 1859.

Medical Xpress, Largest study of its kind reveals women have superior response to esophageal cancer treatment — "Esophageal cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in the world," said senior author K. Robert Shen, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. "It affects men and women differently. Men are more at risk to develop this cancer, and it appears that women respond better to the treatments." Shen and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic analyzed data from all female patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer who underwent chemotherapy and radiation prior to surgery between 1990 and 2013 at all three Mayo Clinic sites (Rochester, MN, Scottsdale, AZ, and Jacksonville, FL). A comparison group of male patients were identified based on matching criteria such as age, pretreatment clinical stage, histologic type, and surgical era. Only patients staged preoperatively with computed tomographic scans and endoscopic ultrasonography were included.

News-Medical.net, Mayo Clinic study reveals link between senescent cells and bone loss in mice — Mayo Clinic researchers have reported a causal link between senescent cells - the cells associated with aging and age-related disease - and bone loss in mice. Targeting these cells led to an increase in bone mass and strength. The findings appear online in Nature Medicine. "While we know from previous work that the accumulation of senescent cells causes tissue dysfunction, the role of cell senescence in osteoporosis up to this point has been unclear," says Sundeep Khosla, M.D., director of the Aging Bone and Muscle program at Mayo Clinic's Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging. "The novelty of this work for the bone field lies in the fact that, rather than targeting a bone-specific pathway, as is the case for all current treatments for osteoporosis, we targeted a fundamental aging process that has the potential to improve not only bone mass, but also alleviate other age-related conditions as a group." Additional coverage: Cosmos, Medical News Today

Muskogee Phoenix, Advanced dysphagia therapy introduced by Mike Elswick — …The Mayo Clinic recommends people see their doctor if they regularly have difficulty swallowing or if weight loss, regurgitation or vomiting accompanies the dysphagia. "If an obstruction interferes with breathing, call for emergency help immediately," a Mayo Clinic press release said. "If you're unable to swallow because you feel that the food is stuck in your throat or chest, go to the nearest emergency department."

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