Harvard Business Review, Lessons from Mayo Clinic’s Redesign of Stroke Care by W. David Freeman — Facing escalating costs of medications and technology, health care patients and providers in the United States continue to search for opportunities to reduce overall costs while maintaining and improving health care outcomes. At the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Stroke Center Practice, we conducted a project to design and deliver care more customized to the needs of individual patients while reducing cost and resource constraints. It is a risk-stratified approach that could be applied to treating many medical conditions.

Washington Post, A quarter of college students could develop PTSD because of the 2016 election, a new study suggests by Isaac Stanley-Becker — The results were published Monday in an article, “Event-related clinical distress in college students: Responses to the 2016 U.S. Presidential election,” in the Journal of American College Health, a bimonthly, peer-reviewed public health journal. The article finds that 25 percent of students had “clinically significant event-related distress,” which it argues can predict future distress as well as diagnoses of PTSD, commonly associated with veterans and defined by the Mayo Clinic as “a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it.”

Today.com, Brother helps diagnose sister with rare Guillain-Barré syndrome — Kara Dunn was on a Europe trip with friends when she experienced a range of strange symptoms, from terrible headache to feeling like her teeth had fallen out. She was taken to the emergency room, but doctors were mystified. After her brother wrote to his neurology professor at the Mayo Clinic, Kara finally was diagnosed. Kara; her brother, Ryan; their mother; and Dr. Christina Kwasnica join Megyn Kelly to discuss how they solved the medical mystery.

SELF, Is It Terrible to Wear the Same Contact Lenses for a Long, Long Time? by Korin Miller — Your contacts aren’t made of a magical substance that’s designed to last for all eternity. Nope, they’re basically just plastic…Combined with the fact that microorganisms and allergens build up on your lenses over time, this increases your risk of an eye infection like infectious keratitis. Infectious keratitis is an inflammation of your cornea (that bit of your eye that your contact lens covers) that happens due to bacteria, fungi, or parasites, according to the Mayo Clinic. Contaminated contacts are a major potential cause.

SELF, 7 Life Rules People With Asthma Should Always Follow by Korin Miller — Know and avoid your triggers. Everyone with asthma has triggers. Common ones include pollen, dust mites, mold, pet dander, respiratory infections like the common cold, cold air, exercise, smoke, and stress, according to the Mayo Clinic. Being exposed to a trigger can set off those respiratory system issues that make it hard to breathe properly.

SELF, Winter Is Coming—Here’s How to Keep It From Affecting Your Asthma by Korin Miller — 7. Try to exercise regularly, but take precautions not to inflame your asthma. Sure, it might be hard to find the motivation to exercise when it’s freezing outside and a House Hunters marathon is on. But regular exercise can help make your heart and lungs stronger, which can in turn help alleviate asthma symptoms over time, the Mayo Clinic says.

SELF, Ovarian Cancer Screening Isn't as Simple as Getting an Ultrasound by Korin Miller — Women who are considered higher risk generally include those with inherited gene mutations like BRCA1, BRCA2, and those associated with Lynch syndrome. Your risk may also be increased if you have a family history of ovarian cancer, if you've undergone estrogen hormone replacement therapy (especially over a long period of time and in large doses), and if you started your period at an early age or start menopause at a later age, the Mayo Clinic says.

Reader’s Digest, Ate Too Much Sugar? 9 Tricks to Help Reverse the Binge by Kelsey Kloss — Step 5: Plan tomorrow’s breakfast: …Another tip nutritionists stress: Don’t go overboard on coffee. “It’s a no-calorie drink, but we often add a lot of creams and sugars to it,” says Jason Ewoldt, MS, RDN, a wellness dietitian the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. “What starts off as a 0-calorie option turns into several teaspoons of sugar before you even start the day.” Consider tea or have coffee with just a dash of cream.

Reader’s Digest, 11 Things About SAD That Psychologists Wish You Knew by Jessica Koblenz — …If you decide to try light box therapy, first be sure you get one that provides an intensity of 10,000 lux that also emits as little UV as possible, advises the Mayo Clinic. Then carefully follow the recommendations—you’ll probably need to use it for 20 to 30 minutes a day, and within the first hour of rising in the morning.

Chicago Tribune, When someone has a miscarriage, just listen by Georgia Carey — If you’re ever looking for way to clear out a room, consider talking about your miscarriage. According to the Mayo Clinic, there’s at least a 1 in 5 chance a woman will have one, so the odds are good (well, not “good” so much as “high”) that you’ll have one to discuss. I’m one of those women and I’ve talked about miscarriage with friends, with family and now, apparently, with the world.

Finance and Commerce, Rochester cheers progress at DMC annual meeting by William Morris — Five years in, the Destination Medical Center program is delivering many of its goals in Rochester, Minnesota, its leaders say. “I remember when we first started, everyone wanted to see cranes, and now you see cranes around the city,” said Jeff Bolton, president of the DMC Economic Development Agency board and vice president at Mayo Clinic, at the organization’s annual meeting Wednesday. Since the Legislature created it in 2013, the Destination Medical Center Corp. has funneled millions of dollars in public investment to support a boom of private development on and around Mayo Clinic’s campuses. There are 21 major projects approved or under construction, and the total investment in known projects expected through 2021 is more than $700 million, Bolton said. “We’re really having the market validate the DMC vision,” he said, noting Mayo Clinic alone expects to invest more than $1 billion over the 20-year lifespan of the Destination Medical Center.

Post-Bulletin, Downtown development, transit, housing should all see action in 2019 by Jeff Kiger — It’s time to “lean into” Rochester’s “magic opportunity” called Destination Medical Center. That was the message at the core of the first ever annual DMC meeting on Wednesday, hosted by the DMC’s Economic Development Agency. Five years into the $5.6 billion DMC initiative, Rochester’s movers and shakers gathered in Peace Plaza and the Historic Chateau Theater to hear what has been accomplished so far and look ahead to what still needs to be done in next 15 years.. Seeb also added that the first $1 million stage of renovating the historic theater will start soon, with the hope to make it usable by the community in 2019. The city purchased the Chateau Theatre in 2015 for $6 million, using a $500,000 contribution from Mayo Clinic.

Post-Bulletin, Drop off unused pills on national drug take-back day by Anne Halliwell — Holding onto a partially full bottle of pills from your last hospital visit? Instead of leaving those drugs in your bathroom cabinet, consider bringing them to Mayo for National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day...Mayo Clinic will have a box to collect prescription drugs in the patient entrance on the west side of the Gonda Building. The next-closest locations with take-back boxes are the Red Wing Police Department, the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office, and the Fillmore County Fire Station. The box in the Gonda Building is anonymous, and accepts any type of medication, said Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Heather Carlson-Kehren.

Star Tribune, Paul gene editing firm, Mayo partner to grow human heart cells in pigs by Jeremy Olson — A St. Paul-based gene editing company is partnering with Mayo Clinic to research methods of growing human cardiac cells inside pigs to treat children with potentially fatal heart defects. Recombinetics announced the partnership on Thursday with Mayo, and a spinoff company, ReGen Theranostics, which develops human stem cell lines for transplant. The partnership initially wants to use the stem cells to grow cardiomyocytes, the cells that form heart muscle, that can be safely implanted in children and delay their need for donor heart transplants.

Star Tribune, Doctor: Medicare's cuts to cardiac rehab programs will cost lives by Ramond J. Gibbons — At the end of a recent phone conversation with a female patient in her 70s, she told me how grateful she was for my advice. When I first saw her several months ago after a serious heart attack, I had encouraged her to complete a cardiac rehabilitation program. Why was she so grateful that she had gone to the rehabilitation program? She now felt much stronger and understood her heart condition better. Cardiac rehabilitation programs are designed to help patients recover from heart attacks and other cardiac events, to improve their overall understanding of their condition, and to encourage behavior that will keep them healthy. These programs have many different components, including baseline patient assessment, dietary counseling, risk factor management (blood pressure, etc.), psychosocial and vocational counseling, and encouragement in physical activity… — Raymond J. Gibbons is a staff cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, past president of the American Heart Association and past member of the board of trustees of the American College of Cardiology.

Star Tribune, GrandPad's Minnesota customer service reps are helping 'super seniors' get online by Kevyn Burger — At 86, Ramona Reis felt increasingly left out as her children and grandson lived more of their lives online. She could watch, but not join in, as they shared digital photographs and stayed in touch through texting and video calls. “I was never involved with the computer,” said Reis, a widow who lives in senior housing in St Louis Park. “My husband was on it, but not me.” Now Ries is in the loop. The retired Sears sales clerk is a proud user of a GrandPad, a tablet developed specifically for seniors who have no experience using technology…While GrandPad is headquartered in California, the five-year-old company has deep Minnesota roots. It got its start in the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator, and the bulk of its business operations are based in Minnetonka.

Pioneer Press, Real World Economics: U.S. drug industry constitutes market failure by Edward Lotterman — One of the signs that an economic system is failing is that it no longer is able to get things like very basic, life-saving drugs than can be manufactured inexpensively to people who need them… A specialist at the Mayo Clinic estimates that at least 25 percent of diabetics here have to get by on less insulin than their bodies need because they cannot afford it. Doctors can list patients who have died because of the high cost of this basic drug, now about $13,000 per year.

KSTP, Minnesota Moment: Community Turns Out to Show Appreciation for Vietnam Veteran Suffering From Cancer — Jon Hovde lost an arm and leg while serving in Vietnam. Now he is suffering from pancreatic cancer. And when he returned from the Mayo Clinic to enter hospice care in his hometown of Fertile Tuesday, the community turned out to show its appreciation. Additional coverage: Grand Forks Herald

KJZZ, Mayo Clinic Rolls Out Medical Record System Upgrade In Arizona by Mariana Dale — The Mayo Clinic has been creating medical records for more than 100 years and the latest update to the system costs $1.5 billion and took years to unfurl. The new Epic software is rolling out at Arizona and Florida Mayo Clinic locations this month. Among other things, the Plummer Project will consolidate billing and patient medical information into one system. The project's name is a nod to Dr. Henry Plummer who developed Mayo’s early record-keeping. “By having a unified platform across all of our campuses, it makes that much more efficient and seamless,” said surgical oncologist Richard Gray, who co-chairs the Plummer Project. Mayo reports about 100,00 patients visit its Arizona locations each year. The new system will allow them to check into appointments electronically, and change their records ahead of their visit.

Mankato Free Press, Mayo in Mankato invests in 3D mammography by Brian Arola — Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato recently expanded its 3D mammogram capabilities. The health system added two additional 3D mammogram machines on top of the one it already had at its Eastridge Women’s Center. Dr. Michael Wolf, a radiologist at Mayo in Mankato, said the machines offer better resolution imaging compared to both standard, 2D mammograms and older-model 3D mammograms. “It gives us the best opportunity to find very, very small cancers,” he said of the upgrade. “And when you find those small cancers, it’s much less likely to spread beyond that area.”

KEYC Mankato, Businesses Starting To Offer Housing For Employees by Nick Kruszalnicki — Mayo Clinic Health Systems is just one of the companies that is using corporate housing. "They have internship positions, seasonal positions that come in, so they want to be able to utilize their housing package that way." With so much economic growth in Mankato and a tight real estate market, more companies could consider corporate housing as a way to bring workers to the area. "It's a unique way that you can add to the appeal of your potential employees."

Albert Lea Tribune, Psychiatric unit to host open house — A public open house is scheduled to celebrate the move of the psychiatric unit services at Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin to the Albert Lea campus. According to a press release, the public is invited to see the new facility from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 25 at 404 W. Fountain St. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the staff and tour the redesigned space and learn more about the psychiatric unit services. Those attending will get a chance to see the healing environment that will contribute to the ability to return patients to mental and emotional health, the release said.

WKBT La Crosse, Local doctors want you to watch your heart health during deer hunting season by Alex Fischer — Hunting is a sport and hunters should train and exercise before they go out, but that often times doesn't happen, said Tracy A. Warsing, M.D., a family medicine doctor with Mayo Clinic Health System in Sparta. The strenuous activity involved in things like climbing hills, walking through brush and dragging deer can increase the risk of heart attack according to Warsing. "If they have any sort of chest pain, especially if it's lasting more than two minutes, they should seek emergency medical attention immediately. And that's the other thing, when they're out in the woods they need to think about how they're going to get to that medical care if they have those symptoms," said Warsing.

WKBT La Crosse, Local eye doctors say be careful about using spooky, special effects contact lenses this Halloween by Alex Fischer — You can get special effects contact lenses without prescriptions, but they should still be prescribed by a professional, said Nancy Wetzel, O.D., an optometrist with Mayo Clinic Health System in Sparta. "Never share them with anyone else. They're typically designed as a daily-wear contact lenses, not for overnight wear. So, make sure you're not sleeping with them. You need to make sure you are using a clean contact lens case and clean solution each time you store them," said Wetzel.

WEAU Eau Claire, 'Virtual Dementia Tour' teaches Mayo employees how to care for those with memory loss by Courtney Everett — The Virtual Dementia Tour, put on by Azura Memory Care, went to Mayo Clinic Health System Monday to teach health care workers in a unique way. The tour involves a 10 minute simulation of what life is like for a person with dementia and how to work better with those who have dementia. Pam White with Mayo Clinic Health System says the training provides a sensory experience such as a walking perspective to see what patients experience. "Alzheimer’s and dementia impact so many patients across our nation. It's important that we try to understand what they're going through. We've already heard amazing feedback from our staff already saying 'We had no idea,’” said White.

La Crosse Tribune, Diabetes education at Mayo-Franciscan to feature cooking demos by Mike Tighe — Dietitians and diabetes educators will provide practical strategies to help diabetics stay healthy during the winter at 6 p.m. Nov. 15 in Marycrest Auditorium in the hospital building of Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare at 700 West Ave. S. in La Crosse. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will feature Mayo-Franciscan chef Heather VanHorn demonstrating cooking and providing recipes.

WKBT La Crosse, Community Forum focuses on advancements in Sports Medicine by Leah Rivard — Mayo Clinic's Fall Community Forum focused on how to treat and prevent sports injuries. The focus of discussion was the prevention of ACL injuries. Researchers spoke on how to prevent these injuries as well as which athletes may be at a greater risk for sports injuries. Timothy Hewett, Ph.D., Director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Research Center, says this forum can help local sports medicine advance their treatment plans when sports injuries do occur. Hewett explains, "we don't want this to be a scientist only enterprise, we want to be assistants and innovators and mobilizers of this, but on the flip-side, people are really going make the difference in the community."

WKBT La Crosse, Enchanted Forest gives Myrick Park a magical make-over by Alex Fischer — Enchanted Forest event kicked off Saturday morning at Myrick Park in La Crosse. Mayo Clinic Health System and WisCorps worked together to turn the Marsh Loop Trail into an enchanted path. Trick-or-treaters could meet fairy tale characters and collect treats along the way. Additional coverage: WXOW La Crosse

WKBT La Crosse, More than three-quarters of Wisconsin counties face significant shortage of psychiatrists by Mal Meyer — Christine Feller said Mayo Clinic Health System is trying to alleviate this need. "Our colleagues to the north in the Eau Claire are having resident rotations coming into their practices to introduce the future workforce to rural communities," said Feller, operations administrator for Mayo Clinic Health System. Mayo Clinic Health System said it's also relying on its nurse practitioners to identify mental health needs within its more rural clinics. Its primary care providers have also stepped in to take on some of the demand for services. The provider is also embracing new technology to fill the gaps.

WEAU Eau Claire, Cases of Acute Flaccid Myelitis confirmed in Wisconsin and Minnesota by Zach Prelutsky — It is a rare condition that is popping up around the country, including right here in the Midwest. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they are growing concerned about Acute Flaccid Myelitis. "AFM is a condition that is characterized by flaccid paralysis. It's a sudden onset of weakness in usually a leg or an arm. It can also be in the face, that kind of develops quickly over hours or days," said Mayo Clinic Chair of Infectious Diseases Elie Berbari. Less than one in one million people in the U.S. get AFM each year, but the cases are spiking over the last few weeks.

On Milwaukee, “The First Patient" discovers the gory details, and humanity, of making a doctor by Matt Mueller — Back when he was studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chip Duncan remembers tensely walking past the college's anatomy lab, a spooky place of supposed taboo. Decades after his days of tiptoeing past the lab in school, however, he finally got a chance to cross the threshold and witness what he was afraid of all those years ago. Thankfully for Duncan, and for moviegoers, it ended up being the latter, with the Milwaukee-based filmmaker premiering his new documentary, "The First Patient," at the 2018 Milwaukee Film Festival on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre… "It took some courage to make the film – and it took courage for Mayo Clinic School of Medicine to agree to make the film," Duncan said. "They saw the value of this in terms of what med students are going through, but also in terms of education. They knew entertainment would be a part of it – they knew we'd be trying to make an interesting, entertaining film – but Mayo Clinic's got a strong desire to promote medical education, both internally and externally."

Healio, Pulmonary function tests essential, underutilized in diagnosing COPD — It is important to confirm diagnosis of COPD with pulmonary function testing; however, it is not often used, according to findings published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. In the United States, COPD is the third leading cause of death and causes distressing symptoms, but the disease is treatable, according to Paul D. Scanlon, MD, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Pulmonary Clinical Research Center, and colleagues. Scanlon and colleagues examined the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) report to determine updated assessment and treatment options for COPD.

Healio, Lupus: A Look Back at the Discovery of the Original Diagnostic Biomarker by Leonard H. Calabrese — …The final chapter of this captivating history comes from the Mayo Clinic where Malcom M. Hargraves, MD, served as a hematologist; he was the first to note the presence of a peculiar cell type in bone marrow specimens that appeared as a large phagocyte, which had engulfed a homogenized body that appeared nuclear in nature. The first such example was identified in a young child with fever, constitutional signs and symptoms and a leukemoid reaction. Hargraves subsequently collected a number of similar observations over the next several years — all in bone marrow preparations — and ultimately felt that they were emblematic, if not diagnostic, of SLE

Web MD, Polio-Like Illness Strikes Kids, Frustrates Doctors by Matt McMillen — Despite the current alarm, the disease is not unheard of. “In 2014, the first patient I saw was a baby, who had a sudden onset of weakness in one leg,” recalls Marc Patterson, MD. “The leg was flaccid and did not recover.” Since then, Patterson, chairman of the division of Child and Adolescent Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, has seen several children diagnosed with what’s come to be called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, a very rare disease that causes nerve-damaging inflammation in the gray matter of the spinal cord. AFM can lead to weakness or paralysis in the arms and legs. Cranial nerves also can be affected, which can make your face weak, eyelids droop, or make it hard to swallow. In the most severe cases, AFM can cause trouble breathing and may require ventilator support.

Daily Mail, Colorado parents are holding 'chickenpox parties' to deliberately infect their children with the virus by Mia De Graaf — As Dr Robert M Jacobson, a pediatrician and medical director for the Population Health Science Program at Mayo Clinic, has told DailyMail.com: vaccines are more rigorously checked for side effects than any other type of medication. 'Vaccines are the most tested thing that we as physicians prescribe, because they are being administered to millions of people so there is no room for error,' Dr Jacobson explains. 'Vaccines are tested in tens of thousands of people, compared to, say antibiotics to prevent infection from a tattoo, which are tested in hundreds.' Nonetheless, over time, the rate of people foregoing vaccines is climbing, and these messages show parents believe turning back the clock 30 years would be better for their children's health.

HealthDay, AHA: The Heart Problem This Stroke, Bypass Surgery Survivor Wasn't Expecting by Tom Broussard — Affecting about 2.5 percent of Americans, heart valve disease occurs when one or more of the heart valves have been damaged, disrupting blood flow by not opening or closing properly. Valve disease becomes more common with age, affecting about 13 percent of adults age 75 and older. Yet awareness of heart valve problems is relatively low, in part because symptoms -- which include shortness of breath and fatigue -- aren't specific and may develop so slowly that they go unnoticed, said cardiologist Dr. Vuyisile T. Nkomo, director of the Valvular Heart Disease Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "We often miss the window to offer lifesaving therapies because the condition is so severe it makes intervening too risky," Nkomo said.

Everyday Health, Bariatric Surgery Significantly Lowers Heart Risks for Obese People With Diabetes by Don Rauf — The Mayo Clinic describes the procedure as creating a small pouch from the stomach and connecting the newly created pouch directly to the small intestine. Sleeve gastrectomy is another popular type of bariatric surgery. According to the Mayo Clinic, this procedure removes about 80 percent of the stomach, “leaving a tube-shaped stomach about the size and shape of a banana.”

NJ.com, HABIT helps older adults with memory loss find ways to cope by Tony Dearing — When people struggle to summon short-term memories, one way they can compensate is by learning to tap procedural memory, which is more deeply ingrained in the brain, says Dr. Anne Shandera-Ochsner, director of the HABIT program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She's devoted a good part of her professional life to helping older adults deal with memory loss, an interest she traces back all the way to her teen-age years. "Since high school, I have loved working with the older adult population and wanted to be a psychologist," she says in a recent interview published on the Mayo Clinic website. In college, she considered switching to medicine. "Then a neuropsychologist came and spoke to my 'Geriatric Issues in Healthcare' class, and I knew it was the perfect mix for me," she says.

Woman’s Day, Why Am I Always Thirsty? by Colleen Stinchcombe — Your mouth is dry. There’s a chance you're not actually thirsty and you're instead experiencing dry mouth, a condition that occurs when the salivary glands can't produce enough spit to keep your mouth wet, Allen says. The Mayo Clinic reports that it's a common side effect of some medications, including antidepressants, dramamine, and hypertension prescriptions. It can also be caused by radiation and chemotherapy, tobacco use, nerve damage, and drugs like marijuana and methamphetamine. To temper your symptoms, Allen suggests sucking on lemon drop hard candy, as it can help stimulate saliva production.

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Tags: 3D mammography, Acute Flaccid Myelitis, asthma, bariatric surgery, Chip Duncan, Christine Feller, contact lenses, COPD, dementia, destination medical center, diet, DMC, Dr. Anne Shandera-Ochsner, Dr. David Freeman, Dr. Elie Berbari, Dr. Keith Knutson, Dr. Malcom M. Hargraves, Dr. Marc Patterson, Dr. Michael Wolf, Dr. Paul Scanlon, Dr. Raymond J. Gibbons, Dr. Richard Gray, Dr. Robert Jacobson, Dr. Timothy Hewett, Dr. Tracy A. Warsing, Dr. Vuyisile T. Nkomo, EHR, Enchanted Forest, Epic, GrandPads, Guillain-Barre, gut health, habit, Health Checkup, heart valve disease, Heather Van Horn, hunting season, Jeff Bolton, John Rosheim, Jon Hovde, lupus, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, memory loss, miscarriage, Nancy Wetzel, national drug take-back day, Ovarian Cancer, Pam White, Polio, PTSD, Recombinetics, Sports Medicine, stroke, Uncategorized, vaccines