New York Times, When Email Comes to the Doctor’s Office, Wait Times Decrease by Austin Frakt — Most studies report high satisfaction from specialists, but one found that a large minority (26 percent) of them were dissatisfied. The concerns expressed included unclear clinical questions and the possible liability associated with providing medical advice for patients they hadn’t examined. In one study of the Mayo Clinic, a majority of primary care physicians said eConsults improved the quality of care. However, in another study of the Los Angeles County system, primary care doctors said eConsults shifted work and administrative burden to them.

Los Angeles Times, Prediabetes is an alarming diagnosis. But is it a disease? by Charles Piller — WHO and others suggest that prevention could be better achieved through public policy, including taxes on sugary drinks, increasing the availability of cheap, healthy foods, and urban design that emphasizes mass transit, walking and safe outdoor exercise spaces. While such solutions can be costly and politically fraught, experts such as the Mayo Clinic’s Victor Montori note that decades of the alternative – trying to fashion individual medical solutions – have proved ineffective in preventing diabetes.

Washington Post, A mom gave birth to a 15-pound baby and ‘felt like I had been hit by two tractor-trailers’ by Lindsey Bever — Regan Theiler, chair of the Division of Obstetrics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, said it is “really unusual” to see babies born that large, explaining that the average is between 5.5 and 7.5 pounds. According to the Mayo Clinic, when babies are born weighing more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces, the condition is called “fetal macrosomia,” which describes about 9 percent of babies born worldwide. Additional coverage: SFGate

USA Today, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin purposely exposed his 9 kids to chickenpox instead of getting vaccine by Deborah Yetter and Tom Loftus — In a move experts say is medically unsound — and can be dangerous — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said in a radio interview Tuesday that he deliberately exposed all nine of his children to chickenpox so they would catch the disease and become immune. “Every single one of my kids had the chickenpox," Bevin said in an interview with WKCT, a Bowling Green talk radio station. "They got the chickenpox on purpose because we found a neighbor that had it and I went and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it. They had it as children. They were miserable for a few days, and they all turned out fine.” "I would never recommend or advise it," said Dr. Robert Jacobson, a pediatrician and expert in vaccines and childhood diseases at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "It's just dangerous." Additional coverage: FOX News, Yahoo!, Daily Beast, The Hill

ABC News, Why watermelon-infused beauty products are everywhere by Jacqueline Laurean Yates — Watermelon is becoming the trendy holy grail ingredient for beauty products. The delicious summer favorite has made its way from the grocery store to the beauty aisle, appearing in face masks, lip balms, hair products, moisturizers, body oils and more. But why?...Watermelon contains vitamin A, which is important for skin and eye health, according to the Mayo Clinic Health System. It's also made up of 92 percent water, which shows the immense amount of hydration it provides. These two facts alone show the value watermelon extract can bring -- and beauty product developers have taken note for items that can be used all year round.

Reuters, Asthma medication use varies among Latino youth by Lisa Rapaport — The study wasn’t designed to prove whether or how medication adherence might vary for Puerto Rican or Mexican children everywhere, nor to prove how adherence differences might lead to disparities in health outcomes. Also, researchers could only see 30 days of data on inhaler use at each check-up, so they lacked information on inhaler use at other times during the study. It’s also possible that where kids received care accounted for some of the variation in medication use, said Dr. Avni Joshi, a pediatric allergy and asthma specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota who wasn’t involved in the study.

Ad Age, Loved ones’ anxiety and hopes intertwine in this unconventional healthcare campaign from Mayo Clinic by Ann-Christine Diaz — A young man and his father embark on a road trip, a husband and wife take a train journey, a woman makes sure to bring her lucky hat before she heads out on a trek with a friend. It’s not clear where any of them are going--the loved ones barely exchange a word as they pack up to go, make rest stops or gaze at the sea or out of windows. However, their thoughtful interactions --an embrace, a part on the back, heartfelt glances--betray they’re all on an important journey, and something significant, perhaps life-changing, hangs in the balance. When they finally reach their destination, the Mayo Clinic, all becomes clear. Three new films from the academic medical institution, known for its high-end, holistic care, strip away the cliches of hospital marketing--like patient testimonials and doctors in lab coats--to recognize the emotional journey patients take as they prepare to get a diagnosis. They highlight how answers--and hope--are to be found at the Mayo Clinic.

Forbes, On World Sleep Day, Make A Pledge To Sleep Better, Work Better, And Live Better by Naz Berheshti — The cost of poor sleep: The World Sleep Society provides a toolkit that summarizes the most recent studies demonstrating just how essential sleep is as a pillar of health and quality of life…Researchers at the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine found that healthy sleep reduces the risk of a long list of health problems—including obesity, hypertension, depression, and Alzheimer’s.

Newsweek, The 10 Best Hospitals in the World by Noah Miller — The hospitals on this list are at the forefront of adapting to these new challenges while providing top-notch patient care. They range from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, with its peerless educational arm; to Singapore General Hospital, which pursues clinical research and offers outstanding nursing; to the Charité hospital in Berlin, which employs more than half of Germany’s Nobel Prize winners in physiology or medicine.

CNBC, Walmart is so desperate to fix health care, it flies employees to top hospitals in other states for treatment by Christina Farr — …The company's Centers of Excellence program, which requires its employees to use a curated list of hospitals for some surgeries, has been in place for about six years. (It was optional until 2018.) It started with a relationship with Mayo Clinic, but Walmart has been forming these arrangements with other health centers including Geisinger. Spine surgeries were an early focus, as they are expensive and often unnecessary.

KTTC, Spring has sprung, but so will allergy season — Spring is officially here as of Wednesday, and that means blooming trees and flowers are not too far out. While the sight is pretty, it can also mean misery for those suffering from season allergies… so what is the best way to enjoy the outdoors and avoid sniffling noses? Experts at Mayo Clinic suggest that staying indoors while the pollen counts are high, and letting others do the yard work during those times is helpful. While it may be tempting to have the windows open, you are better off running the air condition instead. Be sure to change your car’s air filters too. According to Mayo Clinic experts, it is also suggest that you shower in the evening so that you can keep pollen out of your bed. Additional coverage: FOX 47

KAAL, Riding For Love: A Little Boy's Journey to See his Family — With Mayo Clinic in our own back yard, it's no surprise, we often share medical stories. Stories of heartache, of inspiration and stories of hope.   This story is no exception and it starts in the small town of Leroy with a little boy who loves his dad.  Every Friday when the bell rings, 9-year-old Soren Saterdalen gets picked up outside of his school in Leroy.  But unlike most kids, Soren doesn't ride a typical yellow school bus, instead he gets an express shuttle bus to Mayo Clinic in Rochester. During the nearly one hour bus ride, seated right in the front, his hat barely peeking through the railing, Soren patiently waits to see mom and dad.

KIMT, C-SPAN stars filming in Rochester to shine spotlight on Med City by Annalisa Pardo — People in Rochester may see some film crews around town this week. That’s because C-Span will be here all week filming for an episode highlighting the Med City for its series called Cities Tour. The show shines a spotlight on different cities around the United States. C-Span producer Ashely Hill told KIMT some of the stories include talking Mayo Clinic, History Center of Olmsted County, and with authors at RCTC. This close up comes just six months after the Ken Burns documentary about the history of the Mayo Clinic aired. Additional coverage: MedCity Beat,  KTTC, FOX 47

KIMT, Busy Urgent Care Centers — Local urgent care centers are dealing with a lot cases of strep throat and the flu.

KIMT, Workshop on sensible salting practices by Annalise Johnson — At Rochester City Hall, groundskeepers, contractors, and property managers learned sensible salting practices that both keep sidewalks and parking lots safe while also protecting water sources. "Being aware of how and when and not to use to too much salt," is what Mayo Clinic groundskeeper Bret Adler says he learned at the presentation that he'll take back to his job. Fortin Consulting presented at the workshop. It was co-sponsored by the City of Rochester's Stormwater Management program and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

MinnPost, Having moderately strong muscles linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes by Susan Perry — New research underscores yet again the importance of including muscle strengthening in your exercise routine. A study published recently in Mayo Clinic Proceedings has found that muscle strength is linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes — regardless of aerobic fitness. And you apparently don’t have to be gung-ho in the weight room at your gym to reap the potential benefit. The study also found that moderate amounts of muscle strength were associated with the reduced risk. Additional coverage: Health 24

Star Tribune, Study results back wider use of alternative heart-valve treatment by Joe Carlson — With both TAVR valves, hospital times and recovery times were shorter than the traditional surgeries because the valves are inserted via a small puncture elsewhere in the body and threaded into the heart using a thin catheter. Dr. Gurpreet Sandhu, chairman of interventional cardiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, predicted that TAVR volumes will probably double in the next few years. "Basically, with both of these FDA-approved valves, I think we saw excellent results that seem to be as good as open-heart surgery," said Sandhu, who was not involved in either study but has reported Medtronic research funding in the past. Additional coverage: Post-Bulletin

Star Tribune, You can use tech to track your baby's every movement and milestone — but should you? by Erica Pearson — Some pediatricians maintain that parents are collecting more information than is helpful and putting too much effort into using apps and monitors instead of relying on their own instincts and observations. “There’s a lot of focus on technology, and that may take away from the interaction and the relationships that you’re having with your child, and just responding to their needs and being in tune with them,” said Dr. Angela Mattke, a pediatrician at Mayo Clinic Children’s Center in Rochester. “We’ve done well for quite a long time of taking care of kids.” The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) doesn’t recommend that parents of healthy babies purchase smart monitors that track blood oxygen levels, saying that the devices, which have not been proven to reduce sudden infant death syndrome, can alarm parents unnecessarily.

Star Tribune, If Minnesota's weather is wearing you down, here's how to push back by Imani Cruzen — The winter blues are a common experience, and even if it was a little worse than usual this year, mental health professionals have suggestions for combating it. “Usually about 20, 25 percent of the general population will experience some subtle changes in their mood, where they may become just a little bit more apathetic, maybe just a little bit more down,” said Craig Sawchuk, a professor of psychology with the Mayo Clinic. “I think one of the best ways of describing the symptom pattern is it’s actually like hibernation.”

Pioneer Press, Business People: Sunday, March 17 — …Health insurer UnitedHealth Group, Minnetonka, announced that John H. Noseworthy has joined the board. Noseworthy served as president and CEO of Rochester-based Mayo Clinic from 2009 until his retirement in 2018.

News4Jax, Jaguars' new quarterback opens up about family and faith by Scott Johnson —The Jaguars have a new quarterback in Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles, whose story is just as inspiring off the field as it is on the field. Nick seems like he has it all. He just signed a four-year, $88 million contract... But that doesn't mean life has always been easy for him and his family…"We went to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, spent a lot of time with the dysautonomia doctors and that’s where we eventually got engaged," Nick said. "A couple months later, two days after she was in ER, we went to the courthouse and got married. We had to sit down for it."

South Florida Reporter, What’s The Connection Between NCAA Playoffs and Vasectomies? — “It’s the most reliable form of birth control, other than abstinence, that we have,” says Dr. Tobias Kohler, a Mayo Clinic urologist and men’s health expert. He says roughly 15 to 20 percent of American men have vasectomies. “Vasectomy is a procedure we do in the clinic where we take the vas deferens, which is the tube that connects the testicle to plumbing downstream, and we cut it in the clinic so that sperm can’t travel downstream and cause a pregnancy,” says Dr. Kohler.

Mankato Free Press, Counties identifying health priorities amid new rankings by Brian Arola — The timing of this year’s ranking coincides with public health departments across the state readying their next five-year planning cycles for 2020. Area counties partnered with Mayo Clinic Health System in collecting and analyzing local health data to create community health assessments. A community health improvement plan then lays out the county’s ideas for addressing whatever needs were identified in the assessment.

Albert Lea Tribune, Mayo Clinic Health System: Be safe when cleaning after flooding — With quick melting snow and warming temperatures, people are preparing to deal with the ramifications of constructive flooding, and physicians at Mayo Clinic Health System have several health-related tips people should keep in mind when safeguarding their homes and families, according to a press release. According to the release, floodwater may be contaminated, but it’s unlikely that simple skin contact will make someone sick, even if raw sewage is visible. However, swallowing floodwater or anything that has been contaminated could make someone sick. Check with a physician or with local public health officials if someone shows signs of illness, including fatigue, nausea, swelling or fever, the release states. Additional coverage: Austin Daily Herald

Austin Daily Herald, Gift of Life: Austin native Chad Corey finds kidney donor by Hannah Yang — Months after putting out the word that he needed to find a kidney donor, Chad Corey received a phone call at the end of February that changed his life. “Chris called me and asked, ‘How would you like a new kidney?’” the Austin native recalled of that fateful morning on Feb. 28. “It still hasn’t fully sunk in, yet. It’s not everyday that someone tells you that they can help by giving you one of their organs.” Chris Douglas of Rochester was an acquaintance of Corey’s through their interactions at sporting events that both men covered for their respective jobs…Four years ago, Corey discovered he had stage three kidney disease, and later found out his kidney was failing and entered stage four. Since then, Corey has been searching for a kidney donor, as well as continuing dialysis treatments at Mayo Clinic, according to a previous story.

La Crosse Tribune, Bill would help Wisconsin doctors cross state lines by Kyle Farris — ... The compact also stands to benefit Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare, by virtue of its alignment with the Mayo Clinic network of hospitals and clinics, headquartered in Rochester. “We’re a strong supporter of the compact and the idea of having a more rapid ability to license our providers,” said David Rushlow, a family practice physician and chief medical officer at Mayo-Franciscan. “A significant number of our Wisconsin physicians still need a license to practice in Minnesota, and a significant number of our Minnesota specialists still need a license to practice in Wisconsin.”

WXOW La Crosse, Alliance to HEAL seeks continuum of care by Scott Hackworth — Josh Court with Mayo Clinic Health System says, “The opioid epidemic affects all areas of the community. Our schools, our neighborhoods, our businesses, criminal justice systems, health care organizations. It impacts everyone. So we just need everyone together working collaboratively looking at this as a community response not an individual organization response.” “So if they can have a bed they can go to so they can just get past that hole that they’re looking at as far as the physical withdrawals that they’re looking at, says Tammy Anderson with Gundersen Health System. “Then their mindset is in a much better place to get the help that they need.”

WKBT La Crosse, Local students and celebrities team up for Who Will be Smarter than a 5th Grader by Alex Fischer — Local celebrities and students teamed up at the 11th annual "Who will be Smarter than a 5th Grader" contest. The audience at Valley View Mall watched as WIZM's Ken Cooper, Gundersen Health System's Mike McKee, Mayo Health System's Nick Miller and more worked with their 5th grade partners to prove their smarts by answering trivia questions.

Runner’s World, 5 Cutting-Edge Arthritis Treatments All Runners Should Know About by Cassie Shortsleeve — …All therapies are experimental, typically not covered by insurance, and none are FDA-approved for arthritis, says Jonathan Finnoff, D.O., a physiatrist and sports medicine specialist at The Mayo Clinic. In theory, these therapies work—these cells do have healing properties in the body. But the research isn’t there yet (and it’s hard to know what you’re really getting in an injection). There are many unscrupulous characters out there making big claims about success rates, which is actually illegal, says Finnoff. Many stem cell injections might not even have live stem cells in them, he adds.

SFGate, The top foods nutritionists swear by to be your healthiest self — and 2 they'll never touch by Hilary Brueck — …Juice is terrible for your body, and sugar in liquids of all kinds is basically a nutritionist's worst nightmare. If you've got a hankering for something sweet, eating some fruit or a piece of dark chocolate is a better strategy. Nutritionists also recommend avoiding all hyper-processed packaged desserts that comes in a wrapper, like a mass-manufactured cookie loaded with preservatives. Nutritionists are not here to torture you. Dietitian Jason Ewoldt from the Mayo Clinic says when it comes to healthy eating, deprivation is not a winning strategy. Additional coverage: Business Insider Australia

Reader’s Digest, Sea Salt vs. Table Salt: Which One Is Better for You? by Shanna Mallon — Lots of people think sea salt is better because of its minerals—but sea salt and table salt have the same basic nutritional value, according to the Mayo Clinic. Both sea salt and table salt also have a similar amount of sodium by weight.

Men’s Health, Five Feet Apart Shows Why Relationships Are Risky for Two People With Cystic Fibrosis by Coleen De Bellefonds — Cystis fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening, inherited disease that causes progressive damage to organs including the lungs, pancreas, liver, intestines, sinuses, and sex organs. Affecting about 30,000 people in the United States and 70,000 people worldwide, cystic fibrosis is the most common lethal genetic disorder, says Mark Wylam, M.D., a pulmonologist and the director of the Mayo Clinic’s cystic fibrosis center. “Its main manifestation is chronic lung infection, which leads to lung destruction,” he says. Fluid lines the lungs to help cilia (hair-like protrusions) sweep germs out of the airways to be swallowed or coughed up, explains Wylam.

Men’s Health, Taking Aspirin to Prevent Heart Attacks Could Be Dangerous —Taking aspirin can can make it difficult to form blood clots and even cause bleeding stomach ulcers, according to the Mayo Clinic. Plus, conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, along with certain medications, like steroids or blood thinners, increase the risk of these side effects.

Marie Claire, My Drug Overdose Saved My Life. Now I'm Saving Others. by Sarah Gad — Like so many others, my opioid addiction began with a legitimate prescription for pain medication. In 2012, I was in a serious car accident. At the time, I was 24 years old and in medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, living the life I'd always dreamed of: I had a full scholarship, had just passed the first step of medical board exams, and was gearing up for an eight-week visiting rotation in ear, nose, and throat surgery at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. I emerged from the accident with several broken ribs and a compound fracture of my right ankle…

HealthDay, AHA News: Two Young Moms Bond Over Heart Failure, Transplant Experiences — Sarah Bradley's second pregnancy was uneventful until 30 weeks, when she found herself swollen, breathless and unusually fatigued. Sarah was flown to a hospital in Albuquerque, where doctors discovered the underlying cause of her heart problem: Peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare condition in which the heart becomes weakened and enlarged toward the end of pregnancy or within five months after delivery. Doctors stabilized her condition and then induced labor a week later. Her son, Logan, was born five weeks early. While he went to the neonatal intensive care unit, Sarah went to the cardiac ICU. She went home a few weeks later with medicine that was supposed to help strengthen her heart. Instead, a fainting episode sent Sarah back to the hospital in Albuquerque. Tests showed her heart was functioning at 5 percent. She was sent to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, where she got a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, to keep her heart pumping until a donor heart could be found.

MedPage Today, Why Does This Lupus Patient Have Unilateral Vision Loss? by Kate Kneisel — Treatment for ischemic optic neuropathy is controversial, especially in the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies, noted the authors of the case report, Alexander J. Heckman, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and colleagues. They said that when visual loss is likely caused by an acute thrombotic event, anticoagulation with warfarin or aspirin should be considered….High-dose corticosteroids may be given empirically to treat the systemic autoimmune illness, the team added. Heckman and co-authors explained that they decided to use dexamethasone rather than the standard methylprednisolone due to the higher free plasma levels and central nervous system penetration.

Medscape, Will Curtailing Opioids Increase Violence Against Doctors? by Fran Lowry — In a presentation here at the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) 2019 Annual Meeting, two pain experts warned delegates of a probable increase in violent attacks and discussed ways physicians can protect themselves. "This is a very important topic. Most physicians know about this, but it is not talked about in a structured way. I think it is very important to make doctors aware of this very real danger and to suggest ways they can protect themselves and their staff," W. Michael Hooten, MD, a chronic pain specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Medscape Medical News.

MedPage Today, Antibacterial Envelope Cuts Heart Device Infections by Ed Susman — Ray Gibbons, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told MedPage Today that "Infections in these patients is a major cause of concerns for doctors and patients. Sometimes the problem is severe enough that the patient will need to be hospitalized for weeks." Gibbons, who was not involved in the study, cautioned that "while these results are encouraging, longer-term studies on how long these devices remain clear of infection is required. These devices will be implanted for 5 years or longer, so we are going to have to watch to see how long this protection lasts."

MedPage Today, MitraClip Better for Secondary MR Quality of Life by Crystal Pfend — Previously reported primary results from the COAPT trial showed a significant reduction in both heart failure hospitalization and all-cause mortality at 24 months for MitraClip, which led to FDA approval for secondary mitral regurgitation on Thursday. "I think these findings are as important if not more important than the primary endpoint, because from the patient perspective ... most patients don't necessarily want to live longer unless they are going to feel better and they are going to have a decent quality of life," said ACC discussion panelist Mayra Guerrero, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

MedPage Today, Why Does This Lupus Patient Have Unilateral Vision Loss? by Kate Kneisel — …Treatment for ischemic optic neuropathy is controversial, especially in the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies, noted the authors of the case report, Alexander J. Heckman, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and colleagues. They said that when visual loss is likely caused by an acute thrombotic event, anticoagulation with warfarin or aspirin should be considered. In addition, to prevent thrombosis in the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with SLE, hydroxychloroquine may be considered.

Medscape, CABANA Published: Mixed Results, Helpful Insights by Steve Stiles — The CABANA trial showed no significant difference for its clinical primary endpoint between the strategies of ablation or rate- or rhythm-control meds alone in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The null outcome, however, may still help to enlighten current clinical practice, say observers on the randomized trial's formal publication March 15 in JAMA…The primary CABANA report and its separately published quality-of-life analysis appeared March 15 in the journal, with lead authors Douglas L. Packer, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and Daniel B. Mark, MD, MPH, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina, respectively. The primary findings had been presented in preliminary form at the May 2018 Heart Rhythm Society sessions and covered at the time by theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology, with essentially the same findings. Additional coverage: TCTMD

Medscape, Moderate Muscle Strength Key to Type 2 Diabetes Prevention by Liam Davenport — Individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes could benefit from moderately increasing their body strength, say US researchers who found that, conversely, the risk reduction was entirely eliminated in people with the highest levels of strength. The researchers looked at more than 4600 participants without type 2 diabetes at baseline from a prospective health outcomes study…The study was published online March 11 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Medscape, Novel Program Trains Nurse Practitioners to Manage Pain Patients by Fran Lowry — "With the dearth of healthcare providers especially in rural areas, nurse practitioners have stepped up and tried to fill that void by providing healthcare to the most vulnerable in our society," Sahil Gupta, MD, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, commented to Medscape Medical News. "I think it is imperative that we help train the nurse practitioners to make sure that they are not only competent but proficient, and I think that the pilot data are extremely promising, and if scaled up, this would be an extremely important cog in the wheel of treatment of musculoskeletal pain."

Medscape, Apple Watch Helps Detect AF: Is This the Future? by Sue Hughes — …Giving the opposite perspective, Ray Gibbons, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and past ACC president, was clearly not impressed with the Apple study. "This is very preliminary and not ready for prime time," he told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology. "Monitoring for AF is only a good idea if a patient has reasonable likelihood of having AF. The patient group who has AF are older people who don't wear Apple watches. The vast majority of participants in this study were young people, but AF is not major health problem in young people. "It's like ordering a coronary calcium score for a 35th birthday present," he said. "And for the older population we have multiple alternative technologies to detect AF which have been better validated, so it is not clear where this fits in."

Healio, High-intensity interval training impacts body composition of patients with metabolic syndrome — High-intensity interval training led to significant reductions in total body fat, abdominal fat distribution as well as an increase in lean mass compared with moderate-intensity interval continuous training in patients with metabolic syndrome, according to data presented during the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session. “A considerable amount of research on [high-intensity interval training] has been done in athletes to demonstrate its ability to improve total exercise capacity and sports performance,” Yaoshan Dun, MD, PhD, a cardiac rehabilitation specialist at the Mayo Clinic and Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha, China, said in a press release. “Scientists and clinicians are just beginning to recognize the power that [high-intensity interval training] may have in clinical populations to prevent a second heart attack in patients who’ve already had one.”

Healio, Anti-aging mechanism may hold key to ‘perfect’ osteoporosis treatment — Cellular senescence, a phenomenon in which normal cells cease to divide, is becoming a buzzed-about topic as new research reveals it may be a druggable target to treat — or even prevent — multiple aging comorbidities, including osteoporosis. The research, mostly conducted with mice, but also in small human cohorts, suggests that there may be novel ways to use already available therapies to stop tissue dysfunction...“Because there are these potential benefits with senescent cells, you want to be very careful how you target them,” Sundeep Khosla, MD, director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at Mayo Clinic and a leading researcher in cellular senescence, told Endocrine Today. “The approach that has been used by the Mayo Clinic group and several groups around the world is to look for specific drugs because these cells activate certain pathways that make them resistant to apoptosis, and those pathways are upregulated.”

Healio, Speaker: Recent changes in TJA pain management offer some key advantages — The recent addition of peri-articular injections, adductor canal blocks and continuous infusion pumps to the pain management options for total joint arthroplasty provides advantages for patients and orthopedic surgeons alike, a presenter at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting said in a quick overview he gave of some newer pain management approaches. “In the hip and knee world, we’ve seen a significant evolution in our approach to pain management over the last 4 decades,” Henry D. Clarke, MD, of Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, said. He noted some of these newer pain management options may eventually play a role in moving more TJA cases to the outpatient setting.

WebMD, Mysterious SCAD Heart Attack Strikes Younger Women by Jennifer Clopton —With decades of experience as a heart nurse, Kristin O’Meara knew all too well how to recognize the signs of a heart attack. Until it happened to her. The 31-year career nurse at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, avoided going to the ER when she first felt a searing pain in her chest 2 years ago. “My brain kept going back and forth, saying 'this can’t be a cardiac incident. I’m healthy. I don’t have any risk factors.' I just kept thinking the pain would go away,” O’Meara says. O'Meara was 56 at the time. An avid runner, she was on an indoor track when she felt the chest pain. When it didn’t go away after a few minutes, she drove herself to the hospital ER but couldn’t find a parking space. So even though she says it’s hard to believe now, she kept driving and ran an errand. Once she got home, she says it became impossible to deny that something was happening. With the pain still intense, she took a few aspirin and immediately vomited them. That’s when she called her husband and told him she needed to go to the ER. Even so, she says, “I just couldn’t imagine I was having a typical heart attack.” She wasn’t. O’Meara was having a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, or SCAD. The Mayo Clinic is home to some of the top experts on the condition, and doctors and nurses there immediately recognized it once she was admitted to the ER. O’Meara says she will forever feel grateful.

MD Magazine, Treating HCV in Cancer Patients Opens Chemotherapy Options — …In an editorial accompanying the study, Sobia Laique, MD, and Hugo Vargas, MD, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, agreed that HCV should no longer be considered a barrier to oncology care. "The authors are to be commended for addressing the clinical needs of this important population. Treatment of HCV infection with potent DAA regimens gives hope to many who because of this infection cannot access optimal cancer therapies," Laique and Vargas wrote.

Consultant 360, Q&A: Could the Future of Personalized Nutrition Lie in the Gut Microbiome? — Although many current dietary approaches focus heavily on nutrition labels, a new study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that the effectiveness of one’s diet may go beyond labeling and have more to do with a plethora of individual traits, including the gut microbiome and postprandial glycemic responses to foods.1 “Since it is known that metabolism in the gut is highly influenced by microbes in food, this study was a good opportunity to assess the impact of the microbiome on the body’s responses to food,” said study author and colorectal surgeon Heidi Nelson, MD, chair of the Department of Surgery and leader of the Center for Individualized Medicine Microbiome Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

AAMC, So you’ve matched. Now what? 9 things all residents should know by Lindsay Kalter — Find a mentor. …Having access to someone with a wealth of health care knowledge provides a well-rounded learning experience, adds Fredric B. Meyer, MD, dean of Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. “Find the best mentors and role models,” says Meyer, who did his residency in neurologic surgery at the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education. “Devote yourself to being the best physician you can be. It means learning about the art and humanity of being a physician.”

NEJM, Space Medicine in the Era of Civilian Spaceflight by Jan Stepanek, M.D., et al — Since the first human spaceflight by Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin in 1961, more than 560 persons have flown in space. The vast majority were highly trained and rigorously selected astronauts in excellent physical condition and health. Currently, astronauts and other participants in spaceflights to the International Space Station must adhere to medical certification standards set by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its international partners. The emergence of privatized commercial spaceflight is expected to afford paying customers, including those with preexisting health conditions, the opportunity to fly in space. Prospective spaceflight companies and their medical departments will provide guidance for their suborbital participants and will also increasingly depend on health documentation from clinicians who may not be familiar with the specific challenges of various activities and mission profiles related to spaceflight. Current U.S. law, enforced by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Commercial Space Transportation, mandates that prospective spaceflight participants provide written informed consent after having a clear understanding of the inherent risks of the flight.

Medical Design & Outsourcing, Medical device cybersecurity: It’s time to get real by Nancy Crotti — Health delivery organizations can protect themselves from vulnerable devices by requiring vendors to meet the criteria laid out in the joint security plan, according to Kevin McDonald, director of clinical information security for Mayo Clinic and a co-chair of the joint task force. “We have a process to be able to collect that data, prioritize it, measure the risks and make decisions on purchasing,” McDonald said. “If a device comes in and can meet those criteria, you can take a significant portion of the risk off the table.”

The Bump, Why Due Dates Can Change and What It Means for Your Pregnancy by Korin Miller — For most women, due dates are calculated by using the date of your last menstrual period, says Julie Lamppa, APRN, CNM, a certified nurse midwife at Mayo Clinic. “By using this date, you add 280 days to come up with a due date,” she explains. (You can do this pretty easily by using an app or The Bump due date calculator.) Based on this calculation, you should be 40 weeks pregnant on your due date, Lamppa says.

Alzheimer’s News Today, Brains of People with Sleep Apnea Show Increased Tau Protein Aggregates by Patricia Inacio Ph.D. — Researchers at the Mayo Clinic investigated whether obstructive sleep apnea could pose a risk for Alzheimer’s disease. They used data from the population-based Mayo Clinic Study of Aging and identified 288 people, age 65 and older, without dementia. The participants underwent brain scans with positron emission tomography (PET) to detect the presence of tau protein aggregates in a specific brain region called the entorhinal cortex, a gateway to the hippocampus, linked with memory, spatial navigation and perception of time. The brains of those with Alzheimer’s disease show accumulation of tau protein aggregates, which are thought to precede the loss of nerve cells, shrinkage of the brain, and cognitive impairment.

Neurology Reviews, Progress in Management of Lysosomal Storage Diseases by Dr. Marc C. Patterson — Lysosomal storage diseases comprise approximately 60 disorders characterized by excess storage of macromolecules within lysosomes. Although individually rare, these disorders collectively occur rather frequently, with estimates of their frequency in the population of at least 1 in 5,000. Patients with these disorders present themselves to both adult and child neurologists; they should be provided with a diagnosis and managed promptly and efficiently, particularly now that disease-modifying therapies are becoming available. Lysosomal storage diseases continue to be under-recognized, with substantial diagnostic delays, despite improvements in diagnostic techniques.

Reading Eagle, A Mayo Clinic doctor explains menopause and how it affects women by Connie Nelson — Dr. Ekta Kapoor describes what she does in simple terms: “I take care of midlife women,” she said. Her approach is multifaceted. An endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Kapoor also is an assistant professor of medicine at the Women's Health Clinic with special interest in menopause, obesity and menopausal hormone therapy. When she began her practice, she was sometimes frustrated by how little emphasis was placed on menopause, especially since, given increasing longevity, women can now spend more than a third of their lives in menopause. But while women's health in general and menopause in particular were once ignored and understudied, “That's changing now,” she said. “And I'm so glad to be a part of it.”

WBAA-Radio, Seeking A Second Opinion On Pain Podcast by Elizabeth Jensen — Late last week, NPR's Invisibilia podcast released a new hour-long episode on the topic of pain. True to the show's mission to examine "the invisible forces that shape human behavior, our thoughts, our emotions, our expectations," the episode was a complex and thought-provoking exploration of how pain, in the opinion of some, might be related to the attention we pay to it...A second thread of concern about the podcast is the aspect of the treatment itself. Other news organizations have written about these treatments before, seemingly without raising much brouhaha. The treatments, which vary somewhat in their approaches, exist in plain sight, based at respected hospitals and medical centers (including the Mayo Clinic) and presumably are subject to institutional oversight. (The podcast only briefly alluded to the treatments at other clinics.)

MobiHealthNews, Mayo Clinic taps Giblib to digitize medical education, create new content by Jonah Comstock — The Mayo Clinic has entered into a partnership with LA-based medical and surgical streaming service Giblib, the latter announced today. Giblib will digitize and host some of Mayo Clinic’s existing educational videos as well as produce new content on its own platform. The deal will include both standard video and 360-degree VR videos of Mayo Clinic’s teaching facility. After remastering existing Mayo Clinic educational content, Giblib will use data analytics to determine the most sought-after topics and develop additional content in those areas. Additional coverage: American Inno, Associated Press, MedCity News

Bustle, What Actually Happens In Your Brain When You Have A Migraine, According To Experts by Mika Doyle — I always thought migraines were just super bad headaches. I mean, they made me miss work and feel sick for days on end, but they were still just bad headaches, right? But Amaal Starling, M.D. a neurologist and migraine specialist at Mayo Clinic, tells Bustle that migraines aren't even headaches. "Migraine is abnormal processing of sensations in the brain," Dr. Starling says. That means the brain isn't processing sensory stimulation — like light, sounds, or smells — normally, says Dr. Starling, and the most common sensation people with migraine are processing abnormally is pain — hence, the "worst headache of your life" misnomer migraines are known for.

Bustle, 6 Ways Depression Changes As You Get Older, According To Science by JR Thorpe — The Mayo Clinic identifies age as a potential reason for antidepressants losing their effectiveness, noting, "As you get older, you may have changes in your brain and thinking (neurological changes) that affect your mood. In addition, the manner in which your body processes medications may be less efficient. You're also likely to be taking more medications." Those factors combined can make antidepressants less useful as you age, requiring dosage changes.

Asean Post, Southeast Asia is not sleeping enough by Jason Thomas — Recent research shows the importance of adequate amounts of sleep for brain health, since during sleep, the brain washes away toxins that accumulate while we’re awake that can potentially damage the aging brain, according to Dr. Erik St. Louis, Co-Director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine. “Sleep also keeps the brain’s wiring and connections healthy and working at their best, especially when learning and remembering new things from earlier in the day,” he added.

Al Roeya, Future medicine starts from space by Mohamed Mansour — Scientists at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, a non-profit research and medical institution, have received a collection of stem cells sent to the International Space Station to grow away from the effects of gravity. Scientists began intensive research in preparation for "cure all diseases", through stem cells freed from gravity and grown in space.

VEJA, Physical activity is as effective as medication to treat high blood pressure — O segundo trabalho, publicado no mês passado no periódico Mayo Clinic Proceedings, revelou que a prática de atividade física  é um pouco mais eficiente para reduzir os níveis de gordura visceral do que as medicações. “Mudanças no estilo de vida, como [a adoção de] exercícios, devem ser o primeiro passo para as pessoas começarem a reduzir a gordura visceral”, disse Ian Neeland, principal autor do estudo, ao The New York Times.

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

Editors: Emily Blahnik, Karl Oestreich

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