November 1, 2019

Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights for November 1, 2019

By Emily Blahnik

Washington Post, Health-care system causing rampant burnout among doctors, nurses by William Wan — Complex regulations on hospital reimbursement gives rise to a long list doctors must tic through in physical exams, even as they try to figure out what’s ailing a patient, so hospitals can charge more or less based on the exam’s complexity…“It’s incredibly inefficient, and the workload is unsustainable,” said Liselotte Dyrbye, a doctor and researcher at the Mayo Clinic. “The system is built for billing and not taking care of patients.” Additional coverage: MedPage Today, Fierce Healthcare, News-medical.net, Albert Lea Tribune

Washington Post, Growing old doesn’t mean you also grow in weight by Marlene Cimons — One big reason we gain weight as we get older is because we gradually lose muscle mass, about 1 percent every year, says Donald D. Hensrud, associate professor of preventive medicine and nutrition at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. This causes a decrease in our basal metabolic rate, that is, the process of burning calories while we are at rest. The lower the metabolic rate, the fewer calories we burn. Additional coverage: SFGate

Washington Post, Actually, you do have enough time to exercise, and here’s the data to prove it by Christopher Ingraham — Americans as a rule don’t get enough exercise — fewer than 1 in 4 do, data show — and many contend that their schedules are simply too packed to fit it in. The explanation is so prevalent that such medical and public health institutions as the Mayo Clinic and American Heart Association address the “no time for exercise” hurdle in their outreach campaigns.

Washington Post, Is chocolate healthy? Alas, the answer isn’t sweet. Here’s why. by Steven Petrow — The top Google result for that question was a report (“Can chocolate be good for my health?”) on the Mayo Clinic website. To help me fact-check it, I called Marion Nestle, the ­much-respected professor of food and nutrition studies at New York University, who has extensively studied the chocolate industry (most recently in her book “Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat).”

Wall Street Journal, The Link Between Diet, Exercise and Alzheimer’s by Sumathi Reddy — Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Rochester, Minn., called the study encouraging but cautioned that lifestyle changes aren’t a magic bullet. “Does that mean we’re going to prevent Alzheimer’s disease?” he says. “No.” But measures that might help delay the onset are significant. “If we can postpone the onset or slow the progression of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, that’s very important,” he says.

NBC News, Having a dog can be good for your heart. Here's how to keep your dog's heart healthy, too. by Vivian Manning-Schaffel — Dogs have our hearts for many reasons, but a recent Mayo Clinic study found owning a dog may be beneficial for human cardiovascular health because dog owners are more likely to be physically active, eat better, are less likely to smoke and have lower blood sugar than non-pet owners.

New York Times, The Promise and Peril of Vaping, Part 1: A Mystery in Nebraska — Today, we begin a two-part series on the promise and the peril of vaping…Vaping can cause lung damage resembling toxic chemical burns, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic.

New York Daily News, Common early sign of cardiovascular disease also may indicate cancer risk, study finds — A Mayo Clinic-led study involving 488 cardiac patients whose cases were followed for up to 12 years finds that microvascular endothelial dysfunction, a common early sign of cardiovascular disease, is associated with a greater than twofold risk of cancer. The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, finds that microvascular endothelial dysfunction may be a useful marker for predicting risk of solid-tumor cancer, in addition to its known ability to predict more advanced cardiovascular disease, says Amir Lerman, M.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiologist and the study's senior author.

Reuters, Biogen's secret campaign to bring its Alzheimer's drug back from the ashes by Julie Steenhuysen — Biogen Inc’s (BIIB.O) shock decision this week to bring its experimental Alzheimer’s drug back from the scrap heap was born out of “top secret” meetings, non-disclosure agreements and six months of hashing over trial data with scientists, regulators and statisticians, researchers told Reuters…“The signal from the positive trial was kind of convincing,” said Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s expert Dr. Ronald Petersen, who has been a paid adviser for Biogen. It showed a 23% reduction in a key measure of cognitive decline.  “But the other study, which was meant to be identical, didn’t show it,” he said. “That’s the challenge there.”

Fortune, Don’t Forget This Key Step to a Successful A.I. Project: Eye on A.I. by Jonathan Vanian — Recognizing faces from an MRI: Researchers from the Mayo Clinic released a study showing that Microsoft’s facial-recognition software identified patient faces in photos that were created using MRI imagery, The Wall Street Journal reported. The article stated that the study’s findings underscore “privacy threat that will increase with technology improvements and the growth of health-care data, experts in medical imaging and facial recognition said.”

Post-Bulletin, Rochester's airport said to fuel the city's economic growth by Jeff Kiger — While the sky might be the limit, the Rochester International Airport needs to continue to grow to fuel growth of the city, Mayo Clinic and area businesses. That was at the heart of the message presented during the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce's Community Matters event hosted in the Mayo Clinic Air Ambulance hangar. "We wanted to uncover a little more of ... what goes on here to increase the understanding in the community of the importance of it," Chamber President Kathleen Harrington said in introducing the event.

Post-Bulletin, Diets don't work for you? Mayo doctors create test to tailor obesity treatments by Jeff Kiger — When it comes to treating one of the world’s most prevalent medical conditions, one size doesn't fit all. Obesity is an issue for more than 40 percent of U.S. adults, despite the many available diets, workout plans, drugs and surgical treatment options. It's a story that's familiar to most — one person loses hundreds of pounds on a diet or other treatment and another similar patient doesn't lose anything. "That's the big problem we face is that we have great responders and non-responders to every type of obesity treatment. There are people who do terrific and those who do very poorly,” said Mayo Clinic's Dr. Andres Acosta. “The question is why.” That’s the mystery Acosta and his Mayo Clinic mentor, Dr. Michael Camilleri, set out to solve working with the Mayo Clinic Weight Loss Center.

Post-Bulletin, Woman searches for photographer who took family photo at hospital, inspired her passion by Emily Cutts — A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it's worth even more. For Deenen Bryan, a photo of her young family of four taken at Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys by a kind stranger was the spark that set her on a path to starting a nonprofit and helping families the way the unknown photographer helped hers. Bryan, who now calls North Carolina home, spent time in 1997 and 1998 in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic. On Oct. 25, 1997, Bryan gave birth to her daughter, Anna Christina Diane Bryan. Born with a liver disease, Christina, as her family called her, ended up going to Mayo Clinic Hospital for treatment. The family had been living in Ireland but returned to the U.S. for Christina's medical treatment. Additional coverage: Bring Me the News

Post-Bulletin, Generation Zzz's study looks at teen sleep habits by John Molseed — Rising concerns about sleep-deprived adolescents have prompted Mayo Clinic and Rush University in Chicago to study the sleep habits of “night owl” teens. For some adolescents, no matter what time they go to bed, they’re awake into the early morning, said Dr. R. Robert Auger, sleep medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic. Those teenagers are most likely have delayed sleep phase disorder, and researchers want them for the study, Auger said.

Post-Bulletin, Drop off unused opioid medications, e-cig devices Saturday at Gonda West — Mayo Clinic has teamed up with the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office, Olmsted Medical Center, Zumbro Valley Medical Society and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to sponsor a community drop-off location. The public can drop off unwanted medications anonymously in Rochester Oct. 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Gonda West entrance on Third Avenue Southwest.

KTTC, RPU board announces new substation site, moves toward completing purchase — First reported by KTTC in June, the Rochester Public Utilities board is moving toward purchasing a plot of land to build a new substation. RPU board members gathered Tuesday, voting on the $150,000 purchase amount for about half of the piece of land they’re moving to acquire, which passed unanimously…Once the land is acquired, building the substation and underground lines is expected to cost about $27 million, but the Mayo Clinic will be footing about half that bill so it can reserve a portion of the substation’s power for its campus. RPU hopes to have the substation up and running by 2022.

KAAL, Kids at Mayo Clinic get play date with Clifford the Big Red Dog by Miguel Octavio — Clifford the Big Red Dog is the Children's Museum Rochester's newest exhibit. For patients at Mayo Clinic, the famous dog made a special stop for some of his biggest fans. Additional coverage:Post-Bulletin, KTTC, KIMT

KAAL, $30,000 award for RPD program will help people struggling with addiction — The Rochester Police Department was awarded $30,000 from Mayo Clinic for its new Police Assisted Recovery (PAR) program. “We could take someone to jail, we could take someone to detox, but what happens three days later when they’re released from jail, or three days later when they’re released from detox,” said Captain John Sherwin. It’s been nearly five months since PAR’s launch.

KIMT, MCHS hosts interactive career fair for high school students by Maleeha Kamal — Minn- Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea held a career fair to showcase their work to Albert Lea High School Students…The career fair was lead by Dr. Mark Ciota. Ciota has worked in the medical field for 25 years and shares why he gets hosting these career fairs. "I have a really big interest in learning and teaching and the school district is also trying to get students exposed career opportunities at a different age, "Ciota said. "We have probably 150 different job titles here so we tried to expose the students to all of those so they can see the wide array of choices."

KTTC, Mayo Clinic highlighting multiple options for brain tumor treatment — While finding any tumor can be upsetting, the discovery of a brain tumor has always been especially tough for a patient to hear.But, experts are reiterating such a diagnosis, isn’t necessarily a death sentence. According to the Mayo Clinic, there are more than 700,000 Americans living with a brain tumor. “Being diagnosed as having a brain tumor is not immediately ‘my life is going to end’,” said Dr. Fredric Meyer, Mayo Clinic Enterprise Chair of Neurologic Surgery. Additional coverage: KAAL

KROC-Radio, Gift from auto industry consultant honors retired Mayo Clinic CEO by Andy Brownell — A noted philanthropist responsible for the largest gift in the history of the Mayo Clinic has made another large donation to the world-famous healthcare provider. The Mayo Clinic today announced Jay Alix is providing the organization with a $15 million endowed gift to provide resources for advancing innovative ideas with the potential to transform healthcare. The gift honors retired Mayo Clinic CEO and President Doctor John Noseworthy. Additional coverage: News-medical.net

KARE 11, How an eye scan could catch Alzheimer's early by Heidi Wigdahl — In the future, an annual eye exam could help detect Alzheimer's disease in its early stages.  The development has been going on for years but a recent boost in funding means we could see this technology at eye clinics even sooner...Currently, there are many clinical studies going on across the world using this camera, including one at Mayo Clinic.

Star Tribune, Why hiring people with disabilities will improve your bottom line by Steve Grove — Employers at Mayo Clinic have found that some employees with autism, for example, have unique abilities to examine process flows and are extremely helpful in increasing efficiencies in their clinics. “It’s amazing the unique abilities these workers bring,” Dawn Kirchner, a diversity recruitment specialist at Mayo, told us.

Star Tribune, Vaping epidemic complicates marijuana legalization in Minnesota by J. Patrick Coolican — Opponents of legalizing marijuana in Minnesota are seizing on the recent outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and teen nicotine addiction to urge caution on the cannabis front — even as advocates of legalization ramp up their campaign ahead of next year’s legislative session…Research from Mayo Clinic suggests that vaping-related lung injuries are due to people inhaling toxic substances — akin to workers who breathe fumes from chemical spills, or World War I soldiers exposed to mustard gas.

Architecture MN, One Discovery Square by Joel Hoekstra —This past summer, a four-story building opened its doors on the site of a former parking lot a few blocks south of the Mayo Clinic campus in Rochester. Much of the real estate in the city’s downtown is owned by the famed clinic, but this 90,000-square-foot structure, One Discovery Square, was developed by Mortenson, with the enthusiastic support of both the clinic and the local community. Its purpose? To foster innovations that could put Rochester on the med-tech map. After all, why should all the attention go to places like Boston or Silicon Valley when Mayo’s wide-ranging expertise is right here in southeastern Minnesota, waiting to be tapped?

Jacksonville Daily Record, United Therapeutics receives permit for cell therapy facility build-out at Mayo by Katie Garwood — United Therapeutics received a building permit Tuesday for a $9.5 million build-out of its cell therapy facility on the second floor of Mayo Clinic’s Discovery and Innovation Building. The 21,843-square-foot space will house an automated stem cell manufacturing site, which is one of the first of its kind in the country. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. is the project contractor.  The technology, approved by the FDA in 2018, allows the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine to produce cells from the bone marrow of a stem cell donor in large enough quantities to be used as treatments in clinical trials. It allows for the treatment of multiple patients at the same time.

South Florida Reporter, Secondhand electronic cigarette smoke — “The dangerous components are the other 6,000 things that are in tobacco smoke, and they are created because tobacco is burned,” says Dr. Taylor Hays, director of Mayo Clinic’s Nicotine Dependence Center. But does vape smoke have similar effects as those who are around tobacco smoke? Dr. J. Taylor Hays says that there isn’t any data on secondhand vape smoke, which is actually an aerosol. “These little particles that  are inhaled by the vaper are also released into the atmosphere, and if they are an irritant to the lungs — which we know they are in people who vape — then in secondhand vaping, there probably also are irritants.”

KTAR Phoenix, Why a Valley dietitian says you should eat a pumpkin instead of carving it by Griselda Zetino — Besides being good for carving, pumpkins also are a great source of vitamins and nutrients. Olivia Baker, a clinical dietitian at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, describes pumpkins as “a very nutrient-dense food.” “You can get a lot of different vitamins from just a little bit,” she said. “It contains a lot of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, iron and beta carotene, which is a type of vitamin A.”

KTOE-Radio, Mayo to Present Giant Lung For Anti-Vaping Message at Mankato Schools by Ashley Hanley — On Thursday, Nov. 7, Mayo Clinic Health System is collaborating with Mankato Area Public Schools on a high school anti-vaping day that will feature a 10-foot by 15-foot inflatable lung. The giant inflatable lung will be in the Mankato East High School Gym from 8:30-11 a.m. and in the West High School Gym from 12:30-3 p.m. The event includes demonstrations and informational activities for the high school students during that time. Different interactive stations in the gyms will focus on debunking vaping myths, including, for example, that what is being inhaled isn’t water vaper.

KTOE-Radio, After Suffering Loss, Woman to Donate Cradle to Mayo Birth Center in Mankato by Ashley Hanley — Dena Iverson recently suffered a fetal loss. But she turned her grief into action. She began fundraising for a cradle to donate to Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato’s birthing center to be used for other families experiencing loss. Recently she reached her $5,000 fundraising goal and on October 29 Mayo will do a short dedication and thank her for the gift. Additional coverage: KEYC Mankato

Fairmont Sentinel, Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont: Partnership to aid cancer patients by Jason Sorenson — During a news conference Monday afternoon, the Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont excitedly announced a new partnership with the Jonathan Zierdt Cancer Fund that will benefit cancer patients in Fairmont and surrounding communities. Tracy Culbertson, oncology nurse manager at Mayo, shared the significance of the JZ Fund and its mission to supply cancer patients with care boxes. Additional coverage: KEYC Mankato

KWNO-Radio, Stephen and Barbara Slaggie Family Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Dedicated by TJ Leverentz — Mayo Clinic’s Franciscan Healthcare in La Crosse has announced the dedication of the Stephen and Barbara Slaggie Family Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. The Winona-based family gave a philanthropic gift of $5 million to support the renovation and expansion of the Mayo Clinic Health System Cancer Center, in La Crosse. “We are deeply grateful for the Slaggie's remarkable friendship, steadfast support, and the legacy they are creating at Mayo Clinic,” says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., president and CEO of Mayo Clinic.

KEYC Mankato, ACT on Alzheimer’s makes efforts to ‘Reframe Dementia’ by Mary Rominger — The Mankato/North Mankato ACT on Alzheimer’s Action Team continues to extend its efforts in re-framing dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates 97,000 Minnesotans are living with Alzheimer’s and other related dementia today; they expect that number to increase to 120,000 by 2025…Angela Lunde will give a presentation on this topic at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church bringing her knowledge from the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Rochester.

Mankato Free Press, The emotional side of cancer: Tips for patients, caregivers by Sharon Dexheimer — Adult cancer patients have unique physical health needs, but they also have unique emotional and mental health needs. The emotional side of cancer — things like dealing with the stress of a diagnosis, self-care during treatment, accessing financial and legal resources, or locating support —all can affect a patient’s ability to cope and stick to a treatment plan. — Sharon Dexheimer is a licensed clinical social worker with Mayo Clinic Health System who specializes in working with cancer patients and their loved ones.

Mankato Free Press, Studies: Dairy may be linked to higher prostate cancer risk by Brian Arola — Dairy is a staple of the Midwestern diet, but a recent analysis suggests high intake may be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. The literature review released in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association evaluated 47 studies into plant-based and animal-based diets. The summary found plant-rich diets may be associated with decreased prostate cancer risk, while dairy-rich diets may be associated with heightened risk. Local dietitians stress moderation is the key with dairy, as it has health benefits of its own when eaten judiciously. “Our dairy products have some good health benefits to them as well,” said Grace Fjeldberg, a dietitian at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato specializing in oncology nutrition. “It shouldn’t be avoided like the plague.” Additional coverage: FOX 5 New York

Owatonna People’s Press, Women encouraged to take time for themselves on Saturday for health program by Annie Granlund — “Life can get busy and it’s easy for us to put others’ needs first,” said Ashley Musch, a well-being specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. “When we put our well-being on the back burner, we miss out on opportunities and ways to take care of ourselves.” On Saturday, Musch will join two other health specialists for the Mayo Clinic Health System’s Women’s Morning of Well-Being at the Owatonna Country Club. The program will provide energizing and inspiring information for women of all ages on healthy eating, resiliency, and taking care of themselves while caring for their loved ones.

Albert Lea Tribune, Mayo Clinic celebrates renovated radiology department, specialized equipment — Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea celebrated the newly renovated radiology department Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting with Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors. “Today we welcome Mayo Clinic’s continued investment in our Albert Lea medical campus with the opening of a new state-of-the-art X-ray imaging suite, which has the ability to significantly increase image quality while simultaneously significantly reducing radiation exposure,” said Dr. Adam Cole, who works in radiology and imaging for the health system in Albert Lea and Austin, in a press release.

Austin Daily Herald, Mayo sleep lab finds new location by Eric Johnson — As Mayo Clinic Health Systems-Austin works through it’s renovations, some departments are finding new homes within the hospital. One of these departments is the Sleep Services Lab, which has moved from the second floor to the first floor, just off of the Emergency entrance. The move from its original location has been in just the last couple weeks, according to Dr. Steve Kubas, medical director of sleep services.

WKBT La Crosse, National Physical Therapy Month.

WKBT La Crosse, Medical News - Flu shots — Dr. Elissa Rubin is interviewed.

WKBT La Crosse, Inclusive Health Award recipients announced at Mayo Clinic Health System by Rachel Ausman — Programs in our area that help people with disabilities are getting a boost from Mayo Clinic Health System. $195,000 is being spread throughout programs that support people with cognitive and physical disabilities, especially ones that help children. Mayo announced the one-time only Inclusive Awards in July, and awarded funding to 12 different initiatives on Thursday. Additional coverage: La Crosse Tribune, WXOW La Crosse

WKBT La Crosse, Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse will soon be able to treat strokes with telephone-like device by Greg White — Having to change hospitals, or waiting for a medical specialist may become a thing of the past.  Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse will soon have Inpatient Telestroke Services.  The Telestroke system allows a neurologist to diagnose and treat someone going through a stroke from a smartphone-like device.  If a hospital is short-staffed, a neurologist from any of Mayo Clinic Health System's 28 hospitals that have the system can step in through the screen.

WXOW La Crosse, A friendship that gives one man living with MS the will to keep going by Declan Levy — Carl Hohman was diagnosed with MS in 2001. Before the diagnosis, he was an outdoorsman who sought adventure. He admits it can be daunting sitting in his chair all day, but through this journey, Carl has created a special bond with someone that cannot be broken. Hohman goes to Mayo Clinic Health System for physical therapy several times a week and he has been doing it for years. Luckily, Annie Stoecklein, his physical therapist, has his back.

CNBC, Vaping illness deaths rise to 34 as public health officials hunt for cause of outbreak — A deadly lung illness linked to vaping has taken the lives of 34 people across 24 states as public health officials and regulators struggle to identify a precise cause of the outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The total number of probable cases is now at 1,604, with 125 new cases diagnosed and one new fatality over the last week, according to CDC data complied through Tuesday. Patients have been found in 49 states as well as D.C. and the Virgin Islands, according to the CDC...Researchers at the Mayo Clinic published a study Oct. 2 that said a mix of “toxic chemical fumes,” not oils, may be what’s making patients sick. They examined lung biopsies from 17 patients suspected of having the mysterious illness. Additional coverage: HealthDay

Daily Mail, Liver damage from drinking may one day be REVERSIBLE: Scientists are developing a drug to undo tissue scarring in lung and liver disease by Natalie Rahhal — Doctors may some day be able to reverse the damage that years of heavy drinking does to the liver, a new study suggests.  This damage, called cirrhosis in the liver and fibrosis in the lungs, is an endless process of scarring that can happen to just about any organ with age, disease and repeated injury. Scar tissue can overtake the healthy tissue of an organ and prove fatal, as it does in terminal liver and lung disease - and there is no cure, only mitigation.  But Mayo Clinic scientists may be on the verge of changing that. In lab tissues and mice, they discovered the research team discovered they could block off the two proteins that carry 'instructions' for the formation of fibroblasts - hunks of scar tissue - slowing and even reversing the fibrosis process. Additional coverage: Austin Daily Herald

Yahoo! Lifestyle, Here's How the Brain Makes Memories—and What You Can Do to Keep Your Mind Sharp by Sunny Sea Gold —There’s a popular misconception that memory is like a file box in the brain—that we put away our recollections and then look them up when we need them. But that’s not actually how it works. Scientists suspect memories are stored in diffuse networks of neurons all over the brain; when you remember something, bits of the recollection, scattered around like puzzle pieces on the floor, are gathered up and put back together to make a complete picture. “I think of a memory as a particular firing pattern of brain nerve cells in a network,” says Ronald C. Petersen, MD, PhD, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “If you’re trying to remember a meaningful childhood event, for example, you refire the pattern in the brain that happened when the event took place.”

WRVO-Radio, Experiencing infertility — To cover infertility basics, Dr. Zaraq Khan of the Mayo Clinic is with us. Khan is a gynecologist working with those seeking treatment for infertility on a regular basis. He reevaluates the definition of infertility and provides insight on some causes of and trends in diagnosis.

WTOP Washington, Headache locations and their meanings — Stabbing Pain Around One Eye: Cluster Headaches: People who get them will often experience several episodes of them over the course of a few days or weeks, and then they’ll disappear for a while, only to return again. Thankfully, this type of headache isn’t very common. They are the only type of headache that is more common in men than women. No one knows for sure why men get them more often. The cause of cluster headaches isn’t fully understood, but the Mayo Clinic reports that these intense headaches might be related to abnormalities in the body’s biological clock.

Everyday Health, Can Himalayan Salt Lamps Really Help People With Asthma? by Lauren Del Turco — The supposedly health-promoting particles people seek from salt caves, halotherapy, and Himalayan salt lamps are called negative ions, electrically charged particles also produced by sunlight and waterfalls.…Throughout the following generations, researchers and wellness gurus sought to recreate the effect of these caves with something called halotherapy, which involves building rooms entirely out of Himalayan salt and using a machine called a halogenerator to disperse tiny salt particles in the air, explains Karina Keogh, MD, a pulmonologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

North Jersey Record, Soon, genetic testing for cancer treatment could match you with the perfect drug by Lindy Washburn —Genetic tests must be inexpensive, produce results quickly, and provide clinically useful information to be cost-effective, said Robert Diasio, an authority on DPD-deficiency and director of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. The tests currently available for DPD-deficiency don’t yet meet that standard, he said…. At the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine, a study of 10,000 Minnesota patients is underway. It will integrate patients’ genetic information into their electronic medical records to inform physicians about significant linkages when certain medications are prescribed. Additional coverage: GenomeWeb

Slate, Yes, You Should Get a SAD Lamp This Winter by Shannon Palus — The Verilux HappyLight, which is the size of an iPad, is what I use today. It sits unassumingly on my windowsill, and is 10,000 lux, which Mayo Clinic psychologist Craig Sawchuk advised me was the most important part. (Most of them are this intensity, but if you get one with a lower intensity, you just need to use it longer to get the same effects.) For me and my inconsistent, nonclinical use of the thing, this is handy.

WPLG Local 10, When should you have your first mammogram? Everything to consider by Michelle Ganley — We poked around to see what they recommended at Mayo Clinic, the nonprofit academic medical center focused on the latest clinical practice, education and research.  At Mayo Clinic, doctors offer mammograms to women beginning at the age of 40 and continuing annually.  “Mayo Clinic recommends women and their doctors discuss the benefits, risks and limitations of mammograms and decide together what is best. Balancing the benefits of screening with the limitations and risks is a key part of deciding when to begin mammograms and how often to repeat them.

Grand Forks Herald, 'A hard day': West Fargo teen struggling with unidentified condition diagnosed with ALS by Carissa Wigginton — Fifteen-year-old Ben Merck of West Fargo has been struggling with a neuromuscular condition since May. For more than five months, his doctors searched for a diagnosis, trying to find the answers as to why the West Fargo Sheyenne sophomore was slurring his speech and had difficulty breathing and swallowing.  Ben’s condition remained mostly unknown until recently, when he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The disease was Ben's parents', Mark and Linda Merck, worst fear. And on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., that diagnosis became a reality.

Health Central, A Vaccine for Breast Cancer? by Lara DeSanto — Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, have developed a vaccine that may stop breast and ovarian cancers from recurring—and may even prevent them from occurring in the first place, they say. “It is reasonable to say that we could have a vaccine within eight years that may be available to patients through their pharmacy or their doctor,” Mayo Clinic investigator Keith L. Knutson, Ph.D., said in an interview with Forbes. The vaccine triggers the immune system to latch onto and kill cancer cells in the body. Additional coverage: CBS Boston, Florence Health

FOX 2 St. Louis, Neurosurgeon says brain tumor diagnosis isn’t a death sentence — With more than 120 different types of primary brain and central nervous system tumors, how do you make sense of it all? Dr. Bernard Bendok, a neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic, joins Fox 2 News live via satellite to discuss brain tumors: their symptoms, how they're diagnosed, the risk factors, and how people are affected.

Daily Gazette, Ambulance donated to Haiti; Result of team up by Schenectady Rotary, Mohawk Ambulance and Mayo Clinic by Jeff Wilkin — …Earlier this fall, as Merriam prepared for another trip to Haiti, he heard from Chris Hedlund of Mayo Clinic Ambulance Services, part of the Mayo Clinic. "Chris called me and said, 'Are you ready for a road trip?'" Merriam said. "I said, 'Why?' He said, 'Well, I found your ambulance.' Three and a quarter years after the mayor of Carrefour asked for one. So this was wonderful news."

Philly Voice, Can changes in the weather cause headaches and pain? by Tracey Romero — According to the Mayo Clinic, “for some people, weather changes may cause imbalance in brain chemicals, including serotonin, which can prompt a migraine.” Other times, you may already be suffering from a migraine when a rise or drop in barometric pressure makes it worse.

Philly Voice, Exercising before breakfast allows body to burn stored carbs and more fat, study finds by Emily Rolen — Exercising after having a nutritious meal could allow for a more rigorous workout, some argue. The Mayo Clinic recommends waking up early to eat a nutritious breakfast one hour before a workout, as to improve performance. Boosting blood sugars by eating things like whole-grain cereals, yogurts, low-fat milk, or bananas could improve energy levels, intensity, and duration of workout, some say.

Health Imaging, Software accurately identifies patients using brain MRI scans, Mayo study finds by Matt O’Connor — Securing imaging data has become a hot topic in radiology. Though institutions typically deidentify data before using it in research, the practice is harder than it seems and may not completely protect a patient’s privacy. That’s what new research out of the Mayo Clinic found. A team led by computer scientist Christopher Schwarz, PhD, with Mayo’s Center for Advanced Imaging Research, determined that commercial face recognition software could identify people based on brain MRI scans…"This is only applicable if people can get access to the MRI scans in publicly available research databases,” Schwarz added in a Mayo statement. “It is not related to medical care, where data is secured.” Additional coverage: AuntMinnie.com, Biometric Update

Healthcare IT News, Mayo Clinic targeting next generation of care with cloud, AI technologies — The Mayo Clinic's new 10-year partnership with Google Cloud aims to look for the next breakthroughs that diagnose and treat complex and serious illness or conditions more effectively, says CIO Cris Ross.

Fierce Biotech, FundamentalVR's surgery trainer raises £4.3M from Mayo Clinic, others by Conor Hale — FundamentalVR, developers of a virtual reality trainer for surgeons that offers tactile feedback, has raised £4.3 million ($5.5 million) for its platform—in part from the Mayo Clinic, as well as the large German hospital organization, Sana Kliniken.  The company’s series A round was led by Downing Ventures, with additional backing from Brighteyes Ventures, Epic Private Equity and Tern, which counts FundamentalVR as one of its portfolio companies. The round’s proceeds also included a £500,000 convertible loan note conversion. Additional coverage: HIT Consultant

Mass Device, Report: Cadence Neuroscience raises $15m for epilepsy device by Sean Whooley — Cadence Neuroscience reportedly raised $15 million in a Series A funding round earlier this month for the development of a neurostimulation device to treat epilepsy. The round was led by Jazz Venture Partners, while the Mayo Clinic also offered support and Cadence won grants from Epilepsy Foundation, according to a GeekWire report.

GeekWire, Google Cloud hiring spree: Alphabet adds 6,450 employees in Q3, cites cloud as biggest factor by Todd Bishop — On the company’s conference call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai cited new developments in Google Cloud such as the company’s partnership with Mayo Clinic and work with customers including Macy’s. Google last year dropped out of the running for the Pentagon’s $10 billion JEDI cloud computing contract that was awarded to Microsoft last week. Additional coverage: SiliconANGLE

TCTMD, Cardiac Rehab Tied to Fewer Hospitalizations, Deaths After Valve Surgery by Todd Neale — Commenting for TCTMD, Randal Thomas, MD (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN), pointed out that “the evidence for benefits of cardiac rehabilitation has been mounting over the past few decades, and there’s a pretty rich supply of research showing that patients who have experienced a cardiac event feel better, function better, live longer, and do better on almost any measure you can look at if they participate in an organized and systematic approach to rehabilitation and prevention after their event. And it’s not surprising. It’s supplying treatments of known benefit to patients who need them.”

Healio, It’s Time for GI to Embrace AI by Prateek Sharma — I firmly believe that AI is changing how we practice medicine and I think it’s critical that we as gastroenterologists take ownership of the application of AI to our field. Together with Michael Wallace, MD, from the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic, at the first Global Gastroenterology and Artificial Intelligence Summit, which happened last month in Washington, D.C., brought representatives of technology giants like Amazon, Facebook and data scientists, computer vision experts, the FDA and NIH together along with GI and endoscopy experts to bring AI in GI to the forefront.

Healio, Patients with CKD at increased risk for adverse CV events, biomarkers may aid in identification —“Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has long been identified as the major cause of premature death in CKD, even with mildly impaired renal function,” Shravya Vinnakota, MBBS, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and colleagues wrote. “This can be explained in part by shared common risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, smoking and obesity. However, there is growing evidence that impaired kidney function and raised albuminuria levels are risk factors independent of traditional factors, such as hypertension and diabetes. In addition, there are pathologic mechanisms that are unique to CKD that promote vascular disease, thus contributing to the increased burden of CVD.”

Cancer Network, What Is the Risk of Recurrence in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer?  by Dave Levitan — “Unlike HR-positive HER2-negative breast cancer, the risk of late relapses in patients with HR-positive, HER2-positive disease remains unknown,” wrote study authors led by Saranya Chumsri, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. “Currently, there are limited data available regarding the risk of late recurrence in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer treated with adjuvant trastuzumab-based chemotherapy.”

Cancer Therapy Advisor, Sensitive ctDNA Test Predicts Residual Breast Cancer Following Neoadjuvant Therapy by Helen Leask, Ph.D. — The Mayo Clinic technique, named TARDIS (targeted digital sequencing), was sufficiently sensitive to predict the presence of residual disease in 17 of the 22 women with stage I to stage III disease who were treated with neoadjuvant therapy. “To be honest with you, I didn’t think it was going to be that good,” said study coauthor, Barbara Pockaj, MD, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona. “Most liquid biopsies are very good with metastatic disease when there’s a burden of disease there, but this is in patients who are potentially cured, with a much smaller volume of disease. So to be able to identify the circulating tumor DNA in this subset of patients is critical, and really hasn’t been done well before.”

Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News, In Chronic Unexplained Diarrhea, Consider Testing for Bile Acids — A new study underscores the importance of testing patients with chronic diarrhea for abnormal bile acids. The study, from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that 51% of patients with nonbloody chronic functional diarrhea were diagnosed with bile acid diarrhea (BAD) and 70% improved on bile acid sequestrants. According to Priya Vijayvargiya, MD, a third-year gastroenterology fellow who led the study, BAD is occasionally seen by U.S. gastroenterologists, “but the problem is that many are not looking for it or diagnosing it.

MedPage Today, CCH Shots May Be Effective, But Too Costly, as Peyronie's Tx by Salynn Boyles — Men with Peyronie's disease treated with injections of collagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH, Xiaflex) had fewer complications and hospitalizations than surgically-treated patients, a researcher reported here. In an analysis of data from a medical and pharmacy claims database, men who had surgery had a higher hospitalization rate for Peyronie's disease complications than CCH-treated patients (2.9% vs 0.5%, P=0.002), according to Landon Trost, MD, who was at the the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, at the time of the study…"We only treat men with significant bother from the condition, or if they can't have sex or if sex causes their partner pain," urologist Tobias Kohler, MD, also of the Mayo Clinic, told MedPage Today.

MedPage Today, Biologics Benefit Asthma Patients in Real-World Use Study by Salynn Boyles — Real-world data from the Mayo Clinic confirmed that biologic therapies reduce asthma exacerbations and the need for steroids in patients with severe, refractory, oral steroid-dependent asthma, according to a study presented here…"Most of the literature we have on these drugs is from phase III drug approval trials," Voelker told MedPage Today. "There hasn't been a lot of follow-up to tell us what is going on with their real-world use, where patients aren't carefully selected based on a set of inclusion or exclusion criteria."

Medscape, Cardiac Biomarkers Could ID High-Risk Kidney Disease Patients by Veronica Hackethal, M.D. — Scientists have found that two biomarkers — high-sensitivity troponin (hs-TnT and N-terminal prohormone BNP (NT-proBNP) — are linked to increased risk for poor cardiovascular outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The study was published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings by Shravya Vinnakota, MBBS, of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, and colleagues.

Medscape, Massage Therapy Gives Relief From Chemo-Related Neuropathy by Roxanne Nelson — In a discussion of the paper, Charles Loprinze, MD, a medical oncologist from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, reiterated that massage therapy is a common component of integrative therapy and that in this trial, massage therapy given three times a week was "a bit" better than massage therapy given twice a week. "As for clinical applications, the currently available data do not mean we should immediately suggest to people get a massage for their neuropathy and that, yes, insurance will pay for it," he said.

Medscape, Wearables and Malpractice Risk: When to Worry by Debra A. Shute — Expectations should be made explicit, says Karl Poterack, MD, medical director of applied clinical informatics at Mayo Clinic. "We're starting to see scenarios where patients have a consumer-grade device and say to a clinician, 'I've got this heart rate or step tracker; wouldn't you like to have this data?' In this case, a discussion is imperative because that's the kind of data which, in the abstract, a lot of clinicians are going to say, 'It's great that you can tell me how many steps you take every day, but I don't really know what that means. It doesn't help me take care of you any better to have this data.'"

Medscape, Newer Diabetes Drugs Given to Those Who Need Them Least by Marlene Busko — The research, based on pharmacy claims from a national database made during the first years after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved this class of agents, was published online October 9 in Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics. Rozalina G. McCoy, MD, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues investigated the period after the FDA approved canagliflozin (March 2013), dapagliflozin (January 2014), and empagliflozin (August 2014), when guidelines recommended the use of these agents as second-line therapy after metformin, especially for patients at risk for hypoglycemia.

Medscape, Avoidant, Restrictive Eating Often Confused With Anorexia by Marcia Frellick — This study was highlighted in the presidential plenary because "people don't understand what it is and what it's not," said ACG President Sunanda Kane, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. It's far beyond the "picky eater" who won't eat mushrooms because of the texture or doesn't like foods on a plate touching each other or doesn't eat green things, she told Medscape Medical News.

Alzforum, Not Just Blood Pressure—Dietary Salt Linked to Tau Phosphorylation — The NO link most intrigued Zvonimir Katusic, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, as well. Susan Austin in Katusic’s lab found that knocking out endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) increases processing of Aβ precursor protein and impairs learning and memory, and most recently that it boosts p25 and phosphorylation of tau (Austin et al., 2010; Austin et al., 2013; Katusic and Austin et al., 2016). In Chicago, Austin reported that microglia from eNOS knockouts ramp up production of ADAM17, the primary sheddase for TREM2, and tone down production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. “It appears release of NO by the endothelium is an important control mechanism for the brain,” said Katusic.

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