Health & Wellness - October 2013 Archives

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Why is it that some breast cancers have higher survival rates than others? ANSWER: The main reason for the difference in survival rates is that breast cancer is not just one disease. It is well accepted that there are four distinct molecular categories of breast cancer. However, new data suggests that there are additional distinct subsets of breast cancer. These subsets have unique characteristics that can influence the long-term outlook associated with each of them. The most common molecular subset of breast cancer is characterized by its ability to respond to the female hormone estrogen. This type of cancer is characterized by the presence of estrogen receptors. If a tumor is estrogen receptor (ER) positive, that means the breast cancer cells contain receptors that bind to estrogen. Women and men with ER-positive breast cancer tend to have an initial lower risk of the cancer coming back after breast surgery compared with women whose tumors do not have estrogen receptors (known as ER-negative breast cancer).

Mayo Clinic researchers have found a surprising occupational hazard for teachers: progressive speech and language disorders.  The research, recently published in American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementias, found that people with speech and language disorders are about 3.5 times more likely to be teachers than patients with Alzheimer’s dementia. Speech and language disorders are typically characterized by people losing their ability to communicate – they can’t find words to use in sentences, or they’ll speak around a word. They may also have trouble producing the correct sounds and articulating properly. Speech and language disorders are not the same as Alzheimer’s dementia, which is characterized by the loss of memory. Progressive speech and language disorders are degenerative and ultimately lead to death anywhere from 8-10 years after diagnosis. Click here to see the news release. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raBcYUvRRF8 Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Keith Josephs, the senior author of the study, are available in the downloads.

THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES   Asthma For some people, asthma is a minor nuisance. For others, it can be a major problem that interferes with ...

A heart attack typically occurs unexpectedly, it often causes chest pain, and it is diagnosed by recording the electrical activity of the heart (electrocardiogram) and by measurement of a heart muscle protein in the blood (troponin or CK-MB). All doctors agree that this kind of “heart attack” negatively impacts patients’ lives and they all agree how to diagnosis and treat these patients. There is another kind of heart attack, that may occur as a complication of coronary angioplasty and coronary bypass surgery (procedures used to open clogged coronary arteries). Until recently, patients were labeled to have a heart attack after these procedures if they have a miniscule rise in the blood levels of a heart muscle protein (troponin) without any known effect on their prognosis. As a result, many patients stayed longer in the hospital than was necessary, and occasionally underwent repeat imaging tests and other procedures. “If you tell a patient, ‘You have had a heart attack,’ it should mean something about prognosis and clinical outcomes, not only an abnormal blood test,” says Issam Moussa, M.D., FSCAI, chair of the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville, who was part of a panel established by The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) tasked with finding a better way to diagnose post-angioplasty heart attacks to improve patient care and quality outcomes.  The panel’s consensus document is e-published today in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions (CCI) and Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUEnQesu6Bo Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Moussa are available in the downloads.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Oct. 14, 2013 — Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at an increased risk of stroke and heart attack according to a new study presented by Mayo Clinic researchers at the American College of Gastroenterology's Annual Scientific Meeting, Oct. 11–16, in San Diego. More than 1.5 million Americans have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis , the most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Both conditions inflame the lining of the intestine, leading to bouts of watery diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal cramps and pain, fever and weight loss.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Oct. 14, 2013 — Physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of esophageal cancer, according to a new study presented by Mayo Clinic researchers at the American College of Gastroenterology's Annual Scientific Meeting, Oct. 11–16, in San Diego. Esophageal cancer is the sixth most common cancer in men worldwide. Early detection and prevention are critical to survival because most patients do not survive the first year of diagnosis, and only 15 percent of patients survive more than five years. In an analysis of four studies, researchers observed a 32 percent lower risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma in people who were physically active. The analysis also showed the overall risk of esophageal cancer was 19 percent lower among the most physically active people, compared with the least physically active.

On Saturday, Oct. 19, Timothy Lineberry, M.D., and J. Michael Bostwick, M.D., joined us to discuss suicide prevention.  There are an estimated one million suicides worldwide each ...

  October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we will do our part on the next program with a discussion about the genetics of breast cancer ...

  Left to right are Karen Hill, Jesse Crowson, Judy Donahue and Joan Garmers — all of Linen and Central Service.Technology, flexibility and a great team all help Jesse Crowson, Linen and Central Services, feel at home in his job as a linen handler at Mayo Clinic. Crowson, who is hearing impaired, delivers sterile linens to 16 buildings on Mayo Clinic’s downtown campus. He communicates with his team via email, texts, notes, signing with a colleague and via a sign language interpreter. “I can’t say enough good things about him,” says Crowson’s supervisor Judy Donahue, Linen and Central Services. “He’s dependable. He does his job. And, if he has questions, he asks.” Crowson applied for the position at Mayo Clinic 11 years ago. He connected with Human Resources via Minnesota Relay, a free telecommunications service that enables persons with hearing or speech disabilities to place and receive telephone calls. Sheila Finley, Human Resources, used the same service to contact Crowson, set up the interview and let him know that a sign language interpreter would be present.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOyKwyVTulc Physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of esophageal cancer, according to a new study presented by Mayo Clinic researchers at the American College of Gastroenterology’s Annual Scientific Meeting, Oct. 11–16, in San Diego. “Although the incidence of esophageal squamous cell cancer is declining worldwide, the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has been rapidly rising. This increase may be partly attributable to the obesity epidemic,” says Siddharth Singh, M.B.B.S., the study’s lead author and researcher at Mayo Clinic. Click here to see the news release. Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Siddarth Singh are available in the downloads.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q7oFzeLfRE Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at an increased risk of stroke and heart attack according to a new study presented by Mayo Clinic researchers. In an analysis of over 150,000 patients with IBD in nine studies, researchers estimated the risk of stroke and heart disease in patients with IBD, as compared to the general population. The results of the comparison pointed to a 10-25 percent increased risk of stoke and heart attacks in patients with IBD. The increased risk was especially more prominent in women. “Gastroenterologists should be cognizant of this relationship and should focus on better management of conventional risk factors, such as smoking cessation, recognition and control of hypertension and diabetes,” says Siddharth Singh, M.B.B.S., a study author and Mayo Clinic researcher. Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Siddarth Singh are available in the downloads.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfVv7bJTIpk Multimedia Alert: Federal budget furloughs put work on flu vaccines for 2014-15 `behind the curve’. Flu season is underway, but how many Americans have been hit so far, how badly, and which influenza bugs are to blame is a mystery. That information is important to prevent and manage outbreaks, and it is crucial for creation of the next batch of influenza vaccines. But this flu season, the nation is flying (and coughing, and sneezing, and maybe worse) blind. That’s because the agency that normally keeps the country on top of influenza outbreaks — the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) — is largely out of commission due to the federal government shutdown. Mayo Clinic infectious diseases expert Gregory Poland, M.D., explains what the CDC normally does and what federal furloughs mean to efforts to protect people from contagious illnesses. Read news release. Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Poland and b-roll of his lab are available in the downloads.