News Releases - November 2015 Archives

International conference Dec. 1 – 4 brings together experts, patients and caregivers ROCHESTER, Minn. — Lewy body dementia is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. But if you’re not familiar with it, you’re not alone. “Lewy body dementia is the most common disorder you’ve never heard of,” says Bradley Boeve, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist who will speak at the International Dementia with Lewy Bodies Conference Dec. 1-4 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Lewy body dementia shares similar symptoms of memory issues like Alzheimer’s and slow, stiff movements like Parkinson’s disease. But people with Lewy body dementia may act out their dreams while asleep, or they may have visual hallucinations that can lead to unusual behavior, such as having conversations with deceased loved ones. Getting an accurate diagnosis is the key to improving patients’ lives, says Dr. Boeve, co-investigator of the Mayo Clinic Dorothy and Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Lewy Body Dementia Program. “We want to help patients stop the diagnostic odyssey of seeing many different clinicians, undergoing many different tests over an extended period of time with no clear answers and all of the frustration that goes with this,” Dr. Boeve says. Journalists: Sounds bites with Dr. Boeve are available in the downloads. For an interview with Dr. Boeve, contact Susan Barber Lindquist at 507-284-5005 or newsbureau@mayo.edu.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMxK5Ll0IHw

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Mayo Clinic has developed and launched a new concept for Discovery’s Edge, its research magazine. The new approach adds videos, animations, medical imagery, weekly news briefs, and news features, while maintaining its longstanding appeal to thousands of readers interested in medical discoveries and emerging research. Discovery’s Edge continues its popular in-depth articles on medical research written by some of the nation’s top science writers. The new platform complements the print and digital magazine versions, which appear twice annually, and replaces an online presence that began in 2004. In 2016, a Spanish language edition will be available. “Today’s research determines tomorrow’s medical treatments,” says Gregory Gores, M.D., Mayo Clinic’s executive dean for Research. “Discovery’s Edge is our messenger, telling our story on behalf of the thousands on our research teams working to find those solutions.” MEDIA CONTACT: Bob Nellis, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, email: newsbureau@mayo.edu

Mayo Clinic and Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum will introduce a new program reflecting a joint commitment to wellness, the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Programme at Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum will combine the research-based medical expertise of Mayo Clinic with Mandarin Oriental’s signature treatments and therapies, offered in its award-winning, expansive Spa. This collaboration is the first of its kind for the clinic. Launching in January 2016 with a focus on preventive wellness and designed to inspire a more balanced lifestyle, the wellness program will offer guests a choice of tailor-made experiences from one day assessments to five day retreats, as well as a la carte services.

Consensus report expected to lead to more effective, patient-centered diagnosis and treatment Rochester, Minn. — Kidney disease is a major health concern worldwide. It’s estimated that 1 in 3 American adults are at risk of developing kidney disease, and 26 million adults already have kidney disease. Many are undiagnosed. Because kidney disease can go undetected until it’s too late, effective and consistent diagnosis is essential. Physicians on Mayo Clinic’s Rochester, Minn., campus – one of the world’s leading kidney disease centers – are at the forefront of an effort to standardize the diagnosis of kidney disease. In a paper published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), Mayo Clinic researchers provide a detailed recommendation for standardizing the diagnosis of glomerulonephritis. This is a term used to describe various conditions involving inflammation of the glomeruli, which is the basic filtering unit in the kidneys. Inflammation prevents the kidneys from properly filtering toxins out of the blood and regulating fluid levels in the body, and, ultimately, can lead to permanent damage to the kidneys and potential kidney failure. MEDIA CONTACT: Ginger Plumbo, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu.

SAYRE, Pa. — Guthrie and Mayo Clinic announced today that Guthrie has joined the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a national network of health care providers committed to better serving patients and their families through collaboration. Guthrie, the first health care organization based in Pennsylvania and New York to join the network, will be its 36th member. The formal agreement gives Guthrie access to the latest Mayo Clinic knowledge and promotes physician collaboration that complements local expertise. “Joining the Mayo Clinic Care Network was a natural fit for Guthrie, and we feel it makes sense for both our organizations,” says Joseph Scopelliti, M.D., president and CEO, of Guthrie. “We share a history with Mayo Clinic, as Guthrie was modeled after Mayo when Dr. Guthrie returned here from his residency training in Rochester, Minnesota, over 100 years ago.” “As health care has continued to become more complex, Guthrie saw the value of working together with a nationally known provider to allow us to be a maximally flexible organization able to respond quickly to the health care needs of our patients now and in the future,” Scopelliti says. “We pursued a relationship with Mayo Clinic because we share that integrated model of care and because our values and philosophy are so closely aligned.” MEDIA CONTACT: Rhoda Madson, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu Natalie Smart, Guthrie Corporate Communications, 570-887-5685, smart_natalie@guthrie.org Journalists: B-roll of the Mayo Clinic campuses is in the downloads.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., and ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees has named Bobbie Gostout, M.D., vice president, Mayo Clinic. The announcement was made today at the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees quarterly meeting. Dr. Gostout will be the physician leader for Mayo’s community practice in the Midwest, including Mayo Clinic Health System in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin and Mayo Clinic’s Minnesota-based community care locations. She succeeds Rob Nesse, M.D., who, in July, became Mayo’s first senior medical director of Payment Reform, and Brian Whited, M.D., who has served since that time as interim physician leader. In her new role, Dr. Gostout, along with her administrative partner, Mark Koch, will lead the integration of Mayo’s specialty and community care practices in the Midwest, and guide the implementation of all aspects of Mayo’s strategic and operating plans. Dr. Gostout will transition into her new role through the end of 2015. This will ensure a smooth leadership transition for Mayo’s community practice in the Midwest and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Rochester, Minnesota, where she has been department chair since 2007. MEDIA CONTACT: Micah Dorfner, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic have discovered an unexpected effect from a gene known to increase diabetes risk. They assumed the specific allele in the gene TCF7L2 which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes impairs insulin production in response to increased insulin resistance. Some slight evidence of that was found, but more significantly the researchers discovered that this variant impaired a person’s ability to balance blood sugar (glucose) by suppressing glucagon – the hormone that raises the level of glucose in the bloodstream. The findings appear in the journal Diabetes. “This was surprising. It demonstrates a completely novel mechanism of predisposition to diabetes that could lead to novel therapies,” says Adrian Vella, M.D., Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and senior author of the study. “Ultimately, this sheds new light on how this gene actually predisposes to diabetes.” MEDIA CONTACT: Bob Nellis, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus was awarded a $5.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to identify vascular risk factors in aging and dementia, and translate that knowledge into studying potential targets for treatment. The grant is one of the first awarded as part of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, which called for an aggressive and coordinated national Alzheimer’s disease plan. The first goal of the national plan is to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. Guojun Bu, Ph.D., molecular neuroscientist, and Nilüfer Ertekin-Taner, M.D., Ph.D., neurologist and neurogeneticist, are the principal investigators for the study. Both are based on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus. Several additional investigators on Mayo’s Florida and Rochester, Minnesota, campuses, as well as Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, will be involved. Jounalists: Sound bites with Guojun Bu, Ph.D., and Nilüfer Ertekin-Taner, M.D., Ph.D., are available in the downloads. MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0746, punsky.kevin@mayo.edu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jB5i2UZgC0

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Today, Mayo Clinic announces ProPilot, a new program for corporate flight departments that offers bundled services designed to keep and get pilots back on the flight deck quickly and safely. Mayo Clinic also announces today that the first member organization of ProPilot is the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). Pilots from hundreds of corporate flight departments belonging to YPO now will have access to a premium preventive health screening program provided by Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic’s Section of Aerospace Medicine is launching the Mayo Clinic ProPilot Program on its Rochester, Minnesota, campus. The program features an age-tiered model of predetermined preventive health services offered to pilots annually. Member aviators have access to Mayo Clinic experts in Aviation Medicine, along with a team of nurses who provide a comprehensive preventive screening assessment in conjunction with their required Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification examination. If a medical condition is detected, it is often identified earlier in its course to prevent a lapse in certification eligibility, and Mayo flight physicians expedite any necessary medical waivers if a condition is detected. MEDIA CONTACTS: Ginger Plumbo, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu Linda Fisk, YPO, Office: +1 972-629-7305 (United States), Mobile: +1 972-207-4298, Email: press@ypo.org

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Patients who develop ovarian cancer appear to have better outcomes if they have a history of oral contraceptive use, according to a study by Mayo Clinic researchers published in the current issue of the journal BMC Cancer. “Multiple studies from a variety of sources have indicated that oral contraceptives are associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer, one of the most deadly cancers in women,” says Aminah Jatoi, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic and co-lead author of the study. “However, few studies have explored the connection between the pill and outcomes in patients who ultimately develop the disease.” In their study, Dr. Jatoi and co-author Ellen L. Goode, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Mayo Clinic, examined the outcomes of ovarian cancer patients who were seen at Mayo Clinic from 2000 through 2013. Each patient was given a risk factor questionnaire about prior oral contraceptive use. Of the 1,398 patients who completed the questionnaire, 827 responded that they had previously taken birth control pills. MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu  Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Jatoi are available in the downloads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZubD3SK0L8

Rochester, Minn. (Olmsted County News Release Nov. 9, 2015) – The second Olmsted County Community Health Needs Assessment Survey will be mailed this week ...

Rheumatoid arthritis patients are twice as likely as the average person to develop heart disease, but a new study shows that efforts to prevent heart problems and diagnose and treat heart disease early may be paying off. Despite the heightened danger, deaths from cardiovascular disease among people with rheumatoid arthritis are declining, the research found. The study was among Mayo Clinic research being presented at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting in San Francisco. Other Mayo studies discussed at the conference chronicled a significant increase in gout; examined rare intestinal microbes in rheumatoid arthritis patients; and discovered that people with rheumatoid arthritis use opioid painkillers at a higher rate than the general public, but that it isn’t related to disease severity. In the study on rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease, researchers looked at heart disease deaths within 10 years of rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis among two groups of people: 315 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis from 2000 to 2007 and 498 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in the 1980s and 1990s. They also looked at heart disease deaths among 813 people without the rheumatic disease. Roughly two-thirds of patients studied were women, and the average age was 60. They found a significantly lower rate of deaths from heart disease in the more recently diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis patients than in those diagnosed earlier: 2.8 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. Media contact: Sharon Theimer in Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005 or newsbureau@mayo.edu.