HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Other Health Experts to Host Webchat on Health Insurance Reform and Seniors

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Assistant Secretary for the Administration on Aging Kathy Greenlee will host a webchat today, THURSDAY April 8, to
discuss the benefits of the new health reform law as it relates to America's seniors. Sebelius and Greenlee will highlight some of the immediate benefits of health reform for America's seniors before
answering pre-submitted questions from the public.

The chat is the second in a series of discussions that is designed to help Americans understand the benefits of the newly passed health insurance reform law.

Members of the public are encouraged to submit questions via email to HealthReform@hhs.gov. HHS officials will try to answer as many questions as possible during the web chat and post up questions and answers on the web site as well.

WHAT: Health Reform Weekly Webchat with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee and Principal Deputy Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Marilyn Tavenner

WHEN: Thursday April 8, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. EDT

WHERE: www.HealthReform.gov

The webchat will be available via satellite feed at the following coordinates:

SATELLITE:
G-19 04K Digital Only Slot B
Orbital Location: 97' West

Ku-Band
D/L: 11786.4Mhz Horizontal
FEC: 3/4
Symbol Rate: 6.111319 @ 204 packet = 8.448 Data Rate
4X3 Aspect Ratio


For more information on the new health reform law please visit www.healthreform.gov

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Governor Perdue Announces NCI Cancer Center Designation for Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute

Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute has earned the coveted National Cancer Institute Cancer Center designation. Winship is the first medical facility in Georgia to earn this distinction. As an NCI designated center, Winship joins an elite group of 64 cancer centers nationwide that are on the forefront of the battle against cancer.

Winship’s NCI designation will benefit patients through increased access to new clinical trials and technologies that are available through NCI-designated cancer centers.

“We are very proud of Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute for achieving this important designation,” said Governor Perdue. “Cancer strikes more than 35,000 Georgians each year, and through initiatives like the Georgia Cancer Coalition and the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), we are working hard to eliminate this disease. Winship has served as a model in establishing collaborative research programs and in working statewide to address the pressing issues related to treatment, education and access to care for cancer patients.”

As an NCI-designated center, Winship will receive more than $4.2 million in funding over the next three years to grow scientific research. The NCI will then review Emory’s designation for a five-year renewal. According to the NCI, a designated cancer center’s research components are the core of a much larger assembly of cancer activities, including clinical care, support services and education, extending the benefits of research directly to patients, their families, and the general public.

“This designation is a tremendous honor and a reflection of the hard work and dedication that is exhibited by faculty and staff throughout the Emory system,” said Brian Leyland-Jones, MD, PhD, executive director of Winship, associate vice president for health affairs for the Woodruff Health Sciences Center and a GRA Eminent Scholar. “The designation enables us to continue to develop research initiatives that will result in new therapies for patients throughout Georgia and beyond.”

James Wagner, president of Emory University, added, “Winship’s culture of collaboration and discovery will continue to grow thanks to NCI’s designation. There are many people to thank for their dedication, involvement and belief in attaining this goal. Chief among these are the Woodruff Foundation and the State of Georgia who deserve recognition for their vision and steadfast support. And while this is an important day for Emory, it is cancer patients and their family members, whether they live in Georgia or beyond our borders, who are the true beneficiaries of this designation.”

The Winship Cancer Institute is part of Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Emory Healthcare and Emory University. Researchers and clinical members of the cancer center are faculty at Emory or at partner institutions such as Georgia Institute of Technology. Faculty members collaborate with national and state agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society.

Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD, Emory executive vice president for health affairs and CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, praised Winship’s faculty and staff for the achievement.
“NCI Cancer Center designation is an important chapter in Winship’s long and impressive history,” said Sanfilippo. “Winship’s faculty and staff have devoted many years to achieving this goal and deserve recognition for this achievement. The designation is a milestone that will serve as a turning point for Winship and our patients. We are on the brink of great advances in cancer research, and our ability to translate those advances into therapy is significantly enhanced by the NCI’s designation.”

The Winship Cancer Institute was established in 1937 through a $50,000 gift to Emory from Coca Cola CEO Robert Woodruff, who named the center after his grandfather, Robert Winship. Woodruff’s vision was for a center that focused on research, education and patient care. The Woodruff Foundation has continued to support Emory in achieving this vision, and in 2002 Emory dedicated the 275,000 square-foot Winship Cancer Institute building, constructed with funds from the Woodruff Foundation and designed to facilitate development of new and more effective cancer treatments.

Leyland-Jones maintains this historical perspective in his role as director of Winship.

“Robert Woodruff’s vision – that no one should have to leave Georgia to receive excellent cancer care – is alive and well in Winship and our partner organizations such as the Georgia Cancer Coalition and the Georgia Research Alliance,” he said. “These partnerships will help extend the positive impact of the NCI designation throughout our state and to the nation.”

Recently, Emory was recognized as one of the top 50 cancer centers in the United States by U.S. News and World Report and received the Blue Cross Blue Shield Designation for Treatment of Rare and Complex Cancers.
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Piedmont Fayette Hospital Generates $275 Million for Fayetteville’s Economy

In these hard economic times, it’s always nice to get some good news - Piedmont Fayette Hospital, a 143-bed, acute-care community hospital in Fayetteville, Ga., generated more than $275 million in revenue for the local economy according to a recent report released by the Georgia Hospital Association, the state’s largest hospital trade association. The report also found that, during the same time period, Piedmont Fayette Hospital provided approximately $5.5 million in uncompensated care while sustaining more than 1,100 full and part-time jobs throughout Fayette County and the surrounding area.

Piedmont Fayette Hospital is a member of Piedmont Healthcare, a not-for-profit organization that also includes Piedmont Hospital, Piedmont Mountainside Hospital and Piedmont Newnan Hospital. According to the same report, Piedmont Healthcare generated more than $1.7 billion in revenue for the metro Atlanta economy in addition to providing approximately $34 million in uncompensated care while sustaining more than 6,300 full and part-time jobs throughout metro Atlanta and the rest of the state.

“This new report shows that Piedmont Fayette Hospital has an enormous positive impact on our local economy,” said W. Darrell Cutts, president and CEO of Piedmont Fayette Hospital. “We thank the Fayette community’s unwavering support of their local hospital and will continue to work hard to ensure that the citizens of this community have access to healthcare services that are second to none in quality and affordability.”

While Piedmont Fayette Hospital remains a major component of the area’s economic engine, the hospital’s leadership, like the rest of the Georgia hospital community, is concerned about a wide array of economic challenges that have made it increasingly difficult to meet the community’s healthcare needs. These challenges include continued cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments and a fast-growing uninsured and underinsured population. Presently, more than a third of all hospitals in Georgia are operating with negative margins.

“We’re extremely concerned with the current operating environment for hospitals,” said Cutts. “We’ve made a commitment to every citizen of this community to be on call for them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But our ability to do so could be compromised when the state is paying us far less than what it actually costs to treat patients in government-sponsored plans.”

According to Cutts, state lawmakers must work to protect the state’s healthcare system with the same fervor that they do other initiatives like education and public utilities.

“Our local healthcare system is indispensable,” said Cutts. “It is a key building block for our local economy and desired lifestyle. It is our hope that, even in these challenging economic times, our elected officials will do what is necessary to protect our local healthcare system and preserve access to care for every resident of the communities we serve.”

The report, which is based on the Georgia Department of Community Health’s 2006 Hospital Financial Survey, revealed that Piedmont Fayette Hospital had direct expenditures of more than $111 million in 2006. When combined with an economic multiplier developed by the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total economic impact of those expenditures was more than $275 million. This output multiplier considers the “ripple” effect of direct hospital expenditures on other sectors of the economy, such as medical supplies, durable medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Economic multipliers are used to model the resulting impact of a change in one industry on the “circular flow” of spending within an economy as a whole. Since this reporting period in 2006, the economy has continued to decline and is in fact, much worse, than when this data was recorded.

For more information, please visit fayettehospital.org.
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Georgia DHR Launches New On-Line Health and Wellness Resource in Eight Counties

Collaboration with Georgia Cardiovascular Health Initiative, Georgia Diabetes Prevention Program and Longitude Health Addresses Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes and Obesity

The Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) Division of Public Health (DPH), in association with Longitude Health, announced today an innovative program, MyHealthVillage, to help identify and reduce the major risk factors for chronic conditions. The program will focus on improving cardiovascular health including issues associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

MyHealthVillage is being introduced throughout the state of Georgia. With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the program is a holistic approach — addressing the whole person and the whole population — and improves health and wellness by recognizing how cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity are interrelated and share a common set of modifiable risk factors.

“Georgia faces a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. When these conditions are combined they reduce our citizens’ quality of life, hurt the productivity of our workers and raise healthcare expenses for our employers,” said Dr. Sandra Elizabeth Ford, acting director of the Division of Public Health. “This program provides a proven prevention, wellness and disease management service that will help individuals assess and manage their health risk factors including how they eat, exercise and manage tobacco, alcohol and stress. As a result, we hope to see improved health and productivity among participants.”

The innovative healthcare program includes:
· Longitude Health’s MyHealthVillage.com Health Assessment - A comprehensive health risk assessment questionnaire delivered online or on paper.
· Onsite biomedical screening for additional health risk factors.
· One-to-one health guidance on understanding the Health Assessment and reducing risk factors with Longitude Health Healthguides, who are trained, allied health professionals.
· Access to online health tools and workplace-delivered resources including proprietary Longitude Health content and the American Heart Association’s Search Your Heart Curriculum.
· MyHealthVillage.com incentives and communications resources to encourage and reward maximum participation in the program as well as coordinate with DHR Division of Public Health’s promotion activities.

Once an employer enrolls in the program, employees and their spouses can participate with no out of pocket cost to either the employer or the participants. The MyHealthVillage program is free to selected worksites through an application process with the DHR Division of Public Health’s Office of Health Behaviors (http://health.state.ga.us/programs/healthpromo/index.asp).

“Our mission is to prevent unnecessary death, disease and disability by providing carefully planned and appropriately implemented health promotion, disease prevention and care activities,” said B.J. Walker, Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources. “We are excited to be able to provide our citizens with a comprehensive health solution that easily adapts to Georgia’s varying communities.”

“Over the years, Georgia has been working actively to support worksite wellness and promote healthy behaviors. We are thrilled to be included in this effort and we look forward to introducing Longitude Health’s resources,” concluded Dr. Jan Swaney, Founder and CMO of Longitude Health.
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Clayton: Honors Student Association Blood Drive on April 15

The Clayton State University Honors Student Association will be holding a blood drive in conjunction with the American Red Cross on Wednesday, Apr. 15.

The blood drive will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the ballroom of the University's Student Activities Center

"Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. That's a lot of blood!" says Clayton State student Jodi-Ann Paragon-Singh, president of the Honors Student Association. "There is currently no substitute for healthy donor blood. Walk-ins and appointments are welcome."

Appointments to donate can be scheduled at https://www.givelife.org/index_flash.cfm?thisHB=04/07/2009%2009:51:04

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
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Governor Praises Passage of Legislation to Restructure the Department of Human Resources

Governor Sonny Perdue commended today the final passage of House Bill 228 by the General Assembly. This legislation will reorganize the Department of Human Resources (DHR) and the Department of Community Health, creating a new Department of Behavioral Health. The legislation was introduced in House by Rep. Mark Butler and carried in the Senate by Sen. Renee Unterman.

“House Bill 228 provides vital restructuring to agencies that care for our state’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Governor Perdue. “I am confident this restructuring puts in place a framework for a more efficient, effective delivery of these critical services.”

The bill will result in three agencies reorganized to provide more focused results – the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Community Health and the Department of Human Services. The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities will be responsible for all mental health, developmental disability and addictive disease programs currently under DHR. The department will report directly to the Governor, increasing transparency.

The Department of Community Health will be reorganized to include all the public health and health and long-term care regulation programs of DHR. This change establishes one lead agency to focus on improving Georgia’s health and streamlines health related activities currently in two separate departments.

Lastly, remaining services will be housed under the Department of Human Services. Programs included in this department include Aging, Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and Child Support.

The bill largely resembles the recommendations made by the Health and Human Services Task Force, which convened last year and studied these issues at length. Sen. Renee Unterman, Sen. Jack Hill, Rep. Ben Harbin and Rep. Mark Butler all served on the Health and Human Services Task Force.

“With the passage of this legislation, we are transforming Georgia’s mental and public health systems,” said Rep. Butler. “Georgians who might be lost in a larger organization will get the help and attention they need and deserve.”
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Mayo Clinic and IBM Host Medical Language Initiative

Biomedical informatics researchers at Mayo Clinic and IBM today launched a Web site for the newly founded Open Health Natural Language Processing (NLP) Consortium. The consortium is establishing the open-source space to promote past and current development efforts, including participation in information extraction from electronic medical records.

As part of the launch, Mayo Clinic and IBM released their clinical NLP technologies into the public domain. The site http://www.ohnlp.org will allow the approximately 2,000 researchers and developers working on clinical language systems worldwide to contribute code and further develop the systems.

"We are inviting our international colleagues to help continue development of these valuable tools," says Christopher Chute, M.D., Dr.P.H., Mayo Clinic bioinformatics expert and senior consultant on the project. "By making it an open-source initiative, we hope to enable wide use of these NLP tools so medical advancements can happen faster and more efficiently."

"The recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act promises to accelerate the adoption of electronic medical records," said Dan Pelino, IBM's general manager, Global Healthcare & Life. "Because the success of such reform rides on delivering interconnected and intelligent information to health care professionals everywhere, Mayo and IBM are tapping into the collaborative power of the open-source community to speed the development of Natural Language Processing (NLP). Adoption of this technology will provide physicians with insights into each patient's condition, allowing them to electronically retrieve the exact knowledge they seek from patient health records rather than reading through every record provided, as they must do today." Patient privacy is a main concern and consideration; all current and any future required safeguards and regulations will be adhered to strictly.

NLP is a relatively new and specialized area within computer science dealing with computational methods for understanding human language. In medicine, clinical NLP systems process the vast repositories of text generated by patient-clinician interactions. Such systems categorize and structure it according to standard nomenclature — in this case focusing on terms used in a range of medical specialties — that will ultimately speed data searches for both diagnoses and medical research. These NLP platforms or "pipelines" aid indexing and searching electronic medical records within institutions to quickly find similar cases or conditions, so physicians are not reliant solely on their own clinical experience in analyzing a problem. Researchers may also use these tools to aid retrospective epidemiological studies or do groundwork for new clinical trials.
"Large-scale information extraction from the clinical narrative is a vital component in advancing translational research and patient care," adds Guergana Savova, Ph.D., medical informatics specialist and Mayo's NLP lead on the project. "It 'unlocks' the clinical textual data that resides in huge repositories. Such technology would allow for large-scale data aggregation, analyses and usage — just imagine the power of data from millions of patients."

"There is a treasure trove of historical unstructured data that provides essential information for the study of disease progression, treatment effectiveness and long-term outcome which NLP systems make available to clinicians and researchers," states Anni Coden Ph.D., IBM's NLP principal on the project. "Such data can provide guidance for prospective studies and furthermore facilitate the integration of data from multi-modal data sources."

As an increasing percentage of health care and academic medical centers adopt electronic medical records, searching and extracting information from them in an automated fashion becomes essential. Mayo Clinic and IBM jointly developed a system for extracting information from more than 25 million free-text clinical notes based on IBM's open-source Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA). As part of the system, developers build strings of "annotators" that become a pipeline, allowing physicians to mine the text for references of specific conditions, drugs, diseases, signs and symptoms; anatomical areas or organs; or treatment procedures. IBM and Mayo Clinic also developed a system to extract cancer disease characteristics from unstructured pathology reports to facilitate "consistent retrieval and transmission of cancer cases." The system extracts tumor characteristics, lymph node status and metastatic disease information enabling the automatic computation of cancer stage, which is critical to determine optimal treatment.

The two clinical text solutions released open-source by Mayo Clinic and IBM aim at processing two specific types of notes. Clinical notes describe patient-physician encounters, while pathology reports center around tissue findings. Both options are already adding value for Mayo and its patients:

Physicians can research past records to examine earlier cases of rare conditions, thereby "conferring" with their colleagues across time to aid diagnosis and treatment decisions.
Retrospective studies of tissue samples can propel new research findings, as happened with a major breast cancer finding at Mayo in 2008.

Enhanced ability to mine data and determine potential study factors or participants has already enabled individualized medicine treatments in psychiatric care.

Mayo's open-source solution, clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES), focuses on processing the patient-centric clinical notes. Its low level components, for example the software that discovers sentence and word boundaries, assigns words part-of-speech tags and forms phrases out of the words, are "trained" to understand clinical language. The higher-level information extraction components, for example the ones that determine which textual spans are highly relevant to the clinical meaning of a note, are specifically designed for this domain. cTAKES has the functionality to recognize whether a clinical concept is negated, relevant to the patient or to the patient's family, which are attributes critical to understanding patient-centered medical language.

IBM's medKAT systems (medical Knowledge Analysis Tool) is a UIMA-based, modular and flexible system that uses advanced NLP techniques to extract structured information from unstructured data sources, such as pathology reports, clinical notes, discharge summaries and medical literature. medKAT/P is a version customized for the pathology domain, based on a representation of cancer, its characteristics and disease progression. The system recognizes concepts such as primary tumor and its associated attributes (e.g. histology, anatomical site, etc.) or lymph node status and its associated attributes (e.g. number of positive and excised nodes) by identifying mentions (e.g. histology or anatomical sites) and their relations (including negation). medKAT can be viewed as a development platform that is adaptable to user and domain requirements. It has been designed to operate within institutional systems or databases of any size.

Participants: information about the Open Health Natural Language Processing Consortium can be found at http://www.ohnlp.org with links to Source Forge downloads. The UIMA framework is available at http://incubator.apache.org/uima/.

For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.
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Governor Perdue Commends the Passage of ‘Access to Flu Vaccines Act’

Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the final passage of House Bill 217, the “Access to Flu Vaccines Act”, by the General Assembly. The bill was introduced by Representative Jimmy Pruett, one of the Governor’s floor leaders in the House. The legislation improves Georgians’ ability to receive a flu shot.

“The flu affects thousands of people each year and our citizens should be able to access flu vaccines to protect themselves and their families,” said Governor Perdue. “With this legislation it will be easier for Georgians, especially vulnerable populations like children and the elderly, to receive their yearly flu shot.”

The “Access to Flu Vaccines Act” will allow physicians to enter into protocol agreements with pharmacists and registered nurses to allow the ordering and dispensing of flu shots without a physician’s individual prescription. To ensure quality control, physicians may issue no more than 10 standing orders with pharmacists and nurses within the same county or adjacent county to the physician’s primary place of business. Corporations with more than one location are also included in this agreement. This includes grocery stores and drug stores.
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Is Your Home Poison-Proof?

National Poison Prevention Week: March 15-21, 2009

Children’s bodies are still in the developing stages, and even a brief encounter with a poison in the home can have devastating consequences.

“The short amount of time it takes to answer a phone call or see who’s at the door is all that’s needed for a curious toddler to find his or her way to the cabinets where kitchen cleaners are kept, or the medicine cabinet,” said Don Keenan, founder of the non-profit child advocacy organization Keenan’s Kids Foundation.

Each year, more than two million poisonings are reported to Poison Control Centers nationwide, and more than 90 percent of all incidents happen inside the home.

“The majority of non-fatal poisonings occur in children ages six or younger,” said Keenan, author of child safety book 365 Ways to Keep Kids Safe. “Take this week as the perfect opportunity to talk with your kids about hazardous substances; let them know they should never eat or drink anything they cannot identify.”

National Poison Prevention Week is held the third week in March every year, highlighting the dangers of poisonings and how to prevent them. Here are some tips for parents to help “poison-proof” the home, based off the 365 Ways to Keep Kids Safe checklist for poison safety:

1. Store medicine, household cleaners, paints/varnishes and all pesticides in their original packaging in locked cabinets or containers out of a child’s reach; also install safety latches on child-accessible cabinets containing any harmful products.

2. Only purchase medicine with safety caps and discard unused and expired medication; never refer to medicine as “candy” or something desirable for eating; and always check labels when providing a child with medicine to ensure proper dosage.

3. Keep coal, wood and kerosene stoves in safe working order; and maintain working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors near all bedrooms (hardwiring when feasible).

If your child appears to have been poisoned, call the Poison Control Center national hotline at 1-800-222-1222. For more information about National Poison Prevention Week and other tips and information, visit www.poisonprevention.org.
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Clayton State to Hold Love Your Body Community Health Fair March 26

Clayton State University’s University Health Services, in conjunction with Gamma Beta Mu Leadership Society, Inc, and the University’s Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, will host the “Love Your Body” Community Health Fair on Thursday, Mar. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the James M. Baker University Center. The health fair will be held on the Baker Center’s “Main Street” and is open to students, faculty, staff and the community.

This year’s fair will observe Women’s Health Month as well as focus on every aspect of taking care of your body for men and women. Some featured vendors are Life South Blood Mobile, the City of Morrow, Acupuncture and the Health and Fitness Team from the Clayton State Fitness Center. Also included are prizes and giveaways, plus blood pressure checks and cholesterol screening.

For more information, contact Latrice Barlow, University Health Services office manager at (678) 466-4940.

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
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Benign Brain Tumors Removed through Small Openings at Emory University Hospital Midtown

Neurosurgeons at Emory University Hospital Midtown are now removing benign tumors from deep within the brain though tiny incisions and openings in the skull no larger than a pea. This novel treatment alleviates the need to fully open the skull to remove tumors, meaning fewer risks, less operating time and shorter hospital stays for the patient.

Emory University Hospital Midtown is the only hospital in Georgia removing these tumors endoscopically through small openings in the skull.

The most common brain tumors removed by this method are called colloid cysts. They are benign cystic tumors found deep in the brain, which can cause obstructive hydrocephalus, an increased build-up of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the ventricles of the brain.

Blockage of the normal flow of CSF can lead to increased intracranial pressure, resulting in headache, vertigo, memory impairment, weakness of limbs and behavioral changes. In some cases, the tumors can even cause sudden death.

“In most medical centers, colloid cysts are removed with a craniotomy, resulting in a large incision and complete opening of the skull,” says Costas Hadjipanayis, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine. “Now, we are able to remove these tumors through small incisions and openings in the skull with the use of a 6 millimeter endoscope (fiberoptic camera). Visualization by the endoscope allows for identification of the colloid cyst in the third ventricle, and small instruments (2 millimeters) are passed through openings at the end of endoscope for removal of the tumor.”

In addition to removing the tumor, surgeons are able to create new pathways for the cerebrospinal fluid to flow freely again, so no shunts to drain excess fluid are needed.

A skilled neurosurgeon, Hadjipanayis reports he is seeing excellent outcomes in patients who have these tumors removed using this minimally invasive technique. Patients have a much shorter recovery time and can return to normal activities several days after surgery.

Colloid cysts account for approximately one percent of all intracranial tumors.

For more information on this procedure, call Emory HealthConnection at 404-778-2000.
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Mayo Clinic Research Shows That Improving Brain Processing Speed Helps Memory

Mayo Clinic researchers found that healthy, older adults who participated in a computer-based training program to improve the speed and accuracy of brain processing showed twice the improvement in certain aspects of memory, compared to a control group.

"What's unique in this study is that brain-processing activities seemed to help aspects of memory that were not directly exercised by the program — a new finding in memory research," says Glenn Smith, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic neuropsychologist and lead researcher on the study.

The research, a controlled, multisite, double-blind study, will be published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. A copy is available online Feb. 9, 2009.

For an hour a day, five days a week for eight weeks, study participants worked on computer-based activities in their homes. The participants, from Minnesota and California, were age 65 or older. No one had a diagnosis of cognitive impairment, such as early Alzheimer's disease.

The control group, with 245 adults, watched educational videos on art, history and literature topics. They completed quizzes on the content.

The experimental therapy group, with 242 adults, completed six auditory exercises designed to help the brain improve the speed and accuracy of processing. For example, participants were asked to distinguish between high- and low-pitched sounds. To start, the sounds were slow and distinct. Gradually, the speed increased and separation disappeared.

"The sounds go faster and faster, until it ends up sounding almost like a click," says Dr. Smith. The difficulty increases only as participants master each step with 85 percent accuracy. Other exercises, such as matching or distinguishing between similar-sounding words, for example, pop and pot, also were part of the skill building.

The commercially available program was developed by Posit Science, San Francisco company that financed the research. Mayo Clinic researchers do not have financial ties to this business.

At the end of eight weeks, researchers used a standardized tool to measure participants' memory changes. Called the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, it includes tasks such as repeating words or numbers after hearing them once.

"We found that the improvement in these skills was significantly greater in the experimental group — about double," says Dr. Smith. The improvement was 3.9 points for the experimental group and 1.8 points for the control group.

Participants in the experimental group self-reported memory improvement, too, indicating the change was noticeable in day-to-day tasks.

While the study results are statistically significant, Dr. Smith says it is important to understand the extent of the memory boost. Collectively, the experimental group's memory function increased about 4 percent over the baseline measured at the study's onset. The control group's overall memory gain was about 2 percent.

But, Dr. Smith says, because participants were in generally good health, the results don't offer insights on preventing Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.

Results indicate that aging adults may be able to make better-informed decisions about ways to improve memory. "Brain processing speed slows as we age," says Dr. Smith. "The study indicates that choosing a memory-enhancing approach that focuses on improving brain processing speed and accuracy, rather than memory retention, may be helpful."

There's no harm in trying other approaches — mnemonics, workshops or even doing crosswords or playing piano, he says, but there's little evidence these methods sustain benefits in memory.

Other researchers involved in this study include: Patricia Housen, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Zelinski, Ph.D., both with Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Kristine Yaffe, M.D., University of California, San Francisco; Ronald Ruff, Ph.D., Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.; Robert Kennison, Ph.D., California State University, Los Angeles; and Henry Mahncke, Ph.D., Posit Science Corporation, San Francisco. His affiliation with this company is noted in the journal article.
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Fayette County Health Department Now Has Shingles Vaccine

Fayette County Health Department now has Shingles vaccine (Zostavax) in stock. Only a small number of vaccines will be kept on hand and it will be administered on a first come, first serve basis. The cost of the vaccine is $220 and must be paid in cash at the time the vaccine is administered. Shingles is a painful skin rash, often with blisters.

A shingles rash usually appears on one side of the face or body and lasts from 2 to 4 weeks. Its main symptom is pain, which can be quite severe. Shingles is caused by the Varicella Zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.

Fayette County Health Department now has a registered licensed dietitian in the office 3 days a week. Regina Hilton RD, LD is available for consultations for anyone with a physician's order. She provides individual nutrition counseling for adults and children. She gives guidance and instruction on various health conditions such as, hypertension, diabetes, renal disease, weight management, gestational diabetes, cancer and hyperlipidemia.

For more information about the cost of services or to schedule an appointment, please call 770-305-5416.
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Trauma Day at the Capitol Demonstrated Wide Support for Trauma Funding

Hundreds gathered at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to find funding mechanism

An estimated 300 people from across the state gathered at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot and the Capitol Monday to show their support for a statewide trauma system by asking their legislators to provide funding.

Doctors, nurses, emergency medical service providers and business leaders joined the scores of trauma survivors and family members of fatalities in placing carnations at a memorial just outside the Capitol. The sign at the memorial read: “In Memory of Lives Lost, In Hope of Lives Saved.”

Pam Russell, daughter-in-law of University of Georgia and Georgia Southern legend Erk Russell, urged everyone to remember that trauma always has a face.

“I am here today to urge each and every one of you to become advocates for funding more trauma hospitals in the state of Georgia by putting a face to trauma,” she said. “For us, the face is that of our youngest daughter Charlee,”

Three years ago, Charlee, 16 at the time, was on her way to school one January morning when she collided with a Jeep Cherokee travelling 55 mph. Prompt treatment at a trauma center is what saved her life.

“Her father and I know, without a doubt, that the Memorial Hospital trauma staff and unit not only saved Charlee’s life, but they made her whole again. The world class trauma doctors and staff carried out the medical procedures they felt would work best for Charlee. They not only healed Charlee, but they healed me. They were always answering my many questions and always staying positive, always believing that our little girl would be returned to us healed.

“Our story had a happy ending. Many do not. The person in this story could just as easily have been your son, daughter, spouse, parent, or friend. Don’t let another day, week, month, or year go by without answering the call to fund and place more trauma hospitals in the areas of Georgia that need them the most. With all of us working together and by becoming personally involved, we can make this happen. It might save the life of someone you love.”

Russell was one of nine speakers to address the group, along with Dr. Dennis Ashley, chairman of the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission; Dr. M. Todd Williamson, president of the Medical Association of Georgia; George Israel, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce; Tom Bell, chairman and CEO of Cousins Properties, Inc., and a member of the Grady Memorial Hospital Board of Directors; Battalion Chief Chad Black of the Hall County Fire Services Department; Mike Polak, executive director of external affairs at Memorial University Health System in Savannah, and two leading advocates of trauma funding in the General Assembly, State Senator Cecil Staton (R-Perry) and State Representative Austin Scott (R-Tifton).

Following the speeches, those in attendance walked to the trauma memorial at the State Capitol and placed carnations at the site. The stem of each flower was wrapped with a printed note featuring one of the hundreds of testimonials from trauma advocates, such as this one: “My husband had a terrible motorcycle accident in January of 2006. He was taken to the Trauma Center at Gwinnett Medical. If it were not for the location and skills of the staff at the Trauma Center, my husband, father of two daughters, would have lost his life. My vote is YES, YES, YES!!!”

Many in the crowd then went inside the Capitol to find their legislator.
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Cancer Wellness at Piedmont’s Programs and Services for March

Comprehensive Complimentary Services Offered to Anyone Affected by Cancer

Cancer Wellness at Piedmont offers comprehensive services and programs for anyone affected by cancer at any phase in his or her journey. For more information please visit http://www.piedmontcancerconnection.org/ or, to make a reservation for one of the classes listed below, call Carolyn Helmer at 404-605-1962, and please indicate which classes you plan to attend.

Classes offered every month include: Cancer Wellfit©, Gentle Yoga, Art Therapy, Guided Imagery and Relaxation for Optimal Health, Mindfulness Training 101 & 201, Breast Cancer Support, Gynecological Cancer Support, and A Guy’s Group.

Some special events for March:

Awakening the Energy Within: Learn How to Energize and Rejuvenate “Me” – Come learn how using massage oil and choosing your aromatic scent can enhance your well-being and the functioning of your immune system. Join Cindy Stark Reid, LMT, as she teaches tools to help alleviate discomfort, increase energy and wellness. Monday, March 9 from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. (Lunch provided.)

The Life Lessons and Sacred Truths of the Chakras – Angela Buttimer, LPC, and Jody D. Lodice, Ph.D., will introduce you to the seven sacred chakras and help you explore and practice gentle yoga poses, meditation, breathwork, mantras and energy psychology principles that help you open and balance your mind, body and spirit energetically. Friday, March 13 from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. (Light lunch provided.)

Access the Creativity within through Image and Poetry – Working with visual images and poetry, participants will use the creative process as an avenue for healing, expression and restoration. Facilitated by Edna Bacon, ATR, and Angela Buttimer, LPC, Wednesday, March 25 from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. (Light lunch provided.)

Guy’s Night Out – Come have dinner and fun doing regular guy things. Facilitated by Dennis Buttimer, M. Ed. Thursday, March 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Get a move on: How Exercise Helps the Mind, Body and Spirit – Come join Lynn Padgett, Ph.D., and Jennifer Hopper, for a walk through the physical and psychological benefits of exercise for individuals journeying through cancer. Learn how to get started and how to stay motivated. Tuesday, March 31 from 1 p.m. until 2:30 p.m.

For more information and a full list of classes please visit www.piedmontcancerconnection.org.
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Statins Lower Stroke Severity, Improve Recovery

Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that patients who were taking statins before a stroke experienced better outcomes and recovery than patients who weren't on the drug - even when their cholesterol levels were ideal. The finding is reported in the current issue of the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases.

"We were trying to determine if the daily use of statins had more of an impact on stroke patients than simply lowering their "bad" (low-density lipid) cholesterol," explains lead researcher Latha Stead, M.D. "We already knew statin use improved outcomes in general, so we focused on the patients who had optimal LDL levels and found it still had quite significant value."

Statins or reductase inhibitors are enzymes that are widely used to improve cardiovascular health and, more recently, for certain vascular conditions in the brain. One use has been to lower the level of LDL which can contribute to arterial blockages.

Significance of the ResearchPrevious researchers had shown a lower death rate and improved function in strokes when people had used statins. The Mayo team found that statin used in this cohort also decreased the severity of the strokes and significantly improved overall outcomes. The researchers say this shows benefits far beyond lowering lipid levels. Researchers think the specific benefits may include plaque stabilization and improved cell function in vascular walls, as well as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant factors. More research is needed to pinpoint the specific benefits.

How it was doneResearchers identified 508 patients who were diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke in the emergency department during the 22 months from March 2004 to December 2005. Among that number, 207 had their lipid levels measured within 15 days either side of the stroke incident — and had LDL levels at or below 100 mg/dL, which is considered optimal for healthy individuals. Roughly half the cohort of 207 had been taking statins. Researchers also adjusted for age, gender and stroke severity.

Others on the research team were Lekshmi Vaidyanathan, M.B.B.S.; Gautam Kumar, M.B.B.S.; M. Fernanda Bellolio, M.D.; Robert Brown, Jr., M.D.; Smitha Suravaram, M.B.B.S.; Sailaja Enduri, M.B.B.S.; Rachel Gilmore, M.B.B.Ch.; and Wyatt Decker, M.D., all of Mayo Clinic.
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Tornado Damages Southwestern State Hospital in Thomas County

A tornado struck Southwestern State Hospital in Thomasville early Thursday morning, causing extensive structural damage but no injuries to patients or hospital staff. The mental health facility is operating under secured emergency conditions but is not admitting new patients at this time.

An adult mental health unit building that includes forensic patients sustained severe damage. No incidents or injuries occurred, and all patients were safely evacuated to other buildings on the hospital campus. Later on Thursday, forensic patients were transferred to West Central Georgia Regional Hospital in Columbus. Some of the remaining patients were transferred to community-based mental health services or were released to their families with physician approval. 158 patients remain safely on campus.

Southwestern State Hospital continues to be on full diversion to either West Central Georgia Regional Hospital in Columbus or Central State Hospital in Milledgeville. The hospital’s diversion status is frequently evaluated and new admissions will be permitted as soon as possible.

New patients from the following counties are currently being diverted to West Central Georgia Regional Hospital in Columbus:

· Baker
· Calhoun
· Dougherty
· Early
· Lee
· Miller
· Carroll
· Worth
· Colquitt
· Decatur
· Grady
· Mitchell
· Seminole
· Thomas

New patients from the following counties are currently being diverted to Central State Hospital in Milledgeville:
· Tift
· Turner
· Ben Hill
· Berrien
· Brooks
· Echols
· Irwin
· Lanier
· Lowndes

Southwestern State Hospital is operated by the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases.
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Piedmont Baby Gets Second Chance at Life 59 Years Later

A pair of ruby earrings and a kidney fondly nicknamed ‘Ruby’ have a connection that have been a blessing to a local Atlanta woman. Ruth Jackson has suffered from polycystic kidney disease since she was a young woman. Born at Piedmont in 1949, Jackson returned this past Thanksgiving to Piedmont to get her second chance at life with a kidney transplant.

Jackson’s was the 2000th transplant performed at Piedmont Hospital, which celebrated the milestone on Nov. 28, 2008.

“While these might seem like just numbers and dates, they represent lives saved and new beginnings through the miracle of transplantation,” said John Whelchel, M.D., who performed Jackson’s transplant. “And, we can't forget that every one of the transplants performed by the Piedmont Hospital Transplant Services team is linked to a gift of compassion and generosity by an organ donor and their family.”

Jackson received a kidney from her husband’s sister, Jane Barringer. Barringer, a Dunwoody resident, is a widow and mother of an 18-year-old son.

When Barringer found out that her sister-in-law might need a kidney transplant she immediately signed up to be tested. She was a match from the beginning and fondly nicknamed the kidney she gave to Jackson “Ruby.”

In honor of “Ruby,” Jackson and her husband, Bruce, gave Barringer a pair of ruby earrings as a special Christmas gift in honor of Barringer’s life-saving gift.

“I wanted to be tested and donate my kidney, because it was a way that I could help,” said Barringer. “It was the right thing to do, and I wanted to do something to help the whole family. The alternative was scarier.”

Barringer was also worried about Jackson’s 18-year-old son who attends Chamblee High School and has autism. Barringer said she wanted to make sure that Jackson was around for a long time to care for her son.

“Jane made up her mind she was going through with the donation no matter what,” said Jackson. “I was afraid for Jane, but the testing was so thorough that it set my mind at ease.”

Jackson was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease 30 years ago by her Piedmont nephrologist Jerry Cooper, M.D., and knew she would have to have a kidney transplant at some point. She credits Dr. Cooper with keeping her healthy for so long.

“For many years it was a matter of maintaining a healthy weight and exercise regiment, and I did everything I could through a strict diet and exercising,” said Jackson. “Dr. Cooper said my disease would manifest itself in my 50s, and he was right. The disease started taking its toll beginning in 2006.”

“Ruth Jackson was the ideal patient, because she was an informed patient and really took good care of herself,” according to Dr. Cooper. “It has been an honor and a privilege to care for Ruth and to help make her life better. Courageous patients like her are an inspiration to all of us.”

Because of the progression of her kidney disease, Jackson required dialysis beginning in 2008. However due to her family and medical circumstances, her best option was to receive a kidney transplant. While Jackson didn’t have to wait long since she had a family donor willing to donate, many throughout the country do have to wait.

Currently there are more than 2,700 Georgians on the transplant waiting list; nearly 2,370 are awaiting a kidney transplant and 216 are awaiting a liver transplant. Recently, the United States passed a milestone: for the first time more than 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant. More than 6,000 of them will die waiting this year.

"The need for donors far outweighs the supply so we encourage all individuals to discuss donation with their family members and friends," said Mark Johnson, M.D., who performed Barringer's kidney donor transplant surgery. "We are pleased that more people are considering being living donors themselves because it is a very safe option as well as results in great outcomes for many individuals awaiting a transplant."

Piedmont Hospital has one of the shortest kidney transplant wait times in the region with an average of 26.7 months while the national average wait time is 41.6 months. Piedmont's one-year patient survival rate after kidney transplant is 98 percent and remains better than the national average and the majority of programs in Georgia and the surrounding states.

“The Piedmont Hospital transplant team is fabulous,” said Jackson. “Everyone has been positive, informative, professional and caring.”

Jackson said when she woke up from the surgery she felt different from the very start. Within 24 hours her toxin levels had been reduced by half and within 48 hours they were normal.

“Life is 180 degrees different, and it is wonderful. I feel now like I felt about five to six years ago. It’s as if the last few years have been taken away,” said Jackson. “Kidney disease is very gradual, and you don’t realize that you and your family are increasingly compensating for the illness. Our family is completely different.”

The Jackson’s, who have been married for 37 years, want to celebrate their anniversary in October by resuming one of their favorite family activities, hiking. They have hiked the Grand Canyon and Yosemite with their son. For now, Jackson is slowly building up her strength and stamina.

“I am so grateful and fortunate. I will be here for my son who is making progress. But, it will take longer for him to function in the world,” said Jackson. “This gives us more time together. I’m here for him because of Jane’s wonderful gift.”
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Clayton State Presents Free Seminar on Nutrition Supplements

Clayton State University’s Department of Recreation & Wellness will present a free seminar on a topic that’s been making headlines recently – nutrition supplements – on Friday, Feb. 20 in the University’s Student Activities Center.

“Not sure whether that pill you are popping is doing any good? How about those metabolism boosters and protein shakes?” asks Cindy Lauer, Clayton State’s director of Recreation & Wellness.

The seminar, which is open to the public, will be presented by Darin Spurlock, dietetic intern on “Supplement 101.” Spurlock’s presentation will begin at 11:45 a.m. and is expected to run for 30 minutes. Feel free to bring a lunch.

For more information, contact Lauer at (678) 466-4974.

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
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Emory Crawford Long Hospital Renamed Emory University Hospital Midtown

Emory University has renamed Emory Crawford Long Hospital to Emory University Hospital Midtown (EUHM), effective today following the Emory University Board of Trustees’ decision.

For over 70 years, Emory’s midtown hospital has been wholly owned and operated by Emory University. The hospital will continue its growth in research and clinical trials, educating the next generation of health professionals, and providing the latest and most advanced medical technology and patient care.

"Today’s decision emphasizes the importance of Emory University Hospital Midtown within our health system,” says James W. Wagner, PhD, president of Emory University. “Being more clearly affiliated with Emory in the public eye will help expand upon the hospital’s 100-year tradition of providing outstanding care to people in metro Atlanta and throughout the region.”

Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD, Emory’s executive vice president for health affairs and chair of Emory Healthcare, says, “Changing Emory Crawford Long to Emory University Hospital Midtown will fuel progress toward the Woodruff Health Sciences Center’s goal of being the 21st century model for an academic health sciences and services center. By clarifying the hospital’s relationship with Emory’s entire health system, the new name will enhance its already impressive reputation in the community – enabling even greater opportunities for cutting-edge research, world-class education and high-quality patient- and family-centered care.”

Emory’s Midtown hospital celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2008, and is an important part of Atlanta’s health care history and heritage.

Today, EUHM is a 511-bed community-based, acute care teaching facility. Chief Operating Officer Dane Peterson leads the hospital with its nearly 2,900 employees, 947 Emory medical faculty and nearly 537 private practice community physicians. The hospital is well known for services in cardiology, cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, cancer, gastroenterology, emergency medicine and weight management. Women’s services include prenatal and postnatal education, bone density testing, mammography and obstetrics, with a specialization in high-risk pregnancy.
“Emory University, being more visible on the hospital’s campus between the Peachtrees, will strengthen the hospital’s position as a symbolic gateway between Midtown and Downtown,” says John T. Fox, CEO of Emory Healthcare. “This visibility along the connector and public transportation lines will highlight Emory University Hospital Midtown as the clinical powerhouse it is amidst the heart of Atlanta’s business district and exploding live-work-play growth.”

The institution’s history dates back to 1908, when two physicians, Dr. Edward Campbell Davis and a former student of his, Dr. Luther C. Fischer, opened the 26-bed Davis-Fischer Sanatorium on Crew Street, near present-day Turner Field. With just 26 beds, the hospital quickly outgrew its capacity and by 1911, Davis and Fischer moved the hospital to its present site, opening an 85-bed Davis-Fischer Sanatorium on Linden Avenue.

In 1931, the hospital was renamed Crawford W. Long Memorial Hospital in honor of Dr. Crawford W. Long, the Georgia physician who discovered sulphuric ether for use as an anesthetic and was the first doctor to use anesthesia during surgery.
“We hope our patients and their families, as well as our staff and physicians, will see that while we have grown into a premier academic medical center, the Crawford Long name and its place in history will continue to be a source of pride,” says Fox.

While focused on Emory’s three-tiered mission of excellent patient care, cutting-edge research and a dynamic destination for education, the Midtown Atlanta landmark will also remain true to its heritage and history. The hospital will maintain some of its historical signage, while adding the initials CL for Crawford Long onto much of its new signage. A museum-quality historical display, erected in April 2008, will remain in a prominent location. EUHM’s museum, which further details its long-standing history, will be highlighted more prominently to both patients and visitors.

In addition to EUHM, Emory University’s hospitals include Emory University Hospital, Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital and Wesley Woods Center. Emory joint venture hospitals include Emory-Adventist Hospital, Emory Johns Creek Hospital and Emory Eastside Medical Center.
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