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Vital Signs
Media Mentions: DMS and DHMC in the News
Among the people and programs coming in for
prominent media coverage in recent months
were two DMS researchers who examined the
movie-watching habits of American teens. "A
large proportion of American adolescents are getting
early and regular exposure to violentmovies,"
reported the Washington Post.
"Dr. James Sargent [left] a professor
in the department of pediatrics
at Dartmouth Medical School,"
coauthored a study showing that
"almost 13% of the nation's estimated
22 million children between
the ages of 10 and 14 are
viewing extremely graphic depictions of violence
in film. . . . 'Parents need to be much more careful
about how their children consume violent media,'
" Sargent told the Post. In
the Los Angeles Times, "Keilah
Worth [left], lead author of the
study," was quoted as saying,
"'It's quite striking that 10-yearolds
are watching these movies.
. . . Ten years old isn't that far
away from believing in Santa
Claus.'" And USA Today noted that "even among
kids who said their parents never let them watch
such movies, 22.6% had seen at least one."
"New risk charts in a paper lastmonth in the Journal
of the National Cancer Institute provide a broader
perspective than most of the risk calculators on
the internet," wrote the New York Times. "They
cover the risks for 10 causes of death and for all
causes combined, while differentiating by age and
among smokers, nonsmokers,
and former smokers." To explain
the charts, the Times spoke to
"Dr. Lisa Schwartz, a coauthor of the
paper and an associate professor
of medicine at Dartmouth,"
who explained that " 'these
charts provide the information
you need to understand a risk, and whether to
consider taking some action to reduce it.'" (See
the article "Charts developed at DMS offer a clear comparison of risks for more on these risk charts.)
In an article analyzing rising health-care costs, BusinessWeek mentioned a study conducted by DMS researchers on the use of robots to assist with surgery. A "study from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center points out that it's tough for most hospitals to earn back the price" of a surgical robot, reported the magazine. "A da Vinci robot costs $1.5 million, and every time it is used in the operating room, some $2,000 worth of parts must be replaced (for safety reasons). It takes a surgeon 12 to 18 months to learn how to use the machine, and a da Vinci operation usually takes longer than a hands-on procedure."
The Los Angeles Times asked "Dr. Gene Nattie, a professor
of physiology at Dartmouth Medical
School," to comment on a recent
study showing a possible
link between serotonin regulation
and sudden infant death
syndrome. The study found that
"mice genetically engineered to
overproduce the brain chemical
serotonin died at an early age after
developing symptoms similar to those of sudden
infant death syndrome."Nattie told the Times
that "the main impact is if you produce a very specific
deficit in the serotonin system, you get a disastrous
result. . . . That's why the paper is important.
It's certainly a big step forward."
The Ladies' Home Journal (LHJ) recently honored
a DMS psychiatry professor with a Health Breakthrough
Award, for her work on
post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). "While PTSD treatments
had been evaluated in
studies onmale veterans, no one
had done large-scale definitive
research on the most effective
PTSD treatment for female veterans
and active-duty personnel," explained the
LHJ. "Then, in February 2007, Paula Schnurr, Ph.D.,
. . . published groundbreaking research in the Journal
of the American Medical Association." Schnurr
talked to the LHJ about her use of presentcentered
therapy to help female veterans. "'With
just 10 weekly 90-minute sessions, we improved
their symptoms,' says Dr. Schnurr. . . . 'It was a
joy and a relief to have really good evidence
that this treatment could make a difference.'"
"Do eight glasses of water a day have health
benefits?" wondered Nutrition Action Healthletter.
To find out, the newsletter conducted
a Q&A with Dr. "Heinz Valtin, an internationally
recognized expert on water balance and
the kidneys. Valtin is a physician and professor
emeritus and former chair of the Department
of Physiology at
Dartmouth." Valtin said
that he had "'searched for
10 months with the help
of a professional librarian.
There wasn't a single paper
that gave any scientific
support to this recommendation.'"
Water consumption also came
in for coverage in the Wall Street Journal,
which mentioned that "Heinz Valtin of
Dartmouth Medical School discussed these
studies andmore in a seminal 2002 article in
the American Journal of Physiology."
"Research conducted by the Dartmouth Atlas
Project," reported the New York Times,
has shown that "race and place of residence
can have a staggering impact on the course
and quality of the medical care a patient receives."
The research, noted the Times, "was
commissioned by the nation's largest healthrelated
philanthropy, the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, which . . . planned to
announce a three-year, $300-million initiative
intended to narrow health-care disparities
across lines of race and geography. . . .
'In U.S. health care, it's not only who you
are that matters; it's also
where you live,' wrote the
study's authors, led by Dr.
Elliott Fisher." The Wall Street
Journal, which also covered
the initiative, mentioned
that it "aims to improve
health care—and
reduce disparities—in regions including Detroit,
Cincinnati, and Memphis, Tenn."
(See the article "RWJF initiative is based on research done at Dartmouth" for more on this initiative.)
Fisher got tapped for commentary on a Granite State story, too, when New Hampshire Public Radio reported that expansion plans are being proposed by a number of hospitals around the state. "Officials at these hospitals say they need to expand and renovate to keep up with changes in the healthcare world. But Dr. Elliott Fisher of Dartmouth Medical School doesn't agree. 'I think there's every reason to be skeptical about the need for this construction.'" Fisher worries that "all the new construction will lead to higher health-care costs, without necessarily producing better outcomes. . . 'My guess is if you look carefully at the applications, the services that are being expanded have the highest profit margins.'"
"Rise seen inmedical efforts to treat the very
old" was the headline on a recent feature in
the New York Times. Among those quoted
was "Dr. David Goodman, a coauthor of the
Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, which has
studied the last two years
of life." Goodman told the
Times that "there is much
research suggesting that
most aggressive treatment
of late-stage chronic diseases
does not actually prolong
life and can actually
decrease its quality." The same research was
mentioned on the NewsHour with Jim
Lehrer, when a correspondent referred to
"the Dartmouth Atlas Project, an ongoing research
program that . . . said more care does
not result in better care or better outcomes."
The Chicago Tribune mentioned the Dartmouth
Atlas Project, too, in an article about
health-care costs. The Tribune
noted that "journalist
Shannon Brownlee's argument
that . . . over-treatment
is to blame not only
for high costs but for often
making us more sick . . . relies
on landmark research
done by Dr. John Wennberg, director emeritus of
Dartmouth's Institute for Health Policy and
Clinical Practice. He showed convincingly
that there isn't
necessarily a
link between the
availability of medical
services and what we actually
receive, explaining why people in comparable
areas may receive far different care."
According to the Wall Street Journal, "The
now-$4-billion global market for coated
stents has been damaged by concerns that
first-generation devices
elevate the risk for dangerous
clots, but those
worries appear to be fading
because of more favorable
studies." The Journal
mentioned a new study by
Dr. "David Malenka, a cardiologist
at Dartmouth" on the use of drug-coated
stents. The Washington Post also covered
the research and asked Malenka about drawbacks
to using drug-coated stents. "'We understand
that patients who get drug-eluting
stents have to be on two antiplatelet [clotpreventing]
drugs for at least a year,' he said.
'Not everyone can be able to afford them or
be compliant with their use.'"
"Infant transplant procedure ignites debate"
read the headline on a Washington Post story.
It was triggered by a report in the New
England Journal of Medicine on the transplantation
of hearts from
two infants shy of the usual
standard for harvesting
organs; the donor infants'
hearts had stopped beating,
but their brains had
not ceased all function. A
Dartmouth ethicist, one
of four experts invited by the Journal to write
an accompanying commentary, was also
quoted in the Post: "'This bold experiment
is pushing the boundaries and raising many
questions,' said Dr. James Bernat, a Dartmouth
medical professor. . . . 'This clearly shows
the feasibility of doing this,' Bernat said.
'The question is: Should this be done.'"
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