Pulse on Health by Jeff Hansel

Cruise ship illness sets discomforting record in Rochester

Olmsted County Public Health reports today that norovirus, a common cause of cruise ship outbreaks of vomiting and diarrhea, has caused one of the worst seasons in 25 years in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

"We’re still getting calls, knock on wood no more outbreaks yet, but that’s always a possibility," said Larry Edmonson, director of disease control and prevention for Olmsted County Public Health.

An article will be posted shortly on the Post-Bulletin Web site.

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615      

The Health Policy Center goes to Washington

In an article scheduled for publication this week, it becomes ever more clear that Mayo Clinic leaders might reach their goal of helping to shape the transformation of the nation's health care system.

Dr. Denis Cortese, Mayo's national CEO; former Rochester chief administrative officer Jeff Korsmo (now the executive director of the Mayo Health Policy Center); and Chris Gade, the Health Policy Center's managing director, went to Washington, D.C. the week before President Barack Obama was inaugurated.

They met with congressional leaders and the incoming deputy director of the White House Office on Health Reform, Jeanne Lambrew. 

They met with administration officials and more than 15 members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Sen Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chair of the finance committee; and Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), chair of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.

For more, read the print or online edition of the Post-Bulletin Friday.

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615      

Minnesota hospitals conduct childhood Hib surveillance

An article scheduled for publication in Friday's Post-Bulletin will say that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking Minnesota hospitals to test kids for exposure to a debilitating and potentially deadly disease that was once nearly wiped out using preventive vaccine.

“We’re hoping to do throat swabs on 200 children during February at Olmsted Medical Center and we’ll be asking parents when they bring their children in for well-children checks,” said Dr. Barbara Yawn, cochair of the Minnesota Asthma Coalition. Unvaccinated children with asthma and other ailments are at greater risk of becoming ill when exposed.

Mayo Clinic, too, will take throat swabs from 200 kids, as will hospitals in four other Minnesota cities, including Bemidji, St. Cloud, St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Kids from various environments, including urban neighborhoods, rural communities and metro areas will be checked.

The goal? Figure out if symptomless infection is lower in areas where kids have received the initial vaccinations, but haven't yet had their boosters.  Once the data has been gathered, federal and state officials can decide how best to protect unvaccinated children (for example those who are too young too have been vaccinated yet) from an illness that can cause permanent disability and death, said Dr. Robert Jacobson, chair of the Mayo Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615      

Soldiers and suicide

CNN reports this morning that the Army has identified 128 suicides among soldiers, at least 20.2 suicides per 100,000 soldiers, "the highest level since 1980 when (the Army) began tracking suicides."

Unless you've been to war, you really can't understand what it's like.  Historically, soldiers have been asked to keep many of their experiences secret.  The carnage that soldiers witness, the knowledge that any moment could be their last and the constant sounds, sights and smells of war haunt civilian life.

Studies have shown that news coverage of suicides plays a role in copycat suicides.  So I hope caution is used with news coverage when individuals suicides occur on the local level.

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615      

Mayo Jacksonville Parkinson's researcher goes on PBS

PBS will host a documentary about Parkinson's disease.

Mayo Clinic of Jacksonville, Florida researcher Matthew Farrer will be featured.  According to a statement from the clinic, Farrer "leads a team of international researchers who have uncovered the genetic root of the most common familial form of the disease."

He was interviewed by television and radio producer Dave Iverson.

"I first learned about Parkinson's in the fall of 1971.  That was when I got a letter from my mom telling me that my father had been diagnosed with the disease," Iverson writes on the Public Broadcasting Service Web site. "Twenty years later, my brother was diagnosed with Parkinson's.  And in the summer of 2002, I began experiencing familiar symptoms; it would be two years before my diagnosis became official, but I knew what the likely outcome would be."

Farrer hopes what is learned from familial Parkinson's will help in the fight against all forms of the illness.

The conversation between Farrer and Iverson will be featured on the PBS FRONTLINE documentary "My Father, My Brother and Me" on Feb. 3.  Researchers at Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota also work against Parkinson's.

The documentary can also be viewed online starting Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009.

[Mayo Jacksonville photo of Matthew Farrer]

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615     

Do microbes make us obese?

Mayo Clinic Arizona researcher Dr. John DiBaise has come up with an interesting theory about one possible cause of obesity.  He collaborated with Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and the University of Arizona.

Researchers compared microbes in the gut of three groups of people:

• Morbidly obese persons

• People who experienced gastric-bypass surgery to lose weight

• Normal-weight individuals

"The research team's central hypothesis is that differing microbial populations in the gut allow the body to harvest more energy, making people more susceptible to developing obesity," says a Mayo statement. "These small differences can, over time, profoundly affect an individual's weight."

And here I thought I gained weight because I sit still at my desk writing all day.

People had significantly different microbes in their intestines after gastric-bypass surgery.

"This means the drastic anatomical changes created by gastric bypass surgery appear to have profound effects on the microorganisms that inhabit the intestine," the clinic's statement says. "This change may be part of the reason that gastric-bypass surgery is the most effective means to treat obesity today."

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615      

Mayo Arizona prepares for JCAHO inspection

Mayo Clinic in Arizona prepares for an inspection from the Joint Commission (take a look at the pdf of a letter to volunteers in a Mayo Arizona publication: Download DOC012709 ).

The Joint Commission approves and "accredits" only hospitals that "meet high performance standards."  It was formerly known as JCAHO, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

"Our accreditation helps hospitals improve their performance, raise the level of patient care, and demonstrate accountability in the rapidly changing health care marketplace," the commission's Web site says.  

Two years ago, the Post-Bulletin received approval from the Joint Commission to observe inspectors (not patients) during an inspection at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.  The commission indicated it would be pleased to have us write about the inspection process.  The Post-Bulletin agreed it would delay publication until after the Joint Commission issued its ruling (which eventually showed approval of Mayo's work and its staff's knowledge of best practices).  

But the commission said the institution under inspection would have to give approval.  

Mayo declined to allow the Post-Bulletin's presence (in a non-patient area such as a nursing station) for inspector observation.  

The commission inspection is a highly stressful process for health providers, and perhaps that's why Mayo didn't want the Post-Bulletin to write about the inspection process once the inspection was over.  But it seems a lost opportunity  to learn about the inspection process for patients and the community.

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615      

Should the U.S. ban breast feeding?

Research has shown that mothers' breast milk helps give babies immunity to fight illness.  But controversy erupts when mothers want to publicly breast feed.  We're a long way from the days when it was natural for mothers to hoist a baby up and breast feed as if it were the most natural (which can't be argued) thing in the world.  But we're also a long way from the days when exposure of a woman's ankles was considered a no-no in public.

An iReport brings up the issues from a variety of viewpoints.  Be forewarned, the site is not edited and its user-generated.  So if you don't want to see a picture of a woman and her baby in the process of breast feeding, it's not a link you want to go to.

On one side of the debate, women want the freedom to help their babies grow naturally, feeding publicly.  On the other side are people who say keep it behind closed doors.  I've always found this debate interesting, since men can walk around bare-breasted any time they want.  Discrimination against women?  You decide.  Should the U.S. ban breast feeding in public?  It appears women in the child-bearing years aren't about to let that happen.

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615     

Does your urine smell?

Here's something to put on a back shelf of your mind, just in case you ever experience it.  The information comes from mayoclinic.com.

If you eat asparagus, you could end up with extra-smelly urine afterward.

"If your urine becomes highly concentrated, urine odor may have a strong ammonia quality.  Many foods and medications — such as asparagus or certain vitamins — can also affect the odor of urine," the site says.

Usually, changes in the the scent of urine are temporary.  

"But sometimes an unusual urine odor can be associated with an underlying medical condition," Mayo specialists say online.  Their advice for people worried about unusual urine odor?  

Talk to your doctor, of course.

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615      

Childhood infections

The Minnesota Department of Health is asking parents to make sure their infants are vaccinated against a now-rare bacterial infection.  Hib (Haemophilus influenza type B) has been confirmed in five Minnesota children.

"Three of the five cases, including one death, occurred in unimmunized children," the Health Department says in a statement announcing its concerns.  It's been 17 years since Minnesota had so many cases.

Complicating the Minnesota situation, according to the Department of Health, is a national shortage of Hib vaccine "expected to last into mid-2009."  Before Hib vaccine became available in 1991, 20,000 cases occurred annually in the U.S.

Minnesota and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with vaccine manufacturer Sanofi-Pasteur to make an extra 37,000 doses available for Minnesota infants.  If your child hasn't been immunized, or if the third dose hasn't been given, state officials want you to schedule a vaccination.  Why?  Because Hib can cause serious complications like blood infections, meningitis and even death.

It's interesting that news coverage of this situation has suggested that Minnesota's health department might just be better at surveillance and recognizing the problem than other states. Nonetheless, state officials are worried parents won't heed the advice.

"Some parents have read information that encourages them to refuse or delay vaccinations for their child.  However, this puts their children and other children at risk for serious diseases, such as Hib," said Kris Ehresmann, immunization program manager.

Pulse on Health

By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists

Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904

1-800-562-17858, ext. 17615