Great Falls Tribune – Paul Holtzheimer, an associate professor of psychiatry and surgery, is quoted in this story about the recent rise in phone calls to crisis hotlines. “There’s always a concern about ‘copycat’ suicides when a death by suicide is reported in the media,” he says.
Archive for 2014
High Prevalence of Opioid Use by Social Security Disability Recipients
More than 40 percent of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients take opioid pain relievers, while the prevalence of chronic opioid use is over 20 percent and rising, reports a study in the September issue of Medical Care.
A Dartmouth Physician Discusses Depression and Suicide
Following two high-profile suicides, Dr. Paul Holtzheimer discusses depression and suicide.
Medicaid-Insured Children Have Higher Prescription Use
Doctor’s Lounge – In a study, Shelsey Weinstein, Geisel ’16 and colleagues found that “regional variation exceeds payer-related differences in prescription use among children.” The team quantified the “overall and drug group-specific prescription use among 949,821 children aged 0 to 17 years.”
Think Twice Before Placing TV In Kids’ Room
The Tennessean – Article interviews Diane Gilbert-Diamond, a Professor of Community and Family Medicine and the lead researcher on a recent study that suggesting “a possible link between kids having TV in the bedroom and more sedentary behavior, snacking and exposure to food ads, leading to weight gain.”
Crossing Disciplinary Borders in the Classroom
A team-teaching collaboration between a Dartmouth College anthropologist and a Geisel School of Medicine infectious-disease expert turned out to be an educational experience for both the students and the faculty.
Mental Health Screening in Primary Care Helps Veterans
Center for Advancing Health – Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Brian Shiner comments on how a new practice is helping patients with mental health disorder. “In patients who actually have the disorder, there is good evidence that the intervention improves important health outcomes and benefits substantially outweigh harm,” says Brian. “Therefore, we assume that we can help to improve veterans’ health by following up screens with clinical exams and delivering these treatments when they are indicated.”
O’Toole Receives Prestigious NIH MERIT Award
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth microbiologist George O’Toole has received a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health that will provide up to 10 years of funding for his research on bacterial biofilms.
Regular Marijuana Use Bad for Teens Brains
Business Standard – “Recent studies suggest that this relationship between marijuana and mental illness may be moderated by how often marijuana is used and potency of the substance,” says Professor of Psychiatry Alan Budney. “Unfortunately, much of what we know from earlier research is based on smoking marijuana with much lower doses of THC than are commonly used today,” Budney said.
The Biggest Misconceptions People Have About the Medical Profession
Wall Street Journal – Professor of Medicine H. Gilbert Welch is interviewed on common misconceptions regarding health care professionals: “The idea that only your doctor can tell whether you are healthy or not is an unfortunate side-effect of our current emphasis on preventive medicine … Don’t let doctors’ machines and tests define health. That’s a recipe to make you sick. How you feel matters.”