Listen to story – Quotes Bruce Vrooman, associate professor of anesthesiology, about treating patients with complex chronic pain, and how for some patients, low-dose naltrexone appears to be more effective and well-tolerated than the big-name opioids that dominated pain management for decades. “Those patients may report that this is indeed a game-changer,” Vrooman says. “It may truly help them with their activities, help them feel better.” (Picked up by WAMU.)

Read article – Quotes Taressa Fraze, a research scientist at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in a feature story about a study she led that examined whether physician practices and hospitals in the U.S. ask patients if they’re experiencing housing instability, food insecurity, utility needs, transportation needs or interpersonal violence, challenges that are priorities for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, among other healthcare groups and payers.

Read article – Quotes Anne Hoen, assistant professor of epidemiology, biomedical data science, and microbiology and immunology, about a study that found that early in life, babies born by cesarean section have different gut bacteria than babies born vaginally—instead of picking up microbes from their mothers, they take on bacteria from the hospital environment. “That allowed them to show that not only is being born by C-section associated with a perturbed microbiome, but it showed nicely that this is because vaginally born babies are inheriting their mom’s microbiomes—and C-section babies aren’t doing that,” says Hoen. “That was the idea before, but this data nicely demonstrated that concept.”

Read article – Quotes Lucy Skinner, Geisel ’22, about an article she co-authored for The New England Journal of Medicine that includes a dire forecast for the rural physician workforce.

Read article – Continued coverage of comments by Marcus Shaker, associate professor of pediatrics and of community and family medicine, in an article about Aimmune Therapeutics’s peanut allergy pill.

Read article – An opinion piece by Paul Manganiello, active emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynecology, in which he discusses the importance of state and federal food nutritional programs, and how the Trump administration wants to make changes as to how states determine expanded eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Read article – Quotes Marcia Herrin, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, in an article about how Weight Watchers recently started a new app aimed at helping kids lose weight, and has sparked an outcry from dietitians, therapists, and eating disorder experts. “Having an app tell you what to eat is dangerous (and stupid) when we know that food plans should be individualized,” says Herrin.

Read article – Quotes Robert Santulli, a geriatric psychiatrist who no longer practices but continues to teach at Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, about how depression is the most common symptom in caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s. “The biggest (cause) of the stress is losing a partner,” says Santulli. “They’re there but they’re not there.”

Read article – Quotes Marcus Shaker, associate professor of pediatrics and associate professor of community and family medicine, in an article about how advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted Friday to recommend approval of a first-of-its-kind peanut allergy treatment. “For a family with high anxiety and a significant burden of anxiety and fear from living with [a] peanut allergy, this might give that extra buffer of safety,” says Shaker, who was not involved with the trial. “They’re still going to need to strictly avoid peanuts, but [this will help] to let go of some of the fear they may have.” (Picked up by PennLive.)

Read article – An opinion piece by Cassie Kosarek, Geisel ’20, in which she shares advice on how medical school applicants can gauge their fit for a program when visiting campuses for medical school interviews. “On your interview days, it is important to ask about the clinical experiences that set your prospective schools apart,” says Kosarek. “Does this medical school allow room for multiple away electives if it does not reach your areas of interest? Are there regional or ethnographic qualities in the clinical environment that are particularly attractive to you? And finally, are there any drawbacks to the clinical environment that limit the educational experience or the pursuit of your interests in any way?”