The Atlantic – An article co-authored by Timothy Lahey, associate professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology, and of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about how new research supports the idea that social isolation is detrimental to physical health—and that companionship may improve it.

Contemporary Pediatrics – Continued coverage of research conducted by Jennifer Emond, instructor in epidemiology, which calls for more research on the effects of parent-directed marketing of children’s processed foods has on the nutritional choices parents are making for their children.

Medical Express – Quotes Glyn Elwyn, professor of community and family medicine and of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about how pharmaceutical sales representatives are screening people at free “health camps” for poor people in India, in return for prescriptions for their products. “This kind of behavior can actually lead to harm to patients—overdiagnosis, misclassification [of healthy people as sick], iatrogenic harm of drugs,” says Elwyn.

Fox News via Reuters – Article quotes Ellen Meara, associate professor of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and adjunct associate professor of economics, about how it is possible that rising unemployment rates have contributed to the increase in the number and length of mental health evaluations at ERs. “Cutting community resources to treat patients with severe mental illness is a common response to tight local budgets, but it may increase problems in other parts of the healthcare system, and the broader community,” says Meara.

Valley News – John Butterly, associate professor of medicine, has been elected president of the New Hampshire Medical Society. “It is an honor to represent physicians in the state of New Hampshire,” says Butterly. “I think it’s a very big responsibility both as the society’s spokesperson and as an advocate on behalf of the patient population.”

The Huffington Post – Features a study conducted by the Geisel School of Medicine, Basset Medical Center, and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, which found that having a pet dog at home is associated with a decreased likelihood of developing childhood anxiety.

Financial Review – An opinion piece by H. Gilbert Welch, professor of medicine, community and family medicine, and of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about how watching small cancers avoids the harms of unnecessary treatment, but likely causes patients to worry about their future. Welch recommends that we look less hard for cancer, or what he calls low-impact screening. 

The Wall Street Journal – Quotes Rowland Hazard, professor of orthopaedic surgery and of medicine, who is the director of the Functional Restoration program which offers a three-week boot camp for chronic back pain sufferers who have had disabling pain that lasts more than three months.

U.S. News & World Report – Article Quotes Margaret Karagas, chair and professor of epidemiology and professor of community and family medicine, who is the senior author on a study examining the effects on arsenic exposure on children before birth. The study found that babies exposed to high levels of arsenic in the womb are at increased risk for infections and respiratory symptoms in their first year of life.

Valley News – A feature story about Geneva Jonathan, a research assistant at Geisel’s Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, who is working with patients in a trial for an app meant to educate and check in multiple times a day about mental health-related issues.