Read article – Quotes Samir Soneji, associate professor of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in an article about how the impending exit of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is leading city and county public health officials to urge the Trump administration to go bigger in its response to adolescents’ growing use of e-cigarettes. (Picked up by KXLH.)
In the News
Next FDA Chief Must Continue Fight Against Teen Vaping, Local Health Officials Urge – News 4 via CNN
Read article – Continued coverage of comments by Samir Soneji, associate professor of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in an article about how the impending exit of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is leading city and county public health officials to urge the Trump administration to go bigger in its response to adolescents’ growing use of e-cigarettes.
As Londonderry Man Lives With Illness, NH Researchers Search for a Cause – New Hampshire Union Leader
Read article – Quotes Elijah Stommel, professor of neurology, about how he and James Haney, a professor of biological sciences from the University of New Hampshire, are working on finding a cause and cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). They are exploring whether cyanobacteria in New Hampshire’s waterways could be a potential environmental trigger for ALS. “We have been looking very closely at aerosol exposure,” Stommel said. “When we look at post-mortem tissue of patients’ brains and compare it to what we see in the lungs, most people harbor some degree of cyanobacteria in their lungs.”
Jim Kenyon: Classroom Mold Grows Into a Big Problem for Teacher at Fairlee School – Valley News
Read article – Quotes Robert Cramer, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, about the relationship between mold and human diseases. “We don’t fully understand why some people become sensitized and others don’t,” says Cramer. “It’s very controversial about what molds at what levels can cause certain symptoms. There are just a lot of unknowns in this area. There’s not a lot of cause-and-effect data.”
Do You Have an End of Life Plan? More People Don’t Than You Think – WGBO
Read article – Cites data from the Dartmouth Atlas Project that shows that patients experienced more aggressive end-of-life care without evidence to suggest any medical benefit.
Column: N.H. Needs Paid Family and Medical Leave – Valley News
Read article – A column by Ashley Hamel ’19 and Emily Georges ’19, in which they express their support for Senate Bill 1, legislation that would establish paid family and medical leave in New Hampshire. “How can we put a price on the health of New Hampshire’s children? How can we stay silent while our state’s current infrastructure makes it very difficult for low-income families to care for their children? Passing and signing SB 1 would send an important message: that New Hampshire cares about family values, gender equality, and the health of our state’s children,” said Hamel and Georges.
Study Finds Weight Loss Target for Morbidly Obese Before Knee Surgery – Reuters
Read article – Quotes Benjamin Keeney, instructor in orthopaedics, about a study he coauthored that found that for morbidly obese patients having knee replacement surgery, losing at least 20 pounds beforehand leads to shorter hospital stays and lower odds of being discharged to a facility. “Many people are told to lose five or 10 pounds before the surgery but we don’t actually know how much weight you have to lose for it to lead to a meaningful improvement,” says Keeney. (Picked up by KFGO, WHBL, KDAL 610, WHTC, MDAlert, WNMT, and ChannelNews Asia. Similar coverage in DevDiscourse.)
Ideas for Easing Medical Students’ Match Day ‘Frenzy’ – STAT News
Read article – An opinion piece co-written by Alison Volpe Holmes, associate professor of pediatrics, medical education, and of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about the growing pains of Match Day, when fourth-year medical students across the country learn their hospital assignments for the next three to seven years.
Teens of Anti-Vax Parents Fighting to Get Vaccinated – Clinical Advisor
Read article – An article about how some teenagers of anti-vaccine parents are taking matters into their own hands, mentions that researchers at Dartmouth have a theory that anti-vax sentiments persist because of hysteresis, a phenomenon that describes how the impacts of a force can remain after the initial force has been altered or removed.
New FDA Rules Aim to Keep Kids From Flavored E-Cigarettes – U.S. News & World Report via HealthDay News
Read article – An article about how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would go ahead with efforts to restrict sales of some types of flavored vaping products to minors, quotes a recent study by Dartmouth researchers that seemed to back up the FDA’s concerns. “We found that adolescent and young adult vapers were not only more likely than older adult vapers to use fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes, but were more likely to concurrently use multiple flavor types,” says lead researcher Samir Soneji, associate professor of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. (Picked up by WebMD. Similar coverage in The Verge and U.S. News & World Report).