In the News

Analysis Finds Geographic Overlap in Opioid Use and Trump Support in 2016 – NPR-

Read article – Quotes Nancy Morden, associate professor of community and family medicine and of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in an article about recent research that found a geographic relationship between support for Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election and prescriptions for opioid painkillers. “People who reach for an opioid might also reach for … near-term fixes,” she says. “I think that Donald Trump’s campaign was a promise for near-term relief,” says Morden. (Picked up by NHPR.)

Why Our Brains See the World as ‘Us’ Versus ‘Them’ Alternet via – The Conversation

Read article – Continued coverage of an opinion piece by Leslie Henderson, dean of faculty affairs, associate dean for diversity and inclusion, and professor of physiology and neurobiology, in which she discusses whether or not there something in our neural circuits that leads us to find comfort in those like us, and unease with those who may differ.

Commentary: I’m a Doctor Caring for Opioid-Addicted Newborns. Here’s What I Need to Help Them. – Reuters

Read article – An opinion piece by Alison Volpe Holmes, associate professor of pediatrics and of The Dartmouth Institute, in which she shares her experience caring for opioid-addicted newborns, and discusses how the public needs more research into the best ways to care for those who are born dependent on drugs. “We can’t stand by as a generation is raised in foster care or orphaned. We must act now,” says Volpe Holmes. (Volpe Holmes is participating in this year’s Dartmouth Public Voices project.)

Tick-Borne Diseases Triple in NH – Backpacker

Read article – Cites comments by Elizabeth Talbot, associate professor of medicine, and Jonathan Winter, assistant professor of geography and adjunct assistant professor of earth science, in a brief article about a recent CDC report that warns that Lyme and West Nile aren’t the only tick-borne diseases New Hampshire hikers should worry about this summer.

Latest State Tally Finds Overdose Deaths Have Leveled Off, Narcan Credited – New Hampshire Union Leader

Read article – Cites comments by Seddon Savage, Geisel ’80, adjunct associate professor of anesthesiology, about how much of what is sold as heroin in New Hampshire is actually partially or wholly fentanyl, a significantly more powerful drug. There are testing strips drug users can use to determine if fentanyl is present, but they don’t indicate how much of the drug is present and so do little to dissuade opioid users from using a substance that tests positive.

Vt. Mental Health Experts See Gaps in System – Valley News

Read article – Cites comments by Sarah Pratt, assistant professor of psychiatry and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, about TeleFriend, a tablet-based program which helps people with serious mental illness to monitor their illness and improve self-management of their symptoms. Pratt has been studying the program, which uses a digital format to ask patients a series of questions and offers them tips for managing their symptoms, and has found that it reduces emergency room admissions and hospitalizations. (Picked up by VTDigger.)