In the News

When Drugs and Surgery Don’t Work, an Option in Epilepsy (Video) – Medscape

Read article (registration may be required) – Features an interview with Barbara Jobst, professor of neurology, about her recent publication in Epilepsia about the responsive neurostimulator (RNS), which is an implanted device for epilepsy. “…Ideally we want patients to be 100 percent seizure free. We have to learn more and we can certainly learn more from what we record—how to stimulate the seizure foci and how to do so differently. That’s the next step,” said Jobst.

Vaping Teens More Likely to Take Up Regular Cigarettes – Reuters Health

Read article – Quotes Samir Soneji, assistant professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about new research he led that suggests adolescents and young adults who try e-cigarettes are more than three times as likely to take up smoking traditional cigarettes as their peers who haven’t tried the devices. “E-cigarette use among teens and young adults could increase the future burden of tobacco by creating a new generation ofadult smokers who might have otherwise not begun smoking,” says Soneji.

Greater Opioid Use and Mental Health Disorders Are Linked in a New Study – The Washington Post

Read article – An article about research conducted by Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan found that people with anxiety and depression are consuming a disproportionate share of prescription painkillers. Nearly 19 percent of the estimated 38.6 million people with those two most common mental health disorders received at least two prescriptions for opioids during a year. And more than half the prescriptions for the powerful, highly addictive painkillers went to individuals in that group, the researchers asserted. Pain that “you may report as a two out of 10, someone with mental health disorders — depression, anxiety — may report as a 10 out of10,” said Brian Sites, professor of anesthesiology and professor oforthopaedics, and leader of the study team. Similar coverage in NHPR, STAT, San Francis Chronicle, Pittsburg Post-Gazette, New Hampshire Union Leader, Huffington Post.

The Neonatal ICU Gets a Makeover – The Wall Street Journal

Read article – An article about how hospitals are changing the way they care for premature babies quotes William Edwards, professor of pediatrics. “In the U.S., we are at the beginning of a trend in innovative care for preterm infants that focuses on a shift to models that are already standard in other countries, with the goal of maximizing brain development for babies who have left the womb early,” said Edwards.

Dartmouth Research: Communal Meals Key to Senior Health – WCAX

Read article – A piece regarding recent research from the College finds communal meals have health benefits for senior citizens. They increase mobility, add to food security and provide time for a concerned adult to see how seniors are feeling. The programs also decrease loneliness which can lead to depression. “Depression cannot only lead to things like increased pain, [and] increased anxiety, but overall it will exacerbate other comorbidities that so many older adults have,” said Ellen Flaherty, codirector of the Dartmouth Centers for Health & Aging, assistant professor of medicine, and assistant professor of The Dartmouth Institute.

Too Much Medical Care: Bad for You, Bad for Health Care Systems – STAT

Read article – An opinion piece by H. Gilbert Welch, professor of medicine and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and professor of economics and adjunct professor of business administration, where he discusses a recent study he conducted that found one group of Americans—the affluent—were at particularly high risk for being diagnosed with four cancers that are less likely to affect health: breast cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, and melanoma. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking the affluent are genuinely at higher risk for these cancers. They aren’t,” says Welch. “Their death rates from these cancers are similar to everybody else’s. Instead, they are at higher risk of being overdiagnosed because they are so thoroughly examined.”