Medical News Today, Nov. 17, 2009
A study by UTMB Dr. Allan Brasier and colleagues, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, found that “inflammation is critical in aortic dissection.” Interleukin-6 “plays the central role in the process. Without it, you don’t have dissection,” Brasier said.
Galveston County Daily News, Nov. 17, 2009
Patients react differently to appraisals of their medical conditions, wrote UTMB Dr. Michael Warren in his It’s Your Health column. Some aren’t comfortable with uncertainty and want to know the unvarnished truth. “If the disease is life-threatening, with a predictably poor outcome, I share this information with the patient. And I offer some suggestions: Live one day at a time, as if each is your last, and enjoy each waking hour … .”
Universe Today, Nov. 16, 2009
This article is an account of studies conducted at UTMB’s Flight Analog Research Unit. The article quotes a subject participating in the 21-day Lunar Analog Feasibility Study about her experiences. In addition to the 21-day study, an 87-day bed rest study is conducted in the FARU.
KUHF-FM (88.7, Houston), Nov. 14, 2009
Norbert Herzog and David Niesel of UTMB’s Medical Discovery News responded to listeners questions about swine flu. “Projections are that one to two million people will die worldwide and 70,000 in the U.S. But put in perspective, consider the seasonal flu kills about 40,000 in the U.S. every year,” they said.
Portland Business Journal, Nov. 13, 2009
Dr. Howard Brody, director of UTMB’s Institute for the Medical Humanities, is quoted in this article about doctors in Oregon who receive payments from pharmaceutical companies. “People are belatedly waking up to the idea that this creates an ethical problem” that leads physicians to prescribe the best-known drugs, rather than the best-proven treatments, Brody said. (The full article is available in the attached text file.)
MedPage Today, Nov. 13, 2009
This article outlines UTMB’s recovery from Hurricane Ike. It quotes Dr. Steven Lieberman, vice dean for academic affairs, David Marshall, interim chief operating officer, Mike Shriner, vice president of facilities, operations and management, and Dr. William Mileski, chief of trauma services. A video is included that also features Bill New, associate dean for research administration.
Galveston County Daily News, Nov. 16, 2009
UTMB Drs. Steve Quach, Vic Sierpina and Christine Turley answer questions about swine flu posed by readers of the Galveston County Daily News.
Montgomery County News, Nov. 15, 2009
About 75 minutes after the UTMB Montgomery County Health Department began administering the H1N1 vaccine at Conroe High School on Saturday, all 1,000 doses were gone. A video and a schedule of upcoming vaccination dates are included.
MarketWatch, Nov. 13, 2009
Many doctors are fearful of lawsuits, and liability reform is part of the broader health-care debate. While President Obama doesn’t support a liability cap, he opened the door to alternatives. One argument for a cap is that physicians would order fewer, medically unnecessary tests. In this article, Dr. Howard Brody, director of UTMB’s Institute for the Medical Humanities, said he was skeptical that cost reductions would occur, noting that physicians would continue to order more tests than necessary. The issue of defensive medicine is more complex than it’s typically portrayed, he suggested. “It’s very hard to take something that’s very ingrained and get rid of it in a few years,” Brody said.
MSN Money, Nov. 11, 2009
UTMB and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have joined an online program that matches volunteers with clinical research studies. This article also appeared in the Houston Business Journal. Guidry News published a longer article.