Monthly Archives: April 2012

Mayo Researchers Use Whole-Genome Sequencing, Mouse 'Avatars' to Study Breast Cancer Resistance

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Fluidigm has tapped Dan Clutter as North American sales director for its eastern sales region. He will be responsible for sales growth in the eastern US and Canada and will be a member of Fluidigm's North American commercial leadership team, according to a spokesperson. Clutter joins Fluidigm from Gentel Biosciences, where he had served as vice president of commercial development since 2009. Before that, he was vice president of sales at NimbleGen Systems, now Roche NimbleGen.

Knome has added some new faces to its executive team, naming Jay Therrien as senior VP and head of global sales, Charles Abdalian as chief financial officer, and Adam Rosenberg as senior VP and head of corporate development.

Therrien was VP of commercial operations and sequencing at Life Technologies, and also had spent five years in various sales leadership roles at Illumina. Abdalian recently was senior VP and CFO of Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, and he was senior VP of finance and CFO at Coley Pharmaceutical. Rosenberg previously was an adviser for emerging life sciences companies, co-founder of Clean Membranes, and CEO of Link Medicine.

The company also has appointed Hugh Reinhoff to serve on its scientific advisory board. Reinhoff is currently a managing director of Life Science Venture Partners, an adjunct scientist at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, and CEO of FerroKin BioSciences.

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Mayo Researchers Use Whole-Genome Sequencing, Mouse 'Avatars' to Study Breast Cancer Resistance

Eating more berries may reduce cognitive decline in the elderly

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Public release date: 26-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dawn Peters healthnews@wiley.com 781-388-8408 Wiley-Blackwell

Blueberries and strawberries, which are high in flavonoids, appear to reduce cognitive decline in older adults according to a new study published today in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society. The study results suggest that cognitive aging could be delayed by up to 2.5 years in elderly who consume greater amounts of the flavonoid-rich berries.

Flavonoids are compounds found in plants that generally have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Experts believe that stress and inflammation contribute to cognitive impairment and that increasing consumption of flavonoids could mitigate the harmful effects. Previous studies of the positive effects of flavonoids, particularly anthocyanidins, are limited to animal models or very small trials in older persons, but have shown greater consumption of foods with these compounds improve cognitive function.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, elderly Americansthose 65 years of age and olderincreased by 15% between 2000 and 2010, faster than the total U.S. population, which saw a 9.7% increase during the same time period. "As the U.S. population ages, understanding the health issues facing this group becomes increasingly important," said Dr. Elizabeth Devore with Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. "Our study examined whether greater intake of berries could slow rates of cognitive decline."

The research team used data from the Nurses' Health Studya cohort of 121,700 female, registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55 who completed health and lifestyle questionnaires beginning in 1976. Since 1980 participants were surveyed every four years regarding their frequency of food consumption. Between 1995 and 2001, cognitive function was measured in 16,010 subjects over the age of 70 years, at 2-year intervals. Women included in the present study had a mean age of 74 and mean body mass index of 26.

Findings show that increased consumption of blueberries and strawberries appear to slow cognitive decline in older women. A greater intake of anthocyanidins and total flavonoids was also associated with reduce cognitive degeneration. Researchers observed that women who had higher berry intake delayed cognitive aging by up to 2.5 years. The authors caution that while they did control for other health factors in the modeling, they cannot rule out the possibility that the preserved cognition in those who eat more berries may be also influenced by other lifestyle choices, such as exercising more.

"We provide the first epidemiologic evidence that berries may slow progression of cognitive decline in elderly women," notes Dr. Devore. "Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to test cognition protection in older adults."

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This study is published in Annals of Neurology. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article may contact healthnews@wiley.com.

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Phase 3 Results for GE Healthcare Imaging Agent Flutemetamol Presented at American Academy of Neurology Meeting

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NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

GE Healthcare today announced results from four pooled brain biopsy studies, as well as key results from a brain autopsy study, of the investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, [18F]flutemetamol.1 The data showed that both biopsy and autopsy study images had high sensitivity and specificity, and that strong concordance exists between [18F]flutemetamol PET images and Alzheimers disease-associated beta amyloid brain pathology. The data confirm the potential of [18F]flutemetamol as an imaging agent to detect beta amyloid plaque, a pathology associated with Alzheimers disease (AD), in living patients.

These data are being presented as part of the Emerging Science Program (formerly known as Late-Breaking Science) at the American Academy of Neurologys 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to April 28, 2012, and support an application for regulatory approval of [18F]flutemetamol, which is intended to be filed later this year. [18F]flutemetamol is a GE Healthcare PET imaging agent in development for the detection of beta amyloid.

Currently, the standard for definitively confirming AD is through detection of pathology, including amyloid plaque in the brain during autopsy, said David Wolk, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Cognitive Neurology Division, Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, presenter and lead investigator for the biopsy study. Because accurate detection of brain amyloid in vivo can help physicians make a more accurate clinical diagnosis and potentially enhance patient management, we were particularly pleased to see that flutemetamol performed in a similar manner in both the autopsy and biopsy studies.

The study to be presented at AAN pooled analysis from four studies of 49 patients receiving [18F]flutemetamol before or after brain biopsy during shunt placement or intracranial pressure measurement and 68 autopsy subjects to determine the presence of brain amyloid pathology. For patients with biopsy tissue samples, the study found that [18F]flutemetamol detected beta-amyloid with a pooled sensitivity of 93 percent and pooled specificity of 100 percent. In autopsied subjects, [18F]flutemetamol showed the ability to detect beta-amyloid with a sensitivity of 86 percent and specificity of 92 percent. Sensitivity is the percentage of amyloid-positive brains that are correctly identified by [18F]flutemetamol image readers as positive and corresponding to abnormal amyloid pathology. Specificity refers to the percentage of amyloid-negative brains that are correctly identified via [18F]flutemetamol images as negative, corresponding to normal pathology, by image readers.

The accumulation of beta amyloid in the brain is believed to play a role in the degeneration of neurons in AD and is one of several pathological characteristics implicated in its development. Currently, AD is confirmed by histopathological identification of core features, including beta amyloid plaques, in post-mortem brain samples.2Targeted amyloid imaging agents are being studied to determine their ability to help physicians detect amyloid deposition in living humans.

We know that AD-related pathological markers such as amyloid plaques may appear decades before clinical symptoms are observed, and these studies show flutemetamol images may prove to be a clinically valuable component of a broader diagnostic workup that neurologists conduct when assessing patients with cognitive impairments who may have AD, said Jonathan Allis, General Manager, PET, GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics. Additionally, the ability to help rule out AD by reliably showing an absence of amyloid deposits in the brain could assist physicians in making appropriate disease management decisions. The results from these studies are encouraging in that they demonstrate the potential of flutemetamol imaging in living patients.

[18F]Flutemetamol is one component of a broad portfolio of diagnostic solutions that GE Healthcare is currently developing in the Alzheimers field. GE Healthcare is taking a comprehensive approach to understanding AD through its ongoing research to uncover the causes, risks and physical effects of the disease. For example, the company is partnering with pharma to identify a biosignature, or biological indicator, that may help physicians diagnose AD before the onset of clinical symptoms.

GE Healthcare offers a broad portfolio of imaging resources, that support accurate visualization of the signs of neurodegenerative diseases via state-of-the-art scanners - including MRI, PET, and CT - that deliver clear visualization of the brain. In addition, an expanding portfolio of imaging agents is being developed to enhance visual evidence of disease and innovative software applications that can aid physicians in image interpretation and determination of disease management.More specifically, our portfolio today includes cyclotrons and chemistry systems to manufacture PET imaging agents, PET and MR scanners to scan patients, and image analysis software to interpret the results.

GE Healthcare has been a key contributor to the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) since its inception. GE Healthcare also plays a key role in PredictAD, an EU-funded research project to develop solutions to enable earlier diagnosis of AD, and in the Coalition Against Major Diseases (CAMD).

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Phase 3 Results for GE Healthcare Imaging Agent Flutemetamol Presented at American Academy of Neurology Meeting

American Academy of Neurology Foundation is Now the American Brain Foundation

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Aims to Become World Leader in Supporting Research to Cure Brain Disease

Newswise NEW ORLEANS The American Academy of Neurology Foundation is now the American Brain Foundation. The name change is part of an overall re-branding campaign as the organization repositions itself to become the worlds leader in raising money for research to cure brain diseases, such as Alzheimers disease, stroke, Parkinsons disease, autism, and epilepsy. Todays re-branding announcement was made at the American Academy of Neurologys 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans and on http://www.CureBrainDisease.org.

"Today is an exciting chapter in our organization's 20-year history as we aim to become the leader in funding research to cure brain disease, which affects more than 50 million Americans in the United States alone," said John Mazziotta, MD, PhD, Chair of the American Brain Foundation's Board of Trustees and Professor and Chair of UCLA's Department of Neurology and Brain Mapping Center in Los Angeles. "Brain disease is in the news every day, yet research funding is flat. We're in a perfect storm; but it is also a perfect opportunity. In the face of flat research funding, we have tremendous treatments on the horizon and a more knowledgeable and concerned public to help us in this fight to cure brain disease once and for all."

The re-branding campaign includes a new look for the Foundation as well as new ads to educate neurologists, patients, caregivers and the public about the need to donate money to research to cure brain disease. Since 1993, the Foundation has raised more than $16 million dollars for research into brain disease.

"Whether you are a patient, caregiver, neurologist, researcher, or someone who cares deeply about our cause, we are counting on you to join us in this fight now to cure brain disease by making a donation today at http://www.CureBrainDisease.org," said Mazziotta.

The American Brain Foundation, the foundation of the American Academy of Neurology, supports vital research & education to discover causes, improved treatments, and cures for brain and other nervous system diseases. Learn more at http://www.CureBrainDisease.org or find us on Facebook.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 25,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimers disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinsons disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit http://www.aan.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

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Ross University School of Medicine Student Lands Competitive Neurology Residency with Renowned Canadian Teaching …

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NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Vanessa Doyle was a practicing nurse in her native Canada, but what she really wanted was to become a doctorit was a lifelong dream. Doyle hoped that her nursing training would make her a strong candidate for entry into a Canadian medical school.

When Doyle learned that a seat would not immediately be open to her, she decided that waiting would only postpone her dream longer. As a result, she applied and was accepted to Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM). Now she has been accepted into a highly prized neurology residency program at the renowned University of Ottawa. The position was one of only five neurology appointments in the country available to IMGs in the first iteration.

Each year, thousands of fourth-year medical students in North America wait to hear the results of the U.S. National Residency Matching Program and its Canadian equivalent, the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). Plain white envelopesand these days, online notification systemshold the keys to new careers in medicine. Doyle, who grew up in the rural town of New Ferolle (about 100) in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, was elated to learn that shed landed the prized appointment.

I must have looked at my computer screen a dozen times, just to confirm the result. This program was my first choice, she said.

Doyles interest in neurology developed during her second semester at RUSM, and peaked during her clinical rotation in internal medicine at Griffin Hospital in Connecticut. There she felt herself drawn to the neurology cases and participated in case discussions and treatment planning with the neurology residents. Her neurology elective at Memorial University of Newfoundland solidified her desire to pursue a career in neurology.

The field of neurology stresses the importance of the doctor-patient relationship, as many of the cases are not curative, but focused rather on management of the disease. The skills of taking a history, performing the physical exam, and tying it all together are very importantand challenging, said Doyle. Many of the diseases are degenerative or debilitating diseases, affecting the whole family. The neurologist has to recognize the significant psychosocial aspect of these diseases and provide a supportive role not only to the patient, but to the family as well.

Doyle applied to RUSM after hearing about the program from a student who was completing a family medicine elective with her family doctor. She has no doubt that she made the right choice.

I think Ross prepares you to be an independent learner, which is extremely important in the field of medicine, she said. The school provides an avenue to achieve ones goal of becoming a doctorwhat you do with that opportunity is entirely up to you. I knew what I wanted from day one at Ross and I wasnt going to stop until I got it.

About Ross University School of Medicine

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Nano firm gets $1 million grant to combat cancer

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A local medical company, working in coordination with Penn State, has earned a $1 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Keystone Nano, based in the Zetachron building at 1981 Pine Hall Road in Ferguson Township, has been working on a possible new drug delivery method, using a product called NanoJackets, to treat a variety of cancers.

The grant, supplied by the Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program, is intended to allow Keystone Nano to speed its potentially live-saving product to market, according to Thomas Hostetter, a spokesman for the state Department of Health.

A goal of this initiative is commercialization of innovations derived from prior research endeavors, he wrote in an email.

Six years ago, the patented NanoJacket technology was developed out of a partnership between two Penn State professors, one specializing in materials science and the other in medicine.

Dr. Mark Kester is director of the Penn State Center for Nanomedicine and Materials and the co-leader for experimental therapeutics at the Hershey Cancer

Institute, and professor James Adair is director of the Particulate Materials Center and a professor in the materials science and engineering department at Penn State.

Adair first looked into the science that scored the grant for Keystone Nano after a heart condition nearly killed him.

As a result of his condition and fortunate recovery from it, he said, I wonder if these nanomaterials can do something for health, Davidson said.

Adair reached out to Kester, a friend, and the two began collaborating on what eventually turned into Nano- Jackets.

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Nano firm gets $1 million grant to combat cancer

UM medical school to make cutbacks in May

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - University of Miami President Donna Shalala has put medical school staff on notice that "significant" cutbacks are coming.

Shalala announced the cuts in a letter to employees on Tuesday.

She says the reductions are necessary because of a number of "unprecedented factor" that include the economic downturn of 2008, decreased funding for research and clinical care and cuts in the Jackson Health System. She says the Jackson Health reductions have affected the school's finances.

The Miami Herald (http://bit.ly/I4JSlg ) reports Jackson Health, which has lost $419 million the past three years, cut its payments to the university by $16 million this year.

Shalala says the cuts will come in May. She did not provide details about how many employees may be laid off.

Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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UHealthSolutions to Provide Patient Communications Services to Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center in New Pilot …

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WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

UHealthSolutions, Inc., a University of Massachusetts Medical School affiliate, is piloting enhanced patient communications services for community health centers through a new partnership with the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center (Kennedy CHC). The two organizations will work collaboratively to design and develop a suite of services targeted toward the needs of community-based health care organizations.

UHealthSolutions, a nonprofit company that manages business operations for health care organizations, will provide the Kennedy CHC with after-hours answering services, patient scheduling, and outbound appointment reminder calls giving the Kennedy CHC clinicians and support staff more time to engage with patients and provide patient care. UHealthSolutions is committed to promoting a culturally competent and linguistically diverse workforce to ensure an engaged experience for patients. The opportunity to partner with the Kennedy CHC will provide valuable insight to UHealthSolutions in the design and implementation of enhanced patient communications services for community-based health care organizations.

I am excited to start this relationship with the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, said David P. Crosby, managing director, UHealthSolutions. This collaborative approach ensures that the patient is at the center of all communications, and allows health center staff to do what they do best provide exceptional patient care.

This new relationship will allow us to realign resources and focus our attention on the patient, said Antonia G. McGuire, Kennedy CHC president and chief executive officer. Kennedy CHC is a private, nonprofit community health center that serves over 100 communities in the greater Worcester and Metrowest areas. I look forward to working with Dave and the UHealthSolutions team to create and deliver additional communications services to better serve our patients.

About UHealthSolutions, Inc.

As a nonprofit affiliate of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, UHealthSolutions, Inc., takes a different approach to developing innovative, effective and cost-saving business solutions for health care clients. UHealthSolutions uses evidence-based methods and a clinical focus to assess the needs of health care organizations.

Formerly known as Public Sector Partners, UHealthSolutions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit health care management and consulting firm. Since 2001, the organization has been committed to improving health care services by offering a full array of third-party administration, patient communication, program management, technology and consulting services.

About the University of Massachusetts Medical School

UMass Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health science centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $270 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. The mission of the Medical School is to advance the health and well-being of the people of the commonwealth and the world, through pioneering education, research, public service and health care delivery. Commonwealth Medicine, the Medical Schools health care consulting and operations division, provides a wide range of care management and consulting services to government agencies and health care organizations. For more information, visit commed.umassmed.edu.

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Exodus of medical graduates in Arizona stirs concerns

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by Ken Alltucker - Apr. 24, 2012 11:17 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

Medical schools in Arizona more than doubled their enrollment in the past decade, but most of those young doctors won't establish a practice in your neighborhood or work at a local hospital.

That is because most students who graduate from Arizona medical schools train out of state, and physicians are more likely to establish careers where they complete their residency training during those pivotal years after medical school.

One key reason that medical-school graduates leave Arizona is that the state does not have enough residency slots at hospitals or community health centers that allow doctors to train and practice their craft after graduating. The shortage has been made worse by a federal limit on Medicare-funded slots, state funding cuts to graduate medical education and some hospitals' reluctance to start or expand training programs.

Medical-school representatives and business leaders say the physician training crunch is an issue that affects health, quality of life and the economy in Arizona, where there is an ongoing physician shortage. With two new medical schools planned, the problem could grow even larger.

"We talk about importing physicians, but we are exporting graduates," said Lori Kemper, dean of the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University of Glendale.

Kemper and other medical-school representatives met Tuesday at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix to discuss a newly released report funded by St. Luke's Health Initiatives, a health-policy foundation, about Arizona's medical education challenges.

The report shows that Arizona ranked 20th in the nation in medical-school enrollment but 37th in the number of residency slots. The report suggests the state needs to add 848 to 885 residency slots at a cost of $89 million to $93 million to meet national averages.

If medical-school students train in Arizona, they are much more likely to practice medicine here. The St. Luke's report shows that 75 percent of active physicians who graduated and trained in Arizona stayed, while only 28 percent of Arizona medical-school graduates who completed training out of state returned to Arizona to practice.

Most residency slots are paid by the federal government through agencies such as Medicare and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Medicare program, which provides about two-thirds of government funding for residency slots in Arizona, has capped funding of most new residency slots since 1997. Since then, Arizona's population has grown more than 25 percent.

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Campbell University's medical school cleared to recruit students

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BUIES CREEK - Campbell University's medical school has been cleared to recruit students.

The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation decided Saturday to give Campbell's School of Osteopathic Medicine provisional accreditation status. The accreditation, which becomes effective July 1, allows the school to admit students and offer medical instruction with an approved osteopathic curriculum.

Medical school officials can recruit students before the accreditation status becomes effective.

Dr. John Kauffman, the medical school's founding dean, said the school will begin accepting student applications June 1. Classes are expected to start in August 2013.

Campbell officials say the medical school will eventually graduate about 150 doctors a year. Many will go on to practice in rural areas of North Carolina, they say.

Students will spend their first two years training in a 96,500-square-foot medical school being built on U.S. 421. Third and fourth year medical students will train in community hospitals across the state, Kauffman said.

Jerry Wallace, president of Campbell University, said the accreditation is exciting for Campbell, the medical school, Harnett County and North Carolina.

"This medical school will train primary care physicians to address a critical shortage of healthcare professionals throughout our state," he said.

- Steve DeVane

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Campbell University's medical school cleared to recruit students

‘Significant’ UM medical school cutbacks coming in May

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University of Miami President Donna Shalala announced Tuesday that the medical school will take difficult and painful but necessary steps next month to reduce costs, including staff cuts.In a letter to employees, she called the cuts significant but provided no details about how many employees might be laid off.

The process will take place in stages, and affected employees will be notified during the month of May, Shalala wrote. Reductions will not impact clinical care or our patients and will primarily focus on unfunded research and administrative areas.

Shalala said the cuts were necessary because of unprecedented factors including the global downturn of 2008, decreased funding for research and clinical care, plus cutbacks in payments from Jackson Health System. The Jackson reductions have had a profound effect on our finances, she wrote.

UM is not alone. Many medical schools are having to make difficult decisions, particularly because of the growing difficulties in getting research grants, said Ann Bonham, chief scientific officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Sal Barbera, a former hospital executive now teaching at Florida International University, said UM created many of its own problems when it bought Cedars Medical Center in 2007 for $275 million. Paying off that debt is a significant financial responsibility, he said.

Jackson Health System, which has lost $419 million the past three years, cut its payments to UM by $16 million this year, and next fiscal year is working on a new operating agreement with UM that could mean far more drastic reductions.

In her letter, Shalala wrote that UM reaffirmed our continued commitment to our partnership with Jackson.

Since the arrival of Pascal Goldschmidt as medical school dean in 2006, expansion has been swift. UHealth, the clinical enterprise , now employs more than 8,200 employees, according to the UM website. Employees are working on 1,500 research grants, funded by $200 million in outside private and public grants.

The schools financial problems have been exacerbated by the shrinking of federal research dollars, and UM researchers, like those elsewhere, have found themselves battling for grants.

A number of medical schools are having serious conversations and looking hard at medical research, said Bonham, the AAMC officer. She said the National Institutes of Health, the primary funding source for research, is now only granting about one in every six applications, a historical low.

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Campbell medical school gets go ahead, hopes to address physician shortfall

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Campbell Universitys medical school took an important step toward becoming the fifth medical school in the state.

The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation awarded Campbells School of Osteopathic Medicine provisional accreditation status, which allows the school to begin recruiting applicants for its inaugural class for August 2013. The status was awarded Friday and is effective July 1, according to a Campbell University press release.

The school aims to eventually produce 150 primary care physicians each year, addressing an often-noted nationwide shortage. In particular, the school will look to aid rural and poor areas that experience the biggest shortfalls in medical care. After two years at the new facility, third- and fourth-year medical students will train in community hospitals across the state, according to the schools dean, Dr. John Kauffman.

This is an exciting moment, said Dr. Jerry Wallace, president of Campbell University. This medical school will train primary care physicians to address a critical shortage of healthcare professionals throughout our state.

Campbell joins established medical schools Duke, Wake Forest, UNC-Chapel Hill and East Carolina University as accredited med schools in the state. According to data from the American Association of Medical Colleges, those four schools currently enroll roughly 2,000 students, meaning that with an eventual goal of 600 students, the states capacity to produce doctors could rise nearly 30 percent.

That goal would give Campbell University the second-highest enrollment in the state after UNC.

The primary care physicians that Campbell intends to recruit will address a pressing need. The AAMC estimated in 2010 that the already-strapped field could face a nationwide shortage of 63,000 physicians in 2015 as millions of Americans acquire health care under the Affordable Care Act. Specialists also face a shortage, even while earning substantially more than primary care doctors.

Rural areas face the greatest shortages, and Kauffman said he hopes doctors will continue to live and work in such communities after they finish their two years earning their medical degrees there.

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Health care reform topic of forum

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by MICHAEL DASHIELL Sequim Gazette

More than a century ago, doctors carrying their medicine in a bag would treat patients at their homes and sometime fees would be bartered rather than paid.

Now we need a facility and theres a very elaborate system to get money from a person to the doctor, says Bertha Cooper, a retired health care administrator. Theres more of a disconnect than ever.

Reconnecting individuals to the health care system they depend on is just one of the topics covered in the first of four forums about health care put on by the Clallam County League of Women Voters, as they discuss meaningful health care reform with community members.

Slated for 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, at Peninsula College, the forum brings three medical professionals as guest speakers to the table to talk about services, costs and threats to the current health care system.

Our goal is to inform and educate the public on the urgency of discussing health care reform, says Ruth Marcus, publicity spokesman for the league.

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Kirby: Me a centenarian? Only if my wife outlives me

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They say the more you complain, the longer God makes you live. If thats true, theres a good chance Ill never die. I complain more than anyone I know.

Fortunately, evidence contradicts this claim to longevity. A week ago, Utahs oldest living resident, Edna S. Decker, died at age 109.

According to a Tribune story about her life and death, she was a remarkably upbeat woman. She attributed her extended life "to good nutrition, a positive attitude and an independent spirit."

That leaves me out. I have horrible nutrition, the worst attitude ever measured by science, and I havent had a fully independent spirit since I got married.

You cant be too careful, though. With all the advancements in medicine, its best to prepare for a long life especially if its longer than youd like it to be.

If I live to age 109, Ill still be alive in the year 2060. Thats approximately another 50 years Ill have to endure on this orbiting clod. The thought depresses me.

I dont handle change well anymore.

Decker saw a lot of change in her life. When she was born in 1902, a loaf of bread cost 3 cents. By the time she was approximately the age I am now, it cost 16 cents. Fifty years after that, it was $2.80. If I live to be as old as Decker, bread will cost $4,055 per loaf.

That might be OK. The average family income in 1902 was $703. Fifty years later, it was $4,224. If I live until 2060, the average annual income will be close to $900,000. I should still be able to afford bread then. If there is any.

Ednas parents would have paid $750 for a new Ford. It would have cost my parents $4,011. Two years ago, a friend paid $25,700 for a new car. By the time I reach 109, a new car will cost about $200,000. There just wont be any gas to run it.

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Gilchrist: Is the Secret to a Longer Life Right Here in the Mountains?

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True story: One recent spring day, while riding my bike from Frisco to Copper Mountain, I heard two obnoxious guys making kissing noises behind me. They puckered up and blew kisses as they passed on my left. I caught a glimpse of them before they blasted ahead and vanished around a curve.

They were both about 75 years old and perfect examples of what I like in my men; supremely athletic social imbeciles who are as desiccated as two dead frogs in a jar of formaldehyde. So, here's the good news and the bad news: If a recent study about health and longevity in the Colorado high country is right, those two lecherous cyclists will be tooling around the mountains heckling women for many years to come.

A fascinating study about health and aging released by the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine last spring in partnership with the Harvard School of Global Health revealed that 7 of top 10 counties in USA with the longest living people are located in Colorado. The seven counties are: Clear Creek, Eagle, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Park and Summit.

Coloradans who live in those counties have a life expectancy of 81.3 years. That translates to an advantage of 1.2-3.6 years for men and 0.5-2.5 years for women over the national average.

Study subjects lived at a mean elevation of 5,967 feet above sea level.

Why do Coloradans live longer, healthier lives than other Americans?

Benjamin Honigman, MD, professor of Emergency Medicine at the CU School of Medicine and director of the Altitude Medicine Clinic thinks the secret to a long healthy life has something to do with oxygen deprivation or hypoxia.

Lower oxygen levels turn on certain genes and we think those genes may change the way heart muscles function. They may also produce new blood vessels that create new highways for blood flow into the heart. Dr. Honigman says.

Dr. Andrew Subudhi of the Altitude Research Center concurs. He says that athletes training at 7,000-8500 feet above sea level gain a competitive advantage because they experience increased blood vessel production in the heart.

Increased blood vessel production may reduce the risk of ischemic heart disease and stroke in high altitude residents.

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Gilchrist: Is the Secret to a Longer Life Right Here in the Mountains?

Roach coming to Wilmore Senior Community Center

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Journal staff report news@jessaminejournal.com

10:19 a.m. EDT, April 25, 2012

Dr. James Roach will give a free public presentation on the importance of intergrative medicine for optimal outcomes in mind, body and spirit at the Wilmore Senior Community Center at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 2.

Founder and president of the Midway Foundation for Integrative Medicine, Roach has dedicated his life to promoting the many benefits of integrative medicine through public education and direct clinical care. The approach strives to achieve optimal health through understanding the vital roles played by nutritional, lifestyle, physical activity and spiritual support. He is committed to integrative medicine becoming the primary health care model of the future.

Roach is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine with a bachelor-of-arts degree from Duke University. He completed a family practice residency at the Memorial Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee, Fla., and continues with board certification in both family medicine and integrative holistic medicine in his Midway practice. Roach works with the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center studying nutritional impact on cancer and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Maderi Foundation.

For more information on Roachs presentation at the Wilmore Community Center, call Wesley Village at 859-858-3865 ext. 238.

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Roach coming to Wilmore Senior Community Center

John Grant Jr. takes aim at NLL title

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John Grant Jr. takes aim at NLL title

Personages of Italy, Kuwait Pray for Kim Il Sung's Immortality

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Pyongyang, April 24 (KCNA) -- Personages of Italy and Kuwait issued statements on April 11 and 15 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung.

Miriam Pelegrini Ferri, president of the Group of Dialectical Materialists of Italy, said that Kim Il Sung is deeply revered by the world progressives for the undying feats he performed in the history of human thought and the history of anti-imperialist struggle.

Colorful significant events taking place in Italy and various other countries to remember him on the occasion of the Day of the Sun indicate that he is always alive in the hearts of the progressives, Miriam Pelegrini Ferri said.

Abdulreda Assiri, rector of the College of Social Sciences of Kuwait University, paid tribute to Kim Il Sung on the occasion of the centenary of his birth, praying for his immortality.

The DPRK is steadily advancing straight along the road indicated by Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il under the wise leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong Un and is firmly maintaining its position in the international arena, too, the rector stressed.

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Personages of Italy, Kuwait Pray for Kim Il Sung's Immortality

Japanese Singer Prays for Immortality of Kim Il Sung

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Pyongyang, April 24 (KCNA) -- A Japanese singer Yoko Tooyama, who is a member of the Japan-Korea Society for Music and Art Interchange, was one of the participants in the 28th April Spring Friendship Art Festival.

Noting that she thought of President Kim Il Sung when singing the Korean song, Tooyama told KCNA:

It was after the passing away of Kim Il Sung when I first visited Pyongyang with Mitsuko Okasawara, former chairwoman of the society.

The chairwoman had honor to be received by the President on several occasions, but I did not.

However, I have learnt a lot about his noble life. I chose to sing the Korean song "The Man Who Remains in My Heart", praying for his immortality.

Thanks to the strong sense of moral obligation the dear respected Kim Jong Un has, the history of the Sun runs uninterruptedly in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Promising is the future of the DPRK in which the cause of perpetuating the memory of precedent leaders has been realized with credit.

I am very pleased to hear that our performance somewhat delighted Korean people in celebrating Kim Il Sung's 100th birth anniversary.

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Japanese Singer Prays for Immortality of Kim Il Sung

Second UM Stem Cell Line Now Available To Help Cure Nerve Condition

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ANN ARBOR The University of Michigans second human embryonic stem cell line has just been placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Healths registry, making the cells available for federally funded research. It is the second of the stem cell lines derived at UM to be placed on the registry.

The line, known as UM11-1PGD, was derived from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. That embryo was created for reproductive purposes, tested and found to be affected with a genetic disorder, deemed not suitable for implantation, and would therefore have otherwise been discarded when it was donated in 2011.

It carries the gene defect responsible for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a hereditary neurological disorder characterized by a slowly progressive degeneration of the muscles in the foot, lower leg and hand. CMT, as it is known, is one of the most common inherited neurological disorders, affecting one in 2,500 people in the United States. People with CMT usually begin to experience symptoms in adolescence or early adulthood.

The embryo used to create the cell line was never frozen, but rather was transported from another IVF laboratory in the state of Michigan to the UM in a special container. This may mean that these stem cells will have unique characteristics and utilities in understanding CMT disease progression or screening therapies in comparison to other human embryonic stem cells.

We are proud to provide this cell line to the scientific community, in hopes that it may aid the search for new treatments and even a cure for CMT, says Gary Smith, Ph.D., who derived the line and also is co-director of the UM Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. Once again, the acceptance of these cells to the registry demonstrates our attention to details of proper oversight, consenting, and following of NIH guidelines.

UM is one of only four institutions including two other universities and one private company to have disease-specific stem cell lines listed in the national registry. UM has several other disease-specific hESClines submitted to NIH and awaiting approval, says Smith, who is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School. The first line, a genetically normal one, was accepted to the registry in February.

Stem cell lines that carry genetic traits linked to specific diseases are a model system to investigate what causes these diseases and come up with treatments, says Sue OShea, professor of cell and developmental biology at the UM Medical School, and co-director of the Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies.

Each line is the culmination of years of preparation and cooperation between UM and Genesis Genetics, a Michigan-based genetic diagnostic company. This work was made possible by Michigan voters November 2008 approval of a state constitutional amendment permitting scientists to derive embryonic stem cell lines using surplus embryos from fertility clinics or embryos with genetic abnormalities and not suitable for implantation.

The amendment also made possible an unusual collaboration that has blossomed between the University of Michigan and molecular research scientists at Genesis Genetics, a company that has grown in only eight years to become the leading global provider of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) testing. PGDis a testing method used to identify days-old embryos carrying the genetic mutations responsible for serious inherited diseases. During a PGD test, a single cell is removed from an eight-celled embryo. The other seven cells continue to multiply and on the fifth day form a cluster of roughly 100 cells known as a blastocyst.

Genesis Genetics performs nearly 7,500 PGD tests annually. Under the arrangement between the company and UM, patients with embryos that test positive for a genetic disease now have the option of donating those embryos to UM if they have decided not to use them for reproductive purposes and the embryos would otherwise be discarded.

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Second UM Stem Cell Line Now Available To Help Cure Nerve Condition