New Center Focused on Alzheimer's Prevention, Detection and Caregiver
Relief
(April 29, WHYY 91FM) Thanks to a four-year, $3.5 million grant fromPennsylvania's share of the national tobacco settlement,
Thomas Jefferson University has established a Center of excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases at Jefferson's Farber Institute
for Neurosciences. The new Jefferson center will work in collaboration with the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging to conduct
research on different aspects of Alzheimer's disease.
Laura N. Gitlin, Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health, and professor in the Department of
Occupational Therapy at the Jefferson College of Health Professions at Thomas Jefferson University, will direct a randomized
trial of the home-based skills training program for caregivers. Building on her previous work in this area, she plans to test
whether such a program can help reduce troublesome behaviors in Alzheimer's patients by teaching families problem-solving
skills, how to engage the patient in meaningful activities and minimize triggers of behaviors and at the same time manage
their own stress. She and her colleagues are developing a risk screen to identify family caregivers at risk for placing their
family member in a nursing home.
An innovative feature of this randomized controlled trial is that the intervention will be tested in a real community setting
so that if it is effective, it can easily be translated into the aging network, she says.
Ann Olcott of the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, which is collaborating with Dr. Gitlin on the project, was also interviewed.
Farber Institute for Neurosciences
Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health
Click the listen icon on the following page underneath the paragraph description (Alzheimer's Study, April 29, 2005) to hear
the complete audio version of the story.
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Aches, anxiety over students stuck with needle
(Philadelphia Inquirer, 4-30-05) Although they will suffer nasty side effects from the strong medications they must take to
ensure they will not contract the HIV virus, schoolchildren at the Bayard Taylor Elementary School in North Philadelphia who
were pricked by a diabetes needle brought in by a fellow student, will be better off in the long run. Roger Pomerantz, M.D.,
director of Infectious Disease at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, explains that the drugs interfere
with the life cycle of HIV, which belongs to a class of viruses called retroviruses. The medications do not cure HIV or prevent
its transmission, but when used in combination, they reduce the amount of virus in the blood or slow the progress of the disease.
“So it may be in there, but it never gets a chance to set up cells in your body,” Dr. Pomerantz says.
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A generous donation was made to the Thomas Jefferson University
(April 21, Ch. 3) In a project that will literally transform its campus, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, will construct
a campus green, medical education building and underground parking structure, with the help of a $25 million donation from
Dorrance H. "Dodo" Hamilton. "The complex will be a major addition to the redevelopment of this critical area of Center City
Philadelphia," announced Thomas Jefferson University President Robert L. Barchi, M.D., Ph.D.
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Jefferson Launches Urban Campus Transformation with a Lead Gift from Dorrance H. Hamilton
(April 21, Philadelphia Inquirer) Backed by one of the nation's wealthiest women, Thomas Jefferson University plans to add
a new medical education building to its Center City medical campus, the latest in a series of big expansion plans by area
health-care institutions. Jefferson will announce today a $25 million donation from Campbell Soup heiress Dorrance H. Dodo=
Hamilton that the university will use to build a six-story building and transform what is now a concrete plaza flanked by
parking garages into an urban greenscape. Hamilton, who made Forbes' recent list of the world's billionaires, has been a member
of the board of trustees at Jefferson since 1972. Her donation is the largest Jefferson has ever received and will enable
the university, with more than 2,300 students, to begin construction this fall. The $60 million building and plaza, along
Locust Street between 10th and 11th Streets, will be the new heart of the campus, said university president Robert L. Barchi,
M.D., Ph.D. It will help us create an academic sense of community we've really never had before.
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Asthma drugs getting scrutiny
(Published 4-14-05, Philadelphia Inquirer) The recommendation that adults with mild asthma take medication every day to control
the disease might be unnecessary, a new study suggests. Patients with mild persistent asthma who went without inhaled steroids
or other daily medication had no more frequent asthma flare-ups than and had equally good lung function as patients who used
the drugs. The study included patients at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. It calls into question treatment guidelines
issued in 1997 by a federal panel that recommend daily medication for patients with mild persistent asthma, whether or not
they have symptoms at the moment . We're not trying to say the guidelines are wrong, said Frank T. Leone, a Jefferson University
Hospital pulmonologist who was a coauthor of the study. But it's important for us to look at where the threshold is, between
those who can benefit from daily medication and those who can do fine without it.
Division of Critical Care, Pulmonary, Allergic, Immunologic Diseases
Asthma Center
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Medevacs becoming more frequent fliers
(April 18, Philadelphia Inquirer) Medical helicopters, once a startling and exceptional sight at accident scenes, are almost
commonplace in parts of the region. Helicopters, such as Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's JeffSTAT, stand ready to take
off on five minutes' notice, crammed with equipment, stretchers and a medical crew of at least two. You don't know what the
scene's going to be like till you get there, said JeffSTAT pilot Ken Harrington, 48, a retired Army flier who has picked up
patients from highways, ball fields and rooftop helipads.
Department of Emergency Medicine
JeffSTAT
Division of Trauma Critical Care Surgery
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Antibody Treatment for Alzheimer's Shows Promise
(April 12, 2005 All Things Considered, NPR) There is promising news to report about Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists say a
small number of Alzheimer’s patients have shown improvement after experimental treatment with antibodies.
Researchers described their results in Miami this afternoon at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers
say six of seven patients showed better brain function after six months of treatment with immunoglobulin.
Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University, is an advisor to
the Alzheimer’s Association. “It’s certainly an attractive approach, and the results from the animal trial were incredibly
dramatic,” said Dr. Gandy.
With this new study, scientists say they are a step closer to a better treatment for humans.
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Botox May Quiet Chronic Daily Headache
(April 15, ABC News) Botox injections may be an effective treatment for sufferers of chronic daily headache, according to
a new study. The diagnosis of chronic daily headache is used in patients who have 15 or more 'headache days' in a 30-day period,
said study co-investigator Dr. Stephen Silberstein, director of the Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital in Philadelphia. Experts estimate about four percent of the world's population suffers from this type of recurrent
headache pain. In their study involving 117 patients, Silberstein's team found that after three cycles of Botox (botulinum
toxin type A) injections in the face, head and neck, nearly 60 percent of participants experienced an average 50 percent reduction
in headaches.
Deparment of Neurology - Headache Center
Department of Dermatology
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Autopsy of Terri Schiavo
(Aired 4-9-05, World News Tonight Saturday, ABC) More than a week after the autopsy was performed on Terri Schiavo, questions
remain about what she knew and felt in her final years. Lawrence Kenyon, M.D.,Ph.D, assistant professor of Pathology, Anatomy
and Cell Biology, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, who specializes in the brain, commented on the
procedure. He said that the autopsy performed on Ms. Schiavo’s brain may offer some answers, but not all. “Looking at these
sections of brain after death can only tell you whether or not there is a certain degree of structural damage, not functional
activity,” he explained.
Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology
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Addicted -- We know tobacco's dangers, so why do we still smoke?
(Published 4-12-05, Philadelphia Daily News) Nasty breath. Limited olfactory abilities. Dirty fingertips. Chronic coughing.
Cancer.
Welcome to the wonderful world of smoking. That people choose to enter this world, knowing the cancer risks, may seem a mystery
to many non-smokers, but some medical experts understand why.
"It's very easy. People continue to smoke for one and only one reason: nicotine," said Dr. Richard Wender, alumni professor
and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University.
"Eighty percent of all adult smokers wish they weren't smokers and wish they could quit but don't know how to do it. It's
just hard because it's so powerfully addicting," said Dr. Wender. "Smokers try to quit an average of four times before they
are successful."
Department of Family Medicine
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The DNA Diet
(Published 4-11-05, www.kyw.com, Ch. 3) Sick of cookie-cutter diets that never seem to work right? New kits, like the DNA
diet that claims to tailor foods to one's genetic makeup, are hitting the market.
However, Dr. Serge Jabbour, an endocrinologist and diet specialist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, thinks people
would be wasting their money with DNA dieting.
"There are just no studies done showing there's a certain gene which can help you figure out what kind of food you need to
eat," he said.
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases
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Local expert says Jennings' cancer may be advanced
(Published 4-7-05, Philadelphia Inquirer) Peter Jennings' lung cancer, which he disclosed Tuesday on ABC World News Tonight,
may be in an advanced stage, a local expert on the disease says.
Most patients don't have their conditions diagnosed until the cancer is "So advanced that it can't be cured by surgery, and
the patient has a poor chance of long-term survival," says Rita Axelrod, M.D., of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's Kimmel
Cancer Center.
Details of Jennings' condition haven't been disclosed, but his hoarse voice and the fact that he isn't having surgery immediately
"suggests he could be in at least stage III" of lung cancer, says Dr. Axelrod, director of pulmonary medical oncology.
“Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in the United States, with roughly four out of five people who have the disease
dying within five years,” said Dr. Axelrod.
The five leading causes: "Smoking, smoking, smoking, smoking and smoking."
Cancer CARE at Jefferson
Department of Medicine
Division of Medical Oncology
Kimmel Cancer Center
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Plastic surgeons swap nose job expertise(Published 4-11-05, New York Times) Business is booming for doctors who perform rhinoplasty, thanks to reality TV and an affluent
and aging baby boomer population. With high demand fueling procedural and technological improvements, more than 100 doctors
seeking the newest nose knowledge are attending a symposium this week to learn the latest techniques.
Otolaryngologist Edmund A. Pribitkin, M.D., director of facial plastic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, who
oversaw a three-day course on rhinoplasty at Jefferson for surgeons, said, "The pace of progress is unbelievable in all forms
of medicine. But now so much more money is being poured into cosmetic surgery, you've got a lot more advances being made."
Department of Otolaryngology
Center for Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
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