DMS in the News
March 2004

National/International Media

The New York Times, March 30, 2004
U.S. Panel About to Weigh In On Rules for Assisted Fertility
"I have never understood why I.V.F. work is being singled out for regulation and epidemiological analysis," Dr. Gazzaniga said in an interview. "There are hundreds of practices in medicine that might benefit from such attention."

Reuter's Health, March 30, 2004
U.S. Advisers Seek Regulation of Fertility Clinics
One member of the president's council, neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga of Dartmouth University, praised a South Korean team that announced it had cloned human embryos to use as a source of stem cells for medical research. "They are not in the baby-making business and want no part of it," Gazzaniga wrote.

The Los Angeles Times, March 29, 2004
Simple science: Kids and religion; Research, including brain-imaging studies, concludes that teens who are religious are better off in significant ways than secular peers.
Late last year, a commission convened by Dartmouth Medical School, among others, studied years of research on kids, including brain-imaging studies, and concluded that young people who are religious are better off in significant ways than their secular peers.

Business Wire, March 23, 2004
U.S. Genomics Announces Trilogy Platform for Direct Analysis of Single Molecules Without Amplification
"MicroRNAs are key factors in the regulation of animal development and in human disease, but these small RNAs can be difficult to study and directly quantitate," said Dr. Victor Ambros, Professor of Genetics at Dartmouth College and a discoverer of microRNAs.

The Wall Street Journal, March 23, 2004
Support Gathers To Force Coverage Of Aneurysm Test
"Now, Medicare won't pay for aneurysm screening without signs and symptoms," says Dartmouth Medical School vascular-surgery professor Robert Zwolak, an organizer of the effort. "But 99% of patients don't have signs and symptoms until they begin to rupture."

The New York Times, March 23, 2004
When Tests Go Wrong
Should I Be Tested for Cancer? by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch. Subtitled "Maybe Not and Here's Why," this book by a professor at the Dartmouth Medical School addresses a mainstay of medical practice, disease screening, in a way that may disturb some people. Although Dr. Welch does not suggest that symptoms be ignored or that tests should not be run, he does argue there is another side to trying to find cancer early.

Barron's, March 22, 2004
Investing in Retirement - Back to School: Retirees are hitting the books like never before - and loving it
The Kendal community in Hanover, N.H., has made the transition to retirement both gradual and seamless. "Buses take us back and forth to Dartmouth every day," he says. "And the school has come to perceive us as a resource. The [Dartmouth] medical-school students have begun studying our lives, and we have five or six former college presidents among us, along with ambassadors, scientists and many others."

Fortune, March 22, 2004
Why We're Losing The War On Cancer [And How To Win It]
Michael Sporn, a professor of pharmacology and medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, has two words for this: "Absolute nonsense!" He goes on: "We've been stuck with this definition of what cancer is from 1890. It's what I was taught in medical school: 'It's not cancer until there's invasion.' That's like saying the barn isn't on fire until there are bright red flames coming out of the roof."

The Washington Post, March 21, 2004
An Inspired Strategy: Is Religion a Tonic for Kids? You Better Believe It, Say Teens and Scholars
Late last year, a commission convened by Dartmouth Medical School, among others, studied years of research on kids, including brain-imaging studies, and concluded that young people who are religious are better off in significant ways than their secular peers. They are less likely than nonbelievers to smoke and drink and more likely to eat well; less likely to commit crimes and more likely to wear seat belts; less likely to be depressed and more likely to be satisfied with their families and school.

Reuter's Health, March 12, 2004
Top US hospitals vary greatly in end-of-life care
Hospital length of stay toward the end of life ranged from 9.4 to 27.1 days, lead author Dr. John E. Wennberg, from Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire, and colleagues report in the British Medical Journal. Similarly, there was also wide variability in length of stay in intensive care units: 1.6 days to 9.5 days.

Business Wire, March 9, 2004
Packard Residents Fight Hollywood On-Screen Smoking
In 2003, Dartmouth Medical School released a major study confirming that smoking in movies recruits over half of all new teenage smokers in the U.S. The findings also reported that 390,000 adolescents each year will light their first cigarette because of their exposure to smoking in the movies, and of those, 100,000 will die prematurely as a result.

Your Guide (Australia), March 4, 2004
Depression hits youth
Chad Mansbridge, a Youth Health and Wellbeing Worker at the Southern Fleurieu Health Service and local pastor, agrees. " 'A recent American study from Dartmouth Medical School argues that humans are designed for social connectedness and moral and spiritual meaning," he said.

The Times (London), March 3, 2004
Don't hit the bottle when you can turn on the tap
Heinz Valatin, of Dartmouth Medical School, tried to find out. In the American Journal of Physiology he concluded that it had no basis at all.

AP Newswire, March 2, 2004
Study: U.S. May Get Pediatrician Surplus
Shipman joined researchers at Dartmouth Medical School to create a statistical model that looked at several factors that may contribute to the change in the pediatrician work force, including the age and gender of new pediatricians, pediatricians from other countries, changing work styles that range from full-time to part-time, and the death and retirement ages for pediatricians. (This story ran in the Miami Herald and the South Mississippi Sun Herald.)

Other Media

The Union Leader, March 30, 2004
Granite State must act now to lower Medicaid drug costs
Since I became commissioner last fall, I have pledged to maximize the value of the services the department brings to the people of the state, especially those in need, but I cannot tell you that we are receiving strong value for our tax dollars when we spend millions of dollars on top brand-name drugs, and expert clinicians, like Dr. Stephen Bartels of Dartmouth College, who serves as the state's mental-health medical director, tell us that substantially lower-cost and equally effective alternatives are available that will in no way compromise patient safety.

Health & Medicine Week, March 29, 2004
Quality Assurance; Stark differences in care revealed at top U.S. hospitals
The intensity of care during the last 6 months of life and at the time of death varied substantially, even among hospitals in the same region, reported John Wennberg, of Dartmouth's Center for Evaluative Clinical Sciences, and colleagues.

The Valley News, March 28, 2004
Hitting the Books
Norwich psychologist Jan Scheiner is seeing more teenagers because they are "overwhelmed and tired" by the sheer volume of their studies. "Homework is not a bad thing, but the presumption that it must be assigned every night is a problem," Scheiner said.

Chattanooga Times Free Press, March 27, 2004
Study says religion a tonic for teens
Late last year, a commission convened by Dartmouth Medical School, among others, studied years of research on kids, including brain-imaging studies, and concluded that young people who are religious are better off in significant ways than their secular peers.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 27, 2004
Teenagers shown to benefit from religion
Late last year, a commission convened by Dartmouth Medical School, among others, studied years of research on kids, including brain-imaging studies, and concluded that young people who are religious are better off in significant ways than their secular peers.

The Connecticut Valley Spectator, March 25, 2004
Medical Students Meet Their Matches
Dartmouth Medical School graduating students joined more than 16,000 U.S. medical school graduates in the National Resident Matching Program last week to learn where they will continue their training as residents in U.S. teaching hospitals.

The Edmonton Journal, March 24, 2004
R-ratings urged for movies that depict smoking as cool
Glantz said a two-year study of 2,600 teens done at Dartmouth University found a direct relationship between the number of movies featuring smoking that a teen saw and the likelihood the teen would start smoking. All other variables that might affect a child were controlled.

The Washington Times, March 23, 2004
Medicare may be forced to screen aneurysms
"Now, Medicare won't pay for aneurysm screening without signs and symptoms," says Dartmouth Medical School vascular-surgery professor Robert Zwolak, an organizer of the effort. "But 99 percent of patients don't have signs and symptoms until they begin to rupture."

The Dallas Morning News, March 22, 2004
Steroids may build strong bodies in risky ways
Megadoses of steroids clearly influence the activity of the brain molecule serotonin, involved in mood and aggression, Dartmouth College steroid researchers Ann Clark and Leslie Henderson reported last year in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.

The Hawaii Channel, March 19, 2004
Students Rate Movies On Smoking Message: Officials Say Smoking In Movies Adds To Probability Of Tobacco Use
A study by researchers at Dartmouth Medical School suggests that children who had viewed the most smoking in movies were three times as likely to start smoking as those who had seen the least.

San Francisco Chronicle, March 19, 2004
Smoke Screens: Stanford pediatric residents warn that cinematic cigarettes endanger kids.
Heightening their concern is a similar study completed last June by Dartmouth Medical School, which showed a correlation between tobacco use in movies and a rise in teen smoking. In that study, kids who saw movies that depicted smoking were three times as likely to start smoking as their peers. Dartmouth researchers estimated that smoking in movies causes 360,000 teens each year to smoke their first cigarette.

The Valley News, March 19, 2004
Area Doctors Urge Caution in Evaluating Cholesterol Study Close Up
Andrew Torkelson, another DHMC cardiologist who also sees patients in New London, and Newport, Vt., stressed that people should not ignore the other known ways of controlling or preventing cardiovascular disease. "If you have coronary disease, it's imperative for you to be on some form of a statin," he said, but that should be in addition to, not instead of, other steps such as improved diet and weight loss.

The Buffalo News, March 17, 2004
Targeting Smoking in Movies
A Dartmouth Medical School study of 3,500 non-smoking adolescents found that more than half of the kids who later tried smoking did so because of exposure to smoking in movies. That's a lot of young people that could very well die because of a bad habit created from watching a movie.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 15, 2004
Glamorizing Smoking: Cut!
A study started in 1999 by the Dartmouth Medical School identified 2,600 adolescents who had never smoked. When contacted one to two years later, 10 percent of the adolescents reported that they had tried smoking, and more than half cited the movies as the reason.

The Grand Rapids Press, March 14, 2004
Specialists on defensive amid body-donation scandal ; They find themselves explaining their programs and reassuring families that wishes will be granted
"Here, at Dartmouth, most of the people who have arranged to donate have some connection to the institution," said Dr. Rand Swenson, acting chairman of anatomy at the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 14, 2004
A free health report card
The collective information gathered in the survey will be analyzed by a team of medical experts at Dartmouth Medical School, the same people who developed the survey. Those conclusions then will be reviewed by a community advisory group to develop strategies for helping the medical community better address the health needs of area residents.

NewHouse News Service, March 12, 2004
Body Donation Scandal Prompts Specialists to Explain Their Business
Here at Dartmouth, most of the people who have arranged to donate have some connection to the institution," said Dr. Rand Swenson, acting chair of anatomy at the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H.

VPR, Vermont Public Radio, March 11, 2004
Switchboard
Steve Zind talks with the author of a new guide to cancer screening tests. Dartmouth Medical School physician Gilbert Welch says patients should be better informed about the pros and cons of cancer screening.

Channel 5 News, March 11, 2004
Great Variation in End-of-Life Care
The report is the latest in a long series done by Dr. John E. Wennberg and his colleagues at the Dartmouth Medical School Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences about the care offered by American hospitals.

The Valley News, March 11, 2004
Insights After Life
If your idea of what a pathologist does comes from C.S.I. (or the more vintage Quincy, M.D.), it's time to turn off the television and listen to Dr. Wendy Wells. Although the question of whether to authorize an autopsy is one most of us would rather not ponder, the Dartmouth Medical School professor and pathologist presents a convincing case that it's a choice that family members and physicians ought to make¼.

The Concord Monitor, March 7, 2004
Doctors need a dose of relief
Dartmouth Medical Students who do their third year clerkship at Concord Hospital tell me they would not consider obstetrics because of the liability crisis.

The Valley News, March 7, 2004
Recovering His Balance
David Coffey, a neurologist and specialist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, said it's believed that by the time a patient starts to notice symptoms of Parkinson's disease, as much as 80 percent of cells in the substantia nigra are gone.

The Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, March 6, 2004
Special delivery; What you need to know about C-sections
Q: Is a C-section safer for my baby than a vaginal birth?
A: "No one really knows," says Dr. Michele Lauria, a maternal fetal-medicine specialist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, N.H. "What we do know is that babies born by C-section have a higher incidence of respiratory complications."

Cox News Service, March 6, 2004
Conference highlights methods for end-of-life care
Friday's conference touched on many of those areas during a presentation by Dr. Ira Byock, director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. Byock talked about giving optimal care, and providers' roles in alleviating pain and facilitating personal growth at the end of life.

The Valley News, March 6, 2004
Gregg With President on Stem Cells
Mark Israel, director of Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, said about 25 percent of Norris Cotton patients are enrolled in clinical trials, a percentage some five times higher than in other hospital settings.

The Valley News, March 5, 2004
Top Federal Health Officials Visit Amid Stem Cell Debate
Michael Gazzaniga, the director of the Center for Neuroscience at Dartmouth and a member of the President's Council on Bioethics, also hailed the Harvard development and said he would like to see the government funding restrictions lifted.

The Ottawa Citizen (Canada), March 4, 2004
A cuppa Sidcup, please
Yet there is no medical evidence that bloating up on bottled water is beneficial. Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire concluded that there was no basis in science for the claim that eight glasses of water a day is a good thing. Heinz Valtin, writing in the American Journal of Physiology, also concluded that caffeinated drinks do count, as does beer in moderation.

The Star Tribune (Minneapolis), March 2, 2004
Got Thirst?; Research suggests your daily water intake doesn't have to look like this.
The report validated research by Dr. Heinz Valtin, a kidney specialist and retired professor at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H., who has spent more than 40 years studying water balance in the body and has written two textbooks on the topic. Valtin said he recently looked into how the eight-glass dictum had become "practically . . . a command for good health."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 1, 2004
Project will offer help on health issues
The survey is anonymous, and no information about those who participate or their computers or e-mail addresses is stored or shared. Dartmouth Medical School gets the information and will compile responses and report collective information to participating companies and communities so they can design programs to meet specific needs.

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