DMS in the News
November 2004

National/International Media

Wall Street Journal - November 30, 2004
Columnist Tara Parker-Pope answers readers' questions
While cognitive complaints following chemotherapy have often been written off to depression, anxiety and even menopause, doctors now know that chemotherapy can trigger real -- and sometimes lasting -- changes in a patient's brain. Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School are studying ways that women treated for breast cancer can cope with cognitive changes.

The Washington Post - November 29, 2004
How Africa Subsidizes U.S. Health Care
Elliott Fisher of Dartmouth Medical School has demonstrated that regions of the United States with a high concentration of medics spend extra on health care without becoming healthier: This country actually has too many health workers. Meanwhile in Africa a single nurse can be responsible for 50 patients. Because of America's dysfunctional system, the global labor market is siphoning doctors from places where they are needed into places where they accomplish nothing measurable at all.

Los Angeles Times - November 29, 2004
A wealth of e-health
Be wary of studies that lump together several outcomes, what researchers called "combined end points." One ad touting the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor lumps together fatal and nonfatal heart attacks, saying that Lipitor reduces these outcomes by 36%. But the fine print says the reduction in fatal heart attacks, taken separately, was not statistically significant, which means it could have happened by chance, said Dr. Lisa Schwartz and Dr. Steven Woloshin, researchers at the Veterans Affairs Outcomes Group and Dartmouth Medical School.

New York Times - November 17, 2004
New Technique Stirs a Debate in Cardiology
Even if a cancer is found, patients may not be helped, said Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, an expert on early diagnosis at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, Vt.

U.S. News & World Report - November 17, 2004
HPV vaccine - A shot could protect women against most cervical cancers
Researchers led by scientists at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth Medical School gave three doses of either the vaccine or a placebo to 1,113 healthy, uninfected women in the United States, Canada, and Brazil over the space of six months. They followed up with the women in 27 months to see if they had contracted HPV.

ABC World News Tonight - November 16, 2004
Cancer Vaccine Breakthrough for Women
Dr. Diane Harper, Dartmouth Medical School: "This is incredibly exciting. There is no other gynecologic cancer or any cancer in the human body that can be completely prevented from a vaccine in the way that cervical cancer can be." [This segment was also featured on ABC's Good Morning America.]

New York Times - November 16, 2004
Smart or Misguided? The Proactive Doctor
Yet for every Dr. Sackner-Bernstein, there is a Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, an internist and epidemiologist at Dartmouth Medical School and the author of "Should I Be Tested for Cancer?" Studies show, Dr. Welch argues, that mammography; testing for prostate specific antigen, or P.S.A.; and other cancer screening tools often lead to ambiguous diagnoses and unnecessary treatment. [This article also appears in the Spartanburg Herald Journal (South Carolina)].

Wall Street Journal - November 16, 2004
What You Need to Know About Detecting Cancer; A guide to Which of the New Tests are Worth Getting
But the debate over who should take advantage of the newer screens, and even some of the older ones, is intense. While cells may look abnormal under a microscope, they may never grow into something that harms the patient. "We are beginning to understand that there are some cancers that are better for people not to know about," says H. Gilbert Welch, a senior research associate with the Department of Veterans Affairs in White River Junction, Vt.

The Los Angeles Times - November 14, 2004
These Unseen Wounds Cut Deep - A mental health crisis is emerging, with one in six returning soldiers afflicted, experts say.
"The bad news is that the study underestimated the prevalence of what we are going to see down the road," said Dr. Matthew J. Friedman, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Dartmouth Medical School who is executive director of the VA's National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. [Also appeared in Everett Herald (Washington), Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (Indiana), The Register-Guard (Oregon), Valley News, The Daily Press, The Grand Rapids Press (Michigan), Canton Repository (Ohio) and The Day (Connecticut)].

International Reporter [India] - November 13, 2004
HPV vaccine prevents cervical cancer
According to Dr. Diane Harper of Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth - Hitchcock Medical Center, this research was based on international trial. It is the first test where a single vaccine shows it can target two strains of the human papillornavirus (HPV).

Bloomberg [News] - November 12, 2004
Glaxo Vaccine Works on Cervical-Cancer Virus in Study
"I think this is incredibly exciting,'' Diane Harper, associate professor of gynecology at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire and lead researcher of the study said in an interview. "For three decades we have known that this virus is the only cause of cervical cancer. We're talking about a vaccine that could wipe out three-quarters of the cervical cancer in the world.''

Reuters - November 12, 2004
Glaxo vaccine stops virus linked to cancer - study
"This is the first time we have shown that there is a vaccine that protects against the only cause of a cancer and we can actually prevent 70 percent of all cervical cancer worldwide," said Diane Harper, of Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire. [This article also appears in The Advocate.]

The Wall Street Journal - November 12, 2004
Vaccine for Cervical Cancer Shows Protection Against Virus
The Glaxo study, financed by the company and led by Diane Harper, a physician at Dartmouth Medical School's cancer center, involved 1,113 infection-free women between the ages of 15 and 25. The women were given vaccine or placebo shots at the outset of the trial and again after one month and six months.

Daily Herald [United Kingdom] - November 12, 2004
Second cervical vaccine shows promising results in trial
None of the vaccinated women developed infections or cervical precancerous lesions, said Dartmouth obstetrician Diane M. Harper, the study's lead author. The vaccine also protected 93% against abnormal Pap tests, she said. [Also appeared in USA Today and on Canada.com News.]

Washington Post - November 12, 2004
Cancer Vaccine Shows Promising Results
None of the vaccinated women developed infections or cervical precancerous lesions, said Dartmouth obstetrician Diane M. Harper, the study's lead author. The vaccine also protected 93 percent against abnormal Pap tests, she said.

Big News Network [Australia] - November 12, 2004
Cervical cancer vaccine shows promise
"Our findings indicate that the vaccine could contribute substantially to reducing worldwide rates of cervical cancer," Dr. Diane Harper of Dartmouth said in a statement. She noted additional, long-term studies are needed to confirm the vaccine prevents the cancer. [Also appears in United Press International.]

The Scotsman [Scotland] - November 12, 2004
Vaccine offers hope of huge cut in cervical cancer rates
Dr. Diane Harper, from the Norris Cotton Cancer Centre and Dartmouth Medical School, said: "Our findings indicate that the vaccine could contribute substantially to reducing worldwide rates of cervical cancer. However, large-scale trials with long-term follow-up are needed."

The Daily Telegraph [London] - November 12, 2004
Vaccine hope over cervical cancer
Dr. Diane Harper of Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, and colleagues conducted a trial to assess the vaccine developed by drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline against HPV-16 and HPV-18. The women were randomly selected to receive three doses of the vaccine or a placebo and followed up for 27 months.

The Daily Express [United Kingdom] - November 12, 2004
Hope of a vaccine to beat cervical cancer
Lead researcher Dr. Diane Harper, from Dartmouth Medical School in the US, said: "Our findings indicate that the vaccine could contribute substantially to reducing worldwide rates of cervical cancer."

Daily Post - [Liverpool] - November 12, 2004
Cervical cancer vaccine hope
Dr. Diane Harper, from the Norris Cotton Cancer Centre and Dartmouth Medical School in the United States, said: "Our findings indicate that the vaccine could contribute substantially to reducing worldwide rates of cervical cancer. However, large-scale trials are needed to extend our findings and confirm that vaccination prevents cervical cancer."

The Guardian [United Kingdom] - November 12, 2004
National roundup: Science: Hope for cancer vaccine
Diane Harper, from the Norris Cotton Cancer Centre and Dartmouth Medical School in the US, said: "Our findings indicate that the vaccine could contribute substantially to reducing worldwide rates of cervical cancer.

Toronto Star - November 12, 2004
Cervical cancer vaccine hailed; Stamps out virus leading to disease Three doses could lower death rate
Dr. Diane Harper, of Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, directed the trial. The vaccine is being developed and would be licensed by GlaxoSmithKline. Harper, the primary investigator, is neither paid nor employed by GlaxoSmithKline.

Calgary Herald [Canada] - November 12, 2004
Promising vaccine stops cancer virus: Drug targets cervical tumours
"From a public health perspective, I think it's most important to reach all the girls first and put our efforts into getting girls covered," says lead author Dr. Diane Harper, director of the gynecological cancer prevention research group at Norris Cotton Cancer Center and Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H. [Also appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal and Montreal Gazette.]

MSNBC - November 11, 2004
Vaccine could prevent most cervical cancer - 470,000 women a year are diagnosed with the disease
"This is the first time we have shown that there is a vaccine that protects against the only cause of a cancer and we can actually prevent 70 percent of all cervical cancer worldwide," said Diane Harper, of Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire.

The Washington Times - November 9, 2004
How Much Water?
Dr. Heinz Valtin begs to differ with conventional wisdom regarding water consumption. The Dartmouth Medical School professor, now retired, says no scientific evidence backs up the eight glasses a day rule. "You can just drink your customary amount, plus when you're thirsty, and you'll be all right," says Dr. Valtin, who has studied how the body maintains its water balance for 40 years and released his iconoclastic views on water consumption in 2002.

National Post - November 5, 2004 [Canada]
Blowing smoke: Recent headline-grabbing research that suggests that movies induce teens to smoke is shocking for its junk science epidemiology
To be fair to Glantz, he is not making these claims on his own; he is simply the front man for a group of U.S. researchers, Madeline Dalton et al., whose shocking study about youth smoking and the movies was published in The Lancet last year. The study looked at 3,547 adolescents aged 10-14 who claimed to be non-smokers. They found that adolescents with the highest exposure to movie smoking were 2.71 times more likely to start smoking than those with the lowest exposure.

Other Media

The Kansas City Star - November 27, 2004
Center a storehouse for fungi; UMKC facility has about 72,000 strains for global scientists
At Dartmouth Medical School, Jay Dunlap is using Neurospora from UMKC for a $9 million research project involving eight universities nationwide. Neurospora was one of the first fungi to have its full set of genes, called a genome, decoded. Now Dunlap and his collaborators are trying to determine what each of the fungus's 10,000 genes does. He's relying on the center to maintain the bioengineered fungi the researchers produce.

BusinessWorld - November 26, 2004
Top US dermatologist brings expertise to RP
In 2002, Dartmouth Medical School professor and kidney specialist Heinz Valtin reported in the American Journal of Physiology that there were no scientific studies supporting the "eight by eight" rule. According to the abstract of his review, "surveys of food and fluid intake on thousands of adults of both genders ... strongly suggest that such large amounts are not needed because the surveyed persons were presumably healthy and certainly not overtly ill."

Ivanhoe Newswire - November 26, 2004
More Focus Needed on Insomnia
According to researchers at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H., insomnia is a common but poorly understood problem, and doctors should make assessing this condition a priority.

Valley News - November 26, 2004
In New Hampshire and Vermont: Weighing In On the Expression of Doctors' Apologies
The curriculum at Dartmouth Medical School, which graduates about 60 doctors-to-be each year, has been evolving in recent years in several areas, including the areas of professionalism and communication with patients, according to David Nierenberg, associate dean for medical education and a faculty member. But he, too, said it's not about avoiding lawsuits, but rather about "respecting the patient, honesty and integrity."

The Exeter News-Letter - November 26, 2004
Brain surgery halts 5 years of seizures
They tried one doctor who wasn't satisfactory, and they eventually found one at Dartmouth-Hitchcock they liked. The doctor, Richard P. Morse, told them, "I'm not going to drop the ball on this child." Neurosurgeon Dr. Ann-Christine Duhaime performed the second surgery. "Dr. Morse and Dr. Duhaime came in and were so excited," she recalled. "They said it went better than they could have imagined." They took a half-dollar sized piece from his left frontal lobe.

WIBW News [CBS Affiliate in Topeka, Kansas] - November 24, 2004
Special Report: Youth and Religion
A Dartmouth Medical School study found that teens who are religious are less likely to smoke or drink than non-believers, more likely to wear a seatbelt, and less likely to be depressed.

Technology Review - November 24, 2004
Vaccine Truth or Dare
The vaccine is one of two being developed against cervical cancer; Merck makes the second. "It's fabulous," says Diane Harper, who directed the study and who heads research on prevention of gynecological cancer at Dartmouth Medical School. "It's safe, it's easy to make, and it's amazingly effective."

U.S. Federal News - November 22, 2004
Remember our troops, their families on Thursday
The Los Angeles Times went on to quote Dr. Matthew J. Friedman, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Dartmouth Medical School and executive director of the VA's National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: "The bad news is that the study underestimated the prevalence of what we are going to see down the road." [This address also appeared on YubaNet.com (California) and in the Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)].

The Scientist - November 22, 2004
Rolling Back the Fog of War
Understanding PTSD means understanding its roots, and that's where biomonitoring may reveal the precipitating conditions. "Vietnam was a milestone. No nation had rigorously conducted an epidemiological survey of males and females in the theater," says Matthew Friedman, executive director of the National Center for PTSD and professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Dartmouth Medical School.

Concord Monitor - November 21, 2004
On the move
The New London Hospital board of trustees has elected the following new members to serve three-year terms: Stephen Jordan of Sunapee, Bob Odell of Lempster and Patricia Tilley of New London. Jordan is a past president of the New London Hospital medical staff and an instructor for Dartmouth Medical School students.

HealthDayNews - November 20, 2004
More Options Than Ever to Looking Younger
"There have been a lot of advances in what we call minimally invasive procedures to improve the appearance," said Dr. June Robinson, editor of the Archives of Dermatology and section chief of dermatology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.

The Grand Rapids Press [Michigan] - November 20, 2004
Psychiatrist: Teens need community; Loss of organizations, churches and leagues hurt youth
In other words, teens need an authoritative community to take them under its wing. "It says, 'Look, if you want to be part of us, this is what we expect from you.' The rules will be there. The rules will be fair," said Sider, citing a study from the Commission on Children at Risk. The Commission was sponsored by the YMCA of America, Dartmouth Medical School and the Institute for American Values.

New Scientist - November 20. 2004
Coming soon: the first cancer vaccine
"The vaccine acts way, way before you get cancer," says lead author Diane Harper of the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. "You don't get the virus, you don't get the precancerous lesions, and we believe the long-term results will show you don't get the cancer."

Baltimore Sun - November 19, 2004
Medical Matters - 10 tips help you sort through treatment claims
Be wary of studies that lump together several outcomes, what researchers call "combined end points." One ad touting the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor combines fatal and non-fatal heart attacks, saying that Lipitor reduces these outcomes by 36 percent. But the fine print says the reduction in fatal heart attacks, taken separately, was not statistically significant, which means it could have happened by chance, said Dr. Lisa Schwartz and Dr. Steven Woloshin, researchers at the Veterans Administration Outcomes Group and Dartmouth Medical School. [This article also appears in New York Sun.]

Nashua Telegraph - November 19, 2004
State strives for suicide prevention
Elaine Frank, the Youth Suicide Prevention Assembly coordinator and co-chair of the group that developed the plan, said she became involved after state legislators recommended YSPA and the Department of Health and Human Services work together to develop a plan.

National Public Radio [The Exchange] - November 18, 2004
Youth Suicide
Robert Racusin, a psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry for Dartmouth Medical School who also has worked as a school psychiatrist and Michael Whitman, a member of the New Hampshire Youth Suicide Prevention Association.

Portsmouth Herald - November 18, 2004
UNH offers bioinfo
They must also complete a project in their senior year, providing an opportunity to conduct first-class research at the UNH Hubbard Center for Genome Studies, the UNH Center for Structural Biology or the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover.

Peoria Journal Star [Illinois] - November 18, 2004
Naplate residents sue over arsenic levels - Prosecution claims glass factory allowed contamination of village's soil, groundwater
Arsenic is harmful even at low exposures and potentially can make humans susceptible to a range of cancers and other diseases, Dartmouth College toxicology professor Joshua Hamilton testified for the plaintiffs. He said children are particularly vulnerable because they play in dirt and often track it or ingest some of it.

Connecticut Valley Spectator - November 18, 2004
Dartmouth Student Performs NASA Research on 'Extremophiles'
After listening to Dr. Jay Buckey Jr., an associate professor of medicine at Dartmouth Medical School and payload specialist on a 1998 Columbia space shuttle mission, talk about space research, Russell decided to take it upon herself to design and find funding for a research projects studying "extremophiles" at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.

Connecticut Valley Spectator - November 18, 2004
International experts in town for AIDS symposium
Wednesday, Nov. 17, was the start of what organizers say will be an annual event designed to increase community involvement and education about global health and medicine issues by bringing international experts to speak to Dartmouth College, Dartmouth Medical School, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center staff, as well as area residents.

Connecticut Valley Spectator - November 18, 2004
Dartmouth Trial: Vaccine Shown to Effectively Fight Cervical Cancer
An international clinical trial directed by Dr. Diane Harper of Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth Medical School has shown extremely promising results for a vaccine against the most common causes of cervical cancer.

Connecticut Valley Spectator - November 18, 2004
Infants With Eczema Sought for CHaD Asthma Study
"I am very pleased about the new clinical trial in Pediatric Dermatology," said James Dinulos, M.D. principal investigator of the trial. "It is an ambitious study to determine not only the safety and efficacy of this medication for use with infants, but also to determine if treating atopic disease decreases the incidence of asthma later in childhood."

Boston Globe - November 16, 2004
Getting the Most out of a Medical Study
One ad touting the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor says it lowers the rate of fatal and nonfatal heart attacks by 36 percent. But the fine print says the reduction in fatal heart attacks, taken separately, was not statistically significant, which means it could have been due to chance, said Dr. Lisa Schwartz and Dr. Steven Woloshin of the Veterans Administration Outcomes Group and Dartmouth Medical School.

Minneapolis Star Tribune - November 15, 2004
Editorial: mnhealthcare.org/Toward best-practice medicine
The Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Science, says that doctors routinely fail to perform appropriate tests and prescribe recommended medications. The Dartmouth Medical School says that treatment patterns vary widely from one state to the next with no apparent basis in medical science.

Portsmouth Herald - November 14, 2004
Chemical sensitivity has altered her life
"Some people jokingly say, 'If you go to infectious diseases, they call it CFS; go to a rheumatologist, they call it fibromyalgia; go to an OEM, (doctor of occupational and environmental medicine) and they call it MCS,'" says Dr. Robert K. McLellan, associate professor of medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock and medical director of Employee Safety and Health at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.

Fitchburg Sentinel [Massachusetts] - November 13, 2004
Vaccine showing promise against virus that can cause cervical cancer
"There's a big push in science to understand cancer ... and to make it clinically applicable for women," said Dr. Diane Harper, whose research group at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Medical School created the vaccine. "It's incredibly exciting, the fact we can actually translate this to real life."

WCAX-TV - November 12, 2004
Women's Health Breakthrough
"I don't think there's anything that has made this much impact both in cancer prevention and women's health in past 20 years. It's exciting -- very exciting!," says Dr. Diane Harper who is leading a study that she says marks the first progress in cervical cancer research since Pap smears began screening for it 30 years ago. Back then, doctors learned the disease is caused by a virus called HPV -- the human papillomavirus.

Valley News - November 12, 2004
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Highly Effective, 'Lancet' Article Reports
"This study reports extremely important findings," according to Harper, 46, who is director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Group at Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon, and an associate professor at Dartmouth Medical School. "This is a report that shows that in (a study of) over 1,000 women, (the vaccine) induced an immune response that was 80 to 100 times the natural immune response the body generates" against the two strains of HPV targeted.

Science Daily - November 12, 2004
Vaccine Shown To "Substantially" Reduce Cervical Cancer
An international clinical trial directed by Dr. Diane Harper of Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) and Dartmouth Medical School has shown extremely promising results for a vaccine against the most common causes of cervical cancer.

Vermont Public Radio - November 5, 2004
Returning Guard members face PTSD
But it could be a different story for those returning from Iraq. Doctor Matthew Friedman directs the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder based at the Veterans Administration Hospital in White River Junction. PTSD is a psychiatric disorder. It's the result of experiencing a life-threatening event and it's often compounded by depression and substance abuse.

Connecticut Valley Spectator - November 4, 2004
Dartmouth study: More patients die in nonsurgical heart procedures at hospitals without cardiac surgery
Rekindling a debate on the safety of performing an increasingly popular nonsurgical heart procedure in hospitals that do not have on-site cardiac surgery programs, a study led by Dartmouth Medical School concluded that patients who undergo the procedure in hospitals without cardiac surgeons have a higher rate of mortality than those in hospitals with a cardiac surgery program.

Valley News - November 2, 2004
Living With Shadow of War - Many Iraq War Vets Suffer From PTSD
That could mean many cases go undiagnosed because of soldiers' reluctance to seek help, said psychiatrist Matthew J. Friedman, executive director of the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at the White River Junction VA and a researcher at Dartmouth College.

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