count
UConn Health Center’s Discovery Series January 21 and 28
FARMINGTON, CONN. – The University of Connecticut Health Center’s Discovery Series returns in 2010 with two programs in January.
Parkinson’s Disease and Tremor Disorders
Thursday, January 21, 7 p.m., Keller Auditorium
Tremor disorders and Parkinson’s disease affect millions of individuals often causing uncontrollable shaking of the hands, head and other body parts.
Dr. Adam Simmons, a UConn Health Center neurologist, will address the medical management and treatment of tremor disorders including Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Patrick Senatus, a neurosurgeon in the Health Center’s New England Musculoskeletal Institute, will present information about Deep Brain Stimulation, a new surgical procedure used to treat Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and essential tremor.
The UConn Health Center is the only hospital in the Hartford area that offers DBS, which recently has been approved by the FDA for humanitarian device exemption in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder, and is being evaluated for the treatment of other conditions such as major depressive disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, and chronic pain.
Is Less Better? The Mammogram and Pap Smear Controversies
Thursday, January 28, 7 p.m., Low Learning Center
Dr. Ursula A. Steadman, an obstetrician and gynecologist, and Dr. Carolyn Runowicz, a nationally prominent expert in gynecologic cancers and women’s health, chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board, and director of the Health Center’s Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, will provide information about the new guidelines for pap smears and mammograms. There will be ample opportunity for audience members to address their questions to the experts.
Both programs are free and require advance registration. Call 800-535-6232 or register online at http://discoveryseries.uchc.edu.
To get to the UConn Health Center main entrance: Entering the campus from Route 4, at the first stop sign, continue straight. Bear left at the fork and continue up the hill. The main entrance is straight past the next stop sign. Visitor parking is available on the other side of the gate. Directions to the UConn Health Center are available at http://www.uchc.edu/directions/home.html.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
So Say Hypertension Experts at the American Heart Association Meetings
FARMINGTON, CONN. – What your blood pressure does while you sleep can be a powerful indicator of future health problems, according to hypertension experts speaking at the recent scientific sessions of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida.
"Elevated systolic blood pressure during sleep is an independent, powerful predictor of future cardiovascular risk," says Dr. William B. White, professor of medicine and hypertension expert in the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center. The systolic blood pressure is the blood pressure when the heart is contracting. It is typically the first value recorded, or the “top number” in a blood pressure reading.
"Nocturnal hypertension is another key reason ambulatory blood pressure monitoring can be helpful," White says. Ambulatory recording involves the wearing of a monitor cuff on the upper arm for a 24-hour period, with a microchip recording blood pressure readings.
Studies conducted during the past decade show that patients with high blood pressure during sleep are prone to excess kidney and heart disease even if the blood pressure during the daytime is relatively normal. New research is evaluating targeted therapy with ambulatory blood pressure recordings to specifically control nocturnal hypertension.
White is the senior author of the American Society of Hypertension’s official position paper on blood pressure measurement, which recommends taking readings both in and outside of the clinical environment.
More information about the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center is available at http://heart.uchc.edu.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
FARMINGTON, CONN. – After a review by the leadership of its Board of Trustees, the University of Connecticut has concluded that it cannot marshal the support needed to win approval for the proposed partnership with Hartford Healthcare Corporation.
In a joint statement sent earlier today to University faculty and staff, President Michael J. Hogan and Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, vice president for health affairs and medical school dean, said the UConn Health Center will remain focused on providing outstanding health care, educating the next generation of physicians and dentists, and performing breakthrough biomedical research.
“Accordingly, the University is working with the legislative leadership and the Governor’s office to assess other options,” added Hogan. “Furthermore, as alternate plans develop we will continue to involve the faculty and staff and keep everyone informed.” “For over four decades, the UConn Health Center has played a critically important role in the delivery of high-quality healthcare, innovative medical education and cutting edge research in our state,” Laurencin said.
“Despite today’s challenging environment, the Health Center will remain a vital component of the healthcare landscape in Connecticut and our nation.”
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
FARMINGTON, CONN. – Dr. Ariane Sirop, a primary care physician, is now seeing patients at the UConn Health Center’s Simsbury office, 381 Hopmeadow Street.
Sirop earned her medical doctorate from the Ross University School of Medicine after completing the pre-medical program at Columbia University in New York City. She completed an internal medicine and pediatrics residency at the UConn Health Center and is board certified in internal medicine.
Sirop has been an assistant professor at the UConn School of Medicine since 2003, when she joined the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Newington as a staff physician. She joined the UConn Health Center’s clinical practice in 2007 as a staff physician working primarily in nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities.
More information about primary care at the UConn Health Center is available at http://primarycare.uchc.edu. The number to schedule an appointment is 800-535-6232.
Directions to the Simsbury office are available at http://www.uchc.edu/directions/simsbury.html.
Photo: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/sirop.jpg
Caption: Dr. Ariane Sirop, a primary care physician, is accepting new patients at the UConn Health Center’s Simsbury office.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
FARMINGTON, CONN. – Dr. Rebecca Andrews, a primary care physician, is now seeing patients at the University of Connecticut Health Center.
After serving as an attending physician at Community Health Center Inc. in New Britain, and most recently as its Hartford County on-site medical director, Andrews returns to the UConn Health Center, where she earned her medical degree and completed her internal medicine residency. She also has both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from Boston College.
Andrews is board certified in internal medicine. Her areas of interest include women’s health, heart failure and chronic disease management. She is fluent in Spanish.
More information about primary care at the UConn Health Center is available at http://primarycare.uchc.edu. To schedule an appointment, call 860-679-4477 or 800-535-6232.
Photo: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/andrews_rebecca.jpg
Caption: Dr. Rebecca Andrews, a primary care physician, is now seeing patients at the UConn Health Center.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
November 19 is the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout
FARMINGTON, CONN. – Quitting smoking can greatly reduce the risk of lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. But that’s just what’s at the top of a long list of health problems associated with tobacco use.
For example, smoking causes oral health problems. Dr. Ellen Eisenberg, professor and director of oral pathology at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, says the bad breath and stained teeth are just the beginning.
“Smoking also has been shown to delay healing of wounds in the mouth caused by accidental trauma or from surgery, including tooth extraction,” Eisenberg says. “It can also prolong the course of jawbone infections, and it contributes to the intensity of inflammatory conditions of the gums and the jawbone, including periodontal disease.
By far, the most serious oral health hazard from smoking is oral cancer, and that has implications that go way beyond the mouth.
“Precancerous as well as cancerous oral lesions heighten the patient’s risk for developing additional cancers in the throat, the windpipe and the esophagus and other organs,” Eisenberg says. “All adults, whether they have teeth or not, should visit a dentist once a year for a complete examination of the mouth tissues. Most of the time, they will get a clean bill of health, but if changes that are suspicious for cancer or precancer are found, the earlier they are detected and managed, the better the outcome.”
Other health risks associated with smoking include cancers of the colon, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix, as well as acute myeloid leukemia, stroke, hip factures, cataracts, pneumonia and other airway infections, and pregnancy complications.
Thursday, November 19, is the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. The UConn Health Center, which is working toward a smoke-free campus, has several ongoing smoking cessation studies. More information, for both the public and the Health Center community, is available online:
- http://gcrc.uchc.edu/ads/Nicotine_Dependence.html
- http://employees.uchc.edu/engagement/cleanair.html
- http://today.uchc.edu/newsreleases/2009/mar09/smoking.html
- http://health.uchc.edu/clinicaltrials/pdfs/smokingstudy.pdf
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
Free Program on Aging and the Immune System December 3
FARMINGTON, CONN. – The key to living a longer and healthier life lies in keeping the immune system operating as efficiently and effectively as possible. As individuals grow older, however, their immune system loses its ability to fight off infections. The University of Connecticut Health Center’s Discovery Series will present a program on the effect of aging on the immune system Thursday, December 3.
The program is free and starts at 7 p.m. in the UConn Health Center’s Keller Auditorium. To register, call 800-535-6232, or register online at http://discoveryseries.uchc.edu.
Guest speaker Dr. William B. Ershler, of the Clinical Research Branch of the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, will address how the immune system changes as an individual ages, the effectiveness of vaccines later in life and ways to boost the immune system.
To get to the UConn Health Center main entrance: Entering the campus from Route 4, at the first stop sign, continue straight. Bear left at the fork and continue up the hill. The main entrance is straight past the next stop sign. Visitor parking is available on the other side of the gate. Directions to the UConn Health Center are available at http://www.uchc.edu/directions/home.html.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
Thanksgiving an Ideal Time to Review Family Health History
FARMINGTON, CONN. – Here’s one more thing for your holiday to-do list: Talk about your family’s health history when you get together with the relatives.
“Holidays can be the only times during the year when extended families are in the same place together, so Thanksgiving is really an ideal time to talk about previous generations – who had health problems, which ailments did they have, and how old were they when they had them,” says Jennifer Stroop, a certified genetic counselor at the University of Connecticut Health Center. “Family health history can go a long way in providing clues about our risk for common conditions like diabetes or heart disease.”
In 2004, the U.S. Surgeon General declared National Family History Day would be recognized annually on Thanksgiving.
UConn Health Center physicians say sharing family health history information with your provider is an important part of preventive medicine, and recommend taking the time to learn it – and write it down.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers a free web-based tool called My Family Health Portrait, which helps create a drawing of a family tree and a family health history chart. The chart and the drawing can be printed and shared with family members and health care professionals. It’s available at http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory.
Additionally, individuals can create a written record of medications, including dosage and frequency, as well as information on allergies, physicians and pharmacists. The UConn Health Center offers personal pocket medication cards for this purpose. They’re available for download at http://health.uchc.edu/medicard and by request by calling 800-535-6232 or 860-679-7692.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
Find Out During Free Program on November 10 at UConn Health Center
FARMINGTON, CONN. – Donald Somerville, D.M.D., M.S., director of the Center for Implant and Reconstructive Dentistry, will present a free talk about the benefits of natural-looking dental implants on Tuesday, November 10, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the University of Connecticut Health Center.
The talk will be held in the Center for Implant and Reconstructive Dentistry, which is on the main floor of the Health Center (use main hospital entrance). To register, call 800-535-6232.
Dr. Somerville became director of the dental implant center in 2008. He trained at some of the best dental programs in the country including the UConn School of Dental Medicine, Harvard University School of Dental Medicine and Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Baylor College of Dentistry.
To learn more about Dr. Somerville and the dental implant center, visit dentalimplants.uchc.edu.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
FARMINGTON, CONN. – Dr. Joseph Walker III, a physiatrist, has joined the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery within the University of Connecticut Health Center’s New England Musculoskeletal Institute.
Physiatrists specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Walker’s areas of interest include non-operative management of neck and back pain, including the use of interventional spine techniques to relieve pain. He also performs electrodiagnositic testing to evaluate injured nerves. He is seeing patients, by referral, in the Comprehensive Spine Center.
Walker completed a both a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation and a fellowship in pain medicine at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, a Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospital. While at Harvard he also trained in structural acupuncture. Walker earned his medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed an internal medicine internship at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore. He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
He is a resident of West Hartford.
More information about the New England Musculoskeletal Institute is available at http://nemsi.uchc.edu.
Photo: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/walker.jpg
Caption: Dr. Joseph Walker III, a physiatrist, is seeing patients at the New England Musculoskeletal Institute at the UConn Health Center.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
Occupational Illnesses in Connecticut Remain Stable But Still Higher Than National Average
Repetitive Motion Injury Continues as the Most Common Complaint
FARMINGTON, CONN. – Nearly 4,000 Connecticut workers reported an on-the-job related illness in 2007, about the same as the year before, according to a State Labor Department/Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. According to the Occupational Disease Report prepared for the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission by University of Connecticut Health Center occupational and environmental experts Tim Morse and Paula Schenk, the overall illness rate in Connecticut of 29.2 per 10,000 workers was only 3 percent higher than the previous year. Although this reflected a small decline in the rate of illness in private sector workplaces, the 2007 private sector illness rate in Connecticut of 26.5 per 10,000 workers was higher than the national average of 21.8. This was driven by Connecticut’s higher rates of hearing loss, respiratory conditions and repetitive trauma injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. Connecticut is below than the national average for poisonings and skin disorders.
"Tracking occupational diseases is the best way to help identify problems that are preventable," says Morse. "But they are typically harder to detect than injuries since they often occur over longer periods of time and can have multiple (including non-occupational) risks. It is extremely important for these diseases to be reported so we can understand what’s happening in the workplace and begin to fix it."
Local government workers (59.8 per 10,000 workers) and manufacturing workers (54.3 per 10,000) accounted for the highest rates of occupational illness in Connecticut. Education and health professionals, along with state government employees, also had higher rates than the state average.
Lost-time musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), which includes strains and sprains, stayed about the same as the year before, but the Connecticut rate of 52 per 10,000 workers is 47 percent higher than the national MSD rate of 35.4.
"Occupational disease can have major impacts on worker health, ability to work, and employer costs," explains Morse. "Some diseases, such as cancers from asbestos exposure, can be fatal. Other diseases, such as carpal tunnel syndrome from ergonomic problems, can result in high levels of disability. Prevention efforts can reduce both diseases and costs because, in theory at least, all occupational diseases are preventable."
The report is part of the Occupational Disease Surveillance System, a cooperative effort between the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Labor Department, the academic occupational health programs at the UConn Health Center and Yale University, and other state occupational health clinics. The system is designed to trace and prevent occupational disease. The report includes a "Who’s Who" of contact information for agencies and programs in occupational health and safety in Connecticut, as well as a list of the most useful websites nationally.
A free copy of the "Occupational Disease in Connecticut: 2009" report that reflects data for 2007, is available at http://www.oehc.uchc.edu/news.asp, or by calling the Workers’ Compensation Commission at 860-493-1500 or Morse at 860-679-4720.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
Emphasis on Injury Prevention in Middle School Athletes
FARMINGTON, CONN. – Former UConn women’s basketball great Jennifer Rizzotti, now coach of the University of Hartford women’s team, was the special guest at a girls’ sports injury prevention program at the UConn Health Center October 25. More information and photos are available at http://today.uchc.edu.
Photo: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/athletes_rizzotti.jpg
Caption: Kaileen Langois, 11, of Berlin, gets a high five from Jennifer Rizzotti after a round of mini-hoops at the UConn Health Center, where Rizzotti was a guest speaker at a sports injury prevention program for middle school girls October 25.
Photo: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/athletes_walk.jpg
Caption: Jennifer Rizzotti (third from left) joins a group of middle school athletes on a power walk at the UConn Health Center during a sports injury prevention program there October 25.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.
Calhoun Cardiology Center Receives American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines Bronze Performance Achievement Award
FARMINGTON, CONN. – The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center has received the Get With The GuidelinesSM–Heart Failure Bronze Performance Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. The recognition signifies that the Health Center has reached an aggressive goal of treating heart failure patients for at least 90 days with 85 percent compliance to core standard levels of care outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines for heart failure patients.
Get With The Guidelines is a quality improvement initiative that provides hospital staff with tools that follow proven evidence-based guidelines and procedures in caring for heart failure patients to prevent future hospitalizations. According to Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure treatment guidelines, heart failure patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics, and anticoagulants in the hospital. They also receive alcohol/drug use and thyroid management counseling as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged.
According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million people suffer from heart failure. Statistics also show each year more than 292,200 people will die of heart failure.
“The Calhoun Cardiology Center is dedicated to making our care for heart failure patients among the best in the country, and implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure program will help us accomplish this by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcome for these patients,” says cardiologist Jason Ryan.
Photo: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/cardiology_award.jpg
Caption: The American Heart Association’s Amanda McCulley (far right), presents the Get With The Guidelines Bronze Performance Achievement Award to Calhoun Cardiology Center’s (left to right) Allison Patavino, Linda Mickelson, Shelley Dietz, Dr. Patrick Campbell and Dr. Jason Ryan.
The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about the UConn Health Center is available at www.uchc.edu.
Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications home page at today.uchc.edu for archived news releases and other information.