Heart Attack Death Rate Higher on Weekends - New York Times
03/15/2007

An extensive study of heart attack patients in New Jersey finds that those who arrived at hospitals on weekends were less likely to receive aggressive treatment and were slightly more likely to die than those who arrived on weekdays. Duke's Eric D. Peterson, who led a similar study with a national sample of patients, found that although there was less angioplasty on weekends, there was no difference in mortality rates. "We couldn't prove that early catheterization was that key," Peterson said, using a term for same-day angioplasty.

Atkins diet vindicated? Well, maybe - Atlanta Journal Constitution
03/07/2007

In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from Stanford reported that the Atkins diet resulted in more weight loss over a year than three other diets — the Zone diet, Ornish diet and LEARN diet. The diet messages can be confusing, said Dr. Howard Eisenson, director of the Duke Diet and Fitness Center, who reminded people to eat a diet full of fruits and vegetables and to be physically active. "When it comes to our weight control, there really is no easy answer."

Study Raises Doubts About Lung Cancer Screening - New York Times
03/07/2007

A recent JAMA study found that lung cancer screening with CT scans does not appear to save lives, and it exposes people to serious risks of injury and even death from needless surgery. Duke's Ned Patz said "Survival is a meaningless statistic. What we want to do is reduce the number of people who die from lung cancer. And that is mortality. What we all want to know is mortality."

The Case Against Stents (Story and Video available) - Wall Street Journal
01/23/2007

Duke's Robert Harrington, M.D., discusses the pros and cons of drug-eluting stents in a special video as a part of the story, which also cites a a Duke study comparing the outcomes of patients with severe coronary artery disease who either receive a stent or coronary bypass surgery.

Need for bone drug may wane over time - Raleigh News & Observer
12/27/2006

Patients with weakened bones need not take costly bone-building drugs such as Fosamax for life to reap the medicine's protective benefits, suggests research published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association. "No one can say for sure how many people would be affected, but my gut says it could be 50, 60, even 70 percent of patients could stop these drugs," said Dr. Kenneth Lyles, a Duke internist and geriatrician who specializes in bone disorders.

Researcher working to solve mysteries of memory, aging - Triangle Business Journal
12/18/2006

Kathleen Welsh-Bohmer loves to dissect the brain's power to handle memory. A neuropsychologist, Welsh-Bohmer has led the Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Duke University since 1994. "My interest in the neurosciences has always been in how the brain processes memory," she says "It's something that always fascinated me. And Alzheimer's disease is very much about memory."

Children at Duke fight food allergies - Raleigh News & Observer
12/05/2006

In severely allergic children, a trace of peanut or smidgen of egg can trigger a deadly reaction. But new research by Duke physicians suggests a way out: feeding children gradually increasing amounts of the foods that sicken them.

Medication may help younger ADHD patients - Raleigh News & Observer
11/27/2006

Medicating children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is one of the thorniest ethical issues in pediatric medicine. Now research by ADHD specialists at Duke and elsewhere stands to make it even tougher, suggesting that drugs such as Ritalin work to ease symptoms in toddlers as young as 3.

New Life To Those With Knee Problems - WRAL-TV
11/13/2006

Replacing knee replacements is becoming more common as the population ages and continues a healthy lifestyle, said Duke orthopedic surgeon Michael Bolognesi, M.D.

Study: Women live longer with heart failure than men - Durham Herald-Sun
11/12/2006

Women tend to live longer with heart failure than do men, and they also tend to have a less severe form of the disease, which is characterized by reduced performance of the heart muscle, according to a study by Duke cardiologists Camille Frazier, M.D., and Pamela Douglas, M.D.

Anger a Deadly Sin for Heart Patients - ABC News
11/12/2006

Tightness in the chest. Sweaty palms. A racing pulse. These consequences of rage are familiar to anyone who has ever let their anger get the best of them. For certain heart patients, however, sudden death can be officially added to the list, according to a new study. Duke's Redford Williams is featured.

Predicting better cancer treatments - National Public Radio
10/23/2006

A new test appears to be 80 percent accurate in predicting which drugs would be most effective in treating a particular patient's cancer. Is it the next big breakthrough?

Incentives, options lure nursing grads away from faculty positions - Durham Herald-Sun
10/23/2006

Duke's response to the growing shortage of nurses.

Trying to pinpoint warning signs of rhythm trouble from medicines - Wall Street Journal
10/21/2006

Now, in a project that is part of an FDA initiative to improve drug development, researchers at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and elsewhere are launching efforts to better understand the risk for such drug reactions. The aim is to develop earlier warning signals to help both research scientists and physicians writing prescriptions predict when medicines are worrisome and when they are not.

Bypass is Best for Sickest Heart Patients - The New Jersey Star Ledger
10/03/2006

Patients with severe heart disease live longer if they receive by pass surgery as an initial treatment instead of undergoing angioplasty or just drug therapy, according to a new Duke University Medical Center study.

NIH Funds Network for Medical Research - Washington Post
10/03/2006

Duke University Medical Center receives $52.7 million from the National Institutes of Health to create the Duke Translational Medicine INstitute.

Duke spruces up kids' O.R.s with flair - Durham Herald-Sun
07/14/2006

Duke Hospital unveils newly renovated pediatric operating suite.

The Grim Neurology of Teenage Drinking - New York Times
07/04/2006

The costs of early heavy drinking, experts say, appear to extend far beyond the time that drinking takes away from doing homework, dating, acquiring social skills, and the related tasks of growing up. Mounting research suggests that alcohol causes more damage to the developing brains of teenagers than was previously thought, injuring them significantly more than it does adult brains. The story quotes Duke researchers Aaron White and Scott Swartzwelder.

Age of Transfused Blood May Play Part in Recovery - New York Times
06/27/2006

Transfusions with blood that has been stored for long periods of time may decrease the survival rates for seriously ill surgery patients, a new report by Duke researchers Elliott Bennett-Guerrero, M.D., suggests.

Duke chaplain finalist for award - Durham Herald Sun
06/26/2006

Dagney Jochem, 65, a Duke University Medical Center chaplain, who directs a program ministering to HIV patients and their families primarily in rural areas, is among 15 finalists for a new award recognizing Americans over age 60 who have used their experience and skills to tackle social problems.

Can Deadly Peanut Allergies Be Cured? - Good Morning America
06/23/2006

Just being in the same room as peanuts can send Liam Park into a violent allergy attack. And yet, the 4-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., intentionally eats peanut flour every day. Liam is part of a potentially groundbreaking study at Duke Medical Center aimed at finding out whether children with peanut allergies can be desensitized to peanuts and eventually cured of their ailment altogether.

Use of Antipsychotics by the Young Rose Fivefold - New York Times
06/06/2006

"We are using these medications and don't know how they work, if they work, or at what cost," said Dr. John March, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Duke University. "It amounts to a huge experiment with the lives of American kids, and what it tells us is that we've got to do something other than we're doing now" to assess the drugs' overall impact.

Nobel Laureate's Fitness Routine - Wall Street Journal
05/23/2006

A column about 2003 Nobel laureate Peter Agre, and why he transitioned from long-distance running to biking and swimming, and how his rigorous fitness routine makes him feel as good as he did when he was 18.

Goal: Intensify treatment for heart patients - USA Today
05/16/2006

Mounting evidence that scores of heart patients can avoid second heart attacks or strokes with intensive treatment to reduce their risks prompted the nation's two top heart organizations on Monday to jointly issue new prevention recommendations. Duke cardiologist Robert Califf says primary prevention studies are far more difficult to carry out because they require tens of thousands of low-risk people and may take decades to yield clear results. For instance, he says, the Women's Health Initiative study failed to prove something that most people take for granted: that a low-fat diet helps healthy women prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Resurfacing Procedure on Trial for Aging Hips - NPR
05/04/2006

Duke orthopedic surgeon Thomas Vail, M.D., discusses a relatively new approach to hip replacements.