Her diagnosis was scary: Alzheimer’s Disease. So Myriam Torres was desperate for accurate information and help with coping with what the future might bring.

Her diagnosis was scary: Alzheimer’s Disease. So Myriam Torres was desperate for accurate information and help with coping with what the future might bring.

“I must have had to make six phone calls before I got to the right place. It was so frustrating. I even had a social worker friend trying to help me. And finally I got somebody,” says Torres, a 58-year-old Ypsilanti Township, Mich. resident.

Torres’ story is not uncommon. That’s why the University of Michigan Health System has established a new phone number that connects patients and their families and friends to University of Michigan memory loss and dementia services. The number for the new U-M Memory Connection is 734-936-8803.

“We need to do a better job of helping our patients and families find their way,” says Henry Paulson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center and professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“We don’t want patients, their families and friends to spend a lot of time on routes that don’t lead to answers. And the U-M Memory Connection call center is a great start to solving that problem.”

The U-M Memory Connection is designed to be a one-stop resource to learn about and connect to U-M memory loss and dementia services. The goal is to help individuals and families affected by memory and/or thinking changes to learn about services in an easy, non-stressful way, Paulson says.

Calls will be answered by a trained professional who understands conditions such as mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy Body disease, frontotemporal dementia, and vascular dementia. The line is answered Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the goal of providing service within the next business day or sooner.

“This is a huge health problem that affects all of us. We need to do a better job of making the diagnosis but also implementing care … it can be very difficult for patients to navigate their way,” Paulson says.

U-M Memory Connection can offer advice and information about multiple clinics and departments at the University of Michigan, including the Cognitive Disorders Clinic, Geriatric Psychiatry, Neuropsychology, Pharmacology and the Turner Geriatric Clinic.

The call center specialists  also can provide links to services like the Silver Club Programs at the U-M Geriatrics Center, social work and community programs, the Housing Bureau for Seniors and the Drive-Ability program through U-M’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department.

Patients and families also can be connected to research studies on various topics.

“Many people experience changes with memory as they age. Some changes are normal, but other changes could be a sign of memory loss and we know it is important to understand that difference. Our call center specialists  can answer some of the difficult questions you may have at the time of a diagnosis and beyond, ” says Cassie Starback, coordinator of the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center.

U-M Memory Connection was developed  in collaboration  with the U-M Dementia Consortium, which was established by the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center. The consortium is comprised of various U-M departments and institutions, such as Neurology, , Geriatrics Center, U-M School of Public Health, U-M School of Social Work and also the local chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association .

Torres says she’s glad to know that U-M is offering a phone line that can help others find the support and information they need. Torres, who was eventually diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, actively participates in programs through the Silver Club, but wishes she could have found out about it sooner.

“I really needed to be with people who are like me,” says Torres, who is a retired statistical analyst. “This group looks like me, is dealing with the same issues. I knew I was going to be fine in this group. I have a lot of people who understand me.”

Bronson Freedom from Smoking Program Begins This Month

“Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a thousand times,” Mark Twain famously joked. For smokers like Twain who confidently resolve to kick the habit only to find themselves helpless against the urge to light up, there may be a solution.

Classes for Bronson Methodist Hospital’s Freedom From Smoking® program begin this month. The program was designed by the American Lung Association using cutting-edge research on addiction and behavior change. Studies evaluating the 25-year-old program’s results show that participants are six times more likely to be smoke-free one year later than those who try to quit on their own.

Experts from Bronson will work with each smoker to create a personalized plan for quitting. “Participants learn what triggers their smoking, when they’re most likely to smoke and the best way to approach the quitting process,” according to Bronson program facilitator, Tonia Atteberry.

The 7-week, 8-session classes are scheduled from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. on February 28, March 6, 15, 20, 22, 27, April 3, and 10 at the Bronson Gilmore Center for Health Education in Kalamazoo. The $65 cost-per-person includes workbooks and materials.

Visit www.bronsonhealth.com/classes or call (269) 341-6947 to register.

Line is first from U-M accepted to the U.S. National Institutes of Health registry, now available for federally-funded researchThe University of Michigan’s first human embryonic stem cell line will be placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research. It is the first of the stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan to be placed on the registry.

The line, known as UM4-6, is a genetically normal line, derived in October 2010 from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. That embryo was created for reproduction but was no longer needed for that purpose and was therefore about to be discarded.

“This is significant, because acceptance of these cells on the registry demonstrates our attention to details of proper oversight, consenting, and following of NIH guidelines established in 2009,” says Gary Smith, Ph.D., who derived the line and also is co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.

“It now makes the line available to researchers who can apply for federal funding to use it in their work; this is an important step.”

The line is the culmination of years of planning and preparation and was made possible by Michigan voters’ November 2008 approval of a state constitutional amendment permitting scientists here to derive embryonic stem cell lines using surplus embryos from fertility clinics or embryos with genetic abnormalities and not suitable for implantation.

“We expect these cells will be used by investigators worldwide to enhance our  understanding of stem cell biology, and together with disease-specific lines, discover treatments and cures for genetic diseases,” says Smith, who is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

U-M is among just a handful of U.S. universities creating human embryonic stem cell lines. There are only 147 stem cell lines available on the registry.

“We envision in the future that investigators will be able to use the genetically normal embryonic stem cell lines like UM4-6, together with disease-specific embryonic stem cell lines, as a model system to investigate what causes these diseases and come up with treatments,” says Sue O’Shea, professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, and co-director of the Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies.

U-M also has two other human embryonic stem cells lines submitted to the national registry. Both are disease specific, the first carrying the genetic defect that causes hemophilia B, and the other carries the gene responsible for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a hereditary neurological disorder.

Smith expects to soon submit eight additional human embryonic stem lines for consideration on the national registry: three genetically normal and five new disease specific lines.

This is a historic achievement that will lead to treatments and cures for serious, life-altering diseases and is more evidence that our University of Michigan researchers are leading the world in cutting-edge science that will impact health around the globe, says Eva Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.

“This is another major step forward for medical science in Michigan. This opens us another avenue for researchers to really begin exploring the causes and progression of those diseases, with the ultimate goal of finding new therapies for patients,” says Feldman.

Contributors to the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute’s Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies include the Taubman Institute; the Office of the Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs; the Office of the Medical School Dean; the Comprehensive Cancer Center; the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases; the Office of the Vice President for Research; the School of Dentistry; the Department of Pathology; the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology; the College of Engineering; the Life Sciences Institute; the Department of Neurology; and U-M’s Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research.

A. Alfred Taubman, founder and chair of U-M’s Taubman Institute, called the registry placement a tremendous step for stem cell research.

“I consider stem cells to be a modern medical miracle – the most exciting advance in medicine since antibiotics. The progress we have made throughout the state in stem cell research has been nothing short of remarkable,” says Taubman.

“This milestone means much to the University of Michigan and the state of Michigan, but also to the world. It offers another route for researchers to move ahead in studying these horrible diseases. We hope it is the first of many lines that the University of Michigan can contribute to the global efforts to improve human health.”

For more information about the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School, visitwww.taubmaninstitute.org

For more information about stem cell research at U-M, visit http://www.umich.edu/stemcell

Video Portion – Gary Smith Ph.D. - ZRA1GgmAlqw

In the past, women who were treated for breast cancer had few options for restoring their original look. Advances in technology and new medical procedures have opened the doors to new methods of breast reconstruction. Lately some surgeons are using a technique that involves using implants and injections of fat.

With this procedure, fat is taken from another part of the body and injected into the breast area. This not only helps to build up the breast, it acts as support for the breast implant.

If you would like to be part of this story line please respond to this posting with the best way and best time to reach back to you.

Please respond to this posting if you are interested and the best way to reach back to you.

The question was – “does the State’s ethic rules speak to whether a law firm must designate “associate” or “partner” to an attorneys name/title for use within marketing material?  Or can you simply designate “attorney” as an identifier?

“The worst of the summer-hiring slump for law students may be over, according to law school administrators and management consultants.”

“A pickup in litigation and transactional work over the last year, along with projections of modestly better revenue and earnings for 2012, is prompting some law firms to reinvigorate their summer hiring plans, said Paula Alvary, principal of consulting firm Hoffman Alvary, which advises law firms on strategy and management.”

The entire article can be reviewed by visiting http://preview.tinyurl.com/7akmb6w

Question? – Do you or your firm plan to hire summer help this year? What are your thoughts, either way?

It may sound like something from a TV medical drama, but the incidence of surgeons leaving something behind in the body is very real at hospitals across the country. For decades, surgical teams have relied on counting — and recounting — the sponges, needles, blades, retractors, and other items used during operations.

But the University of Michigan Health System has created a new system using state-of-the-art technologies to insure that no foreign objects are left behind during surgery, reducing potentially serious medical errors.

“Having a foreign object left behind during surgery is something we consider a ‘never event,’ ” says Ella Kazerooni, M.D., M.S., professor of radiology at the U-M and associate chair of clinical affairs at the U-M Health System. “It’s something that should never happen.

“Unfortunately in complex cases, surgical cases that involve emergencies or in very large patients, items can be left behind in the body and we want to do everything we can to prevent that,” she says.
Some of the methods put into practice at the U-M to prevent retained surgical objects:

• Bar-coded sponges. Sponges are the most frequent item to be left behind after surgery, but with bar-coded sponges, computers help do the counting. Bar codes are scanned when sponges are used and scanned again when they’re taken out of the body. If there’s a count discrepancy, the surgeon knows to search the surgical field for something that may have been overlooked.
• Electronic radiology orders. The U-M transitioned from a manual radiology order to an electronic order system to quickly call for help to locate retained objects. X-rays to find retained items are performed while the patient is still in the operating room.

“The practice of manually counting is a long-standing practice within the OR,” says Shawn Murphy, R.N., nursing director of University of Michigan Health System operating rooms. “Surgical teams may count more than a hundred items in a single case.”

The kinds of items include instruments used during procedures, needles for suturing or sponges used to pack the incision area open to improve the view of the surgical field.

But radiology can play a key role in prevention of retained surgical objects. X-rays can identify metal items, and also soft goods. The bar-coded sponges contain a radiopaque tag, allowing a radiologist to see it on an x-ray.

“The challenges of involving radiology in the operating room are mostly ones of communication and timing,” Kazerooni says. “First, the surgical team needs to recognize that there may be a possible retained foreign object. Once they do, there needs to be good communication with the radiology department to get the technologist into the OR as quickly as possible. We don’t want to delay the surgery or lengthen the anesthesia time unnecessarily.”

Reducing the incidence of retained surgical instruments is a key patient safety goal of the U-M’s Department of Surgery.  The U-M performs about 46,000 surgical cases a year, and conducts some of the most advanced heart, vascular, transplant and cancer surgeries in the country.

Operating rooms in the Health System’s University Hospital, U-M Cardiovascular Center and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital are part of the initiative to prevent retained surgical items.

The system has helped:  it’s been more than a year since an event at the U-M, and intraoperative imaging continues to improve.

“The University of Michigan is leading the way in reducing retained foreign objects in the operating room,” says Kazerooni. “It’s a combination of using new technologies as well as culture change, teamwork and collaboration that’s making it possible.”