But in the latest C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, just one in 100 parents believe their kids have used prescription stimulants or amphetamine to boost grades, even though some studies show one in 10 teens have reported using “study drugs.”

Matt Davis, M.D. appeared live yesterday morning on WDIV-TV’s Local 4 News morning program to talk about the study:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Students-using-drugs-to-help-them-study/-/1719418/20216190/-/q0ipjiz/-/index.html

This story has also been featured in other news outlets:

FoxNews
Science Daily

You can read more in the UMHS press release, and see a short video.

Markel, who directs the Medical School’s Center for the History of Medicine, notes that no Institutional Review Board today would approve Jenner’s approach, in which he applied pus from a milkmaid’s cowpox blisters to a scar on the arm of an 8-year-old boy. From that day in 1796, the modern approach to vaccinating against smallpox evolved – and now the disease has been wiped from the face of the earth.

Read Dr. Markel’s entire article at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/05/the-day-doctors-began-to-conquer-smallpox.html – and at the end, click the links to see his past columns for PBS.

On Monday afternoon, a team of U-M scientists and their colleagues published the first evidence that circadian rhythms are altered in the brains of people with depression, even at the level of gene activity.

The study, led by Jun Li, Ph.D., Human Genetics/Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, and Huda Akil, Ph.D., Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, has gotten widespread media attention and has been shared widely on social media.

Follow these links to see stories in the Detroit Free Press, Science News magazine, HealthDay, the Xinhua news service in China, and the Independent newspaper in London. Many more articles have appeared or will soon.

For the UMHS press release, see http://umhealth.me/depsync.

For a brief description of the release on the new UMHS NeuroHealth blog, see http://umhealth.me/17XVnJH.

Web Address: http://umhealth.me/17XVnJH

Brian Griese, Steve Hutchinson and Charles Woodson host 7th annual Champions for Children’s Hearts

The 7th Annual Champions for Children’s Hearts celebrity gala and golf tournament – presented by Delta Airlines and Lexus of Ann Arbor and hosted by Brian Griese, Steve Hutchinson and Charles Woodson — is Friday, May 17 – Sunday, May 19.

The weekend event, has raised nearly $5 million over the past six years, and will benefit C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and the U-M Congenital Heart Center.

The weekend will kick-off Friday, May 17 with an 11-hour radio-a-thon from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sports Talk 1050 WTKA-AM, featuring Mott patients, former U-M football players and coaches to raise funds for The Charles Woodson Clinical Research Fund. This fund supports research to help cure illnesses and develop advances to help improve the quality of life of sick children. Listeners that day can make a contribution by calling 800-559-2657 or online at wtka.com or givetomott.org.

Donations are accepted at any level but fans will receive giveaways for donating at the following levels:

$25: Seat cushions, game day-approved

$50: Charles Woodson t-shirt

$120: Custom Fathead Block M logo with Charles Woodson signature

$240: U-M Mini autographed helmets

$500: Scrimmage sideline passes and U-M autographed mini helmet (quantity 40)

$1,000: Autographed football by Griese, Hutchinson and Woodson (quantity 3)

$1,500: Woodson Lounge access at M Den for 2 people from 4-6:00pm on May 17th. Guests can bring 1 item to be autographed (quantity 15)

$2,500: Full-size helmet signed by everyone at WTKA on May 17th (quantity 1)

$500: Block ‘M’ flag signed by all athletes at WTKA on May 17th – auctioned off all day, $500 opening bid (quantity 1)

A special gala dinner on Saturday evening will feature more than 500 celebrity athletes, sponsors and supporters from across the country at the Al Glick Fieldhouse at 1000 S. State Street in Ann Arbor. The evening will feature a silent and live auction, dinner and a program featuring former Mott patients.

On Sunday, over 40 former U-M athletes and celebrities, current and former NFL players and personalities will join sponsors and Mott Hospital supporters for a round of golf at the U-M Golf Course located at 500 E. Stadium Blvd. in Ann Arbor. Athletes and celebrities expected to attend (attendees subject to change):

Charles Woodson – current DB

Jay Feely – K, Arizona Cardinals

David Baas –OL, NY Giants

Larry Foote – LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Jake Long – OL, St. Louis Rams

Tony Scheffler – TE, Detroit Lions

Ryan Lindley – QB, Arizona Cardinals

Former offensive lineman – Steve Hutchinson, Zach Adami, Jeff Backus, Steve Everitt, Steve Fraizer, Ben Mast, Marc Milia, Maurice Williams, Klye Frolich and Joe Sgroi

Former quarterbacks – John Navarre, Scott Driesbach, John Wangler, Dave Brandon and Jeff Kastl

Former backs – Chris Perry, Chris Floyd, Anthony Thomas and Mike Hart

Former tight ends –Mark Campbell, Aaron Shea, Kevin Koger, Andy Mignery and Jerame Tuman

Former receivers – Amani Toomer and Ron Bellamy

Former kickers – Phil Brabbs and Remy Hamiliton

Former defensive lineman – James Hall, Glen Steele, Brian Townsend and Rob Renes

Former linebackers – Clint Copenhaver, PJ Cwayna, Vic Hobson, Dhani Jones, Chris Singletary, Rob Swett and Eric Mayes

Former defensive backs – Jamar Adams, Erik Campbell, Zia Combs, Marlin Jackson, Cato June, Morgan Trent and Marcus Ray

Coaches – Brady Hoke, Al Borges, Lloyd Carr, Ron English, Bob Lopez, Roy Manning and Greg Mattison

Basketball – Stu Douglas, Zack Novak, Travis Conlan, Dugan Fife, Jimmy King and CJ Lee

Swimming – Dan Ketchum and Peter Vanderkaay

Wrestler – Pat Owen

Hockey – Marty Turco

Sports Broadcasters – Brian Griese, Dana Jacobson and Adam Schefter

Voices of UM football – Frank Beckmann and Jim Brandstatter

For more information on Champions for Children’s Hearts please visit champsforchildren.org.

Web Address: http://uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201305/former-u-m-football-stars-host-celebrity-gala-and-golf

This unprecedented data release is receiving widespread media coverage, from the New York Times to the Detroit Free Press. Most stories have focused on the wide variation between hospitals in billing costs and actual reimbursement payments.

The Times even built an interactive map of the U.S. that gives quick access to the Medicare billing and reimbursement data for every hospital in the country – and assigns a colored dot to each one based on where their costs fall in relation to national averages. See http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/08/business/how-much-hospitals-charge.html?ref=business

How does UMHS compare, and why? Here are some key points:

• These data show that we are slightly above the national average in our pricing for the 100 conditions listed, and that we receive reimbursement from Medicare at rates that are somewhat higher than the national average.

• The payment we receive for treating Medicare patients is set by the federal government, not us, and takes into account how sick the patient is. Since we care for some of the most acutely ill patients in the country, including transfers from other hospitals and patients with underlying conditions that complicate their care, it is not surprising that we should be reimbursed at a higher rate.

• Our Medicare reimbursement also includes payments that offset some of our costs for caring for a disproportionate share of uninsured patients, and for paying for the salaries, training and supervision of more than 1,100 resident physicians.

• We absorb more than $197 million per year in the cost of uncompensated patient care, and the federal government takes this into account when reimbursing us for the care we provide to people who have Medicare.

• We strive to provide high-value care at all times – for the Medicare system, private insurers and all those who pay for our care.

Feel free to share this article with others who are interested in the cost of health care, and this latest release of data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

You can see the actual data for yourself at http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4596

For a fact sheet with more about Medicare price variation, from CMS, see http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/factsheet.asp?Counter=4597

Web Address: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/08/business/how-much-hospitals-charge.html?ref=business

The study was led by Mary A.M. Rogers, Ph.D., M.S., research assistant professor in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and research director of the Patient Safety Enhancement Program at the U-M Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

The study was also covered by several other outlets in the U.S. and U.K., including the following:

See press release on study here: http://umhealth.me/braingut

Adults with depression, widowed Americans and seniors who live alone more likely to develop Clostridium difficile infection; some antidepressants modify risk.

Adults with depression and who receive certain types of anti-depressants have an increased risk of developing Clostridium difficile, a costly and serious hospital-associated infection, according to a new University of Michigan Health System study.

Older Americans who were widowed and those who lived alone were also more likely to develop C. difficile, a bacterium that causes a growing number of serious infections in U.S. hospitals and nursing homes and is responsible for more than 7,000 deaths a year in the country. Symptoms range from diarrhea to life-threatening colon inflammation.

The findings appear in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Medicine.

“We have long known that depression is associated with changes in the gastrointestinal system. In our research, we have shown that adults with depression are more likely to develop Clostridium difficile infection – a potentially fatal infection. Each year in the US, there are more than 300,000 such infections in hospitals alone,” says lead author Mary Rogers, Ph.D., M.S., research assistant professor in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and research director of the Patient Safety Enhancement Program at the U-M Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

“These findings will help us better identify those at risk of C. difficile infection and hopefully encourage exploration of the underlying interactions between the brain and the gut.”

In a nationally representative sample of older Americans, Rogers and her colleagues found that individuals with major depression were 36 percent more likely to develop C. difficile infection than those without depression. Adults who were widowed had a 54 percent greater risk than married peers while those who lived with others had a 25 percent decreased risk compared to those who lived alone.

“We know that older people who live alone are more likely to experience depression so it’s possible that the link between C. difficile infection and widowhood reflects the relationship between depression and this type of infection,” says Rogers, who is also a member of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

Authors also found that patients who received common antidepressants Remeron (mirtazapine) and Prozac (fluoxetine) were twice as likely to test positive for C. difficile. Both drugs have previously been linked to gastrointestinal side effects. Meanwhile, most types of antidepressants did not affect infection risk.

It is unclear whether the increase in infection risk is due to microbial changes in the gut during depression or to the medications associated with depression, authors note.

“This relationship between specific anti-depressants and C. difficile is new and needs to be studied further,” Rogers says. “People with these prescriptions should not stop taking them unless otherwise advised by their physician.”

The team of U-M researchers is a part of the Enterics Research Investigational Network Cooperative Research Centers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Survey shows child passengers often in cars with distracted drivers; many youngsters also not in the right size safety seat

Many parents are putting their precious cargo at risk while driving, according to survey results that will be presented May 5 and 6 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC.

Researchers from the University of Michigan surveyed more than 600 parents to find out what distractions they face while driving with their children, whether they use age-appropriate child restraints and if they had ever been in a motor vehicle accident.

Responses to questions on distracted driving showed the following:

• Almost 90 percent of drivers reported engaging in at least one technology-based distraction while driving their child in the past month, and most drivers reported engaging in four of the 10 distractions asked about in the study.

• Drivers who reported engaging in distracting behaviors were more likely to report having ever been in a crash.

• Drivers of children who were not restrained in an age-appropriate restraint based on Michigan law (car seat for children ages 1-3, car seat or booster seat for those 4-7 years old, booster seat or seat belt for 8- to 12-year-olds) had 2.5 times higher odds of reporting a child-related distraction than drivers of children who were restrained in accordance with Michigan law.

“Lots of attention has been given to distracted teen drivers. However, our results indicate parents are frequently distracted while driving their 1- to 12-year-old children, and these distracted drivers were more likely to have been in a crash,” said lead author Michelle L. Macy, MD, MS, FAAP, clinical lecturer in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at University of Michigan and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

Read more here.

Web Address: http://uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201305/many-parents-multi-task-while-driving-kids

CollaborateposterF2b.pdf

The collaborate! initiative at the North Campus Research Complex is sponsoring a day-long workshop on May 13 focusing on collaborative research in the academic environment.

Consisting of speakers, interactive working sessions, and networking opportunities, this workshop explores the critical role of interdisciplinary collaboration and team science in a successful research career. We will hear stories of successes and challenges from a diverse group of researchers, as well as current trends in collaborative research.

This inaugural event will initiate an ongoing dialogue on how to facilitate and implement collaborative research.

The program will take place May 13 from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at NCRC. The deadline to register is May 9.

Click here for more information.

Web Address: http://ncrc.cms.si.umich.edu/partnerships/collaboratencrc-speakers-seminars/collaborating-across-disciplines-research-imperative

The poster, which took the prize in the Increasing Donor Awareness category, highlighted the Wolverines for Life campaign and Be a Hero at the Big House donor drive.

Wolverines for Life was formed in 2010 as a collaborative effort raise donor awareness and increase donor registration within the University of Michigan and beyond.

Since 2010, the percentage of Michigan adults registered as organ donors has increased from 23 percent to 32 percent.

“Donor organizations and transplant centers can benefit from working collaboratively toward common goals,” the poster says. “Our inclusive message of “save a life – choose to become a donor” resonates with our common audience of blood donors, organ donors and bone marrow donors among the university community and the general public.”

For more about Wolverines for Life, visit www.wolverinesforlife.org.