News
Fritz discusses food insecurity resources for Middle Tennessee residents
Dec. 7, 2022—As we head into the holiday season, many of us are looking forward to some delicious traditional dishes. But inflation means that preparing those meals could be significantly more expensive. To learn more about how this issue is impacting our communities, we are joined by local resident, farmer and restaurant owner. Then, we’ll hear from...
Phibbs and VUMC’s Parkinson’s Disease Quality Improvement Committee receive national certification for patient care
Dec. 6, 2022—Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently became the nation’s second health care organization to receive The Joint Commission’s (TJC) Gold Seal of Approval for Parkinson’s Disease Certification. A nonprofit organization better known for accrediting hospitals and other health care organizations, TJC, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, also offers more than 100 specialized certification programs based on...
Starnes investigates Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients and likelihood for early age mortality
Nov. 30, 2022—by Kelsey Pinckard Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disorder affecting boys and characterized by progressive muscle loss and weakness. This muscle deterioration eventually involves the heart, culminating in cardiac-related death. While some DMD patients survive into their 40s, others have accelerated disease onset and die before adulthood. Joseph Starnes, MD, MPH, and colleagues sought...
Reid investigates high risk breast cancer genes and needs for surgical treatment
Nov. 25, 2022—Women with inherited mutations in breast cancer genes have lifetime varying breast cancer risks, ranging from high (e.g., 40% or more for BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2) to moderate (e.g., 20% or higher for ATM, CHEK2) risk genes. Per national practice guidelines, risk-reducing bilateral mastectomy is a consideration for patients with inherited mutations in high- but not...
Umeukeje and Koonce discuss removing racial metrics from functional kidney assessments
Nov. 23, 2022—An in-depth analysis of published research studies supports removing race from the calculation of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) — an assessment of kidney function. Although measured GFR (mGFR) is the gold standard for evaluating kidney function, it requires infusing chemicals into the blood and quantifying them in urine. Estimated GFR is calculated from the...
McKernan finds meditation and medication are both notably effective in reducing symptoms in anxiety patients
Nov. 22, 2022—The first study ever to directly compare medication to meditation for anxiety finds the two methods work equally well at reducing symptoms. The finding, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, suggests that people struggling with anxiety could be helped either by a daily pill (which could come with side effects) or a daily practice of mindfulness (which...
Hartet discusses vehicle fossil fuel emissions and impacts on population health
Nov. 21, 2022—Vanderbilt Health’s DNA: Discoveries in Action released a new episode, “How To… Fill In The Knowledge Gap.” This series explores the various facets of nature to build a blueprint that showcases how the current environment impacts health. During this episode, a new set of Vanderbilt Health experts dive deeper into how vehicle fossil fuel emissions...
Tsosie to be ASU’s first Indigenous human geneticist
Nov. 17, 2022—Krystal Tsosie, MPH (Diné/Navajo Nation) is an advocate for Indigenous genomic and data sovereignty. She is a co-founder of the first U.S. Indigenous-led biobank, a 501(c)3 nonprofit research institution called the Native BioData Consortium. Her current research at Arizona State University centers on ethical engagement with Indigenous communities to ensure Indigenous peoples equitably benefit from precision...
Medical director Young discusses Firefly, a program directed towards aiding pregnant women with substance use disorders
Nov. 16, 2022—Last month, the Biden administration released a new report announcing that they will use federal courts and health programs to expand the use of medication to treat substance use disorders in pregnant women — and one of those health programs, Firefly, is in Nashville. Today, we’re joined by a mother and a current recovery coach to learn more about...
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine proves save for young children from 6 months to 5 years, says Creech
Nov. 15, 2022—Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in children 6 months to 5 years of age, a clinical trial co-led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center vaccine expert C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, has found. Results of the two-part KidCOVE study of nearly 13,000 children conducted last year at 87 sites in the United States and Canada...
Hypotension, abdominal pain, rashes, and low sodium levels may be indicators of MIS-C (Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children), says Katz
Nov. 13, 2022—Hospitals in New York and overseas began seeing a small number of children who developed severe multisystem inflammation, with cases occurring one week to two months following an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, in early 2021. The symptoms overlapped considerably with those of acute COVID. Yet, as they began appearing in other states reaching COVID-19 peaks, researchers from...
Nicholson studies adverse events in hospitalized children from Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) bacterial infections
Nov. 10, 2022—Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), labeled an urgent threat by federal health officials, is a bacterium that can be associated with severe gastrointestinal events and is frequently hospital-acquired. While the incidence of C. diff infections increased from the 1990s to the early 2000s, studies looking at the rate of infections more recently in a pediatric population...
Antoon discussed children’s vulnerability to RSV amid rising cases
Nov. 9, 2022—You may have seen respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., in the news recently, as rates of the virus have ticked up across the United States. R.S.V. usually circulates from late December to mid-February. But this year, an early spike in cases is resulting in markedly higher numbers of infections and hospitalizations. As rising R.S.V. rates...
Hung uses the Million Veteran Program, a genetic biobank, to investigate associations of COVID and acute kidney failure in Black patients
Nov. 8, 2022—Early in the pandemic in 2020, Adriana Hung, MD, MPH, an associate professor of nephrology who treats patients at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, noticed that a disproportionate number of Black patients hospitalized with the coronavirus were dying of acute kidney failure. To test her theory that the virus might be activating two mutations of the APOL1...
Schaffner discusses rise in RSV cases and hospitalization influx
Nov. 4, 2022—A surge in respiratory illnesses among children is beginning to put a strain on hospitals. In particular, hospitals are seeing a rise in cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a common cold virus that can be associated with severe disease in young children and older adults. Cases are rising in multiple US regions, with...