Health in the news

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With cold and flu season ahead, when should you get your vaccines in the fall?

By Keenan Smith  Kids are returning to school and with fall on the way, cold and flu season isn’t too far off either. Looking ahead, it could be a busy season with cold, flu, COVID-19 and monkeypox all in circulation. While there are vaccines for many of them, it raises a lot of questions about timing. Dr. Teena Chopra, a professor of infectious diseases at Wayne State University, said that based on what’s happening in the southern hemisphere, flu season could be really bad. If you’re one of the Michiganders in line for a flu shot, COVID-19 booster and possibly the monkeypox vaccine, Chopra said in most cases you can get them at the same time. “You know, especially people who don’t want to make multiple trips to get their vaccine shots,” Chopra said.  
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How Michigan universities are educating students about monkeypox

By Keenan Smith  For college students, the fall semester is just days away, and for another school year, there will be concerns about large groups of people in close proximity. It’s not only COVID-19 this year, but also the growing number of cases of monkeypox. No cases have been identified on campuses in Michigan, but they have been reported on a number of other college campuses. Monkeypox is a new challenge for colleges, but lessons learned from COVID-19 could provide a path forward. Wayne State, like other Michigan universities, is launching an information campaign this week for the return to campus for the school’s 25,000 students. “Our efforts are sort of multi-pronged. But the first is always education,” Laurie Lauzon Clabo, the university’s chief health and wellness officer said. She said Wayne State will use lessons learned from COVID-19 to raise awareness about monkeypox, like how it’s spread and symptoms to watch for. “We developed a coronavirus web page for the university’s website. We will do the same for monkeypox,” she said. Regular updates are beginning this week and officials are tapping into campus experts in epidemiology and infectious disease. The university is also working to fight the stigma of monkeypox. “Monkeypox is not a gay disease. It is not a disease of men who have sex with men. It is a disease that is spread by close contact,” Clabo said.  
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Wayne State program to offer mental health support for first responders

By Dave Kinchen and David Komer  We know from recent events more and more first responders are feeling burned out – due to stress, long hours, and graphic things they see that they can’t speak to others about. But now there’s help. “We are talking about police, firefighters, dispatchers, corrections officers and EMS. It’s a different population,” said Dr. Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist who directs the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic at Wayne State University. “They have their own different experiences.” Wayne State’s Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Sciences Department has developed the Frontline Stronger Together Program to give first responders mental and emotional support. “The trauma and stress in this population is different than most other people in the way that, if I have a horrible car accident or I may be assaulted, then I come back to my usual, safe, normal life and I can recover,” said Javanbakht. “For these people – it’s every single day…We have different ways of helping. Part is therapy or psychotherapy, or what we call talking cure. There are different ways of it. Talking about the trauma. Talking about the meanings and perceptions a person has created after trauma…” Treatments also include augmented reality devices to help first responders approach social situations in a healthy way while being treated for job-related PTSD.   
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Michigan Universities prep for threat of on-campus monkeypox outbreaks

By Kristin Jordan Shamus  Thousands of Michigan students will get a crash course about monkeypox when they return to campuses across the state in the days and weeks ahead. Health leaders are trying to limit the spread of monkeypox among a population that could be vulnerable amid a quickly growing outbreak that has swelled to more than 14,000 U.S. cases, including 126 in Michigan as of Aug. 19. College students – who may pack into crowded bars and share drinks at parties or engage in casual hookups – are at risk for contracting the virus, which is known to spread through skin-to-skin contact, exchange of bodily fluids, respiratory droplets and by touching contaminated objects. About 99% of U.S. cases are among men – the vast majority of whom are gay or bisexual and have sex with men – though health leaders say anyone can catch the virus and spread it. Laurie Lauzon Clabo, dean of Wayne State University’s College of Nursing and WSU’s chief health and wellness officer, said leaders learned early in the COVID-19 pandemic that “the more methods of communication we use, the more we reach a broad audience.” For that reason, in addition to posters and flyers around campus, “we’ll be sending out a start-of-the-semester message…in the coming days that will address our COVID policies for fall, and here’s some information about monkeypox and here’s where to find out more about monkeypox,” she said. “We are developing education materials…that are really targeted for a university campus audience: What are the things that put me at risk? What can I do? And so really basic lay-level education is one. The other is ensuring that anyone who wants a test can get a test. That’s really important to us.” A lot of work at universities across the state right now, Clabo said, centers on education and ensuring students understand the risks while not being too alarmist. “We have to be very careful that we don’t speak so loudly that people tune out,” she said. “We want…to dispel some of the myths that we see already surrounding monkeypox, things like the belief that this is a gay disease, that it is only spread through sexual contact. This is a disease of close personal contact, skin-to-skin contact, sharing drinks, utensils, touching contaminated surfaces…A student who is not gay is not immune. The outbreaks we’ve seen in the United States are more likely as a result of a social network that has close personal contact, and those outbreaks could have just as easily occurred in a public gym or other kinds of congregate settings.”  
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Michigan supplied $40M for marijuana research. Here’s what it’s funding

Two Michigan universities and a California-based marijuana research group are using about $40 million in Michigan marijuana tax revenue to research the therapeutic effects of cannabis on veterans suffering from suicidality and post-traumatic stress disorder. Wayne Stathe University, the University of Michigan and a marijuana research organization called MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) will spend the next three to five years studying hundreds of veterans using cannabis. They will examine variances in the effectiveness of pot use based on factors such as CBD and THC ratios, use prolonged exposure therapy and the inhalation of cannabis flower. The research, a requirement of the 2018 ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in Michigan is rare nationally because cannabis remains illegal at the federal level and is considered a schedule 1 drug on par with heroin, ecstasy and peyote. The same federal laws that make such funding a rarity also make the research funded by state money all the more challenging as the groups struggle to comply with federal research standards involving a controlled substance. “I could go to a dispensary tomorrow two blocks from my office to buy whatever I need, but I’m prohibited by the FDA to give that to anyone in my laboratory,” said Leslie Lundahl, the lead principal investigator for Wayne State University’s research project. “We’ve identified a supplier who can give us exactly what we need and they’ve begun the process of getting approval,” she said. “But it could take a while.” Wayne State University received the most funding of any one group, raking in nearly $19.6 million between the two grant funding periods in 2021 and 2022. WSU researchers are working on a series of three areas to study marijuana’s effect on combatting veteran suicidality and PTSD. The study will work to determine the lowest dose of THC that still retains effectiveness in order to find ways for veterans to maintain concentration, memory or function while using cannabis. A second trial will examine whether cannabis use improves outcomes of prolonged exposure therapy, a common treatment for PTSD that includes discussions of trauma, triggers and reminders to decrease its debilitating effect. 
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Detroit’s queer advocates worry about monkeypox – and messaging

By Bryce Huffman With monkeypox cases on the rise in Michigan, some queer advocates in Detroit worry the heightened risk to gay men could create a stigma for a virus that can harmful to everyone. As of Friday, there were 17 confirmed cases of the virus in Detroit and 72 total across the state. Monkeypox is a viral infection closely related to smallpox and causes the same symptoms – flu-like fevers, headaches, backaches, muscle aches and chills. The virus is transmitted by close, personal contact, including skin-to-skin touches, kissing or other sexually intimate contact, or by touching fabrics or objects touched by someone infected. According to the CDC, over 7,510 cases have been recorded nationwide and most cases involve men who have sex with men or patients that are identifying as LGBTQ. Chris Sutton, broadcast coordinator for LGBT Detroit, worries that messaging around who is most at risk to contract monkeypox is triggering and will increase anti-gay stigma. Patricia Wren, chair of the department at Wayne State University, said the messaging around monkeypox makes people assume it is only sexually transmitted, but it’s mostly spread through long periods of close contact, not necessarily sex. “Right now, there may be more cases in men who have sex with men. These men may also be better informed about sexually transmitted diseases and, thus, more likely to see their physician if worrying symptoms appear,” Wren said. “But if the HIV/AIDS pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that viruses – including monkeypox – are transmitted by specific behaviors and not by sexual orientations or identities.” 
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Wayne State University looking for veterans to study the benefits of cannabis for PTSD

Dr. Leslie Lundahl, associate professor in the department of psychiatry and neurosciences at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, and her team are launching a new study to find out whether CBD and THC can help with PTSD. The study is looking to enlist the help of 350 veterans. The study will test cognitive function and monitor vitals while also testing blood, urine, and saliva samples. When studying regular cannabis users, they’re hoping to find lower levels of THC that can produce effective results. “Public opinion has really outpaced science in terms of cannabinoid therapeutics,” said Lundahl. “There are animal data that suggest it might be helpful, there are anecdotal reports that it might be helpful for pain or for PTSD or mood or anxiety, but we don’t really have any hard scientific data to really support that…Specifically, we’re looking at PTSD symptoms severity and then frequency and severity of suicidal thoughts and behavior.  
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Survivors of Aurora, Colorado, mass shooting still haunted 10 years later

Ten years ago, a gunman opened fire in a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and wounding 70 people. At the time, it was one of the worst mass shootings in the country’s history, and sparked familiar conversations about gun control and mental health. A decade later that massacre continues to take a daily toll on both individuals and the community. Arash Javanbakht, who directs the Stress, Trauma and Anxiety Research Clinic at Wayne State University, said there are as many ways that people deal with trauma as there are people who experience trauma. “For some people, there’s detachment. For some people, it’s loss of hope. For some people, basically, their perspective of the world has changed, the way they see life, the way they define experiences,” he said. “Some people turn it to the action. Some people channel their emotions into action. We have seen some of the survivors of these events start becoming activists who are trying to find solutions to make this better.”
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Planning begins for new digital resource and seminars to help cancer patients navigate financial barriers, thanks to MHEF grant

The Michigan Health Endowment Fund (MHEF) has awarded research investigators at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute a $100,000 Community Healthy Impact grant to support a new program addressing financial toxicity among cancer patients. Michigan Community Outreach to Address Financial Toxicity (MI-COST) will build upon ongoing community outreach and engagement work underway within Karmanos’ Office of Cancer Health Equity and Community Engagement (OCHECE). The objectives include developing a series of educational seminars on topics designed to help people with cancer and their caregivers navigate related financial barriers and creating a website to provide patients and caregivers with financial information and resources. “One of our roles in OCHECE is to connect our communities to our scientists and our scientists to our communities to ensure that there is community input into our cancer center’s research agenda,” said Dr. Hayley Thompson, co-investigator for the MI-COST program, associate center director for community outreach and engagement at Karmanos, and professor in the department of oncology at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine. 
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Melatonin poisoning reports among kids up 530% from 2012 to 2021

Over the past decade, poison control has been getting more and more reports of kids accidentally ingesting melatonin supplements. In fact, reports of melatonin ingestions among children jumped by 530% from January 1, 2012 to December 21, 2021, according to a new study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For the study, a team from the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, the Wayne State University School of Medicine (Varun Vohra, PharmD) and Boston Children’s Hospital analyzed data on children from the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System.

Persistent residential segregation contributes to worse diabetes health in Black youths

A new study identified a link between persistent racial residential segregation and worse diabetes health in Black adolescents with type 1 diabetes. These findings highlight the impact of residential location for young people with diabetes, Deborah A. Ellis, professor of family medicine and public health sciences at Wayne State University, said at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions. Ellis and colleagues evaluated the association between racial residential segregation and diabetes management and glycemic control among Black adolescents with type 1 diabetes. “In the world of adult diabetes, there has been a lot of focus on social determinants of health, but in pediatrics, there has been less,” said Ellis. The main outcomes measured were HbA1c and diabetes management. The results suggested that racial residential segregation was predictive of the diabetes health of Black youths with type 1 diabetes, even after controlling for effects of household income and neighborhood adversity. “It is interesting that racial residential segregation was even more explanatory than the adversity characteristics of the neighborhood,” said Ellis.

When chronic pain becomes who you are

For decades, psychologists and pain researchers have recognized the role of thoughts and emotions in pain. Pain begins with a signal that nerves send to the brain. But what we actually experience is the brain’s interpretation of that signal – and the brain can sometimes be an unreliable narrator. For those experiencing chronic pain, pain often persists. Some experiencing chronic pain seek online communities, which are not always supportive environments. While conducting research on online groups for people with chronic pain, Hallie Tankha, a doctoral student researching pain psychology at Wayne State University, remembers one incident in particular: One member of a chronic pain Facebook group had left his bed for the first time in days and gone out to volunteer. When he shared how the experience had relieved some of his pain, other members of the group interpreted his anecdote as unsolicited advice and an indictment of their own inability to recover.  

Long COVID still a risk, even for vaccinated people

By Jeanna D. Smiley  Long COVID can cause persistent COVID-19 symptoms including loss of smell, fatigue, mood changes, and brain fog in addition to disorders of the heart, kidneys, and lungs. These symptoms emerge or continue at least one month after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. It is estimated that 7.7 to 23 million Americans may have developed long COVID, a condition also called post-acute COVID or chronic COVID. While researchers have observed that vaccines have been effective in fending off some of the worst long COVID symptoms, they also found that mild breakthrough COVID-19 infections can trigger lingering, severe symptoms of long COVID even in vaccinated people. Dr. Joseph A. Roche, an associate professor in health sciences at Wayne State University agreed that vaccines do not replace other risk reduction methods for COVID-19. He pointed to a paper he authored, which urges “continued nonpharmacological risk-reduction measures…to complement vaccination efforts.” In his research, Dr. Roche cited mathematical models which predicted that such measures should stay in place for a year, even after the population reaches ideal vaccination levels.  
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How a global shortage of contrast dye is affecting CT scans, tests at Michigan hospitals

By Kristen Jordan Shamus  A shortage of contrast dye used for CT scans, gastrointestinal imaging, angiograms and cardiac catheterizations is expected to cause delays across the country and around the world in need of the procedures. The shortage of iodine-based contrast dye was sparked by ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai, China, which have forded GE Healthcare’s pharmaceutical manufacturing plant to temporarily close. Dr. Daniel Myers, a vice chairman of radiology at Henry Ford Health System and clinical professor of radiology at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine, said the hospital system’s supply has been interrupted. “We have had meetings with folks at Bracco and discussed it…We’ve had assurances from them that there won’t be issues for customers such as Henry Ford Health, who obtain a high percentage of our contrast from them…” Myers said. Myers said he’s like to think the impact in Michigan will be minimal, and it’s important for people to continue scheduling testing as their doctors recommend. “I don’t want people to think they shouldn’t go see their doctors because they won’t get an adequate test. People need to get their health care.”  
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New measure of sperm age may be predictor of pregnancy success

A novel technique to measure the age of male sperm has the potential to predict the success and time it takes to become pregnant, according to a newly published study by researchers at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. “Sperm epigenetic clock associates with pregnancy outcomes in the general population,” published in the journal Human Reproduction, found that sperm epigenetic aging clocks may act as a novel biomarker to predict couples’ time to pregnancy. The findings also underscore the importance of the male partner in reproductive success. “Chronological age is a significant determinant of reproductive capacity and success among couples attempting pregnancy, but chronological age does not encapsulate the cumulative genetic and external – environmental conditions – factors, and thus it serves as a proxy measure of the ‘true’ biological age of cells,” said J. Richard Pilsner, Ph.D., lead author of the study. Dr. Pilsner is the Robert J. Sokol, M.D., Endowed Chair of Molecular Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of Molecular Genetics and Infertility at WSU’s C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development. “Semen quality outcomes utilizing World Health Organization guidelines have been used to assess male infertility for decades, but they remain poor predictors of reproductive outcomes. Thus, the ability to capture the biological age of sperm may provide a novel platform to better assess the male contribution to reproductive success, especially among infertile couples.”
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Michigan baby formula factory focus of FDA probe after infant illnesses

A southwest Michigan factory just a few miles from the Indiana border is at the center of an infant formula recall that’s helped fuel shortages across the U.S. and raised concerns about federal oversight of contamination in food production. Abbott Nutrition, a division of Abbott Laboratories that employs an estimated 420 people in its factory and R&D facility in Sturgis, voluntarily recalled various brands and lot codes of powdered formula – including Similac, the most sold brand in the U.S. – in February. The recall came five months after an initial complaint that an infant in Minnesota hospitalized with a bacterial infection had consumed Similac from the Sturgis factory. The Food and Drug Administration first inspected the plant last September, when it found contamination risks. By the end of February, the FDA had identified five infants who became seriously ill with bacterial infections after they consumed the formula. Four had been infected with Cronobacter sakazakii – an infrequent infection that can be deadly for babies – and one had been infected with salmonella. Two of the infected infants died. The FDA continues to investigate. “It’s super serious – one of the worst” infant infections, said Dr. Eric McGrath, director of Wayne Pediatrics. He said he had treated a child with a cronobacter infection years ago – the only one in his 12 years as a pediatric infectious disease specialist. “The reason that this germ is devastating is that can cause blood infections and meningitis, and complications that include brain abscesses,” McGrath said. At minimum, a baby with cronobacter infection is hospitalized for three weeks and likely subjected to a spinal tap and other trauma.  

Reasons why most young adults sweep depression under the rug

Over the last decade, more than half of young adults with depression reported not receiving treatment in a survey, and important reasons were related to cost and stigma. Cos of care was the most common problem for young patients with major depressive episodes, with the frequency of cost being cited as a barrier to mental health care going from 51.1% to 54.7% in 2019. Other barriers to care included people not knowing where to go for treatment, worrying about confidentiality, not wanting to take medication, and not having the time, researchers wrote in JAMA Network Open. Community-based education is vital to combat some of those beliefs, said Arash Javanbakht, associate professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine. He said the study’s results suggest the medical community is “behind in educating the public not only about mental illness but also [about] how to navigate the healthcare system, get evaluated, and receive needed care.” “Many patients think medications are addictive, zombify them, or change the way of their thinking,” said Javanbakht. “This also closely ties with the stigma of having mental illness [and] its personal, cultural, and media aspects…There is a need for more realistic education about the prevalence of mental illness, its biological nature, variety of treatment options, and similarities with other illnesses of the body. The government should definitely be more active in this area of public education via media and social media.”
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Spotlight on the News: Inside Mental Health Awareness Month

As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, Spotlight on the News hosted a discussion about what’s being done in Michigan to increase the number of sorely needed behavioral health professionals, which included insights from Dr. Sheryl Kubiak, dean of the Wayne State University School of Social Work. “As many know, the behavioral health issues that have arisen because of the pandemic have accelerated the need for people with professional degrees in mental health and substance abuse disorders. Unfortunately, prior to the pandemic, we had a shortage of professionals in those fields, particularly in public sector mental health and community mental health. It’s so accelerated now that many of organizations and community providers have up to 30% vacancy rates, and that’s resulted in closing programs and waitlists. It really is not the time to be doing that,” Kubiak said. “From an academic setting, I’m trying to encourage people to come into this profession, but we’ve got some hurdles: high cost of tuition and low wages. It’s not the greatest environment, but it is very worthwhile and we’re working on some of those issues.”  
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How to protect your family from horrific news images – and still stay informed

Arash Javanbakht, associate professor of psychiatry and the director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic at Wayne State University, wrote an article explaining how images of disaster affect us and provides some practical tips about how to stay informed while minimizing harm. “A wide of body of evidence has shown that trauma affects not only those who suffer through it; it also affects other people who are exposed to the suffering in other ways. This is in part because humans are empathetic and social beings. Indirect and vicarious exposure to trauma often occurs in the lives of first responders, refugees, journalists and others, event when they do not directly experience the trauma themselves,” Javanbakht writes. He provides a list of tips to stay informed while minimizing harm, including limited exposure and emotional intensity from media, time away from the news, an awareness of positive news, finding activities that allow for emotional recharging, and talking to others. “We can also reduce the negative impact on ourselves through helping others, especially those affected by these calamities. When I feel affected by the traumatic experiences of my patients, remembering that the end goal is helping them and reducing their sufferings helps me process my feelings. Sadness, anxiety, anger, and frustration can be channeled into actions such as attending fundraising activities and volunteering to help the victims. This can even be a family activity that teaches children a mature and altruistic response to others’ suffering,” said Javanbakht.
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Rethinking your drinking

Thirty-five years after the federal government created a public health campaign to raise awareness of a growing epidemic of alcoholism in the U.S., the problem became more pronounced, especially among young women, during the pandemic. Figures from Nielsen report national alcohol sales surged 54% in March 2020. April is National Alcohol Awareness Month, an opportunity to reexamine your relationship with alcohol, said Erika Bocknek, an associate professor of counseling psychology at Wayne State University. “It’s a moment to step back and reflect before your drinking gets out of hand,” she said. The first step to evaluating your drinking is to ask yourself why you’re having a drink, Bocknek said. “Alcohol plays a pervasive role in our culture, so it’s easy to make drinking issues seem less problematic. It’s important to remember that the problem can be invisible…The reason alcohol works as a coping strategy is because it dulls your senses and forces you to relax,” Bocknek said.