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.

Anyone can choke under pressure, as evidenced by a seemingly simple puzzle on “Wheel of Fortune” that stumped two players who have faced ridicule online. Physical and mental tasks you normally perform with ease become challenging under pressure, which comes from people watching, big rewards or losses at stake, fear of judgment, or even your own memories. Under stress, working memory is disrupted by external factors, like an audience, time pressure, or potential embarrassment. The clutter interferes with the prefrontal cortex’s communication with the rest of the brain. “Humans really only have one way of dealing with stress, and that’s our ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ reflex,” said Seth D. Norrholm, a professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine. “…Your body doesn’t discriminate between a game show versus a predator. It’s just going to kick in the responses inborn within us.”   

The team at Wayne Health knows to break the cycle of health disparities in Black and brown communities, they must take their tools on the road. For more than a year, the Wayne Health mobile unit has broken down the barriers to healthcare access in Detroit's Black neighborhoods, providing COVID vaccines, heart health awareness, and other services. Dr. Philip Levy, a professor of emergency medicine and assistant vice president for translational science and clinical research innovation at Wayne State and chief innovation officer for Wayne State University Physician Group, said that his team has noticed that nearly 7 out of of every 10 visitors has elevated blood pressure. "Most of the folks have pretty profound hypertension, and a lot of them fall into the category of stage 2 hypertension, which is advanced hypertension that we need to do something about as soon as possible," said Dr. Levy. This summer, Wayne Health will officially being its Achieve Greater initiative, which will provide Detroiters with the resources to manage their health. After one visit with the mobile health unit, all other follow ups are done remotely. Wayne Health is partnering with a number of church groups, recreation centers, and other community groups to connect with more residents. Dr. Levy said the life expectancy of a Detroiter is up to 15 years less than Michigan's average life expectancy of 77.7 years, and that deaths linked to heart disease jumped 25-30% during the pandemic. Wayne Health wants to help future generations of Black families live longer. "Ultimately, we want everyone in the state, and especially in the City of Detroit and the Black community, to live as many years as everyone else," Dr. Levy said. 

By Lily Bohlke  An analysis of mobile health clinics launched in the Detroit metro area during the pandemic finds it’s a model that can deliver health screenings and health care and could be replicated in other communities. The Wayne Health Mobile Units are specially equipped vans with medical equipment and professionals. They began as testing sites for front-line workers in the early days of COVID-19, out of a partnership between Wayne State University and Ford Motor Co. Over time, they transitioned to what Dr. Phillip Levy, a professor of emergency medicine and assistant vice president for translational science and clinical research innovation at Wayne State and chief innovation officer for Wayne State University Physician Group, called a “vision of patient-centric, portable population health.” “If they have comorbidities and need doctors’ appointments or health care,” said Levy, who runs the program, “can we provide linkages around that? If they have food insecurity, can we help them get food access so that we can really be delivering on the holistic approaches that are needed in order to keep this person healthy and avoid complications?” Appointments are not necessary, and they don’t require insurance or identification – which can be barriers to care. Levy added that bringing care into communities also reduces the barriers of transportation time and cost. Beyond testing and treatment for COVID, Levy said the Mobile Health Units do blood screenings for high cholesterol, diabetes, and kidney disease, and provide prevention infrastructure – as well as blood pressure screenings for hypertension. Levy said they are also building out HIV screening and treatment, and have started working with the state’s needle-exchange program.  

By Arash Javanbakht  In the spring of 2020, COVID-19 brought rising levels of stress, anxiety and depression. But stay-at-home orders and a national emergency prompted many psychiatric and psychotherapy offices to shut down and cancel in-person appointments. The country needed a robust – and fast – transition to mental health telemedicine. And the pandemic turned out to be just the thing to make it happen. I was skeptical of telemedicine in 2015 when I began working at Wayne State University as a psychiatrist and researcher in the medical school. At that time, the department of psychiatry and its affiliated clinics were using telemedicine in primary and emergency care and for substance use recovery. But the idea of seeing patients via video had been around since long before then. In 1973, a team of behavioral scientists studied the two-way interactive television system Massachusetts General Hospital started using in 1969. The hospital provided mental health evaluations at an off-site medical station at Logan International Airport in Boston and a Veterans Affairs hospital outside the city. “The system has proven to be feasible and acceptable to individuals and institutions in the community, providing psychiatric skills on a much wider scale, in a more accessible way, and faster than any other system,” researchers wrote in their analysis. 

By Keenan Smith  COVID-19 cases are well off their omicron surge, but in the last week, cases have plateaued. Some communities are seeing an uptick in cases and hospitalizations. Health leaders across the country are watching the omicron BA.2 variant, which is more transmissible than the original omicron strain. COVID-19 wastewater surveillance, which includes the collection and sampling of wastewater to watch for outbreaks, can play a key role in public health and predicting future surges. Researchers Jeffrey Ram, a professor of physiology at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine, and William Shuster, professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering at Wayne State University’s College of Engineering, have been testing specimens from a sewer line 20 feet below the street in Midtown. “The signal in wastewater gives a couple of days, maybe even up to two weeks advance warning,” said Ram. Shuster added, “That gives us some time to get out to our public health authorities.”  

By Herbert Smitherman, Jr. Dr. Herbert Smitherman, Jr., professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and president and CEO of Health Centers Detroit Foundation, wrote an opinion piece celebrating the science that allowed us to fight back against a pandemic. “…we are the only generation in human history that has been able to fight back against a pandemic with science through the development of a vaccine, to end that same pandemic in real time. Please do not underestimate what we have accomplished as a human society and the impact of the 2020 COVID vaccine or the science behind it. The literal enormity of isolating the genetic code of COVID-19, developing a vaccine based on historic science, mass producing that vaccine, the logistics of distributing that vaccine across the globe, establishing sites and staff to administer the vaccine, agreeing to public policies and educating the public regarding COVID and the vaccine, getting shots in arms, developing a mechanism to test for the virus and the development of IV and oral treatments for COVID, has been a feat like no other in human history.”

By Danielle Salisbury People who regularly see primary care physicians tend to live long and healthier lives – if they can locate and secure doctors near home, Michigan doctors said. Despite the necessity of such practitioners, who handle patients from birth to death, there are too few of them and trends suggest there will be even fewer as current practitioners age and medical students with six-figure loan debts choose more lucrative specialties. Of Michigan’s 83 counties, 75 are at least partially designated as having shortages in primary care doctors. To address the situation, the state academy is calling on state leaders to invest an additional $31.4 million in existing programs, MIDOCS and the Michigan State Loan Repayment Program. MIDOCS, funded by the state, increases the number of medical residency training slots in primary care and other high-need specialties. Those accepted must commit to two years of practice in a rural or urban underserved area after they complete their residences. In exchange, they may receive up to $75,000 for repayment of eligible educational loans. The program partners with the medical schools at four state universities, including Wayne State.

Around 300 medical students from Wayne State University’s School of Medicine gathered at Motor City Casino on March 18 for Match Day, the nationwide event where medical students find out where they’ll spend their residencies. The event was the first in-person Match Day celebration since 2019. The match rate for School of Medicine students who participated in this year’s match was 97.4%. “I really care about service now that I’ve been in Detroit, so I’m so excited to bring it to the Bronx,” said Emily Nghiem, who matched at her first choice for a general surgery residency at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital in New York.   

By Kimberly Craig  If you found yourself a tad grumpy Sunday after losing an hour of sleep, you’d be in good company. Studies show that most Americans would like to put an end to bidding farewell to that hour of sleep in March and waiting months to welcome that hour back in November. But while the U.S. Senate voted this week to eliminate that biannual clock change in the Sunshine Protection Act, it would also come with something sleep experts don’t want to see happen – making daylight saving time permanent in 2023. Supporters of living in daylight saving time year-round say it would give children more time to play outside in the afternoon and it would be good for the economy. But many physicians are urging lawmakers to make standard time a permanent thing, to allow our bodies’ internal clocks to be aligned with the timing of the sun. Wayne State University professor Dr. James Rowley, who also serves as the medical director at Detroit Receiving Hospital’s Sleep Disorder Center and as an officer with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, firmly believes we should be on permanent standard time. “It’s well known that the changes in March result in increases in cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and driving accidents. And there are some subtle changes even when we go backwards again in the fall,” he said, noting that if lawmakers adopt a uniform daylight saving time, Michiganders won’t have sunlight until 9 a.m. in the winter. “There’s good evidence that we need sunshine in the morning to be awake during the day.” 

By Logan Tesmer  Dr. Hilary Marusak is the director of Wayne State University’s THINK lab and an assistant professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. THINK is an acronym for Trauma History Investigation of Neurodevelopment in Kids. The THINK lab studies brain development in children and adolescents and the impacts of environmental stress on the brain, as well as anxiety and PTSD. These traumas can be found in interpersonal forms, such as violence, as well as medical-related traumas from a cancer diagnosis or treatment. The lab’s work also targets the recovery from these traumas through exercise, meditation, or pharmaceuticals. Dr. Marusak joins for a segment of Community Connect to discuss her love of science, getting more girls into the industry, and how the THINK lab helps children in the community. “If you work with kids, I think you share this idea that if you intervene early, you can really change the course of that kid’s life. The brain is changing so rapidly and dynamically during that time, so it’s much easier to take advantage of that brain plasticity and get kids on a better chart for the rest of their life,” said Dr. Marusak.  

By Katherine Lee  Sleep apnea is a common and potentially serious sleep disorder. It causes you to stop breathing temporarily and occurs repeatedly during sleep. These pauses in breathing can happen as many as hundreds of times in one night. Your brain registers what’s going on and wakes you up, though sometimes only partially or for such short moments you may not even realize the arousals. Because the primary symptoms of sleep apnea occur during sleep, many people with sleep apnea may not even realize it’s happening. Sleep apnea can take a toll on the body and lead to a number of negative physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects, including inflammation throughout the body caused by chronic cycles of accelerated heart rate and increased blood pressure. “There’s good evidence that having obstructive sleep apnea puts you at increased risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and death,” said James Rowley, professor of medicine and division chief of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine.  

By Arash Javanbakht  Arash Javanbakht, associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic at Wayne State University, authored an article about the psychological wounds caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that could linger for generations. Javanbakht outlines research findings that human-caused catastrophes have a higher likelihood than natural disasters of causing severe consequences including PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Children are specifically vulnerable, and trauma can be transferred from parents to their current and future children. “Putting human suffering into numbers as I’ve done here is not in any way meant to convert a human tragedy into a cold statistical concept,” Javanbakht wrote. “The purpose is to show the enormous impact of such calamity. Each life or livelihood lost is a tragedy in and of itself.”  

As Michigan continues to recover from the latest COVID-19 surge, state health departments are beginning to ease mask recommendations for indoor public settings. The new guidance now allows individual businesses and schools to decide whether or not their establishment requires masks. According to the state, no immediate resurgence of the virus is predicted so they’re calling this phase of the pandemic “recovery.” Dr. Teena Chopra, professor of infectious diseases at Wayne State University, says these relaxed rules mean individuals need to be flexible and more aware of their own risks. “People who are at higher risk…if they’re going to be in a setting where it’s going to be crowded, they should continue masking,” she said.  

COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in the fight against the pandemic. Life hasn’t returned to normal yet, but vaccines have been highly effective against severe disease and death, saving countless lives and helping our already strained hospital systems from being overwhelmed. Researchers are already working on the next generation of vaccines in hopes of fighting new strains of the virus and making it easier to deliver vaccines at home and around the world. Nearly 5.9 million Michiganders are fully vaccinated, but as we have seen, variants can present major setbacks. The next generation of vaccines could change how we deliver the shot. Nasal sprays and pills would make distribution easier, but those versions may not be available this year. “We are already hearing about technologically advanced vaccines that can help us with challenges and barriers and storage,” said Dr. Teena Chopra, a professor of infectious disease at Wayne State University. She says easier storage will be key to reaching rural areas and less developed nations, a vital step in stopping viral variants. Dr. Chopra says for now, we need to focus on making current COVID-19 treatments more available, and, in addition to technological advancement, social innovation. “…the U.S. has one of the lowest vaccine uptakes, and I think largely it is due to the lack of trust that our population has. So, I think we need to work on that trust component.,” she said.  

To be more successful when it comes to weight loss goals, the secret may be a good night's sleep. New research suggests that an extra hour of sleep every night could help sleep-deprived people who are overweight eat 270 fewer calories per day without even trying. That change translates to nearly nine pounds of weight loss over a year. The study is not the first to connect sleep with eating patterns. Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that adequate sleep helps people stick to a healthy diet, sleep still doesn't tend to be part of weight loss conversations - even those that happen between doctors and their patients. But that's changing, says Dr. James Rowley, a professor of critical care and sleep medicine at Wayne State University. "For many years, sleep just was not considered part of the 'equation' so to speak," Rowley said. "Now there is growing recognition that sleep needs to be considered as an important component of cardiovascular health, metabolic health, and exercise and eating. It's clear that adequate sleep is important for overall health." Dr. Rowley said he's already started to recommend more sleep to aid in weight loss and weight maintenance in his own practice, and that this new research is an important piece of the puzzle that reinforces the effect improved sleep quantity can have on calorie consumption.  

As co-directors of the Wayne State University Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Marcus Zervos, M.D., Teena Chopra, M.D., M.P.H., Paul Kilgore, M.D., M.P.H., and Matthew Seeger, Ph.D, share their perspectives on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The experts discuss parallels between previous pandemics, exacerbated health disparities, a lack of response and resource coordination, the dangers of misinformation, and ways the public health system can better prepare for future pandemics. Together, the co-directors assert that if we learn from this pandemic, our post-COVID-19 world will be more resilient, health disparities will be reduced, and our public health system will become stronger.  

By Michelle R. Smith  Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made “deeply offensive” comments when he suggested things are worse for people today than they were for Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years, several Jewish advocacy and Holocaust remembrance groups said. Kennedy has invoked the specter of Nazis and the Holocaust in his work to sow doubts about vaccines and agitate against public health efforts to bring the pandemic under control, such as requiring masks or vaccine mandates. Although Kennedy has previously apologized for his use of such tactics, Dr. David Gorski, a cancer surgeon at Wayne State University School of Medicine and a critic of the anti-vaccine movement who has tracked Kennedy’s rhetoric for over 15 years, says his continued use of such comparisons indicates “he means it.” Gorski said the language demonstrates one of the ways Kennedy likes to connect with his audience: buttering them up by portraying them as going against the flow and smarter than everyone else. “If vaccine mandates are totalitarian like Nazis and the Soviet Union and that sort of thing, what does that make the anti-vaxxers? They’re brave freedom fighters,” Gorski said. “There’s flattery in those analogies.”  

The first case of Flurona has been reported in the United States. Doctors say the co-infections are a mix between Influenza and Covid, where patients will show positive results for both viruses. Health care professionals say the best defense is the vaccine, in addition to wearing masks and social distancing. Doctors recommend surgical masks, like an N-95, which provides the best protection, unlike cloth masks that don’t guard against the transmission of respiratory fluids. Flurona symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, runny nose, body aches and sore throat. “Every year we get the annual Flu shot and it is still important this year, especially when we know that we have a very super-infectious variant circulating and we don’t want to get co-infections with Flu and Omicron,” said Wayne State University professor of infectious diseases Dr. Teena Chopra, MD, MPH. “Respiratory viruses have a very similar way of transmission. You know influenza transmission is through droplet infections, whereas Omicron, which is coronavirus, we know to be airborne and highly infectious.”  

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $4.3 million to the Wayne State University Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases. The funds will increase lab facilities to collect and analyze genomic data to address emerging infectious disease threats and enhance the state’s ability to respond to those threats. The funding, part of $18.5 million provided to WSU, Michigan Tech University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, will increase infectious disease sequencing capacity in the state, beginning with the COVID-19 virus. “COVID-19 has clearly demonstrated that we need more lab capacity in the state, and specifically in southeast Michigan,” said Marcus Zervos, M.D., co-director of the WSU Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases and COVID-19 advisor to the City of Detroit. “We must be prepared for the next mutation or the next disease.”