UT Southwestern in the News — February 2010

February 2010

Globe and Mail – Robot-assisted surgery is no better treatment for prostate cancer (Feb. 25, 2010)
Men tend to like shiny new machines. And that may partly explain the growing popularity of robot-assisted surgery for treating prostate cancer. But a new study, released this week, has found that the state-of-the-art robotic procedure really isn’t substantially better than the old-fashioned method for removing the male gland when it has become cancerous. In an editorial accompanying the study, Yair Lotan of UT Southwestern writes that the major factor affecting the success of any operation is the skill of the surgeon. “I think the misconception is that the robot somehow makes you a better surgeon – it really doesn’t,” Dr. Lotan said in an interview. The robotic instruments may provide greater flexibility of movement, but they still have to be guided by the surgeon's hands, he added. Read More

KXAS-TV (NBC 5) – Some doctors using laser to zap fat (Feb. 23, 2010)
A decade's old device used to treat swelling some say is doing wonders to zap fat. Plastic surgeons at UT Southwestern are putting the zirona laser to the test. But does it work? A laser with four red beams, can it zap fat no pain, no surgery? The laser is FDA approved to treat pain and inflammation after surgery is now according to the maker forcing fat out of cells. The vice chairman of plastic surgery at UT Southwestern, Dr. Jeffrey Kenkel comments. Watch Video

Reuters – Is newer prostate surgery really better than the old? (Feb. 23, 2010)
Robot-assisted laparoscopic, or "keyhole," surgery appears to be no better at reducing side effects than traditional "open" surgery to remove a cancerous prostate gland, according to new study from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Critics, however, claim the study relied on old data that doesn't reflect current practice. In a commentary published with the study, Dr. Yair Lotan, a cancer surgeon at UT Southwestern, wrote that the level of experience of the surgeon performing the procedure is more important for patient outcome than the type of procedure itself. Read More

KXAS-TV (NBC 5)  – Dallas doctor encourages women to skate for fitness (Feb. 26, 2010)
The Winter Olympics inspires kids to hit the ice, but it should also nudge women to take up a new hobby as well. "All ladies need to move, need to keep healthy, need to keep flexible and ice skating is one way they can do that," said Dr. Alison Dobbie, chair of family and community medicine at UT Southwestern. "If you take it up, you'll end up leaner, stronger, more flexible — and it's really good for the bones, which is important for ladies of a certain age." Dobbie practices what she preaches. She skates at the Dr. Pepper Star Center Ice Arena in Farmers Branch three to four times a week. Read More

United Press International – Armchair athletes can try the real thing (Feb. 22, 2010)
If watching the Winter Olympics on TV is inspiration to start exercising more, armchair athletes need not wait for warmer weather, a U.S. Olympian says. Olympic champion runner Dr. Peter Snell, an exercise physiologist at UT Southwestern, says people can easily find alternatives to a bracing outdoor workout, like joining a gym or fitness center, or walking inside a shopping mall. However, exercise outdoors is still possible in cold or wet weather if people have proper clothing that will protect from the wind chill. Read More

Fox and Friends Sunday – From depression to hope (Feb. 21, 2010)
Julie Hirsh had the dream life, yet became so deeply depressed that she tried to end it. After her third suicide attempt, doctors suggested something radical — electro convulsive therapy. Dr. Mustafa Husain from UT Southwestern explains ECT, “We exactly don’t know how ECT works, however, what we understand from basic clinical research is that ECT helps in normalizing the transmitters as well as the neuro transmission, which is associated with depression and that leads to an anti-depressant effect.” Watch Video

Associated Press – Glaxo to remove zinc from denture cream (Feb. 19, 2010)
The maker of Poligrip denture cream will stop making formulas containing zinc amid lawsuits claiming years of excessive use caused neurological damage and blood problems in consumers, reportedly crippling some. GlaxoSmithKline will stop making and marketing Super Poligrip Original, Ultra Fresh and Extra Care products in the U.S. The company plans to reformulate the creams without zinc. Zinc is believed to help with adhesion. But in 2008 researchers at UT Southwestern described a possible link between denture-cream zinc and nerve damage. Read More

Reuters – Fewer platelets may still protect cancer patients (Feb. 18, 2010)
Doctors trying to ward off unwanted bleeding in people receiving chemotherapy or bone marrow transplants can do it with half as many platelets as patients usually receive, researchers reported on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The finding might mean it is possible to stretch the supply of sometimes-scarce platelets. "It lets us better use the platelets we have," Dr. Victor Aquino, associate professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern, who led the study, said in a telephone interview. Read More

New York Times – Surgery for obese children? (Feb. 17, 2010)
Though still considered experimental, bariatric surgery is fast becoming the next front in the battle against pediatric obesity. But many doctors say research has yet to establish whether immediate improvements from surgery justify altering a child's digestive system, probably for life. Dr. Edward Livingston, chairman of gastrointestinal and endocrine surgery at UT Southwestern, comments. Read More

Dallas Morning News – UT Southwestern starts planning a new hospital (Feb. 17, 2010)
The UT board of regents signed off on a proposal to start planning a new university hospital to be located on Harry Hines Boulevard north of Record Crossing.
UT Southwestern confirmed the board's decision Tuesday. "Given the limitations of our current facility at University Hospital-St. Paul, we need a new replacement hospital as a base for being able to fully achieve our aspirations to provide world-class patient care in a comprehensive, state-of-the-art academic medical center," Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern, said in an e-mail to employees. Read More

Dallas Morning News – How doctors practice what they preach with diet and exercise (Feb. 17, 2010)
Everyone has heard a doctor explain how daily exercise and healthy eating make a difference in your overall physical well-being. But it's hard to listen to your physician prescribe exercise if he or she doesn't model the advice being dispensed. "If everyone could eat right and exercise, we wouldn't have an epidemic of obesity and diabetes," says Dr. David Balis, 43, of Plano, an internal medicine specialist at UT Southwestern who is also a triathlete. Read More

New York Times – Results unproven, robotic surgery wins converts (Feb. 13, 2010)
At age 42, Dr. Jeffrey A. Cadeddu felt like a dinosaur in urologic surgery. He was trained to take out cancerous prostates the traditional laparoscopic way: making small incisions in the abdomen and inserting tools with his own hands to slice out the organ. But now, patient after patient was walking away. They did not want that kind of surgery. They wanted surgery by a robot, controlled by a physician not necessarily even in the operating room, face buried in a console, working the robots arms with remote controls. Read More

Dallas Morning News – Confessions are safe with online sites (Feb. 15, 2010)
Zagros Bigvand was in a hurry last summer and the elderly lady with the cane "was walking really, really, slow." So he let go of the door he had been holding open for the shuffling stranger just as she neared it. He felt bad about the incident all day and wanted to apologize to that woman. So he did with an online mea culpa that became the genesis for apolo.gy, one of a growing number of so-called confession Web sites aimed at allowing people to anonymously admit – and apologize for – anything, from being a shopaholic to cheating on a partner to murder. Dr. Timothy Wolff, an associate professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, comments. Read More

Fort Worth Star-Telegram – Give yourself a belated valentine by doing the right things (Feb. 12, 2010)
Unless you live on another planet, you probably have a good idea of what it takes to live a heart-healthy lifestyle. But actually doing it is a different matter. Eating enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish can be challenging. And the notion of exercising daily may leave you wondering what planet those gym rats really are from. Still, there are some down-to-earth ways to reduce your risk of dying from either a heart attack or stroke. What's important is to get started making small changes, said Dr. Amit Khera, director of the Program in Preventive Cardiology at UT Southwestern. "One thing that is pretty clear is heart disease is preventable," he said. "Do all the right things, and you can have an 80 percent reduction in your risks." Read More

Wall Street Journal – Weight-loss surgery for obese teens backed by study (Feb. 10, 2010)
Obese teens who underwent weight-loss surgery shed significantly more pounds than those who tried just dieting and exercise in a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a finding that may boost interest in bariatric surgery for adolescents. "This is very important evidence that you can get good results in kids" from surgery, said Edward Livingston, chairman of gastrointestinal and endocrine surgery at
UT Southwestern who wrote an editorial accompanying the study in JAMA. Read More

KTVT-TV (CBS 11) – Can you really lose 40 pounds in 40 days? (Feb. 9, 2010)
A new weight loss center popping up all over North Texas is claiming a simple injection can help you shed up to 40 pounds in 40 days. The hype is all about a specific very low-calorie diet combined with injections of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin or HCG. The use of HCG in weight loss is not without critics. UT Southwestern endocrinologist Richard Auchus comments. Read More

Fort Worth Business Press – Health care costs a complex issue for providers, consumers (Feb. 8, 2010)
Theres a lot of finger-pointing about the prices of health care in the U.S. From insurance companies to drug manufacturers to federal health care programs to hospitals and health systems to treating diseases instead of promoting health, its easy to play the blame game. Dr. Manjula Julka, assistant professor of family and community medicine at
UT Southwestern, said young physicians learn about costs and prices during their residencies, or graduate medical education, when they are practicing medicine but still are working with other senior physicians and can see how a hospital, clinic or practice works. Read More

Dallas Morning News – Scientist Orth wins Norman Hackerman Award (Feb. 4, 2010)
Fellow scientists honored molecular biology professor Dr. Kim Orth with the $100,000 Welch Foundation's Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research for her work in finding the mechanisms that bacteria can use to trigger disease. The foundation presents the award annually to up-and-coming scientists at Texas institutions who have discovered basic, yet uncharted worlds in chemical research. Read More

New York Times – Zap or chill? Targeting fat without surgery (Feb. 4, 2010)
Reducing fat around one’s midriff and thighs has become a defining quest of the modern age. It has brought us Zone Diet delivery, the ThighMaster and liposuction. Now a pair of machines that promises to tackle love handles without surgery can be added to this parade of wonders. The Zeltiq device is affixed to the offending jiggle and then cools a patch of midsection during an hourlong session at the doctor’s office. Zerona — a four-armed laser — zaps your belly, flanks and hips with red beams during six 40-minute treatments. Patient selection for any body contouring procedure is crucial, said Dr. Jeffrey M. Kenkel, vice chairman of plastic surgery at UT Southwestern. Read More

Dallas Morning News – Heart health: Is vitamin D the new superhero? (Feb. 2, 2010)
Is vitamin D the next big thing in heart health? "I'm cautiously optimistic," says Dr. Amit Khera, director of the Preventive Cardiology Program at UT Southwestern and chairman of the American Heart Association's State Advocacy Committee. Some studies indicate that people with higher levels of vitamin D have a lower risk of heart disease and stroke, along with fewer risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Now that could mean that vitamin D is just "keeping company" with other factors that lead to healthier hearts, Khera notes. But it makes sense biologically to him because the liners to the arteries have vitamin D receptors. Read More

Dallas Morning News – Explaining cholesterol in plain English (Feb. 2, 2010)
Cholesterol is never a problem for hunter-gatherers, according to Dr. Anand Rohatgi, a
UT Southwestern cardiologist who specializes in preventive medicine. But our modern, Western diet is all too rich with excess cholesterol as well as the saturated, animal-derived fats that cause our livers to make much more than our cells need. All that extra gets stored in packages called plaques in the walls of the arteries that send blood to the heart and brain, restricting those vessels' ability to provide oxygen and nutrients. Read More

Dallas Morning News – Heart screenings reveal treatable conditions (Feb. 2, 2010)
According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of sudden death in young people, with about 5,700 cases reported in children each year. There is a growing interest in heart screenings for youth, reflected in an increasing number of grants from the National Institutes of Health, says Dr. Ilana Zeltser, an assistant professor at UT Southwestern and a pediatric cardiologist at the Heart Center at Children's Medical Center. Dr. Zeltser participated in a state-funded study in 2008 and 2009 to assess the feasibility of testing large numbers of student athletes at their schools in the Garland and Plano school districts. Read More