Blog — Page 12 — Lucia Zamorano, MD, PLC

24th Annual Nightingale Awards for Nursing Excellence 2012

The 24th Annual Nightingale Awards for Nursing Excellence 2012 honoring exemplary nurses and nursing care since 1988.

On May 10, the San Marino Club in Troy hosted the 24th Annual Nightingale Awards for Nursing Excellence to publicly recognize contributions of remarkable nurses. The even supported Oakland University’s School of Nursing.

The tradition of honoring Michigan’s top nurses began 24 years ago, at the urging of Maggie Allesee, an Oakland University School of Nursing long-term Board of Visitors member and philanthropist. The first year, honorees were selected by placing the names of potential winners in a hat. This process has been honed, and today a committee of nearly a dozen nurse leaders within the community read and score more than 100 nominations.

Lindsay Gietzen, PA and Dr. Lucia Zamorano

Hundreds of hard-working, heroic, and honorable nurses from around Michigan, Ohio, and Canada have been lauded at the Nightingale Awards for Nursing Excellence.

Proceeds from the event, referred to as the Academy Awards of Nursing, benefit students through scholarships and faculty through research support, and they ensure that nursing education remains on the cutting edge — which will improve the lives and safety of the patients and their families with whom nurses work.

New this year, Hour Detroit magazine will be the media sponsor of the event and will also sponsor the People’s Choice Award. With Hour Detroit’s sponsorship, the presentation of this award will vary slightly from the other award categories. For the People’s Choice Award, the selection committee will select the top three honorees and the winner will be announced at the Nightingale event, rather than ahead of time. We are excited about our partnership with Hour Detroit magazine.

“This prestigious event not only honors the intelligent and inspiring men and women in nursing; it also raises needed funds for scholarships and up-to-date equipment to adequately prepare future nurses, so they can provide their patients with the highest-quality care.” Maggie Allesee, Oakland University School of Nursing Board of Visitors and founding member of the Nightingale Awards.

PET Scan Shows Caffeine’s Effect on Brain

For the first time, researchers have been able to use positron emission tomography (PET) to visualize binding sites of caffeine(Drug information on caffeine) in the living human brain, making it possible to explore possible effects of caffeine consumption.

Caffeine, a neuroactive agent, is one of the most commonly consumed psychoactive substances worldwide. Caffeine has also been found to have some protection against some neurodegenerative diseases. In the U.S., it is estimated that 80 percent of adults consume an average of 200 mg of caffeine daily, the equivalent of two 5-ounce cups of coffee or four sodas.

But until now, researchers have not been able to visualize or quantify the effect of caffeine on the brain. In vitro studies have shown that commonly consumed quantities of caffeine have led to high A1 adenosine(Drug information on adenosine) in the brain, David Elmenhorst, MD, lead author of a study published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, said in a press release. The A1 adenosine receptor is the most abundant in the human brain. Researchers sought to measure the A1 adenosine receptor occupancy with in vivo imaging.… [Continue Reading]

Exercise Prevents Dementia in Some Seniors

Seniors Older people who are living independently but have signs of cerebral damage may lower their risk of having progressive cognitive impairment or dementia if they remain physically active, researchers found.

Even after adjustment for white matter changes seen on MRI and history of stroke, those who met criteria for physical activity had significantly lower risks of developing any cognitive impairment, any dementia, and vascular dementia over a 3-year period, according to Ana Verdelho, MD, of the University of Lisbon in Portugal, and colleagues.

The relationship between physical activity and vascular dementia remained significant after further adjustment for baseline cognitive function (HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.94), the researchers reported online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.… [Continue Reading]

Drug Combo Tackles Brain Mets in Breast Cancer

Brain Mets By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: November 01, 2012
Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner

The combination of the biologic lapatinib (Tykerb) and capecitabine (Xeloda) chemotherapy appears to shrink brain metastases from HER2-positive breast cancer without need for radiation, a phase II trial showed.

Two-thirds of patients saw their previously-untreated brain lesions shrink by at least half with the treatment regimen, Thomas Bachelot, MD, of the Centre Léon Bérard in Lyon, France, and colleagues found in the LANDSCAPE trial.… [Continue Reading]

Do Sleep Patterns Affect the Risk of Cognitive Decline?

VANCOUVER—The quality and quantity of sleep may be associated with the risk for cognitive decline, according to four studies presented at the 2012 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. Treatments for insomnia or circadian rhythm delay might reduce or prevent cognitive decline, investigators reported.

Sleep Duration and Cognition
Compared with a sleep duration of seven hours per day, sleep durations of five or fewer hours per day and of nine or more hours per day were associated with worse average memory at older ages, according to Elizabeth Devore, ScD, Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Short and long sleep durations at midlife and in later life were both associated with worse memory in later life.… [Continue Reading]

Brain Stimulation approved for treatment of Epilepsy and Depression

September 7, 2012 — An external trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS) system (Monarch, NeuroSigma, Inc) has received European Union (EU) CE Certification for the adjunctive treatment of epilepsy and major depressive disorder for adults and children aged 9 years and older.

The device has been evaluated in clinical trials conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California. It consists of an external pulse generator and disposable electric patches placed on the forehead that are replaced daily and are worn primarily during sleep.… [Continue Reading]

Smoking Cessation Lowers Risk of Brain Bleed

By Nancy Walsh, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Published: August 29, 2012

Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner

Smokers have nearly triple the likelihood of having a subarachnoid hemorrhage, but the risk for many individuals falls significantly 5 years after kicking the habit, a case-control study demonstrated.

The adjusted odds ratio for subarachnoid hemorrhage among individuals who currently smoked was 2.84 (95% CI 1.63 to 4.97) compared with those who had never smoked, according to Byung-Woo Yoon, MD, and colleagues from Seoul National University Hospital in Korea.… [Continue Reading]

Bone Health Improved Even by a Little Physical Activity

As little as 120 minutes of walking or other exercise was associated with biomarkers of bone strength in premenopausal women, according to the results of a cross-sectional study. An 8-week physical activity intervention program significantly increased biomarkers of bone strength compared with sedentary control patients.

Mohammed-Salleh M. Ardawi, PhD, FRCPath, from King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and colleagues report their results in an article published online August 3 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

“Physical activity is good for bone health and results in lowering sclerostin, a known inhibitor of bone formation and enhancing IGF-1 levels, a positive effector on bone health,” Dr. Ardawi said in a news release. “We also found physical activity training that enhances mechanical loading in combination with anabolic therapeutic agents will have added positive effect on bone health, particularly bone formation.”… [Continue Reading]

Treatment of spine and intracranial tumors with dural involvement

Intraoperative 32P High Dose Rate Brachytherapy of the Dura for Recurrent PRIMARY and Metastatic Intracranial and Spine Tumors

Folkert, Michael R. M.D., Ph.D.; Bilsky, Mark H. M.D.; Cohen, Gil’ad N. M.S.; Zaider, Marco Ph.D.; Dauer, Lawrence T. Ph.D.; Cox, Brett W. M.D.; Boland, Patrick J. M.D.; Laufer, Ilya M.D.; Yamada, Yoshiya M.D.

Treatment of spine and intracranial tumors with dural involvement is complicated by radiation tolerance of sensitive structures, especially in the setting of prior treatment.… [Continue Reading]

Aspirin a Day Tied to Lower Cancer Mortality

By Nancy Walsh, Staff Writer, MedPage Today, Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner.

Daily aspirin use is associated with a modest decrease in mortality from cancer, particularly for malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract, a large retrospective study confirmed.

Individuals who were current daily users for 5 years or more at baseline had an 8% decrease in cancer mortality compared with non-users (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.02), according to Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, and colleagues from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta.… [Continue Reading]

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