[WCCO-TV, May 14, 2013] Actress, activist and philanthropist Angelina Jolie revealed in the New York Times she had a voluntary double mastectomy, and said her decision came after learning she had an 87 percent risk of getting cancer.
The actress discovered she had the potentially deadly BRCA gene mutation after losing her mother to ovarian cancer in 2007. She said the surgeries were successful, and that her chances of getting breast cancer are now less than 5 percent. BRCA-1 mutation is responsible for about 5 percent of all breast cancer diagnosis and about 15 percent of all ovarian cancers.
“It wouldn’t ensure [Jolie] would have gotten cancer, but it creates a substantial increased risk,” Allina Health Genetic Counselor Shari Baldinger said. See the rest of the story at wcco.com.
Exercise Physiologist Susan Masemer (Brainerd Dispatch)
[Brainerd Dispatch, May 14, 2013] Few people get enough physical activity to benefit their health. It’s a mere 20 percent, said Susan Masemer, an exercise physiologist. To offer a few tips in how to reap the most benefits, the Minneapolis Heart Institute held a seminar Tuesday at Heartwood in Crosby.
[Star Tribune, May 9, 2013] Last week, Dr. Nicholas Burke of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation implanted a stent into the coronary artery of a patient to help hold open a previously blocked blood vessel. Nothing super extraordinary there — cardiologists have been using tiny metal stents for a decade.
The difference is that the stent wasn’t made of metal and, in about two years, it will have dissolved and disappeared.
Burke is one of the first cardiologists — and the heart institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, part of Allina Health, is among the first centers — in the country to implant Absorb, a drug-coated stent that the body absorbs, as part of the Absorb III trial. Read more at startribune.com.
[KMSP Fox 9 News, May 8, 2013] Prostate cancer screening became a controversial topic among doctors and medical experts during the past year. Many say overtreatment is a problem, but a new test could help cut those risks.
[KARE 11, May 8, 2013] Just in time for the start of tick season, news of a shortage of an antibiotic used to treat Lyme disease has put numerous pharmacies on alert. The best treatment is said to be Doxycycline, a common antibiotic, but it’s in short supply.
Allina Medical Clinic – The Doctors Uptown Infectious Disease Physician, Frank Rhame says, “Cefuroxime or Amoxicillin are fine, but when you have Lyme disease it’s often that anaplasmosis or lukeosis goes along with it. They are often dual infections. So we really like to use Doxycycline because of those three drugs I mentioned, it’s the only one that is effective against those other two.”
Susan Masemer, M.S., an exercise physiologist, will provide an overview of the science of exercise. Gail Ericson, M.S., PT, a physical therapist, will provide practical advice on starting a walking program, from using step counters to choosing the right footwear. Masemer and Ericson are from the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, part of Allina Health. Learn how to register here.
[New Ulm Journal, May 2, 2013] Roger Lindholm, M.D., New Ulm, received the 2013 Teacher of the Year Award from the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP).
Lindholm is a family physician at the New Ulm Medical Center, part of Allina Health. He has been a preceptor for the Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP) for 20 years.
[Star Tribune, May 6, 2013]Dr. Richard Adair insisted that they spell it out clearly when the jobs were first posted: No experience required.
The idea was to hire people with no medical background, give them two weeks of training, and send them off to clinics to start seeing patients.
Five years later, these so-called “care guides” are fixtures at more than two dozen Allina Health clinics in the Twin Cities, and groups around the country are calling to find out how the concept works. For the rest of the story, go to startribune.com.
[Star Tribune, April 26, 2013] An extra-long skyway spanning Coon Rapids Boulevard, scheduled to be part of a $22 million expansion of Mercy Hospital, has received city approvals.
Hospital owner Allina Health and building developer Frauenshuh HealthCare Real Estate Solutions last year got the go-ahead to build a 120,000-square-foot building across the busy four-lane road from the hospital, which will house its Virginia Piper Cancer Institute and include outpatient surgery clinical space.
[Minnesota Public Radio, April 26, 2013] Who wants to die early or live with a chronic illness? Yet, 95 percent of the population lives with an identifiable risk factor, and the U.S. spends $2.5 trillion on healthcare – 70 percent of which is spent on lifestyle related disease.
[WCCO-TV, May 14, 2013] Actress, activist and philanthropist Angelina Jolie revealed in the New York Times she had a voluntary double mastectomy, and said her decision came after learning she had an 87 percent risk of getting cancer.
[Star Tribune, May 9, 2013] Last week, Dr. 
[Brainerd Dispatch, May 1, 2013] 
[New Ulm Journal, May 2, 2013] 
[Star Tribune, April 26, 2013] An extra-long skyway spanning Coon Rapids Boulevard, scheduled to be part of a $22 million expansion of 
[Minnesota Public Radio, April 26, 2013] Who wants to die early or live with a chronic illness? Yet, 95 percent of the population lives with an identifiable risk factor, and the U.S. spends $2.5 trillion on healthcare – 70 percent of which is spent on lifestyle related disease.
