Genuine healing for the soul

(Editor’s note:  This blog post is a companion piece to a related story on the UNC Health Care website, which you can read here.)

Elizabeth Swaringen wrote this …

Michael Beard

As I am not a parent, I can only begin to imagine the depth of emotions the Sperlings and the Beards have experienced and will continue to experience in the days ahead. I do know that there is no more helpless feeling than when a loved one is sick, and that there is genuine healing for the soul when you can use the lessons learned – especially the most difficult ones – to ease someone else’s journey.

From left to right: Michael Beard, Judith Beard, Randy Sperling and Shelly Sperling enjoy a lighter moment at SECU Family House.

For Randy and Shelly and Judith and Michael each has been teacher and student simultaneously in ways that transcend what was happening with Philip and Jane.  There were opportunities for lessons in religion and culture – the Sperlings are Jewish and the Beards are Catholic.

The Beards, from Australia, are used to warm weather at Christmas. In Chapel Hill they got snow instead.

Then there was the Christmas snow – a welcome gift for the Sperlings who are natives of Colorado – and an oddity for the Beards who are accustomed to warm Christmases given that December is summer Down Under. And it was clear in the interview that regardless of the darkest hours, humor was always an active partner in their friendship. There were plentiful puns, and Shelly talking about the difficulty of riding in the back seat of his own car as Michael and Judith drove him and Randy back to Charlotte after Philip’s death.  Think about it.

Randy Sperling

After the interview, Courtney Potter, who took the photos that accompany the story, and I were invited to join the Sperlings and the Beards for a late breakfast that each had a hand in preparing in the SECU Family House kitchen: a scramble of eggs, potatoes and onions, challah bread, good coffee and orange juice.  There, over that simple meal of comfort food, we witnessed the tender counsel and gentle support on which their friendship was founded.

New treatment guidelines for Barrett’s esophagus: UNC played key role

Tom Hughes wrote this …

On March 1, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute announced a new position statement on how patients with a high-risk form of Barrett’s esophagus should be treated. The bottom line of that statement? It says that using any of three treatment methods to remove pre-cancerous cells from inside the throats of these patients is now the preferred course of action instead of “watchful waiting,” which is what was previously recommended.

The title page of Dr. Shaheen's NEJM article on RFA for Barrett's esophagus.

Curiously, this important development has gotten very little media coverage to date. I say this is curious because in 2008 and 2009, the media treated the results of a nationwide clinical trial of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for Barrett’s esophagus, one of the three now-preferred treatments, as very big news indeed. For example, coverage in May 2008 — when Dr. Nicholas Shaheen of UNC presented results of the trial at the Digestive Disease Week conference in San Diego — included stories in the Wall Street Journal and the CBS Evening News. This clinical trial received additional national media coverage one year later, when an article by Dr. Shaheen reporting the results was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Here’s a video our office produced with Dr. Shaheen about the NEJM study:

Why do I call your attention to this now? Two reasons. First, Dr. Shaheen was a senior author of the new AGA position statement on management of Barrett’s esophagus. And second, April is Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month — and the greatest risk faced by Barrett’s patients is the fact that some of them go on to develop esophageal cancer, which is one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

Of course, Dr. Shaheen did not do this work alone. There were participating investigators at 19 other sites across the U.S. Others involved here at UNC included Dr. Evan Dellon, Dr. Ryan Madanick and Dr. Tara Rubinas, who all contributed to the video below, which was posted on the NEJM website and on YouTube. (The narrator you hear in the video is Dr. Dellon.)

Lighting Up Blue for World Autism Awareness Day

Geri Dawson, PhD

Written by Geri Dawson, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Autism Speaks, and Research Professor of Psychiatry at UNC-Chapel Hill

One out of 110 school-age children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Given these numbers, it is likely that you know someone who is affected by autism. Please join me and thousands of others around the world in shining a bright blue light on autism by wearing blue on April 1st and 2nd. This is one way you can show your support and increase awareness of autism.

People with ASD have difficulties in social interaction and communication and tend to have restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Autism is not one condition; rather, it is many conditions with many different causes, which include both genetic and environmental risk factors. When autism is identified at an early age and appropriate early intervention is provided, children with autism can make substantial gains and learn to communicate and interact socially.

With appropriate intervention, many children with autism are able to attend a regular classroom, learn to speak, and develop friendships. ASD affects each person differently. Some individuals are highly verbal and experience mostly social challenges, while others are nonverbal and unable to live independently. Some people are affected by medical conditions such as seizures or sleep disorders. Although most people think about autism as a condition affecting children, the challenges are typically life-long. A half-million adolescents with ASD will be entering adulthood over the next few years.

UNC employees team up in blue for autism awareness: Autism researchers, clinicians, and hospital staff posed to show their support of World Autism Awareness Day.

New research on the biology of autism is pointing toward novel treatments, including medications that could help address the core symptoms of ASD. Each year, Autism Speaks provides $25-30 million in research funding to discover autism’s causes and effective interventions (www.autismspeaks.org). In fact, several scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are currently conducting Autism Speaks-funded research on topics ranging from infant screening to animal models to clinical trials that are assessing new behavioral and medical treatments. This research offers hope for the many families struggling with autism in all of its forms.

The diversity of the presentation of ASD is just a part of the awareness we hope to raise this year on World Autism Awareness Day by shining a light on autism. We want more people to appreciate the lives of those living with autism, both in terms of the daily challenges and the celebrations of special abilities and milestones achieved.

Saturday, April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day, dedicated in 2007 by the United Nations to raise awareness about autism throughout society and to encourage early diagnosis and early intervention. On Friday April 1st and Saturday April 2nd, we will light the world up blue to raise awareness and show support. Landmark buildings, hospitals and schools around the world will change their lighting to blue. Please join us at work and at your home by wearing blue, changing your porch light and hanging a sign to show your support. For more information on how you can light it up blue, please go to www.lightitupblue.org.

Elizabeth Taylor: Ever so regal, but died of commonest disease

Dr. Cam Patterson wrote this …

My mother loved Liz Taylor. I remember her watching Cleopatra when I was not even in school yet. Liz Taylor has always had the imprimatur of royalty around her. She’s survived the worst things that life could throw at her. She always seemed somehow like royalty to me. And yet we find out, so sadly, that she died this week of congestive heart failure. This ever so regal woman died of the commonest of diseases.

Fanpop.com

Heart disease remains the number one cause of death and disability in the U.S. This statistic drives me crazy, because the incidence of heart disease has decreased every year since 1970 (through investments in research and important discoveries of new treatments), yet it still displaces all other causes of death. How cruel is that?

Unfortunately, success in our treatment of heart disease has created new problems. We’ve converted cardiac issues like heart attacks (which used to kill the majority of its victims) into chronic problems. Heart failure is number one among these. Unfortunately, people like Liz Taylor have been able to recover from short term cardiac events, only to succumb to the cumulative effects of repeated injuries to the heart. That in essence is how heart failure develops most of the time now.

Cam Patterson, MD, MBA

Unfortunately, there are few medicines that are available to treat heart failure today compared with when Cleopatra was in the theaters. We’ve come so far, and we have yet still so far to go in treating our patients with these sadly common illnesses.

Cam Patterson, MD, MBA, is Associate Dean for Health Care Entrepreneurship and Chief of the Division of Cardiology in the UNC School of Medicine, and Physician-in-Chief of the UNC Center for Heart and Vascular Care.

Family House Diaries: A smile wherever they go

Courtney Potter wrote this …

I was drawn to Johnny and Phyllis Deal last month during a music performance at the SECU Family House.  They were sitting by the fireplace in the back corner, arms around each other and visibly moved by the booming voice of the tenor who was singing “How Great Thou Art.” There was something special about their closeness, and I was excited to get to know them.

When I interviewed the Deals a few days later, they related to each other in that same close and comfortable manner, which made for great video clips and an enjoyable time among the three of us.  Johnny explained to me that they met when he was 15 and she was 16.  Four decades later, they are still very much in love.  Their current trials with Johnny’s illnesses — among them thymoma, myasthenia gravis, and a blood disorder — have only brought them closer, they said.

Johhny and Phyllis Deal.

I was also struck by the Deals’ easy-going nature. Over the past year-and-a-half I’ve accompanied dozens of patients to their appointments at UNC Hospitals, but Johnny and Phyllis were the first patients who seemed to actually enjoy them.

Johnny was always joking with nurses and secretaries, introducing me as his bodyguard (in jest) and “running his mouth” — as Phyllis would say. Instead of viewing the hospital as an interruption to their life and relationships, they seemed to step outside of their circumstances, making connections with anyone in their path.

Johnny at UNC Hospitals

Phyllis summed up their outlook well when she said, “You’ve gotta keep pushing through the hard times and accept the good times. There are so many little blessings out there that we just have to take.”

Interestingly, they taught me that having love for each other, genuine interest in the lives of the people around you, and a healthy dose of humor makes getting through the day easier — and so much more enjoyable.

Serena Williams, athletes and blood clots

Stephan Moll, MD

Dr. Stephan Moll wrote this …

Many people think of blood clots as a problem occurring in elderly people, but not in young and apparently healthy individuals.  News that tennis player Serena Williams had a blood clot in her lung, known as a pulmonary embolism, demonstrates that clots can, in fact, happen in young, normal weight and athletic people.

The question arises, why would a healthy, physically fit person develop a blood clot?

While it is true that clots occur more commonly in the elderly and in non-athletic, overweight individuals, clots can happen in anyone.  Whether a person is young, old, a professional athlete or a weekend warrior—they all share some risk factors for developing a blood clot in the veins, also known as deep vein thrombosis or DVT.

Factors which can increase blood clot risk are:

• Long-distance travel
• Immobilization (hospitalization, having a cast)
• Major surgery
• Significant trauma
• Birth control pill, patch or ring, pregnancy, or estrogen replacement therapy
• A family history of clotting
• Presence of an inherited or acquired clotting disorder
• Obesity
• Smoking
• And maybe dehydration

It surprises many people to know that blood clots (DVT and pulmonary embolism) are a very common medical condition, affecting nearly 900,000 American’s each year.  One in three venous blood clots results in death.  That is why it is so important that all people—the athlete and non-athlete alike—know the symptoms and a blood clot and seek prompt medical attention if a clot is suspected.

Symptoms of a blood clot include:

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT; a clot that typically is in one leg, but can also be in the arm):

• Pain
• Swelling
• Discoloration (bluish or reddish)
• Warmth

Pulmonary Embolism (PE; a blood clot in the lungs):

• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain (may be worse with deep breath)
• Unexplained cough (may cough up blood)
• Unexplained rapid heart rate

For more information on blood clots, including blood clots in athletes, visit www.clotconnect.org. Clot Connect is a collaborative blood clot education project of the UNC Blood Clot Outreach Program.

Stephan Moll, MD, is an associate professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology in the UNC School of Medicine.

real doctors, real people – Dr. James Howard

Nathan Clendenin wrote this…

I’m a visual person, and before I actually experience something for the first time, I always get a mental image of what I think it will be like. I have to admit that, having never seen glass blowing before this month’s video, I didn’t have very high expectations. I guess my mind got stuck on the idea of blowing, and that just doesn’t seem very visual to me.

Chatham County Resnik Thermal Lab

Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong, which I found out on a beautiful Saturday morning, after a leisurely drive through Chatham County over rolling hills and pastures. Arriving at the barn, now converted into Resnik Thermal Lab, I couldn’t even take two steps before seeing a beautiful portrait of the place before me with sunlight streaming down through the trees. Then I discovered the horses and donkeys out back, which apparently are known to stick their heads into the shop to give their snort of approval on occasion.

Dr. James Howard, a neurologist at UNC for 33 years, picked up glass blowing after his wife gave him a free class to try it out. Ever since, he’s been spending his Saturdays and Sundays in front of two, 2,000 degree ovens, at least when it’s cool enough outside to warrant all that heat inside. The studio is closed during the summers, since even in January it can get up to 120° F inside the barn.

James Howard, MD. Glass blower.

Why is it so hot you might wonder? Well, you’ll have to see for yourself how glass is shaped and formed into something both useful and beautiful. Check out this month’s real doctor, real person.