PROFNET WIRE: HEALTH & MEDICINE: Fertility in Cancer Patients
LEADS 1. Health: Microsoft in the Health Plan Industry 2. Health: Breastfeeding Offers Health Benefits for Mother 3. Health: Rural Women Face Particular Heart Health Challenges 4. Medicine: Treatment Options for Mitral Valve Disease 5. Medicine: Preserving Fertility in Cancer Patients 6. Sports Medicine: Baby Boomers Facing Reality of Growing Old Physically LEADS
1. HEALTH: MICROSOFT IN THE HEALTH PLAN INDUSTRY. GENE MANNHEIMER, health care analyst at CARIS & COMPANY, a new investment bank created by leading Wall Street professionals: “Recently at the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C., Microsoft announced a new solutions framework for the health plan industry called ‘Knowledge Driven Health Plans.’ Microsoft and industry partners will deliver technology solutions to improve efficiencies and reduce costs in health care. What are the pros and cons? Will pure-play health care vendor stocks suffer? What is Microsoft doing right and wrong in their new initiative?” Mannheimer, a Wall Street Journal ranked #1 analyst in software and CNBC guest, can provide Street and industry insights on Microsoft in the health plan industry. News Contact: Melissa A. Bruno, mbruno@schwartz-pr.com Phone: +1-781-684-6652 (4/20/06)
2. HEALTH: BREASTFEEDING OFFERS HEALTH BENEFITS FOR MOTHER. JAMES M. SEARS, M.D., board certified pediatrician, breastfeeding advisor and co-author of “The Baby Book”: “Many new mothers who choose to breastfeed are still not aware of the health benefits breastfeeding affords them. In fact, a new survey conducted by Lansinoh Laboratories, reports 100 percent of new moms cite health benefits for baby as the number one reason for choosing to breastfeed, but less than half made the decision to breastfeed based on the health benefits it offers for themselves. The extent to which breastfeeding affects a mother’s health is rarely emphasized. Choosing to breastfeed or offering pumped breast milk gives a baby a healthy start in life and provides a variety of health benefits for mothers, too.” News Contact: Laura Giardina, lgiardina@robinleedyassociates.com Phone: +1-914-241-0086, ext. 20 (4/20/06)
3. HEALTH: RURAL WOMEN FACE PARTICULAR HEART HEALTH CHALLENGES. PAMELA STEWART FAHS, director of the BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY O’Connor Office of Rural Health Studies: “Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women in this country. And while rural women may not be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease than the rest of the population, they do face particular challenges. For instance, they were among the last groups in the country to start smoking — and they’re among the last to quit. Rural women may also have a harder time accessing health care and messages about healthy habits than suburban or urban women.” News Contact: Gail C. Glover, gglover@binghamton.edu Phone: +1-607-777-2174 (4/20/06)
4. MEDICINE: TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR MITRAL VALVE DISEASE. DR SCOTT LIM, cardiologist at the UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA HEALTH SYSTEM, is an expert on mitral valve disease: “An essential part of the heart, the valve is essentially a small, round hole with two flaps on the top and bottom. Its job is to open and close rapidly, regulating the flow of blood between the upper and lower chambers of the heart’s left side — the main pumping chambers that send oxygen-rich red blood to your limbs and organs. In some people, the mitral valve can leak, usually because of a congenital deformity or after a serious heart attack when the heart muscle itself is damaged. Significant leakage of the mitral valve can shorten someone’s life, not to mention making it tough to go about the activities of daily living.” Lim can discuss treatment options for mitral valve disease. News Contact: Bob Beard, REB8@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu Phone: +1-434-982-4490 (4/20/06)
5. MEDICINE: PRESERVING FERTILITY IN CANCER PATIENTS. DR. MARK LEONDIRES, medical director at REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE ASSOCIATES OF CT and a leading authority on reproductive medicine: “One of the most profound issues facing men and women who have been diagnosed with cancer, either before or during their childbearing years, is their fertility. But many patients are not receiving critical information about how cancer therapies can affect their ability to have their own children after treatment is complete. Many systemic cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation and some hormonal therapies, can cause irreversible damage to the reproductive system. They can shut down the ovaries, effectively launching women into early menopause, and they can destroy the testicles’ ability to manufacture sperm, even when the cancer is not located in the reproductive system.” Leondires can discuss promising new ways for women and men to safely preserve their fertility for their cancer-free future. He encourages patients to consider them, even if they do not believe they will ever wish to have children. News Contact: Melissa Chefec, mchefec@optonline.net Phone: +1-203-968-6625 (4/20/06)
6. SPORTS MEDICINE: BABY BOOMERS FACING REALITY OF GROWING OLD PHYSICALLY. FRANK HYLAND, MSPT, vice president of rehabilitation services at the GOOD SHEPHERD REHABILITATION NETWORK, is an expert on physical rehabilitation: “Regular exercise has become an acquired habit for baby boomers, and now sports injuries are one of the top reasons that boomers visit their doctors. As the boomers age, physical activity takes its toll on the joints and bones. Knees and hip problems, stress fractures, and cartilage and ligament damage are becoming common health issues for active boomers. To prevent injuries, boomers need an ongoing strength program, and they need leading-edge, personalized post-injury therapies if they want to return to activities such as golf, tennis or Pilates.” News Contact: Patty Stinner, pstinner@gsrh.org Phone: +1-610-776-3166 (4/20/06)
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