THURSDAY, APRIL 10,2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Med center now a leader in brain technology
Nikki Overfelt
noverfelt@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Only three places in the country have the technology capable of creating functional images of the developing brain in the womb, and one of them is the University of Kansas Medical Center.
This magnetoencephalography unit is one of the brain research tools that will be used at the new Hoglund Brain Imaging Center.The center opened March 26. Magnetoencephalography is the measurement of magnetic fields over the head generated by
electric currents in the brain.
"We have a real opportunity for Kansas to quickly establish itself as one of the leading brain imaging centers of the world," said Jeff Lewine, main clinical physician and director of the magnetoencephalography laboratory at the center.
Being able to look at a developing brain in the womb can help doctors detect who is at high risk for learning disorders, Lewine said.
The Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Minnesota are the only other places in the country that have brain technology comparable to the Med
Center, said William Brooks, director of the brain imaging center.
Although the center will also do some clinical work to help decrease the patient load at the hospital, it is predominately a research center, Lewine said. This will allow the technology to be controlled by research, which is an advantage over other facilities who have limited resources, he said.
"It's a real exciting time for brain imaging," Lewine said. "We really have unique opportunities here."
The center will have technology that will allow researchers to study complications such as strokes, alzheimer's, autism,
"It's a real exciting time for brain imaging. We really have unique opportunities here."
Jeff Lewine
Director of the magnetoencephalography laboratory at KU Med center.
schizophrenia and learning disorders,he said.
A state-of-the-art imaging center will allow researchers to take pictures of the brain. The pictures will help them locate specific cognitive functions in the brain,
Brooks said. And they will have technology to track electrical signals in the brain, he said.
There will also be an animal center that will allow parallel experiments to be done on animals as part of the research, Brooks said.
The center will reach out to the academic community, Brooks said. Researchers at the University, along with researchers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Stowers Research Institute in Kansas City, Mo., will make use of the facility.
Edited by Brandon Gay
Smokers receive money to quit participate in metabolism study
By Megan Hickerson
mhickerson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Erin Sailler earned extra spring break cash by quitting smoking.
The Overland Park junior participated in a KU study to find relationships between smoking and metabolism rates. She received $500 for spending six nights in a sealed room in Robinson Center, and attending counseling sessions.
The study's primary researcher, Dennis Jacobsen, Research Scientist for the Center for Physical Activity and Weight Management, said that about 15 people participated in the study. All participants received $500.
Debra Sullivan, assistant professor of nutrition, said the study was primarily created to help people successfully quit smoking without gaining weight.
"There are lots of women who smoke to maintain weight," Sullivan said. "We are trying to find out why this weight gain occurs."
A committed smoker for four years, Sailler decided that getting paid to quit was a double bonus.
"I had to stay in a 14-by-16 foot room for 23 hours at a time," Sailler said. "I felt like I was in jail — they were really long days."
She passed the time by watching MTV and a bit of occasional studying. Because no physical contact was allowed during this period, Sailler's food was served through an air-locked slot. She selected her meals of Uncle Ben's Rice Bowls, bagels and assorted dinner.
The entire testing process lasted 87 days, with 40 smoking days and 47 nonsmoking days. After 40 days of smoking, Sailler had to quit cold turkey. Sailler was given a CO2 Breathalyzer test each Monday, Wednesday and Friday to ensure she was smoking.
"They told us that they were going to give us a saliva test, but they never did," she said. "I think it was just a trick."
Sailler quit the habit without any problems,but her roommate
in the Sigma Kappa sorority, who also participated in the study, had a more difficult time.
"She would have occasional fits from not smoking" she said.
Sailler's roommate, Lori Keeshan, was a bit more apprehensive about the testing process.
"Giving up so much of your time was difficult," said Keeshan, Topeka senior.
Although Keeshan is now smoking again, she doesn't regret the testing process.
"I just needed to know that I can quit," she said.
Aside from the overnight stays, the participants could lead normal lives during the process.
They were free to consume alcohol, and they were encouraged to keep a daily food diary.
"The biggest pain about the whole deal was having to walk down to Robinson for the Breathalyzers," Sailler said. "I would definitely do a study like this again."
-Edited by Brandon Gay
Dan Nelson/Kansan
Erin Sailler, Overland Park junior, talks to her roommate at her room in the Sigma Kappa sorority house. Sailler participated in a program that tested the link between quitting smoking and metabolism. Sailler, who was paid $500 to quit smoking for the study, said she used to smoke about half a pack per day.
Bills work to balance Medicare
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Congress should correct differences in how Medicare treats city and small-town hospitals when it debates overhauling the program, lawmakers from rural states said.
"If you care about rural America, you have to care about the success of those hospitals," said U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas).
Moran and U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-North Dakota), have written legislation that would make it so rural and urban hospitals receive similar payments from Medicare, the federal health care program for seniors.
Until this year, hospitals in cities with more than 1 million residents received checks that covered a bigger share of their costs. The difference was based on the premise rural hospitals were cheaper to run.
Many lawmakers said that premise was no longer true, as hospitals everywhere compete for the same doctors and nurses when hiring and pay the same for supplies and equipment.
Congress equalized some Medicare payments in February, but those changes only applied to the current budget year.
Similar measures being considered in the House and Senate would make the fix permanent.
The bills also would lessen the extent regional labor costs affect Medicare payments; give more money to the smallest hospitals; remove limits the government now places on financial help to rural hospitals that serve a large number of uninsured patients; and provide loans and grants to fix hospital buildings or buy medical equipment.
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