Allina News

[MedCity News, March 31, 2010] Medtronic Inc. has received Food and Drug Administration approval for the company’s second generation diabetes management system that allows patients to better monitor blood sugar levels and adjust insulin therapies. Some experts say a closed loop system might benefit only the most serious diabetic patients, those with complete pancreas failure. [...]

[Annandale Advocate, March 30, 2010] The question whether a controversial new health care reform law will be good for what ails us received mixed responses last week from area health care workers. While the health care overhaul aims to provide affordable coverage, Dr. Jonathan Strohschein, a family physician at Allina Medical Clinic – Annandale, said [...]

[Pioneer Press, March 30, 2010] Heart doctors are cheering news that Fridley-based Medtronic is moving closer to marketing the first MRI-compatible pacemaker in the U.S. “I think it’s an advantage for Medtronic,” said Dr. Robert Hauser, a cardiologist at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. “(But) there are multiple factors that physicians must weigh in selecting [...]

[KARE11, March 29, 2010] We’re talking 70s over the next few days, but along with the warmer temperatures and blooming flowers come the runny noses and itchy eyes. If your nose hasn’t told you already, spring allergies are here too. It’s evident at the Aspen Medical Group’s Bandana Square clinic in St. Paul. Allergy specialist, [...]

[Allina Newsroom, March 29, 2010] Allina’s Buffalo Hospital today was named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® by Thomson Reuters, a leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of health care. In addition, Buffalo Hospital is one of 23 hospitals among the 100 winners to be recognized as an [...]

[KMSP-TV, March 23, 2010] One part of the new health care law requires restaurant with more than 20 locations to put calorie information next to the price. Elizabeth Vander Laan, registered dietitian at Allina’s Abbott Northwestern Hospital Bariatric Center was live on Fox 9 News at 9 to talk about the benefits of the new [...]

[Fox 9 News, March 26, 2010] A U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to ban minors from using tanning beds. At Sunwerks in Minneapolis, Karen Henessey always educates her clients before they hit the tanning bed. “I wouldn’t recommend you going more than 10 minutes in there,” said Henessey. Henessey herself has been tanning since [...]

[Massage Magazine, March 25, 2010] A new study shows complementary therapies—including massage therapy—relieve pain as much as 50 percent among a wide range of hospitalized patients. The study shows that an inpatient integrative medicine program—one that includes complementary and alternative medicine alongside traditional Western medical approaches—can significantly address pain. “Roughly 80 percent of patients report [...]

[Star Tribune, March 26, 2010] Legend has it that Philippides, a Greek messenger, inspired the first marathon when he ran 26 miles from the city of that name to Athens to report the outcome of a battle. As he reached the marketplace, he reportedly gasped, “We have won,” and dropped dead. To Dr. Robert Schwartz, [...]

[WCCO Radio, March 25, 2010] Metro area hospitals and the Minnesota Nurses Association have recently opened contract and pension negotiations. Representatives for both groups were interviewed on the WCCO Radio Noon News Hour about those talks. Listen below. swfobject.registerObject(“ssg_gplayer_object-2663-0″, “9.0.0″, “http://allinanews.com/wp-content/plugins/ssg-wordpress-google-audio-player/swfobject/expressInstall.swf”); Metro hospitals and nurses start contract talks

[Medscape Medical News, March 24, 2010] Policies that raise the price of alcohol can reduce consumption, illness, and premature deaths in drinkers and reduce the burden on healthcare systems, according to an article published online March 24 in The Lancet. Mark Willenbring, MD, an addiction psychiatrist at Allina Mental Health Clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, [...]

[Univ. of Minnesota, March 23, 2010] As director of community benefit, Ellie Zuehlke is focused on connecting with the world outside of Allina Hospitals and Clinics. But she was just a few months into her job at the large health system when she noticed something unsettling about the community within Allina. “I was struck by [...]

[heartwire, March 23, 2010] Long-term marathon training and racing might not be as good for the heart as some runners think, a new study suggests. Researchers have shown that long-term marathon runners, those who have completed at least 25 marathons over the past 25 years, have increased coronary calcium and calcified plaque volume. Presenting the results [...]

[Owatonna People's Press, March 23, 2010] Art and healing go hand-in-hand. That is what the research shows, and that is what moved Owatonna Hospital to start its Healing Arts Program. The effort, done in cooperation with the Owatonna Arts Center, brings in art works from local and regional artists. Its second installment officially started Tuesday. [...]

[New Ulm Journal, March 24, 2010] The Heart of New Ulm program would receive $2 million in federal funds if Rep. Tim Walz’s 2011 appropriation requests are approved in Congress. The funding for the Heart of New Ulm is part of over $134 million in funding requests, or earmarks, that Walz is making for fiscal [...]

[Owatonna People's Press, March 18, 2010] The Healing Arts Program announces its second installation of its visual arts program series at Owatonna Hospital. The Healing Arts Programs is a collaboration between Owatonna Hospital and the Owatonna Arts Center to bring the visual arts, natural light, images and elements of nature to lessen stress and promote [...]

[KSTP-TV, March 17, 2010] Bariatric surgery can help the morbidly obese lose weight, but it’s not a quick fix, and there are risks. Doctor Laura July is a bariatric surgeon with Allina Hospitals and Clinics. She described candidates for the surgery, the different kinds of bariatric procedures (allina.com/weightlosssurgery) and more when she sat down with [...]

[KARE-TV, March 16, 2010] Being in the hospital is never really a pleasant experience. But what if you could get a massage while you were there or try a bit of acupuncture? Abbott Northwestern Hospital offers just that in the largest integrative medicine program in a hospital in the country. And now it’s researchers have published [...]

[Minnesota Public Radio, March 16, 2010] Heart device manufacturer Boston Scientific’s financial struggles have been exascerbated by news this week that shipments of its implantable cardioverter defibrillators, or ICDs, have been halted for failure to get approval of manufacturing changes on the devices. As word of Boston Scientific’s news circulated, it did not appear to [...]

[MedCity News, March 15, 2010] For years, the medical community has debated the merits of traditional surgery versus relatively new carotid stent therapy. American studies have favored the stent while European trials offered less favorable judgments on the technology. “It’s gone back and forth,” said Dr. David Tubman, director of interventional neuroradiology at Abbott Northwest [...]

[KSTP-TV, March 11, 2010] How many times have you woken up in the morning and wished for more sleep? Dr. Michael Schmitz, who runs the Insomnia and Behavior Sleep Medicine Program at Abbott Northwestern Hospital’s Sleep Center, joins 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS for an in-studio interview with anchor Megan Newquist to talk about this topic and [...]

[KARE11, March 11, 2010] More than a quarter of the U.S. population report difficulty sleeping or not getting enough rest. Many of them can be helped with a sleep study to diagnose their problems. KARE11 Sunrise reporter Jeff Olsen visited the Aspen Sleep Center at Bandana Square in St. Paul this morning during National Sleep [...]

[Cardiovascular Business, Mar. 11, 2010] Slightly more than one-third of patients without known disease, who underwent elective cardiac catheterization, had obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) out of nearly 400,000 patients at 663 sites, based on study findings published March 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, in an interview, Timothy D. Henry, MD, [...]

[St. Paul Pioneer Press, Mar. 11, 2010] It’s parents’ worst nightmare — watching children collapse from ill-timed baseballs or pucks that strike their chests and shut down their hearts. Since this phenomenon was identified 15 years ago, a Minneapolis registry has collected information on 224 U.S. cases — most of which resulted in the deaths [...]

[Minnesota Christian Chronicle, Mar. 10, 2010] Within two months of taking office last year, President Barack Obama lifted the ban on federal funding of new lines of embryonic stem cell research. It was a policy put in place in 2001 by former President George W. Bush. While the debate about the ethics of destroying an [...]