Oakwood Healthcare is opening the unit as part of its commitment to offer high quality care to the community from birth through the end of life. The partnership on the inpatient hospice and palliative care unit in the hospital setting is the first of its kind for both organizations, and Annapolis is the first hospital in the Oakwood system to have a dedicated inpatient unit for hospice and palliative care.

”At Oakwood, patients always come first. We pride ourselves on providing compassionate care, and this is never more important than when a patient is facing end of life,” said Barb Medvec, chief nursing officer, Oakwood Healthcare. “Hospice of Michigan is the perfect partner in the creation of a unique inpatient setting that will offer patients and their families the skills of a hospital with all of the comforts of home.”

Hospice and palliative care are considered the model for quality, compassionate care for people facing a life-limiting illness or injury. Hospice and palliative care takes a team approach to providing expert medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support tailored to individual patients’ needs and wishes. Hospice and palliative care also provide support to family members and caregivers. Hospice is focused on comfort rather than cure, and honors the belief that every person has the right to die with dignity and in peace.

Palliative care extends the principles of hospice care to a broader population, individuals living with serious, but not terminal illnesses, who may benefit from comfort care. While receiving palliative care, patients may continue with all medical treatments.

Hospice of Michigan President and CEO Dottie Deremo said, “We are proud to be partnering with Oakwood Healthcare on the Hospice and Palliative Care Unit at their Annapolis Hospital. With this new unit, we are delivering specialized comfort care to people at a very important time of their lives. Integrating this specialized care into hospital settings is very exciting, and we are excited to be part of Oakwood’s initiative.”

The study finds a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a cell phone, with more than 70 percent of participants holding their cell phone up to the ear on the same side as their dominant hand.

Left brain dominate people – those whose speech and language center is on the left side of the brain – are more likely to use their right hand for writing and other everyday tasks.

Likewise, the Henry Ford study shows most left brain dominant people also use the phone in their right ear, despite there being no perceived difference in their hearing in the left or right ear. And, right brain dominant people are more likely to use their left hand to hold the phone in their left ear.

“Our findings have several implications, especially for mapping the language center of the brain,” says Michael Seidman, M.D., FACS, director of the division of otologic and neurotologic surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford.

“By establishing a correlation between cerebral dominance and sidedness of cell phone use, it may be possible to develop a less-invasive, lower-cost option to establish the side of the brain where speech and language occurs rather than the Wada test, a procedure that injects an anesthetic into the carotid artery to put half of the brain to sleep in order to map activity.”

Dr. Seidman notes that the study also may offer additional evidence that cell phone use and brain, and head and neck tumors may not be linked.

If there was a strong connection, he says there would be a far more people diagnosed with cancer on the right side of their brain, head and neck – the dominate side for cell phone use. But it’s likely that there is a time and “dose-dependence” to the development of tumors, he notes.

Study results will be presented Feb. 26 in San Diego at the 25th Mid-Winter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.

The study began with the simple observation that most people use their right hand to hold a cell phone to their right ear. This practice, Dr. Seidman says, is illogical since it is challenging to listen on the phone with the right ear and take notes with the right hand.

To determine if there is an association between sidedness of cell phone use and auditory or language hemispheric dominance, the Henry Ford team developed a online survey using modifications of the Edinburgh Handedness protocol, a tool used for more than 40 years to assess handedness and predict cerebral dominance.

The Henry Ford survey included questions about which hand was used for tasks such as writing; time spent talking on cell phone; whether the right or left ear is used to listen to phone conversations; and if respondents had been diagnosed with a brain or head and neck tumor.

It was distributed to 5,000 individuals who were either with an otology online group or a patient undergoing Wada and MRI for non-invasive localization purposes. More than 700 responded to the online survey.

On average, respondents’ cell phone usage was 540 minutes per month.

The majority of respondents (90 percent) were right handed, 9 percent were left handed and 1 percent was ambidextrous.

Among those who are right handed, 68 percent reported that they hold the phone to their right ear, while 25 percent used the left ear and 7 percent used both right and left ears. For those who are left handed, 72 percent said they used their left ear for cell phone conversations, while 23 percent used their right ear and 5 percent had no preference.

The study also revealed that having a hearing difference can impact ear preference for cell phone use.

In all, the study found that there is a correlation between brain dominance and laterality of cell phone use, and there is a significantly higher probability of using the dominant hand side ear.

In less than three years since opening in March 2009, more than 23,000 surgeries have been performed at the hospital.

“We have continued to see growing demand for surgical services,” says Mary Vidaurri, R.N., Ph.D., COO at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.  “With more surgeons requesting dedicated time, as well as the need to have available surgical suites every day for emergencies, it is necessary to expand surgical capacity.”

The hospital has 10 state-of-the-art operating rooms that opened in 2009. Henry Ford has obtained Certificate of Need approval to build three more operating rooms, which will bring the total to 13 ORs.

The new surgical suites will be located on the second floor, above the Vita Wellness Center, as well as the Live Well Shoppe and other retail spaces.  The 9,600-square-foot area is currently vacant, and was planned for future expansion.

All construction will occur inside the building, with no major changes to the exterior.

The project is expected to be complete by June, 2013.

Published by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, the 32-chapter book covers the role of nutrition in epigenetics and telomere length – the DNA fragments protecting the ends of chromosomes from deterioration – as well as personalized nutrition and personalized medicine. The book, Sardesai said, is designed to serve as a textbook and reference source in clinical nutrition for medical students, students in osteopathic medicine and dentistry, and practitioners in the fields of medicine, dentistry nutrition, dietetics, nursing, pharmacy and public health.

“The ultimate focus of this edition is to generate interest and enthusiasm in clinical nutrition among students and practitioners in an age that recognizes the growing need for prevention,” Sardesai said. “Nutrition is a vitally important component for both individual health and, therefore, community well-being.”

While dietary factors have been cited in heart disease, cancer and diabetes – three of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States – physicians may receive inadequate nutrition training to advise their patients, he said.

The third edition of “Introduction to Clinical Nutrition” explores the relationships of nutrients and their roles in health and disease prevention. It also includes the latest information on fiber; antioxidants; nutraceuticals; alternative medicine; gene-nutrient interaction; nutritional aspects of kidney disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome; personalized nutrition and medicine; and obesity and cholesterol.

Genesys Heart Institute welcomes two physicians to its heart team:

Interventional Cardiologist Abed Osman, MD, FACC, FSCAI, returned to Genesys Feb. 1. He completed a residency in clinical and anatomical pathology, and internal medicine from the University of Texas – Galveston. Dr. Osman is board certified in interventional cardiology, cardiovascular disease and internal medicine. He obtained a fellowship in cardiology and in interventional cardiovascular disease from the University of Texas – Galveston.

Dr. Kilaru and Dr. Osman are accepting patients. To make an appointment, call Genesys Heart Institute at 888-463-3268. Their office is located at One Genesys Parkway inside Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc Township.

Nueterra, Beaumont Health System and physician investors announced that Nueterra is a new owner and manager of an existing joint venture for the operation of an ambulatory surgery center at the Beaumont Medical Center in Macomb Township, Mich.

Through this new relationship, Nueterra owns a minority interest in and assumes the day-to-day management of the ASC effective Jan. 1, 2012. Beaumont and physician investors will also retain equity ownership of the ASC.

“Our new relationship with Beaumont Health System is the result of Nueterra’s focus on developing innovative strategies that help health systems achieve their long-term goals for growth and profitability,” says Nueterra CEO David Ayers. “We are excited to work with Beaumont, a nationally renowned leader in surgical services, and with local physicians and the center’s excellent surgical staff, in the delivery of high quality, efficient outpatient surgical care.”

“Nueterra has developed successful strategic relationships with more than 20 health systems and 1,500 physicians across the country,” says Derk Pronger, vice president, Surgical and Ancillary Services, Beaumont Hospital, Troy. “We look forward to working with them and our outstanding physicians in providing compassionate, effective surgical care for patients using the latest technology and expertise.”

Nueterra plans to attract additional surgeons to the ASC and to lower costs by leveraging the power of Nueterra’s group purchasing contracts.

“Providing health care in today’s economic and political climate is very challenging because of the many changes in the health care world,” says Michael Busuito, M.D., president of the ASC Board. “Ambulatory surgery centers across the country have demonstrated their ability to provide efficient, convenient and cost effective surgical care to local communities.”

Based in Leawood, Kan., Nueterra currently operates 30 outpatient surgery centers across the country, including the Mackinaw Surgery Center in Saginaw, Mich.

The ASC in Macomb Township opened in April 2007 offering same-day general surgery, plastic surgery, orthopedics, ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology, endoscopy and pain management.

The ASC is part of a 128,000-square-foot Beaumont Medical Center on 16 acres of land at 15979 Hall Road (northeast corner of Tilch Road and M-59). In addition to surgery, the Beaumont Medical Center also offers vascular testing, wound care, imaging, laboratory services, nuclear medicine, physical and occupational therapy, outpatient heart services, a sleep evaluation center and home medical equipment. The Beaumont Medical Center also includes a professional building with Beaumont physician offices.

They were all experiencing Charles Bonnet (“bo-nay”) Syndrome.

“Do you ever see something you know is not there, but it looks real?” It’s a question that Lylas G. Mogk, M.D., and Raman Deol, O.D., of the Henry Ford Center for Vision Rehabilitation and Research in metropolitan Detroit, always ask their low-vision patients.

Low vision that cannot be improved through corrective lenses or surgery can be the result of macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetes, stroke, or other causes.

Some of their patients respond that they see purple flowers everywhere, even in winter.  Others see animals, people, buildings, or geometric, quilt-like patterns.  They rarely share their experience with their families, for fear of being misunderstood.  Some wonder whether the visions suggest early dementia.

In 1789, Swiss naturalist Charles Bonnet described the visions of his father-in-law, who had low vision and saw people, animals and other objects that he knew were not real. Bonnet himself experienced phantom visions later in his life, similar to those of his father-in-law.  Bonnet’s discovery went largely unnoticed for 150 years until the 1930s, when doctors rediscovered his files and named the syndrome after him.

The frequently undiagnosed Charles Bonnet Syndrome is very common, affecting 20 – 30 percent of those with low vision.  Some may experience it for a few months, others for several years.  The images can occur daily or only occasionally, with the same image appearing to the same person.  There is no cure, but most people are not bothered by the images, and many find them interesting or amusing, especially once they understand it’s just their eyes playing tricks on them.

Although the cause is not known, the images can be compared to the “phantom pain” that can be felt by people who have had a limb amputated.  The nerves that were connected to the missing limb still send signals to the brain.  In our visual system, the nerves no longer receiving visual messages can cause the brain to “see” realistic images, while recognizing they are not real.

Many physicians are not yet aware of Charles Bonnet Syndrome, and may mistake it for psychotic hallucinations.  Patients with the syndrome have been misdiagnosed and prescribed anti-psychotic medications.

To identify Charles Bonnet Syndrome, ophthalmologists use these criteria:
• The person has low vision.
• The images occur when the person is conscious, with open eyes.
• The person recognizes the images are not real.
• The same image appears repeatedly, superimposed on the real world. For example, the person sees a room normally, but the wall appears to have flowers on it and only that same image of flowers recurs to that same person.
• Images are only visual; they may move, but there are no sounds or smells. It’s like seeing a picture, or watching a silent movie.
• Images are common, familiar objects. They may be amusing or mildly annoying, but not frightening.

People with low vision who believe they may be experiencing Charles Bonnet Syndrome should discuss it with their ophthalmologist.

The Henry Ford Center for Vision Rehabilitation and Research is located in Grosse Pointe and Livonia, Michigan. It is the only center of its kind in the Midwest.