The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 25 COVID patients today, 25 yesterday. Other significant numbers:
- 13 with the active virus today, 10 yesterday
- 3 in ICU, 3 yesterday
- 1 on a ventilator, 0 yesterday
Key points from today’s guests:
Morning Roundup – Summary of Current News
Chris Heath, system director, clinical supply chain optimization, The University of Kansas Health System
- The Health System has kept more than 6900 pounds of devices out of the trash in 2022.
- It was done by expanding our product portfolio for reprocessed products, concentrating on collections, and creating strong partnerships with our physicians and clinical end users.
- What really sets our program apart is we have a team of dedicated individuals that foster those relationships and concentrate on how to expand the program and help to communicate and educate while bringing data driven opportunities to the table.
- These efforts have saved the health system about $1.2 million last year by purchasing reprocessed products.
- It's really important to reduce our carbon footprint because we have a responsibility to do our best to reduce what we use.
- The success of this program really shows that we as a Health System not only care about our patients, but we care about our community.
Focus Topic
Dr. Christie Befort, Ph. D., associate director of cancer prevention & control, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- Cancer can involve a whole variety of factor from the environment to things you consume, to infectious diseases, to how those things interact with your genetics.
- Scientists study exposure to these things and follow people long-term to see which ones are predictive or cause risk for developing cancer. It’s the very first step in the whole cancer control.
- Some abnormal changes in those genes can be passed down and may increase your risk for certain kinds of cancer. Perhaps the most famous is BRCA One and Two, which is commonly recognized as increasing risk for breast cancer and that's why we test among first-degree relatives.
- But cancer cells themselves can also have mutations. These are not inheritable between family generations.
- Targeted immunotherapy is very exciting because it gives patients treatment options that may not have been available in the last five years.
Dr. Simon Lee, Ph. D., chair, Department of Population Health, The University of Kansas Medical Center
- Patient centered care is getting more precise through the genetic cancer-targeted therapies – we have a specific treatment for the specific cancer in the right patient at the right time.
- The coordination between oncology teams is also shaping how we involve other specialists as well as strengthening the coordination with nurses and doctors in primary care, which is really important for cancer survivors as more and more people are living longer and better after their cancer treatment.
- One of the most important things for cancer survivors to remember is that their other doctors need to know that they had a history of cancer and they need to bring that up.
Dr. Ajay Bansal, gastroenterologist, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- Blood-based tests will be measuring mutations which are happening in an organ in the blood and by doing that, we can diagnose many of the cancers at an early stage.
- There's a clear link between diet and cancer in when you look at studies but what exactly we should be doing.
- What we found was that people who have at least three to five servings of fruits and vegetables per day had a much lower risk of cancer. Make sure your four different colors on a plate so you will have a nice variety of nutrients to prevent cancer in the long run.
- All of these public screening programs have been shown to make a big difference saving lives decreasing the risk of cancer.
Dr. Lauren Nye, breast oncologist, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- The most common reason somebody is at an increased risk of breast cancer is their family history. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, but some women may have an even higher risk if they have what we call a first-degree relative with breast cancer and it can come from either side of the family.
- We also do genetic testing – identifying women who have something in their DNA that tells us that they're at an increased risk of breast cancer.
- Once those women are identified, they can have more intense screening for early detection. That can be beyond the 3-D mammogram and can include breast MRI or contrast enhanced tomography.
- Diet is extremely important – filling your plate with good fruits and vegetables, as well as exercise and limiting alcohol.
- We also have drugs what we call chemo prevention or medications that can be used to lower the risk of breast cancer. Not many women are aware of those options but they can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 50 percent.
- 3-D mammograms increase cancer detection. It also lowers the recall rate meaning lowers the risk of the radiologist telling you, you need to come back and do further imaging or testing.
COVID Updates
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, The University of Kansas Health System
- We have moved to a model where it looks like COVID is a disease of the most at-risk.
- Project NextGen is important new government program to provide even better protection against COVID.
- This includes development of new therapies like monoclonal antibodies and vaccines that protect against a range of coronaviruses.
Monday, April 24 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Religious beliefs posed a challenge for treating a young woman diagnosed with leukemia since blood transfusions are not permitted for Jehovah's Witness followers. Doctors at The University of Kansas Cancer Center accepted the challenge with a treatment option that met both her medical and spiritual needs.
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