Health Sciences In The Media

A study in mice shows certain types of pain can be prevented or reversed without apparent side effects by silencing a gene involved in pain signaling. "It's a beautiful piece of work," said Rajesh Khanna, a neuroscientist who studies pain mechanisms and potential treatments at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. Despite successes of gene therapy against rare and life-threatening disorders, few teams have explored genetic approaches to treating pain, he said. "I think this study is going to be our benchmark."

Within shoeboxes, beef jerky bags and TV bubble wrap, lie tiny white packets stamped with a very clear "DO NOT EAT" warning. These are silica gel packets, a solution for people everywhere looking to keep their products at perfect humidity levels. Since there can be confusion sometimes over what exactly is in the packet, the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center recommends calling poison control if someone swallows a desiccant packet, just in case.

The University of Arizona Health Sciences received a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support research to examine how being a firefighter affects women's stress levels, as well as their risk of cancer and reproductive health issues.

Dr. John Galgiani, director of the University of Arizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence discusses the economic impact of valley fever on patients.

Around 3,000 Arizonans are participating in a COVID-19 study led by researchers from the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. The AZ HEROES study is led by Jeff Burgess, associate dean for research and professor at the UArizona College of Public Health.

Arizona's Native American population has been hit disproportionately hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Native Americans make up about 5% of Arizona's population but at least 8% of the state’s deaths from the virus. But since vaccines started rolling out across the state, Native Americans have been getting vaccinated at higher rates than the general population. Agnes Attakai, a member of the Navajo Nation and director of Health Disparities Outreach and Prevention Education at the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, is interviewed.

Tucson nonprofit Integrative Touch for Kids is using telehealth to reach out and help kids and caregivers – including physicians and other health-care providers – to care for themselves during the pandemic. "By helping to care for the caregivers and heal the healers, the program has an incredible ripple effect when you consider all of the patients, colleagues and staff that the providers impact," said Dr. Elizabeth Kyle Meehan, program director of the Family Medicine Residency at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson South Campus.

Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, discusses the efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines.

"To put it simply, our GI tract is sensitive to all types of emotion – anxiety, sadness, anger, elation," said Janelle Thompson, a clinical health psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson who specializes in gastrointestinal diseases. "A clear example of this is the nausea or intestinal discomfort that many people feel before giving a presentation."

Concierge health is a type of practice that promises patients more time with their doctor and more comprehensive healthcare. Another concern is that patients with more health problems will be left out of the benefits of concierge health. “The primary care physician may ‘cherry-pick,’ inviting the most healthy to join their concierge practice. Some studies have shown that concierge practices include fewer patients with diabetes or hypertension,” wrote Dr. James E. Dalen, professor emeritus and Dr. Joseph S. Alpert, professor of clinical translational sciences with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson on the rising phenomenon.