Briefs

“Got Guts” Wristbands Making an Impact for CCFA

NEW YORK — Leveraging the success of the most popular fund-raising product to sweep the nation, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) has recently introduced its “Got Guts ™” wristband. This blue silicon elastic wristband was designed to raise money and awareness for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

“We’ve already sold some 40,000 wristbands in one month,” said Roger Koman, vice president of new enterprises at CCFA. “We will continue to introduce new and unique fundraising initiatives to support our mission to wipe out these conditions, which affect over one million children and adults in the U.S. alone.”

Made popular by the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s “Wear Yellow Live Strong” campaign, these wristbands have come to symbolize an individual’s support for a specific cause. Individuals who wear CCFA’s wristband engraved with the phrase “Got Guts” support a future without IBD.

“Got Guts” wristbands are available in both adult and youth sizes at a cost of $15 per pack of 10. They can be purchased by calling 800-932-2423 or by visiting www.ccfa.org. All proceeds will go directly to CCFA to support their mission to cure and prevent Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis through research, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these digestive diseases through education and support.

Patterns of Sedation and Monitoring During Endoscopy

The use of sedation in gastrointestinal endoscopy has markedly increased over the last 13 years and the use of electronic monitoring has become standard practice, reports the February 2005 issue of Endoscopy. Little is known about how practices in sedation and in monitoring during gastrointestinal endoscopy and the complication rates of sedation have changed over time.

Researchers undertook a nationwide survey in order to assess the present practice among Swiss gastroenterologists. The researchers focused particularly on the use of propofol, and they compared the results with similar data obtained in 1990. At the end of 2003, the research team sent a questionnaire (similar to the one used in 1990) to all 249 Swiss gastroenterologists. The response rate was 72 percent. The researchers then analyzed data from 179,953 endoscopies performed during the previous 12 months.

The researchers found that in 2003, sedation was used in 78 percent of esophagogastroduodenoscopies and colonoscopies (compared with 60 percent in 1990). In addition, they found that midazolam was the most commonly used medication. The research team noted that the drugs were mostly administered by the endoscopy nurse, via an intravenous cannula. Oximetry monitoring was used in more than 95 percent of examinations (compared with 3 percent in 1990). The researchers found that the overall sedation-related morbidity was 0.2 percent and the mortality rate was 0.0014 percent. Of the 180 respondents, 77 (43 percent) reported that they been using propofol regularly for a median time period of 23 months. The research team noted that the 34 percent of respondents who used propofol without the assistance of an anesthesiologist had performed a total of 82,620 procedures. The morbidity (defined as the need for bag-ventilation) in this group of patients was 0.2 percent and no deaths were reported.

Mount Sinai Launches Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Awareness Effort

The Mount Sinai Medical Center drafted baseball legend Yogi Berra to lead an effort to call attention to the danger of abdominal aortic aneurysms, a little-recognized silent killer that takes thousands of lives each year and numbers among its victims the likes of Albert Einstein, comedienne Lucille Ball and actor George C. Scott.

“I’m joining the Mount Sinai team to let everyone know there’s a simple test that can tell them if they have trouble they don’t know about,” said Berra, as the hospital marked Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Awareness Day, designated in a proclamation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “We’re very pleased that Mayor Bloomberg and Yogi Berra have joined our efforts to get out the word about the danger of abdominal aortic aneurysms, and the quick, easy test that’s available to identify that danger,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, president and chief executive officer of The Mount Sinai Medical Center and dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Abdominal aortic aneurysms are an abnormal weakness and bulging of the lower portion of the aorta, the major artery from the heart, which can burst without warning and result in life-threatening bleeding. Ruptured aortic aneurysms take as many as 15,000 lives each year and are the 15th leading cause of death in the United States. Those at highest risk are people age 60 and above, particularly men.

People with abdominal aortic aneurysms often show no symptoms prior to a rupture, but the life-threatening danger can be detected through a simple, painless, five-minute ultrasound examination.”Ultrasound screening can detect this problem early when we can repair it using minimally-invasive surgery,” said Michael L. Marin, MD, FACS, chairman of the Ruth J. and Maxwell Hauser and Harriet and Arthur H. Aufses, Jr. MD, department of surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “Three-quarters of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms are fatal, but more than nine out of 10 that are detected through screenings are treatable.”

Marin has been instrumental in advancing the state-of-the-art in the minimally invasive treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms, and under his leadership, Mount Sinai’s program for diagnosing and treating the problem has grown to become the busiest of its kind in the nation.

Those at highest risk of abdominal aortic aneurysms are people — especially men — who:

• Are age 60 or above
• Have cardiovascular disease
• Are smokers
• Have lung disease
• Have a family history of the problem

As reported this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has just issued a recommendation that all men ages 65 to 75 who have ever smoked undergo an ultrasound screening test for abdominal aortic aneurysm. The task force is an independent panel of medical experts whose recommendations help set government policy. Among those serving on the panel is Albert I. Siu, MD, MSPH, the Ellen and Howard Katz professor of geriatrics and chairman of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

The Mount Sinai Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Awareness initiative and screenings are supported in part by an educational grant from Medtronic.

CK2 Protein Sustains Colon Cancer Cells by Sabotaging Ability to Commit Suicide

The renegade CK2 protein keeps the tumor alive and growing by desensitizing the cancer cells to the effects of another protein called TRAIL. Normally, TRAIL triggers apoptosis (cell suicide) in the cancer cells as a way of protecting the body. CK2 is an enzyme composed of four small proteins-two alpha proteins and two beta proteins.

The finding holds promise for developing drugs that help a patient’s cancer cells become sensitized to TRAIL induced apoptosis. For example, treating the tumors with TRAIL to trigger apoptosis while blocking CK2 might enhance anti-cancer treatment for a variety of other solid tumors, such as pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma, says Janet Houghton, PhD, a member of St. Jude Hematology-Oncology. Rhabdomyosarcoma is a tumor originating in cells that have some features of muscle cells.

The St. Jude team showed that CK2 exerts its anti-apoptosis effect within a structure called DISC (death-inducing signaling complex). The DISC is a large jumble of proteins that interact with each other after TRAIL binds to the outer cell membrane. After DISC forms, an enzyme called caspase-8 triggers the cascade of biochemical events outside DISC that eventually leads to cell death. By desensitizing the cell to TRAIL, CK2 disrupts the DISC response, which in turn prevents apoptosis and allows the cancer cell to continue growing.

“The work my laboratory has done using our cell lines of colorectal cancer to investigate the role of CK2 in tumors is now bearing fruit,” says Houghton.

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