Inside Duke Medicine

SOM Research Round-Up: Better patient care, one discovery at a time

New Superbug Surpasses MRSA Infection Rates in Community Hospitals

While prevention methods appear to be helping to lower hospital infection rates from MRSA, a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium, a new superbug is on the rise, according to research from the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network. New data shows infections from Clostridium difficile are surpassing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in community hospitals. “We found that MRSA infections have declined steadily since 2005, but C. difficile infections have increased since 2007,” said Becky Miller, MD, an infectious diseases fellow at Duke University Medical Center.

Technology-Based Hand Hygiene Monitoring Improves Compliance at Duke Hospital

A real-time monitoring process improved hand hygiene compliance at Duke University Hospital, bringing its compliance rates to more than 90 percent -- far above the national average of 40 percent. Hand hygiene is a culture issue, according to Anderson. “Everyone knows it’s the right thing to do, but we have to make it a part of our culture and ensure that it happens every time a provider cares for a patient.”

High Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to Liver Scarring

High fructose corn syrup, which is linked to obesity, may also be harmful to the liver, according to Duke University Medical Center research. “We found that increased consumption of high fructose corn syrup was associated with scarring in the liver, or fibrosis, among patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD),” said Manal Abdelmalek, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology.

Body's Anticipation of a Meal is a Diabetes Risk Factor

Alterations in our response to the taste or smell of food may be another culprit responsible for Type 2 diabetes, according to Duke researchers who have identified the specific mechanism in human specimens and in mice. When we anticipate or smell a meal, the parasympathetic nervous system triggers salivation and increases insulin production in response to the expectation that glucose will be entering the blood stream. "We think this parasympathetic response is potentially important in type 2 diabetes,” said Vann Bennett, the James B. Duke professor in the departments of cell biology, biochemistry, and neurobiology.

Gene Called Pickpocket Encodes For Sense Of Forceful Touch

Dan Tracey, Ph.D., Duke assistant professor of anesthesiology, and his team delved into the molecules in fruit flies that are responsible for sensing forceful touch. The team, including Lixian Zhong and Richard Y. Hwang, found that the pickpocket gene is required for mechanical (force) sensory detection, but not temperature detection, in a study published in Current Biology. “Pain is the number one reason why people go to see a doctor, yet symptoms are poorly treated by the medications we have at this point,” Tracey said. “The field of pain research is in its very early stages of understanding the pain-sensing mechanisms of neurons, and one of the big goals is to identify molecules in mechanical pain, so that ultimately we can produce better pain treatments.”

Do Heart Attacks Increase When the Stock Market Drops?

A novel report explores the possible relationship between fluctuations in the stock market and the incidence of local heart attacks. The initial data analysis showed an increased incidence of heart attacks from the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease from January 2008 to July 2009. After conducting a comprehensive analysis looking specifically at the relationship with the stock market during that time, there was a trend between increased heart attacks with stock market declines. “In the unadjusted findings we saw a strong trend,” says Christopher O’Connor, MD, Director of the Duke Heart Center and senior author of the paper. “However, previous studies have not done these analyses with a seasonal correction. Previous research has shown that myocardial infarctions (MIs) occur more frequently during winter months than summer months. When we corrected for seasonality, we learned the time of year could be impacting our results.”