Smoother Recovery from Thyroid Surgery

After removal of the thyroid due to cancer, patients often undergo radioiodine treatment to get rid of all remaining thyroid tissue. To prepare for this treatment, they cannot receive medication to replace the natural thyroid hormones their body has lost when the gland was removed. The resulting lowered level of hormones--or hypothyroidism-- brings on debilitating symptoms like weight gain, constipation, fatigue, chills, depression, muscle cramps and slowed thinking. Patients often cannot work productively with such symptoms.

Endocrinologist Paul Ladenson, however, uses a new treatment in which he injects a genetically manufactured hormone, called Thyrogen, that avoids hypothyroidism and the symptoms that go with it, revolutionizing post-surgery treatment. And although the medication can produce headaches or nausea in about 15 percent of patients, those symptoms are transient and mild, he says. Ladenson is already accepting referrals from other endocrinologists who have heard about the new treatment and he works collaboratively with them to treat these patients.

Older Children Benefit from Lazy Eye Treatment

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and 48 eye centers across North America report that many children between the ages of 7 and 17 with amblyopia, or "lazy eye," may benefit from treatments usually prescribed for younger children.

"Previously, many eye specialists thought treating amblyopia in older children would be ineffective, but we found that many teenagers responded to treatment," says eye specialist Michael Repka, M.D., a co-author of the study. "In our opinion, age alone should not determine whether or not to treat."

Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision loss in childhood. Beginning in infancy or childhood, the condition is marked by poor vision in an otherwise healthy eye and occurs because the brain has learned to favor the other eye. Although the amblyopic eye often looks normal, abnormal visual processing limits the development of a portion of the brain responsible for sight. The most common causes are crossed or wandering eyes, farsightedness or nearsightedness.

Patient Safety is Your Responsibility, Too!

Staying healthy is a partnership between you and your doctor. Here are easy ways you can help prevent medical errors and get the most out of your treatment:

1. Ask questions. It is your body and your right to know.

2. Request a language or sign-language interpreter if needed.

3. Write down questions before your appointment.

4. Ask your doctor or nurse to explain your treatment plan.

5. Ask a relative or friend to listen with you when your doctor tells you about your diagnosis, treatment plan, test result or medication instructions.

6. Question anything that seems unusual or differs from what you have been told before.

7. Identify yourself and ask staff to doublecheck that your medical record file is yours, especially if you have a common name.

8. Carry personal identification and insurance information with you every time you visit the doctor's office.

9. Ask friends and relatives who have colds or other contagious illnesses not to visit your home when you or a family member is ill.

10. Get vaccinated, if appropriate. Flu and pneumonia vaccines can prevent illnesses in elderly and high-risk patients.

11. Ask your doctor about your medicines - what they are, what they look like, what they do, when and how they should be taken, and what side effects they may have.

12. If you do not recognize a medication, verify that it is yours.

13. Let your doctor know if you have allergies or have had previous reactions to drugs, foods or latex.

14. Tell your doctor about all medications you are currently taking including vitamins, herbal remedies and non-prescription medicines.

Our Employee of the Year

Johns Hopkins Medicine International periodically recognizes the impressive talent and dedication of our staff. Four times a year, an Employee of the Quarter is nominated by the staff of JHI. At the end of the year, one of them is honored as the Employee of the Year. This year's recipient, Hamed Mustafa, was selected for his exemplary professionalism, dedication and skill.

In the ceremony announcing this year's honoree, Steve Thompson, CEO, noted that "at the end of the day, or, first thing in the morning, it does not matter, this individual is always available and ready to help. He continually exhibits a positive ‘can-do' attitude and encourages others to perform at their best." (continued in column 3)

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Constantine Lyketsos, a neuro-
psychiatrist who heads Hopkins' Memory Center, talks about the coming surge in Alzheimer's Disease.

Is there really a coming surge in Alzheimer's Disease?

The dementia rate should start to rise in five years as the first baby boomers reach their 60s. In 10 years, it will near 13.5 million (in the United States alone). Hopkins plans to double its capacity for patient care in the next three years. We will have training programs for caregivers and develop very sensitive computerized memory tests to let us catch patients earlier in their illness and help us monitor them once it progresses. Of course, we want a cure.

What is so special about what Hopkins offers patients?

We have worked for years to develop a systematic approach to dementia that does not let people slip through the cracks. We offer therapy, of course, including the recently approved medication Memantin. But since nothing yet stops the progression of the disease, we also treat symptoms like depression and delusions.

What is going on in research?

We believe that depression and dementia are somehow related, and we are studying that. We are looking at cardiovascular disease as a possible link between the two. There is also research based on the idea that Alzheimer's is really several diseases, that different people slip into it by different paths. So we are doing large studies of people at risk. Using blood tests, imaging and cognitive testing, we will follow them for some time and hope some sort of marker appears that lets us make predictions.