HJLR May/Jun 2019

Healthcare Journal of little rock I  MAY / JUN 2019 45 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalLR.com a master’s in healthcare administration from St. Louis University. During her time at CHI St. Vin- cent, Petrus received a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification, graduated from Leadership Little Rock Class XXIII, and graduated from MEMS Cit- izen Academy. The new ANI Research and Education Center grand opening is scheduled for June 14, and its work will focus on improving treatment outcomes, mapping the human brain, and training tomor- row’s surgeons to learn the skills necessary to tackle the most complex cases and further impact patient outcomes. Study: CPAP AidsWeight Loss in Obese Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine in conjunction with dietary changes can aid in weight loss in specific patients, researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medi- cal Sciences (UAMS) found in a study that is being highlighted by an international professional soci- ety for endocrinology. Yuanjie Mao, MD, PhD, is the lead researcher on the study and is a fellow physician in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine. The study was featured at the Endo- crine Society’s annual meeting, ENDO 2019, held March 23-26 in New Orleans. “This study highlights the importance of sleep quality and hints at the possible underlying neuroendocrine changes associated with poor sleep,” Mao said. “These results suggest that physicians should recommend a combination of weight loss and CPAP treatment for obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea.” The most common cause of obstructive sleep apnea in adults is obesity. Wearing a CPAP machine during sleep is the first-line treatment. However, some people may think the CPAP will not be needed if they lose weight and attempt to lose weight without initiating CPAP treatment. In contrast, this study found that when obese people who have obstructive sleep apnea try to lose body weight by dietary calorie restriction, starting CPAP machine treatment can actually result in more body weight loss. The study looked at patients undergoing a 16-week intensive calorie restriction program that included exercise, weekly individual coun- seling, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Some in the group with sleep apnea were treated with CPAP and others were not. The CPAP-treatment group saw a larger absolute weight loss than the non-CPAP group. The prevalence of obesity has been recognized as a worldwide pandemic. Obesity is abnormal or excessive fat accumulation and is associated with earlier death related to several conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Worldwide, obesity increased by 47.1 per- cent in children and by 27.5 percent in adults between 1980 and 2013. In 2016, globally, 39 per- cent of adults were overweight and 13 percent were obese. In Arkansas, 34.7 percent of adults were overweight and 35.9 percent of adults were obese. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the throat   intermittently relax dur- ing sleep and block the patient’s airway. CPAP machines are worn over the nose or mouth and use a constant stream of air to keep the patient’s airways open as they sleep. Mao is one of four participants in the Endo- crinology and Metabolism Fellowship at UAMS. Peter Goulden, MD, associate professor of endo- crinology and metabolism, oversaw Mao’s work. At the Endocrine Society meeting, Mao’s work was selected for presentation and was featured for its especially newsworthy findings. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions. Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses, and students in 122 countries. Music Can Be Used as Medicine, Distinguished Medical Lecturers Explain Many people consume and view music as sim- ply a form of entertainment, but as renowned researchers Alex Pantelyat, MD, and Nina Kraus, PhD, explained, rhythm, song, and melody have a much deeper purpose. “Music is so much more than just everyday background noise,” said Pantelyat. “Music can indeed be used as medicine, and I hope people young and old came away from the lecture think- ing about it as something that can be used to heal, whether it’s Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s, dementia, or non-neurological disorders. Music is a healthy prescription for the brain.”  Pantelyat is an assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He and Kraus, the Hugh Knowles Chair of Communica- tion Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University, served as the Vollman & Wilson Lecturers at the second-annual Distin- guished Medical Lecture titled, “Rhythmic Heal- ing: Music & Medicine.” New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State Univer- sity hosted the event. Approximately 600 medical students and community members filled A-State’s Fowler Center to learn about the research Pante- lyat and Kraus have done to connect music and medicine, specifically in relation to therapy.  “One of the healthiest things we can do for our brain is make music,” Kraus said. “Sound plays an incredibly important role in our lives, although sound processing is generally unrecognized. What we listen to impacts our brain and plays a role in what we become biologically.” In addition to his role as an assistant professor, Pantelyat is the Director of the Atypical Parkinson- ism Center at Johns Hopkins and the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Music & Medicine. He’s led studies through which Cara Petrus