Welcome to this week’s edition of Weekend Wonderings. Despite what you see and feel outside, we are less than three weeks aways from Spring. Enjoy Winter while you can. Grab whatever beverage that you need and let’s proceed.
The James/Wexner
Well, this is interesting.. It seems that the BMJ (formerly) British Medical Journal published a study questioning the advisability of breast cancer screening via mammography, and to say the least, the report is being excoriated.
Women questioning the value of screening mammography based on a recent study published in BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) should pause and look more closely at the data. Medical societies and breast cancer specialists across the nation agree: The data is flawed and misleading. There is no question that screening mammography saves lives.
There appear to be two huge flaws with the study. First, the study used obsolete scanning devices and the staff was not properly trained in the procedure. The second was, for a supposed randomized sampling, the test subjects were assigned to “test” and “control” groups in a non-randomized manner. Both of these errors are show-stoppers. I’d suspect that tBBC’s resident ‘lab rat’ (Eric) would not approve of these testing protocol shenanigans.
Next up, genetics!
“COLUMBUS, Ohio — A potential new gene mutation that might drive lung cancer development and growth has been identified by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James).
A multi-institutional team led by OSUCCC-James researchers reports the findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The study describes a patient with advanced lung cancer who was treated with the targeted drug sorafenib while on a clinical trial.”
A couple of things, here. First, this is another example of not so much “root cause analysis” as “root cause determination”. Cancer in particular, is not a one-size-fits-all disease in regards to prevention/treatment. This is more excellent work by the James. My second point, directed to those folks who “did” the breast cancer-mammogram “study” above; this is how you conduct clinical trials. Read More
This week we lost a musical legend and great Ohioan… so, this morning’s soundtrack should help you get through the middle of your workweek.
Silver Is Pretty Freaking Awesome
Buckeye 411
Giordano Bruno
Welcome to this week’s edition of Weekend Wonderings. The basketball teams are within a month of ending their regular seasons. I hope that you all had a very nice weekend with the love of your life to celebrate Valentine’s Day. And St. Woody Day, as well.
I spilled quite a bit of ink with this WW, and it is a bit different. So, grab whatever beverage that you need, and possibly a back-up and let’s proceed.
More on this imposing figure later.
The James/Wexner
“All politics is local”, said former Congressman Top O’Neill. The same can be said for health care. Way back in the Fall of 2012, before I came on board here at tBBC, I’d asked Mali to do me a personal favor and run this article, concerning bone marrow donation. I remain grateful, since the article explained the issues that my cousin was dealing with at the time. We’re still searching, but a marrow match has yet to be found. Meanwhile, the wolves have been kept at bay via a stem cell implant. A significant “band-aid” to be sure, but certainly not the needed answer.
During this time, one of their sons (a Penn State student-athlete at the time) asked fellow PSU’ers to be tested as possible donors, and the response was, and continues to be outstanding. Moving to the present, this video is an interview with Kim and Jim, and tells of the current status of my cousin’s bone marrow search, the participation of students as bone marrow donors and the work yet to be done. You can do your part by merely swabbing the inside of your cheek. These samples are analyzed by the National Marrow Donor Program, and when genetic matches are found, the process begins.
Samples continue to be submitted, donors-recipients matched and people are helped. Obviously, this is an ongoing effort. As tenacious a disease that cancer is, we have to be even more so to beat it. I’d like to thank Channel 4 (WCMH) in Columbus for their features on this topic.
FDA approves Imbruvica to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia: Read More
You’re either reading this from home on a “ice day”, or from work after having dug yourself out of yet another mid-week snow storm. Stupid freaking groundhog… At any rate, here’s today’s soundtrack… for reasons that will hopefully soon be evident.
In addition to Gold Pants…
Buckeye 411
Well, given the news today in college sports and elsewhere, I think I’ve got a couple of soundtrack offerings that will draw it all together. Stay warm people!! (it’s supposed to be down to the 60s in Los Angeles today… brrrrrrr.)
Squirtgun In January
Buckeye 411
Quick change of title format for our Wednesday update, for reasons that will soon be evident. Also taking a beat from the news, today’s soundtrack goes all Roger Goodell on life.
Buckeye 411
21 And Over, Please
Tight End, Loose Cannon? Kyle Rowland of Eleven Warriors broke the news late Tuesday that Buckeye tight end Marcus Baugh had been suspended from the team indefinitely for yet another issue with underaged alcohol usage. While many of us would file this either under “meh” or “college lyfe!!”, it’s important to note that this would be Baugh’s third “incident” while a Buckeye, and his second involving alcohol. He was removed from scholarship last summer, and was removed from team activities in September as well… it will be interesting to see if Coach Meyer believes in a “three strikes and you’re done” policy. Baugh has always been seen as an amazing athlete, but his absence will mean that the other tight ends in the system (Heuerman, Moore, and Vannett) may be asked to bear the burden during the spring and beyond; the 2014 recruiting class does not have a tight end in the mix as of yet.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Weekend Wonderings. Researchers at The James were awarded a sizeable grant, and the Buckeye football team added to its coaching staff. Other than that, not much going on. Grab whatever beverage you need and let’s proceed.
The James/Wexner, Cleveland Clinic
After receiving a 5-year grant renewal to study thyroid cancer in September 2013, the James was awarded an additional 5-year, $11.3 million grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study and treat thyroid cancer. This project will be led by Matthew D Ringel, MD.
“Thyroid cancer incidence rates are rising faster than all cancers in the United States, making it the fifth most common malignancy in women and 11th most common in men,” says Ringel.
According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 60,000 people are diagnosed with thyroid cancer annually in the United States and nearly 535,000 are currently living with the disease.
Additionally, here is a short (3:59) video with Dr. Michael Caligiuri explaining the new home of The James and an overview of new treatment processes. These are exciting times at The James, and we should be proud that it is an integral part of the Ohio State community. Read More
We’re two weeks into 2014 and we’re still wrapping up 2013. We’ll look at who is staying and who is going, also who is on campus already to get ready for the spring. Plus we’ll have a fun look back for my “best of” 2013 edition that involves music and movies. It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble! (Don’t forget to click anything red for a surprise!)
Who’s in and who’s out?
Mike Vrabel, headed to the NFL’s Houston Texans
Since the end of the Orangle Bowl we’ve tried to determine between Ryan Shazier and Braxton Miller who would stay and who was NFL bound. We’ve all weighed in with our own varying opinions and we found out the answers to the question for both last week. In the immediate weekend following the Orange Bowl loss we heard from Ryan Shazier that he would be entering the draft. Later in the week we heard from Braxton Miller that he was staying.
What we didn’t know was that another person who spends his time at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center was also listening to The Clash on his iPod. In a move that seemed like a pretty big surprise, defensive line coach Mike Vrabel announced he will be joining former Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien in Houston with the NFL’s Texan’s where O’Brien is now running the show.
I don’t think it is a stretch to say that Vrabel will be missed on the staff. He’ll certainly be missed for his recruiting abilities. Being able to slap three Super Bowl rings onto the kitchen table have a way of impressing high school kids and their families that are making a decision on where to go to school.
It’s just a hunch, but I think ultimately Mike Vrabel wants to be either a head coach in college or a defensive coordinator, maybe even a head coach in the NFL. The path starts with two seasons as a defensive line coach at Ohio State followed by two seasons as a linebackers or defensive line coach with the Houston Texans. You can almost see it playing out. The next natural progression is a defensive coordinator spot somewhere and naturally that is followed by a head coach spot.
