Sinai Health

T H E B E S T M E D I C I N E M AT T E R S 1 9 KISS visits Mount Sinai to support care for high-risk births On August 13, legendary KISS rock stars Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley visited Mount Sinai Hospital's David & Stacey Cynamon Mother & Baby Unit in support of Rock N' Stroll™. During their visit, Simmons and Stanley charmed parents and newborn babies and talked about their enthusiasm for the campaign and the importance of providing the very best care for mothers and their infants. New combination therapy is "game-changer" in treatment of Type 2 diabetes A study led by Dr. Ravi Retnakaran, an endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and an investigator at the Hospital's Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, shows that, when combined with long-acting insulin, a new class of medication that mimics a naturally occurring gut hormone (glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist, which fine-tunes the balance of insulin to blood sugar) can obtain excellent blood sugar control — without increased risk of low sugars or weight gain, two of the most common adverse effects of current drug treatments. The study, published in September 2014 in The Lancet, examined 15 recent randomized controlled trials involving a total of 4,348 participants worldwide. Based on the study's results, the research team at Mount Sinai Hospital is currently recruiting patients for a new clinical trial (called PREVAIL) of this combination therapy. Mount Sinai researchers develop world's first app to help treat alcohol withdrawal Researchers from Mount Sinai's Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute, led by Director Dr. Bjug Borgundvaag, and the University of Toronto unveiled a new app that measures tremor (i.e., unintentional trembling movements, especially in the hands and arms), the biggest clinical indicator of alcohol withdrawal. Using data from an iPod's built-in accelerometer, the app measures the frequency and strength of tremor for both hands for 20 seconds. The app is the world's first objective measurement tool to guide diagnosis and treatment decisions for alcohol withdrawal patients. Typically, judging tremor severity requires considerable medical expertise and estimates can vary widely; such uncertainty can complicate treatment and lead to prolonged stays in the emergency department (ED). "The exciting thing about our app is that the implications are global," says Dr. Borgundvaag. "Alcohol withdrawal is commonly encountered not only in the emergency room, but also elsewhere in the hospital. This gives clinicians a much easier way to assess patients using real data and can improve patient outcomes, with hopefully less time spent in the ED and fewer complications." KISS' Paul Stanley with Dr. Shoo Lee, Paediatrician-in-Chief, and Gene Simmons.

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