uncnews.unc.edu

Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:

International Coverage

Study suggests how often to test bone density
Reuters (Wire Service)
Older women with thin bones should be screened every year and those with denser bones can safely wait up to 17 years to have their next bone mineral density test, according to new research. Current recommendations have relied on bone mineral density readings to try to predict the speed at which bones weaken with time, said lead author Dr. Margaret Gourlay of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. "This is the first U.S. study to do it based on patients."
Related Link:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20120118/osteoporosis-bone-density-test-120118/

Women Receive Bone Tests Too Often for Osteoporosis, Study Finds
Bloomberg Businessweek
Many women who get screened for osteoporosis may not need it, suggesting current guidelines may spur extra tests, increasing costs and unnecessary treatment, a study found. ...“There’s strong belief that the more we test, the more we are helping patients,” said Margaret Gourlay, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher and study author. “This is a good example of why that doesn’t hold up at all.”

National Coverage

Osteoporosis Patients Advised to Delay Bone Density Retests
The New York Times
Bone loss and osteoporosis develop so slowly in most women whose bones test normal at age 65 that many can safely wait as long as 15 years before having a second bone density test, researchers report in a new study. ...Dr. Margaret Gourlay, the study’s lead author and a family practice specialist and osteoporosis researcher at the University of North Carolina, said she and her colleagues were surprised by how slowly osteoporosis progressed in women.
Related Link:
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/older-women-and-bone-tests/

How Often Should Women Be Screened for Osteoporosis? (Blog)
The Wall Street Journal
...The goal of screening is to diagnose a woman when she has osteoporosis and can benefit from bone-building drugs, but before she has fractures. Spine and hip fractures are particularly dangerous, says Margaret Gourlay, lead author of the new study and an assistant professor in the University of North Carolina Department of Family Medicine. (For example, recent research found that women in their mid-to-late 60s who break a hip are five times as likely to die within a year compared to women of the same age who didn’t break a hip.)

Less-frequent bone scans may be OK
The Associated Press
...The research, published in today's New England Journal of Medicine, was led by Dr. Margaret Gourlay of the University of North Carolina. She worries that her findings might be misinterpreted and cause some women to wait longer than they should for their next test. She cited earlier research suggesting not enough women get the recommended initial scan.

Many Older Women May Not Need Frequent Bone Scans
"Morning Edition" National Public Radio
The bone-thinning disease called osteoporosis is a big problem for women past menopause. ...Dr. Margaret Gourlay of the University of North Carolina, who led the study, told Shots her team didn't expect older women with normal or near-normal bone density would take so long to develop osteoporosis. Of the 5,000 women in the study, half were in this low-risk group at the age of 67.

How Often Do Women Really Need Bone Density Tests?
Time
...In the study, lead author Dr. Margaret Gourlay of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, sought to stratify these lower-risk women in order to determine how often screening would be necessary to catch the first signs of bone disease while avoiding overtesting.

Recipe for Start-Ups: Sabbaticals, Tenure Credit for Patents, and a Dash of 'Disorder'
The Chronicle of Higher Education
...At the same time, said Holden Thorp, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, universities need to be mindful of the limits of research commercialization and academic start-ups as tools for economic development. "Universities have to be very careful about overpromising in this area," Mr. Thorp said. Even if they create dozens of companies that employ hundreds of people, "it's not going to make up for all the jobs lost in Detroit," or the textile-industry jobs that have disappeared in recent decades in North Carolina.

U. of North Carolina Press Director to Retire
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Kate Torrey will retire this summer as director of the University of North Carolina Press. She joined the publishing house as editor in chief in 1989 and became director in 1992. “It has been a real privilege (and a lot of fun) to lead UNC Press for the last 20 years,” she tells The Chronicle via email.

Regional Coverage

Paula Deen’s Type 2 diabetes: Is her cooking really to blame?
The Boston Globe
...“There have never been any good studies showing that the kind of foods people eat leads to diabetes in the long run,” said Richard Kahn, a diabetes researcher at the University of North Carolina and former executive director of the American Diabetes Association. “But we do know from studies that overweight individuals who lose at least 4 percent of their body weight can delay the onset of the disease.”

State and Local Coverage

Poverty tour of NC begins in Beaufort County
The Associated Press
A two-day tour of poverty-stricken areas in northeastern North Carolina is getting underway with its first stop in Beaufort County. ...The North Carolina NAACP, the N.C. Justice Center and the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity are sponsoring the tour. The tour will go to other parts of the state later this year, examining both rural counties and inner city neighborhoods.

After Unique Learning Program, McDougle And UNC Students Meet
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
After meeting each other online in a unique international learning program this fall, students from UNC and students from McDougle Middle School will meet for the first time in person on Thursday. Nine Carolina students took part in the Burch Honors Program this fall in Cape Town, South Africa. UNC professor Suzanne Gulledge was with them.

Campus Y To Host MLK Jr. Day Panel
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The local events to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will continue on Thursday with a panel discussion sponsored by UNC’s Campus Y. Campus Y freshman member at large Andrew Koo says the topic will be how today’s popular movements relate to Dr. King’s values.

Carolina North Meeting To Provide Development Updates Thursday
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC is inviting members of the public to attend a meeting this week to learn about the latest updates on the development of Carolina North. The event will include the discussion of topics of construction of the utilities duct bank, inclusion of a methane gas pipeline and the design of a greenway.

Fayetteville lacks power to ban police consent searches, says legislature's lawyer
The Fayetteville Observer
A lawyer for the state General Assembly says he believes the city of Fayetteville lacks the authority to curtail consent searches during police traffic stops, although at least one other expert doesn't fully agree. ...According to public records, Frayda Bluestein, professor of public law and government for the UNC School of Government in Chapel Hill, has told city officials they do have authority to impose a moratorium on consent searches.

Issues and Trends

Perdue tells Citizen-Times education funding is 'personal'
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
Education is a personal matter to her, Gov. Bev Perdue told the Citizen-Times Wednesday on the second day of her push to boost education with a higher sales tax. ...Recent legislative budget cuts are hurting not just grade schools, but also universities, she said, which are vital to the state’s reputation in higher education and science. Now top teachers and researchers are beginning to “shop around” for other jobs, she said. And business leaders have told her that they are concerned with the cuts, she said, since education is a key reason for coming to North Carolina.

Brave heart (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Thanks to a Republican-shaped budget in last year's General Assembly, North Carolina's public schools and universities have taken unprecedented budget cuts, forcing local school systems to downsize and impacting classrooms and the quality of education provided to young people. University classes are larger, with some schools facing job cuts if an unexpected repair bill arrives.