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At the Hospitals

n Promising Treatment for Enlarged                  support Lung B.A.S.E.S. 4 Life, an innovative       Matters: The Impact of Violent Media on
                                                    program that will feature a mobile unit for         Today’s Youth.” The annual event, now in its
  Prostate Now in Final Testing Phase               early identification of lung cancer coupled with    11th year, is sponsored by Carolinas Medical
                                                    a comprehensive education, navigation and           Center’s Violence Prevention Committee,
  Carolinas HealthCare System’s McKay               clinical intervention program to support better     headed by David Jacobs, MD, medical director
Urology and Vascular & Interventional               outcomes for lung cancer patients.                  of CMC’s F. H. “Sammy” Ross, Jr. Trauma
Specialists, a division of Charlotte                                                                    Center and Charlotte AHEC.
Radiology, have partnered in a clinical trial         Lung cancer is the second most common
to examine the effectiveness of prostate            cancer diagnosis, and the leading cause of cancer      Ed Donnerstein, PhD, dean emeritus at the
artery embolization (PAE), an emerging              death in the U.S. Access to optimal screening is    University of Arizona, quoted from a study of
minimally invasive treatment for benign             paramount to early diagnosis, intervention and      teens age 13-19 that found most spend about
prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).                        survival for those at high risk for contracting     nine hours a day watching entertainment media,
                                                    the disease. Lack of transportation to medical      up from two-three hours a day 20 years ago.
  Men with benign prostatic hyperplasia             facilities, inability to secure the support
(BPH) already live with a number of                 resources necessary for adequate preventive            Donnerstein said another study showed that
unpleasant symptoms – difficulty urinating,         care and poor understanding of risk factors         60 percent of television shows today contain
a weak urinary stream, urination urgency,           prevent thousands ofAmericans from receiving        violence where characters intentionally hurt
difficulty sleeping and erectile dysfunction.       necessary cancer screenings. By eliminating         someone. The perpetrators often are heroes and
And many of the current medical therapies           the barriers to care that prevent patients from
for the condition, which can arise from an          accessing early diagnosis and life-saving          Attendees of the recent Youth Violence Prevention
enlarged prostate, have unpleasant side effects,    treatment, Lung B.A.S.E.S. 4 Life will improve     Conference at Charlotte’s Friendship Missionary
such as impotence and urinary incontinence.         the quality of life and enhance survivorship for   Baptist Church listen to a panel discussion on how
                                                    lung cancer patients in the Carolinas.             violent media can influence youth behavior.
  Doctors are looking for an effective
treatment that isn’t accompanied by those side        The mobile unit, developed by Samsung             attractive role models. The bad characters are
effects. With PAE, small catheters are placed       Neurologica, will have a portable, full-            never punished. Pain or negative consequences
through a pinhole in the femoral artery in the      body, 32-slice computed tomography (CT)             are not shown. “No one says Sesame Street
thigh and threaded into the blood vessels that      scanner to deliver high-quality images of           doesn’t teach kids, but the same medium can
supply the prostate. These blood vessels are        both soft tissue and bone through low-dose          teach kids how to hold a gun,” Donnerstein said.
then blocked, which decreases blood flow to         CT technology. The vehicle is expected
the prostate, shrinks it (if successful) and, over  to be completed by late 2016 and will be               Vic Strasburger, MD, distinguished professor
time, improves symptoms. Many patients feel         piloted initially in Mecklenburg County,            of pediatrics emeritus at the University of New
relief within a week.                               with plans to expand into rural areas where         Mexico School of Medicine, said the role of
                                                    access to care is limited. Lung B.A.S.E.S.          violent mass media on developing minds is one
  Transurethral resection of the prostate           will provide lung cancer screenings,                of several risk factors that may contribute to
(TURP), in which part of the prostate is            smoking cessation education and navigation          later violent actions.
removed through the penis, is the standard          services to assist patients with any follow-
of care when prescription drugs don’t work.         up intervention needed.                                He offered four suggestions for parents who
This trial is evaluating PAE against TURP.                                                              want to control their children’s exposure to
A control group — one-third of study                  Levine Cancer Institute has a long-standing       media violence:
participants — will receive TURP, which is          commitment to increasing access to high-            • Discourage any screen time for children
what they’d get if they weren’t part of the trial.  quality care for all patients, regardless of
                                                    where they live, which is demonstrated                younger than 2 years old. It is much easier to
  Recruitment of men ages 50-79 with a              through implementing community-based                  limit screen time at an early age than try to
diagnosis of BPH is under way. Participants         programs in underserved communities.                  dial it back when the kids are older.
should be able to commit to treatment               In addition to active screenings for breast,        • Limit total entertainment screen time to less
and follow-up in Charlotte. For referrals,          prostate and colon cancer, the Institute offers       than two hours per day for older children.
contact Robbin Clark at Robbin.Clark@               a robust navigation program that currently          • Ban screens of any kind from bedrooms
carolinashealthcare.org or call 704-355-1322.       serves more than 12,000 patients.                     where kids could access them when parents
                                                                                                          are unaware.
n Levine Cancer Institute Receives $1.6             n Conference Examined Effect of                     • Teach your kids media literacy. Discuss what
                                                                                                          they see on TV and let them know the
  Million Grant for Lung Cancer Program               Media Violence on Children                          violence is not real.

  Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine              Speakers at a recent Youth Violence Prevention
Cancer Institute has received a $1.6 million grant  Conference agreed that parents have the best
from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to         chance to control their children’s access to
                                                    violent media, but also acknowledged the job
                                                    is much tougher than it used to be.

                                                      This year’s conference theme was “Media

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