School Notes: School of Public Health
November/December 2013

Finding the origins of acoustic neuromas

Thousands of people nationwide suffer from acoustic neuromas, brain tumors located on the hearing nerves that can result in hearing loss, ringing in the ears, and loss of balance. Elizabeth B. Claus, ’88Pbh, ’88PhD, ’94MD, a professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the Yale School of Public Health and an attending neurosurgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, began collecting data as well as DNA samples from patients with the condition at the Acoustic Neuroma Association’s (ANA) annual symposium in Los Angeles in August. Claus plans to utilize this pilot data to generate a larger grant application that would fund data collection for over 1,000 patients with the disease. The overall goal of the study is to study genetic variants associated with the acoustic neuroma as well as the social ties and support networks that already exist within patient communities such as the ANA.

Nutritional interventions help combat depression

Nutritional interventions may be a cost-effective means of preventing and treating depression by reducing the need for psychotropic drugs. A recently published review by Kaitlyn Rechenberg, a joint-degree candidate in the schools of public health and nursing, examines the biological basis of perinatal depression and the potential benefits of non-pharmacological interventions. Treatments that include omega-3 fatty acids, folate, and vitamins B6 and B12 may prevent and mitigate symptoms, taken alone or in addition to medication. Nutritionally, women are often deficient by the end of their pregnancy, contributing to further depression and the likelihood that their infant may have an epigenetic tendency toward depression as he or she matures. While drugs can be effective in fighting depression, they can also pose a threat to babies, including fetal malformation, pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, and miscarriage. Nutritional interventions for mild depression would mitigate these risks.

Improving birth outcomes

Pre-term births in the United States account for more than one-third of US health-care spending for infants, or about $26.2 billion, and medical costs for these babies are about ten times greater than for babies that are full term. YSPH is launching a national project to improve birth outcomes with a grant of more than $4 million from the United Health Foundation. Led by Jeannette Ickovics, professor in the division of social and behavioral sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, the project will develop and implement a new model of group prenatal care to promote healthier pregnancies.