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

International Coverage

Flu shots fade in obese
Canadian Broadcasting Centre (Canada)

…"What we found was although they made an initial antibody response to the flu vaccine similar to healthy weight people, they weren't able to maintain it to the same degree as healthy weight individuals," the study's lead author, Melinda Beck, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, said in an interview with CBC News.
Note: This interview was broadcast live from the Carolina News Studio.

Flu vaccine not as effective in obese
United Press International

The influenza vaccine may not be as effective for those who are obese as it is for others, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers suggest. …"These results suggest that overweight and obese people would be more likely than healthy weight people to experience flu illness following exposure to the flu virus," senior author Melinda Beck, a professor and associate chair of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, said in a statement.
Related Links:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20111025/flu-shots-less-effective-obese-111025/
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Obesity+lessens+shot+effects/5606694/story.html
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4859/71/

National Coverage

Flu shots less effective in people who are obese, study finds
The Los Angeles Times

Here's another health risk associated with carrying extra pounds: People who are obese get less protection from the annual flu shot, according to a study released Tuesday. …Study leader Melinda A. Beck, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who studies how nutrition affects people's susceptibility to infectious diseases like the flu, said everyone should still get flu shots because some protection is better than none.
Related Link:
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/coldflu/story/2011-10-25/Flu-shots-
less-effective-in-people-who-are-obese-study-finds/50916372/1

UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4859/71/

Out of Your Mind: How Mindfulness Soothes Hot Flashes and Quells IBS
The Huffington Post

…Women with irritable bowel syndrome who learned mindfulness had fewer uncomfortable symptoms after three months of practice than those simply going to a support group, according to a study by the University of North Carolina published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology last month. Mindfulness practitioners also had much less of the anxiety and depression that can accompany this chronic condition.

How to protect against skin cancer: drink coffee, tan in the morning
CNN

…For humans, this cycle appears to be better equipped to fight the sun's harmful rays in the morning. Why? Because what repairs our skin after sun damage (XPA protein) is five times more present in the morning. "Our research would suggest that restricting sunbathing or visits to the tanning booth to morning hours would reduce the risk of skin cancer in humans," said Dr. Aziz Sancar, of the University of North Carolina, who conducted the initial experiment on mice.

State and Local Coverage

UNC Study: Flu shot may not work if you're fat
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)

…"Previous studies have indicated the possibility that obesity might impair the human body's ability to fight flu viruses. These new findings seem to give us a reason why obese people were more susceptible to influenza illness during the H1N1 pandemic compared to healthy weight people," said Melinda Beck, Ph.D., senior author of the study.
Related Link:
http://triangle.news14.com/content/648635/unc-study-finds-obesity-
makes-flu-shot-less-effective

UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4859/71/

E. coli outbreak sickens at least 7 in Wake
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…Dr. David Weber, a UNC-Chapel Hill physician who treats adult and pediatric infectious disease, said such illness can be food- or waterborne and be transmitted from person to person. "It's a fecal-oral disease, and it's carried by many different animals," Weber said. "Classically when you track this back, there'll be an animal at the end of the chain."

Revenue at UNC Hospitals exceeds $1 billion for fiscal 2011
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)

Total operating revenue at the University of North Carolina Hospitals at Chapel Hill exceeded $1 billion in the most recent fiscal year, according to an audit by the State Auditor.

Coming to you live…
The Chapel Hill News

PlayMakers Repertory Company explores a fascinating facet of the Civil Rights movement in its new production, the world premiere of "The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the '61 Freedom Riders," written and directed by Mike Wiley. The play opens tonight and continues through Nov. 13.

A first job in food gives lessons that stick (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Food joint first jobs are an American tradition. Fast food and chain restaurants are where many teens earn their first paychecks. Lessons fr
om my own first work experience endure to this day. (Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical associate professor in the department of health policy and administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Duke, UNC score highly in NCAA graduation rate report
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

In a report that showed student-athletes nationwide are graduating from colleges at a higher rate than the general enrollment, Duke again is among the nation’s best. …Student-athletes at North Carolina graduated at an 88 percent clip, up one percentage point from a year ago. …At UNC, the five teams with 100 percent graduation rates were men’s fencing and women’s rowing, fencing, golf and gymnastics.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/26/1595143/nc-state-graduation-rates-lag.html

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