Osteopathic medicine in the news: May 12, 2021

Placing DOs in top-tier news stories and broadcast interviews has long been an AOA priority. Expert physician sources weigh in on the news of the day, as well as contribute research and perspective that sets the news.

If you are interested in being featured as an expert physician source in content produced by respected news outlets, please email [email protected]. Where possible, we will try to match your expertise with the needs of the media.

The following is a sampling of recent articles that feature DOs or osteopathic medicine. The AOA helped place DOs in some of these articles; others solicited a DO source without the AOA’s involvement. Additional news stories that feature DOs or osteopathic medicine are available here.

U.S. News and World Report/Associated Press: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has named Col. Lisa Hou, DO, as his pick to be head of the state’s National Guard and serve as commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. This Associated Press article, which was picked up by U.S. News and World Report, among other outlets, covers Dr. Hou’s background and training.

Dr. Hou currently serves as the interim adjutant general and department commissioner. She will be the first woman and first Asian-American in the role if confirmed by the state Senate, Murphy said.

Dr. Hou joined the National Guard in 1994 while she was a medical student at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She received a doctorate in osteopathic medicine in 1996 and is now pursuing an MBA at Rutgers Camden.

Prevention: A recent article providing advice on improving circulation and healthy blood flow quotes cardiac interventionist Vincent Varghese, DO.

“The circulatory system of the body delivers vital oxygen and nutrients to all of our muscles and organs,” Dr. Varghese says. “When plaque or arterial blockages develop, normal blood flow is hindered and can lead to devastating effects, such as heart attack, stroke, or even leg amputation [in severe cases].”

New York Times: This article, which ran in the Times’ Mini-Vows column, covers Marianne Jacob, DO, and her recent marriage to Andrew Shenoy in Manhattan. From 2016 to 2019, the couple maintained a semi-long-distance relationship while Shenoy worked in Manhattan and Dr. Jacob completed her pediatric residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

After getting engaged in Prospect Park in Brooklyn in September 2020, the couple married the following April.

“We didn’t want to wait a full year to just have a party,” Dr. Jacob said.

TODAY: An explainer on the ‘ab dance,’ a new fitness craze on TikTok, quotes sports medicine specialist Dennis Cardone, DO.

Dr. Cardone says the dance can be a safe and effective exercise to perform.

“It is low impact and it works the core and abdominal muscles,” he told TODAY. However, he also notes that people should avoid injury by slowly ramping up the amount of time they spend dancing.

Parade: This piece on constipation shares the expertise of gastroenterologist Nathan Landesman, DO, who says many people think they should have daily bowel movements, but that that is a myth.

“Everyone has a unique natural bowel rhythm, so what constitutes normal bowel habits for one may drastically differ from another,” he says. “When I ask patients what constipation means to them, they may focus on pain, exhausting efforts to have a bowel movement, irregular or unpredictable bowels, or a sense of small or incomplete bowel movements.”