Recent lectures by Dr. Brook

Itzhak Brook MD gave a Grand Rounds lecture on May 16, 2012 for the Department of Surgery at Scott & White Medical Center, Texas A&M College of Medicine in Temple Texas. The lecture entitled " The patient Experience as a Laryngectomee" was about his experiences as a patient with head and neck cancer. The topics discussed include dealing with the medical and psychological issues, voice rehabilitation and life challenges as a laryngectomee. The presentation can be watched on YouTube. 

Dr. Brook delivered the  J. Conley Medical Ethics Lecture, the Scholar Award keynote lecture at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck surgery Foundation & OTO EXPO in Washington DC on September 9, 2012. His lecture is entitled " A Physician’s Perspective as a Throat Cancer Patient ". A description of the presentation was published in the Meeting Daily Newsletter. The presentation can be watched on YouTube.

                                   

A presentation entitled “ Patient Voices in Diagnostic Error in Medicine “ in Diagnostic Error in Medicine, 5^th international Conference of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, John Hopkins School of  Medicine, Baltimore Maryland, November 13, 2012.

A Grand Rounds lecture entitled  "Preventing Medical Errors: a Physician's Personal Experience as a laryngeal Cancer" was delivered to the Department of Medicine Louisiana State University on April 16, 2013. The lecture can be read on line and It can be viewed on YouTube.

A Grand Rounds lecture entitled “A Physician’s Personal Experience as a Head and Neck Cancer Patient” was delivered to the Department of Medicine Veterans Administration Medical Center Washington DC, June 26, 2013. It can be viewed on YouTube.

A presentation entitled "Life Challenges of laryngectomees" was delivered to the Lost Cord Club in Cleveland Ohio on September 28, 2012, and the Louisiana State University Feist-Weiller Cancer Center in Shreveport, New Voice Club on April 17, 2013. The last lecture can be viewed on YouTube. Comments on the lecture are available.

Dr. Brook gave a talk at the 5th Annual David Nasto Memorial Oral Cancer Awareness Walk in New Jersey on September 22, 2012 . He also signed copies of his book "My Voice". All proceeding were donated to the Oral Cancer Foundation.

He also presented a talk in a symposium about medical errors in oncology at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting on June 3, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. see picture below. 
The contents of the lecture was published in the ASCO Educational Book. A summay of the lecture was published at the ASCO Post. A news release about the symposium was published at the ASCO Daily News. 

Dr. Brook presented a lecture at the 8^th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 23, 2012. The talk's title was “ Putting the Personal Back in Personalized Cancer Therapy; A Physician’s Experience as a Head and Neck Cancer Patient”.

The Head and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA) booth in the International Society of Laryngectomee  Annual Meeting in Durham NC June 6-8, 2012. Copies of the book " My Voice" by I. Brook MD were given out to the attendees. In the picture: from left to right: John Groves Director of HNCA, Itzhak Brook MD, member of the HNCA Board of Directors, and Doug Ulery Marketing Director of HNCA.

Long-term use of Heat-Moisture Exchangers (HMEs) among laryngectomees: medical, social and psychological patterns

A study published in 2013 by Brook et al. evaluated the long-term use of HMEs and other accessories by laryngectomized patient and especially on the use of the Provox® Micron.

 After laryngectomy, pulmonary protection is mostly acquired by means of using a Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME) that is placed on an airtight seal around the stoma. The effects of HMEs on tracheal climate have been well-described, and the filtration effect of an HME with electrostatic filter has been described . 

This study investigated long-term use of HMEs in laryngectomees. A questionnaire was sent to 195 laryngectomees of which 75 were returned. Over 85% of all respondents used an HME, of which 77% were compliant users (i.e. >20 hrs/day). Incidence of pulmonary illnesses (either prior of post-surgery) was about 25%. Over 90% of all respondents were heavy smokers prior to their laryngectomy. One-third of all respondents are regularly exposed to dusty environments. Compliant HME-users tend to use less external humidifiers and vaporizers, showing a better pulmonary status and less health-care costs. Regarding Quality of Life, patients using a FreeHands device tended to have the most social contacts (r=.251; p=.030).The prevalence of depression is high, pointing to an urgent need to recognize and treat psychiatric problems like depression and suicidal ideation in this patient group.

Provox^® Micron HME^™

Heartburn caused by gastric reflux is a risk factor for laryngopharyngeal cancer

Gastric reflux can reach the upper airway, inducing cellular damage in the epithelial lining. This may be a risk factor for development of laryngopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma although the medical literature is inconclusive.Frequent heartburn caused by gastric reflux was found to increase the risk for development of throat cancer, and over-the-counter antacids medication may provide protection from it, according to a newstudy  published in the journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Researchers from Brown University studied heartburn incidence and medication use in 631 patients with squamous cell cancers of the throat and vocal cords who were not heavy smokers or drinkers, matching them with 1,234 healthy controls.

The investigator found that individuals who had reported a history of frequent heartburn were 78% more likely to have cancer than those who did not. Those with frequent heartburn who took antacids reduced their risk for cancer by 41%, compared with those whose heartburn was not treated.

There was no reduced risk among those taking proton pump inhibitors (i. e., Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid, Aciphex) or histamine H2 receptor antagonists (i.e., Pepcid, Tagamet, Zantac). However, this may be because those who took such medications were likely to have had severe acid reflux, and not because those drugs are ineffective. The authors recommended that further studies are needed to clarify the possible chemopreventive role of antacid use for patients with gastric reflux.