That Med Center around the corner

There are signs pointing to it on the highway. You have to drive through it to get to the Belmont. It is part of the University's skyline. What is it? The Medical Center. Why does this enormous complex go so unnoticed among undergraduates? One culprit could be the dismal reputation of the Pickens Health Center and the student infirmary. When a student is sick, he or she does not have immediate access to the renowned specialists at Med Center; undergraduates are far more likely to be waiting in three-hour lines at Pickens only to get a bottle of Advil and some cough drops. Another could be that undergraduate contact with the Med Center is often as just a shortcut to the dreaded Trent Drive Hall. Aside from the pre-med students who have internships there and The Chronicle's section that covers the medical community, this vast and reputable institution might as well be invisible.

Everyone knows that the medical school is ranked as one of the top in the country, but most students are unaware of their daily accomplishments and how closely they figure in undergraduate life. I have always thought of the Med Center as a maze of "purple zones," "red zones" and "yellow zones" that lead to Trent, the infirmary or my French class at the John Hope Franklin Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies. The floor plan has been more valuable to me than any of the research done there. Oddly enough, though, the Med Center, with Duke South, Duke North and all its various clinics and specialty centers, takes up far more space than the "Gothic Wonderland." What is going on there?

After looking at the Medical Center news releases, I discovered that there was more to it than gerbil testing and students fulfilling their psychology research requirement. Many of their breakthroughs, in just the past year, have consequences for students as well as those in the medical community. Just last Thursday, cardiologist Dr. William Kraus and his research team discovered that exercise improves blood sugar metabolism. So, some dieters no longer need to worry about their carb intake if they are exercising at the same time. Although long-term exercise can help the body control blood sugar levels, even a single trip to the gym can immediately improve glucose metabolism for the short-term. Running around East Campus or even walking 15 minutes to class can improve carbohydrate metabolism, blood cholesterol levels and exercise capacity.

Two weeks ago, Duke researchers debunked the myth of the "sugar high" and found that there was equal weight-loss on calorie controlled high-sugar and no-sugar diets, and the high-sugar diets had no negative side effects. So bring on the bin candy, as long as it is not preceded by a Big Mac. The idea of the "sugar high" is caused mostly by chocolate candy from the caffeine, not the sugar.

From dieting to exercise to sports injuries, the Med Center has had the answers all along. At the beginning of the month, Director of Orthopedic Research Dr. Farshid Guilak and his team found a way to take fat behind the kneecap and turn it into functioning cartilage, bone or fat cells that could possibly be grown into replacement tissues. Last year, this same team reported that they could turn fat cells from liposuction procedures and turn it into functional cells. The new technique is even more sophisticated, so it is easier to repair cartilage damage in knee surgery. Quinn Wickham, a fourth-year medical student on the research team, told the Duke Medical Center News Office, that a knee surgeon could relatively easily obtain some of these fat cells using a minimally invasive approach and then grow cartilage to repair an injury with the patient's own tissue. Now, any basketball, soccer player or anyone for that matter who needs replacement tissue does not need to worry about tissue rejection.

Beyond severe problems such as sports injuries, researchers at the Med Center have also found ways to tackle more day-to-day concerns, such as insomnia and smoking. Although students' schedules may be more responsible for their lack of sleep than any psychological issues, Dr. Jack Edinger, a medical psychologist at the Med Center, found last spring that behavioral therapy was effective in treating insomnia. Rather than taking antidepressants, placebos or trying sedative hypnotics, Edinger and his team found that by changing their attitude about sleep, insomniacs could finally get some sleep. He discovered that by eliminating naps, waking up at the same time and spending less time in bed help people sleep better in the long run. Another group, lead by Dr. Eric Westman, assistant professor in the department of medicine, discovered an oral nicotine solution that could be added to any beverage that would help smokers quit. This new therapy would reduce withdrawal systems and cater to the smoker's oral fixation habit because it involves putting a drink to the mouth instead of a cigarette.

Although sleep, exercise and diet are hardly the undergraduate student's only concerns, they certainly make up a big part of their day-to-day lives. As these studies show, the Med Center, the forgotten building that are literally sitting on top of West Campus, is influencing the lives and health of undergraduates and community members alike, locally and internationally. In any new research study in the world of science and medicine, members of the Duke University Medical Center are quoted in newspapers around the world as authorities in the field. I still wonder why I am more likely to hear about their accomplishments and repute in The New York Times than among students on campus, but at least now I know that they do more than provide a place to fulfill psychology research hours or serve as a walkway to Trent.

Alexandra Wolfe is a Trinity senior and a writer for Recess.