HJBR Jul/Aug 2019

Healthcare Journal of BATON ROUGE I  JUL / AUG 2019 41 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com Medicine strongly suggests that metformin could be an effective drug for long-term, weight-loss maintenance. Weight loss is a key part of preventing or delay- ing the onset of type 2 diabetes. More than 70 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or have obesity, key risk factors for type 2 diabetes. The new research is a follow-up to the land- mark Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) study, which began in 1996. DPP compared the weight- loss and health benefits participants experienced with three randomly assigned treatments – an intensive lifestyle intervention, the prescription medication metformin, or a placebo drug – over an approximately three-year period. In the latest study, researchers looked at weight- loss changes over 15 years in the group of partici- pants who lost at least five percent of their body weight during the first year of DPP. “Although lifestyle therapy was initially supe- rior for weight loss, metformin appeared to be more effective as years went by,” said Dr. Kishore Gadde, professor and Fairfax Foster Bai- ley Endowed Chair in Heart Disease Prevention at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center.  Gadde served as chair of the writing group for “Long-term Weight Loss with Metformin or Lifestyle Intervention in the Diabetes Preven- tion Program Outcomes Study.” Dr. John Apol- zan, director of Pennington Biomedical’s Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism Laboratory, served as first author of the article. Bluebonnet Imaging Center Adding State-of-the-art Diagnostic Imaging at Newly Renovated Office Bluebonnet Imaging Center’s complete office renovation features expanded services and all new imaging equipment, including a GE 3T MRI, a Hitachi high field, 1.2T Open MRI, a Hitachi 32 Slice CT, GE Digital X-ray and Fluoroscopy tech- nology, and Nuclear Medicine. Bluebonnet Imaging’s 3T MRI provides both doctors and their patients the highest level of image quality coupled with faster scan times. The 1.2T Open MRI will be Baton Rouge’s first high field, truly Open MRI, producing the same image quality of a traditional, closed MRI, with- out patients being restricted in a closed, tunnel views, which helps to reduce the patient’s anxi- ety. This Open MRI technology offers the best of both worlds, ultimate patient comfort along with higher image quality.”  Gomez also identi- fied the benefits of Bluebonnet’s cutting edge 3T MRI scanner, which provides twice the imag- ing strength of a traditional MRI.  She said, “3T MRI technology means we will be able to pro- vide a patient’s physician with the highest level of imaging precision possible.”  Additionally, Gomez identified Bluebonnet’s new 32 slice Hit- achi CT Scanner, which features a larger 75 cm bore for added patient comfort. This technology produces sharp imagery and at a lower dosage of radiation for the patient. design. Bluebonnet Imaging’s new Hitachi 32 Slice CT will also feature a larger bore size, allow- ing for more patient comfort, in addition to pro- ducing better image quality. John Stagg, CEO of Capitol Imaging Centers, said, “Having served the people of our region since 2006 with MRI and CT services, Bluebon- net Imaging is pleased to bring some of the most advanced diagnostic imaging technology avail- able today into our newly renovated facility. This new equipment will produce superior image qual- ity, all while making it a much more comfortable experience for the patient.” “We are very excited to be adding these new services,” said Renee Gomez, marketing direc- tor for Bluebonnet Imaging.  She continued, “One example is our new Open MRI, which, for the first time in Baton Rouge, patients will be able to receive high quality imaging in a true open design. There is no restricted tunnel in an open MRI, giving patients a lot more room and open