Author Interviews, ENT, Environmental Risks, Occupational Health / 06.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD Director of the Golomb Research Group Professor of Medicine University of California, San DiegoResponse: MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How was the radiation emitted? Response: Possibilities include surveillance devices (or things to jam them), electronic weapons, or, less likely, “innocent” communications devices. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: That all key features of diplomats’ experiences comport with pulsed radiofrequency/ microwave (RF/MW) radiation.
  1. The nature of the “sounds” heard – chirping, clicking, ringing, grinding/buzzing – are known “sounds” produced via the “microwave auditory effect” aka Frey effect.  Different sounds are heard by different people, because the character of the sound heard depends on head dimensions (as well as pulse characteristics). Sounds were primarily heard at night: consistent with the microwave auditory effect, which requires low ambient noise. Some diplomats reported that sounds were spatially localized with “laserlike” specificity – said to defy known physics. This defies the physics of sound, but not radiation. The “sound” was reported to follow a diplomat as he walked, within the territory in which it was heard. Sound from a fixed source does not seem to follow people – but the microwave auditory affect does, often perceived as being located just behind (or in some cases just above, or inside) the head of the person, irrespective of the person’s orientation relative to the radiation source.
  2. The symptoms reported following these experiences also fit. Rates of reported symptoms in diplomats – headache, cognitive and sleep problems dominating, then dizziness, tinnitus, anxiety, nausea at lesser but still high rates – match closely with rates of the same symptoms reported in a 2012 Japanese study of people who report health effects from radiation, typically including pulsed RF/MW. Hearing loss is a relatively distinctive and prominent symptom in both diplomats, and RF/MW affected civilians. In both groups, some reportedly experience speech problems, balance problems, nosebleed, and strange sensations of vibration and pressure.
Reports of symptoms with RF/MW exposures date at least to the 1920s, affecting radio amateurs and shipboard radio operators as well as others working with radar or microwaves in occupational settings. By 1971/72, a Naval report with over 2300 citations (many from Russia and Eastern Europe), assessing effects of low intensity RF radiation, had whole sections devoted to each of a number of the symptoms diplomats report.
  1. Hundreds (if not thousands) of studies have illuminated mechanisms by which these effects may arise, centered on oxidative stress (the kind of injury that antioxidants help to defend against) – and many downstream effects of oxidative stress (membrane damage, blood brain barrier impairment with potential for brain swelling, inflammation, voltage gated calcium (and other) channel effects (which can also lead to oxidative stress), mitochondrial impairment, autoimmune activation, etc.)
Affected persons are a minority (in both settings), and in the nondiplomat setting, vulnerability has been tied to genetic variants less adept at defending against oxidative stress; and low concentrations of a critical antioxidant. In both groups, brain imaging studies resemble traumatic brain injury; and in both, at least some of those affected had prior head injury. Head injury may be a predisposing factor, as well as possible consequence. Reprising findings also shown for research on other lucrative products with potential to cause harm in some, there is a powerful tie between study results and financial conflict of interest (e.g. source of study funding or conflicts by authors).
  1. There is precedent for use of microwaves in the diplomat setting. It is known that the US embassy in Moscow was microwaved for several decades beginning in the early 1950s (with some embassy staff citing – disputed - health problems). A 1976 NY Times story (“Moscow rays linked to U.S. bugging”) referenced speculation these were for surveillance; the Soviets claimed their purpose was to thwart U.S. listening devices on the roof of the embassy.
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Author Interviews, JAMA, Pain Research, Technology / 06.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Richard L Kravitz, MD, MSPH Professor, General Internal Medicine Director, UC Center Sacramento MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response:  The study was designed to address tso problems. The first is that many patients with chronic pain struggling to find a workable regimen. The second is more general. Patient sometimes I hesitate to participate in clinical research because they right away do not see the relevance I directly to them selves. And have one trials are away I’m addressing both problems.  (more…)
Aging, Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, CMAJ, Genetic Research / 06.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, Professor, Chief Physician, MD, DMSc, PhD Department of Clinical Biochemistry Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej & Deputy Head Department of Clinical Medicine Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are devastating, neurodegenerative disorders affecting more than 47 million people in 2015, a number projected to triple by 2050 (1,2). Available curative treatments are lacking, and no useful risk prediction tools exist. The potential for prevention is however substantial, emphasized by the recently observed incidence decline in Western societies, likely caused by improved treatment and prevention of vascular risk factors (1,3,4). Population growth and aging, will however triple dementia prevalence by 2050, if no action is taken. Acting now with ambitious preventive interventions, delaying onset of disease by five years, is estimated to halve the prevalence globally (1,5). Despite important preventive efforts over the last decades - resulting in decreased smoking, lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels in the general population - physical inactivity, overweight, and diabetes remain threats for our health care system, and in particular for cardiovascular disease and dementia. Intensifying preventive efforts in general is thus of crucial importance, and especially for those patients at highest risk who most likely will benefit the most from early and targeted prevention. Risk stratification and specific treatment goals according to the estimated absolute 10-year risk, has been implemented in cardiovascular disease for years (6,7). There is an un-met need for similar strategies in dementia, underscored by the publication of several randomized multicomponent trials that seem to improve or maintain brain function in at-risk elderly people from the general population (8-10) (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Smoking, Tobacco, Tobacco Research / 06.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dorothy K. Hatsukami, Ph.D. Forster Family Professor in Cancer Prevention Professor of Psychiatry Associate, Director Masonic Cancer Center University of Minnesota  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering a rule that would reduce nicotine in all cigarettes and possibly other burned tobacco products sold in the U.S. to minimally addictive levels.   Reducing nicotine in cigarettes does not make the cigarette safer, but because nicotine is the addictive chemical in tobacco, nicotine reduction would reduce the progression towards tobacco dependence and make it easier for smokers to quit smoking.  We recently published a study in JAMA that adds to the accumulating evidence to support reducing nicotine in cigarettes and addresses if a gradual reduction or a targeted immediate reduction in nicotine in cigarettes is the best approach. In a large clinical trial involving 1,250 smokers across 10 academic institutions, immediate reduction of nicotine was compared to a gradual nicotine reduction approach. These two groups were also compared to smokers who continued to smoke usual nicotine content cigarettes. Key findings showed that immediate nicotine reduction is likely to result in more rapid positive public health effects.  That is, smokers in the immediate reduction group experienced significantly less exposure to toxic cigarette smoke chemicals and reported smoking fewer cigarettes per day, less dependence on cigarettes and greater number of days that they were smoke-free compared to the other two groups. On the other hand, smokers in the immediate nicotine reduction group experienced more severe but transient withdrawal symptoms and greater drop-outs.  (more…)
AACR, Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Colon Cancer / 05.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Andrea Sottoriva, PhD Centre for Evolution and Cancer, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by a liquid biopsy? Response: Cetuximab is a targeted treatment available for metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Unfortunately, although many patients benefit from Cetuximab, after an initial response to the treatment many patients relapse and become resistant to the drug. We know that this resistance is due to the tumour evolving and adapting to therapy. Liquid biopsies allow to look for residual cancer DNA in the blood of a patient and hence monitor the emergence of resistance over time. We used blood samples take every 4 weeks (quite frequently for this type of study) to monitor the evolution of the cancers under treatment and see if there were some measurements that would predict if and when patients will relapse. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, CDC, JAMA, Pediatrics / 05.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matt Breiding, PhD Team Lead, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention Center for Disease Control and Prevention MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head or body, a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can lead to short- or long-term problems that can affect how a child thinks, acts, feels, and learns. CDC’s Pediatric mTBI Guideline is based on the most comprehensive review of the science on pediatric mTBI diagnosis and management to date—covering 25 years of research. The guideline consists of 19 sets of clinical recommendations that cover diagnosis, prognosis, and management and treatment. These recommendations are applicable to healthcare providers who care for pediatric patients with mTBI in all practice settings and outline actions healthcare providers can take to improve the health of their patients with this injury. The CDC Pediatric mTBI Guideline outlines specific actions healthcare providers can take to help young patients and includes 5 key recommendations.  Specifically, they recommend that physicians:
  1. Refrain from routinely imaging pediatric patients to diagnose mTBI.
  2. Use validated, age-appropriate symptom scales to diagnose mTBI.
  3. Assess for risk factors for prolonged recovery, including: history of mTBI or other brain injury, severe symptom presentation immediately after the injury, and personal characteristics and family history (such as learning difficulties and family and social stressors).
  4. Provide patients with instructions on returning to activity customized to their symptoms.
  5. Counsel patients to return gradually to non-sports activities after no more than a 2-3 days of rest.
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Author Interviews, Dermatology, Education, Gender Differences, JAMA / 03.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lia E. Gracey, MD, PhD Department of Dermatology Baylor Scott & White Health Austin, Texas  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: The co-authors and I were interested in this issue as new parent leave (or the lack thereof) is increasingly being examined in many professions.  As a mother who had children during dermatology residency, I felt the pressure to take a short new parent leave to avoid having to make up time at the end of my training. I came back to work only 3 ½ weeks after having my first baby. Anecdotally, other new parent residents (both men and women) reported similar concerns and we noticed a lack of data about new parent leave policies in dermatology residency training programs. We distributed surveys to dermatology residency program directors and residents and were struck by a basic lack of awareness by residents for whether their institution even offered new parent leave.  Less than 50% of surveyed residents were aware of a written new parent leave policy for their residency program, yet over 80% of program directors stated they had a policy in place. We also found discrepancies between resident and program director perceptions of sufficiency of new parent leave and the availability of pumping facilities for breastfeeding mothers.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Surgical Research, Technology / 03.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: A robotically assisted surgical system: WikipediaChris Childers, M.D. Division of General Surgery David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA 10833 Le Conte Ave., CHS 72-247 Los Angeles, CA 90095 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The robotic surgical approach has gained significant traction in the U.S. market despite mixed opinions regarding its clinical benefit. A few recent randomized trials have suggested there may be no clinical benefit of the robotic approach for some surgical procedures over the more traditional open or laparoscopic (“minimally-invasive”) approaches. Previous studies have also suggested the robotic approach is very expensive, but until our study, there was no benchmark for the true costs (to the hospital) of using the robotic platform. Our study analyzed financial statements from the main supplier of robotic technology. We found that the use of robotic surgery has increased exponentially over the past decade from approximately 136 thousand procedures in 2008 to 877 thousand procedures in 2017. The majority of these procedures were performed in the United States. While most people think of the robotic approach in urologic and perhaps gynecologic surgery, the fastest growing segment has been general surgery, for procedures such as colorectal resections, hernia repairs and gallbladder removals. In total, over 3 billion dollars was spent by hospitals to acquire and use robotic platforms in 2017 with 2.3 billion dollars in the United States. This equates to nearly $3,600 per procedure performed. (more…)
Anesthesiology, Author Interviews, ENT, Heart Disease, JAMA / 03.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Henry E. Wang, MD, MS Professor and Vice Chair for Research University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Department of Emergency Medicine Houston, Texas MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: For over three decades, paramedics have performed endotracheal intubation (ETI) as the standard advanced airway management strategy in cardiac arrest. However, intubation is a difficult and error-prone intervention. Newer supraglottic airways such as the laryngeal tube (LT) offer easier insertion technique with comparable ventilation. However, intubation and laryngeal tubes have not been tested head-to-head in a randomized trial. Our study - the Pragmatic Airway Resuscitation Trial (PART) - tested intubation vs laryngeal tube for airway management in adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. The trial included 27 EMS agencies from the Birmingham, Dallas-Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Portland and Pittsburgh communities. The trial randomized a total of 3,004 adult cardiac arrests to airway management with ETI or LT. We found that compared with traditional ETI, LT was associated with almost 3% better survival. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival in the US is less than 10%, so the observed difference is important.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Surgical Research, UT Southwestern / 02.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jeffrey Cadeddu, M.D.  Professor Ralph C. Smith, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery UT Southwestern Medical Center  https://youtu.be/ZusA4e2JaGo MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for your work? What are the main potential indication? How does magnetic surgery decrease the need for multiple incisions thus decrease pain and bleeding?  Response: ​The device is manufactured and sold by a new company, Levita Magnetics.  I share a desire with it to reduce the morbidity of surgery by reducing the incisions and invasiveness. My lab had worked on similar technology during the 2000s.  The main potential indication is to assist with single port surgery or to enable reduced-port laparoscopic or robotic surgery.  The devices allows tissue retraction without making an incision for dedicated instrument. By avoiding an incision for a trocar, risk of pain from that incision and injury to unseen vessel under the skin is obviously reduced. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, Science / 01.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Andrew South, PhD, Associate Professor in the department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University)  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by Butterfly Syndrome or recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa? Response: Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB, is a group of genetic diseases caused by mutations in genes which play a role in maintaining skin integrity. An EB patients’ skin can be very fragile which has been likened to butterfly wings, which are also very fragile. Skin blisters are common in EB patients and in some cases large wounds can result from the slightest mechanical trauma, hence the term Butterfly Syndrome. Skin cancer is a major complication of patients with the recessive dystrophic subtype of EB, known as recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa or RDEB, and these cancers, called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), are very aggressive. SCC is the leading cause of death in patients with RDEB. SCC also arise very early, affecting RDEB patients in their 20’s and 30’s. Our study used genetic analysis of cancers collected from patients to try and determine what causes the cancer at such an early age and what causes these cancers to be so fatal. Skin SCC arising in the general population as a result of sun exposure are generally benign and occur much later in life, regular skin SCC patients are predominantly over the age of 60, therefore something must be different about RDEB SCC.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, Neurology, Sleep Disorders / 01.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rachel Marie E. Salas, MD, MEHP, FAAN Associate Professor, Neurology and Nursing at Johns Hopkins Medicine Director, Interprofessional Education and Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Director, Neurology Clerkship Director, PreDoc Program Meyer/Neuro Sleep Baltimore, MD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Can you briefly describe what is meant by RLS  and who suffers from it? Response: Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disorder characterized by an irritating, overwhelming urge to move (akathisia) the legs while at rest or sleep (conditions of diminished arousal), which almost immediately abates with mental or physical activity (conditions of maintained arousal). One of the most clinically-profound and scientifically relevant consequences of this disease process is an increased arousal state producing significant wake during sleep times and a relative sustainable degree of daytime alertness despite the degree of diseased-imposed sleep loss. The focus of most previous RLS research has been on the (limb) akathisia with associated periodic movements and reduction of these with dopaminergic treatment. Little research has been done to understand the broader biological dimensions​ of RLS. Patients with RLS have altered sleep-wake homeostasis with increased arousal and wakefulness (hyperarousal) not only driving the signature clinical symptoms (“the urge to move” and sleep loss) but also supporting arousal over sleep drive at night and in the day. We hypothesize that there is a basic glutamate-hyperarousal process producing both disrupted sleep (increased wake time) and cortical excitability (as demonstrated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)).​  (more…)
Author Interviews, Gout, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Rheumatology / 30.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr M Blagojevic-Bucknal Senior Lecturer in Statistics Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre Research Institute for Primary Care & Health Sciences Keele University Staffordshire UK  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Evidence suggests that elevated serum uric acid levels, the cause of gout, are also frequently identified in patients with sleep apnoea However, despite prevalent hyperuricaemia in patients with sleep apnoea, shared risk factors with gout of obesity and alcohol consumption, and research identifying the associations between gout and other co-morbidities, few studies have considered the possibility of an association between sleep apnoea and gout in short and long term. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Vaccine Studies / 30.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eric Huang, PhD Professor, Department of Dermatology University of California, San Diego MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? To whom would the vaccine be targeted?  Affected individuals?  Patients with strong family history? Resistant acne cases? Response: The background for this study is to develop vaccines to replace the antibiotics which may induce resistant bacteria. Preventive acne vaccines will be used for injection into elementary students to prevent the acne development when they become teenagers. Therapeutic acne vaccines using monoclonal antibodies will be used for those patients who already have acne vulgaris. Both patients with strong family history and resistant acne cases are highly recommended to use when the acne vaccines are available.   (more…)
Author Interviews, Education / 30.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Lecture Hall” by Sholeh is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr. David P. Smith, NTF, BSc, PhD, SFHEA Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry / Course Leader MSc Molecular and Cellular Biology and National Teaching Fellow Sheffield Hallam University, in the UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Lectures are not going to go away, when done well they can be an effective method for teaching large groups of students. To make the lecture experience more effective we wanted to find out why students chose to sit in a given location such that we can better interact with them during taught sessions. We also wanted to find out the reasons they made this choice and if this choice of location had an effect on finial attainment (marks).  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cleveland Clinic, Multiple Sclerosis, NEJM / 30.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Robert J. Fox, MD, FAAN Principal Investigator | SPRINT-MS Trial Mellen Center for MS  |  Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, OH 44195  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The current treatment options for progressive multiple sclerosis are very limited. The SPRINT-MS trial sought to obtain proof-of-concept evidence that ibudilast has beneficial activity in progressive multiple sclerosis. In a placebo-controlled, 96-week trial of 255 people living with progressive MS, treatment with ibudilast slowed the progression of brain atrophy (brain shrinkage) by 48% compared to placebo. Side-effects of ibudilast included gastrointestinal symptoms, headache, and depression.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Kaiser Permanente, Menopause, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Vaccine Studies / 30.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Allison L. Naleway, PhD Senior Investigator Associate Director, Science Programs Center for Health Research Kaiser Permanente MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Reports of premature menopause after human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination have received a lot of media attention, including on social media, but these reports were based on a small number of isolated cases. Large studies have demonstrated the safety of HPV vaccination, but parental safety concerns—including potential impact on future fertility—are often cited as one reason for lower HPV coverage. Rates of HPV vaccination have lagged behind coverage rates for other recommended adolescent vaccinations, such as tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis and meningococcal conjugate. (Based on national coverage estimates from 2016, 65% of 13–17 year-old females received at least one HPV vaccination and only 49.5% were up to date with the series, compared to about 88% of adolescents who received Tdap.) We conducted a study of nearly 200,000 young women to determine whether there was any elevated risk of primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) after HPV or other recommended vaccinations.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, OBGYNE, UCLA / 29.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Carol Mangione, M.D., M.S.P.H., F.A.C.P. Division Chief of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research Professor of Medicine Barbara A. Levey, MD, and Gerald S. Levey, MD, endowed chair in Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) professor of public health at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Screening for cervical cancer saves lives by identifying cervical cancer early when it is treatable. Most cases of cervical cancer occur in women who have not been regularly screened or treated, which is why it’s important for women to get screened regularly throughout their lifetime with one of several effective options. Women ages 21 to 29 should get a Pap test every three years. Women ages 30-65 can choose between three approaches, depending on their preferences: a Pap test every three years, an HPV test every five years, or a combination of a Pap test and an HPV test every five years. There are some women who don’t need to be screened for cervical cancer including women younger than 21, women older than 65 who have been adequately screened in the past and are not at high risk, and women who have had a hysterectomy.  (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, CDC, Opiods / 29.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gery P. Guy Jr., PhD, MPH Senior Health Economist Division of Unintentional Injury CDC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In response to the increasing harms and adverse outcomes from prescription opioids, the CDC released the Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain in March 2016. The CDC Guideline recommends evidence-based practices for opioid use for patients age 18 years and older in primary care settings in treating chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. This report analyzed the temporal changes in opioid prescribing following the release of the CDC Guideline. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Stroke / 29.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Larry B. Goldstein, MD, FAAN, FANA, FAHA Ruth L. Works Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurology Co-Director, Kentucky Neuroscience Institute KY Clinic - University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40536 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Extensive work in laboratory models over several decades show that d-amphetamine, combined with task-relevant experience, can facilitate recovery after stroke and traumatic brain injury affecting the cerebral cortex. Results from clinical trials have been inconsistent, in part because preclinical data indicate that the effect of amphetamines as part of a regimen for stroke recovery is biologically complex.  We conducted this multicenter pilot study to explore some of that complexity. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, JAMA, Pediatrics, Toxin Research / 29.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joseph M. Braun, MSPH, PhD Associate Professor of Epidemiology Epidemiology Master's Program Director Brown University School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Childhood lead poisoning continues to be a problem in the United States and residential lead hazards are the major source of Pb exposure in young children. However, no studies have attempted to prevent exposure to lead hazards through primary prevention. Thus, we randomized 355 pregnant women to a comprehensive residential intervention and followed their children for up to 8 years to determine if childhood lead poisoning and associated cognitive deficits and behavior problems can be prevented. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Surgical Research / 27.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Amine Mazine, MD, MSc Associate Editor, BMC Surgery PGY-4 Cardiac Surgery PhD Candidate, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering McEwen Center for Regenerative Medicine Surgeon-Scientist Training Program University of Toronto MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: We performed this study to compare two methods of replacing a diseased aortic valve in young and middle-aged adults: using an artificial mechanical valve (mechanical aortic valve replacement) versus using the patient’s own pulmonary valve (Ross procedure). The study was a meta-analysis of existing literature that included more than 3,500 adult patients. It found that those who underwent the Ross procedure were 46 per cent less likely to experience death from any cause than patients who underwent mechanical aortic valve replacement. Patients in the Ross group were also less likely to suffer from a stroke or major bleeding, and had better quality of life. Patients who underwent the Ross procedure were more likely to need late reoperation, but this did not negatively impact their survival. (more…)
Author Interviews, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, Heart Disease, Karolinski Institute / 27.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Robin Hofmann, MD PhD Senior consultant cardiologist and researcher Department of clinical science and education Södersjukhuset, at Karolinska Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Oxygen has been used to treat patients suffering a heart attack for more than a century, despite the fact that such treatment has not had any scientifically proven effect on patients who have normal oxygen levels in their blood. Since the turn of the millennium, researchers worldwide have started to question whether oxygen therapy for heart attacks is ineffective – or may even be harmful. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Pediatrics, Pediatrics, UCSD / 27.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christina Chambers, PhD, MPH Principal investigator Professor in the Department of Pediatrics UC San Diego School of Medicine Drector of clinical research at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Although cannabis is one of the most common recreational drugs used by pregnant and breastfeeding women, there is little current research regarding potential exposure of the breastfed infant.  As a result, pediatricians are lacking concrete evidence to help support advice to breastfeeding mothers who use cannabis.  This is particularly important as cannabis products available today are substantially more potent than products available in years past. Our group in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Center for Better Beginnings was interested in first determining how much if any of the ingredients in cannabis actually transfer into breastmilk and how long these metabolites might stay in the milk after the mom’s last use.  We invited mothers who are participating in our UCSD Human Milk Research Biorepository from across the U.S. and Canada to respond to questions about use of cannabis products over the previous 14 days and to provide a breast milk sample. Fifty mothers participated in the study.  Samples were analyzed by investigators from the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy. Our major finding was that low, but measurable levels of delta-8 THC likely as a result of using Area 52's delta 8 gummies, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, were found in about 2/3 of the samples.  Although the number of hours after mother’s last use of cannabis that THC was still measurable varied widely, the longest time since mother’s last use that THC was still present was about 6 days.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, NEJM, Surgical Research / 27.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jean François Obadia Adult Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantation Louis Pradel HospitalJean François Obadia MD PhD Adult Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantation Louis Pradel Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? -By definition a secondary MR concerns a normal valve or sub normal valve inside a dilated heart with poor LV function in a population of Heart failure patients. It is perfectly established today that secondary MR is a predictor of poor clinical outcomes of thissevere population. -Therefore,it has been proposed to treat those regurgitation either by surgery (mainly the downsizing anuloplasty) or by percutaneous technique like the mitraclipwhich has been used more and more frequently recently. -However, a beneficial effect on hardclinical outcomes has never been provedandwe still don’t know if those regurgitations need to be corrected or not, We still don’t Know if the regurgitation is the cause, the consequence or just a marker of poor prognosis. -In this context according to the guidelines, there is a low level of evidence to support those treatments, and Europe and US Guidelines call for prospective randomized studies in this severe population.​ And this excatly what we have done with MITRA-FR (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Infections, JAMA / 27.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pr. Didier Raoult Directeur de l'IHU Méditerranée-Infection Marseille  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This work represents the sum of data accumulated over several decades of studies on Q fever. Our reference center contacts each of the physicians in charge and ensures patient follow-up, which allows obtaining data, that is not comparable to those used automatically in databanks. Four people exclusively dedicated their time to manage these specific data on Q fever. The main data confirm the need to perform a cardiac ultrasound for all patients with Q fever and acute endocarditis (to detect valvulopathy) and to give a prophylactic treatment to avoid fixation on the heart in patients with valvulopathy. This work helps clarify the evolution of Q fever by eliminating the term of chronic Q fever, which is based on non-clinical elements, and defining persistent Q fever for which there is an identifiable focus of infection. Furthermore, this work makes it possible to recommend systematic detection of antiphospholipid antibodies in order to limit the risk of thrombosis and the risk of cardiac fixation. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Genetic Research, JAMA / 27.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yi Zeng, Ph.D.| Professor, Center for Study of Aging and Human Development and Geriatrics Division, School of Medicine, Duke University Professor, National School of Development, Chief Scientist of Raissun Institute for Advanced Studies, Peking University Distinguished Research Scholar, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Sex differences in genetic associations with human longevity remain largely unknown; investigations on this topic are important for individualized healthcare. (more…)