Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Heart Disease / 24.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Divya Ravi, MD, MPH The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education Scranton, PA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There is evidence to suggest that Marijuana can bring about changes at the tissue level and has the ability to potentiate vascular disease, in ways similar to tobacco.  With change in legalization and increase usage trends, we conducted this review to examine the known effects of marijuana on cardiovascular outcomes and risk factors, given that cardiovascular disease remains the greatest cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Our review found insufficient evidence to draw meaningful conclusions that marijuana use is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes. The few studies that suggested a possible benefit from marijuana use, were cross-sectional, and were contradicted by more robust longitudinal studies that reported potential harmful effects. (more…)
Author Interviews, Emory, Genetic Research, JAMA, Ophthalmology / 24.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eldon E. Geisert, PhD Professor of Ophthalmology Emory School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In the late 1990s a group of doctors began a study of glaucoma patients to determine if there were phenotypes that are predictive for developing glaucoma. In this Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS) one of the highly correlated ocular traits was central corneal thickness (CCT). The early clinical studies found that people with thinner corneas were at a higher risk of developing glaucoma. In two large studies, examining thousands of people a number of genes were identified that were risk factors for glaucoma or that controlled CCT in humans. In both cases the identified genes accounted for less than 10% of the genetic risk for glaucoma and less than for 10% of the genetic control for CCT. There was little data linking the genetic control of CCT to the glaucoma risk. Our group has taken an indirect approach to the question, using well-defined mouse genetic system to identify genes modulating CCT and then interrogating human glaucoma data to determine if these genes are associated with glaucoma risk.   (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA / 24.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Stelios Serghiou PhD student Epidemiology and Clinical Research and John P.A. Ioannidis, MD, DSc Meta-Research Innovation Center Stanford (METRICS), Stanford University Stanford, California MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Preprints refer to versions of a manuscript prior to the one published in a peer-reviewed journal. Even though preprints have been very popular in disciplines such as physics and computer science for many years now, their use in biomedicine had been very limited. However, this seems to be changing since the establishment of bioRxiv in 2013. As such, we became interested in exploring what happens to preprints uploaded on bioRxiv and what is the impact of bioRxiv to the peer-reviewed literature in terms of attention received. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Gender Differences / 24.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Amani El-Alayli PhD Eastern Washington University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This research was conducted on the premise that people tend to view women as more nurturing, and also set higher standards for women to behave in a nurturing manner. The same pattern has been observed in past research examining how students view their female professors.  Female professors are expected to be more nurturing, such as being more available outside of the classroom, as compared to their male professors.  In the present research, we investigated whether these higher expectations of nurturing behavior would cause students to be more likely to ask things of their female professors, consequently placing higher work demands on them.  In our survey of male and female professors across the country, we indeed found that female professors received more requests for standard work demands (e.g., office hours visits or assistance with course-related matters), as well as special favor requests (e.g., requests to re-do an assignment for a better grade or asking for some form of exception, extended deadline, or alternative assignment), compared to male professors. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, PTSD / 23.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Man’s best friend helps NC Guardsman with PTSD [Image 1 of 8]” by DVIDSHUB is licensed under CC BY 2.0, PhD Professor of Psychiatry Director, Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pa 19104 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As much as 10 to 20 percent of military members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan following the September 11th attacks suffer from PTSD, which is often chronic and incapacitating. A constant increase in the number of individuals suffering from PTSD as a result of massive natural disasters, terror attacks, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has prompted an urgent need for effective and efficient evidence-based treatments for PTSD. Prolong exposure (PE) is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy that involves exposure to trauma memories and daily life trauma reminders. Previous studies have proven PE is quite effective for treating civilians and veterans with PTSD. In this five-year study, the researchers sought to determine whether PE could have similar success with active-duty military personnel. The researchers examined the benefit of various methods for delivering PE including Massed-PE, (10 therapy sessions administered over two weeks) and Spaced-PE (10 sessions administered over 8 weeks), as well as Present Centered Therapy (PCT), a non-trauma-focused therapy that involves identifying and discussing daily stressors in 10 sessions over eight weeks, and Minimal Contact Control (MCC), which included supportive phone calls from therapists once weekly for four weeks. Patients who received Massed-PE therapy, delivered over two weeks, saw a greater reduction in PTSD symptoms than those who received MCC. Importantly, Massed-PE therapy was found to be equally effective to Spaced-PE in reducing PTSD symptom severity. The researchers also found that PCT might be an effective treatment option for PTSD in active military personnel although it was less effective than PE in veteran and civilian PTSD sufferers.  (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Geriatrics / 23.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Carol Jagger AXA Professor of Epidemiology of Ageing and Deputy Director of the Newcastle University Institute for Ageing (NUIA) Institute of Health & Society Campus for Ageing and Vitality Newcastle  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As part of a larger study (MODEM – modelling outcome and cost impacts of interventions for dementia) we have developed a microsimulation model called PACSim which forecasts the number of older people aged 65 years and over along with their health and lifestyle factors as they age over the next 20 years. Crucially these are the first projections that include the health and lifestyle profiles of younger people as they age into to older population, rather than just assuming they have the same health profiles as existing young-old. Other studies have already reported that the proportion of older people with multimorbidity (two or more concurrent diseases) has increased. Our study shows that not only will this continue but that the largest increase over the next 20 years will be for complex multimorbidity (four or more diseases). Much of the gain in life expectancy over the next 20 year for a 65 year old will be years spent with complex multimorbidity. And more importantly the future cohorts of young-old entering the older population will have successively more multimorbidity. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, JAMA, Lymphoma / 23.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Mintsje de Boer, MD Resident plastic surgery Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand-Surgery Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht the Netherland On behalf of the Netherlands BIA-ALCL Consortium: Daphne de Jong (Hematopathologist, VU university medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Hinne Rakhorst (Plastic Surgeon, MST/ZGT, Enschede, the Netherlands) René van der Hulst (Plastic surgeon, MUMC+ Maastricht, the Netherlands) Flora van Leeuwen (Epidemiologist, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Jan Paul de Boer (Hemato-oncologist, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) Lucy Overbeek (Database expert PALGA, Houten, the Netherlands),  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Breast implants are one of the most commonly used medical devices worldwide. Associations with breast cancer, connective tissue diseases and auto-immune diseases have never been unequivocally supported. For lymphoma risk, this is different and several reports have suggested an association between breast implants and risk of anaplastic large cell lymphoma in the breast (breast-ALCL). Over the past few years, the number of women with breast implants reported with breast-ALCL has strongly increased. This has resulted in significant attention amongst medical professionals and women alike with publications in medical journals and lay press. In part due to the rarity of the disease and due to the lack of breast implant prevalence data in the population, the absolute risks of breast-ALCL are largely unknown, precluding evidence-based counseling about implants. In the Netherlands, we are in the unique position to be able to retrieve all diagnosed breastALCL since 1990 as well as appropriate population-based control groups from the Nationwide Network and Registry of Histo- and Cytopathology in the Netherlands (PALGA). This has allowed a formal epidemiological risk assessment study based on sufficient numbers. Moreover, using combined and complementary sources of information, we have been able to determine age- and calendar year-specific implant prevalence rates to determine reliable absolute risks. This study could be successfully performed thanks to a multidisciplinary taskforce consisting of plastic surgeons, hematopathologists, epidemiologists, hemato-oncologists and radiologists from the several large institutions in the Netherlands  (more…)
ASCO, Author Interviews, Colon Cancer, MD Anderson / 23.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D., FACP Associate Professor Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Division of Cancer Medicine The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The BRAF mutation carries a very poor prognosis for patients with advanced colo-rectal cancer (CRC), and is particularly unresponsive after first-line therapy, so additional treatment options for these patients are needed. While treatment with a BRAF inhibitor alone has not been effective in treating this disease, combination therapies have shown promise and lead to the initiation of the BEACON study. The safety lead-in phase of the BEACON CRC trial was designed to assess the safety and tolerability of encorafenib, binimetinib  and cetuximab triplet combination prior to the Phase 3 randomized portion of the study. Thirty patients were treated in the safety lead-in and received the triplet combination (encorafenib 300 mg daily, binimetinib 45 mg twice daily, and cetuximab per label). Out of the 30 patients, 29 had a BRAFV600E mutation. Microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) (resulting from defective DNA mismatch repair) was detected in only 1 patient. The triplet demonstrated good tolerability, supporting initiation of the randomized portion of the study. In addition, promising initial clinical activity was observed. In patients with the BRAFV600E mutation, the estimated median progression-free survival (mPFS) at the time of analysis was 8 months. The confirmed overall response rate (ORR) in patients with the BRAFV600E mutation was 48%, and 3 patients achieved complete responses (CR). Further, the ORR was 62% in the 16 patients (10/16) who received only one prior line of therapy. Additionally, the triplet combination was generally well-tolerated. Two patients discontinued treatment due to AEs with only one of these considered related to treatment. The most common grade 3 or 4 AEs seen in at least 10% of patients were fatigue (4/30), urinary tract infection (3/30), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST; 3/30) and increased blood creatine kinase (CK; 3/30). (more…)
Author Interviews, Stroke, Technology / 23.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Alireza Gharabaghi Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Alireza Gharabaghi Ärztlicher Leiter Sektion Funktionelle und Restaurative Neurochirurgie Neurochirurgische Universitätsklinik Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: According to the World Health Organization, 15 million people suffer stroke worldwide each year. Of these, 5 million die and another 5 million are permanently disabled. Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. About half of all stroke survivors will never be able to use their affected hand for activities of daily living again. The current study investigates a novel technology which may lead to new therapeutic options for these patients.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Ophthalmology, Surgical Research, UCSF / 23.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Catherine L. Chen, MD, MPH Assistant Professor UCSF Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Care MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Routine preoperative medical testing (such as common laboratory tests looking at a patient's blood cell counts and kidney function, or cardiac tests like an EKG) are not recommended in patients undergoing cataract surgery, but these tests still occur quite frequently among Medicare cataract surgery patients because these patients tend to be older and sicker than the general population. In the past, researchers have used a 30-day window counting backwards from the date of surgery to determine whether a given test should be categorized as a routine preoperative test. However, we know that testing often takes place outside this window and therefore, the frequency and cost of routine preoperative medical testing has generally been underreported. In our study, we used a new method to figure out how to determine the start of the routine preoperative testing period. In cataract patients, ocular biometry is a diagnostic test that is performed in anticipation of cataract surgery, and this test is only performed in cataract patients who will be having cataract surgery in the near future. For each patient, we calculated the elapsed time between the ocular biometry and cataract surgery dates to get a better idea of when to start looking for unnecessary routine preoperative testing. Our goal was to identify all the routine preoperative medical testing that occurs once the decision has been made to operate and better estimate the cost to Medicare of this unnecessary testing. In a previous study that we published in the New England Journal of Medicine, we reported a significant spike in the rate of routine preoperative medical testing that occurs in the 30 days before surgery compared to the baseline rate of testing. In our current study, we discovered that there is a second spike in testing that occurs in the 30 days after ocular biometry. In fact, even if you exclude the testing that takes place during the 30 days before surgery, there is still a 41% increase in testing rates during the interval between ocular biometry and cataract surgery over the baseline rate of testing. In addition, we found that the cost of routine preoperative testing was 47% higher when looking at the entire biometry to surgery timeframe compared to testing that occurs just in the 30 days before surgery. We estimate that the cost to Medicare of all of this unnecessary testing approaches $45.4 million annually. (more…)
Author Interviews, CT Scanning, Heart Disease, Technology / 23.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cardiologist Mark Rabbat, MD, FSCCT Who pioneered the use of FFRct at Loyola Medicine and was first author of an international expert panel of leading cardiologists and radiologists from centers in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands on how to interpret and report the tests published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography.   MedicalResearch.com: What is the scope of the problem? Response: Coronary artery disease is a very large healthcare burden. Over sixteen million individuals in the United States have coronary artery disease.  Coronary artery disease may result in your heart not getting enough blood and increases your risk of a heart attack. Historically, we have been faced with either using tests we knew were not always accurate or putting a patient through an invasive angiogram just to determine whether they would need another invasive procedure to restore blood flow.  The CT-derived fractional flow reserve (FFRct) analysis is the first technology that bridges the gap between the non-invasive and invasive tests within one platform.  Any patient with symptoms such as chest pain, chest tightness, fatigue, or shortness of breath without known coronary artery disease may be a candidate for the FFRct study.  (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Johns Hopkins, Kidney Disease, Transplantation / 23.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tanjala S. Purnell, PhD MPH Assistant Professor of Surgery, Epidemiology, and Health Behavior and Society Core Faculty, Epidemiology Research Group in Organ Transplantation Johns Hopkins University Associate Director for Education and Training, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity Member, OPTN/UNOS Minority Affairs Committee  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
  • Our study was motivated by the fact that we know live donor kidney transplants are associated with longer life expectancy and higher quality of life than deceased donor kidney transplants or long-term dialysis treatment. We also know that Black and Hispanic adults are more likely than White adults to have end-stage kidney disease but are less likely than White patients to receive live donor kidney transplants.
  • Over the last 2 decades, there have been several transplant education programs implemented within transplant centers and dialysis centers, and legislative policies enacted to improve overall access to live donor kidney transplants for patients. We wanted to see whether these programs and policies resulted in narrowed racial and ethnic disparities in access to live donor kidney transplants in the United States. 
(more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Ovarian Cancer / 22.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. W.J. van Driel Gynaecologic Oncologist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Amsterdam  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our study reports on the results of a randomized phase 3 study in patients with FIGO stage III ovarian cancer who were ineligible for primary cytoreductive surgery and therefore treated with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and interval cytoreductive surgery. Following optimal or complete cytoreductive surgery another 3 cycles of chemotherapy were given. During the interval cytoreductive surgery patients were randomized between surgery alone or surgery + HIPEC. During hyperthermic intraperitoneal administration of chemotherapy (HIPEC) the abdomen is perfused with cisplatin to expose any remaining minimal or microscopic disease to a high dose of heated chemotherapy. The main findings are that the addition of HIPEC to interval cytoreductive surgery resulted in longer recurrence-free survival and overall survival than surgery alone and the addition of HIPEC did not result in higher rates of side effects.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, Chemotherapy / 22.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bakhos Tannous, PhD Neuro-Oncology Division Department of Neurology MGH MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive type of brain tumors in adults. Over the last two decades, the major improvement in the treatment for GBM has been the addition of the chemotherapeutic temozolomide (TMZ) to the standard of care (surgery and radiation), however, despite this aggressive therapy, over 90% of patients die within five years after diagnosis. Further, only about half of GBM patients really benefit from TMZ treatment, while the other half are somewhat resistant to TMZ since their tumor endogenously carry a DNA repair mechanism that removes DNA adducts caused by TMZ. We therefore wanted to find a combination therapy that overcomes TMZ resistance and works in all GBM patient populations, with a fast transition to the clinic. Through a repurposing drug screening aiming at recycling of old known drugs for new therapies, we found that the FDA-approved drug hydroxyurea to synergizes with temozolomide in patient-derived GBM cells from newly diagnosed and recurrent tumors, irrespective of their DNA repair mechanism. The combination of hydroxyurea and TMZ worked very well in all different patient cell population tested, and was not specific to one subtype, and lead to a significant increase in survival rate in different mouse models. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections / 22.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bala Venkatesh, MBBS, MD(Int.Med), FRCA, FFARCSI, MD(UK), FCICM Director of Intensive Care, Wesley Hospital Pre-eminent specialist, Princess Alexandra Hospital Professor of Intensive Care,University of QLD Honorary Professor, University of New South WalesProfessorial Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Whether hydrocortisone reduces mortality in patients with septic shock is unclear. The uncertainty about the efficacy of glucocorticoids in reducing mortality in patients with septic shock has resulted in widespread variation in clinical practice In the results published in the New England Journal of Medicine the investigators found steroids not only reduced the duration of septic shock, they also led to less blood transfusions, and the time spent on life support therapy in intensive care. However, the use of steroids did not lead to fewer deaths overall compared to placebo. Some of the findings are consistent with previous research whilst other results add new information that will inform clinicians. Our results show there is still a lot to learn about septic shock which kills up to half of those affected in some parts of the world. There are undoubtedly many other contributors to survival which we don’t yet understand.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition, Sugar, Weight Research / 22.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Soda” by Jannes Pockele is licensed under CC BY 2.0Maria Luger, MSc SIPCAN Special Institute for Preventive Cardiology And Nutrition Spendenbegünstigte Einrichtung gem. FW 1914/19.3.2005 Vorstand: Univ.-Prof. Prim. Dr. Friedrich Hoppichler Salzburg, Austria MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. Rising consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been a major contributor to the obesity epidemic and it increases the risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, as previous evidence has shown. Partly inconsistent findings from previous reviews have fueled discussions on the impact of SSBs on obesity development. Therefore, the aim of our review was to systematically review the recent evidence in children and adults. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Pediatrics, Sexual Health / 22.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chiara Acquati, Ph.D., MSW Assistant Professor Graduate College of Social Work University of Houston Houston, TX   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer are individuals between the ages of 15 and 39 years at diagnosis, as defined by the National Cancer Institute. Considerable research has unveiled unique psychosocial challenges experienced by AYAs, including poor quality of life, an altered body image, and social isolation. As a result of these life disruptions, normative psychological and emotional development is affected by the disease and its treatment, particularly with respect to sexual identity, development, and behavior. However, few studies have examined sexual functioning and AYA patients’ needs with respect to emotional intimacy and sexual relationships. Estimates of the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in AYAs are limited to date and vary because of data derived from mixed-age groups, single items instead of standardized instruments, and cross-sectional designs. Yet, the state of the science suggests that one-third to two-thirds of cancer patients experience sexual dissatisfaction and a reduced frequency of intercourse. Furthermore, failure to address sexual health may place AYAs at risk for long-term consequences related to sexual functioning and identity development, interpersonal relationships, and quality of life. Hence, detecting changes in the rate of sexual dysfunction over time may help in identifying the appropriate timing for interventions to be delivered. This study was conceptualized to increase our current knowledge of sexual functioning among AYAs by examining the prevalence of sexual dysfunction over the course of 2 years after the initial cancer diagnosis and the identification of variables that contribute to the probability of reporting sexual dysfunction in order to recognize individuals at higher risk. Young adult patients (≥18 years old) were administered the sexual functioning scale as part of a larger longitudinal multisite survey, and only those who completed the instrument at least once were included in this analysis; for this reason the article focuses on the experience of “young adults”. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Infections / 22.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: LaTonia Richardson, PhD, Statistician Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch CDC MedicalResearch.com: Who is IFSAC? Response: The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) was created in 2011 by three federal agencies—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS)—to improve coordination of federal food safety analytic efforts and address cross-cutting priorities for food safety data collection, analysis, and use.  The current focus of IFSAC’s activities is foodborne illness source attribution, defined as the process of estimating the most common food sources responsible for specific foodborne illnesses. For more information on IFSAC, visit https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ifsac/index.html. (more…)
Author Interviews, Ophthalmology, Technology / 22.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ireneusz Grulkowski, PhD Assistant Professor Bio-Optics & Optical Engineering Lab Institute of Physics Nicolaus Copernicus University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The ophthalmic diagnostics has undergone a revolution over the last 30 years. The access to new modalities allowed to understand the process of development of different eye diseases of the retina and the anterior segment. In particular, optical coherence tomography (OCT) demonstrated the feasibility in visualization of microarchitecture of the ocular tissues. However, most of the ophthalmic equipment is dedicated either to imaging the anterior segment of the eye (e.g. the cornea) or to retinal imaging. This is due to the fact that the eye is composed of the elements, such as the cornea and the lens, that refract the light. In this report, we wanted to address that challenge. We compensated the refractive power of the eye by the application of the tunable lens. The focus tunable lens is the example of active optical element that changes its focal distance with the applied electric current. (more…)
Author Interviews, Technology / 21.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jacob Crandall PhD Associate Professsor, Computer Science Brigham Young University  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: As autonomous machines become increasingly prevalent in society, they must have the ability to forge cooperative relationships with people who do not share all of their preferences.  Unlike the zero-sum scenarios (e.g., Checkers, Chess, Go) often addressed by artificial intelligence, cooperation does not require sheer computational power.  Instead, it is facilitated by intuition, emotions, signals, cultural norms, and pre-evolved dispositions.  To understand how to create machines that cooperate with people, we developed an algorithm (called S#) that combines a state-of-the-art reinforcement learning algorithm with mechanisms for signals. We compared the performance of S# with people in a variety of repeated games. (more…)
Author Interviews, Psychological Science / 20.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Shira Offer PhD Associate Professor Department of Sociology and Anthropology Bar-Ilan University https://biu.academia.edu/ShiraOffer  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The major goal of the University of California Social Network Study (UCNets) is to promote our understanding of people’s social lives and their implications for health and well-being. The study collected information about whom individuals are connected to and the characteristics of those connected people. The participants in the study were asked to name the people with whom they usually get together and do social activities, whom they confide in about important things in life, and who give them practical help or assistance during emergencies. They were also asked to name the people whom they find “demanding or difficult.” This question allowed us to explore the negative aspect of personal relationships. Personal relationships are complicated but most research focuses on positive ties, or on the positive side of social ties. In this study we had the opportunity to also examine their negative aspect. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 20.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chintan Bhatt  MBBS, MPH    (HE/HIM/HIS) Department of Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University Miami Fl  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Women and children are disproportionately affected by the uncertainty around medical health insurance rising in the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was implemented on Jan 1st, 2014, since then the uninsured rate decreased considerably, especially in women aged 18 to 64 years. ACA revised and expanded Medicaid eligibility. Under the law, all U.S. citizens and legal residents with income up to 133% of the poverty line, including adults without dependent children, would qualify for coverage in any state that participated in the Medicaid program. Because of the large proportion of maternal, infant, and child health care and preventive services funded by Medicaid. The purpose of our study was to examine the potential effect of Medicaid expansion on infant mortality rates by comparing infant mortality rate trends in states and Washington D.C. by Medicaid expansion acceptance or decline. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE / 20.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Navindra Persaud MD, MSc, BA, BSc Department of Family and Community Medicine and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute St Michael’s Hospital Toronto, Ontario, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: I used to prescribe doxylamine-pyridoxine for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. I was taught to prescribe it. The medication was recommended as the first line medication for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. When I looked carefully at the clinical practice guidelines that recommended this medication, they did not cite supporting studies. So I tried to find the basis for the recommendations. It was surprisingly difficult to obtain information about this commonly prescribed drug. The medication seems to be ineffective based on the results of this trial. I was also surprised that important information about the trial was hidden until now. Although some results were published in 2010, the earlier reports did not mention the fact that a difference of 3 points on the 13-point symptom scale was prespecified as the minimal important difference (or the smallest difference that a patient would deem as important). (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Nature / 20.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Di Wu, Msc PhD candidate at Indiana University Graduate Research Assistant Department of Physics Indiana University Bloomington Linked-in: www.linkedin.com/in/di-wu-3a197373  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Current clinical diagnosis and evaluations of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). has remained subjective in nature. There is a need to have objective assessments for the disorder. We discovered in this study an important motion feature that was unknown before. This feature provides a clear screening of ASD. It gave a remarkable quantitative connection between the way children with ASD move and their psychiatric scores, like the IQ score and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale. This connection we captured suggests that the motor feature may be an essential core feature characterizing ASD deficits, as well as neurodevelopment in general. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, Microbiome / 19.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maja-Lisa Clausen MD, Ph.D.-fellow Department of Dermatology Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: ​The human microbiome seems to play an important role in health and disease, by influencing host cells and contributing to host immunity. A balanced interplay between host cells and resident bacteria is important, and dysbiosis is linked to several diseases, including skin diseases like atopic dermatitis. Patients with atopic dermatitis suffer from ​frequent skin infections, and their skin microbiome is dominated by S. aureus. Frequent skin infections lead to frequent use of antibiotics, and with worldwide increase in resistant bacteria, a better understanding of the interplay between host and bacteria is paramount in order to develop new treatment strategies. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Gout, Nutrition, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 19.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Blood Pressure” by Bernard Goldbach is licensed under CC BY 2.0Stephen P. Juraschek, MD, PhD Instructor of Medicine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Recent evidence suggests that the DASH diet is associated with lower uric acid levels and lower risk of gout. Furthermore, a secondary analysis of the DASH trial showed that complete replacement of a typical American diet with the DASH diet lowered uric acid levels. However, it is unknown if partial replacement of a typical American diet with DASH foods might lower uric acid. (more…)
Author Interviews / 19.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Dirk Bassler, MSc Head of Department, Professor of Neonatology Department of Neonatology University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a form of lung disease, is the most common chronic complication of extremely preterm birth and represents a major threat to the short- and long-term health and development of affected infants. Only very few effective prophylactic or therapeutic drugs are available for this condition and some of them are associated with severe side effects. Systemic glucocorticoids are effective for the prevention of BPD but can increase the risk of neurodevelopmental impairment. Despite limited clinical evidence inhaled steroids are widely used around the world with the hope that through inhalation positive anti-inflammatory effects on the lungs can be augmented without leading to adverse effects on other organs, particularly the brain. We conducted this large randomized trial at 40 centers in 9 countries to study the short-term and long-term efficacy and safety of inhaled budesonide for the prevention of BPD in extremely preterm infants. (more…)