Author Interviews, JAMA, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders, USPSTF / 23.11.2022
USPSTF: More Evidence Needed Before Routine Screening of Adults Can Be Recommended
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
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Dr. Kubik[/caption]
Martha Kubik, Ph.D., R.N.
Professor, School of Nursing
College of Health and Human Services
George Mason University
Member, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Obstructive sleep apnea is a health condition in which part or all of a person’s airway gets blocked during sleep, causing their breathing to stop and restart many times. Untreated sleep apnea is associated with heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. However, there is currently very limited evidence on screening people who don’t have signs or symptoms like snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Dr. Kubik[/caption]
Martha Kubik, Ph.D., R.N.
Professor, School of Nursing
College of Health and Human Services
George Mason University
Member, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Obstructive sleep apnea is a health condition in which part or all of a person’s airway gets blocked during sleep, causing their breathing to stop and restart many times. Untreated sleep apnea is associated with heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. However, there is currently very limited evidence on screening people who don’t have signs or symptoms like snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Dr. Batres[/caption]
Carlota Batres, Ph.D.
Dr. Sally Lau[/caption]
Dr. Sally Lau MD
Medical oncologist, NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center
Assistant professor of medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: How big is the problem of 
Response: We started many years ago by studying some natural and synthetic molecules that were able to counteract the early stages of this disease. With a view to early prevention, we wondered if these molecules could be routinely taken with the diet or dietary supplements. So our studies focused on the search for bioactive molecules present in food and edible plants.
Hops are very rich in polyphenolic compounds, and for this reason it is historically used for the production of beer, but also for the preparation of herbal teas and infusions, and its uses in traditional medicine are known. In recent years we have also collected interesting results on Coffee, Sage, Radix Imperatoriae, Cocoa and Cinnamon extracts.
Dr. Dai[/caption]
Dr. Hongying Daisy Dai, PhD
Professor and Associate Dean of Research
The College of Public Health
University of Nebraska Medical Center.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Tobacco use landscape has been changing in the United States with fewer combustible cigarette smokers and more e-cigarette and other emerging tobacco users. Nicotine concentration level is a key product characteristic of modern e-cigarette products and high-nicotine vaping devices have recently become available. This study seeks to examine whether biomarkers of exposure to tobacco-related toxicants have changed since 2013 among adult nicotine e-cigarette users, non-nicotine e-cigarette users, and cigarette smokers.
Dr. Shan[/caption]
Zhilei Shan, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow on Nutritional Epidemiology
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Unhealthy sleep behaviors and sleep disturbances are associated with higher risk of multiple diseases and mortality. The current profiles of sleep habits and disturbances, particularly the differences between workdays and free days, are unknown in the contemporary US.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: In this nationally representative cross-sectional analysis with 9004 adults aged 20 years or older, differences in sleep patterns between workdays and free days were observed. The mean sleep duration was 7.59 hours on workdays and 8.24 hours on free days (difference, 0.65 hour). The mean sleep and wake times were at 11:02 PM and 6:41 AM, respectively, on workdays and 11:25 PM and 7:41 AM, respectively, on free days (differences, 0.23 hour for sleep time and 1.00 hour for wake time). With regard to sleep disturbances, 30.5% of adults experienced 1 hour or more of sleep debt,46.5% experienced 1 hour or more of social jet lag, 29.8% had trouble sleeping, and 27.2% experienced daytime sleepiness.
Sean M Hughes MA
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Young women are at elevated risk of getting sexually transmitted infections at the age when they typically start to have sexual intercourse. It’s not known whether this elevated risk is a consequence of behavioral factors (such as choices around use of barrier protection), physiological factors (such as a difference in the immune system) or a combination of both. In this study, we investigated a physiological factor: the immune system in the vagina.
Dr. van der Velde[/caption]
Jeroen van der Velde, PhD
Leiden University Medical Center
Dept. Clinical Epidemiology, C7-102
Leiden, The Netherlands
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We hypothesized that, in addition to the amount of physical activity, the pattern in which physical activity is accumulated over the day is relevant for metabolic health.
Several studies previously showed beneficial effects of interrupting sedentary periods with short periods of activity (breaks in sedentary time) on glucose control. In addition, very recently it has been argued that the timing of physical activity during the day may be relevant for metabolic health. This was mainly shown in animal studies and intervention studies with supervised high intensity exercise training in men with impaired glucose control or type 2 diabetes. If timing of physical activity matters in a ‘free-living’ setting in the general population is largely unknown.
Therefore, our aim was to investigate associations of timing of physical activity and breaks in sedentary time with liver fat content and insulin resistance in a middle-aged population.
Compassion fatigue is when you are exposed to suffering, trauma, or similar negative emotional states in others so much that you become desensitized and indifferent to it. You may also hear it referred to as secondary trauma or vicarious trauma, with many arguing that it’s an inevitable response.
Whichever name you use, it’s a condition in which you feel physically and psychologically exhausted, resulting in a diminished capacity for empathy. This, in turn, has a negative impact on your ability to do your job as a nurse.
Sadly, compassion fatigue is not uncommon in the healthcare field, which is why it’s so important to be alert to the symptoms and understand how to respond when they arise.
Dr. White[/caption]
Alexandra J. White, PhD, MSPH
Stadtman Investigator
Epidemiology Branch
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
Research Triangle Park, NC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What is the chemical primarily used in hair straighteners?
Response: Hair products such as dye and chemical straighteners contain several different chemicals that may act as carcinogens or endocrine disruptors and thus may be important for cancer risk. Straighteners in particular have been found to include chemicals such as phthalates, parabens, cyclosiloxanes and metals and may release formaldehyde when heated. Previous research has suggested that hair dye and chemical straighteners are related to other hormone-sensitive cancers such as breast and ovarian cancer, but no previous study has considered how they are related to uterine cancer risk.
Dr. Wong[/caption]
Mitchell Wong, MD PhD
Professor of Medicine
Executive Vice Chair for Research Training
Department of Medicine
Executive Co-Director, Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program
Director, UCLA CTSI KL2 Program
UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research Los Angeles, CA 90024
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: It is estimated that social factors like poverty, education, and housing have a large impact on health. Yet, there are few interventions that exist to directly address those issues. Schools are a promising solution since society already invests heavily in education and schools are an everyday part of most children’s lives.
