MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
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Dr. Prior[/caption]
Jerilynn C Prior MD FRCPC (on behalf of all authors
Professor of Endocrinology / Department of Medicine
University of British Columbia
Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research
www.cemcor.ca
BC Women’s Health Research Institute
Vancouver BC Canada
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Night sweats and hot flushes/flashes (together called vasomotor symptoms, VMS) disturb women who are still menstruating (in perimenopause) are at least as much or more than menopausal women (without flow for a year or more)
1. However, although studies have investigated various treatments for perimenopausal hot flushes/flashes, none have proven effective in these women who are also likely to be having heavy flow, breast tenderness, and premenstrual symptoms related to high and variable estrogen levels. These include randomized controlled trials (RCT) of the birth control pill
2, and gel estrogen in women using a progestin-releasing IUD
3.
Neither showed that therapy was more effective than placebo; both studied too few participants to provide a clear answer.
Meanwhile, major medical organization guidelines recommend menopausal hormone therapy (MHT, usually of estrogen with a progestin) for any women younger than 60 years old who are bothered by night sweats and hot flushes
4-6. However, there are no scientific RCT studies showing MHT is effective for
perimenopausal night sweats and hot flushes. Giving more estrogen to someone whose own estrogen levels are often high, also did not make clinical sense.
We previously performed an RCT showing that oral micronized progesterone (progesterone) was effective for menopausal hot flushes and also improved sleep
7. Given that progesterone levels in perimenopausal women are declining, we considered that perimenopausal progesterone therapy for night sweats needed testing.
Dr. Lu Qi[/caption]
Lu Qi, MD, PhD, FAHA
Interim Chair, Department of Epidemiolog
HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and Professor
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Director, Tulane University Obesity Research Center
Director, Tulane Personalized Health Institute
New Orleans, LA 70112
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Adding salt to foods is a behavior reflecting long-term preference to salty diets. High sodium intake is a major risk factor for chronic kidney disease.
In our previous studies, we have found that adding salt to foods at the table is related to various disorders including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and mortality.
Amy Kennalley[/caption]
Amy Kennalley, MBS
First Year Medical Student
Department of Medical Education
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a major public health crisis in the United States. Despite the availability of effective treatments, including the medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with methadone, many individuals with OUD do not receive the care they need. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, there were several policy changes related to take-home doses of methadone, which may have impacted access to this lifesaving medication.
The Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA)'s Automated Reports and Consolidated Ordering System (ARCOS) is a database that tracks the distribution of controlled substances, including methadone distributed to opioid treatment programs (OTPs). This data can be used to assess trends in methadone distribution over time. Additionally, the Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (SDUD) database provides comprehensive information on methadone prescribing to Medicaid patients.
By analyzing data from both ARCOS and SDUD, we aimed to provide a comprehensive picture of methadone distribution for OUD treatment in the United States. These findings1 are important because drug overdose deaths, primarily involving opioids, increased substantially (49%) from 2019 (70,980) to 2021 (~106,000).2
Dr. Klompas[/caption]
Michael Klompas MD, MPH, FIDSA, FSHEA
Hospital Epidemiologist
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Professor of Medicine and Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School and
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Can teeth be safely brush in patients who are comatose, intubated or have NG tubes?
Response: Pneumonia is thought to occur when secretions from the mouth get into the lungs. Since there are many microbes in the mouth, there’s a risk that secretions from the mouth that get into the lungs will lead to pneumonia. Toothbrushing may lower this risk by decreasing the quantity of microbes in the mouth.
It is indeed safe and appropriate to brush the teeth of someone who is comatose, intubated, or who has an NG tube. Indeed, our study found that the benefits of toothbrushing were clearest for patients receiving mechanical ventilation.
Dr. Angélica Cifuentes Kottkamp[/caption]
Angélica
Dr. Brousseau[/caption]
David Brousseau, MD, MS
Chair of Pediatrics
Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware and the
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Prof. Rong Xu[/caption]
Rong Xu, PhD
Dr. Davaasambuu[/caption]
Dr Ganmaa Davaasambuu MD PhD
Associate Professor
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The crucial role of vitamin D in facilitating calcium absorption from the diet and promoting calcium deposition in bones (known as 'mineralization') has been a long-established understanding. Furthermore, some observational studies have reported an association between low vitamin D levels and a heightened risk of bone fractures in children. This raised the possibility that vitamin D supplements could potentially play a role in decreasing fracture risk in children with initially low baseline levels. However, clinical trials assessing the causal link between low vitamin D status and reduced fracture risk were necessary, and such trials had not been conducted before.
Dr. Callaghan[/caption]
Bridget Callaghan Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
UCLA
Dr. Callahan studies interactions between mental and physical health across development.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: A growing body of evidence links the gut microbiome to brain and immune functioning, and changes to that community of microorganisms is likely among the ways that hardship affects children’s socioemotional development.
Limited evidence in humans has demonstrated the adversities experienced prenatally and during early life influence the composition of the gut microbiome, but no studies had examined whether stress experienced in a mother's own childhood could influence the microbiome of the next generation of children.
Kazi Albab Hussain[/caption]
Kazi Albab Hussain
Graduate Student (PhD)
Specialization: Water Resources
Advisor: Professor Yusong Li, PhD
Associate Dean for Faculty and Inclusion
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Microplastics have been detected in various food items and beverages, including table salt, bottled water, fish, and mussels. The extensive use of plastic-based products in food preparation, storage, and handling has raised concerns about the direct release of microplastics. Interestingly, we often discuss microplastics but overlook nanoplastics in the conversation. Due to their smaller size, nanoplastics are harder to be detected.
In our study, we wanted to see the release of both microplastics and nanoplastics, as nanoplastics may be even more toxic than microplastics.
Unfortunately, infants and toddlers are particularly vulnerable to the potential health impacts of micro- and nanoplastics. Studies have shown significant ingestion of these particles from polypropylene feeding bottles and silicone-rubber baby teats. We aimed to investigate the release of of micro- and nanoplastics, estimated their exposure for infants and toddlers, and evaluated their cytotoxicity to human embryonic kidney cells.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: I became interested in dog's sense of smell several years ago while doing therapy dog demonstrations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles during a special traveling exhibit "Dogs! A Science Tail." (Now at the Orlando Science Center). I did a lot of research on this topic and taught children about it through the Los Angeles Public Library using my Great Pyrenees therapy dogs. Then, COVID broke out and I expanded my research into any work being done to possibly utilize scent dogs for screening and testing for COVID. I found only a few such studies. However, I fortuitously met Heather Junqueira of BioScent, Inc. (in Florida) online and she was beginning to successfully teach her beagles to detect COVID-related odors. She agreed to co-author a peer-reviewed review paper with me. That led to our first paper -
Dickey, T, Junqueira, H. Toward the use of medical scent dogs for COVID-19 screening. J Osteopath Med 2021;1(2): 141-148. 
Dr. Kruger[/caption]
Jessica Kruger PhD
Clinical Associate Professor of Community Health and Health Behavior
University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The 2018 Farm Bill authorizing hemp production led to new cannabinoids in the consumer marketplace. As the market becomes increasingly saturated with suppliers, companies continually diversify available products.
The rapid emergence of novel cannabinoids outpaces systematic research necessary to inform regulations and harm reduction. Empirical evidence is needed to guide policies, practices, and education of consumers. Product manufacturers, social media participants, and cannabis oriented on-line news sources have claimed that THC-O-acetate is a "psychedelic" cannabinoid, producing experiences similar to those associated with LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT.
Dr. Martens[/caption]
Christopher R. Martens PhD
Assistant Professor
Director, Delaware Center for Cognitive Aging Research
Department of Kinesiology & Applied Physiology
University of Delaware
Newark, DE
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: One of the main issues with Alzheimer's disease is an impaired ability to make energy in the brain. NAD+ is critically involved in the creation of energy within cells and there is strong evidence that nicotinamide riboside (NR), a precursor to NAD+, can restore brain function in mice that exhibit similar characteristics as people with Alzheimer's disease.
We had previously studied the effects of NR in healthy older adults and wanted to see whether it is even capable of getting into brain tissue. We used remaining blood samples from our original study and measured the amount of NAD+ within tiny "vesicles" in the blood that we are quite confident originated from the brain and other neural tissue
