Author: Marie Benz MD FAAD
29 Apr Vagotomy May Point To Gut Origin of Parkinson’s Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34221" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Wirdefeldt[/caption]
Karin Wirdefeldt, MD, PhD
Associate professor
Karolinska Institutet
Stockholm, Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: It has been hypothesized that Parkinson's disease may start in the gut and spread to the brain via the vagal nerve. We found that people who had a truncal vagotomy (ie, the nerve trunk fully resected) at least 5 years earlier were less likely to develop Parkinson's disease compared to people without vagotomy or people who had a selective vagotomy (ie, only branches of the nerve resected).
28 Apr Diet Foods Can Make You Fat By Changing Your Microbiome
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34218" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Krzysztof Czaja[/caption]
Krzysztof Czaja VBDI, D.V.M
Associate professor of veterinary biosciences and diagnostic imaging
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Georgia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The neural regulation of food intake and satiety in rodents and human are similar. Therefore, rodent model is well established in studying neural regulation in obesity in humans.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: We determined that diets rich in sugar, and many “diet products” contain high amount of sugar (sometimes under different names), increase efficiency of accumulation of body and liver fat. We also found that sugar-rich diets change the gut microflora toward overpopulation of enterotoxic bacteria, damaging neural gut-brain communication and disrupting neural regulation of food intake. The implications of our results on human health are very significant because they show that diets rich in sugar changes the brain circuits responsible for food intake and satiety, induces chronic inflammation and symptoms of non-alcoholic liver disease (NALD).
27 Apr Noninvasive Patch Test Can Improve Clinical Diagnosis of Melanoma
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34201" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Laura K. Ferris[/caption]
Laura Korb Ferris, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Director of Clinical Trials
Department of Dermatology
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We found that a non-invasive adhesive patch applied to the skin over a pigmented skin lesion allowed us to capture enough genetic material from the lesion to analyze and predict if that lesion is likely to be melanoma, meaning a biopsy is warranted, or if it is likely benign, meaning the patient would not need a skin biopsy.
In this study, we asked dermatologists to use their clinical judgement to decide if they would recommend biopsying a skin lesion based on photos and information about the lesion and the patients, such as the patient's age, personal and family history of skin cancer, and if the lesion was new or changing. We then provided them the read out of the gene test and asked them how this influence their decision. We found that with this test result, dermatologists were more accurate in their decision making, meaning they were more likely to recommend biopsy of melanomas and less likely to biopsy harmless moles than they were without the test. This is important as it means this test has the potential to reduce the number of unnecessary skin biopsies performed, saving patients from undergoing a procedure and having a scar as a result, without increasing the risk of missing a melanoma.
27 Apr New Marijuana Laws Associated With Increase in Cannabis-Related Health Problems
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34181" align="alignleft" width="165"]
Dr. Hasin[/caption]
Deborah S. Hasin, Ph.D.
Professor of Epidemiology
Columbia University
New York, New York 10032
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Among adults, the prevalence of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders has increased in recent years. Concerns have been raised that for various reasons, medical marijuana laws would promote use of cannabis and consequently, cannabis-related consequences.
Many studies show that this didn't happen among adolescents, but very little was known about the relationship between medical marijuana laws and adults. Using data from three surveys spanning the years 1991-2013, the study findings suggested that medical marijuana laws did play a role in increasing rates of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders.
27 Apr First Patients Enrolled in Study of Nintedanib For Progressive Fibrosing Lung Conditions
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34196" align="alignleft" width="167"]
Dr. Thomas Leonard[/caption]
Thomas Leonard, Ph.D.
Executive director, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Specialty Care
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you tell us a little more about IPF?
Response: Boehringer Ingelheim’s Phase III PF-ILD (progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease) trial will investigate the safety and efficacy of nintedanib, in a range of progressive fibrosing lung conditions other than idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF. The PF-ILD trial is the first time that patients with different fibrosing lung diseases will be included in one single clinical trial assessing the efficacy of nintedanib as a potential treatment, and the trial is the first in the field of fibrosing lung diseases to group patients based on the clinical characteristics of their disease, rather than the diagnosis.
There are more than 200 conditions that affect the tissue and space around the air sacs of the lungs, or interstitium, and, collectively, these conditions are called interstitial lung diseases -- or ILDs. Based on clinical observations, there is a group of patients with ILD who, independent from the classification of the ILD, exhibit progressive fibrosis. The proposed terminology for describing this group of patients is PF-ILD. In these patients, the disease appears to follow a course similar to IPF with worsening of respiratory symptoms, lung function, quality of life and ability to perform daily activities, as well as early mortality despite treatment.
There is currently no efficacious treatment available for PF-ILD. This trial is exploring how fibrosis in the lungs is treated and whether nintedanib is a potential treatment, based on the efficacy and safety of nintedanib in IPF, a rare and serious lung disease that causes permanent scarring of the lungs, making it difficult to breathe. IPF affects as many as 132,000 Americans, typically men over the age of 65. On average, people with IPF live only three to five years after diagnosis, and approximately 40,000 people die from this disease every year.
26 Apr State ACA Expansions Linked To Large Increase In Prescription Drugs Paid For By Medicaid
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Benjamin D. Sommers, MD, PhD Associate Professor of Health Policy & Economics Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health / Brigham & Women's Hospital Boston, MA 02115 and Kosali Simon PhD School of Public and Environmental Affairs Indiana University Bloomington, IN MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Prescription drugs are considered a high value form of medical care, and can be especially difficult for the uninsured to access. The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion represents an unprecedented expansion of insurance to low-income non-disabled adults, and our study is the first to examine the effects on prescription utilization in detail.26 Apr Over 50? Exercise Linked To Improved Cognitive Function
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Joseph Michael Northey UC Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UCRISE), Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science, Faculty of Health University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Physical exercise has an important role to play in maintaining cognitive function across the lifecycle. However, the benefits of implementing a physical exercise intervention were not clear. To address these issues which prevented evidence-based prescription of exercise for cognitive function, a systematic review of all the available literature up to November of 2016 in adults older than 50 was conducted.26 Apr Family and Individuals Directly Pay Less Than 14% of US Health Care Expenditures
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marie Stagnitti, M.P.A. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component Project Officer/Senior Survey Statistician MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) – Household Component (HC) which began in 1996 and is administered annually collects data from a sample of families and individuals in selected communities across the United States, and is drawn from a nationally representative subsample of households that participated in the prior year's National Health Interview Survey (conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics). During the household interviews, MEPS collects detailed information for each person in the household on the following: demographic characteristics, health conditions, health status, use of medical services, charges and source of payments, access to care, satisfaction with care, health insurance coverage, income, and employment. The panel design of the survey, which features several rounds of interviews covering two full calendar years, makes it possible to determine how changes in respondents' health status, income, employment, eligibility for public and private insurance coverage, use of services, and payment for care are related.26 Apr Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease In US Tops 30 Million
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34189" align="alignleft" width="180"] Dr. Bragg-Gresham[/caption] Jennifer L. Bragg-Gresham, MS, PhD Assistant Research Scientist Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center Department of Internal Medicine - Nephrology University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: While a trend toward stabilization in CKD prevalence had been detected over the past...
26 Apr Human Stem Cells Can Be Used For 3-D Printing of Tissue Stuctures
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33913" align="alignleft" width="117"]
Dr. Sang Jin Lee[/caption]
Sang Jin Lee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Wake Forest University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: I received my Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea in 2003 and took a postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratories for Tissue Engineering and Cellular Therapeutics at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine where I am currently a faculty member. My research works have focused on development of smart biomaterial systems that support the regenerative medicine strategies and approaches. These biomaterial systems combined with drug/protein delivery system, nano/micro-scaled topographical feature, or hybrid materials that could actively participate in functional tissue regeneration. Recently my research works utilize 3D bioprinting strategy to manufacture complex, multi-cellular living tissue constructs that mimic the structure of native tissues. This can be accomplished by optimizing the formulation of biomaterials to serve as the scaffolding for 3D bioprinting, and by providing the biological environment needed for the successful delivery of cells and biomaterials to discrete locations within the 3D structure.
25 Apr Community Targeting of High Risk Minority Males Improves HIV Detection and Treatment
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34177" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Miller[/caption]
Robin Lin Miller, Ph.D.
Professor, Ecological-Community Psychology
Co-Director, MA in Program Evaluation
Chair, Graduate Program in Ecological-Community Psychology
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We wanted to identify promising strategies for providing access to HIV-testing for gay and bisexual male youth. We were especially interested in testing strategies to reach gay and bisexual male youth of color, as they bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV epidemic and are the least likely to be aware of their HIV status. We also wanted to explore approaches to successfully link these youth with HIV-negative test results to diverse HIV prevention services, including pre-exposure prophylaxis, when warranted.
Although some argue that the ideal place to test adolescents and young adults is via emergency rooms and in routine medical care visits, we found that we were able test many more youth with previously undiagnosed HIV-infection through intensive, targeted community outreach efforts. We also tested a much higher proportion of young men of color through targeted outreach.
25 Apr Simulation Exercises Reduce Anxiety of Taking Baby Home From NICU
Posted at 22:18h
in Author Interviews, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, Education, Nursing, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_34172" align="alignleft" width="155"]
Dr. Raines[/caption]
Deborah A. Raines PhD, EdS, RN, ANEF
School of Nursing
University at Buffalo
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: This research grew from my experience as a neonatal nurse. I have worked with many families preparing to take their baby home and have seen the anxiety they experience wondering if they will be able to take care of their baby’s medical needs at home.
Parents are usually most anxious about emergency situations that may occur. Majority of these parents are able to state what they should do, but have never experienced the actual situation with their baby. This study was designed to see if a simulation experience would fill this gap in parents’ preparation for the discharge of their baby from the NICU. This study had parents participated in a customized simulation to have them experience the care needed by their baby at home following discharge from the NICU.
The findings revealed that parents reported a nearly 30 percent increase in confidence in their abilities to care for their baby after participating in the simulation.
25 Apr Use of HEART Score in ER Can Help Evaluate Low Risk Chest Pain
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34167" align="alignleft" width="180"]
Dr.Poldervaart[/caption]
Judith Poldervaart MD, PhD
Assistant professor
Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care
University Medical Center
Utrecht
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Since its development in 2008, interest in the HEART score is increasing and several research groups around the world have been publishing on the HEART score. After validation of any risk score for cardiac events, there is a concern about the safety when used in daily practice.
We were able to show the HEART score is just as safe as the usual care currently used at EDs, which has not been shown yet in previous research. That we did not find a decrease in costs, is probably due to the hesitance of physicians to discharge low-risk patients from the ED without further testing. But extrapolation of the findings of a cost-effectiveness analysis (including nonadherence) suggests that HEART care could lead to annual savings of €40 million in the Netherlands. Hopefully, in time (and more publications of the HEART score now appearing almost weekly from all over the world) this effect on use of health care resources will become more apparent.
25 Apr Food Costs Can Lead To Less Protein and Phosphorous in Indigent Kidney Transplant Patients
Posted at 21:14h
in Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, Mineral Metabolism, Nutrition, Social Issues, Transplantation
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_34207" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Shifra Mincer[/caption]
Ms. Shifra Mincer
Medical Student in the class of 2019
SUNY Downstate Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Hypophosphatemia is commonly encountered in the post-transplant setting. Early post-transplant hypophosphatemia has been ascribed to excess FGF23 and hyperphosphaturia.
Many patients remain hypohosphatemic months or even years after their transplant and the mechanism was assumed to be the same, however, our group recently reported that patients with late post-transplant hypophosphatemia had very little phosphorous in their urine (Wu S, Brar A, Markell, MS. Am J Kidney Dis. 2016,67(5): A18). We hypothesized that they were not eating enough phosphorous to compensate for the acute phosphorous losses they experienced immediately post-transplant.
In this study, using both 3-day diet journals and 24-hour diet recall questionnaires, we found that mean intake of phosphorous and protein was barely at the Recommended Daily Allowance, and that despite 70% of the patients using EBT, 30% of those patients still reported concerns regarding food security. Patients who reported that the cost of food influenced their dietary choices ate 43% less protein (average 48,5 gms vs. 85.8 gms) and 29% less phosphorous (average 887 mg vs 1257 mg). When ability to rise from a chair over a 30 second period was evaluated, only patients who expressed food cost concerns were unable to complete the test.
25 Apr Cycles of Poor Sleep Then Crashing Leads To Loss of Creativity
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34161" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Scullin[/caption]
Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Director, Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory
Baylor University
Waco, TX 76798
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In studio-based courses (e.g., design, architecture, art), students have a large project due at the end of the semester that requires creativity and attention to detail. Anecdotally, they will work long hours without sleep to finish the project.
The problem is that cutting back on sleep may actually be impeding their ability to execute the project successfully.
We used wristband actigraphy (a device that detects movement and light) to monitor sleep for one week in 28 interior design students—many of whom had a final project due. At the beginning and end of the week, the participants completed tests of attention and creativity.
We found that students slept less than contemporary recommendations (7 to 9 hours; Associated Professional Sleep Societies) on approximately half of the nights, and shorter sleep was associated with declining attention and creativity scores across the week. The more thought provoking result was that many individuals showed inter-night variability in how long they slept (e.g., going from 4 hours to 11 hours to 5 hours to 8 hours, etc.). Inter-night variability in sleep duration was an even stronger predictor than total sleep time in how creativity scores changed across the week.
25 Apr Submission and Publication Bias Against Studies With Negative Results Declining
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gary Evoniuk, PhD Director of Publication Practices, Medical Communications Quality & Practices GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In recent years, industry, and to a lesser extent academia, have been criticised for failing to submit clinical trial data for publication, especially when the data are perceived to be “negative”, (i.e. unfavourable to the drug under study) leading to publication bias. We felt it was important to determine whether this criticism is based on perception or reality and so we conducted what is, to our knowledge the only study to systematically address the issue of submission and publication bias based on study outcome.25 Apr Medicare Has Cut Radiology Payments To Physicians by 33% Over Ten Years
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David C. Levin, MD Department of Radiology Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia, PA 19107. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Radiology had been previously identified as the most rapidly growing of all physician services in the Medicare program during the early years of the 2000-2009 decade. But there have been deep cuts in imaging reimbursement since then. We wanted to determine how these cuts have affected total Medicare payments for imaging. Our main findings were that since 2006, payments to physicians for imaging under the Medicare Physician Fee schedule have dropped by $4 billion per year, or about 33%.25 Apr Heart Rate Variability on Holter Monitor Linked To CHF
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Phyllis K. Stein, PhD Division of Hospital Medicine Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, Missouri MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study was based on results from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) which was designed to be a prospective study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and stroke in community-dwelling older adults. Of this cohort, about ¼ volunteered to have Holter recordings. They form the basis of our study. All participants were carefully followed and all outcomes fully adjudicated. Thus, we were able to add the Holter findings to the existing Health ABC study and determine whether they added to a validated risk score.25 Apr GeneStrat Test Provides Quick Analysis of Genetic Lung Cancer Mutations
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hestia Mellert, PhD Director, Molecular Product Development Biodesix: Making Medicine Personal Boulder, CO MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Identifying specific genetic mutations in non-small cell lung cancer patients helps clinicians choose the best treatment options; specific therapies that target mutations can improve patient outcomes, including reducing the risk of death or lessening the severity of the disease. However, nearly 80% of cancer patients do not have genetic mutation results available at initial oncology consultation; up to 25% of patients begin treatment before receiving their results. These factors hinder physicians’ ability to pursue optimal treatment strategies. This study found that a blood-based assay, the GeneStrat test, provides results in 72 hours for 94% of patients, which expands testing options, and supports faster treatment decisions by physicians.25 Apr Xpert HCV Viral Load Test Can Detect Active Hepatitis C Infection From Fingerstick
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34147" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Grebely[/caption]
Jason Grebely PhD
Associate Professor
Senior Research Fellow (UNSW)
Viral Hepatitis Clinical Research Program
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Globally, testing and diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection remain low. Although point of care tests for HCV infection exist, but many of these tests only measure HCV antibodies (previous exposure), not HCV RNA (active infection). Given that 25% of individuals spontaneously clear HCV infection, efforts to enhance diagnosis of chronic HCV infection and improve the HCV care cascade requires enhanced uptake of HCV RNA testing.
We conducted the first evaluation of the Xpert HCV Viral Load test (manufactured by Cepheid) - a point-of-care hepatitis C virus test that can detect active infection - from a finger-stick sample of blood. We established that there is good sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert HCV Viral Load point-of-care test using blood samples collected by finger-stick in participants attending drug health and homelessness services in Australia.
25 Apr Genetic Factors Raise Risk of PTSD After Trauma, Especially in Women
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34121" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Duncan[/caption]
Laramie E Duncan, PhD
Stanford University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that some people experience after a traumatic event, like a terrorist attack, military conflict, or violence in the home. When people have PTSD, they may experience flashbacks to the traumatic event, nightmares, and other recollections of the event that can interfere with their day-to-day lives.
Before this study, not everyone was convinced that genetic factors make some people more prone to developing PTSD than others. Using a study of over 20,000 people and analyzing over two hundred billion (200,000,000,000) pieces of genetic information, we demonstrated that developing PTSD is partly genetic. We also found that genetic factors seem to play a stronger role for women than men, though for everyone, experiencing trauma is still the most important factor.
25 Apr Loss of a Sibling In Childhood Increases Short and Long Term Mortality
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34053" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Yong Yu[/caption]
Dr. Yongfu Yu, PhD
Department of Clinical Epidemiology
Aarhus University Hospital
Aarhus, Denmark
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Bereavement by the death of a close relative is ranked as one of the most severe life events and it is likely to cause psychological stress regardless of coping mechanisms. An increased risk of mortality and adverse health outcomes has been observed among the bereaved spouses, parents, and children. It is estimated that nearly 8% of individuals in the US experienced a sibling death in childhood but much less is known about its health consequences. Sibling relationship tends to be the longest and the most intimate in family thus the death of a sibling can be a devastating life event, especially when this event happens at early ages. However, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the effects of sibling death in childhood on subsequent mortality in bereaved siblings with a long follow-up time.
24 Apr Resistance to Carbapenem Antibiotics Doubled in Intensive Care Units
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34136" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Eilish McCann[/caption]
Eilish McCann, PhD
Director, Outcomes Research (Center for Observational and Real-World Evidence)
Merck
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: One of the most pressing challenges facing medicine today is the emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. One area of high concern is the increasing prevalence of resistance to powerful antibiotics like carbapenems, as patients with infections due to carbapenem-resistant bacteria have very few alternate effective treatment options.
In this study we used real-world data from a Becton, Dickinson and Company electronic research data set to analyze over 140,000 bacterial isolates from patients at 342 hospitals across the United States, so that we could investigate where the burden of carbapenem resistance is most acute. Importantly analysis of real-world data in this way allows us to gain insights from a large number of hospitals, giving a broad and nationally representative picture of the resistance burden.
24 Apr Cannabis Exacerbates Schizophrenia Symptoms and Prolongs Recovery
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ian Hamilton Department of Health Sciences University of York York, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This review looked back over 40 years of research on the links between cannabis and psychosis to examine how knowledge has developed on this issue. The review found that there is sufficient evidence to suggest a dose response relationship exists in the risk for developing a psychosis that would not have happened if the individual had not been exposed to cannabis. Also for people with schizophrenia cannabis exacerbates their symptoms and prolongs recovery.24 Apr USPSTF Recommends Men 70 or Older Not Be Screened for Prostate Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34129" align="alignleft" width="154"]
Dr. Bibbins-Domingo[/caption]
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ph.D., M.D., M.A.S.
Lee Goldman, MD, endowed chair in medicine and professor of medicine and of epidemiology and biostatistics
University of California, San Francisco
Chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers to affect men, and the Task Force believes all men should be aware of the benefits and harms of screening for prostate cancer. Prostate cancer screening with PSA testing can help men reduce their chance of dying of prostate cancer or of having metastatic cancer. These are important benefits but occur in a small number of men. There are risks associated with screening, specifically overdiagnosis and overtreatment with surgery and radiation that can have important side effects like impotence and incontinence.
Since the release of our 2012 recommendation, new evidence has emerged that increased the Task Force’s confidence in the benefits of screening, which include reducing the risk of metastatic cancer (a cancer that spreads) and reducing the chance of dying from prostate cancer. This draft recommendation also reflects new evidence on the use of active surveillance in men with low-risk prostate cancers that may help mitigate some of the harms in these men by allowing some men with low risk cancer to delay or avoid surgery or radiation. Therefore, in our new 2017 draft recommendation, the Task Force encourages men ages 55 to 69 to make an individual decision about whether to be screened after a conversation with their clinician about the potential benefits and harms. For men age 70 years and older, the potential benefits do not outweigh the harms, and these men should not be screened for prostate cancer.
24 Apr Fecal Transplantation Reduced Hospitalizations and Improved Cognitive Function in Cirrhosis Trial
Posted at 20:59h
in Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, Transplantation
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_34124" align="alignleft" width="128"]
Dr. Bajaj[/caption]
Jasmohan S. Bajaj, M.D.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Associate Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Hepatic encephalopathy is a devastating complication of cirrhosis, which often recurs despite standard of care therapy with lactulose and rifaximin. This has a basis in an altered gut milieu therefore we need to change that in a more meaningful way to help patients. This was an FDA-monitored Phase I safety study of Fecal microbiome transfer (FMT) using a rationally-derived donor compared to standard of care.
We found that FMT was safe and was associated with lower all-cause and hepatic encephalopathy-related hospitalizations over 5 months compared to standard of care.
24 Apr New Platform Aims To Improve Cancer Markers Braf p.V600E/K Mutations
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34117" align="alignleft" width="112"]
Dr. Moorthy[/caption]
Thurai Moorthy Ph.D.
President, MultiGEN Diagnostics
Greensboro, NC 27405
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: As more cancer related genetic markers are reported, there is a need for appropriate molecular tests to meet clinical expectations. These expectations include detection at very low amount in a heterogeneous cell population, such as Formalin Fixed Paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor biopsies.
Braf p.V600E/K mutations are cancer-specific markers found in a variety of cancers. There are several drugs in use, and more drugs are being developed, which are prescribed only to those patients whose tumor carries either of these (Braf p.V600E/K) mutations.
Hence, detection of Braf p. V600E/K is critical in the treatment of cancer patients. In this regard, we developed a new platform technology, Allele Specific Multiplex Sequencing (ASMS, for the detection of cancer markers from biopsy samples. As a demonstration project, we tested the new platform technology for the detection of Braf p.V600E/K using tumor samples (FFPE) previously tested by two presently used methods.
24 Apr Proove Opioid Risk Profile Predictive of Opioid Use Disorder
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34113" align="alignleft" width="154"]
Dr. Maneesh Sharma[/caption]
Maneesh Sharma, M.D
Director of Pain Medicine
MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital
Medical Director of the Interventional Pain Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Opioid abuse in chronic pain patients is a major public health issue, with rapidly increasing addiction rates and deaths from unintentional overdose more than quadrupling since 1999. Just in the last year alone according to the CDC, synthetic opioid deaths have increased 72%. As a practicing interventional pain specialist, I am confronted with the challenge of assessing patient risk for opioids as I evaluate multi-modal approaches to effective pain management. Existing tools are inadequate, as they either rely on a urine toxicology test to evaluate a patient’s current potential substance abuse as a predictor of future abuse, or on a patient’s honesty to fill out a questionnaire. We know that many patients who are not currently abusing illicit drugs or misusing prescription medications can develop prescription opioid tolerance, dependence, or abuse—especially with prolonged opioid therapy. Furthermore, we know that patients who are looking to abuse medications or divert those prescriptions will obviously lie on questionnaires.