Author: Marie Benz MD FAAD
09 Mar Mouse Allergens Drives Asthma Symptoms In Many Children
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32613" align="alignleft" width="80"]
Dr. Matsui[/caption]
Elizabeth C. Matsui, MD MHS
Professor of Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health Sciences
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD 21287
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We designed this study after our previous work indicated that mouse allergy was common among low-income children living in some urban neighborhoods in the US, that these children also had high levels of mouse allergen exposure in their homes, and that children who are both allergic to mice and exposed to high levels of mouse allergen are at greater risk of asthma symptoms, emergency room visits and hospitalization. Given this background, we designed a randomized clinical trial to determine if an intensive professionally delivered mouse intervention was better than education about mouse control in reducing asthma symptoms and lowering home mouse allergen levels.
08 Mar Natural History of Ruptured But Untreated Intracranial Aneurysms
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Miikka Korja Chief Innovation Officer Neurosurgeon Associate Professor of Neurosurgery HUS, Helsinki University Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Helsinki University Hospital, one of the largest hospital organizations in industrialized countries, has a very long history in conducting studies on brain aneurysms and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The one and only study on the natural history of ruptured aneurysms has also been conducted in Helsinki 50 years ago (published in 1967). The term “natural history” refers to an approach where the cause of a patient’s disease is not treated at all. In this case, it means that ruptured aneurysms in patients with devastating brain hemorrhage, aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, were left untreated. Therefore, these patients have a high risk of a rebleeding from the once ruptured aneurysm. As ruptured aneurysms are nowadays unexceptionally treated, if the patient survives the primary bleeding event, such natural history studies are impractical to conduct. We wanted to update the 50 years old data by using a historical patient registry. Back in the old days, many of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients were not treated because for example surgery was considered too risky or patients were classified as too old for surgery. By using the historical data, we showed that aneurysmal SAH, if not treated, is even more devastating disease than believed. Based on our results, we can state that 75-89% of today’s patients die in a year without treatments.08 Mar Better-Beverage Campaign Reduced Sugary Drink Consumption
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32657" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Schwartz[/caption]
Marlene B. Schwartz PhD
Director, Rudd Center for Obesity & Food Policy (Principal Investigator)
Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
University of Connecticut
Hartford, CT 06103
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a community-wide campaign to reduce consumption of sugary beverages in Howard County, Maryland. We measured the retail sales of sugary drinks in supermarkets in the target community and a set of matched control supermarkets in another state. The campaign included multiple components over three years, including television advertising, digital marketing, direct mail, outdoor advertising, social media and earned media, creating 17 million impressions. The community partners successfully advocated for public policies to encourage healthy beverage consumption in schools, child care, health care and government settings.
08 Mar Why Cells Fall Apart: Protein Regulates Cell Aging
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32782" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Ana O'Loghlen[/caption]
Ana O'Loghlen
Group Leader Epigenetics & Cellular Senescence
Blizard Institute
Queen Mary University of London
London
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The activation of senescence is an important cellular response to a stress signal. The senescent cell stops proliferating and this avoid that damaged cells propagate in our body, creating tissue damage.
Our study has found a particular protein, integrin beta 3 subunit, regulating this cellular phenotype, senescence. We have further provided details of the mechanism of how this integrin does this. We have found that the activation of the TGF beta pathway is important for integrin beta 3 to induce senescence and that this integrin is regulated by epigenetically by the polycomb protein CBX7. Interestingly, although we have not provided functional studies, we find that integrin beta 3 is highly expressed during aging in human and mouse.
08 Mar Drop in Adverse Drug Events Linked to Meaningful Use of Electronic Records
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Furukawa, Ph.D. Senior Economist Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Despite some progress, patient safety remains a serious concern in U.S. health care delivery, particularly in acute care hospitals. In part to support safety improvement, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act promoted widespread adoption and use of certified electronic health record technology. To meet Meaningful Use (MU) requirements in the law, hospitals are required to adopt specific capabilities, such as computerized physician order entry, which are expected to reduce errors and promote safer care. We found that, after the HITECH Act was made law, the occurrence of in-hospital adverse drug events (ADEs) declined significantly from 2010 to 2013, a decline of 19%. Hospital adoption of medication-related MU capabilities was associated with 11% lower odds of ADEs occurring, but the effects did not vary by the number of years of experience with these capabilities. Interoperability capability was associated with 19% lower odds of adverse drug events occurring. Greater exposure to MU capabilities explained about one-fifth of the observed reduction in ADEs.08 Mar Democrats More Likely To Attribute Obesity to Genetics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32767" align="alignleft" width="160"]
Prof. Haider-Markel[/caption]
Professor Don Haider-Markel
Chair, Department of Political Science
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We have studied causal attributions for conditions and problems in society for some time. We noticed that public debate over obesity had increased and new policy proposals were being proposed to address what was deemed as a growing public health problem. As the salience of the issue increased so too did partisan views on the topic.
Based on these observations, we wanted to explore individual beliefs about the causes, or attributions for, obesity. Existing research and theory suggested that Republicans following a conservative philosophy would be more likely to attribute obesity to personal choices, such as eating habits and lack of exercise—in short, putting the locus of control on individuals. Meanwhile liberal leaning Democrats, with a known predisposition to suggest conditions or problems are outside of the control of the individual, would be more likely to attribute obesity to either genetic or other biological factors, or the broader context of widely available low-cost high-fat food sources.
Additionally, we know that individuals tend to make attributions that are self-serving. In other words, people tend to make attributions that put themselves in a positive light. Thus, personal weight should factor into obesity attributions. Here we expected that overweight people would be more likely to make attributions that removed personal blame, such as pointing to a genetic cause. People closer to an ideal weight would, on the other hand, be more likely to attribute weight-level to personal choices.
08 Mar Psoriasis: Efficacy and Safety of Guselkumab vs Humira for Moderate to Severe Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32763" align="alignleft" width="180"]
Dr. Blauvelt[/caption]
Andrew Blauvelt, M.D., M.B.A.
President and Investigator
Oregon Medical Research Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Findings from the Phase 3 VOYAGE 1 study showed that patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis receiving guselkumab, an human anti-interleukin (IL)-23 monoclonal antibody, achieved significant improvement in skin clearance and in comparison with Humira® (adalimumab), a TNF blocker. The Phase 3 study and head-to-head analysis of guselkumab vs. adalimumab showed the significant and durable efficacy of guselkumab as maintained through one year when compared with adalimumab, and the robust efficacy of this novel IL-23 targeted therapy in meeting all primary and major secondary endpoints.
08 Mar Migraine Associated With Cervical Artery Dissection In Some Young Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alessandro Pezzini, MD, FESO Professore Associato di Neurologia Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e Sperimentali Clinica Neurologica Università degli Studi di Brescia Italia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Scarce reports have suggested that a relation might exist between migraine and cervical artery dissection (CEAD), the most frequent cause of ischemic stroke in young adults in Western countries. However, data available so far were obtained from few studies conducted on small cohorts of patients, which limits the generalizability of their findings. In our study we analysed the data from the Italian Project on Stroke in Young Adults (IPSYS) project, one of the largest registries of young ischemic stroke patients, and observed that migraine, especially the subtype without aura was strongly and independently associated to CEAD. This seems particularly true for men and for people younger than 39 years.08 Mar Diabetes Raises Risk of Death From Cancer in Asians
Posted at 12:57h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Diabetologia, NYU/NYMC, Race/Ethnic Diversity
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32662" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Yu Chen[/caption] Yu Chen PhD MPH Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Medicine Associate Professor, Department of Medicine NYU Langone School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response There is increasing evidence of an association between type...
08 Mar Colon Cancer Incidence Rises Dramatically For Young People in Their 20s and 30s
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rebecca L. Siegel, MPH Surveillance and Health Services Research American Cancer Society Atlanta, GA MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: It was known that colorectal cancer incidence rates are declining rapidly in people 50 years and older, but curiously increasing in people younger than 50 years. For a more comprehensive understanding of incidence patterns, we examined CRC incidence trends by 5-year age group and year of birth using age-period cohort analysis. This modeling technique helps enhance the understanding of disease trends by disentangling factors that influence all ages (period effects) from those that vary by generation (birth cohort effects). In incidence data for almost 500,000 colorectal cancer patients during 1974-2013, we found both period and cohort effects. However, the period effects were dwarfed by the cohort effects. The age-specific risk of colorectal cancer declined during the first half of the 20thcentury, but has increased for subsequent generations since around 1950, such that those born in 1990 have twice the risk of colon cancer and 4 times the risk of rectal cancer compared to people born in 1950. Said another way, someone in their 20s today is 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with rectal cancer than someone who was in their 20s in 1970. The risk for contemporary generations has escalated back to that of people born circa 1890.07 Mar Diabetes Prevention Program Reduced Health Care Costs In First Year
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32757" align="alignleft" width="118"]
Dr. Maria Alva[/caption]
Maria L. Alva, DPhil
Public Health Economics Program
RTI International
701 13 Street, NW, Suite 750
Washington, DC 20005
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Diabetes affects more than 25 percent of Americans over 65. The estimated economic cost of diagnosed diabetes is $245 billion a year. In spite of this we have almost no evidence of the impact of programs geared to stave off the cost of diabetes.
The Y-USA received a Health Care Innovation Award of $11.8 million from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to offer a diabetes prevention program to individuals 65 and over with prediabetes. The goal of the Y-USA model is to get participants to lose 5 percent or more of their body weight and gradually increase their physical activity to 150 minutes per week. The program lasts a year. The curriculum comprises sixteen weekly core sessions about healthy eating, exercise and motivation followed by eight monthly maintenance sessions.
Epidemiological data from other studies have shown that the risk of diabetes increases with increased levels of BMI. There is mounting evidence that it is possible to prevent or delay diabetes through life-style intervention. It is unclear, however, whether weight-loss interventions can yield reductions in medical spending.
The objective of our analysis was to establish whether the -USA Diabetes Prevention Program reduces health care spending and utilization among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries.
07 Mar Gene “Decorations” Can Serve as Blood Biomarkers To Detect Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32737" align="alignleft" width="153"]
Dr. Kun Zhang[/caption]
Kun Zhang, PhD
Professor
UCSD Department of Bioengineering
La Jolla, CA 92093-0412
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We have been interested in a type of chemical modification on the DNA, called CpG methylation, for years. This is like a decoration of DNA molecules that is specific to the cell type or tissue type. We were particularly interested in studying how such decoration spread along the DNA molecules. In this study, we did a very comprehensive search of the entire human genome for various human cell types and tissue types, and found close to 150,000 regions (called MHB in this study) in which adjacent CpG share the same decoration. We then went on to find out how many of such regions are unique to each normal cell/tissue type, and how many are specific to cancers. Then we took some of these highly informative regions as “biomarkers”, and showed that we can detect the absence or presence of cancer, and, in the latter case, where the tumor grow, in a patient’s blood.
07 Mar Using Post-Resuscitation ECG To Predict Need For Brain CT
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32752" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Won Young Kim[/caption]
Won Young Kim, MD
Department of Emergency Medicine
Ulsan University College of Medicine
Asan Medical Center
Seoul, Korea
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The current advanced cardiac life support guidelines recommended emergent percutaneous intervention for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors with ST-segment elevation and suspected cardiac origin without ST-segment elevation. However, spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a well-known cause of cardiac arrest, and its electrocardiogram may mimic myocardial infarction or ischemia. The need and timing for brain computed tomography in non-traumatic OHCA remain controversial.
The present study aimed at determining the role of the post-resuscitation ECG in patients with significant ST-segment changes on initial ECG to investigate the difference in post-resuscitation ECG characteristics between OHCA patients with SAH and those with suspected cardiac origin of OHCA.
07 Mar Sleep Duration and Exhaled Nitric Oxide in Asthma and Health Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rauno Joks, MD Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine Chief, Division of Allergy & Immunology Program Director, Allergy &Immunology Fellowship SUNY Downstate Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There are circadian and circannular patterns to many diseases, including allergy and asthma. Humans spend roughly one-third of their lifetimes asleep. Your immune system never sleeps, but shifts its activity when you sleep. It is known that asthma disease activity can be worse at night - the reasons for this are complex, and may involve changes in allergic responses. We found, in a preliminary study of both adults with and without asthma, that longer duration of nighttime sleep was associated with lower levels of exhaled nitric oxide, a biomarker which is elevated in exhaled breath of those with allergic asthma. This may carry over into the afternoon as well, but the sample size was too small to fully conclude that.07 Mar Maternal Cancer During Pregnancy Linked To Stillbirths and Infant Mortality
Posted at 21:26h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Journal Clinical Oncology, Karolinski Institute, OBGYNE
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32727" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Donghao Lu[/caption] Donghao Lu PhD student Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Karolinska Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Cancer during pregnancy is a rare event. Whether prenatal exposure to a maternal malignancy and its treatment during pregnancy impair fetal development and neonatal health...
07 Mar Indoor Tanning By High School Students Drops By Half
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32722" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Gery Guy[/caption]
Gery P. Guy Jr., PhD, MPH
Senior Health Economist
Division of Unintentional Injury
CDC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The incidence of skin cancer is increasing in the United States, and individuals who indoor tan are at an increased risk of skin cancer. Treating skin cancer costs $8.1 billion annually.
The number of high school students who indoor tan dropped by half from 2009 to 2015. In 2015, 1.2 million high school students indoor tanned, down from 2.5 million in 2009. This is a much bigger decrease than we have seen in the past and is an encouraging finding. We also found that 82% of indoor tanners reported sunburn in the past year compared with 54% of those who did not engage in indoor tanning.
07 Mar Intensive Therapy Facilitates Language Recovery in Chronic Aphasia After Stroke
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Caterina Breitenstein, PhD Department of General Neurology, University of Muenster, Germany Annette Baumgärtner, PhD Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany MedicalResearch.com : What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: For a long time, it has been assumed that language recovery is limited to the first months after the initial stroke. During the past two decades, however, several clinical studies and systematic reviews have challenged this dogma by demonstrating functional gains in stroke survivors during the chronic post-stroke stage (at least 6 months post the initial stroke) whenever speech and language therapy (SLT) intensity was sufficiently high (i.e., at least 5 h/week for several weeks). These studies, however, lacked the methodological quality required for evidence-based interventions (for criteria, please refer to http://www.cebm.net/ocebm-levels-of-evidence). Until now, this lack in evidence severely hampers stroke survivors’ access to language rehabilitation services . The present multicenter randomized controlled healthcare trial FCET2EC (acronym stands for "From Controlled Experimental Trial to=2 Everyday Communication) is the first study worldwide to compare three weeks of intensive SLT provided under routine clinical conditions to an equally long period of no (or low intensity) SLT. After 3 weeks of intensive individualized therapy, the 156 stroke survivors with chronic aphasia verbally expressed themselves more effectively in daily-life communicative situations, like changing a doctor’s appointment by a telephone call. Additionally, patients and their significant other rated their communication-related quality of life as significantly improved. Last but not least, therapy effects remained stable over a follow-up period of six months after the intensive intervention.07 Mar Skin Diseases A Major Cause of Disability Worldwide
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32732" align="alignleft" width="136"]
Dr. Karimkhani[/caption]
Chante Karimkhani, MD
University Hospitals Case Western Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
now with Department of Dermatology
University of Colorado, Denver
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Ranging from benign inflammatory to infectious, autoimmune, and malignant conditions, skin diseases cause significant disfigurement, pain, and psychological morbidity. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2013 is a large-scale epidemiological assessment of burden from 306 diseases in 195 countries, both sexes, and 14 age groups. Disease burden is measured by combining morbidity and mortality into a single metric of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), where one DALY is equivalent to one year of healthy life lost. Skin diseases contributed 1.79% of the total global burden from all diseases.
The skin diseases arranged in order of decreasing global DALYs are: dermatitis (atopic, contact, seborrheic), acne vulgaris, urticaria, psoriasis, viral skin diseases, fungal skin diseases, fungal skin diseases, scabies, melanoma, pyoderma, cellulitis, keratinocyte carcinoma (basal and squamous cell carcinomas), decubitus ulcer, and alopecia areata. Younger populations had the greatest burden from infectious skin conditions, while acne caused the greatest burden in the second and third decades of life. Elderly populations had the greatest DALY rates from melanoma and keratinocyte carcinoma. Skin conditions also exhibit distinct geographical patterns of disease burden.
07 Mar Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids Had Similar Outcomes to More Expensive Devices
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32744" align="alignleft" width="182"]
Dr. Larry Humes[/caption]
Larry Humes, PhD, CCC-A
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
Indiana University Bloomington
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: About 40% of adults over the age of 60 have significant hearing loss, yet only about 20% of these older Americans seek help and eventually purchase hearing aids. There have been several national calls for improvements in the accessibility and affordability of hearing health care for adults, especially older adults, including a 2015 report by the President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology and a 2016 report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. One strategy in common to both of these recent reports is to make hearing aids available directly to the consumer via over-the-counter service delivery.
This study was a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial investigating two different service-delivery approaches, best-practices and over-the-counter, and two different purchase prices for the hearing aids ($600/pair, $3600/pair). For the most part, purchase price had no influence on outcomes. Hearing aids delivered via the best-practices service-delivery model were confirmed to be efficacious, but almost identical positive outcomes were obtained via the over-the-counter service-delivery approach.
07 Mar Genetic Variants Tied To Kidney Disease in African Americans
Posted at 01:55h
in Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Genetic Research, Kidney Disease, Nature, Race/Ethnic Diversity, University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_32695" align="alignleft" width="148"]
Dr. Susztak[/caption]
Katalin Susztak MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Previous studies showed an association between genetic variants in the APOL1 gene and kidney disease development, but it has not been confidently shown that this genetic variant is actually causal for kidney disease. For this reason we developed a mouse model that recapitulates the human phenotype.
07 Mar Most Patients Do Not Know Their Doctors Receive Industry Payments
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32691" align="alignleft" width="140"]
Dr. Kanter[/caption]
Genevieve Kanter, PhD Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health
Philadelphia, PA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We were interested in the exposure of patients to doctors who accept industry payments. Previous research on physician payments has focused on the percentage of doctors who accepted payments, but these estimates can give a partial or misleading picture of the reach of industry payments in relation to the typical patient. No studies had previously taken a population-based approach to estimate the reach of industry payments.
We conducted a nationally representative survey of 3542 Americans. We asked respondents about their awareness of industry payments and if they knew whether their own doctor had received an industry payment. We also asked them to identify the doctor they had visited most frequently in the previous 12 months and linked this information to Open Payments, a government website that reports payments made to doctors by prescription drug and device manufacturers.
We found that 65%, or almost two-thirds, of patients had seen--in the past 12 months--a physician who had received an industry payment. For some specialties, patient contact with doctors who had industry contact was much higher; 77% of patients who saw an obstetrician/gynecologist visited a doctor who had accepted payments, and 85% of patients who saw an orthopedic surgeon visited a doctor who had accepted payments.
At the same time, very few people knew whether their own doctor had received payments; only 5% of respondents reported knowing whether their doctor had received an industry payment.
07 Mar Vitamin D During Fetal Life and Bone Health in Children at Age 6
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Audry H. Garcia PhD Scientist Department of Epidemiology Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam Rotterdam, the Netherlands MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Fetal bone mineralisation requires an adequate transfer of calcium to the fetus by the end of the pregnancy. Considering that vitamin D is required to maintain normal blood concentrations of calcium, adequate 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations in pregnant women seem to be crucial for bone development of the offspring. Maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy has been associated with abnormal early skeletal growth in offspring and might be a risk factor for decreased bone mass in later life. Several studies have linked vitamin D deficiency in fetal life to congenital rickets, craniotabes, wide skull sutures and osteomalacia. However, the evidence of long-lasting effects of maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy on offspring’s skeletal development is scarce and inconsistent, and has led to contradictory recommendations on vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy.07 Mar Cedars-Sinai Study Will Address How Doctors Communicate With Patients About Chronic Pain
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michelle S. Keller, MPH, PhD Candidate Health Policy and Management Cedars-Sinai Los Angeles CA 90048 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this new funding award? Response: Research shows that treating and managing chronic pain is tough, and it can be hard for patients and their physicians to be on the same page. Chronic pain touches so many facets of people’s lives—relationships, mental health, sleep, work—that treating it in a 15-minute visit can lead to a lot of frustration and disappointment. Our hope is that by arming patients and clinicians with evidence-based tools, we can help foster a better dialogue about what is ultimately important to patients, how to achieve fully functional lives while managing chronic pain. We’re testing two different types of communication tools: electronic health record alerts pointing physicians to guidelines when they write opioid prescriptions and patient portal-based tools that can help patients prepare for visits and become active, engaged partners in their care.06 Mar Membership In Medical Schools’ Honor Society Skews Toward White Students
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32681" align="alignleft" width="175"]
Dr. Dowin Boatright[/caption]
Dowin Boatright, MD, MBA
Department of Emergency Medicine
Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut
Fellow, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program
Veterans Affairs Scholar
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Studies have demonstrated racial and ethnic inequities in medicine, including disparities in the receipt of awards, research funding, and promotions. Yet few studies have examined the link between race and ethnicity and opportunities for medical school students.
Our results show that black and Asian medical school students are less likely to be selected for membership in a prestigious medical honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha (AΩA), than white medical school students.
06 Mar Vagus Nerve Stimulation Safe and Feasible For Stroke Rehabilitation
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32677" align="alignleft" width="280"]
Dr. Jesse Dawson[/caption]
Jesse Dawson MD, BSc (Hons), FRCP, FESO
Clinical Reader / Honorary Consultant
Clinical Lead Scottish Stroke Research Network / NRS Stroke Research Champion
Chair MVLS Research Ethics Committee
Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences
College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences
University of Glasgow
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Many patients suffer long term arm weakness after stroke and there are few effective treatments. We are assessing whether stimulation of the vagus nerve can improve recovery after stroke. Stimulation of the vagus nerve, called VNS for short, triggers the release of neurotransmitters in the brain. These neurotransmitters are important for learning and memory. Pre-clinical studies have shown that combining vagus nerve stimulation with movement or rehabilitation tasks enhances brain plasticity, improves motor learning and leads to better recovery after stroke.
Based on this, we performed a clinical trial in patients with arm weakness after stroke and found promising changes in the patients treated with VNS paired with rehabilitation compared to rehabilitation alone.
In this study we performed a double blind sham stimulation controlled study of VNS paired with rehabilitation vs sham stimulation in patients with long term arm weakness due to ischaemic stroke. All participants were implanted with a VNS device and underwent a course of therapy. We didn’t see a statistically significant difference after 6 weeks of intensive in-clinic therapy but saw a large and significant difference after a further 60 days home exercise treatment with VNS. There were differences on several measures, including the clinical response rate which was 88% with VNS and 33% with controls.
06 Mar Only a Quarter of Medical Grand Round Speakers Are Women
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Julie R. Boiko, MD, MS Resident Physician, PGY1 Department of Pediatrics University of California, San Francisco MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Grand rounds is an over 100-year-old tradition in US medical school clinical departments of recurring, expert-delivered lectures to update physicians and physicians-in-training on recent advances in relevant medicine. We wanted to determine whether gender representation of speakers at grand rounds aligns with the gender distribution of people typically represented in grand rounds audiences -- faculty, residents, and medical students -- by clinical specialty according to national academic medical trainee and workforce statistics. We chose to focus on grand rounds speakers as visible representations of women in academic medicine. This is important because, despite women and men entering medicine at comparable rates, women are much more likely to depart academic medical careers. As current and recent medical students, we considered that consistent exposure to successful female role models in grand rounds speaking venues may positively reinforce women trainees’ desires to continue in academic medical careers. We found that the people at the podiums do not resemble the people in the audience. Only 26% of grand rounds speakers are women. Even accounting that some clinical specialties contain few women faculty and residents, grand rounds speakers in most specialties we studied were statistically less likely to be women as compared to faculty and residents. Across the specialties, grand rounds speakers are 44% less likely than medical students, 39% less likely than residents, and 21% less likely than faculty to be women.06 Mar Without Paid Sick Leave Workers Less Likely To Get Flu Shots and Preventive Care
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. LeaAnne DeRigne Associate Professor School of Social Work Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL 33431 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: “Compared to 22 similarly developed countries, the United States is the only one that does not mandate employers to provide paid sick leave benefits or include paid sick leave in a universal social insurance plan,” said LeaAnne DeRigne, Ph.D., lead author and an associate professor in the School of Social Work within FAU’s College for Design and Social Inquiry. For the study, DeRigne and collaborators used cross-sectional data from a sample of 13,545 adults aged 18-64 with current paid employment from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). They examined the relationship between having paid sick leave and obtaining eight preventive care services: blood pressure check; cholesterol check; fasting blood sugar check; getting a flu shot; being seen by a medical doctor or health care provider; getting a Pap test (females only); getting a mammogram (females only); and getting tested for colon cancer. The analysis controlled for demographic and other important predictor variables including gender, marital status, education, race/ethnicity, full time work, insurance coverage, health status, limiting health conditions, family income, age, and family size.06 Mar Number of Adults With Hearing Loss Expected To Rise Dramatically
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Adele Gorman PhD Johns Hopkins Center on Aging & Health The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Hearing loss affects many people, especially older adults. We have previously estimated how common hearing loss is across different age groups and how many adults have hearing loss today. However, we did not know the number of people that are expected to have hearing loss in the coming decades. This is important to know in order to appropriately plan for future hearing health care needs. Recently the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine highlighted the crucial need to address hearing loss and made recommendations to improve hearing health care services. However, these recommendations should be considered by policy makers in the context of the number of adults with hearing loss in the coming years.04 Mar Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy With Cardiorespiratory Monitoring For OSA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32672" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Simone Baiardi[/caption]
Dr. Simone Baiardi MD
Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum
University of Bologna
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is an useful tool for studying the upper airway dynamic in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), and it’s crucial for the therapeutic choice (especially for non ventilatory treatment, such as surgery). The main limits of DISE are the lack of standardization of procedure and the low inter-observer reliability among non-experienced ENT surgeons.