MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Scott A. Small, MD
Boris and Rose Katz Professor of Neurology
Division of Aging and Dementia
Director, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain Department of Neurology, Columbia University New York, NY
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?Dr. Small: Previous work, including from my lab, had shown that changes in a specific part of the brain—the dentate gyrus—are associated with age-related memory decline. Until now, however, the evidence in humans showed only a correlational link, not a causal one. To see if the dentate gyrus is the source of age-related memory decline in humans, we tested whether compounds called cocoa flavanols can improve the function of this brain region and improve memory. Flavanols extracted from cocoa beans had previously been found to improve neuronal connections in the dentate gyrus of mice.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Prof. Clive Maurice Gray
Division of Immunology, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine,National Health Laboratory Services
University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Medical Research: What is the background for this report? What are the main findings?Prof. Gray: This report is a response on behalf to the International Union of Immunology Societies (IUIS) and is designed to focus a message from the global immunology community to those who are making vaccines and therapies implementing clinical trials and very importantly on Governments and funding bodies. Time is not our side and that vaccine efforts need to be expedited and that production of therapeutics needs to be ramped up. Due to the fact that many people in West Africa are dying, we wish to convey a strong message that to curb this outbreak, therapies and especially vaccines must be rolled out as soon as possible.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Andrea M. Isidori, MD, PhD
Consultant - Assistant Professor of Endocrinology
Department of Experimental Medicine
Medical Pathophysiology
Sapienza University of Rome
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?Dr. Isidori : Our meta-analytic research originated to clarify some controversies emerging from the available human studies. We wanted to analyze if chronic PDE5i administration was cardioprotective and safe, and, if so, where the benefits were mainly seen: cardiac muscle, peripheral vessels, or both. In the last sixteen years pre-clinical and clinical research into the extra-urological effects of PDE5i has expanded dramatically, revealing previously unsuspected indications for these drugs. Several animal studies have shown that PDE5i attenuates cardiac remodeling, with an anti-hypertrophic and anti-fibrotic effect, and protects the heart against different types of injury. Some small clinical trials have demonstrated that chronic PDE5 inhibition improves cardiac performance and geometry in various clinical conditions, including heart failure, myocardial infarction and diabetic cardiomyopathy.
We showed that continuous administration of Viagra improves cardiac performance (increase of ejection fraction and cardiac index) and has an anti-remodeling effect (decrease of left ventricular mass and increase of end diastolic volume) without a major impact on vascular parameters (blood pressure and vascular resistance) suggesting that it does indeed have a direct effect on the heart. The novelty of this meta-analysis is the identification of subgroups of patients that may benefit more from PDE5i: patients with cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. Our study is the first to show in a large patient cohort that chronic PDE5i administration improves cardiac output and decreases heart rate. This could result in longer survival, increased exercise tolerance and a better quality of life. Surprisingly, the magnitude of effects was similar to that seen with the drugs currently used to treat these clinical conditions, and was obtained in a relatively brief period (3 to 12 months). Most strikingly, we found that PDE5is are among the very few drugs that are able to improve diastolic relaxation, thus helping the correct refilling of the ventricle after each contraction, a nearly unique feature in drugs used in cardiology, and with incredible potential for future development in the prevention of heart failure. We also demonstrated their high tolerability and safety in a population that included elderly patients with various stages of cardiac disease and numerous comorbidities who were taking multiple pharmacological treatments. This setting resembles what we normally see in real life, supporting that daily administration is safe and involves no increase in the risk of adverse events compared to on-demand use.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Dr. Adam Woolley PhD
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Brigham Young University
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?Dr. Woolley: High-performance biomarker analysis methods are usually complex and expensive. In contrast, simple and inexpensive biomarker detection methods
typically have low performance.
Our study demonstrates a simple nucleic acid measurement system that
requires no detection instrumentation. Nucleic acid mimics of microRNA were
quantified with sequence specificity down to 10 pg/mL levels.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Raquel C. Gardner, MD, Research Fellow
San Francisco VA Medical Center
Clinical Instructor
Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology
University of California, San Francisco
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Gardner: We found that people who experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI )when they are 55 or older have a 26% higher chance of getting dementia over the next 5 to 7 years compared to people who experience bodily trauma.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ian M. Paul, M.D., M.Sc.
Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health Sciences
Chief, Division of Academic General Pediatrics
Associate Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics
Penn State College of Medicine
Hershey, PA 17033-0850
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Paul:This study highlights that a significant placebo effect exists in the treatment of young children with cough due to colds because agave nectar and placebo both resulted in improvement of child symptoms by parents compared with no treatment.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brian H. Rowe, MD, MSc, CCFP(EM), FCCP
Tier I Canada Research Chair in Evidence-based Emergency Medicine
Scientific Director, Emergency Strategic Clinical Network
Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
University of Alberta
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?Dr. Rowe:The study was designed to evaluate non-pharmacological issues associated with relapse following discharge from the emergency department with acute asthma. Many years of high-quality research have shown that systemic and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in combination are required to reduce relapse. In this study all patients received systemic corticosteroids and the majority received inhaled corticosteroids (either as mono-therapy or in combination with long-acting beta-agonists {LABA}).
This study design permitted us to evaluate other factors associated with relapse as a guide for clinicians to use in planning discharge.
The main findings include identifying the key factors independently associated with relapse: female sex (OR = 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2, 3.0), symptom duration of > 24 hours prior to emergency department visit (OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.3, 2.3), ever using oral corticosteroids (OR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.0), current use of an ICS/LABA combination product (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.2), and owning a spacer device (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3, 1.9). (more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Sunni Mumford PhD
Earl Stadtman Investigator in the DESPR Epidemiology Branch
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Health and Human Development
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Mumford:Depressive symptoms in healthy women who don’t have diagnosed clinical depression isn’t related to reproductive hormone levels, like estrogen, or impaired ovulation.
Medical Research: What was most surprising about the results?Dr. Mumford: Earlier research indicates that changes in estrogen may be associated with depression, for instance during the menopausal transition. Our study identified significant associations between estrogen and depressive symptoms in models that didn’t account for confounding factors, but this relationship was completed eliminated when adjustments were made for common confounding factors like age, race, BMI, and also stress level in these premenopausal women. Another interesting finding was that a score describing mood-related menstrual symptoms indicated that such symptoms are highest in the premenstrual phase, but remain lower throughout the rest of women’s cycles. This tells us that altered mood symptoms are most frequent prior to menstruation.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Shidong Jiang
Associate professor of Engineering
Thayer School of Engineering at DartmouthMedical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Jiang: Breast cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in women worldwide, and the second leading cause of women’s cancer mortality in the United States. A common treatment strategy after diagnosis is to shrink breast cancer tumors larger than 3 centimeters with a 6 to 8 month course of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy prior to surgery. Clinical studies have shown that patients who respond to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy have longer disease-free survival rates, but only 20 to 30 percent of patients who receive Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy fit this profile.
Our work represents the first clinical evidence that tumor total hemoglobin estimated from DOST images differentiates women with locally advanced breast cancer who have a complete pathological response with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy from those who do not with predictive significance based on image data acquired before the initiation of therapy. The implication of this prognostic information is that certain tumors are pre-disposed to responding to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, and that this predisposition should be known prior to choosing the therapy. The study also demonstrates the potential of dramatically accelerating the validation of optimal Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy regimes through future randomized clinical trials by reducing the number of patients required and the length of time they need to be followed by using a validated imaging surrogate as an outcome measure. (more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. David MacIver
Department of Cardiology
Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton
Medical Research:What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?Dr. MacIver: The study was prompted by 2 triathletes who presented to our hospital with similar symptoms suggesting they both had had fluid on the lungs whilst swimming. Both athletes were fit and active and had excellent heart function.
They were diagnosed with a condition is known as swimming-induced pulmonary oedema or edema (SIPO in the UK and SIPE in the USA). A condition that has been well-documented in Navy seals during training swims in open water. A similar condition has been described in divers sometimes with fatal consequences. Fluid on the lungs or pulmonary oedema more commonly occurs in patients as a complication of severe heart disease such as heart attacks and is called acute heart failure. Pulmonary oedema has also been documented healthy race-horses during competitions.
We had recently suggested that acute pulmonary edema in patients with heart disease could be explained by a transient mismatch in the right and left ventricular stroke volumes. We thought it would be interesting to see if a similar mechanism could explain swimming-induced pulmonary edema. We found that factors that might contribute included cold water and high blood pressure. We speculated that cross-training with land based activities (running, cycling) might be relevant.
In this study we proposed a possible mechanism for swimming-induced pulmonary edema - fluid from the blood is force into the lung air sacs by the strong right ventricle. In effect, the individual begins drowning in their own lung fluid.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with: Dr. Simon Corrie PhD
The University of Queensland, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Delivery of Drugs and Genes Group
Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?Dr. Corrie: P. falciparum malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the world, particularly in developing countries. Some estimates also suggest that in developing countries, children under 5 account for ~90% mortality. As malaria is treatable, positive detection is important rule out other causes, avoid over-treatment leading to resistance, and to guide appropriate treatment. Our focus is on developing diagnostic devices for infectious diseases, which do not require needles, lancets or laboratory processing.
These devices are “microprojection arrays”, silicon chips that can be applied to the skin to capture circulating protein biomarkers in the interstitial fluid of the skin. In this publication we:
(a) developed methods to improve the sensitivity of the devices for capturing HRP2,
(b) confirmed that HRP2 protein injected intravenously is detectable in skin fluid and
(c) showed that we could capture both HRP2 and total IgG (as a positive control for penetration into skin) at the same time.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Prof. Zvi Laron
Professor Emeritus of Pediatric Endocrinology
TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine,
Director of the Endocrinology and Diabetes Research Unit
Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel
Head WHO Collaborating Center for the Study of Diabetes in Youth
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? What was most surprising about results?Prof. Laron: The main findings were the finding of specific antibodies to the pancreatic insulin secreting beta cells together with antibodies against rota-virus in both the mother at delivery and in the newborn's cord blood. We were not surprised, but pleased to find proof to our hypothesis that part, if not the majority of childhood onset Type 1 (autoimmune diabetes) starts "in utero".
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Christine Marie Veenstra MD
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology Division of Colorectal Surgery
Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy Division of General Medicine Cancer Surveillance and Outcomes Research Team
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Veenstra: Nearly 50,000 patients are diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer each year. Chemotherapy is known to increase survival by up to 20% and is the standard recommendation for these patients after surgery. However, use of chemotherapy may be associated with financial strain.
In order to better understand the financial burden and worry associated with colorectal cancer treatment, we surveyed 956 patients being treated for stage III colorectal cancer. We asked patients to answer questions about financial burden such as whether they had used savings, borrowed money, skipped credit card payments, or cut back on spending for food, clothing or recreational activities because of their cancer treatment. We also asked patients how much they worry about financial problems because of their cancer or its treatment.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr R.E.W. (Bob) Hancock, OC, OBC, FRSC
{Canada Research Chair and Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology,UBC}
Director, Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research
University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?Dr. Hancock: We wanted to understand how patients transitioned from the hyperinflammatory phase (cytokine storm) of sepsis to the hypoinflammatory (immunosuppressive) phase of sepsis (inability to respond appropriately to infections). About 15% of patients die in this first phase and 20% in the second phase, making sepsis one of the most deadly syndromes (35% overall mortality, 5 million deaths [8.3% of all deaths] annually worldwide). We hypothesized that immunosuppression was characterized by a state termed endotoxin tolerance a cellular amnesia (termed cellular reprogramming) in which cells fail to respond to microbial cues.
Overall we found that an Endotoxin Tolerance gene signature is significantly associated with the subsequent development of confirmed sepsis and new organ dysfunction in patients who had suspected sepsis. All 620 sepsis patients in retrospective and new analyses presented with an expression profile strongly associated with the endotoxin tolerance signature (p<0.01; AUC 96.1%). This occurred in fact very early in sepsis and in a new clinical study we found that the signature could be detected already in the emergency ward at first clinical presentation and 24-48 hours prior to definitive diagnosis. Importantly, this signature further differentiated between suspected sepsis patients who did, or did not, go on to develop confirmed sepsis, and predicted the development of organ dysfunction.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Michael Douglas Hill, MD, MSc
The Calgary Stroke Program, Department of Clinical Neurosciences
Hotchkiss Brain Institute
Associate Professor, University of Calgary
Calgary, Alta
MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study?Dr. Hill: We conducted an audit of stroke admissions to Canadian hospitals in all provinces. We examined key metrics of quality stroke care focusing on the acute treatment.
Use of thrombolysis for stroke is a key quality metric in the Accreditation Canada standards for stroke care. We found that the use of thrombolysis, while better than the past review (CMAJ. 2005 May 10;172(10):1307-12) remains low. This is a marker for the overall quality of acute stroke care in Canada. As expected, larger academic hospitals perform at a higher level than smaller community hospitals.
Overall, this study serves to quantify the gaps in the delivery of acute stroke care to Canadians.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
A/Prof Dominique Cadilhac, MPH PhD
Head: Translational Public Health Division
Stroke and Ageing Research Centre (STARC)
Department of Medicine,
School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Cadilhac: Our results provide important information for health policy and planning, by providing a better understanding of the long-term costs of ischemic stroke (IS) and intracerebral hemorrhage stroke (ICH).
243 patients who experienced an ischemic stroke– the most common type of stroke, and 43 patients with intracerebral hemorrhage stroke who went on to survive for 10 years or more were interviewed to calculate annual costs as part of the North East Melbourne Stroke Incidence Study. Average annual healthcare costs 10 years after an ischemic stroke were $5,418 (AUD) – broadly similar to costs estimated between 3 and 5 years ($5,545). Whereas previous estimates for annual healthcare costs for intracerebral hemorrhage stroke ten years after stroke onset were $6,101, Professor Cadilhac’s team found the true cost was $9,032 far higher than costs calculated at 3 to 5 years ($6,101) because of a greater need for aged care facilities 10 years on.
The high lifetime costs per stroke for both subtypes for first-ever events emphasize the significant economic implications of stroke (ischemic stroke AUD103,566 [USD 68,769] and intracerebral hemorrhage stroke AUD82,764 [USD54,956]).
The study also provides evidence of the importance of updating cost estimates when population demography patterns change or if new information on incidence rates, or case-fatality rates, are available. We found a much larger number of intracerebral hemorrhage stroke would be expected than from earlier estimates because
a) there are a larger number of people in the age groups 45 to 84 years living in Australia in 2010; and
b) we applied new information on incidence rates from a larger geographical region than what was found from using the original NEMESIS pilot study region. In the online supplement we also provide an estimate of health loss reported as quality adjusted Life years (QALYs) lost to highlight how many years of healthy life is lost from a first-ever stroke event.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Toomas Kivsild PhD
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
University of Cambridge, Cambridge
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?Dr. Kivsild: Native populations of Siberia are known to have certain physiological
characteristics such as high basal metabolic
rate, and high blood pressure and low levels of serum lipids, that have
been explained as traits that have evolved
as a consequence of the adaptation of Siberians to their cold
environment. Genetic basis of cold adaptation is still poorly understood.
In our previous study using genome-wide genotyping scans we detected a 3
Mbp region of high haplotype homozygosity in chromosome 11 as a
candidate of strong positive selection in Northeast Siberians.
There were 79 protein coding genes mapping to this homozygosity region
but we could not determine which of the genes
was driving the signal we observed.
In this forthcoming paper we have used high coverage whole genome
sequences from 25 individuals from Northeast Siberia and we were able
to determine the most likely SNP that is responsible for the high
haplotype homozygosity in the chromosome 11 in Northeast Siberians maps
to CPT1A gene which is a key regulator of long-chain fatty-acid
oxidation in mitochondria. What makes this finding most interesting is
that the same SNP had previously been found in Greenland and Canadian
Inuits in association with high infant mortality and hypoketotic
hypoglycemia. There are only a few other similar cases, like the sickle
cell and APOL1 alleles, where disease associated genetic variants may
have risen to high frequency in modern day populations due to the
adaptive advantage they have presented in the past populations.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Professor Pranas Serpytis
Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Clinic
Vilnius, Lithuania
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Professor Serpytis:The main findings of the study were that women are more likely to develop anxiety and depression after acute myocardial infarction. In our study depression was assessed by HADS scale: no depression (0-7 score), possible depression (8-10 score), definite depression (11+ score). The mean score of assessing depression were 6.87 (± 4.6) among men and 8.66 (± 3.7) among women (p <.05). Cardiovascular disease risk factors such as smoking increases patients anxiety levels, and low physical activity is associated with an increased risk to suffer from depression.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jeremy L. Humphris MBBS
The Kinghorn Cancer Center, Cancer Research Program, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia and
Andrew V. BiankinRegius Professor of Surgery
Director, Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre,
University of Glasgow
Garscube Estate, Switchback Road, Bearsden, Glasgow Scotland
United Kingdom
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Response: Familial pancreatic cancer (FPC) is a family with at least 2 first degree (parent-child or siblings) with pancreatic cancer. We found these patients represent nearly 9% of our cohort. In addition we found those with familial pancreatic cancer were more likely to have other first degree relatives with a history of extra-pancreatic cancer, in particular melanoma and endometrial cancer. Patients with familial pancreatic cancer had more high grade precursor lesions in the pancreas adjacent to the tumour but the outcome was similar. Smoking was more prevalent in sporadic pancreatic cancer and active smoking was associated with significantly younger age at diagnosis in both groups. Long-standing diabetes mellitus (> 2 years duration) was associated with poorer survival in both groups.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Louise-Anne McNutt, PhD
Associate Director, Institute for Health and the Environment
University at Albany, State University of New York
Jessica Nadeau, PhD
Epidemiologist, University at Albany, State University of New York
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Response: The study found that about 25% of infants consistently deviated from the routine vaccine schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Alterations included either consistently refusing a recommended vaccine or reducing the number of vaccines given at each visit.
These deviations are generally associated with intent to use an alternative vaccination schedule.
Infants who did not follow the AAP recommended schedule were more likely to be unprotected against vaccine preventable diseases for a longer period of time. Only 1 in10 infants vaccinated on an alternative schedule were up-to-date at 9 months of age.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Steffie Woolhandler MD MPH
Professor of Public Health and City University of
New York, Lecturer (formerly Professor of
Medicine) at Harvard Medical School
Primary Care Physician Practicing in the South Bronx
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?Dr. Woolhandler:Physicians like myself are extremely frustrated
by the administrative burdens of medical
practice. Many hours of physicians’ time each
week go to administrative work completely
unrelated to good patient care, but mandated by
private insurers and other payers. Colleagues
often tell me that they love seeing patients but
are getting burned out by the paperwork.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Glenn T. Konopaske, MD
McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Konopaske: Using postmortem human brain tissue this study did reconstructions of basilar dendrites localized to pyramidal cells in the deep layer III of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Tissue from individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or controls was examined. Dendritic spine density (number of spines per μm dendrite) was significantly reduced in bipolar disorder and also reduced in schizophrenia at a trend level. The number of dendritic spines per dendrite and dendrite length were significantly reduced in subjects with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nandita Bhan, ScD MSc MA
Research Scientist & Adjunct Assistant Professor
Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Bhan: We found that the last decade in the US has seen a rise in racial/ethnic disparities in asthma. Compared to Non-Hispanic White populations, greater rates of asthma were seen among African Americans and lower rates among Hispanic populations. But more importantly, we found that it is not just a question of who you are, but where you live. Results showed heterogeneity by region and place of origin - highlighting that it will be simplistic to assume that asthma rates for Hispanic populations are the same across all states in the US.
While data is unable to explore further granularity by ethnicity, our results add to the developing evidence that state policies and politics have impacts on socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequalities manifesting in health disparities in the US.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation Dr Ken Ong, Programme Leader & Paediatric Endocrinologist
MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge
Box 285 Institute of Metabolic Science
Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge
Medical Research: What are the main findings of this report?Dr. Ong: We found that genetic factors that predict adult obesity were associated with faster weight gain and growth during infancy – the findings indicate that the biological mechanisms that predispose to later obesity are already active from birth.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Karl Ole Köhler, Research assistant
Department of Clinical Medicine
The Department of General Psychiatry
Aarhus University
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?Response: We found that anti-inflammatory drugs and ordinary analgesics, which mainly are used against physical disorders, may have treatment effects against depression when used in combination with antidepressants. Thereby, our results furthermore support the hypothesis regarding a comorbidity between inflammatory diseases and depression, i.e. a connection between somatic and mental disorders.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Mary Ann Honors, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health
University of Minnesota
Medical Research:What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Honors: The American Heart Association and USDA have made recommendations on what we should and should not eat in order in reduce our cardiovascular disease risk. We wanted to know whether Americans are currently meeting these recommendations, as well as how our diets have changed over time. In particular, we were interested in several specific nutrients, including trans fats, saturated fats, and the omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA. We examined trends in fatty acid intake in participants from the Minnesota Heart Survey. The Minnesota Heart Survey is a an ongoing, cross-sectional study of adults in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area that was designed to monitor cardiovascular disease risk factors, including diet.
We found that intake of trans fats and saturated fats has declined substantially over the last 30 years. However, intake levels are still above current recommendations. With DHA and EPA, we found that levels of intake were pretty steady over time and below what is recommended. Overall, while we saw some encourage trends, there is still some room for improvement in our diets. (more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation
Julian Walters
Professor of Gastroenterology
Section of Hepatology & Gastroenterology | Imperial College London
Consultant Gastroenterologist
Imperial College Healthcare Hammersmith Hospital
London W12 0HS | UK
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What is Bile acid diarrhoea (BAD)?Dr. Walters: Bile acid diarrhoea accounts for about a third of the patients who would otherwise be diagnosed as IBS-D (irritable bowel syndrome – diarrhoea predominant). We estimate about 1% of the adult population have this primary disorder; others may have it secondary to previous surgery such as ileal resection in Crohn’s disease or post-cholecystectomy. There are unmet needs to improve diagnosis rates and to improve the current treatment with bile acid sequestrants which can be poorly tolerated and do not address the primary pathology. We have shown that primary BAD patients have reduced levels of Fibroblast Growth Factor 19 (FGF19) the ileal hormone that regulates bile acid synthesis.
(more…)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Michelle Lent PhD
Geisinger Health System
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?Dr. Lent:Previous study findings indicate that weight bias relates to a number of adverse outcomes in overweight and obese populations, including binge eating, psychological disorders and body image issues. In this study, we measured the degree to which people undergoing weight-loss surgery translate “anti-fat” attitudes into negative beliefs about themselves before surgery (known as “internalized weight bias”) and if this influences weight loss outcomes after surgery. (more…)
MedicalResearch.com: Interview Barbara J. Drew, RN, PhD, FAAN, FAHA
David Mortara Distinguished Professor in Physiological Nursing Research, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Cardiology
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Department of Physiological Nursing
San Francisco, CA 94143-0610
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?Dr. Drew: Physiologic monitors used in hospital intensive care units (ICUs) are plagued with alarms that create a cacophony of sounds and visual alerts causing “alarm fatigue.” Alarm fatigue occurs when clinicians are desensitized by numerous alarms, many of which are false or clinically irrelevant. As a result, the cacophony of alarm sounds becomes “background noise” that is perceived as the normal working environment in the ICU. Importantly, alarms may be silenced at the central station without checking the patient or permanently disabled by clinicians who find the constant audible or textual messages bothersome. Disabling alarms creates an unsafe patient environment because a life-threatening event may be missed in this milieu of sensory overload.
To date, there has not been a comprehensive investigation of the frequency, types, and accuracy of physiologic monitor alarms collected in a “real-world” ICU setting. For this reason, nurse and engineer scientists in the ECG Monitoring Research Laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) designed a study to provide complete data on monitor alarms.
(more…)
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Scott A. Small, MD
Boris and Rose Katz Professor of Neurology
Division of Aging and Dementia
Director, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain Department of Neurology, Columbia University New York, NY
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?
Dr. Small: Previous work, including from my lab, had shown that changes in a specific part of the brain—the dentate gyrus—are associated with age-related memory decline. Until now, however, the evidence in humans showed only a correlational link, not a causal one. To see if the dentate gyrus is the source of age-related memory decline in humans, we tested whether compounds called cocoa flavanols can improve the function of this brain region and improve memory. Flavanols extracted from cocoa beans had previously been found to improve neuronal connections in the dentate gyrus of mice.
(more…)
