Author: Marie Benz MD FAAD

19 May Most Emergency Room Super Frequent Users Have Addiction Disorder

Posted at 23:38h in Addiction

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jennifer Peltzer-Jones, R.N., Psy.D. Henry Ford's Department of Emergency Medicine MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found that within our group of 255 known Emergency Department “super-frequent users,” 77% had with some type of addiction disorder, and 47 percent visited the Emergency Department seeking narcotics for pain. Women were more likely to be narcotic seeking. Using our individualized Electronic Medical Record care plan intervention, created and overseen by our multidisciplinary team (comprised of Emergency Department staff physicians, a psychologist, residents, nurses and support staff), we found that our plan significantly decreased annual rates of visits by these super-frequent users and those who sought pain-relief narcotics and other super-frequent users.

19 May Pulmonary Embolism: Urine Fibrinopeptide B As Screening Tool

Posted at 15:44h in Blood Clots, General Medicine, UCSD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Timothy Fernandes, M.D., M.P.H. University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Fernandes: The fibrinopeptides are cleaved off of fibrinogen by thrombin during the generation of a new clot. These small molecules are excreted into the urine and we have developed a urine assay to measure the level of FPB. We examined the performance of urine FPB as a screening test for acute pulmonary embolism, blood clots that travel to the lungs. The study group consisted of 344 patients: 61 (18%) with pulmonary embolism and 283 (83%) without. At a threshold of 2.5 ng/ml, urine FPB demonstrated sensitivity of 75.4% (95% CI: 62.4-85.2%), specificity of 28.9% (95% CI: 23.8-34.7%), and negative likelihood ratio of 0.18 (0.11-0.29), weighted by prevalence in the sample population. However, the thresholds of 5 ng/ml and 7.5 ng/ml had sensitivities of only 55.7% (95% CI: 42.5-68.2%), and 42.6% (30.3-55.9%), respectively. The urine fibrinopeptide B assay at a cut-off of 2.5 ng/ml had a sensitivity of 75.4% for detecting pulmonary embolism. For diagnosis of PE, this sensitivity is comparable to previously published values for the first generation plasma latex and whole blood D-dimer assays (not as well and the D dimer ELISA assay).

19 May Atrial Fibrillation: Risk of Dementia with Non-Therapeutic Levels of Anticoagulation

Posted at 10:08h in Cognitive Issues, Heart Disease

MedicalResearch.com Interview with T. Jared Bunch, MD Medical director for Heart Rhythm Services Director of Heart Rhythm research Intermountain Medical Center, Utah MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Bunch: The main findings of the study are: 1) Atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin anticoagulation that have lower percentages of time in therapeutic range have significantly higher risks of all forms of dementia. 2) The dementia relative risk related to lower percentages of time in therapeutic range was higher than all other variables associated with stroke or risk of bleeding. 3) The risk of dementia related to lower percentages of time in therapeutic range was highest in younger patients in the study (<80 years).

19 May COPD: Benefits of high dose N-acetylcysteine

Posted at 09:49h in Author Interviews, CHEST, Pulmonary Disease

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Hoi Nam Tse, FCCP, MRCP, MBChB Associate Consultant, Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong Life member and Council member of Hong Kong Thoracic Society MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Hoi Nam Tse: N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an oral mucolytic containing anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory property. Our study demonstrated that long term use of high-dose : N-acetylcysteine (600 mg twice daily for 1 year) was a well-tolerated treatment, and it reduced exacerbations and prolonged time to first exacerbation in ‘high-risk’ COPD patients--which was defined as patients who had 2 or more exacerbations per year, FEV1<50% or both. Such beneficial effect was not obvious in the ‘low-risk’ COPD patients.

18 May Pulmonary Embolism: Evaluation of Age-Adjusted Threshold of D-Dimer Blood Test

Posted at 10:23h in Author Interviews, Blood Clots, CHEST

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Scott C. Woller, MD Co-Director Thrombosis Program Intermountain Medical Center Associate Professor of Internal Medicine University of Utah School of Medicine Murray, UT 84157-7000 Dr. Woller: By way of background, D-dimer, a simple blood test that is used to investigate the diagnosis of suspected pulmonary embolism (PE), and it increases with age. Recent research suggests that the use of an age-adjusted d-dimer threshold may improve diagnostic efficiency without compromising safety. We wished to assess the safety of using an age-adjusted d-dimer threshold in the work-up of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Woller: In this retrospective cohort study we identified 923 patients age > 50 years who presented to our emergency department with suspected pulmonary embolism, and had their pretest probability of PE calculated along with a d-dimer performed. All patients underwent computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA). We observed that among patients unlikely to have PE, adoption of an age-adjusted D-dimer cut-off (compared with a conventional D-dimer cut-off) reduced the need for CTPA in an additional 18.3% of patients, and was associated with a low 90-day rate of failure to diagnose PE.

17 May Infertility in Men Linked to Mortality

Posted at 10:51h in Author Interviews, Fertility, Stanford

MedicalResearch. com Interview with: Michael Eisenberg, MD, PhD Director, Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Assistant Professor, Department of Urology Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Stanford School of Medicine

MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Eisenberg: There is an inverse relationship between semen quality and mortality so that as semen quality declines the likliehood of death increases.

17 May Two Large Meals May Be Better Than Six Small Meals For Weight, Diabetes Control

Posted at 10:40h in Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetologia, Weight Research

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD Diabetes Centre, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine 140 21 Prague Czech Republic MedicalResearch: What was the aim of your study? Dr. Kahleova: The aim of the study was to compare the effect of six (A6 regimen) vs two meals a day, breakfast and lunch (B2 regimen), on body weight, hepatic fat content (HFC), insulin resistance and beta cell function. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Kahleova: Comparison of the effect of six vs. two meals (breakfast and lunch) with the same daily caloric restriction (-500 kcal/day) and macronutrient content, each regimen lasting 12 weeks, demonstrated a superior effect of breakfast and lunch on body weight, hepatic fat content, fasting plasma glucose, C-peptide, glucagon and insulin sensitivity.

17 May Rheumatoid Arthritis: Obesity Impairs Disease Control

Posted at 00:12h in Author Interviews, BMJ, Karolinski Institute, Rheumatology, Weight Research

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maria E.C. Sandberg, MSc PhD Institutet för Miljömedicin / Institute of Environmental Medicine Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Sandberg: Overweight at diagnosis significantly decreases the chance of achieving good disease control during the early phase of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

17 May SLE: BAFF Antagonist For Treatment of Severely Active Disease

Posted at 00:04h in Author Interviews, Connective Tissue Disease

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Renee Martin Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 25801 Industrial Blvd, Suite B., Hayward, CA 94545, MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Martin: The PEARL-SC study identified many key elements that inform the further development of blisibimod for treatment of SLE: i. That patients with severely active disease responded well to blisibimod, ii. That a dose of 200mg blisibimod administered subcutaneously once per week improved measures of SLE disease activity, iii. That greater treatment effect was observed when the SRI-7 and SRI-8 endpoints were evaluated, presumably because the criteria for these endpoints (including 7- or 8- point improvements in SELENA-SLEDAI score, respectively, along with no new BILAG A or 2B scores, and no worsening of physician’s global assessment score) demand substantial improvement in disease activity compared with baseline, and are unlikely to be met by chance (e.g. in the placebo group), and iv. That blisibimod was safe and well-tolerated over 24-52 weeks of continuous therapy.

16 May Antidepressants May Slow Growth of Brain Amyloid Plaques

Posted at 10:54h in Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, University of Pennsylvania

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yvette I. Sheline, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry, Radiology, Neurology Director, Center for Neuromodulation in Depression and Stress (CNDS) University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Philadelphia, PA 19104 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of this study? Prof. Sheline: The main findings were that in transgenic mice who are genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's amyloid plaques, citalopram dramatically slowed the growth of plaques but did not cause existing plaques to shrink. In normal young people, it decreased the production of amyloid.

16 May Tdap Vaccine During Pregnancy: Safety and Efficacy

Posted at 10:36h in Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, JAMA, OBGYNE, Vaccine Studies

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Flor M. Munoz, MD Department of Pediatrics Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Munoz: 1. Tdap vaccine was safe and well tolerated during pregnancy 2. Women who are pregnant have adequate responses to the Tdap vaccine, similar to those of women who are not pregnant. 3. Antibodies to pertussis are efficiently transferred to the fetus through the placenta so that babies of mothers who were vaccinated during pregnancy had significantly higher concentrations of antibody at birth and up to 2 months of age, when compared to infants of mothers who were vaccinated post-partum. 4. Higher antibody concentrations in the first two months of life are likely to provide protection against pertussis during this period of high vulnerability 5. Infants of mothers who were vaccinated during pregnancy had adequate responses to their routine pertussis vaccines at 2, 4, and 6 months of age, and had expected and adequate responses to their 4th dose of vaccine at 1 year of age. The absolute concentration of antibodies to some of the pertussis antigens might be modestly lower after the primary series of vaccines in some infants of mothers who were vaccinated during pregnancy, but this difference does not persist after the 4th dose.

16 May Atrial Fibrillation: Risk With Intense Exercise Varies by Age

Posted at 10:28h in Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, Karolinski Institute

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Nikola Drca Department of Cardiology at the Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital Stockholm Sweden MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Nikola Drca: We found that intense physical activity like leisure-time exercise of more than five hours per week at the age of 30 increased the risk of developing atrial fibrillation later in life by 19%. In contrast, moderate-intensity physical activity like walking or bicycling of more than 1 hour per day at older age (age 60) decreased the risk by 13%.

15 May US Health Care Age and Gender Spending Trends

Posted at 23:41h in Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David Lassman Statistician in the National Health Statistics Group, Office of the Actuary Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Baltimore, Maryland. MedicalResearch: What types of health care spending are included in this report? Answer: In the past, the CMS Office of the Actuary provided periodic updates of health care spending by age and more recently by gender. This report, for the first time, provides a time series of spending by age (five categories – 0-18, 19-44, 45-64, 65-84, and 85+) and gender. We also show spending by three major age categories – children (0-18), working age adults (19-64), and the elderly (age 65 and over). We present data for personal health care only which consists of all the medical goods and services used to treat or prevent a specific disease or condition in a specific person. We provide estimates for the even years between 2002 and 2010. These age and gender estimates are controlled to the most recent Historical National Health Expenditure Accounts.

15 May Migraines Associated With Increased Risk of Silent Stroke

Posted at 21:32h in AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Pain Research, Stroke

MedicalResearch Interview with: Dr. Teshamae Monteith MD Assistant professor of Neurology Chief of the Headache Division University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Monteith:

A doubling of silent brain infarctions in those with migraine even after adjusting for other stroke risk factors;
No increase in the volume of white-matter hyperintensities (small blood vessel abnormalities) that have been associated with migraine in other studies;
Migraines with aura — changes in vision or other senses preceding the headache — wasn’t common in participants and wasn’t necessary for the association with silent cerebral infarctions.
High blood pressure, another important stroke risk factor, was more common in those with migraine. But the association between migraine and silent brain infarction was also found in participants with normal blood pressure.

14 May Mutated Gene Associated with Metabolic Syndrome

Posted at 21:25h in Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Genetic Research, Metabolic Syndrome, Weight Research, Yale

MedicalResearch Interview with: Arya Mani, M.D. Department of Internal Medicine and Genetics Yale Cardiovascular Research Center Yale, New Haven CT MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Mani: Our group has identified a gene that when mutated it causes a form of truncal (central) obesity that is associated with a cluster of coronary artery disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, insulin resistance and possibly elevated blood lipids. These associated risk factors are collectively known as the metabolic syndrome, which may lead to development of diseases such as diabetes and coronary artery disease, both of which were very prevalent in the populations we studied. All identified mutations by our group have been so far gain of function mutations, which means they increased the activity of the gene in pathways related to adipogenesis and gluconeogenesis.

14 May Tackle Football Linked to Smaller Hippocampal Volume and Slower Reaction Times

Posted at 18:45h in Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Brain Injury, JAMA

MedicalResearch Interview with: Patrick S. F. Bellgowan, PhD Laureate Institute for Brain Research Faculty of Community Medicine, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Bellgowan: These results demonstrate 14% and 24% smaller hippocampal volumes in collegiate football players with and without a history of concussion relative to education-, sex- and age-matched controls participants. Further, the number of years of tackle football experience was correlated with smaller hippocampi and slower baseline reaction times. The hippocampus plays a key role in memory and emotional regulation. Volumetrics of other medial temporal lobe structures (I.e. The amygdala) did NOT show differences among groups suggesting that this effect is localized to the hippocampus.

14 May Chronic Illness Increases Risk of Restless Legs Syndrome

Posted at 16:58h in Author Interviews, Neurology

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: András Szentkirályi, MD, PhD Research fellow:Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Institut für Epidemiologie und Sozialmedizin Germany, D-4814 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Szentkirályi : Based on two prospective, population-based cohort studies, we found that subjects having multiple chronic diseases are at an increased risk of suffering from restless legs syndrome (RLS). Moreover, increased multimorbidity was a significant predictor of developing new onset RLS. It is important to note that the observed relationship was not reduced when well-established causes of secondary restless legs syndrome (e.g. chronic renal disease) were excluded.

14 May Breast Cancer Subtypes Vary By Race, Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status

Posted at 16:43h in Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Race/Ethnic Diversity

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Helmneh Sineshaw, MD, MPH Senior Epidemiologist, Health Services Researcher American Cancer Society MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Sineshaw: We found that non-Hispanic black women had nearly twofold higher odds of being diagnosed with triple-negative (TN) breast cancer subtype than did their white counterparts, regardless of their socioeconomic group. We also found higher odds of presenting with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)-overexpressing breast cancer in Asian/Pacific Islander women compared with white women at every level of socioeconomic status.

14 May Evolocumab for LDL Cholesterol Reduction in Statin-Treated Patients

Posted at 15:48h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Statins

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jennifer G. Robinson, MD, MPH Professor ,Departments of Epidemiology & Medicine Director, Prevention Intervention Center Department of Epidemiology College of Public Health University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52242-2007 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Robinson: The PCSK9 antibody, evolocumab, reduced LDL (or bad) cholesterol by about 65-70% regardless of the dose or type of statin used. This is a greater percentage reduction than ezetimibe, another drug used to lower LDL cholesterol in statin-treated patients, which lowered LDL cholesterol 15-20%. Side effects of evolocumab were similar to those for ezetimibe or placebo.

14 May Brief Exercise Before Meals May Improve Blood Sugar Control

Posted at 11:11h in Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetologia, Exercise - Fitness, Sugar

MedicalResearch Interview with: Monique Francois Teaching Fellow & Research Assistant at the University of Otago School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found that small 'snacks' of interval exercise before the three main meals lowered postprandial blood glucose and contributed to a lower blood glucose across the day. Whereas 30 minutes of continuous moderate exercise before dinner did not lower postprandial blood glucose nor mean glucose levels the exercise day or the following day, compared to exercise snacking. Six one minute intervals as walking or a combination of walking and resistance 3x per day (before the three main meals) improved glycaemic control in individuals with insulin resistance.

14 May Stroke Risk Reduced by Increased Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Posted at 10:54h in AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Nutrition, Stroke

MedicalResearch Interview with: Dr. Yan Qu Qingdao Municipal hospital Fruits and Vegetables Consumption and Risk of Stroke A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Reply: First, both fruits and vegetables were found inversely associated with risk of stroke, and the relationships might be linear. Second, the inverse association of fruits and vegetables consumption with risk of stroke is consistent across subgroup analysis by outcome (stroke incidence and stroke mortality), location where the study was conducted (USA, Europe and Asia), sex (male and female), and stroke subtypes (ischemic and hemorrhagic). Third, citrus fruits, leafy vegetables and apples/pears were found inversely associated with risk of stroke. Fourth, very similar results were found in the subgroup analysis by status [yes: 0.78 (0.71-0.86) or no: 0.79 (0.74-0.85)] of adjusting for 6 or more of the 7 covariates (smoking, alcohol, blood pressure/hypertension, serum cholesterol, physical activity, body mass index, ≥3 dietary variables). These findings generally indicated that the association of fruits and vegetables consumption with the reduced risk of stroke may not be the result of confounding by the known factors.

14 May Post Heart Attack: Insulin Based Diabetes Control and Improved Longevity

Posted at 00:55h in Author Interviews, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Karolinski Institute, Lancet

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Viveca Ritsinger MD Karolinska Institute, Department of Medicine, Cardiology Unit, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm Unit for Research and Development Kronoberg County Council, Växjö, Sweden MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Ritsinger: This is a long-term follow-up of the Swedish DIGAMI 1 study where patients with acute myocardial infarction and diabetes were randomized to either intensified insulin-based glycaemic control or to standard glucose lowering treatment. Patients and controls were followed for mortality for over 20 years and 90% of the patients died during follow up. Survival improved during a period of about 8 years. Intensified insulin-based glycaemic control increased survival time by an average of 2.3 years.

14 May Statins Underutilized By Many Patients With Cardiovascular Risk

Posted at 00:49h in Author Interviews, General Medicine, Heart Disease, Statins

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Michael Johansen, MD, MS Department of Family Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus, OH 43201 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Johansen: We found a surprisingly low number of people with coronary artery disease and diabetes (over age 40) were not reporting statin use. Of the people with coronary artery disease only 58% reported statin use while 52% of people with diabetes reported use. In addition, a reported diagnosis of hyperlipidemia was strongly correlated with statin use. In fact, individuals with hyperlipidemia and no coronary artery disease were more apt to be on a statin than people with coronary artery disease and no hyperlipidemia. Other high-risk conditions that have recently been included in the ACC/AHA high risk category were weakly or not associated with statin use including stroke and peripheral arterial disease.

14 May Appendix Tumors Demonstrate All Cancers Are Not the Same

Posted at 00:35h in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dartmouth

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gregory J. Tsongalis, PhD, HCLD, CC, FNACB Professor of Pathology Director, Molecular Pathology Co-Director, Translational Research Program Department of Pathology Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and The Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Lebanon, NH 03756 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Tsongalis: This was the first study of its kind looking at multiple genes and multiple mutations in tumors of the appendix. Many of the identified mutations may be clinically actionable with respect to response to therapy or selection of therapy.

13 May Schizophrenia: Impact of Estradiol on Psychosis Symptoms

Posted at 21:58h in Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Schizophrenia

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Jayashri Kulkarni MBBS, MPM, FRANZCP, PhD Monash University MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Professor Kulkarni: Persistent schizophrenia is difficult and unfortunately common, despite advances over the past years in antipsychotic drug development. New treatment approaches are urgently needed. Also, a specific focus for women with schizophrenia is still somewhat lacking and there is a need to consider the special issues facing women with schizophrenia. Over many years, we have been conducting clinical trials to develop the role of adjunctive estradiol use to treat symptoms of schizophrenia. This study is the largest clinical trial in the world of this type and we found that in an 8 week, three arm, double blind, placebo-controlled, adjunctive trial of transdermal estradiol (200mcg v 100mcg v placebo) in 183 women with schizophrenia, that the women who received either 200mcg or 100mcg transdermal estradiol made a better recovery. The women who received 200mcg transdermal estradiol made a slightly better recovery than women receiving 100mcg transdermal estradiol. Both estradiol groups were significantly better than the group who received adjunctive transdermal placebo.

13 May Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Impact On Medicare Rating for Heart Failure

Posted at 21:48h in AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Hospital Readmissions, Medicare

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alex Blum, MD MPH FAAP Chief Medical Officer Evergreen Health, Baltimore MD 21211 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Blum: Accounting for the social risk of patients using a measure of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), did not alter the hospital rankings for congestive heart failure (CHF) readmission rates.

13 May Multifaceted Approach Required to Improve Self-Care, Reduce Hospital Readmissions

Posted at 19:58h in Author Interviews, Hospital Readmissions, JAMA, Mayo Clinic

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Aaron L. Leppin, MD Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Leppin: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials assessing the effectiveness of hospital discharge interventions on reducing 30-day readmission rates. We identified 47 trials, 42 of which contributed to the primary meta-analysis. Overall, the interventions that have been tested to reduce early hospital readmissions reduce them by about 20%. The ones that are most effective, though, reduce them by almost 40% and use a consistent but complex approach. These interventions make a robust effort to fully understand the patient’s post-discharge context, often by visiting the patient’s home. They focus on identifying all the things the patient needs to do to be well—whether that’s organizing medications, getting a ride to the clinic, or paying the electric bill—and they determine whether the patient has the necessary resources and capacity to pull it all off. When limitations are found, these interventions have a strategy in place to support the patient through the post-discharge period.

13 May Male Circumcision: Rate of Adverse Events

Posted at 10:12h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics

MedicalResearch Interview with: Charbel El Bcheraoui, PhD, MSc Acting Assistant Professor, Global Health Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation University of Washington Seattle, WA 98121 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. El Bcheraoui: We found a low rate of adverse events associated with male circumcision from U.S. hospital settings, especially if the procedure is performed within the first year of life. The rate of adverse events increased about 10 - 20 times if the procedure was performed later in life.

13 May Pregnancy and Risk of Serious Car Crash

Posted at 01:16h in Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, CMAJ, OBGYNE

Dr. Donald Redelmeier, MD Professor, Full SGS Member Director, Clinical Epidemiology Unit Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Toronto, ON MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Redelmeier: We identified every woman in Ontario, Canada, who gave birth to a newborn baby between 2006 and 2011 and then evaluated each driver for the months before, during, and after pregnancy. This amounted to about half a million women who accounted for almost 8000 serious crashes that sent the driver to hospital. We found that the second trimester of pregnancy led to a 42% increase in the risk of a serious motor vehicle crash. The increased risk included diverse populations, distinct obstetrical cases, different crash characteristics. The risk equated to about twice the population norm but was still below male drivers at this age.

13 May Suicide A Risk Factor for Mental Health Issues, Suicide in Bereaved

Posted at 01:11h in Author Interviews, Lancet, Mental Health Research

MedicalResearch.com interview with: Dr Alexandra Pitman MBBS MRC Psych MRC Clinical Research Fellow, UCL Division of Psychiatry, UCL (University College London MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We conducted a systematic review of all published research comparing the experience of suicide bereavement with bereavement due to other causes, in which we considered the evidence from 57 studies evaluating the effect of bereavement on death, mental health, and social functioning of family members, friends, and other close contacts of the deceased. These studies showed that parents and children bereaved by suicide were at higher risk of mental health problems after the loss than parents and children bereaved by other causes, and that spouses and mothers bereaved by suicide were at higher risk of suicide than spouses and mothers bereaved by other causes. We also found some evidence that people from a range of kinship groups bereaved by suicide report more rejection and shame than people bereaved by other violent deaths, and that feeling stigmatised by the death is commonly experienced after any violent bereavement. It seemed that people bereaved by violent deaths, for example due to accidental death, homicide, drug-related death, motor vehicle crash, undetermined death or suicide, shared a sense of feeling blamed for the death or tainted by their association with the deceased.