Author: Marie Benz MD FAAD
16 Apr Prevalence of a Healthy Lifestyle Among Individuals With Cardiovascular Disease in High-, Middle- and Low-Income CountriesThe Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study
Posted at 22:00h
in Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JAMA, Smoking, Tobacco Research
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview with Dr. Koon Teo, MB, PhD
Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences,
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Teo: In this study we examined the prevalence of smoking cessation or avoidance, eating a healthy diet and undertaking regular physical activities in nearly 8000 individuals who had previously experienced a coronary heart disease event or stroke, on average 5 years after their events. The individuals were recruited from over 600 communities in 17 countries with varying incomes and economic development. We found that although these healthy lifestyle activities could reduce the risk of further heart or stroke events, about one fifth of individuals continued to smoke, only one third undertook regular leisure or work related physical activities and about two fifths ate a healthy diet.
12 Apr Food Choice and Overconsumption: Effect of a Premium Sports Celebrity Endorser
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr Emma Boyland Biopsychology Research Group. Liverpool Obesity Research Network. University of Liverpool. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Boyland: Children who were exposed to a TV commercial for Walker’s potato chips featuring a celebrity endorser showed a greater brand preference for Walker’s and consumed more Walker’s chips than a purported ‘supermarket brand’. Exposure to the celebrity endorser in a different, non-promotional context (presenting a soccer highlights TV program) also had a similar impact on brand choice and intake. This effect was not seen in response to another snack food commercial or a non-food commercial. Importantly, children did not reduce their consumption of the perceived ‘supermarket brand’ to compensate, they simply consumed more Walker’s crisps so this effect could contribute to overconsumption.12 Apr Elder Abuse as a Risk Factor for Hospitalization in Older Persons
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with XinQi Dong, MD MPH APSA Congressional Policy Fellow/Health and Aging Policy Fellow Chair, IOM Global Violence Prevention Forum on Elder Abuse Senior Policy and Research Advisor, Administration on Aging Senior Policy Advisor (OCSQ), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director, Chinese Health, Aging and Policy Program Associate Director, Rush Institute for Healthy Aging Associate Professor of Medicine, Nursing and Behavioral Science Rush University Medical Center Chicago, IL 60612 www.chinesehealthyaging.org MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Dong and Simon investigated the prospective association between elder abuse and rate of hospitalization in a Chicago community population. From the Chicago Health and Aging Project, the study surveyed 6,674 older adults. After consideration of potential confounding factors, elder abuse victims compared to those without elder abuse had 2.7 times more frequent rate of hospitalizations in this Medicare population. Older adults who suffered psychological abuse, financial exploitation and caregiver neglect also had more frequent rate of hospitalization. Health care professionals should consider screening for elder abuse in hospital settings. Future research is needed to quantify impact of elder abuse and broader health service utilization in community-dwelling older persons. Elder abuse and neglect is something hundreds of thousands of senior citizens suffer from. It is advised to act if you suspect elder abuse is occurring by contacting the police. People may also see it fit to enlist the services of an elder neglect attorney to fight for the rights of the elderly (siegel-law-elder-abuse-neglect-attorney).12 Apr Degenerative Disease Research: Structural basis of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase inhibition
MedicalResearch.com eInterview: Professor Nigel S. Scrutton ScD FRSC FSB Director Manchester Institute of Biotechnology EPSRC Established Career Fellow |Faculty of Life Sciences | Manchester Institute of Biotechnology | University of Manchester | Manchester | M1 7DN | UK | MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of your study? Dr. Scrutton: A major breakthrough has been made by our team of researchers seeking treatments for degenerative illnesses such as Parkinson's Disease. We have detailed how an enzyme in the brain interacts with a drug-like lead compound directed against Huntington's Disease (but also with major implications for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases) to inhibit its activity. The work – which solved the molecular structure of a crucial brain enzyme called kynurenine 3-monooxygenase – opens the door to effective treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The main findings not only describe the molecular details of the enzyme, but also how it interacts with a lead drug compound that inhibits the natural activity of the enzyme.12 Apr Amiodarone and the Risk of Cancer – A Nationwide Population-Based Study
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Vincent Yi-Fong Su MD Department of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Amiodarone, one of the most widely used medications to treat arrhythmias may increase the risk of developing cancer, especially in men and people exposed to high amounts of the drug. That is the conclusion of a new retrospective study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Patients who were male or who received high cumulative daily doses of amiodarone within the first year had an increased risk of developing cancer. Those with both factors were 46 percent more likely to develop cancer than those with neither factor.10 Apr Psychosocial Impact of Adolescent Gynecomastia: A Prospective Case-Control Study
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Brian I. Labow MD
Boston Children’s Hospital
Dr. Labow received his MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed his postgraduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Plastic Surgery Training Program, Children's Hospital Boston, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Labow: The main finding of the study is that gynecomastia, the enlargement of breast tissue in men, can have a significant impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of adolescent patients. Noted deficits were found in patients’ social functioning, mental health, and self-esteem when compared to healthy boys of the same age. Validated surveys were given to both groups to assess a wide array of different health domains. Interestingly there was no difference in the physical health of boys with gynecomastia and unaffected boys when differences in BMI were taken into consideration.
10 Apr Population-wide weight loss and regain in relation to diabetes burden and cardiovascular mortality in Cuba 1980-2010: repeated cross sectional surveys and ecological comparison of secular trends
Posted at 13:57h
in Author Interviews, BMJ, Diabetes, Exercise - Fitness, Nutrition, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with
Manuel Franco MD, PhD Associate Professor Department of Health Sciences, Public Health Unit Universidad de Alcalá Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Adjunct Associate Professor Dept. of Epidemiology mfranco@jhsph.edu
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Franco: Population wide weight loss of about 5 kg was related with large decreases in diabetes and cardiovascular mortality. On the contrary, Body weight regain was related with an increase in diabetes prevalence, incidence, and mortality, as well as a deceleration in the previously declining rates of cardiovascular death.09 Apr Calcium-deficiency assessment and biomarker identification by an integrated urinary metabonomics analysis
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Maoquing Wang Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Harbin MedicalUniversity, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150081, P. R. China MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Wang: Our group first reported that the 2-week low-calcium diet could result in metabolic changes and 27 reliable biomarkers of calcium deficiency were identified. The correlations between calcium intake and two of the biomarkers indicated that these biomarkers could be used alone or in combination as a non-invasive screening method with greater sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of calcium deficiency in humans in future. The identified biomarkers give new insights into the pathophysiological changes and molecular mechanisms of calcium deficiency.05 Apr Risk factors for first venous thromboembolism around pregnancy: a population based cohort study from the United Kingdom
Author Interview with Dr Matthew Grainge Achieved his BSc in Statistics at Reading University and his MSc in Medical Statistics at the University of Leicester, before going on to complete his PhD on the topic of cervical screening and human papillomavirus at the University of Nottingham. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings...
04 Apr Melatonin Secretion and the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes
Posted at 03:02h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Diabetes, JAMA, Medical Research Centers, Melatonin, Sleep Disorders
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Ciaran McMullan MD
from Channing Division of Network Medicine in Boston, a research division within the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Mass
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. McMullan: In this observational study performed in non-diabetic women we found that lower nocturnal melatonin secretion predicted future risk of developing type 2 diabetes. When we categorized the individuals by category of nocturnal melatonin secretion we found that those in the lowest category had twice the risk as those in the highest category of nocturnal melatonin secretion. This association remained even after adjusting for other well established risk factors for development of diabetes including body mass index, physical activity, dietary factors, family history of diabetes, smoking and hypertension. This increased risk translates into the lower melatonin secretion group having an additional 5 cases of incident diabetes per 1000 person years than the high melatonin secretion group.
03 Apr Rapid Improvement of Diabetes After Gastric Bypass Surgery: Is It the Diet or Surgery?
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Ildiko Lingvay, MD, MPH, MSCS Departments of Internal Medicine–Endocrinology and Clinical Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lingvay: We found that the restrictive diet imposed after a bariatric procedure like RYGB is the key element to the rapid improvement in the diabetes seen immediately after surgery.03 Apr Genome-wide reprogramming of the chromatin landscape underlies endocrine therapy resistance in breast cancer
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Mathieu Lupien PhD
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network
Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI)
Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Lupien: Approximately 50% of breast cancer patients fail to respond to the standard of care based on endocrine (hormonal) therapy. Our research identifies a mechanism that accounts for this resistance. Drugs against this mechanism are already tested for other diseases. Hence, our discovery should rapidly help reposition these drugs against endocrine therapy resistant breast cancer.
02 Apr Interpolated memory tests reduce mind wandering and improve learning of online lectures
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Karl K. Szpunar PhD
Department of Psychology,
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Szpunar: The results of our experiments demonstrate that students can have difficulty paying attention to online lectures, and that including brief quizzes during lectures can help to alleviate this problem. Specifically, we found that students who were tested throughout a 21-minute long Statistics lecture were half as likely to mind wander during the lecture, three times as likely to take additional notes, and much better able to retain the contents of the lecture at a later time.
02 Apr Pathway-based personalized analysis of cancer
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Prof. Eytan Domany
Department of Physics of Complex Systems and Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof. Domany: The findings are two-fold: methodological and clinical. A novel method was introduced for personalized analysis of cancer, and was applied on large colon cancer and glioblastoma datasets.
The method uses high throughput (gene expression) data to infer a pathway deregulation score (PDS) for individual tumors, for hundreds of pathways and biological processes. The method is knowledge-based in that it uses well known information about the assignment of genes to biologically relevant pathways. No detailed knowledge of the underlying networks of interactions and activations is necessary. Each tumor is represented by a few hundred of these PDSs, and further analysis uses this representation.
02 Apr Discontinuation of Statins in Routine Care Settings: A Cohort Study
MedicalResearch.com Interview Dr. Alexander Turchin M.D.,M.S.
Director of Informatics Research
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension
Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Turchi: A large number of patients – 17% of individuals included in our study – report side effects to statins in routine care settings. Nearly 60% of these patients stopped the statin at least temporarily. However, overwhelming majority of patients who stopped taking a statin after experiencing a possible side effect, could tolerate a statin long-term if they tried taking one again. In other words, it appears that many statin-related events are tolerable, specific to individual statins or have other causes. These findings are consistent with the current guidelines that urge a conservative approach to statin discontinuation. They are particularly important because statins have been convincingly shown to save lives – they decrease all-cause mortality, and also cardiovascular mortality and incidence of cardiovascular events in patients with ischemic heart disease and / or elevated cholesterol levels.
01 Apr Time to First Cigarette and 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-Pyridyl)-1-Butanol (NNAL) Levels in Adult Smokers; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007–2010
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview:
Dr. Steven A. Branstetter, PhD
The Pennsylvania State University, 315 E. HHD, University Park, PA 16810.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Branstetter: This study demonstrated that the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking is associated with increased levels of a NNAL, a metabolite of a powerful tobacco-specific carcinogen, NNK -- even after controlling for the total number of cigarettes smoked per day.
For years, the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking was one of several questions assessing nicotine dependence on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), the gold standard questionnaire int he field. Over time, it was found that much of the predictive validity of the FTND was due to the time to first cigarette item. Researchers have found that single time to first cigarette item was highly correlated with other measures of nicotine dependence, and was predictive of more difficulty quitting smoking and increased intake of nicotine. Our current study demonstrates that this behavioral measure, is predictive of exposure to the cancer-causing components of cigarettes, regardless of the total number of cigarettes smoked per day. The results suggest that researchers, clinicians and smokers can assess the level of nicotine dependence and potential cancer risk by looking at the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking.
30 Mar Cancer Survivors in the United States: Prevalence across the Survivorship Trajectory and Implications for Care
Posted at 21:57h
in Cancer Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Janet S. de Moor, PhD, MPH
Program Director, Office of Cancer Survivorship
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20891-8336
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. de Moor: The number of people who have been diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime has been steadily increasing. As of January 1, 2012, approximately 13.7 million cancer survivors were living in the United States with projected prevalence to approach 18 million by 2022. Women with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer represent the two largest groups of cancer survivors, accounting for 22% and 20% of the population respectively. Sixty-four percent of cancer survivors have survived 5 years or more; 40% have survived 10 years or more; and 15% have survived 20 years or more after diagnosis. Over the next decade, the number of people who have lived 5 years or more after their cancer diagnosis is projected to increase approximately 37% to 11.9 million.
30 Mar The subjective–objective mismatch in sleep perception among those with insomnia and sleep apnea
MedicalResearch.com Interview with
Matt T. Bianchi MD PhD MMSc
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
Director, Sleep Division
Massachusetts General Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Bianchi: We showed that patients reporting symptoms of insomnia tend to under-estimate the amount of time they slept during overnight sleep testing in our clinical sleep laboratory.
28 Mar Predictors of depression in breast cancer patients treated with radiation: Role of prior chemotherapy and nuclear factor kappa B
Posted at 13:40h
in Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Depression, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Mylin A. Torres, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Radiation Oncology
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA 30322
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Torres: Radiation treatment for breast cancer is not associated with increased depressive symptoms, but of disease and treatment-related factors, prior chemotherapy treatment is a significant predictor of depression before and after radiation treatment. Prior chemotherapy treatment was associated with inflammatory mediators, including nuclear factor-kappa B DNA binding, soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor 2, and interleukin-6, which predicted for depressive symptoms after radiation on univariate analysis.
28 Mar Adipocyte Fatty Acid storage factors enhance subcutaneous fat storage in postmenopausal women
MedicalResearch.com Interview with
Dr. Sylvia Santosa, PhD
Department of Exercise Science
Concordia University
Department of Exercise Science
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Santosa: Our results show that postmenopausal women burn less fat making more available to be stored. Our results also suggest that greater fat storage in postmenopausal women are likely to be attributed to changes in the pathways our fat cells use to store fat. We found that some of the proteins that help our fat cells store fat were more active and this greater activity corresponded with the amount of fat stored from our circulation.
28 Mar Relationship of Early-Onset Baldness to Prostate Cancer in African-American Men
MEDICALRESEARCH.COM INTERVIEW WITH Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H. Research Assistant Professor CCEB University of Pennsylvania MEDICALRESEARCH.COM: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Zeigler-Johnson: The main findings of the study are:- Younger African-American men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer at an early age (under the age of 60) are more likely to have had a personal history of early-onset baldness (baldness by age 30.)
- For older patients, this is not necessarily the case, and future studies will need to focus on which factors place men in this age group at risk for prostate cancer.
27 Mar Genetic factors in evolution of sleep length – a longitudinal twin study in Finnish adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christer Hublin Apulaisylilääkäri, neurologian dosentti (Helsingin yliopisto) - Assistant Chief Medical Officer, Docent (Adjunct Professor) in Neurology (Helsinki University) Unilääketieteen erityispätevyys (Suomen lääkäriliitto) Sleep medicine specialist (NOSMAC/ESRS) Työterveyslaitos - Finnish Institute of Occupational Health FIN-00250 Helsinki Finland MedicalResearch.com What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found in an adult twin cohort (the Finnish Twin Cohort) that the proportion of variance in sleep length accounted for by genetic effects was relatively low (about one third) but stable (correlation 0.76 over a period of 15 years.). In contrast, the proportion of variance accounted for by environmental effects was high (about 0.7) and these effects were less stable (correlation over the time period 0.18). The proportion of short sleepers was more than doubled in both genders, whereas in the proportion of long sleepers no major change was seen during the follow-up. To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study providing data on the contribution of genetic factors to stability and change of sleep length over time.26 Mar Independent associations between fatty acids and sleep quality among obese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Christopher Papandreou Department of Social Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Clinic, Medical School, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Papandreou: Certain adipose tissue fatty acids measured in the gluteal site were found to be associated with sleep quality parameters in obese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome after controlling for possible confounders.23 Mar Novel Susceptibility Variants at 10p12.31-12.2 for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Ethnically Diverse Populations
Posted at 03:16h
in Author Interviews, Duke, Genetic Research, Leukemia, MD Anderson, UT Southwestern
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Jun J. Yang, Ph.D.
Assistant Member Dept. of Pharm. Sci.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
262 Danny Thomas Pl., MS313 Memphis, TN 38105
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Yang: We performed a comprehensive survey of inherited genetic variations for their contribution to the susceptibility of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. This is by far the largest study of its kind (in terms of the number of subjects involved), and also the first one to include multi-ethnic populations. We identified 4 genomic loci related to the predisposition to ALL, 2 of which contributed to racial differences in the incidence of ALL. This study provided unequivocal evidence for inherited susceptibility of childhood ALL and pointed to novel biology of the pathogenesis of this disease.
22 Mar Coupled Cognitive and Functional Change in Alzheimer’s Disease and the Influence of Depressive Symptoms.
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura B. Zahodne, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow in the cognitive neuroscience division in the Department of Neurology and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain
Columbia University Medical Center.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Zahodne: Having more depressive symptoms early on in Alzheimer’s disease was associated with more rapid declines in the ability to handle tasks of everyday living, and this relationship was independent of cognitive decline.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. Zahodne: Previous studies have shown that depressive symptoms are associated with more difficulties with thinking and daily activities. This study additionally shows that depressive symptoms herald not only more rapid declines in thinking, but also daily functioning, over time.
20 Mar Outcomes of transplantation using various hematopoietic cell sources in children with Hurler’s syndrome after myeloablative conditioning
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Boelens Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Boelens: For children with Hurler’s syndrome, the receipt of a hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) early in life with the best available human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donor offers the best event free survival (EFS). Also, HCT with a well matched unrelated cord blood unit is particularly attractive as the unit is readily available.20 Mar Short Telomere Length, Cancer Survival, and Cancer Risk in 47102 Individuals
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Stig E. Bojesen
Staff specialist, MD, PhD, DMSci
Dept. of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital
Herlev Hospital DK-2730 Herlev Denmark
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?