Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Hormone Therapy, JAMA, Prostate Cancer, University of Pennsylvania / 15.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ravi Jayadevappa, PhD, MS Department of Medicine Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-2676  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In the US, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among men. Research shows that hormone therapy or ADT reduces the levels of male hormones in the body, called androgens, to stop them from stimulating cancer cells to grow., and thus is effective in reducing the spread and progression of prostate cancer. At the same time, some research has suggested that decreasing androgen levels may increase the risk factors for Alzheimer’s and dementia, including loss of lean body mass, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression. The ADT therapy may lead to impaired neuron growth and the regeneration of axons, thus affecting the cognitive function. Thus there is growing interest in the possible association between exposure to ADT and cognitive dysfunction. Our study investigates the association between exposure to ADT and subsequent diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or dementia in elderly, fee-for-service Medicare enrollees using SEER-Medicare linked databases. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Social Issues / 15.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Marina Mendonca PhD RECAP project (Research on European Children and Adults Born Preterm) Department of Psychology University of Warwick, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Previous research on the social lives of adults born preterm (under 37 weeks gestation) was inconsistent. This meta-analysis brought together data from up to 4.4m adult participants and has shown that those who were born preterm are less likely to form romantic relationships, to have had sexual relations or experience parenthood than full terms. For example, those born preterm were 28% less likely to form romantic relationships and 22% less likely to become parents, when compared to those born full term. When looking at sexual relations, preterm born adults were 2.3 times (or 57%) less likely to ever have a sexual partner. These associations were found for both men and women, and were stronger the lower gestational age. This means that the chances of finding a romantic partner or having children were lower for those born very (<28 weeks gestation) or extremely preterm (<28 weeks gestation), with the extremely pre-term born adults being for example 3.2 times (78%) less likely to ever having had sexual relations when compared to their full term peers. Despite having fewer relationships, we found that when adults who were born preterm had friends or a partner, the quality of these relationships was at least as good as those born full term.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness / 15.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthew J. Stork, PhD Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellow The University of British Columbia School of Health & Exercise Sciences MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves multiple brief, high-intensity efforts, separated by periods of recovery. Research shows that several weeks of HIIT can elicit meaningful physical health benefits that are similar to those of traditional, long-duration aerobic exercise. While HIIT is time-efficient and can induce important health benefits, one major drawback is that people may find it to be unpleasant – especially those who are insufficiently active and not meeting recommended physical activity guidelines. The potentially unpleasant nature of HIIT may deter people from beginning or adhering to a HIIT program. Consequently, researchers have begun to investigate the use of music as a potential strategy to enhance people’s pleasure during HIIT. However, the current research evidence is quite limited and, in particular, insufficiently active individuals have been understudied. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurological Disorders / 12.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Patrick Küry Dept. of Neurology Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf Germany MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How do these viruses in our DNA differ from others such as the herpes family of viruses? Response: The background of our current two published studies is elucidating the role of endogenous retroviruses such as the HERV-W in contributing to neurological disease initiation and progression. Our new paper in PNAS (Kremer et al., PNAS 2019) describes a novel axon damage scenario for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in which a "toxic" protein called ENV from HERV-W instructs so called microglial cells in the human brain to attack and damage myelinated axons. Our second review article (Gruchot et al., Front Genet 2019) summarizes currently known effects on endogenous retroviruses exerted towards neural cells, that means cells other than the infiltrating immune cells. There is currently a shift of attention and research in the MS field in that resident neural cells such as oligodendrocytes, precursor cells, stem cells and microglial cells and their reactions are intensively investigated. HERVs are evolutionary acquired retroviruses (RNA viruses able to integrate into host DNA via reverse transcription from RNA to DNA) that were collected during evolution by our ancestors. Some of them remained in our genome (8% of our genome is HERV related) and in most cases appear to be non-functional, mutated or genetically silenced. A few of them, as for example HERV-W in MS or HERV-K in ALS, can apparently be activated, woken up so to say, and one of the mechanisms leading to activation might be an infection by Herpesviruses. Note that herpesviruses such as for example the Epstein Bar Virus (EBV) are long known suspected triggers of MS, however, a direct correlation could never be demonstrated. HERVs such as HERV-W might therefore constitute the missing link. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research, Yale / 12.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Boffa, MD Professor of Surgery Yale School of Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We have previously demonstrated that top-ranked hospitals are significantly safer than their affiliates for complex cancer surgery (patients 1.4 times more likely to die after cancer surgery at affiliate hospitals).  A logical extension of this work was to compare affiliate hospitals to hospitals that were not affiliated with a top ranked hospital. (more…)
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Heart Disease, Imperial College, JAMA / 12.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ben Cordon, PhD NIHR Post-doctoral Academic Clinical Fellow Specialist Registrar training in cardiology  James S. Ware, PhD, MRCP  Reader in Genomic Medicine Group head within the Cardiovascular Genetics & Genomics Unit Imperial College London     MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy is a common cause of heart failure and carries the risk of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia. An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) can be life-saving in this condition. However, the decision to implant an ICD is not one that can be taken lightly - ICD insertion carries its own risks, such as infection or inappropriate shocks, and our ability to predict who will benefit from a device is currently far from perfect. Genetic sequencing is affordable and widely available and for DCM, like many diseases, it is hoped that genetic stratification may one day help deliver personalised management. In DCM, variants in the Lamin A/C gene for example are known to cause a phenotype with early and severe arrhythmias and, as a result, international guidelines advocate a lower threshold for ICD insertion in these patients. However, Lamin A/C is an infrequent cause of DCM. The commonest known genetic cause of DCM are protein-truncating variants in the gene encoding Titin (TTNtv), accounting for ~15% of DCM cases. We wanted to know if this group had a higher risk of arrhythmia than the general DCM population. Earlier work from our group on this topic found that patients with TTNtv-associated DCM were more likely to have a clinical history of arrhythmia (composite of atrial and ventricular arrhythmia, including NSVT), at the time of their initial DCM diagnosis. But it was unclear if this was driven by ventricular arrhythmia, atrial arrhythmia, or both or if it would translate into a long-term risk of potentially dangerous ventricular arrhythmia of the sort for which an ICD can be life-saving. In another study we analysed a larger cohort of ambulant DCM patients but did not find an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia – but this was a relatively low-risk group, with comparatively mild symptoms (NHYA I/II heart failure) and moderately impaired LV function. As a result, the overall arrhythmic event rate was low, meaning that the power to detect differences between the TTNtv and non-TTNtv groups was reduced. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Heart Disease, JAMA / 12.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Kazem Rahimi Deputy Director of the George Centre for Healthcare Innovation James Martin Senior Fellow in Essential Healthcare Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital Deputy Director of the George Institute for Global Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In the last century, we have witnessed a dramatic change in the spectrum of valvular heart disease and the prevalence of this condition has been rapidly increasing, due to population ageing, with poor patient outcomes and high healthcare costs associated with the only effective treatment available, which is valve repair or replacement. However, modifiable risk factors for valvular heart disease remain largely unknown, which limits prevention and treatment. We used a state-of-the-art, gene-based method called Mendelian randomization to determine the causality of the association between systolic blood pressure and risk of valvular heart diseases.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Primary Care, University of Pennsylvania / 11.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Molly Candon PhD Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Lecturer, Department of Health Care Management The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Co-Instructor, Health Services and Policy Research Methods II, MS in Health Policy Research Program, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: A team of researchers (led by Karin Rhodes, MD and Dan Polsky, PhD) conducted a secret shopper study of thousands of primary care practices across 10 states, with trained callers simulating patients with Medicaid and requesting appointments. One of the outcome measures was whether an appointment was scheduled with a physician or Advanced Practitioner. Between 2012 and 2016, the share of appointments scheduled with Advanced Practitioners increased by five percentage points.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Pediatrics / 11.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sean C. Rose, MD Pediatric sports neurologist and co-director of the Complex Concussion Clinic Nationwide Children’s Hospital  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Very limited data has been collected in children while they are playing contact sports to study the relationship between repetitive head impacts and neurocognitive outcomes.  We previously published a 1-year analysis of youth tackle football players and found no association between the number or severity of head impacts and performance on neurocognitive testing before to after the football season.  We are now reporting the results from the 2nd year of our study, tracking children through two seasons of football participation. We measured head impacts using helmet sensors during the 2016 and 2017 football seasons.  In the total group of 166 players age 9-18, one outcome measure (processing speed), out of the 23 outcome measures studied, declined over time.  However, several other measures that also assessed processing speed did not decline.  Neither the total burden of head impacts nor the intensity of individual impacts were associated with changes in testing performance over the course of the two seasons. (more…)
Anemia, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Karolinski Institute / 11.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Niels Grote Beverborg, MD PhD Post-doctoral research fellow Department of experimental cardiology University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands Integrated CardioMetabolic Center Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Sweden  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Iron deficiency is very prevalent worldwide and a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in vulnerable populations such as patients with heart failure. It is well known that iron deficiency can be a consequence of an insufficient iron uptake or increased iron loss (termed low iron storage), or of a chronic low inflammatory state (defective iron utilization). However, so far, we had no tools to distinguish these causes from each other in patients and have not been able to assess their potential consequences. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Nutrition, Weight Research / 11.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH Massachusetts General Hospital General Internal Medicine Division Boston, MA 02114 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Nearly one-third of the 150 million US adults who are employed are obese. Employees frequently eat meals acquired at work, and workplace food is often high in calories. Effective strategies for reducing non-nutritive energy intake during the workday could help address the rising prevalence of obesity. Simplified labeling, such as traffic-light labels, provide understandable information about the relative healthfulness of food and can be placed on menu boards, shelf labels, and individual packages to help employees make healthier choices. Choice architecture (e.g., product placement) interventions make it easier and more convenient for employees to choose a healthy item. It is unknown if labeling interventions are associated with sustained reductions in calorie intake, or if there are only temporary effects after which most people revert to higher-calorie choices. A previous study demonstrated that a hospital cafeteria traffic-light labeling and choice architecture program resulted in a higher proportion of healthy green-labeled purchases and lower proportion of unhealthy red-labeled purchases over two years. The current study analyzed calories purchased by a longitudinal cohort of 5,695 hospital employees who used the cafeteria regularly. The study examined changes in calories purchased over time and hypothesized the effect of the change in calorie intake on employees’ weight. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, JAMA, Technology / 11.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: video-gamesDr. Klaus Wölfling Psychologische Leitung - Ambulanz für Spielsucht Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Mainz MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response:  Our institution, the outpatient clinic of Behavioral Addictions at the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Medical Center Mainz started as a pilot project, which was funded by Rhineland-Palatine, our federal state in Germany. We rapidly noticed the need for treatment in the population. We revealed insights of the disease during the last decade. During this time, we developed and refined therapeutic processes addressing Internet Addiction and Gaming Disorder. We conducted a pilot study, which tested the feasibility of a CBT-treatment approach for Internet Addiction in an RCT. We learned a lot from therapy research and noticed that it was important to conduct a study, which indicates an effective treatment for this disease. STICA found a strong remission rate for Internet and Computer game Addiction of treatment group vs. WLC (OR=10.10; 94% CI 3.69 to 27.65). (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA / 11.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof Ching-Chi Chi, MD, MMS, DPhil (Oxford) Department of Dermatology Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Guishan Dist, Taoyuan 33305 Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are inflammatory diseases that share common clinical manifestations, genetic susceptibility, and immunologic features. For example, both diseases have similar clinical manifestations in the skin and gut, characterized by sterile abscesses in perineal and inguinal areas, scarring, and sinus tract formation. Both diseases have been associated with an increased prevalence of spondyloarthropathy, have common risk factors (smoking and obesity), and respond well to tumor necrosis factor-inhibitors. Some studies have suggested a link between HS and IBD, but data on the association of HS and IBD remain inconsistent and unclear. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the association of hidradenitis suppurativ with IBD. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, NEJM, Pulmonary Disease / 11.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Chris Butler,, BA MBChB DCH CCH MD FRCGP (Hon)FFPH FMedSci Professor of Primary Care Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Professorial Fellow at Trinity College Clinical Director Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit University of Oxford  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: More than a million people in the UK have COPD, which is a lung condition associated with smoking and other environmental pollutants. People living with the condition often experience exacerbations, or flare-ups, and when this happens, three out of four are prescribed antibiotics. However, two-thirds of these flare-ups are not caused by bacterial infections and antibiotics often do not benefit patients. A simple finger-prick blood test could help prevent unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics for people with the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).  The finger-prick test measures the amount of C- reactive protein (CRP) - a marker of inflammation that rises rapidly in the blood in response to serious infections. People with a COPD flare-up who have a low CRP level in the blood appear to receive little benefit from antibiotic treatment. The General Practitioner (GP) use of a C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Point of Care Test (POCT) to help target antibiotic prescribing to patients with Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (AECOPD) who are most likely to benefit (The PACE Study) determined whether the using a POCT CRP to guide antibiotic treatment decisions for acute exacerbations of COPD reduced antibiotic use without harming patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Pediatrics / 09.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nelly Mauras, MD Chief, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Nemours Children’s Health System Professor of Pediatrics Mayo College of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Keeping blood sugars close to normal in young children with diabetes is often limited by parental fears of the risks of low blood sugars and impaired cognitive development. Dr. Nelly Mauras, at the Nemours Children’s Health System in Jacksonville FL, along with Dr. Allan Reiss at Stanford University are co-principal investigators of the Diabetes Research in Children Network, a 5-center consortium performing studies in children with diabetes, also including the University of Iowa, Washington University St Louis and Yale University. The investigators recruited 144 children with type 1 diabetes who were 4-7 years old and performed brain imaging (MRIs), did special cognitive tests, and monitored blood sugars using continuous glucose monitors. These studies were repeated after 18 months, approximately 54 months and 74 months, to examine changes in the brain and compare the results with those of 70 children the same age who do not have diabetes. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Supplements, Vitamin C, Vitamin D / 09.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Safi U. Khan, MD Department of Internal Medicine Robert Packer Hospital Sayre, PA 18840  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There is substantial body of observational data favoring use of vitamins, supplements and special diets for improving cardiovascular health. However, such type of data is limited by various biases. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) is considered gold standard to evaluate effects of a therapy.  (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Infections, University of Michigan / 09.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Valerie M. Vaughn, MD MSc Assistant Professor of Medicine and Research Scientist, Division of Hospital Medicine The Patient Safety Enhancement Program and Center for Clinical Management Research Michigan Medicine and the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Pneumonia is one of the top causes for hospitalization and one of the main reasons for antibiotic use in US hospitals. In the past decade, studies have suggested that patients can be safely treated with short course antibiotic therapy instead of the prolonged courses we used to prescribe. Our study looked at prescribing practices in 43 hospitals across the state of Michigan to see if we were appropriately prescribing short course therapy, and if so, how that affected patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, Pediatrics / 09.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: D. Mark Anderson, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics Montana State University, IZA, and NBER MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys for the period 1993-2017, we explore the effect medical and recreational marijuana laws have on teen use. We find that medical marijuana laws (MMLs) are not associated with teen marijuana consumption, but recreational marijuana laws (RMLs) are actually negatively associated with teen use.  (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Cost of Health Care, Diabetes / 09.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Xiaohui Zhuo, PhD Division of Diabetes Translation National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Prescription drug spending (spending from families and individuals, their medical providers (doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, etc.) and employees across the United States) has increased at a much higher rater than other components of the total medical expenditure associated with diabetes.  The share of spending on prescription drugs in per capita annual excess expenditure due to diabetes increased from 27% to 41% between 1987 and 2011, according to a previous study using national data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Medical Expenditures Panel Surveys. In this most recent study, CDC researchers estimated the increase in the national spending on antidiabetic drugs from 2005 to 2016 in total and by drug class and broke down the increase in total national spending by examining what factors have contributed to the increase estimating the magnitude of each factor’s contribution. (more…)
AstraZeneca, Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, Mineral Metabolism / 08.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Steven Fishbane MD Chief, Division of Kidney Disease and Hypertension Vice President, Northwell Health for Network Dialysis Services, Northwell Health Professor of Medicine Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Department of Medicine, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Great Neck, New York  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Patients on hemodialysis have a great frequency of hyperkalemia. The hemodialysis treatment removes some potassium but not enough to get rid of this problem. Available medications to bind potassium have not been tested among these patients. The purpose of the study was to see if sodium zirconium cyclosilicate could be used as a potassium binder to reduce the risk of hyperkalemia in patients on a hemodialysis. (more…)
Author Interviews, End of Life Care, JAMA, Kidney Disease / 08.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ann M. O’Hare, MD Professor,Division of Nephrology University of Washington Investigator, VA HSR&D Center of Excellence Affiliate Investigator, Group Health Research Institute Seattle, WA  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We know that survival for people undergoing dialysis is generally quite limited.  Only a few studies have attempted to elicit how patients undergoing dialysis understand prognosis and how their prognostic awareness might be related to their interest in planning for the future, their preferences for resuscitation and the kind of care they would want if they were seriously ill or dying. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania / 08.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John Barbieri, MD, MBA Hospital & Health Care University of Pennsylvania  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly describe the type of acne treated with Isotretinoin? Response: Isotretinoin is often used to treat moderate to severe acne or acne that has been unresponsive to other treatments. It is also used for patients with scarring acne. While highly effective for acne, due to concerns about medication related side-effects, patients are often monitoring with frequent blood tests, sometimes up to once per month. However, there have been several studies over the past two decades questioning the value of these frequent blood tests for patients on isotretinoin for acne. The purpose of this study was to examine whether blood test monitoring has been decreasing over time in response to these studies. We also evaluated the frequency of blood test abnormalities for patients being treated with isotretinoin. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections, Pharmaceutical Companies / 08.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Mark Blaskovich PhD Institute for Molecular Bioscience's Centre for Superbug Solutions The University of Queensland In collaboration with Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Botanix is a company that has been developing topical formulations of CBD for treatment of skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis and acne, based on its reported anti-inflammatory properties. However, these diseases are also associated with bacterial infection, so they were interested in looking at potential antimicrobial activity, as there are some previous literature reports suggesting it is active. They contacted us to do some more in-depth investigations. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Gender Differences, Hormone Therapy, JAMA, Menopause, Weight Research / 05.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rachel Zsido PhD student Department of Neurology International Max Planck MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We integrated measures of brain network structure, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), serum estradiol levels, and cognitive performance from 974 participants in order to shed light on potential mechanisms underlying cognitive health. We believe it is imperative to assess sex-specific risk trajectories in brain aging and cognitive decline, especially given the known sex differences in both VAT accumulation patterns and estradiol fluctuations across the lifespan. Thus, we aimed to answer three questions in men and in women: 1) Does visceral adipose tissue exacerbate the association between age and brain network structure, 2) Does estradiol mitigate the negative association between VAT and brain network structure, and 3) What does this imply for healthy cognitive aging in men and women?  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dental Research, Opiods, Pain Research / 05.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Stuart Lieblich, DMD Oral and maxillofacial surgeon  Avon, CT MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How does EXPAREL® differ from other pain medication for dental work or other short-term procedures? Response: This study analyzed the use of opioids and non-opioid options for postsurgical pain following third molar extraction (wisdom teeth removal). Our research team reviewed data from 600 patients who underwent third molar extraction, with 300 patients having received non-opioid option EXPAREL (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) and 300 patients that did not receive an infiltration of EXPAREL. The study aimed to show that reducing opioid prescriptions following this procedure may decrease opioid-related adverse events and the risk of opioid dependence. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lancet, Neurology, Surgical Research / 05.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Natasha van Zyl, MBChB (Cape Town), FRACS FRACS Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon Melbourne, Australia  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The estimated global incidence of spinal cord injury (SCI) from all causes is 40 to 80 new cases per million population per year which means that every year between 250 000 to 500 000 people worldwide suffer SCI (1)(chap 2 p 17). In Australia the age standardised, annual incident rate of persisting traumatic SCI for Australian residents aged 15 years and above is 11.8 cases per million.(2) Just over 50% of all spinal cord injuries  in Australia occur at the cervical level resulting in tetraplegia. (2) Cervical spinal cord injury is a devastating, life-changing injury impacting almost every aspect of a person’s work, family and social life. Although compared to many other health conditions it has a relatively low incidence, it is certainly a high cost health condition, with the lifetime cost per tetraplegia incident case estimated to be AU$9.5 million.(3) For those living with tetraplegia improvement in hand function is their highest ranked goal.(4) As such, reconstruction of upper extremity function in cervical spinal cord injury is a crucial component of the surgical rehabilitation of people with mid/low cervical spinal cord injury as it has the capacity to restore critical functions such as elbow extension, wrist extension, grasp, key pinch and release. Traditionally these functions have been reconstructed using tendon transfers, which move a functioning muscle to a new insertion site to recreate the function of a paralysed muscle.(5) (more…)
Author Interviews, Dental Research, Stem Cells / 05.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ivan V. Reva Senior Researcher, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology School of Biomedicine, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU)  MedicalResearch.com: What are the prerequisites for this study?  Response: The existence of congenital and acquired malformations of the teeth and jaws and the many shortcomings of artificial implants dictate the search for alternative methods of treatment of adentia. The prerequisites were the study of the development of the human gastrointestinal tract in the embryonic period, since it is during this period that all the most significant events occur in the structuring of all parts of the gastrointestinal tract, especially the oral cavity, the knowledge of which is necessary for developing a strategy for regenerative medicine. This is associated with obtaining ideas about cell-cell interactions for the cultivation of bioengineering structures of various sections of the gastrointestinal tract, including jaws and teeth. growing-new-teethIt was noted that the differentiation of the structures of the developing jaws is ahead of other divisions. The presence of chromophobic spindle-shaped cells migrating in the direction of the tooth rudiments and their location in the region surrounding the enamel organ indicates intercellular interactions in the development of teeth in humans that differ from these processes in lower vertebrates. At the present stage, it is known that ectomesenchyme is involved in cell assemblies participating in the development of dentin. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA / 04.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lucy Schulson, MD MPH Section of General Internal Medicine Boston University School of Medicine Boston, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Research in the early 2000s in California demonstrated that racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and those with limited English proficiency (LEP) experienced high rates of discrimination in healthcare. Since those studies were published, California has made concerted efforts at the state and local level to address health equity; these efforts may have impacted perceptions of discrimination in health care. However, it is not known how perceptions of discrimination in healthcare have changed over the last ten years overall and for specific groups. This study sought to compare perceptions of discrimination in health care in 2003-2005 compared to 2015-2017 overall, for racial and ethnic minorities, among immigrants, and among those with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Kidney Disease / 03.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Plugged into dialysis" by Dan is licensed under CC BY 2.0Andrew C. Qi,  Medical student Karen E. Joynt Maddox MD MPH Assistant professor of medicine Washington University School of Medicine Saint Louis, Missouri.  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: The End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program (ESRD QIP) is a Medicare program that evaluates dialysis facilities in the U.S. based on a set of quality measures, and penalizes low-performing facilities. We’ve seen a growing understanding of how social risk factors like poverty and race/ethnicity impact patient outcomes in other settings, making it difficult for providers caring for disadvantaged populations to perform as well in these kinds of pay-for-performance programs. We were interested in seeing if this was the case for dialysis facilities as well, especially since patients receiving dialysis are already a vulnerable population. (more…)