Blog – Medical Research News and Interviews
25 Sep ABCD Study: Risks to Children From Cannabis During Pregnancy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah E. Paul, BA , Graduate Student and Ryan Bogdan, PhD, Associate Professor BRAIN Lab Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO 63130 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Sarah Paul: This study was motivated by several trends in cannabis use, its legal landscape, and people's perception of risk. As more states legalize recreational cannabis use, cannabis has become more accessible as well as more potent. Over the past couple of decades, the percentage of adolescents and adults who think that cannabis use is risky or harmful has fallen substantially. Cannabis dispensaries have been reported to actually recommend cannabis to pregnant women for the treatment of pregnancy-related nausea. And finally, between 2002/2003 and 2016/2017, the percentage of women reporting cannabis use during their pregnancies rose 106%. Given these trends and the mixed literature regarding the potential consequences associated with prenatal cannabis exposure, we aimed to comprehensively examine a range of outcomes in a large, representative sample while accounting for a host of important potentially confounding covariates.
25 Sep Low Level Light Therapy Has Potential to Help Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55471" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Figueiro LongoTBI[/caption]
Maria Gabriela Figueiro Longo, MD, MSc
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School, Boston
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Transcranial low-level light therapy (3LT) has been shown to be effective in animal models of traumatic brain injury.
Our goal was to assess the 3LT in humans with acute TBI.
We tested (1) safety, and (2) any effect in the brain in a measurable way.
We found positive results for both - there was no event adverse during the trial related to the 3LT; and we found some differences in the brain MRI diffusivity parameters in the patients who received light therapy compared to the sham group.
The study was not powered for clinical evaluation, although there was a trend towards lower symptom burden in the treated group.
24 Sep New Study Finds Type 2 Diabetes May Be Controlled With Once-Weekly Insulin
Remarks from: [caption id="attachment_55474" align="alignleft" width="140"] Dr. Rosenstock[/caption]
Julio Rosenstock, M.D
Director, Dallas Diabetes and Endocrine Center
Clinical Professor of Medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX
MedicalResearch.com: Why was the study initiated / What is the background of the study?
Response: Most people with type 2 diabetes, would prefer simplicity, with fewer injections than currently provided by once-daily basal insulin treatment regimens. Therefore, there is a need to continue to offer innovative treatment options to support people living with type 2 diabetes and hopefully improve their glycemic outcomes. As a once-weekly basal insulin, insulin icodec has the potential to offer a simpler, efficacious and well-tolerated treatment option thereby reducing the potential burden on people living with type 2 diabetes.
23 Sep Childhood Peanut and Nut Allergies More Frequent at Halloween and Easter
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55467" align="alignleft" width="176"]
Melanie Leung[/caption]
Melanie Leung, M.D.,C.M. candidate 2021
4th-year medical student at McGill University
Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Department of Pediatrics, Montreal Children’s Hospital
McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, MD, MSc
Pediatric allergist and immunologist at the MCH (Montreal Children’s Hospital) and
Scientist at the Research Institute of the MUHC (McGill University Health Center)
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In Canada, up to 9% of children have at least 1 food allergy. Anaphylaxis is the most severe and potential life-threatening manifestation of food allergy. Peanuts and tree nuts are the main culprits in food-induced anaphylaxis and account for most fatal cases in North America.
Public awareness about peanut and nut anaphylaxis can help to prevent and to act promptly, in the case of anaphylactic reaction. However, the best timing for public awareness campaigns remained unknown, as no previous study looked at the potential association between specific times of the year, such as public holidays, and the incidence of peanut and tree nut anaphylaxis. Our aim was to evaluate the risk of peanut and tree nut-induced anaphylaxis on Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Chinese New Year, and Eid al-Adha.
Data was collected from 1390 pediatric cases of peanut or nut-induced anaphylaxis across Canada (Newfoundland & Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia), from 2011 to 2020. 62% of children were boys and the median age was 5.4 years. We compared the average daily number of cases during each holiday and compared it to the rest of the year (i.e.: non-holiday period).
23 Sep Mount Sinai Icahn Researchers Develop Prediction Model for COVID-19 Mortality
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55462" align="alignleft" width="100"] Dr. Pandey[/caption]
Gaurav Pandey, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Icahn Institute of Genomics and Multiscale Biology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Given the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on people's health and lives worldwide, it is crucial to be able to accurately predict patients' outcomes, including their chances of mortality from the disease. Using the largest clinical dataset to date, and a systematical machine learning framework, the research team at Mount Sinai identified an accurate and parsimonious prediction model of COVID-19 mortality.
This model was based on only three routinely collected clinical features, namely patient's age, minimum oxygen saturation over the course of their medical encounter, and type of patient encounter (inpatient vs outpatient and telehealth visits).
23 Sep COVID-19: Asymptomatic Individuals May Be Driving Pandemic
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joon Seo Lim, PhD, ELS Clinical Research Center Asan Institute for Life Sciences Asan Medical Center, Songpa-gu Seoul, Republic of Korea MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to spread at an alarming rate in all parts of the world, and screening individuals based on symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, anosmia) does not seem to be effective in sufficiently curbing the transmission of the disease. This suggests that asymptomatic individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 may be a driving force of the ongoing pandemic, but empirical evidence on this issue has been lacking because asymptomatic individuals are likely to go unnoticed unless subjected to systematic contact tracing. A large-sized outbreak of COVID-19 from a single religious group in South Korea enabled us to identify and test a large number of asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2 alongside symptomatic patients from the same cluster.
22 Sep Using the EMR to Identify Clinical Trial Candidates Can Increase Diversity in Studies
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55454" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Miller[/caption]
Hailey Miller, PhD, RN
Postdoctoral Associate
Duke University School of Nursing
Stephen P. Juraschek, MD PhD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Digital tools, such as the electronic medical record (EMR), are increasingly utilized to identify and recruit participants for clinical trials. These strategies offer a strong opportunity to increase recruitment yields, however, our previous work has demonstrated that patient portal users are disproportionately White, and therefore utilizing these strategies may contribute to the under-representation of Black Americans in clinical research.
This study examined multiple recruitment strategies, including EMR-based strategies and other non-EMR strategies, such as community mailing, Facebook advertisement and newspaper advertisement, to understand if recruitment strategies influenced the demographic composition of trial participants. Given our previous finding that patient portal users are disproportionately White, one of our EMR-based strategies included postal mailing to individuals without a patient portal.
21 Sep Minorities At Increased Risk of Cancer Care Disruption During COVID-19
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55450" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. El Bakouny[/caption]
Ziad Bakouny, MD, MSc
Post-doctoral research fellow
Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected patients with cancer, with these patients unfortunately having worse outcomes than the general population. In fact, a recent report by the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) showed that the mortality rate in patients with cancer who develop COVID-19, at 30 days median follow-up, was 16%. Although the adverse outcomes of patients with cancer who develop COVID-19 has received much attention, few studies have thus far investigated the effects of the potential disruption to cancer care delivery caused by the pandemic.
Our aim in the COVID and Cancer Outcomes Study (CCOS) was therefore to evaluate this disruption to cancer care caused by the pandemic. This is a multicenter prospective cohort study that included patients seen in the outpatient setting at the Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston during one week in March (between March 2 and March 6 2020). Data was collected 3 months before this index week and 3 months prospectively (during the first peak of the pandemic in the Northeastern United States).
21 Sep Too Much or Too Little Sleep Linked to Cognitive Decline
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wuxiang Xie, PhD Peking University Clinical Research Institute Peking University First Hospital Beijing, China MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Dementia is one of the most common and serious disorders in later life. A strong relationship between sleep and cognitive function had been previously reported, while the relationship between sleep duration and the trajectory of cognitive decline remains unclear.
21 Sep False Claims Act Linked to Drop in Stent Surgery
Posted at 20:00h
in Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Emory, Heart Disease, JAMA, Surgical Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55443" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Howard[/caption]
David H. Howard, PhD
Professor, Health Policy and Management
Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Application of the False Claims Act (FCA) to medically unnecessary care is controversial, both in the courts and in the Department of Justice. Although there haven’t been many FCA suits against hospitals and physicians for performing unnecessary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), the suits that have occurred have been against some of the highest-volume hospitals and physicians. Some cardiologists have been sentenced to prison.
21 Sep COVID-19 Major Impact on Cancer Patients, Oncologists and Medical Education
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55440" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Guy Jerusalem[/caption]
Guy Jerusalem MD PhD
Medical Oncology, CHU Sart Tilman Liège and University of Liège
Liège/BE
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: COVID-19 pandemic impacted healthcare systems globally and resulted in the interruption of usual care in many healthcare facilities exposing vulnerable cancer patients to significant risks. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of this pandemic on cancer care worldwide. A 95 items survey was constructed and distributed worldwide by 20 oncologists from 10 of the most affected countries. 109 representatives from oncology centers in 18 countries filled out the survey between June 17 and July 14.
21 Sep Shifting The Burden Of Care: Assisted Living Facility Closures Mean Children Must Care For Their Parents
Difficult as it may be, the time has come for children to take over the roles that were previously held by assisted living facilities of caring for their elderly parents....
18 Sep COVID-19: Risk of Severe Disease Within Households of School Employees
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Thomas M. Selden Director of the Division of Research and Modeling Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Rockville, Maryland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Across the United States, school districts are facing decisions about whether and how to reopen elementary and secondary schools. We conducted this study to provide evidence on the risk of severe COVID-19 among adults who are connected to schools in some way – as teachers or other school workers or as household members of school-age children or school employees. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) collects the data we used in this study as part of its longstanding Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), which is the nation’s most complete source of data on the cost and use of health care and health insurance coverage.
18 Sep Asthma: Monoclonal Antibody Dupixent Demonstrates Sustained Improvement in Moderate to Severe Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Wechsler, M.D., M.M.Sc. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Dr. Wechsler is Director of the National Jewish Cohen Family Asthma Institute in Denver Colorado and principal investigator of the Dupixent® (dupilumab) Phase 3 open-label extension trial. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain how Dupilumab differs from other medications of asthma? What are the advantages over steroids, inhalers etc.?Response: Asthma is a chronic, progressive disease driven in part by underlying inflammation and requires long-term control of symptoms. Over time, this chronic inflammation can lead to a decline in lung function.
The Phase 3 open-label extension trial evaluated long-term safety and efficacy of Dupixent treatment in adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe asthma who had previously participated in a controlled Dupixent clinical trial, including three pivotal trials that lasted between 24 and 52 weeks. With more than 2,200 patients enrolled, the Phase 3 LIBERTY ASTHMA TRAVERSE open-label extension trial is the largest of a biologic medicine ever conducted in asthma.
Dupixent is a biologic therapy that works differently from existing therapies that treat asthma. Dupixent is a fully-human monoclonal antibody that inhibits the signaling of the interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) proteins. Data from Dupixent clinical trials have shown that interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) are key drivers of the type 2 inflammation that plays a major role in asthma. It is the only biologic to demonstrate sustained improvements in lung function and asthma exacerbations across a broad patient population with type 2 inflammation. Dupixent is not an immunosuppressant.
17 Sep Sepsis: Monoclonal Antibody Procizumab Improves Cardiac Function in Animal Model Study
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55417" align="alignleft" width="150"] Prof. Mebazaa[/caption]
Prof. Alexandre Mebazaa
Head of the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care
Hôpital Lariboisiere and of the Research group MASCOT supported by Inserm and the Université de Paris (Paris, France).
Prof. Mebazaa is the principle investigator of the recently published preclinical experiments on Procizumab, a potent, pre-clinical drug candidate targeting DPP3 in patients with acute mycardial depression.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What is the significance of DPP3?
Response: The global burden of sepsis counts for one in three deaths world-wide. Recent findings have shown that circulating Dipeptidyl Pepidase 3 (cDPP3) is elevated in critical patients, including cardiogenic shock and septic patients, with the highest DPP3 blood levels found in non-survivors.
Dipeptidyl Peptidase 3 (DPP3) is an intracellular peptidase that is released into the bloodstream upon cell injury and death, where it inactivates many circulating peptides including angiotensin II. This process likely leads to cardiac depression. Procizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody in preclinical development that targets and modulates DPP3. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the benefits of inhibiting circulating DPP3 by Procizumab in a preclinical model of sepsis-induced myocardial depression.
17 Sep Modifying Approved Drug Offers New Pathway to Treat Resistant Cancers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55413" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Dar[/caption]
Dr. Arvin C. Dar, PhD
Associate Professor
Departments of Oncological Sciences
& Pharmacological Sciences
Tisch Cancer Institute
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Associate Director
Mount Sinai Center for Therapeutic Discovery
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We were interested in better understanding the mechanism of action for the drug trametinib. We wanted to understand how the drug actually works – even though its clinically approved, the drug was a ‘serendipitous discovery’ and originally found through phenotypic screens.
16 Sep Apparent Treatment-Resistant Hypertension: Missed Opportunities to Achieve Blood Pressure Control in Black Adults
Posted at 19:56h
in AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, NYU/NYMC, Race/Ethnic Diversity
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55410" align="alignleft" width="340"] Dr. Langford[/caption]
Aisha T. Langford, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Population Health
Co-Director, CTSI Recruitment and Retention Core
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
NYU Langone Health
New York, NY 10016
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In 2018, the American Heart Association (AHA) published an updated Scientific Statement on Resistant Hypertension. The term apparent treatment-resistant hypertension (aTRH) is used when pseudoresistance (e.g., white coat effect, medication nonadherence) cannot be excluded. The current study was designed to investigate if Black adults with aTRH, a group disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease, receive evidence-based approaches to lower blood pressure as recommended in the 2018 AHA Scientific Statement.
Specifically, we studied healthy lifestyle factors including not smoking, not consuming alcohol, ≥75 minutes of vigorous-intensity or ≥150 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week, and body mass index <25 kg/m2; and recommended antihypertensive medication classes among US Black adults.
16 Sep COVID-19 Risk Increased in Individuals with Substance Use Disorders
Posted at 19:10h
in Addiction, Author Interviews, Cleveland Clinic, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55407" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Rong Xu[/caption]
Rong Xu PhD
Center for Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery, School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Chronic use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs is associated with cardiovascular, pulmonary, and metabolic diseases, all of which are also risk factors for COVID-19 infection and for worse outcomes. Additionally, individuals with substance use disorders are more likely to experience social adversity such as homelessness, decreased access to health care, housing insecurity among others. Based on these, we hypothesis or predict that individuals with SUD are especially vulnerable for COVID-19 infection and adverse outcomes.
In our study, we found that individuals with substance use disorders, especially individuals with OUD and African Americans with SUD, as having increased risk for COVID-19 and its adverse outcomes
16 Sep Traumatic Brain Injury: Out-of-Hospital Tranexamic Acid vs Placebo
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55382" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Rowell[/caption]
Susan Rowell MD, MBA, MCR
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Division of Trauma, Acute & Critical Care Surgery
Duke University School of Medicine
Durham, NC 27710
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been increasingly used in trauma patients since publication of the CRASH-2 trial in 2010 demonstrated a survival benefit for patients at risk for traumatic hemorrhage. Subsequently, it was shown that the earlier TXA was administered, the better the outcome. There had been several small studies suggesting that TXA may also be beneficial in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), however, an adequate prospective randomized trial was needed.
In this trial we randomized over 1000 patients with moderate and severe TBI as early as possible after injury (by paramedics in the prehospital setting an average of 42 minutes after injury) to either a 1-gram TXA bolus followed by a 1-gram 8-hour TXA infusion (the dose typically used for trauma patients), a 2-gram TXA bolus only (a logistically easier route of administration requiring no maintenance infusion), or placebo only.
16 Sep Skin Reactions in Children Treated With Targeted Cancer Therapies
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55386" align="alignleft" width="100"]
Dr. Lara-Corrales[/caption]
Irene Lara-Corrales, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto
Staff physician in Pediatric Dermatology at the
Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada
She is a member of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology.
[caption id="attachment_55387" align="alignleft" width="100"] Dr. Boull[/caption]
Christina Boull, MD
Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the University of Minnesota
Program Director for the Advanced Dermatology Medical Student Rotation
Fellowship Director for the Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We got involved in this project a couple of years ago when many members of the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance's (PeDRA) Skin Tumors and Reactions to Cancer Therapies (STARC) group started seeing many patients with skin toxicities given by targeted therapies. We recognized that this was a new and growing area of skin concerns that pediatric dermatologists were starting to see. Being such a new field, and with little known about these medications, we thought it would be important to put our cases together and describe what we were seeing.
16 Sep In-Vitro Fertilization: AI Improves Ability to Pick Embryos With Best Chance of Success
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55400" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Shafiee[/caption]
Hadi Shafiee, PhD
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Department of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are some of the characteristics that AI uses to identify blastocysts witha better chance of successful implantation?
Response: In-vitro fertilization (IVF), while a solution to many infertile couples is still extremely inefficient with a success rate of nearly 30% and is both mentally, physically, and economically taxing to patients. The IVF process involves the insemination of eggs and the culture of embryos externally in a fertility lab before transferring the developed embryo to the mother.
A major challenge in the field is deciding on the embryos that need to be transferred during IVF, such that chances of a healthy birth are maximal and any complications for both mother and child are minimal. Currently, the tools available to embryologists when making such are extremely limited and expensive, and thus, most embryologists are required to make these life-altering decisions using only their observational skills and expertise. In such scenarios, their decision-making process is extremely subjective and tends to be variable.
14 Sep Craving the Sun? Twin Study Finds It May Be Genetic
Posted at 11:12h
in Author Interviews
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55396" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Falchi[/caption]
Dr Mario Falchi
Head of Bioinformatics for the School of Life Course Sciences
Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology
King’s College London
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The relationship between sun exposure and health is a double-edged sword, on one side there is the beneficial effect of vitamin D production and on the other the increased risk of skin cancer, depending on length and frequency of exposure, and on the individual skin type.
Despite public health campaigns, changing sun-seeking behaviour seems to be challenging for some people, even for those with a familial or personal history of skin cancer. Previous investigations have suggested that exposure to UV could be addictive.
14 Sep Significant Number of Men Are Sharing Teir Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Medication With Others
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gordon Mansergh, PhD Senior Behavioral Scientist CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention MedicalResearch.com: What would you say is the take home message from the study? Response: A small but notable subgroup of gay and bisexual men are sharing their PrEP medication with others. As PrEP continues to be more commonly used, it is important to better understand and address the context of PrEP sharing, and to emphasize messaging about provider monitoring of medication use over time for health and safety reasons.
11 Sep Smoking and Vaping Cause Young People to Have Worse COVID-19 Infections
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55390" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Rahman[/caption]
Irfan Rahman, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator. Center for Inhalation and Flavoring Toxicological Research
University of Rochester
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Our study aimed to determine whether vaping and smoking affect Covid-19 proteins and genes and whether that effect changes depending on the age of the vaper/smoker. SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, enters cells by interacting with ACE2 and TMPRSS2-Furin proteins. We found that both of these proteins increase with age and are also increased by smoking or vaping. This suggests that older adults, smokers and vapers may be more prone to infection with SARS-Cov-2 and may be more likely to have severe complications.
10 Sep Pediatric Study Finds Having Antibodies Should Not Be Considered As Being Immune to COVID-19
[caption id="attachment_55357" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Bahar[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Burak Bahar, MD
Children’s National Hospital
Laboratory Medicine Division
Washington DC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Objective of this study was to help us better understand how long it takes pediatric patients with COVID-19 to clear it from their system, and at what point they start to make antibodies against the virus.
Main findings of our study were 19.5 days being the median duration of viral positivity which is later than 18 days that is the median time for detecting antibodies in the circulation. We also found that kids aged 6 through 15 had a longer duration of viral positivity which was a median of 32 days.
10 Sep Large US Academic Medical Center Study Finds Low Risk Of COVID-19 Transmission to Patients Within Hospital
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55346" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Rhee[/caption]
Chanu Rhee MD MPH
Associate Hospital Epidemiologist
Attending Physician, Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Brigham and Women's Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Many patients have been avoiding essential care during the COVID-19 pandemic due to fear of contracting SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings. Little is known, however about the adequacy of infection control practices in preventing nosocomial COVID-19 in U.S. acute care hospitals.
We therefore conducted this observational study to determine the incidence of nosocomial COVID-19 in patients hospitalized at a large academic medical center in Boston (Brigham and Women’s Hospital) during the first 12 weeks of the surge in Massachusetts.
10 Sep Trends in E-Cigarette Use Among US Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55319" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Obisesan[/caption]
Funmi (Abiru) Obisesan, MD, MPH
Postdoctoral Fellow
Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
Postdoctoral Fellow
Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: E-cigarettes are conceived by many individuals to be less harmful than combustible cigarettes, resulting in their use among young individuals and other vulnerable subpopulations. The recent outbreak of EVALI (e-cigarette, or vaping, product-use associated lung injuries) which was directly associated with e-cigarette use, and the rapidly evolving e-cigarette market, as well as regulations concerning them necessitates the need for up-to-date analyses of e-cigarette use trends.
09 Sep Digital Droplet Technology Can Reduce False Negative COVID-19 Tests
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Claudia Alteri, PhD Assistant Professor (RTD-B) in Microbiology And Clinical Microbiology Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology University of Milano MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In the context of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, laboratories play a critical role in confirming the initial clinical suspicion of this disease, as confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 presence is essential to ensure the prompt initiation of containment and treatment protocols. This is of utmost importance to avoid further spread of the pandemic, and to assure the best clinical and therapeutic management of the infected patients in the hospital setting. Unfortunately, currently used rtPCR assays lack of the necessary sensitivity to identify all cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection (20% of false negative results [Li D et all, Korean J Rad 2020; Zhao et all CID 2020]). Complementary laboratory assays are therefore strongly needed. Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) is a highly sensitive assay for the direct detection and quantification of DNA and RNA targets. It has been increasingly used in infectious disease settings, especially thanks to its ability to consistently and reliably detect down to few copies of viral genomes. Standing the necessity of a limitation (as much as possible) of false negative results in COVID-19 diagnosis, the use of ddPCR could provide a critical support. In the context of COVID-19 diagnosis, two recent studies highlight the good performances of ddPCR in detecting low viral load samples (Suo T MedRxiv 2020; You F MedRxiv 2020)
09 Sep Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Surgery as an Alternative to CPAP-like Devices
Posted at 13:38h
in Author Interviews, ENT, JAMA, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders, Surgical Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55334" align="alignleft" width="136"] Prof. MacKay[/caption]
Prof Stuart MacKay BSc (Med) MB BS (Hons) FRACS
Honorary Clinical Professor Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
Clinical Professor at University of Wollongong Graduate School of Medicine
Adjunct Professor Faculty of Health Sciences
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
- Sleep Apnea is common and impairs daytime function and carries health risk.
- Many patients have difficulty with CPAP, the main treatment.
- Surgery offers an alternative, and we tested this at a very high level in this clinical study.
- Surgery creates marked improvement in stoppages (apnea) and droppages (hypopnea) in airflow.
- Surgery significantly improves patient reports of daytime sleepiness.
- Many other outcomes related to quality of life, snoring and general well being improve with surgery.