Blog – Medical Research News and Interviews
28 Oct Exercise Linked to Reduced Hip Fractures in Post-Menopausal Women
Posted at 14:43h
in Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, Hip Fractures, JAMA, Menopause
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_51934" align="alignleft" width="140"] Dr. Wactawski-Wende[/caption]
Jean Wactawski-Wende PhD
Dean, SUNY Distinguished Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health
School of Public Health and Health Professions
University of Buffalo
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: This study included data from the Women’s Health Initiative, a prospective study of postmenopausal women from across the United States. We assessed physical activity in 77,206 women over an average of 14 years of follow-up. Approximately 1/3 of these women (average age 63.4 years) had at least one fracture occur.
Higher physical activity levels were associated with lower risk of hip and total fracture. Even levels of activity that were moderate, including regular walking and doing household chores, were beneficial.
26 Oct Massage Therapy in The Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders
Thousands of people are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder each year. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that 18.5% percent of the adult population in the U.S. experiences a mental condition in any given year.
As the epidemic of mental disorders threatens to engulf many more, those affected are resorting to holistic treatment approaches like meditation and massage therapy. In the following post, we’ll explain how massage is being used to treat psychiatric disorders and the resulting benefits.
25 Oct Highly Prevalent Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema) Is Not Just a Childhood Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51947" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Weidinger[/caption]
Dr. Stephan Weidinger, MD, MaHM
Professor of Dermatology
Christian-Albrechts-Universit
Kiel
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Relatively little is known about the epidemiology and burden of Atopic Dermatitis (AD) in children, adolescents and adults, however, there is increasing evidence that the disease is highly prevalent also in these age groups. Further, very little is known about the disease severity strata.
Severity, however, largely defines treatment needs. The EPI-CARE (EPIdemiology of Children with Atopic dermatitis Reporting on their Experience) study was a cross-sectional web-based study of the prevalence and burden of AD in both children and adolescents. It was performed globally across Europe, North America (US, Canada), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico), Asia (Japan, Taiwan), the Middle East (Israel, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates) and Russia, and used very stringent definitions of AD and the same methodology across age groups.
We first analyzed the adolescent data, and it turned out that the prevalence of active Atopic Dermatitis is higher than expected, ranging from 9.29% in the US and 14.7% in Europe. Of note, almost 50% of the adolescents with current AD reported an overall moderate to severe disease activity, and the majority reported a multidimensional burden that includes not only the skin symptoms associated with AD, but also sleep disturbances, symptoms of anxiety/depression, and reductions in quality‐of‐life and productivity. Adolescents also reported a high burden of coexisting atopic diseases that increased with AD severity – 68.6% of those with moderate AD and 81% of those with severe AD reported at least one coexisting atopic disease. atopic dermatitis substantially affects the life of patients and their families, and this burden is higher with greater AD severity.
24 Oct Nurses Exposed to Chemical Disinfectants May Have Greater Risk of COPD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51943" align="alignleft" width="100"] Dr. Dumas[/caption]
Orianne Dumas, PhD
INSERM Aging and Chronic Diseases,
Epidemiological and Public Health Approaches,Villejuif,
University de Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines,
Montigny le Bretonneux
France
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Exposure to cleaning products and disinfectants is common at work and at home and remains more frequent among women. Exposure levels are particularly high in the health care industry. The respiratory health risks associated with exposure to cleaning products and disinfectants are increasingly recognized. Although investigators have primarily focused on asthma, the irritant properties of many chemicals contained in disinfectants support the study of a broader range of respiratory effects, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
24 Oct Flavored Tobacco Restriction Policy Linked to Reduced Youth Use of Tobacco Products
Posted at 19:49h
in Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Pediatrics, Smoking, Tobacco, Tobacco Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Melody Kingsley, MPH
Epidemiologist, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The majority of youth who use tobacco use flavored products, which are available in thousands of distinct flavors with youth appeal.[i] In response, communities in states across the country, including Massachusetts, have passed flavored tobacco restriction policies which restrict sales of flavored tobacco; the Food and Drug Administration has proposed increased restrictions on the sale of flavored tobacco nationwide as well. To date, a few studies have found that flavored tobacco restriction policies reduce sales and availability of flavored tobacco, but to our knowledge, no prior evidence exists on the short-term impact of FTRPs on youth tobacco use. Timely evaluation of these policies is important to ensure that FTRPs are an effective strategy for curbing youth tobacco use.
24 Oct Exposure to Common Chemicals in First Trimester Linked to Lower IQ in Children, Especially Boys
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eva Tanner, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Researcher Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, PhD Professor at Karlstad University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Most prior research on health risks from chemical exposure study one chemical at a time. However, we are exposed to a multitude of chemicals every day in the air we breathe, food and water we consume, and things we touch. This is supported by global biomonitoring data showing that humans in general have a high number of chemicals identified in their bodies, i.e., in blood, urine, breast milk, saliva, etc. Unfortunately, we don’t know how such single chemicals act in complicated mixtures and impact our health, or the health of future generations. We conducted this study to help understand how prenatal exposure to mixtures of proven or suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals - found in common consumer products - during the earliest part of life may impact a child’s brain development and cognition in school age.
24 Oct Do Healthcare Costs Rise or Fall With Freestanding Emergency Departments?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51929" align="alignleft" width="122"]
Dr. Akhter[/caption]
Murtaza Akhter, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of Arizona College of Medicine
Phoenix
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Recent years have brought a significant increase in emergency department visits, and therefore also a boon in openings of freestanding emergency departments (FrEDs). However, it is has been unclear whether the opening of FrEDs reduces healthcare costs. Our study showed that in increase in FrEDs was associated with an increase in spending per Blue Cross Blue Shield enrollee.
23 Oct Additive Benefit of RNA Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Rachid Karam, MD, PhD
Ambry Genetics
Aliso Viejo, California
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: DNA genetic testing is a powerful tool used to tailor medical care based on an individual’s cancer risk. However, even medical grade DNA genetic testing can produce inconclusive results, finding a change in our DNA to be a variant of unknown significance (a VUS) and failing to determine whether it increases cancer risk. When this happens, healthcare providers might not have the information needed to recommend appropriate preventive and early detection steps, or certain cancer treatments, and relatives may not be referred for genetic testing for their own care.
In this study, investigators from Ambry, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute, and University of Kansas Cancer Center demonstrated that performing both DNA and RNA genetic testing reduces inconclusive results enabling clinicians to offer cancer screening and treatment resources to the right patients.
23 Oct Lung Cancer Screening: Using Life-Gained Model To Reduce Harms and Prevent More Deaths
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51923" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Cheung[/caption]
Li C. Cheung, PhD
Staff Scientist, Biostatistics Branch
Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics
NCI National Cancer Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Using individualized risk prediction models to select individuals for lung-cancer screening will prevent more lung cancer deaths than current USPSTF guidelines (ages 55-80y; 30+ pack-years; smoke in past 15y). However, risk-based screening would lead to screening even more older smokers with comorbidities, for whom the harms of screening may outweigh the benefits.
23 Oct Kids Who Starting Smoking with Flavored Tobacco More Likely to Keep Smoking
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51902" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Villanti[/caption]
Andrea Villanti, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Psychiatry
Vermont Center on Behavior and Health
University of Vermont
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Our earlier work documented a significant association between first use of a flavored tobacco product and current tobacco use (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5522636/) in a cross-sectional sample. The goal of this study was to examine whether there was a prospective relationship between first use of a flavored tobacco product and subsequent use of that product in longitudinal data..
23 Oct Online Searches for CBD Skyrocket
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51918" align="alignleft" width="158"] Dr. Ayers[/caption]
John W. Ayers, PhD, MA
Vice Chief of Innovation | Assoc. Professor
Div. Infectious Disease & Global Public Health
University of California San Diego
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Touted as a “cure all,” researchers have documented unfounded claims
that cannabidiol (CBD) treats acne, anxiety, opioid addiction, pain,
and menstrual problems. You can buy CBD droplets, massage oils,
CBD gummies, or even ice cream.
But public health leaders have been mostly silent on the subject because they lacked data
that demonstrates just how popular CBD is and the future trajectory might be.
To fill this data-gap we analyzed Google search queries that mentioned
“CBD” or “cannabidiol” emerging from the United States from January
2004 through April 2019 and forecasted searches through December 2019.
Rather than relying on self reports, where some might not be willing
to discuss CBD openly, our strategy allowed us to directly observed
millions of instances of people seeking out information or even
shopping for CBD online.
22 Oct No Link Found Between Adolescent Contact Sports and Cognitive or Mental Health in Early Adulthood
Posted at 19:55h
in Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Exercise - Fitness, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_51914" align="alignleft" width="165"]
Dr. Bohr[/caption]
Adam Bohr, PhD
Postdoctoral researcher
Department of Integrative Physiology
University of Colorado Boulder
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Recent population studies of former football players from the 1950's did not observe a relationship between participation in football and adverse cognitive outcomes in late adulthood.
We were able to replicate this finding in a more recently ascertained cohort from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). We did not observe a relationship between participation in contact sports/football in the mid-1990s and impaired cognitive ability or mental health in early adulthood.
22 Oct High-Needs, High-Cost Patients: Using Value-Based Interventions to Overcome Barriers to Care
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51910" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Buck[/caption]
David S Buck, MD, MPH
Associate Dean of Community Health
Professor, Clinical Sciences
University of Houston - College of Medicine
Houston, TX 77204
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: High-Needs, High-Cost (HNHC) patients account for 5% of the general population and cost 50% of the healthcare spending. In Harris County, one patient alone costed $439,600 in a year when he visited multiple medical, social and behavioral agencies for care. This was a result of siloed systems working independently of each other leading to inefficient care for the patient. By providing coordinated care, using patient-centered goals and values, we are able to better engage and provide a holistic approach to patient care.
This paper introduces a novel ‘values-based’ intervention mechanism for the HNHC patients, in addition to a coordinated care management approach, through a single record system. The findings indicate an improved daily functioning of the HNHC patients over 4 months, improved relationship between the providers and the patients and moderate well-being scores.
22 Oct Having a Dog Linked to Longer Life After Heart Attack or Stroke
Posted at 16:36h
in Author Interviews
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Mwenya Mubanga, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics | Karolinska Institutet
Childhood Allergy and Asthma
Stockholm
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In a previous study we showed that dog ownership was associated with a lower risk of composite cardiovascular death and all-cause death as compared to non-dog owners.1 In this follow-up, we assessed the hypothesis that dog ownership was associated with better survival after either an acute myocardial infarction or an ischemic stroke.
Using the rich Swedish national registers, we identified more than 300,000 adults aged 45 to 80 and linked their individual-level health records to information on socio-economic, demographic and death data.
22 Oct Avoiding Cow’s Milk Formula at Birth May Reduce Food Allergies
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mitsuyoshi Urashima MD, PhD, MPH Professor of Molecular Epidemiology Jikei University School of Medicine Tokyo, JAPAN MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: IgE-mediated food allergy is becoming a global concern, because its prevalence and severity are worsening. Many Japanese maternity wards encourage breastfeeding, but allow mothers or nurses to supplement breastfeeding with cow’s milk formula, e.g., approximately 6 to 10 hours after birth or even earlier, based on maternal preferences, but not based on clinical evidence. However, more than 20 to 30 years ago, sugar water was given instead of cow’s milk formula supplement at birth. Thus, we hypothesized that early exposure to cow’s milk formula at birth is, at least in part, associated with the recent increase in children with food allergy. Therefore, a randomized clinical trial, named ABC (Atopy induced by Breast feeding or Cow's milk formula), was conducted to assess whether the risk of cow’s milk formula sensitization and food allergy is decreased by either avoiding or supplementing cow’s milk formula at birth. Immediately after birth, newborns were randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to either breastfeeding with or without amino acid-based elemental formula for at least the first 3 days of life (breastfeeding ± elemental formula), or breastfeeding supplemented with cow’s milk formula (≥5 mL/day) from the first day of life to 5 months of age (breastfeeding + cow's milk formula).
22 Oct Sentinels in the Mouth: Special Sensory Cells in the Gums Protect Against Periodontitis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51897" align="alignleft" width="146"] Dr. Margolskee[/caption]
Robert Margolskee, MD, PhD
Director and President
Monell Center
Adjunct Professor, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We found chemical-sensing cells in the gums that protect the mouth by standing guard against infections that damage soft tissue and destroy the bone that supports the teeth. With the help of bitter taste receptors that also detect byproducts from harmful bacteria, these special gum cells trigger the immune system to control the amount and type of bacteria in the mouth. This knowledge could one day lead to personalized dental treatments against gum disease.
Periodontitis is a serious gum disorder caused by an imbalance in the bacteria and other microorganisms of the mouth. We hope that our new information can help to combat this sixth-most prevalent infectious disease and most common cause of tooth loss worldwide.
21 Oct OPTIMA Trial: Macitentan +Tadalafil Improves Hemodynamics in Pulmonary Artery Hypertension
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51892" align="alignleft" width="85"] Dr. Sitbon[/caption]
Olivier Sitbon, MD, PhD
Université Paris–Sud
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How does this treatment competition differ from other treatments for PAH?
Response: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a complex, progressive and potentially fatal disease with no cure. Over the past decades, advances in understanding the pathophysiology of PAH have led to major prognostic improvement and developments of new treatment guidelines and therapies. Current treatment guidelines recommend initial combination therapy for these patients to target multiple PAH-associated pathways in parallel.
OPTIMA was a prospective, multicenter, single-arm, open-label, Phase IV trial designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of initial oral combination therapy with macitentan and tadalafil in patients with newly diagnosed PAH. Treatment with macitentan 10 mg once-daily and tadalafil 20 mg once-daily was initiated on the same day. After 8±3 days, tadalafil dose was increased to 40 mg once-daily.
Safety and tolerability findings were consistent with previous clinical trials that supported the approval and use of macitentan 10 mg once-daily. Efficacy outcomes were assessed at Week 16 and safety continued to be monitored until study closure.
The results from the OPTIMA analysis suggest that initial treatment with macitentan in combination with tadalafil is associated with hemodynamic improvement in newly diagnosed patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension
21 Oct Glaucoma Visual Functional Progression Can Be Monitored Using AI-Enabled Radar
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51888" align="alignleft" width="130"] Dr. Pasquale[/caption]
Louis R. Pasquale, MD
Professor of Ophthalmology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai;
Site Chair of the Department of
Ophthalmology at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens;
Vice Chair of Translational Ophthalmology Research
Mount Sinai Health System
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Individual visual field tests provide a 52-point array of functional information about a glaucoma patient but it does not give us a handle on how functionally disabled they might be. A series of visual field tests need to be assessed for functional progression but current conventional algorithms for doing so are governed by ad hoc rules and the various algorithms available for assessing progression do not agree with one another. Finally, in managed care setting where one might be responsible for allocating resources for large numbers of glaucoma patients, it would be valuable to quickly visualize which patients are progressing rapidly and which ones are stable. This could allow for proper allocation of resources and perhaps inquiry into why a subset of patients are doing poorly.
We wanted to develop an easy to use tool to quickly visualize how individual glaucoma patients and how groups of glaucoma patients are doing from a functional perspective.
21 Oct DERM: AI Algorithm Helps Determine Likelihood of Melanoma from Dermoscopic Images
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Helen Marsden PhD
Skin Analytics Limited
London, United Kingdom
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In this technology age, with the explosion of interest and applications using Artificial Intelligence, it is easy to accept the output of a technology-based test - such as a smartphone app designed to identify skin cancer - without thinking too much about it. In reality, technology is only as good as the way it has been developed, tested and validated. In particular, AI algorithms are prone to a lack of “generalisation” - i.e. their performance drops when presented with data it has not seen before. In the medical field, and particularly in areas where AI is being developed to direct a patient’s diagnosis or care, this is particularly problematic. Inappropriate diagnosis or advice to patients can lead to false reassurance, heightened concern and pressure on NHS services, or worse. It is concerning, therefore, that there are a large number of smartphone apps available that provide an assessment of skin lesions, including some that provide an estimate of the probability of malignancy, that have not been assessed for diagnostic accuracy.
Skin Analytics has developed an AI-based algorithm, named: Deep Ensemble for Recognition of Malignancy (DERM), for use as a decision support tool for healthcare providers. DERM determines the likelihood of skin cancer from dermoscopic images of skin lesions. It was developed using deep learning techniques that identify and assess features of these lesions which are associated with melanoma, using over 7,000 archived dermoscopic images. Using these images, it was shown to identify melanoma with similar accuracy to specialist physicians. However, to prove the algorithm could be used in a real life clinical setting, Skin Analytics set out to conduct a clinical validation study.
20 Oct Cancer Cells Take Advantage of Brain’s Fatty Environment to Grow
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51877" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Qing Chen[/caption]
Qing Chen, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Immunology, Microenvironment & Metastasis Program
Scientific Director, Imaging Facility
The Wistar Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We are focusing on how a specific type of brain cells, astrocytes, helps the cancer cells from melanoma and breast cancer to form metastatic lesions.
18 Oct Lower Risk of Diabetes and Hypertension in Moms Who Breastfed for Over a Year
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51869" align="alignleft" width="160"]
Dr. Ahmed[/caption]
Haitham M. Ahmed, MD, MPH
Chair of Cardiology, Advantage Care Physicians
Brooklyn, New York
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This was a meta-analysis of more than a quarter m illion mothers looking at the long-term cardiovascular risk reduction of mothers who breastfed their babies.
18 Oct Women Physician Scientists More Likely To Burnout
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51825" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Perumalswami[/caption]
Chithra R. Perumalswami, MD, MSc
Research Fellow
Center for Bioethics & Social Sciences in Medicine
University of Michigan
[caption id="attachment_51839" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Jagsi[/caption]
Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil
Professor, Deputy Chair, and Residency Program Director
Department of Radiation Oncology and Director
Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine University of Michigan
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Burnout is a syndrome characterized by a sense of decreased personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization. It can lead to increased depression, illness, suicide, and absences from work.
Physician burnout has reached epidemic proportions and physician-scientists are not immune from it. They are a critical part of the healthcare workforce who are responsible for translating innovative bench research to the bedside of patients, and in recent years have faced increasing pressures.
18 Oct Newly Recognized Trigger Mechanism of Atopic Dermatitis Identified
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Stephen J. Galli, MD Mary Hewitt Loveless, MD Professor Professor of Pathology and of Microbiology and Immunology Department of Pathology Stanford University School of Medicine Center for Clinical Sciences Research Stanford, CA and Nicolas Gaudenzio PhD Unité de Différenciation Epithéliale et Autoimmunité Rhumatoïde INSERM, Université de Toulouse Toulouse, France MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We took a lead from existing clinical data showing that patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, an increasingly common disorder producing skin pathology, also have elevated levels of neuropeptides in their blood, particularly one neuropeptide, named “substance P”, whose level is correlated with disease severity. These patients also have high levels of mast cell-specific proteases in the blood, indicating that mast cells, which are innate immune cells present in the skin, and which can be activated when exposed to substance P, might play an essential role in modulating inflammatory and allergic processes. Based on these observations, our teams (Galli Lab at Stanford University, USA and Gaudenzio Lab at Inserm Toulouse, France) decided to focus on the possible interactions between sensory neurons, which are a source of substance P, and mast cells. The results of this work have now been published in the journal Nature Immunology.
18 Oct Fewer Car Crashes after Cataract Surgery
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jonathon Ng MD Clinical Senior Lecturer Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Population and Public Health University of Western Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This study was a part of a programme of research into cataract surgery and motor vehicle accidents spanning a decade. The older population is the fastest growing group of drivers and continuing to drive is an important part of maintaining independence. However, ageing also leads to a variety of conditions, including eye diseases such as cataract which affects vision and driving ability. We conducted this current study to try and better understand driving performance in people having cataract surgery. This was prompted by our earlier work 10 years ago that found decreased motor vehicle accidents after cataract surgery in a study of 28,000 people using linked health and administrative data.
14 Oct Hunt For Cause of New Genetic Brain Disorder in Young Children
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51856" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Van Bergen[/caption]
Dr Nicole Van Bergen B Sc (Hon), PhD
Senior Research Officer, Neurodevelopmental Genomics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Honorary Fellow, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne
Murdoch Children's Research Institute
The Royal Children's Hospital
Parkville, Victoria Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We are in an era when the price tag of genetic testing by next generation sequencing is becoming a cost-effective and rapid tool for medical diagnosis. The benefit to patients is often a more accurate and early diagnosis. Because we can do genetic analysis on blood or saliva, we don’t need to use more traditional invasive investigations such as biopsies, brain scans or other extensive imaging. We are reaching an unprecedented rate of discovery of new genes for rare disorders which will help solve the mystery for many previously undiagnosed conditions.
An incredibly talented international team of researchers, led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) identified the underlying cause of a rare brain disorder in children. Together they identified that pathogenic mutations in a gene called NAXD cause severe neurological damage in children after an episode of mild fever or illness. Only six cases have been recorded worldwide and all the children died soon after suffering either a fever or illness.
The research paper, ‘NAD(P)HX Dehydratase (NAXD) Deficiency: A Novel Neurodegenerative Disorder Exacerbated By Febrile Illnesses’ is published in the latest edition of the journal, Brain.
MCRI lead laboratory researcher Nicole Van Bergen, said the research provides an excellent example of how new genetic testing technologies can be applied to solve the mystery of previously undiagnosed conditions.
“By coupling the genetic testing information with sophisticated functional genomic approaches in the laboratory, we were able to pinpoint the exact cause of this disorder,”Dr Van Bergan said. “We used skin cells from patients, as well as other laboratory tools, to work out the gene that caused the children’s early death.
14 Oct Astigmatism Varies Among Age, Gender, Ethnic and Education Groups
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51806" align="alignleft" width="130"]
Dr. Ahmad[/caption]
Sumayya Ahmad, MD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The cornea is usually curved like a basketball or a globe. Roughly all of the edges are about equal distant from the center. With this shape, light enters the eye normally and the image is not distorted. However, not all eyes are shaped that way.
About 30% of eyes have astigmatism, in which the cornea is shaped like a football, or elongated in one axis. If the longest diameter is up and down, we call that with the rule astigmatism, and if it is to the side, we call that against-the rule astigmatism.
A lot of studies have been devoted to astigmatism over the years, but nobody has looked at it from a population perspective in the United States and tried to figure out the relationships it may have. Most studies are from one center or other country's databases, but not ours. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, is a survey composed in the United States each year that looks at a representative sample of people from across the country. It's a great way to study the relationship between the environment and people. We tried to look at demographic factors (like age, gender, race) and ocular factors related to against and with the rule astigmatism.
14 Oct Significant PReP Gap Remains Among MSM in EU and Central Asia
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51848" align="alignleft" width="200"] Rosalie Hayes[/caption]
Rosalie Hayes
Senior Policy & Campaigns Officer
NAT (National AIDS Trust)
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The international community has committed to the Sustainable Development Goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 (SDG 3.3). Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV infection involves the use of antiretroviral drugs by people at high risk of acquiring HIV, and its efficacy of PrEP is well-documented. To help achieve SDG 3.3, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has recommended as one of its global targets that 3 million people access PrEP by 2020.
For this paper, we examined European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and UNAIDS monitoring data from Europe and Central Asia (the 53 countries of the WHO European Region plus Kosovo* and Liechtenstein) to identify what progress has been made in implementing PrEP in these countries. We also used data on self-reported PrEP use and expressed need for PrEP among men who have sex with men (MSM) from the European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS-2017) to calculate an estimate of the level of unmet need for PrEP in each country, what we term the ‘PrEP gap’.
14 Oct Does Legalizing Pot Reduce Crime?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ruibin Lu
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
Stockton University
Absecon, New Jersey
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We are witnessing a trend of legalizing marijuana in the United States and in the world. Many states have either legalized recreational marijuana or are considering it. At the same time, there are concerns about what will happen to our society if weed is legal. One of the concerns is about crime rates: are we going to experience more or fewer crimes after legalizing recreational marijuana? This is a legitimate question that we should consider when making cannabis-related public policies. Our research provides a preliminary answer to this question. It analyzes crime rates before and after the legalization using rigorous scientific methods and provides more information on how marijuana legalization may affect crime rates.
13 Oct Disruption of Intestinal Clock Genes May Be Associated with Obesity and Inflammatory Disorders
Posted at 20:12h
in Author Interviews, Circadian Rhythm, Gastrointestinal Disease, Genetic Research, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_51836" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr-Colonna-and-Qianli Wang[/caption]
Marco Colonna, MD
Robert Rock Belliveau MD Professor
Pathology & Immunology
Washington University School of Medicine
Qianli Wang MD-PhD Student
MSTP student
Washington University School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Many aspects of the mammalian digestive system including gut motility, nutrient absorption, and microbiota follow a daily rhythm. This circadian rhythm is generated by the cyclic expressions of molecular clock genes thought to be present in most cells. Group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) are lymphocytes residing in the intestinal mucosa that respond rapidly to activation in both homeostatic and inflammatory settings. Namely, ILC3s help maintain the mucosal barrier, regulate epithelial lipid transport, and protect against bacterial enteric infections. As tissue resident cells within the highly dynamic and rhythmic environment of the intestine, it may be advantageous for ILC3s to also be synchronized with the circadian rhythm.