Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, JAMA, OBGYNE / 04.05.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Richard McManus MA PhD MBBS FRCGP FRCP Professor of Primary Care Dr. McManus chairs the Blood Pressure Monitoring Working Party of the British Hypertension Society Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences  MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: About one in ten people who are pregnant develop high blood pressure and almost half of these go onto to have pre-eclampsia. Many pregnant women and individuals are already measuring their own blood pressure – well over half of those with high blood pressure in a recent large survey in the UK but until recently there were no data to support this. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Hearing Loss, JAMA / 04.05.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Archelle Georgiou, MD Chief Health Officer for Starkey Starkey Hearing Technologies Eden Prairie, Minnesota MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: In August 2021, Starkey introduced a vaccination incentive program for employees in the U.S. to provide education on COVID-19 and encourage vaccinations. The program encouraged employees to watch and acknowledge online educational information and report their vaccination status. Those fully vaccinated and who submitted proof of vaccination by September 2021, including employees who were vaccinated prior to the incentive announcement, received $1,000.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 28.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Neelam Vashi MD Director of the Boston University Center for Ethnic Skin Dermatologist at Boston Medical Center, and Dr. Henriette De La Garza MD Research fellow Boston University School of Medicine   MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly shifted many of our daily activities to an online world, dramatically increasing the use of electronic devices. Although visible light exposure from screens is small compared with the amount of exposure from the sun, there is concern about the long-term effects of excessive screen time. Recent studies have demonstrated that exposure to light emitted from electronic devices, even for as little as 1 hour, may cause reactive oxygen species generation, apoptosis, collagen degradation, and necrosis of skin cells. Visible light increases tyrosinase activity and induces immediate erythema in light-skinned individuals and long-lasting pigmentation in dark-skinned individuals. In recent years, tinted sunscreens have been rising in popularity because they are an effective and convenient way to protect against high-energy visible light while providing cosmetic benefits. The purpose of this analysis was to study current available options and product factors that may influence consumer preference when choosing a tinted sunscreen so dermatologists can improve their familiarity with available products and tailor their recommendations to patients with all skin tones. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Hepatitis - Liver Disease / 27.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah Rock, MPH PhD student, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences Keck School of Medicine University of Southern California MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?  Response: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent, man-made chemicals widely used in industry and consumer products. Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to multiple disease outcomes including cancer, glucose dysregulation, and as reported in the current study, liver injury. We compiled results from more than 100PFAS studies in humans and rodents and found consistent evidence that PFAS are related to liver injury. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Radiology / 27.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH Senior Principal Scientist, Health Services Research American Cancer Society, Inc. Kennesaw, GA 30144 MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) can deliver higher dose of radiation to the tumor with less damage to surrounding healthy cells. Therefore, PBT is potentially superior to photon-based radiation therapy to treat tumors with complex anatomy, surrounded by sensitive tissues, or for treating childhood cancer (where long-term side effects of radiation therapy are a main concern). However, PBT can cost twice as much as photon-based radiation therapy.  (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Fertility, Heart Disease / 27.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pensée Wu, MBChB, MD(Res) Senior Lecturer, Honorary Consultant Obstetrician Subspecialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine School of Medicine, Keele University Staffordshire, UK MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We looked at outcomes in pregnancies conceived with assisted reproductive technology and compared those with pregnancies that were conceived naturally. Using a hospital admissions database in the U.S. called the National inpatient sample between 2008 and 2016, we included >100,000 pregnancies conceived with assisted reproductive technology and 34 million naturally conceived pregnancies. We found that women with assisted reproductive technology-conceived pregnancies had doubled the risk of acute kidney injury and arrhythmias (irregular heart beats). These women also had a 1-3-1.6-fold risk of preterm birth, Caesarean delivery and placental abruption (placenta separating from the womb). We concluded that women should be informed of these risks during pre-pregnancy counselling.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Vitamin D / 26.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Katie M. O’Brien PhD Chronic Disease Epidemiology Group National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings? Response: Vitamin D may protect against breast cancer. Although women of color have lower average vitamin D levels than non-Hispanic White women, few studies have considered the role of race/ethnicity. In a sample of self-identified Black/African American and Hispanic/Latina women, we observed that vitamin D concentrations measured in blood were inversely associated with breast cancer, particularly among Latinas. These findings indicate that vitamin D may protect against breast cancer, including among racial/ethnic groups with low average circulating levels. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cognitive Issues, Exercise - Fitness / 23.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Robert A. Stern, Ph.D. Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Anatomy & Neurobiology Director of Clinical Research, BU CTE Center Senior Investigator, BU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Boston University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: The link between playing American football at the professional level and later-life brain disorders like chronic traumatic encephalopathy – or CTE -- and ALS has received increasing attention over the past 15 years. Previous research has shown that former NFL players are more likely to die from CTE and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and more likely to report cognitive impairment, behavioral changes, and dementia during life. Despite previous research focusing on the later-life effects of playing American football at the professional level, the long-term effects of college football participation remain largely unknown. We had two goals for this new investigation. The first was to conduct a survey of the current overall health status, including cognitive and other neurological disorders, of older former college American football players compared with men in the general population. The second goal was to examine the mortality rate and causes of death in a cohort of older former college football players. The target population for this study was all 447 former Notre Dame football players who were listed as seniors on the varsity rosters during the 1964-1980 seasons. This was the era of legendary coaches Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine. I should add that this study was fully independent of the University of Notre Dame. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Vaccine Studies / 22.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ashley Otter, PhD Research scientist within Diagnostic Support for the rare/imported pathogens laboratory (RIPL) Public Health England (PHE) MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: The SIREN study is a national research project covering all four nations of the United Kingdom. Almost 45,000 healthcare workers from across the UK were enrolled midway through 2020, each providing monthly samples for antibody testing and fortnightly PCR testing. Using samples from participants from this project, we were able to take a snapshot of ~6,000 participants at different stages after they received their vaccination to see how different factors affect their antibody responses. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Race/Ethnic Diversity, UCSF / 20.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Erica Kornblith, PhD Assistant Professor, Psychiatry UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?  Response: As the population of the United States grows more diverse and dementia is a serious public health concern, we hoped to understand whether differences in dementia risk exist based on race or ethnicity.  Older studies have shown that Black and Hispanic folks have higher risk of dementia, perhaps due to medical risk factors, diagnostic bias, lack of equal access to health care and education, or the health effects of racism, among other factors.  However, these older studies have been small or limited geographically or by only studying a few race and ethnicity groups. Our study used a nationwide sample of almost two million older Veterans who all had access to care through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and we examined 5 race or ethnicity groups: American Indians or Alaska Natives, Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites. Our results show that dementia risk is higher for Black and Hispanic Veterans compared to white Veterans, even when education and medical factors are considered. (more…)
Aging, Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Genetic Research, Nature / 20.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael B. Miller, MD, PhD Instructor, Harvard Medical School Department of Pathology Brigham and Women's Hospital MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study? Would you explain what is meant by somatic genetic changes and how they might occur?  Response: Changes, also called mutations, in the DNA sequence of genes can be passed from parents to their children, and explain why many diseases run in families. This kind of DNA change is called a germline mutation and is present in every cell in a person’s body. Gene mutations can also occur in a subset of cells of a person, in which case they are called somatic mutations. Somatic mutations are well known as a cause of cancer, and recent research has found that somatic mutations can also happen in non-cancerous cells that appear otherwise normal. Recent studies have even found that somatic mutations are present in neurons, cells in the brain that transmit electrical signals and play an important role in how the brain functions. Furthermore, in neurons, somatic mutations increase with age, so we set out to understand if somatic mutations might be playing a role in age-related brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. (more…)
Heart Disease, Technology / 19.04.2022

Ken Londoner, MBA Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, and Director BioSig Technologies MedicalResearch.com: Would you briefly describe the condition of Atrial fibrillation (AFib)? Whom does AFib primarily affect and how common is it?  What are the potential complication of AFib?  Response: Atrial Fibrillation, or Afib—the most common heart rhythm disturbance—affects over 33 million people across the globe. Afib is caused by faulty electrical signals in the upper chambers of the heart (the atria) that cause it to beat too fast or irregularly—often more than 400 beats per minute.*  The condition can lead to serious health consequences, including stroke, blood clots, or sudden cardiac arrest. Stroke is among the most serious health concerns for Afib patients, with research suggesting a Afib carries a 5-fold increased risk of stroke— especially when Afib is left untreated. With a lifetime risk of more than 20 percent*, Afib can affect anyone. However, the condition is most common in those 65 years and older.  Individuals with underlying health complications, including heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid problems, or excessive alcohol use are also at a greater risk of developing Afib.* (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Fertility, Heart Disease, JACC / 19.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emily Lau, MD, MPH Cardiologist Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School Director, Menopause, Hormones & Cardiovascular Disease Clinic Massachusetts General Hospital MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings? Response: Emerging data suggest that a woman’s reproductive history influences her future risk of heart disease. Infertility is a reproductive risk factor that affects ~14% of women but has not been rigorously studied with respect to its relationship with cardiovascular disease risk. We studied over 38,000 women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative and found that infertility was associated with greater risk of heart failure. In particular, we found that the association was driven by greater risk of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a form of heart failure that is far more common among women. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, Genetic Research, Nature / 18.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jason Vassy, MD, MPH Brigham and Women's Hospital Division of General Internal Medicine & Primary Care Brigham’s Precision Population Health at Ariadne Labs and VA Boston  MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?    Response: A person’s risk of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes or breast cancer may be influenced by thousands of genetic differences, the effects of which can be combined to derive a single score, often called a polygenic risk score (PRS). PRS might be useful to help patients and their physicians make tailored decisions about their health care, but several challenges to the clinical implementation of PRS remain. Most importantly, most PRS are less accurate in individuals of non-European descent, since most genomic research to date has been conducted in European populations. Another key challenge is that physicians and patients will need support to understand polygenic risk score and use them to make medical decisions. Clinical guidelines do not yet exist to help a physician know whether and how they should treat a patient with a high-risk score differently than an average-risk patient. We designed the Genomic Medicine at VA (GenoVA) Study to address some of these challenges. (more…)
AACR, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research / 18.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ajit Johnson Nirmal PhD Instructor of Medicine, DFCI, HMS Laboratory of systems pharmacology Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Like many other types of cancers, melanoma arises from gene mutations within cells that impact cell growth and division. These abnormal cells should be rapidly eliminated by our immune system, however, the failure to do so leads to the development of cancer. Hence researchers have long been interested to study the tumor environment that nurtures and sustains these dangerous cells. In the past, researchers have used single-cell technologies to delineate the cell types and cell states that make up the tumor microenvironment. However, the spatial relationships between these cell types and how they organize themselves such as to provide a favorable environment for the tumor to develop remains unknown. In the last couple of years, researchers have developed a new suite of new technologies called spatial omics which includes CYCIF a method that was developed at Sorger lab. Using this method, we can not only measure the molecular information of cells at a single cell level but also their spatial context. This allows us to build a google map like view of the skin with melanoma and study what is exactly happening that allows the tumors to develop. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Clots - Coagulation / 18.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. med. univ. Cornelia Englisch Medical University of Vienna MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Patients with cancer are at high risk for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE). Venous thromboembolism includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT), when blood clots form in the deep veins of the legs and pulmonary embolism (PE), a potential life-threatening condition when a clot breaks free and lodges in the arteries of the lung. Having a non-O blood type, meaning blood types A, AB or B, is a known risk factor for VTE in the general – non-cancer – population. Interestingly, it is the most common genetic risk factor for thrombosis. If this is also the case in patients with cancer has not been clarified yet. We therefore wanted to assess the role of ABO blood type in cancer-associated thrombosis. To achieve our goal, we utilized the dataset of the Vienna Cancer and Thrombosis Study (CATS); an observational cohort study including adult patients with active cancer. (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems / 14.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James H. Baraldi University of Pittsburgh MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Researchers investigating pharmaceuticals and medical devices in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) often receive payments from the manufacturers of these investigational products. In many cases these payments are not dedicated to the express purpose of research, but rather consist of consulting fees and compensation for travel and lodging and food and beverage. As part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the US government passed the Physician Payment Sunshine Act to increase transparency of this type of funding. The law required manufacturers reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to disclose to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services information regarding investigator payments. This information became freely and publicly available on the Open Payments website with the earliest data from 2013. Not only have the pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers disclosed the investigators’ payment information, but the investigators themselves have had to do so in accordance with the requirements of the journals in which they publish their findings or in accordance with the requirements of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). (more…)
Author Interviews, Cleveland Clinic, Diabetes, JACC, Surgical Research, Weight Research / 14.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Amgad Mentias, MD MS FACC FESC Assistant Professor, CCLCM Section of Clinical Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Institute. Cleveland, OH 44195Amgad Mentias, MD MS FACC FESC Assistant Professor, CCLCM Section of Clinical Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Institute. Cleveland, OH 44195  MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?    Response:  There is evidence that bariatric or weight loss surgery can decrease the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death in young and middle age patients with obesity and diabetes. However, the evidence is less clear for older patients and patients without diabetes. There is also no long-term data on outcomes of bariatric surgery in the Medicare beneficiaries. So, in our study, we aimed to report long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery from a contemporary nationwide cohort from the US, while also looking into outcomes in patients older than 65 years, and patients without type 2 diabetes specifically. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics, Social Issues / 13.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Regina Triplett, M.D., M.S. Developmental Neuroscience Post-Doctoral Research Scholar Department of Neurology Washington University in St. Louis, MO  MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?  Response: This is an ongoing, longitudinal, prospective study of 399 pairs of mothers studied throughout pregnancy and their infants, designed to investigate exposure to early life adversity (prenatal poverty and stress) on infant brain development and behavior in early childhood. We examined measures of maternal socioeconomic status including neighborhood factors and stress/mental health during pregnancy in relation to data from infant brain MRI scans conducted in the first weeks after birth. We found that poverty during pregnancy is associated with reduced size and folding of infant brains. We found these associations across the whole brain and not specific to one region. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, JAMA / 13.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cheng-Ying Ho, MD, PhD Associate Professor Department of Pathology Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Smell loss is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection. The mechanism of COVID-19-related smell loss is unclear. Previous studies mainly focused on the effect of the viral infection on the lining of the nasal cavity. We went a step beyond to examine the olfactory bulb, a region that transmits smell-related signals to the brain.  (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Lancet / 12.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Kollengode Ramanathan MD Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit National University Heart Centre National University Hospital Singapore MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Globally, more than 10 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered as of March 2022. While most side-effects of the vaccine are mild and self-limiting, myopericarditis ( inflammation of the heart) is increasingly being reported after COVID-19 vaccination. Thus far it has only been linked only to smallpox vaccination. However, several studies have suggested that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines significantly increase the risk of myocarditis, particularly in males and in people aged 16-39 years. We reviewed the literature comparing the incidence of myopericarditis following COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 vaccination.   (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, Melanoma, University of Pittsburgh / 08.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura Ferris, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Dermatology Director of clinical trials for UPMC Department of Dermatology University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: In this quality initiative at UPMC (a large academic and community health system in Western PA and surrounding areas) Primary Care Physicians were trained to perform annual skin cancer screening examinations of their patients who were aged 35 years and older at routine medical visits. Over a 5-year period more than 595,000 patients who were eligible to be screened were seen by a UPMC PCP and about 24% of them were screened. We compared the number and thickness (an important indicator of prognosis) of the melanomas diagnosed in those patients who were screened to those who were not screened. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Yale / 08.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brett King, MD, PhD, FAAD Associate Professor of Dermatology Yale School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder marked by disfiguring, non-scarring hair loss, and there are no therapies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of the disease. JAK inhibitors are showing promise for treatment of severe alopecia areata. In this work, the pooled results of two phase 3 clinical trials of the JAK inhibitor baricitinib were reported out to 52 weeks. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nature, Weight Research / 07.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lee Roberts PhD Professor and Chair of Molecular Physiology and Metabolism Department of Discovery and Translational Science Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Medicine School of Medicine University of Leeds MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?  Response: Obesity rates have nearly tripled worldwide since 1975. In 2016, there were more than 650 million adults aged 18 and above with obesity. Obesity can lead to increased fat in the blood which damages tissues and organs, contributing to the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes. This elevated blood fat can damage the cellular organelle responsible for making protein, the endoplasmic reticulum, causing the cell to come under stress and potentially resulting in the cell dying. When this occurs in skeletal muscle it can contribute to features of the metabolic syndrome including metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Nature, Neurological Disorders / 07.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tracy Fischer, PhD Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology Tulane National Primate Research Center    MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study? Response: We investigated multiple regions of the brain from SARS-CoV-2 infected Rhesus macaques and African green monkeys for the presence of inflammation and other pathology that may result from COVID-19. Most animals were infected for approximately one month before our investigation, however, two of the African green monkeys developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) prior to the study endpoint. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Heart Disease, JACC, Surgical Research / 06.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mario F.L. Gaudino, M.D. PhD Attending Cardiac SurgeonDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery Antonino Di Franco, MD Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery Weill Cornell Medicine   MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What is the aim of this review?  Response: Biological and socio-cultural differences between men and women are complex and likely account for most of the variations in the epidemiology and treatment outcomes of coronary artery disease (CAD) between the two sexes. Despite the growing recognition of sex-specific determinants of outcomes, representation of women in clinical studies remains low, and sex-specific management strategies are generally not provided in guidelines. We summarized the current evidence on sex-related differences in patients with CAD, focusing on the differential outcomes following medical therapy, percutaneous coronary interventions, and coronary artery bypass surgery. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition / 05.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, MS, PhD, FACN Professor of Clinical Nutrition School of Food and Agriculture Graduate Faculty School of Biomedical Sciences Associate Faculty, Institute of Medicine Fulbright Fellow University of Maine Orono, Maine 04469  MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Bioactive compounds such as polyphenols have been documented to have wound healing properties . In the Klimis-Zacas laboratory, phenolic extracts (PE) from wild blueberries (WB) were reported to promote angiogenesis in HUVEC cells via cell migration, angiogenesis, through VEGF/P13K/AKT pathway documented that the PE, primarily composed of chlorogenic acid significantly promoted cell migration and closure speed of wound by 38% above the control as well as angiogenesis and gene expression for proteins critical for cell movement while the anthocyanin fraction inhibited the above processes (5,6).  (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Cognitive Issues / 05.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Yangfeng Wu Peking University Clinical Research Institute Peking University MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings? Response: It is well-established that elevated blood pressure (BP) at single time point can contribute to increased risks of suffering accelerated cognitive decline, dementia, and mortality. Nevertheless, BP levels could experience significant alterations as time goes, indicating the necessity of monitoring BP longitudinally. In other words, using blood pressure levels measured at baseline to predict future outcomes in a longitudinal cohort with a long-term follow-up period ≥20 years, becomes controversial. Cumulative BP levels have been indicated as a feasible approach for evaluating long-term exposure of BP levels, which might have the ability to respond to this controversy. This is the main reason why we performed this research to evaluate the predictive values of cumulative BP levels, especially additional values beyond baseline blood pressure levels, for future neurocognitive and longevity outcomes. (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Medical Imaging / 02.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alpen ORTUĞ, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow​ Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging Boston, MA   MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings? Response: Finding the earliest diagnosis possible for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the main goals for researchers studying ASD. This study aimed to investigate the critical abnormalities in prenatal brain development in ASD using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We hypothesized that volumetric analyses of brain segmentations are useful to identify such abnormalities before birth. We have retrospectively analyzed fetal MRI based on the knowledge that the same individuals were later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We have evaluated developmental abnormalities in brain structures of prospective ASD fetuses using volumetric segmentation. The current study is still preliminary, but the ‘insula’ of the brain showed statistically significant volumetric enlargement in prospective ASD patients, compared to the other three control groups.  (more…)