Blog – Medical Research News and Interviews
14 Feb Stress Reduction and Cognitive Therapy Have Long Lasting Effect on Low Back Pain
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31923" align="alignleft" width="142"]
Dr. Dan Cherkin[/caption]
Dan Cherkin PhD
Emeritus Senior Investigator
Group Health Research Institute
Seattle, WA 98101
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We previously reported the results of a randomized trial examining the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for persons with chronic low back pain (Cherkin et al, JAMA, March 22, 2016).
The current report examines whether the relative effectiveness of these approaches compared with usual care that we found after one year were still evident after two years. We found that there was little decrease in the magnitude of the effects of both MBSR and CBT between one and two years, but the two-year outcomes were statistically significant only for chronic low back pain. As previously reported for outcomes up to one year, there were no significant differences in outcomes between CBT and MBSR.
14 Feb Radiation Therapy Improves Pain and Quality of Life in Bone
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rachel McDonald, MD(C) Department of Radiation Oncology Odette Cancer Centre Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Toronto, Ontario, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Radiation treatment has been demonstrated in numerous studies to provide effective and timely pain relief to those suffering from painful bone metastases. However, as a palliative treatment, the goal should be not only to reduce pain but also to maintain and even improve quality of life. To date, studies have not effectively demonstrated this; most of these have included either small sample sizes or utilize questionnaires that aren’t tailored to the palliative cancer population with bone metastases. We aimed to determine how soon after radiation treatment one can expect an improvement in quality of life. Our results showed that patients who had a pain response to radiation also had significantly greater improvements in pain, pain characteristics, functional interference, and psychosocial aspects of well-being at day 10 post-treatment. Further improvements in most domains of quality of life were found for responders at day 42.14 Feb Strong Alcohol Policies Linked to Fewer Young Adults Dying In Car Crashes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32000" align="alignleft" width="154"]
Dr. Scott Hadland[/caption]
Scott E. Hadland, MD, MPH, MS
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Boston University School of Medicine
Urban Health & Advocacy Track Director | Boston Combined Residency Program
Boston, MA 02118
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Studies to date have shown that states’ alcohol laws can help prevent young people from dying in car crashes. However, studies to date have usually only looked at a single policy at once. We wanted to build on these previous studies by looking at the overall effect of multiple alcohol laws acting at once. We also wanted to look at laws not necessarily only targeting drinking and driving among young people, but also policies aimed primarily at adults over 21.
We studied deaths of young people under 21 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes across the United States between 2000 and 2013. We found that one-quarter of all young people died in a crash involving a driver who alcohol level was over the legal limit. One-half died in a crash in which the driver had any level of alcohol in their bloodstream above zero.
We also found that most young people died on evenings and weekends, which is when people are most likely to have been drinking. Importantly, almost half of all young people died in a crash in which they were the passenger, not the driver. In 80% of cases in which they were the passenger, it was actually an adult >21, not a young person, who was driving the vehicle.
We then looked at states’ alcohol laws, and found that the stronger the set of alcohol policies in a state, the lower the likelihood of young people dying in a crash that was alcohol-related. Policies included laws relating to alcohol taxes, alcohol availability and hours of sales, and graduated driver’s licensing for young people, among many others.
14 Feb Weak Thigh Muscles Contribute to Knee Arthritis in Women
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32004" align="alignleft" width="156"]
Dr. Adam Culvenor[/caption]
Adam Culvenor, PT, PhD
Research Fellow,Institute of Anatomy
Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität
Strubergasse Salzburg, Austria
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Thigh muscle weakness, particularly of the knee extensors (quadriceps), is a common feature of people with knee osteoarthritis. Thigh muscle weakness could be a consequence of knee osteoarthritis, or precede knee osteoarthritis development. There is conflicting evidence regarding the role of thigh muscle weakness as a risk factor for incident knee osteoarthritis in both men and women. Thigh muscle specific strength is a measure of muscle quality incorporating both the capacity of the muscle to produce force as well as muscle structure (ie. size, cross-sectional area), and preliminary data suggests this may be a more relevant measure of strength in relation to knee osteoarthritis development.
14 Feb Hospital Admissions and Heart Attacks Rise After Snowfall
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31857" align="alignleft" width="143"]
Dr. Nathalie Auger[/caption]
Nathalie Auger MD MSc FRCPC
Montréal, Québec
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Snow shoveling is a challenging cardiovascular activity. Some studies suggest a link between snowfall and myocardial infarction, but use aggregate data which are limited. We used health data for individuals in the province of Quebec, Canada to analyze the association between snowfall and likelihood of hospital admission or death due to myocardial infarction.
14 Feb Alcohol-Based Skin Preps Can Fuel Surgical fFres
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Edward L Jones, MD MS Assistant Professor Department of Surgery, Denver VA Medical Center and University of Colorado, Denver, CO MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Operating room fires continue to be an underreported source of sometimes catastrophic injuries to our patients and we could find no recent data evaluating common surgical skin antiseptics as a potential fuel for these flames. Manufacturers continue to recommend waiting at least 3 minutes for “drying” of an alcohol-based prep prior to a surgical start but cite no searchable studies to support this timeframe. We were curious if these alcohol-based preps were flammable and what impact a 3 minute delay had on their flammability. Thus we decided to study them in rigorous fashion.14 Feb Ketamine Before Stressful Event May Reduce Risk of PTSD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31986" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Christine Ann Denny[/caption]
Christine Ann Denny, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry
Columbia University
Division of Integrative Neuroscience
Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc.
New York, NY 10032-2695
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses, affecting about 8 million adult Americans, and an annual prevalence of about 3.5% worldwide. At-risk populations such as soldiers and veterans are at a higher risk to develop PTSD. Stress exposure is one of the major risk factors for PTSD and major depressive disorder (MDD), a disorder which is often co-morbid with PTSD.
There are currently very limited treatments for PTSD and MDD. In addition, these disorders are treated in a symptom-suppression approach, which only mitigate symptoms and work in only a small fraction of patients. Prevention is rarely an approach considered except in the form of behavioral intervention. However, pharmacological approaches to preventing psychiatric diseases has not yet been developed.
Our laboratory has previously found that ketamine, a general anesthetic and rapid-acting antidepressant, administered sub-anesthetically prior to stress can prevent against stress-induced depressive-like behaviors. We decided to delve into the literature to determine whether ketamine has any effects on PTSD in the clinic. We found numerous reports linking ketamine to PTSD, but the results were varied. We realized that the main difference in all of these studies was the timing of administration. We decided to systematically test the efficacy of ketamine in mice at various time points relative to a stressor to determine when would be the most effective window to buffer against heightened fear expression.
We found that ketamine administered 1 week, but not 1 month or 1 day, prior to a stressor was the most effective time point to administer the drug to buffer fear. This is critical, as it suggests that a pharmacological approach to enhance resilience can be more effective at protecting against PTSD symptoms than attempting to mitigate symptoms after it has already affected an individual.
13 Feb Diabetes Drug May Enhance Melanoma Chemotherapy
Posted at 23:05h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, Dermatology, Diabetes, Melanoma
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31978" align="alignleft" width="135"]
Dr. Bin Zheng[/caption]
Bin Zheng, PhD
Assistant Professor
Cutaneous Biology Research Center
Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Charlestown, MA 02129
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer with more than 75,000 newly diagnosed cases in the US each year. Over the years, various genetic driver mutations have been identified that cause melanoma, including mutations in the genes BRAF and NRAS. Recent genetic insights into the development of melanoma showed that also mutations in NF1 can lead to melanoma. While there are targeted therapies available for BRAF-mutant melanoma, thus far no such therapies are available for NF1-mutant melanoma. We identified that using a combination of an ERK inhibitor, SCH772984, and the antidiabetic drug phenformin could provide a novel therapeutic strategy for NF1-mutatnt melanomas.
13 Feb Quadracel™ DTaP-IPV Vaccine Now Available in US
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31974" align="alignleft" width="142"]
Dr. David Greenberg[/caption]
Dr. David Greenberg MD
Vice President, Scientific & Medical Affairs
and Chief Medical Officer
Sanofi Pasteur U.S.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the importance of improved vaccination rates in light of recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases?
Response: It’s imperative. Too many children remain under-vaccinated against serious infectious diseases, and as the CDC reminds us – in addition to our country’s most credible medical associations – immunization is key in helping prevent both sporadic and outbreak-related cases of these diseases.1 In 2015, the CDC reported 6,448 new cases of pertussis in kids younger than 7 years of age, some of which could have potentially been avoided if vaccination completion was better. 2
13 Feb PCSK9 Inhibition with Alirocumab Increases Removal of LDL Cholesterol
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Henry N. Ginsberg, MD Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research Columbia University Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons New York, NY MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Previous studies in mice and cells have identified increased hepatic low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors as the basis for LDL lowering by PCSK9 inhibitors, but there have been no human studies characterizing the effects of PCSK9 inhibitors on lipoprotein metabolism, particularly effects on very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), intermediate density lipoproteins (IDL) or LDL metabolism. This study in 18 healthy subjects, found that alirocumab decreased the number of IDL and LDL particles in the circulation, and their associated cholesterol and apoB levels by increasing efficiency of the clearance of IDL and LDL. There were not effects on VLDL metabolism. The increased clearance of IDL meant that less LDL was produced from IDL, which is the precursor of LDL. Thus, the dramatic reductions in LDL cholesterol resulted from both less LDL being produced and more efficient clearance of LDL. These results are consistent with increases in LDL receptors available to clear IDL and LDL from blood during PCSK9 inhibition.13 Feb Cerebral Microinfarcts Associated With Cardiac Biomarkers and Heart Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Christopher Chen, FRCP
Department of Pharmacology
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Memory Aging and Cognition Center
National University Health System
Singapore
Saima Hilal, PhD
Department of Pharmacology, National University of Singapore
Department of Radiology, Epidemiology and Nuclear Medicine
Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Cerebral microinfarcts (CMIs) are defined as small (usually <1 mm) regions of ischemic change found in the brain which are not readily visible on gross examination or on standard 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On microscopy they appear as foci of neuronal loss, gliosis, pallor, or cysts.
Previous post mortem studies have shown that the presence of CMIs is relatively common in elderly individuals without dementia (24%) but more common in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer disease (43%) or vascular dementia (62%).
Whilst a single CMI is likely to be “silent” as the region of brain affected is probably too small to produce symptoms or neurologic deficits, however, as a large number of CMIs exist in many individuals, especially in the cerebral cortex and watershed areas, the overall effect has clinical importance – as shown by neuropathologic studies which demonstrate an important role of CMIs in cognitive dysfunction and dementia. However in vivo studies have been hampered by the inability to detect CMIs reliably on neuroimaging, leading to CMIs being termed “invisible” during life.
The advent of high spatial-definition 7-T MRI enabled the identification of cortical Cerebral microinfarcts in-vivo and importantly a study that directly compared 7-T and 3-T MRIs in the same patients reported that 3-T MRI detected about 1/3 of the lesions found on 7-T MRIs, suggesting that 3-T MRIs, which are more accessible than 7-T, may be able to detect larger cortical CMIs with a lower limit of approximately 1 mm in diameter.
Our group has made major contributions recently on the clinical associations of 3T MRI detected cortical CMIs in patients from memory clinics as well as in community based subjects. Associations were found with age, vascular risk factors, other MRI markers of cerebrovascular disease as well as cognition. However, the causes of CMIs remain unclear and may be heterogeneous with microembolism, microthrombosis, and foci of inflammation as possible causative factors.
13 Feb Study Finds No Link Between Immigration and Crime
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31958" align="alignleft" width="131"]
Dr. Robert Adelman[/caption]
Robert Adelman PhD
Associate professor of sociology
University at Albany, SUNY
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Our study examines Census and FBI data across four decades from 1970 to 2010. We analyze data for 200 randomly selected U.S. metropolitan areas. Our results show strong and stable evidence that for murder, robbery, burglary, and larceny as immigration increases, on average, in American metropolitan areas, crime decreases. We find no impact of immigration on aggravated assault.
12 Feb Brain–Computer Interface Allows Communication With Locked-In Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31785" align="alignleft" width="180"]
Dr. Ujwal Chaudhary[/caption]
Dr. Ujwal Chaudhary, PhD
Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology
University of Tübingen
Tübingen, Germany
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which causes an Individual to be in Locked-in state (LIS), i.e. the patients have control of their vertical eye movement and blinking, and ultimately in Completely Locked-in state (CLIS), i.e, no control over their eye muscle. There are several assistive and augmentative (AAC) technology along with EEG based BCI which can be used be by the patients in LIS for communication but once they are in CLIS they do not have any means of communication. Hence, there was a need to find an alternative learning paradigm and probably another neuroimaging technique to design a more effective BCI to help ALS patient in CLIS with communication.
12 Feb Imatinib Revolutionizes Treatment of Unresectable/Metastatic GI Stromal Tumors
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31946" align="alignleft" width="96"]
Dr. Michael Heinrich[/caption]
Michael C. Heinrich, MD
Professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology
Oregon Health & Sciences University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Prior to 2000, there were no effective medical treatments for advanced GI stromal tumor and patients faced an average life expectancy of 18 months or less. In our study of the long-term treatment results using imatinib (Gleevec), we found that approximately 7% of patients were still on front-line therapy at 10 years without any evidence of tumor progression. More importantly, the estimated 10 year survival was 23%. Progression-free and overall survival rates were significantly higher for patients with KIT exon 11-mutant GIST when compared with patients with KIT exon 9-mutant or “wild-type” GIST (no KIT/PDGFRA mutations).
12 Feb Bisphosphonates Can Be Reduced In Second Year of Breast Cancer Metastases
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31942" align="alignleft" width="114"]
Dr. Gabriel Hortobagyi[/caption]
Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, MD, FACP, FASCO
Professor, Department of Breast Medical Oncology
Division of Cancer Medicine
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX 77230-1439
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Bisphosphonates have been commercially available for several decades as supportive care for patients with bone metastases. They reduce the frequency and severity of bone-related complications. While the optimal dose and short-term scheduling of zoledronic acid (and previously, pamidronate) have been determined, there has been no research to determine how long these drugs need to be maintained nor the optimal dose and schedule beyond the first year of therapy. These questions are particularly important for this family of drugs, since they are incorporated into bone and not excreted from the body for many years.
We set out to determine whether a reduction in the frequency of administration of zoledronic acid (every 12 weeks) was able to maintain the therapeutic efficacy of this intervention when compared to the “standard” schedule of administration (every 4 weeks). It was a prospective, randomized, non-inferiority trial that recruited patients with metastatic breast cancer with bone metastases and who had previously received 9 or more doses of zoledronic acid or pamidronate. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with one or more skeletal-related events. Four hundred and sixteen patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio. The two groups were comparable at baseline. After the first year of follow-up, there was no statistically significant difference in SRE rate between the two arms, confirming the non-inferiority fo the every-12-week schedule of zoledronic acid.
12 Feb Multiple Treatment Options Now Available for Multiple Sclerosis
Posted at 18:12h
in Author Interviews, Lancet, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurological Disorders, Pharmacology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31938" align="alignleft" width="147"]
Dr. Tomas Kalincik[/caption]
Tomas Kalincik, MD, PhD, PGCertBiostat
Neurologist and Senior Research Fellow
Melbourne Brain Centre | Department of Medicine | University of Melbourne
Department of Neurology | Royal Melbourne Hospital
Melbourne | Victoria | Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Multiple sclerosis is a disease predominantly of young adults, with the peak of incidence in the 3rd and 4th decades. It is the most common cause of neurological disability in young adults. Only in Australia, 23,000 people are living with MS, with MS representing an annual cost of almost 1 billion $AU to the Australian society. It is a disease that presents with broad range of neurological symptoms and signs, which are typically temporary (these are called relapses) that with time can lead to permanent neurological disability. While there is currently no cure for MS, with appropriate therapy, its symptoms can be controlled and the disability progression slowed down.
12 Feb New Blood Test May Screen For ATTR Cardiac Amyloidosis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31832" align="alignleft" width="169"]
Dr. Frederick Ruberg[/caption]
Frederick L. Ruberg, MD
Director, Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship Training Program
Director, Pilot Grants Program, Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Director, Advanced Cardiac Imaging Program
Section of Cardiovascular Medicine
Department of Medicine
Department of Radiology
Boston Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: ATTR cardiac amyloidosis is an under-recognized cause of congestive heart failure in older adults that results from the deposition of misfolded TTR protein in the heart. One cause of ATTR cardiac amyloidosis is a genetic abnormality, inherited from an affected patient’s parent, that causes the protein TTR to misfold. The most common genetically inherited cause of ATTR amyloidosis in the US is called Val122Ile (V122I), named for the specific mutation in the TTR gene, that is seen in approximately 3.5% of US African Americans. ATTR cardiac amyloidosis was once an untreatable disease, but now new drugs are in different stages of clinical trial testing. Thus, recognition is important to get patients on the right treatments.
One of the principal reasons why the disease is under-recognized is that doctors don’t have proven and available diagnostic tests that can be applied in the outpatient clinic. This study demonstrated that a new point-of-care diagnostic test, using measurement of a blood protein called retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) and other standard of care test information, can accurately diagnose ATTR cardiac amyloidosis. We demonstrated the validity of this test in two separate cohorts of patients with proven ATTR cardiac amyloidosis due to the Val122Ile mutation and control patients with heart failure but without amyloidosis.
11 Feb Executive Brain Function Predictive of Success on the Soccer Pitch
Posted at 20:57h
in Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Karolinski Institute, Mental Health Research, PLoS
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Torbjörn Vestberg
Licensed Psychologist & Researcher
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
Stockholm, Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The aim of our research is to study the importance of executive functions for successful behaviour. In our first study published in 2012 (Executive Functions Predict the Success of Top-Soccer Players) we showed that the level of elite soccer players’ higher executive functions was in general 2 standard deviations above the normal population. It was the same for both men and women.
Moreover, we also found a strong correlation between the capacities of higher executive functions and the number of goals and assists the player made after two and a half year.
In our new study we were interested in how the situation is at a younger age, from twelve to nineteen years of age. Because of the maturation of the brain, higher executive functions do not reach their full capacity before nineteen years of age.
On basis of this, our question was whether there were other parts of the executive functions that correlated with success in soccer. In this new study, we focused on core executive functions like the working memory, as it reaches its full capacity in the early teens. We found that there was a moderate correlation with the accuracy of the working memory and the number of goals the junior elite players made during a period of two years. When we made a composite measurement of both the demanding working memory and the test for the capacity of the higher executive functions, we found a strong correlation between these results and the number of goals that the players made during the two years of time. When we measured IQ and physical features, like length, we found out that those did not influence the results.
11 Feb Intestinal E. coli Linked to Arthritis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Posted at 03:19h
in Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Infections, Microbiome, Rheumatology, Science
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31926" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Randy Longman[/caption]
Randy Longman, M.D. / Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Jill Roberts Center and Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Weill Cornell Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
New York, NY 10021
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Inflammatory bowel disease is not limited to intestinal inflammation. Up to 1/3 of patients with active disease suffer from extra-intestinal manifestations.
The most common extra-intestinal manifestations in IBD is joint inflammation or spondyloarthritis. Peripheral joint spondyloarthritis carries a prevalence of 20% in Crohn’s Disease and 10% in Ulcerative Colitis, predominantly affecting joints of the lower limbs. It has long been suggested that gut bacteria can drive this systemic joint inflammation, but microbial targets have not been characterized.
11 Feb Almost 40% of Assisted Reproductive Infants Are Multiple Births
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Saswati Sunderam, PhD Division of Reproductive Health National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion CDC. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance – United States, 2014, the surveillance summary published this week in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), presents state-specific data on assisted reproductive technology (ART) use and outcomes. The report compares ART infant outcome data with outcomes for all infants born in the U.S. in 2014, and provides data on the contributions of Assisted Reproductive Technology to total infants born, multiple birth infants, low birth weight infants, and preterm infants for each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.10 Feb False Positive Mammograms Can Lead Women To Delay or Skip Next Exam
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31912" align="alignleft" width="174"]
Mammogram showing small lesion- Wikipedia[/caption] Firas Dabbous, PhD Manager, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Russell Institute for Research & Innovation Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Park Ridge, IL MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: When women are told that there is something abnormal on their screening mammogram that can cause stress and worry while undergoing additional testing, even when they are later told that there is nothing wrong. We wanted to know if receiving a false positive screening mammogram would cause women to think twice before getting their next screening mammogram, and maybe delay coming back for their next screen. This is important because patients who have a false positive experience may have higher chance to develop breast cancer at a later point in time. Therefore, it is important to understand their screening patterns to better educate and inform them about the importance of adhering to mammography guidelines and emphasize the importance of returning on schedule for their next screens.
10 Feb Moisturizers Reduce Severity of Eczema
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31908" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Esther van Zuuren[/caption]
Esther van Zuuren MD
on behalf of the authors
Department of Dermatology
Leiden University Medical Center
Leiden, Netherlands
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In view of the high prevalence of eczema and the exponential increase in number of clinical trials over recent years, the NIHR designated this clinical topic, emollients and moisturisers for eczema, as a high priority. Widely prescribed as the basis of eczema management the treatment strategy is often supported by a mixed array of reviews and guidelines. Evidence for the effectiveness of emollients and moisturisers is also of variable quality.
Eczema is a chronic skin disorder, the main symptoms being dry skin and intense itching with a significant impact on quality of life. As dry skin is an important feature, moisturisers are a cornerstone of eczema treatment, but there was uncertainty about their efficacy and whether one moisturiser is preferable to another. The main finding of our review is that indeed moisturisers are effective.
10 Feb More Talking, Less Machine Noise Important To Infant Brain in NICUs
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31904" align="alignleft" width="142"]
Dr. Bobbi Pineda[/caption]
Bobbi Pineda, PhD
Assistant professor of occupational therapy and of pediatrics
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We published findings in 2014 from a study in which we investigated differences in outcome among preterm infants hospitalized in an open ward NICU compared to those hospitalized in a NICU private room. In this study, we found that infants who were in the open ward had differences in brain structure by the time they were discharged from the hospital, and by age 2 years they had significantly better language outcomes than those in private rooms. The study NICU is located in an urban area and cares for families who have a high risk of social challenges, resulting in rates of parent engagement that were not optimal. However, such findings made us question if the sensory exposure, specifically auditory stimulation, may be significantly reduced in the private room and could explain our findings.
10 Feb Hair Cortisol in the Evaluation of Cushing Syndrome
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mihail Zilbermint, M.D. Endocrinologist, Office of the Scientific Director
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Diagnosing Cushing Syndrome is often difficult and challenging. Diagnosing hypercortisolemia, could require the use of a combination of any of these tests: 24-hour free urine cortisol monitoring, an overnight dexamethasone suppression test, and measurement of late night salivary cortisol. Cortisol levels may change daily, requiring that testing be repeated. Undiagnosed and untreated Cushing Syndrome greatly increases morbidity and mortality risk.
Cortisol levels can be detected in hair samples. Much like hemoglobin A1C is a long-term indicator of blood glucose levels, efforts have been made to determine if hair cortisol could serve as a long-term measure of the body’s glucocorticoid levels. We sought to compare the results of cortisol levels for Cushing Syndrome patients with data from data on cortisol in hair segments, to gain further information on the role of sampling hair cortisol as an initial or supportive method for diagnosing Cushing Syndrome.
09 Feb Gene Therapy Restores Hearing Down To A Whisper, in Mice
Posted at 18:35h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Genetic Research, Hearing Loss, Nature
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31894" align="alignleft" width="100"]
Dr. Gwenaelle Geleoc[/caption]
Gwenaelle Geleoc, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Otolaryngology
F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center
Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We seek to develop gene therapy to restore auditory and balance function in a mouse model of Usher syndrome. Usher syndrome is a rare genetic disorder which causes deafness, progressive blindness and in some cases balance deficits. We used a novel viral vector developed by Luk Vandenberghe and package gene sequences encoding for Ush1c and applied it to young mice suffering from Usher syndrome. These mice mimic a mutation found in patients of Acadian descent. We assessed recovery of hearing and balance function in young adult mice which had received the treatment. Otherwise deaf and dizzy, we found that the treated mice had recovered hearing down to soft sounds equivalent to a whisper and normal balance function.
09 Feb Aspirin Promotes Growth of Staph aureus in Nose
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Fernanda Buzzola IMPaM, UBA-CONICET MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Staphylococcus aureus represents a serious problem to public health due to methicillin-resistance and the bacterial persistence over a long period of time in the host. Approximately the 20% of the human population is at risk to acquire an endogenous infection by S. aureus as a consequence of its asymptomatic nasal colonization. Aspirin, the main source of salicylic acid in the human host, is currently taken by millions of human beings worldwide without medical prescription and widely indicated for defined purposes, including prevention of coronary thrombosis. Salicylic acid is a plant hormone known too for its use as a key ingredient in anti-acne preparations and medications for skin conditions. We also consume mild doses of salicylic acid when we eat fruits and vegetables. Iron is an important trace element for the human body and plays an essential role in blood formation. The metabolism of many bacteria, including S. aureus, also depends on the availability of iron molecules. Salicylic acid forms complexes with iron ions in the blood and so deprives not only us but also the staphylococcal bacteria of this element. S. aureus modifies its metabolism if the iron content is insufficient. The microorganism reacts to the changed – from its perspective, negative – conditions through the intensified formation of a biofilm, a sort of layer of slime formed by the aggregation of individual bacteria. The enhanced biofilm production allows the bacteria to survive for an even longer period under unfavourable living conditions.09 Feb We Spend More Time on Facebook Than We Think
[caption id="attachment_31888" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Dr Dinkar Sharma and Dr. Lazaros Gonidis[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Lazaros Gonidis PhD candidate
Postgraduate Researcher
University of Kent
MedicalResearch.com: In general, why do we tend to underestimate time when we are distracted versus when we are doing something boring? Is the adage that “time flies when you’re having fun” true?
Response: In order to be accurate at time “keeping” we need to attend to it. Anything that distracts us makes us less accurate, and to be more specific, it makes us underestimate the duration of events. In simple terms when we experience an event that last 10 minutes a distraction could make it feel like 5 minutes. On the other hand when we are bored, let’s say during a non-interesting event, we tend to focus more on time keeping looking forward for the event to finish. In this case we would overestimate the event and 10 minutes could feel like 15 minutes.
09 Feb Hip vs Lumbar Spine Pain Can Be Difficult to Differentiate
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31877" align="alignleft" width="96"]
Dr. Afshin Razi[/caption]
Afshin E. Razi MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
New York, N.Y. 10016
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We did an extensive literature search and through our two previous seminars on this topic we were able to gather information to aid our colleagues on best ways of differentiating causes of hip and back pain. As an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in spine surgery I encounter many patients who present with concomitant back and hip pain. Many of these patients are also referred to me by surgeons who solely take care of hip problems such as total hip replacement or sport medicine specialist who treat younger patients with hip pain. It can be very difficult to properly diagnose the main issue and as such some patients go on to have unnecessary treatments, including surgery, because of their persistent symptoms. It was our goal to try to educate physicians, including orthopaedic surgeons, on the common differential diagnoses, appropriate clinical history and physical examination, diagnostic tools and their evaluations appropriately, as well as treatment options and priorities of which one to be treated first. More recently, it has been noted that some patients who have undergone total hip replacement with significant curvature of the spine had postoperative dislocation of the hip after reconstruction of the spinal malalignment. This article also talks about this newly seen problem.