Author Interviews, HIV, NIH, Pediatrics, Vaccine Studies / 15.08.2015

George K Siberry, MD, MPH, Medical Officer Maternal and Pediatric Infectious Disease (MPID) Branch Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MDMedicalResearch.com Interview with: George K Siberry, MD, MPH, Medical Officer Maternal and Pediatric Infectious Disease (MPID) Branch Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Siberry:  Vaccines may not work as reliably in children with HIV infection, especially when their HIV is not under effective treatment. Today, most children in the United States who were born with HIV infection are receiving effective HIV treatment and have reached school age or even young adulthood. However, many received their childhood vaccines before they got started on their HIV treatment (because modern HIV treatments weren’t available when they were very young or their HIV infection was diagnosed late). So we wanted to see if these older children still had immunity from the vaccines they received when they were much younger. Medical Research:  What are the main findings? Dr. Siberry: We looked specifically at whether older children with HIV since birth were protected against measles, mumps, and rubella, the three viral infections covered by the measles-mumps-rubella (or MMR) vaccine. We found that 1/3 up to almost 1/2 of these children were not protected against these viruses, even though nearly all of the children had received at least 2 MMR doses, as recommended. And even if their HIV was currently under excellent control.  When we analyzed factors that were linked to being protected, we found that one of the most important factors was whether you got your MMR vaccine doses after you got on good treatment for your HIV infection.  For instance, over 85% of children who had gotten at least 2 MMR vaccine doses after being on effective HIV treatment were protected against measles compared to less than half of those who didn’t get both of their MMR vaccine doses while on effective HIV treatment. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology / 15.08.2015

Susana C. M. Fernandes, PhD Researcher (Individual Marie Curie Fellowship - IEF) and Professor Vincent Bulone Division of Glycoscience, School of Biotechnology Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden and ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Waite campus, Urrbrae, South Australia Australia MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We have exploited unique properties of natural compounds to develop novel materials that are capable of absorbing both UV-A and UV-B radiations. The active UV-absorbing molecules are known as mycosporines and mycosporines like-amino acids and they occur in different organisms such as algae, photosynthetic bacteria (cyanobacteria) and some fish species that thrive in, e.g., the tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef. These compounds were combined with a carbohydrate polymer found in the shells of crustaceans, the exoskeleton of insects and the cell walls of fungi. Chitosan provided a matrix on which mycosporines were attached using a simple chemical method already used for other purposes in, e.g., the pharmaceutical industry. Chitosan can typically be extracted from food waste such as the shells of shrimps. The immobilization of mycosporines on chitosan allowed the development of unique materials that have many potential applications relevant to a wide range of sectors, including cosmetics, sunscreen creams, wound dressings, plasticizers in paints and varnishes, coatings of outdoor furniture and other materials such as fabrics for shades, textiles, car dashboards, etc. In addition to being highly efficient for protection against UV-A and UV-B, the materials were shown to be photostable, thermoresistant and biocompatible. Compared to existing sunblock formulations, the materials have no detrimental effects on health and the environment. They are also fully recyclable. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lung Cancer, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research, University of Michigan / 15.08.2015

Tyler Grenda, MD House Officer VI Section of General Surgery Department of Surgery University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tyler Grenda, MD House Officer VI Section of General Surgery Department of Surgery University of Michigan   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Grenda: The main purpose for this study was to better understand the factors underlying differences in mortality rates for hospitals performing lung cancer resection.  The methodology we used included only the highest and lowest mortality hospitals (Commission on Cancer accredited cancer programs) so the sampling frame was specific. There are wide variations in mortality rates across hospitals performing lung cancer resection (overall unadjusted mortality rates were 10.8% vs. 1.6%, respectively. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Lifestyle & Health / 14.08.2015

Dr. Kaberi Dasgupta MD, MSc, FRCPC Associate Professor, Department of Medicine Divisions of Internal Medicine, Clinical Epidemiology, and Endocrinology and Metabolism Royal Victoria Hospital Quebec, Canada MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Kaberi Dasgupta MD, MSc, FRCPC Associate Professor, Department of Medicine Divisions of Internal Medicine, Clinical Epidemiology, and Endocrinology and Metabolism Royal Victoria Hospital Quebec, Canada   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Dasgupta: We know that health behaviours can contribute to developing gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes (e.g., eating out frequently, lack of fruits and vegetables, not walking enough, spending most of the day sitting). We also know that genetic factors are important. Sometimes we focus more on the genetic factors than on health behaviours. By showing that spouses share diabetes risk, we highlight the importance that behaviour and environment play as spouses are not generally related biologically. In a previous meta-analysis, we showed that spouses were concordant for diabetes (if one had it, there was a 24% relative risk increase that the other did too.) In the study Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Mothers as a Diabetes Predictor in Fathers: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis, we took it further and compared men whose partners had gestational diabetes and men whose partners did not. Over a 13 year period of follow-up, the men whose partners had gestational diabetes were 33% more likely to develop diabetes.  (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews / 14.08.2015

April M. Zeoli, PhD, MPH Associate Professor School of Criminal Justice Michigan State UniversityMedicalResearch.com Interview with: April M. Zeoli, PhD, MPH Associate Professor School of Criminal Justice Michigan State University Lansing, MI 48824 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Zeoli: My team and I are interested in whether an infectious disease model can be applied to homicide. In other words, can homicide be described as being “contagious” and does it spread through a city in a systematic pattern? In our previous research, we showed that homicide did spread through Newark, New Jersey, in a manner similar to an infectious disease (http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2012/homicide-spreads-like-infectious-disease/). However, not all types of homicide may be “contagious.” In this research, we looked at seven motive types of homicide to determine which, if any, of them clustered and spread from one place to another over time. Of the seven types of homicide we examined, only gang-motivated homicides displayed a pattern of clustering and spreading through Newark, NJ. However, while drug-motivated and revenge homicides did not spread, they did cluster in the same general geographic areas during much of the same time that gang-motivated homicides clustered together. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lancet, Pain Research, Surgical Research / 14.08.2015

Dr Martin Hirsch Clinical Research Fellow Women’s Health Research Unit Queen Mary University of LondoMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Martin Hirsch Clinical Research Fellow Women’s Health Research Unit Queen Mary University of London and Dr Jenny Hole Foundation Year 1 Doctor Kettering University Hospital Dr Jenny Hole Foundation Year 1 Doctor Kettering University Hospital   MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As doctors we see medicines being prescribed on a daily basis and the benefit but also harm that they can cause. We wanted to assess the role of non pharmaceutical interventions which can benefit patients with a low or minimal potential for harm. We all have an interest in music of different genres and we agreed that we didn’t know anybody who did not like music of one sort or another. On the basis that we all have gained pleasure from music, we wanted to see if this pleasurable experience at the time of a difficult and painful stimulus could reduce the problems encountered as people recover from surgery. We searched all published medical literature and found 73 of the highest quality studies (randomised controlled trials) to compare and combine their findings in a meta-analysis. This technique aims to strengthen the validity by producing a combined result. We found that using music before during or after surgery reduced pain, reduced the requirement for pain killers, reduced anxiety, and improved satisfaction. (more…)
Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Heart Disease / 14.08.2015

Dr. Kristin Kostick PhD on behalf of the authors Research Associate - Decision Making and Ethics Research Program Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TXMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Kristin Kostick PhD on behalf of the authors Research Associate - Decision Making and Ethics Research Program Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The idea of this study came from a larger research study we’re doing to develop and test a decision aid for patients and caregivers considering LVAD treatment. As part of that study, we interviewed LVAD patients, candidates, caregivers and decliners of LVAD treatment to explore their decisional needs. One of the things that kept coming up in these interviews was the need for “support,” which everyone, including clinicians, identified as a crucial aspect of post-implant recovery. There is an excellent clinical support team at our partnering hospital in Houston, as well as a community of LVAD recipients and caregivers where people can get together to share their stories and resources face-to-face. But for other people who find it difficult to get to the hospital, either because they have transportation barriers or they simply live too far away, we began to wonder whether support services might be available to them in virtual settings. So we decided to do this analysis to see what social media sites exist for the LVAD community. What is the content of these sites? Are there different kinds for different support needs? What are patients getting from them? How might they be used in the future for improving patient care and support? (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, NEJM, Radiation Therapy / 14.08.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Philip M.P. Poortmans PhD MD Head of Department, Radiation Oncology ESTRO President Radboud university medical center The Netherlands Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Poortmans: Based on the former hypothesis that breast cancer sequentially spreads from breast to lymph nodes and from there to distant organs, up to the eighties it was very custom to perform extended radical surgery and to irradiate extensively locoregional for most patients. With the growing interest in systemic treatments to prevent development (= from already present undetectable cancer cells to really visible and threatening metastases) of distant metastases, new information about possible late side effects and our increasing knowledge about the biological behaviour of breast cancer in the eighties and the nineties, the extend of especially locoregional treatment was gradually reduced. For radiation therapy, often the irradiation of the internal mammary lymph nodes was left aside, as this was linked to the delivery of radiation dose to the heart, possibly or probably leading to late side effects. At the start of the study, about half of the radiation oncology departments did include irradiation of the internal mammary lymph nodes in patients with risk factors, while the other half did not. Hereby we had an ideal base for the investigation of the value of treating the non-operated part of the regional lymph nodes. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Poortmans: We found a decreased risk for development of distant metastases of 3% at 10 years, translated in a 3% overall improved overall disease free survival. Up to now, It leads to an improvement of 1.6% in overall survival at 10 years, which is, in contrast to the earlier 2 findings, just not statistically significant (borderline at p = 0.06). On the other hand, breast cancer related mortality is significantly improved and we did not see an increase in non breast cancer related causes of death. Overall toxicity was limited with only a significant increase in pulmonary toxicity, however to a low grade in the big majority of those patients. The benefit in overall survival is in a similar order of magnitude than adding for example taxanes to anthracycline-based adjuvant chemotherapy for a similar patient population as ours. Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report? Dr. Poortmans:  First, we should appreciated that the regional (lymph node) recurrence rate is a poor endpoint for evaluation of also locoregional treatment. This can be explained by the fact that once distant metastases are found, no further search for local (breast) or regional (lymph nodes) recurrences is performed any more, as this is not relevant anymore for treatment or prognosis. However, the spread of distant metastases might occur from cancer involvement of the lymph nodes, explaining why we saw the effect of the lymph node irradiation basically only on the rate of development of distant metastases.  As a second message, we can appreciate that the 3% decreased distant metastases rate did not yet fully translate into a survival benefit, which can be explained by the need for even longer follow-up than 10 years. The explanation lies simply in the fact that even after development of distant metastases, patients can live for quite some more years with, however, only very little chance for definitive cure.  Thirdly, we demonstrated with the quality assurance programme linked to this trial that radiation treatment as used those days (the accrual phase was from 1996 until January 2004) radiation therapy techniques should be nowadays considered as suboptimal with a lack of full coverage of the target volumes and delivery of a too high dose to the organs at risk. With modern techniques, we expect that the results will even be quite better.  And finally, that the overall outcome of breast cancer improved a lot: at the start of the trial, we estimated overall survival at 10 years being 50%, which we revised in 2000 to 75% and we ended up with more than 80%. Thereby, it becomes more of a challenge to demonstrate benefits of further improving treatment as the same relative improvement will be translated into a lower absolute improvement. Nevertheless, by more effectively preventing the development of distant metastases by improved systemic therapy (or even better by earlier detection with a lower basal rate of distant metastases) the importance of optimizing locoregional control becomes even higher. Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study? Dr. Poortmans: o First of all we have to improve our ability to define which patients will gain most from this treatment. o Secondly, we have to further investigate how to optimize the technical aspects of this loco regional treatment and … o Thirdly how to optimally integrate all treatment aspects including locoregional ones and systemic ones. o Based on all this, we can develop and then provide the patients with shared decision making tools. Citation: Internal Mammary and Medial Supraclavicular Irradiation in Breast Cancer Philip M. Poortmans, Ph.D., Sandra Collette, M.Sc., Carine Kirkove, Ph.D., Erik Van Limbergen, Ph.D., Volker Budach, Ph.D., Henk Struikmans, Ph.D., Laurence Collette, Ph.D., Alain Fourquet, Ph.D., Philippe Maingon, M.D., Mariacarla Valli, M.D., Karin De Winter, M.D., Simone Marnitz, M.D., Isabelle Barillot, Ph.D., Luciano Scandolaro, M.D., Ernest Vonk, M.D., Carla Rodenhuis, Ph.D., Hugo Marsiglia, Ph.D., Nicola Weidner, Ph.D., Geertjan van Tienhoven, Ph.D., Christoph Glanzmann, Ph.D., Abraham Kuten, M.D., Rodrigo Arriagada, M.D., Harry Bartelink, Ph.D., and Walter Van den Bogaert, Ph.D. for the EORTC Radiation Oncology and Breast Cancer Groups N Engl J Med 2015; 373:317-327 July 23, 2015 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1415369 MedicalResearch.com is not a forum for the exchange of personal medical information, advice or the promotion of self-destructive behavior (e.g., eating disorders, suicide). While you may freely discuss your troubles, you should not look to the Website for information or advice on such topics. Instead, we recommend that you talk in person with a trusted medical professional. The information on MedicalResearch.com is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health and ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. In addition to all other limitations and disclaimers in this agreement, service provider and its third party providers disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the content provided on this website. Philip.Poortmans@radboudumc.nl MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Philip M.P. Poortmans PhD MD Head of Department, Radiation Oncology ESTRO President Radboud university medical center The Netherlands   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Poortmans: Based on the former hypothesis that breast cancer sequentially spreads from breast to lymph nodes and from there to distant organs, up to the eighties it was very custom to perform extended radical surgery and to irradiate extensively locoregional for most patients. With the growing interest in systemic treatments to prevent development (= from already present undetectable cancer cells to really visible and threatening metastases) of distant metastases, new information about possible late side effects and our increasing knowledge about the biological behaviour of breast cancer in the eighties and the nineties, the extend of especially locoregional treatment was gradually reduced. For radiation therapy, often the irradiation of the internal mammary lymph nodes was left aside, as this was linked to the delivery of radiation dose to the heart, possibly or probably leading to late side effects. At the start of the study, about half of the radiation oncology departments did include irradiation of the internal mammary lymph nodes in patients with risk factors, while the other half did not. Hereby we had an ideal base for the investigation of the value of treating the non-operated part of the regional lymph nodes. (more…)
Author Interviews, NIH, Pain Research / 14.08.2015

Richard L. Nahin, Ph.D., M.P.H National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MarylandMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Richard L. Nahin, Ph.D., M.P.H National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Nahin: In 2011 the Institute of Medicine published a blueprint for transforming pain care in the United States.  In this report the IOM noted the lack of a comprehensive picture of pain’s prevalence and severity in the U.S., and especially noted that lack of data examining racial and ethnic groups. The current analysis of data from the 2012 National Health Interview survey is a step toward addressing these deficiencies.  Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Nahin: The analyses found that an estimated 25.3 million adults (11.2 percent) had pain every day for the preceding 3 months. Nearly 40 million adults (17.6 percent) experience severe levels of pain.  Those with severe pain are also likely to have worse health status.  There were associations between pain severity and race, ethnicity, language preference, gender, and age. Women, older individuals, and non-Hispanics were more likely to report any pain, while Asians were less likely.  Minorities who did not choose to be interviewed in English are markedly less likely to report pain. (more…)
Author Interviews, Case Western, Diabetes, Infections, PLoS / 14.08.2015

Wesley M. Williams, PhD Cell molecular biologist Department of Biological Sciences Case Western Reserve University School of Dental MedicineMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wesley M. Williams, PhD Cell molecular biologist Department of Biological Sciences Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Williams: Individuals with uncontrolled blood sugar levels frequently present with higher than normal rates of infection and protracted wound healing. The beta-defensin family of antimicrobial peptides responds to bacterial, fungal and viral invasion. As part of the innate immune system, these cationic peptides normally expressed by epithelial cells are important early responders that, together with other components of the innate immune response, act to inhibit microbial infection. Our initial observations led us to question whether glucose or a metabolite of glucose could contribute to antimicrobial peptide dysfunction, and thus compromise control of infection. Elevated levels of glucose result in increased production of dicarbonyls, a class of molecule that can selectively react with proteins having an unusually high content of cationic amino acids, such as arginine and lysine. We first investigated the effects of two well-characterized dicarbonyls, methylglyoxal (MGO) and glyoxal (GO) on recombinant beta-defensin 2 (rHBD-2) structure using MALDI TOF and LC/MS/MS mass spectral analysis of the recombinant peptide. We found MGO to be particularly reactive with the rHBD-2 peptide as it readily and irreversibly adducted to two arginine residues and the N-terminal glycine. Next we tested in vitro for the effects of adducted rHBD-2 on antimicrobial and chemotactic functions, both essential to an effective innate and adaptive immune response in vivo. Through radial diffusion testing on gram-negative E. coli and P. aeruginosa, and gram-positive S. aureus, and a chemotaxis assay for CEM-SS cells, we found that both antimicrobial and chemotactic functions of rHBD-2 were significantly compromised by MGO. (more…)
Allergies, Asthma, Author Interviews, Microbiome / 14.08.2015

Yvonne J. Huang, MD Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine University of Michigan Health System Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5642 MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yvonne J. Huang, MD Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine University of Michigan Health System Ann Arbor, MI  48109-5642   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Huang: Asthma is a disease with many different clinical manifestations, and it is likely that multiple mechanisms play a role in asthma. Understanding the biological processes that contribute to this heterogeneity is an important goal of current translational research in asthma. One hypothesis that dates back several decades is whether asthma, at least in some forms, is linked to chronic airway infection or colonization by particular species of bacteria.  Results of early investigations in this regard were mixed, in part due to reliance on less sensitive methods to detect bacterial infection, but a new spin on this hypothesis has emerged in recent years.   This stems from the technological advances that now enable one to molecularly profile all bacteria present in a sample, such as via sequence analysis of conserved bacterial genes (such as that for 16S ribosomal RNA). 16S rRNA-based methods are now commonly used to profile bacterial microbiota in a variety of human niches, including in studies of respiratory disease. Prior to our current study, a few investigations had shown that the lower respiratory microbiome in adult asthmatics differs in bacterial composition (i.e. the types and relative abundance of bacteria present), compared to healthy controls.   In a previous study of patients with mild-moderate asthma, we also had found that clinical features of asthma, such as bronchial hyper-responsiveness, were associated with increased abundance of specific bacterial groups.  However, whether similar relationships between clinical features and the  microbiome exist in severe asthma was unknown, which we addressed in the current study. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetologia / 14.08.2015

Laura Ekblad, MD, researcher Turku PET CentreMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura Ekblad, MD, researcher Turku PET Centre Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Ekblad: The background for our study is that the metabolic syndrome and diabetes have been shown to increase the risk for cognitive decline and dementia. Also, insulin resistance is thought to play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer´s disease. In addition, intranasal insulin administration is being studied as a promising treatment for Alzheimer´s disease. Previous studies indicate that both gender and APOE epsilon 4 genotype modulate the effects of insulin on cognition. Our main findings are that insulin resistance is associated with poorer verbal fluency, but only in women. Our population-based study consisted of adults from 30-97 years of age and we had nearly 6000 participants. Age did not modulate the association of insulin resistance and cognition, which means that our results apply even to young adults. We also found that insulin resistance associated with poorer verbal fluency only in non-carriers of the APOE epsilon 4 genotype. (more…)
Author Interviews, Columbia, Emergency Care, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Stroke / 14.08.2015

Heidi Mochari-Greenberger Ph.D., M.P.H Associate research scientist Columbia University Medical Center New York, N.YMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Heidi Mochari-Greenberger Ph.D., M.P.H Associate research scientist Columbia University Medical Center New York, N.Y MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Mochari-Greenberger: Differences in activation of emergency medical services (EMS) may contribute to race/ethnic and sex disparities in stroke outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether EMS use varied by race/ethnicity or sex among a contemporary, diverse national sample of hospitalized acute stroke patients. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings? Dr. Mochari-Greenberger: Use of EMS transport among hospitalized stroke patients was less than 60% and varied by race/ethnicity and sex; EMS use was highest among white females and lowest among Hispanic males. Our analyses showed that Hispanic and Asian men and women were significantly less likely than their white counterparts to use EMS; black females were less likely than white females to use EMS, but black men had a similar rate to white men. These observed associations between race/ethnicity and sex with EMS use persisted after adjustment for stroke symptoms and other factors known to be associated with EMS use, indicating they were not driven solely by stroke symptom differences. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Cancer Research / 14.08.2015

Thomas F. Imperiale, MD Indiana University Medical Center Regenstrief Institute Indianapolis, IN 46202 MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Thomas F. Imperiale, MD Indiana University Medical Center Regenstrief Institute Indianapolis, IN 46202   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Imperiale: The background is that colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is effective and cost-effective, but it is underutilized (35% of eligible persons in the U.S. are not current with screening; 28% have never been screened) and inefficient (persons at low risk have colonoscopy; persons at high risk have stool blood testing or nothing). We know about several risk factors for colorectal cancer and advanced, precancerous polyps. We wanted to see how those factors perform together in stratifying (or separating) risk among the 85% of the U.S. population that is considered to be “average-risk”. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Imperiale: We found that age, sex, whether a first-degree relative has or had colorectal cancer, cigarette smoking, and waist circumference do a good job in separating risk into the 4 categories described in the paper.  When tested in the validation subgroup, the risk estimates reproduced themselves fairly well.  (more…)
Cost of Health Care / 13.08.2015

Noam Y. Kirson, Ph.D. Vice President Analysis Group, Inc. Economic, Financial, and Strategy Consulting Boston, MA 02199MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Noam Y. Kirson, Ph.D.  Vice President Analysis Group, Inc. Economic, Financial, and Strategy Consulting Boston, MA 02199 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Kirson: Developments in diagnostic technology now support ruling out Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among patients presenting with symptoms of cognitive decline, possibly facilitating earlier and more accurate diagnosis of non-Alzheimer’s dementias. Our study assessed potential economic benefits of timely rule out of Alzheimer’s disease among U.S. Medicare beneficiaries eventually diagnosed with vascular dementia (VD) or Parkinson’s disease (PD) by estimating excess medical costs among those previously misdiagnosed withAlzheimer’s. We found that approximately one in six beneficiaries with VD and one in twelve beneficiaries with PD had a prior Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. Further, we found that VD and PD patients previously diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease incurred substantially higher medical costs in periods leading up to and including their VD/PD diagnoses, compared with matched counterparts with no prior AD diagnosis during the same timeframe. Perhaps most interestingly, excess costs declined – and eventually dissipated – following the confirmed VD/PD diagnoses. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Genetic Research, JAMA, Ovarian Cancer / 13.08.2015

Leif W. Ellisen, M.D., Ph.D Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Program Director, Breast Medical Oncology Co-Leader, Breast Cancer Program MGH Research Scholar MGH Cancer Center Boston, MA 02114MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Leif W. Ellisen, M.D., Ph.D Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Program Director, Breast Medical Oncology Co-Leader, Breast Cancer Program MGH Research Scholar MGH Cancer Center Boston, MA 02114 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Ellisen: The traditional approach to genetic testing for women with suspected hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer risk is to test for BRCA1 and BRCA2 alone. Recent studies have shown that testing with a multi-gene panel finds relevant risk gene mutations in substantially more women than does testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 alone. However, one of the concerns about broader multi-gene testing has been that the results really wouldn’t change what you told women about their risk and management – either because the risk associated with the other genes may not be as high as for BRCA1/2, or because the clinical practice guidelines associated with some of the other genes are less specific. Our study sought to determine how often testing such women using a multi-gene panel would find mutations in genes other than BRCA1/2, and more importantly to ask whether finding those mutations would change how you would manage the patient and their family. We found that multi-gene panel testing finds relevant risk gene mutations in substantially more women (approximately 40% more) than does testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 alone. Furthermore, in a case-by-case analysis we showed that finding mutations in these other genes is likely to change the clinical management that is considered or recommended for the majority of the mutation-positive women and their families.  Notably, our analysis of the predicted management change is based not just on the gene mutation alone, but on how the gene appears to be behaving in that particular family. (more…)
Author Interviews, Fertility, JAMA / 13.08.2015

Vitaly A Kushnir MD The Center for Human Reproduction New York, NY 10021MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Vitaly A Kushnir MD The Center for Human Reproduction New York, NY 10021 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Kushnir: In January 2013, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine declared the technique of oocyte cryopreservation no longer experimental, although they body did call for further study. Vitaly A. Kushnir, M.D., of the Center for Human Reproduction, and colleagues used 2013 data from 380 U.S fertility centers to compare live birth and cycle cancellation rates using either fresh or cryopreserved donor oocytes. The study found roughly 20 percent of donor cycles used cryopreserved oocytes and 80 percent fresh oocytes. Of those embryos transferred, 56 percent that started as fresh oocytes resulted in live births compared to just 47 percent of those that started as cryopreserved oocytes. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Geriatrics, UCSF, Weight Research / 13.08.2015

Meera Sheffrin MD Geriatrics Fellow Division of Geriatrics | Department of Medicine San Francisco VA Medical Center University of California, San Francisco MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Meera Sheffrin MD Geriatrics Fellow Division of Geriatrics | Department of Medicine San Francisco VA Medical Center University of California, San Francisco Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sheffrin: The main drug treatments for dementia are a class of medications called cholinesterase inhibitors. They have only modest effects on cognition and function in most patients, but since they are one of the few available treatments for dementia and thus very commonly prescribed. However,they are known to cause GI side effects (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and anorexia) in many patients when first started. It is plausible they could also caust weight loss, espeically considering they cause nausea and anorexia. However, the data on weight loss from randomized controlled trials is very limited and inconclusive, so we did a very large observational study in a real-world of the VA national healthcare system who were newly started on these medications, to see if they were associated with weight loss. We found that patient with dementia started on cholinesterase inhibitors had a substantially higher risk of clinically significant weight loss over a 12-month period compared to matched controls. 1,188 patients started on cholinesterase inhibitors were matched to 2,189 similar patients who were started on other new chronic medications. The primary outcome was time to a 10-pound weight loss over a 12-month period, as this represents a degree of loss that would be clinically meaningful – not only noticed by a clinician but would perhaps prompt further action in considering the causes of the weight loss and medical work-up. We found that starting cholinesterase inhibitors was associated with a 24% greater risk of developing weight loss. Overall, 29% of patients started on cholinesterase inhibitors experienced a weight loss of 10 pounds or more, compared with 23% of the control group. This corresponds to a number needed to harm of 21 over 1 year; meaning only 21 patients need to be treated with a cholinesterase inhibitor over the course of a year for one patient to experience a 10 pound weight loss. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Dermatology, JAMA, Pulmonary Disease, University of Pennsylvania / 12.08.2015

Misha A. Rosenbach, MD Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Assistant Professor of Dermatology in MedicineMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Misha A. Rosenbach, MD Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Assistant Professor of Dermatology in Medicine Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Rosenbach: Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease of unknown etiology where genetically susceptible patients develop multi-organ granulomatous inflammation in response to an as-yet unidentified stimulus.  Patients with sarcoidosis typically have granulomatous inflammation in their lungs, but the second most commonly affected organ is the skin; the eyes, lymph nodes, liver, heart, brain, and other organs can be affected as well.  Patients with sarcoidosis can experience a few disease trajectories; some spontaneously recover, while others have persistent, active inflammation, whereas another group can experience inflammation which leads to scarring and fibrosis.  It can be challenging to distinguish these cohorts of patients based on their lungs alone. The skin is much easier to evaluate, as it is right there on the surface, and can be examined by physicians without resorting to invasive tests or radiography.  At Penn, we developed a novel cutaneous sarcoidosis assessment tool, called the Cutaneous Sarcoidosis Activity and Morphology Instrument (CSAMI), which is designed to accurately measure how inflamed skin sarcoid lesions are in a given patient, as well as describing which type of cutaneous lesion patients’ have.  The CSAMI has in previously studies been shown to be reliable when used by dermatologists, with excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reproducibility. In this study, we had a group of Pulmonologists, Rheumatologists, and Dermatologists (representing the groups of physicians who most commonly care for patients with sarcoidosis, especially if there is skin involvement) evaluate a group of patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis, using the CSAMI and another sarcoidosis activity instrument, the SASI, which has also previously been used to measure skin sarcoidosis activity in a number of settings.  We were able to demonstrate that these cutaneous scoring tools are reliable and reproducible and able to accurately measure cutaneous sarcoidosis disease activity in a variety of patients with a range of skin disease severity.  We also compared the physician scores to patients’ own evaluations of their disease, and showed that the CSAMI (physician impression of disease) correlated well with patients’ own perception of their disease activity and severity. (more…)
ADHD, Author Interviews, OBGYNE / 12.08.2015

Scott A. Adler, Ph.D. Associate Professor Coordinator Developmental Science Graduate Program Dept. of Psychology & Centre for Vision Research Visual and Cognitive Development Project York University Toronto, Ontario CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Scott A. Adler, Ph.D. Associate Professor Coordinator Developmental Science Graduate Program Dept. of Psychology & Centre for Vision Research Visual and Cognitive Development Project York University Toronto, Ontario Canada   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Adler: Experiences that we have early in life clearly have an impact on our brain development and behavior as we get older.  Numerous studies have detailed these experiences, ranging from how we were fed as a baby to how many languages we hear to traumatic events.  These experiences have been shown to influence formation, maintenance, and pruning of the networks of synaptic connections in our brain's that impact all manner of thought and behavior.  Yet, the impact of one of the earliest experiences, that of being born, on brain and psychological behavior has not before been explored.  A recent study with rat pups has strongly suggested that the birth process has a definite impact on initial brain development.  If that is the case, what happens if the infant's birth is one in which she does not experience the natural birth process, such as occurs with caesarean section births? Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Adler: There were two main findings from this study.  We measured the speed and timing of infants' saccadic eye movements, which are overt indicators of attention, relative to the onset of visual events on a computer monitor.  Moving attention and eye movements can occur through two general classes of processes.  The first is bottom-up mechanisms in which attention is moved reactively and automatically to the appearance or existence of unique and salient events in the world.  In this case, where attention goes is essentially controlled by the events in the world. The second is top-down mechanisms in which we move attention voluntarily to what we determine to be relevant event in the world based on our own cognitive biases and goals. This study found that 3-month-old infants born by caesarean section were significantly slower to move attention and make eye movements in reaction to the occurrence of visual events on the basis of bottom-up mechanisms than were infants born vaginally.  In contrast, there was difference between infants in moving attention and making eye movements in anticipation of the appearance of visual events on the basis of top-down mechanisms.  Additionally, maternal age, which has been shown to be related to the occurrence of caesarean sections, was found not to be related to the current effects. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Heart Disease / 12.08.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bradley C. Clark, MD Pediatric Cardiology Fellow – 3rd Year Division of Cardiology Children's National Health System Washington, DC 20010 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Clark: After consulting on multiple pediatric emergency room patients with K2 (synthetic cannabinoid) ingestion and electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities, my co-authors and I decided that it was worth taking a more detailed look at the potential cardiac effects of synthetic cannabinoids. We did a retrospective chart review and discovered a total of 8 patients in a 3 year period (2011 – 2014) at our institution with reported synthetic cannabinoid ingestion and concern for myocardial injury.  There were 3 individuals with evidence of ECG abnormalities in a segmental pattern with increased cardiac enzyme levels (troponins).  The other 5 individuals had ECG abnormalities either without troponin elevations or were not specifically tested.  Each individual that had an echocardiogram performed had normal intracardiac anatomy with normal biventricular systolic function. Given the elevated troponin levels and ECG abnormalities, there was a suspicion for myocardial ischemia in this small subset of patients without meeting specific criteria for myocardial infarction.  Interestingly, these individuals had completely normal echocardiograms and had no other potential cause of myocardial ischemia discovered by history.  Additionally, these were all teenage pediatric patients with documented K2 exposure without evidence of exposure to illegal substances. K2 and other synthetic cannabinoids are known to cause analgesia and euphoria and can lead to a lack of symptomatology.  Therefore, individuals with synthetic cannabinoid ingestion may not complain of the prototypical cardiac symptoms (chest pain, shortness of breath, palpitations) and may not have the workup to diagnose potential myocardial ischemia. (more…)
Author Interviews, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, OBGYNE / 12.08.2015

Prof. Hanns-Ulrich Marschall Professor of clinical hepatology Wallenberg Laboratory Sahlgrenska Academy Göteborg, Sweden MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Hanns-Ulrich Marschall Professor of clinical hepatology Wallenberg Laboratory Sahlgrenska Academy Göteborg, Sweden Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Marschall: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, or ICP, is the most common liver disease during pregnancy, affecting 1.5% of all pregnancies in Sweden. ICP is characterized by otherwise unexplained pruritus with elevated bile acids and/or transaminases in the late second and third trimester of pregnancy. It is well established that ICP is associated with risks for the unborn child, in particular preterm delivery, but also stillbirth. In contrast, for the mother, ICP has for a long time only been considered as an annoying but not serious condition that spontaneously resolves after delivery. However, ICP obviously is not such a benign condition for the mother: We have recently shown that women with ICP have a 3- to 5-times increased risk of hepatobiliary diseases, such as hepatitis C, cirrhosis and gallstones. Here we extended our study to investigate the association between ICP and later cancer, diabetes mellitus and other autoimmune-mediated diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.   Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Marschall: Our study showed that women with ICP were at about 25% increased risk to be later diagnosed with immune-mediated diseases, in particular diabetes mellitus and Crohn’s disease but not ulcerative colitis. There was also a small increased risk of later cardiovascular disease, in particular if the woman with ICP also suffered from preeclampsia. Most important were the data on the risk of later malignancy: We found a 2.5-times higher risk for cancer in the biliary tree and even a 3.5-times increased risk of liver cancer. Even after adjusting for a diagnosis of hepatitis C, which is very strongly associated with liver cancer, more than 30-times, women with ICP were still at 2.5-times increased risk of later liver malignancy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Surgical Research / 12.08.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
 Sharon-Marie Weldon, MSc, RN Sharon-Marie Weldon, MSc, RN Department of Surgery and Cancer Imperial College London, UK Terhi Korkiakangas Dr. Terhi Korkiakangas, PhD, MSc, BSc UCL Institute of Education University College London, UK MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Response:  Our study draws on a broader video-based observational project on communication in the operating theatres. The effectiveness of team communication can be sometimes attributed to the working environment and the quality of information exchange between team members. Research on noise levels in the operating theatre has shown that the levels exceed World Health Organisation recommendations and thus can impact on teamwork. Interestingly, music is routinely played in an estimated 53-72% of surgical operations performed worldwide. Modern day operating theatre suites, like the ones in which we conducted observations, are often equipped with docking stations and MP3 players and music is played during surgical operations. Prior literature has addressed surgeons’ views on music through interviews, and some performance-based studies using background music have been conducted in controlled simulated settings. Some of the studies suggest that music is beneficial for the surgeons operating: it can improve their concentration. However, the ways in which music can impact on team communication have been relatively under researched, with little evidence on ‘real-time’ interactions. MedicalResearch:  What are the main findings? Response: We used quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine video recordings of a total of 20 surgical operations in which music was either played or not played. Each operation was logged for communication events, notably requests/questions issued by surgeons, and nurses’ responses to these. Statistical analysis explored the difference between the proportion of repetitions of these requests, and whether music was playing or not. The request/response observations (N=5203) were documented. Chi-square test revealed that repeated requests were five times more likely to occur in cases that had music playing. A repeated request can add 4-68 seconds to operation time and increase tension due to frustration at ineffective communication. The interactional analysis elaborated on the fragments of interaction in which information was exchanged while music was playing. These showed how nurses communicated their difficulties in hearing by prompting surgeons to repeat themselves. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Kidney Disease, Lancet / 12.08.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Der-Cherng Tarng, MD, PhD Division of Nephrology Taipei Veterans General Hospital, and National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Tarng: Metformin is generally recommended as a first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus, but the use of metformin has been limited in patients with impaired kidney function because of the perceived risk of lactic acidosis. More recently, available evidence supports the cautious expansion of metformin use in patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, no studies have yet examined whether metformin can be prescribed more widely to patients with advanced CKD. We conducted a propensity score-matched cohort study using Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database to assess the safety of metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes and serum creatinine levels >6 mg/dL, enrolled between January 1, 2000 and June 30, 2009 and followed-up until December 31, 2009, before Taiwan’s prescribing guidelines for metformin contraindicated its use in patients with CKD. From a consecutive sample of 12350 patients, 1005 (8.1%) were metformin users. Of these, 813 were successfully matched 1:3 to 2439 metformin nonusers. After multivariate adjustment, metformin use remained was an independent risk factor for mortality (hazard ratio 1.35, 95% confidence interval 1.20–1.45; p<0.0001). The increased risk was dose-dependent and was consistent across all subgroup analyses. However, metformin users compared with non-users were associated with a higher but insignificant risk of metabolic acidosis (hazard ratio 1.30, 95% confidence interval 0.88–1.93; p=0.188). (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Lymphoma / 12.08.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alain H. Rook, M.D. Professor of Dermatology University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104 and Rachael A. Clark, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Dermatology Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA 02115   Researchers’ summary: In this paper, Dr. Rachael Clark and I describe a novel topical therapy for mycosis fungoides (MF), which is a skin-limited variant of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL), a group of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas which represent cancers derived from skin-homing T cells. Although therapies exist that suppress the inflammatory skin lesions of MF, there are no curative therapies for this otherwise lifelong disease except for stem cell transplantation, which is only carried out in patients with aggressive and progressive disease. This manuscript describes a phase I trial of a novel immunomodulatory compound called resiquimod. This molecule stimulates two key receptors TLR7 and TLR8. Unlike imiquimod, a similar compound that is FDA approved for the treatment of local skin cancers, resiquimod actually stimulates inflammatory cytokine release from the dendritic cells that populate both healthy and inflamed human skin. As a result, this drug can enhance antigen presentation and immune responses. This study demonstrated that topical resiquimod was remarkably effective in that 90% of patients experienced a decrease in the percentage of the malignant T cell clone in skin lesions, and two patients had complete clearance of all disease, including both the treated skin lesions and the untreated lesions. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of regression of untreated skin lesions using a topical medication. This suggests that systemic antitumor immunity develops in these patients. Translational studies on the skin before and after treatment showed that the malignant T cell clone declined and inflammatory cytokine production by benign T cells increased after therapy suggesting the medication enhanced antitumor responses. In summary, this manuscript describes a small phase I trial that showed that topical resiquimod is safe, effective therapy for mycosis fungoides and can cause regression of both treated and untreated skin lesions, and may therefore represent a long-term potential cure for this otherwise lifelong disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, Nutrition / 12.08.2015

James M. Shikany, DrPH Professor of Medicine Division of Preventive Medicine University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James M. Shikany, DrPH Professor of Medicine Division of Preventive Medicine University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Shikany: There is a growing interest in the field of nutritional epidemiology in relating overall dietary practices to various disease endpoints. For example, the assessment of dietary patterns in a population may be more meaningful than concentrating on isolated nutrients or foods because they more closely reflect how people eat in the real world. Previously, we looked at how the degree to which one adhered to 5 dietary patterns identified in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study was associated with the risk of stroke. In the current study, we investigated how the degree to which one adhered to these dietary patterns was related to the risk of incident acute coronary heart disease. The main finding was that a Southern dietary pattern (characterized by added fats, fried foods, eggs and egg dishes, organ meats, processed meats, and sugar-sweetened beverages) was associated with a significantly greater hazard of incident acute coronary heart disease in REGARDS participants. The association persisted following adjustment for sociodemographics, lifestyle factors, and energy intake. Specifically, following multivariable adjustment, participants in the highest quartile of consumption of the Southern pattern experienced a 56% greater hazard of incident coronary heart disease compared with those in the lowest quartile of consumption of this pattern. Another pattern we observed – the Plant-based pattern – characterized by vegetables, fruits, beans, yogurt, poultry, and fish was not associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Hospital Readmissions, JAMA, Pediatrics / 11.08.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alisa Khan, MD Pediatric hospitalist Boston Children's Hospital and Instructor of Pediatrics Harvard Medical School Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Khan: Patients can be readmitted to the same hospital they were discharged from or to a different hospital.  In adults, readmissions to different hospitals make up about 20% of all readmissions.  We don’t know a lot about how often different-hospital readmissions happen in children. Insurance companies know hospitals’ true readmission rates (which include when a hospital’s patients are readmitted to the same hospital and when they are readmitted to a different hospital).  However, hospitals don’t know their true readmission rates since they don’t have access to the full information that insurance companies have. If hospitals don’t know their true rates, they may think they are doing better at preventing readmissions than they really (for instance, if all their discharged patients are simply being readmitted to a different hospital).  Hospitals may also draw incorrect conclusions when they compare themselves to one another (like through benchmarking), and may not be able to predict whether they will be subject to penalties by insurers for having excessively high readmission rates. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Khan: We found that about 1 in 7 pediatric readmissions in New York over a 5-year period were to a different hospital than the hospital the patient was discharged from.   The percentage of different-hospital readmissions varied by hospital and patient characteristics.  Patients who were admitted to non-children’s hospitals, lower-volume hospitals, or urban hospitals had a higher chance of being readmitted to a different hospital, as did patients who were younger, white, privately insured, or who had certain chronic conditions (like mental health, neurologic, and circulatory conditions). We also found a lot of variability in how much individual hospitals would underestimate their true readmission rates if they only used this incomplete same-hospital readmission info.  Some hospitals would underestimate their true readmission rates by only 0.6 relative percentage points while others would underestimate them by 68 points. (more…)
Author Interviews, Fertility, JAMA, Pediatrics / 11.08.2015

Prof. Dr. med. Christian F. Poets Neonatologie, Univ.-Klinikum Tübingen Tübingen GermanyMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. med. Christian F. Poets Neonatologie, Univ.-Klinikum Tübingen Tübingen Germany Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Prof. Poets: Episodes of intermittent hypoxemia (lack of oxygen) and bradycardia (slow heart rate) are common in very preterm infants and often a subject of considerable concern. However, up to now there has been a lack of knowledge as to how often or how long such episodes may occur without increasing an infant’s risk for impaired development or even death. In this study, we utilized long-term recordings (lasting 8-12 weeks) of oxygen saturation and heart rate obtained as part of the Canadian Oxygen Trial (COT), a large study performed in extremely immature infants and comparing a higher with a lower oxygen saturation target range (85-89 vs. 91-95% oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry). For this secondary analysis, we wanted to test the hypotheses that spending a high proportion of time at an oxygen saturation below 80% or a pulse rate <80 beats per minute increases the risk of the following adverse outcomes:
  1. Death after reaching a post-menstrual age of 36 weeks (i.e. 4 weeks before their due date) or disability, determined at 18-22 months corrected age and defined as motor impairment, cognitive or language delay, severe hearing loss, or bilateral blindness;
  2. Motor impairment (determined at 18-22 months corrected age);
  3. Cognitive or language delay (determined at 18-22 months corrected age);
  4. Severe retinopathy of prematurity.
Medical Research: What are the main findings? Prof. Poets: Analyzable recordings and outcome data were available for 1019 infants, of which the least affected 10% spent 0.4%, and the most affected infants 13.5% of the time at an oxygen saturation <80%. We found that the risk to develop all of the adverse outcomes mentioned above increased with the percentage of time spent at an oxygen saturation below 80%, but this was true only for hypoxemic events lasting for at least 1 minute. Episodes with a low heart rate (in the absence of concomitant hypoxemia) were not associated with an increased risk of an adverse outcome. Interestingly, hypoxemic events occurring in infants originally randomized to the higher oxygen group in the original COT study were associated with a stronger increase in the risk of death or disability than such episodes occurring infants randomized to the lower oxygen saturation target range.  (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Neurological Disorders, Ophthalmology, Vanderbilt / 11.08.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthew Schrag MD Department of Neurology Yale University New Haven, Connecticut   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Schrag: Central retinal artery occlusion  (CRAO) is a relatively rare disorder that is caused by interruption of blood flow to the retina, usually by a clot or some other embolus.  Despite around 150 years of research, no compelling treatment has been found for this disease.  Treatment with fibrinolytics has been used experimentally for a long time and some of the results have been encouraging.  The point of the current study was to aggregate all of this observational data and compare how patients withCentral retinal artery occlusion do when treated with fibrinolytics versus when they are treated with other approaches or not treated at all. The biggest surprise in the data was the poor performance of conventional treatments at less than half the recovery rate of patients who were simply left alone.  The literature on treating central retinal artery occlusion with ocular massage, hemodilution or anterior chamber paracentesis has never been particularly compelling, but these treatments were thought to be harmless and are often practiced in the acute management of central retinal artery occlusion.  This new analysis strongly suggests that these interventions may be harmful.  While this data is not perfect (it is retrospective, non-randomized, acquired over long periods of time, etc), for me it raises enough doubt that I think ocular massage, anterior chamber paracentesis and hemodilution should be abandoned as treatments for acute CRAO. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Lifestyle & Health / 11.08.2015

Lucas J. Carr, PhD Department of Health and Human Physiology University of Iowa Iowa City IA 52242MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lucas J. Carr, PhD Department of Health and Human Physiology University of Iowa Iowa City IA 52242 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Carr: Office employees are exposed to hazardous levels of sedentary work which is now known to contribute negatively to both physical and mental health. This study tested the effect of retrofitting standard office desks with portable elliptical machines for the purpose of increasing the physical activity levels of sedentary office workers while they are at work. This approach is slightly different that traditional approaches which ask employees to be more active during non-working hours.  We found employees provided the pedal devices became more active while at work and pedaled an average of 50 minutes per day over four months. These findings suggest this approach was successful at increasing physical activity levels of employees while at work and over a fairly long period of time. (more…)