Author Interviews, Cannabis, Schizophrenia / 16.12.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Matthew J. Smith PhD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 710 N. Lake Shore Drive, 13th Floor, Abbott Hall, Chicago, IL 60611 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Smith: We observed that the shapes of brain structures involved in a working memory brain circuit seemed to collapse inward in a similar fashion among both of the groups that had a history of daily cannabis use. These cannabis-related changes in shape were directly related to the participants’ poor performance on working memory tasks. Some of the shape abnormalities were more severe in the group with schizophrenia and the history of daily cannabis use. We also found that participants with an earlier age of daily cannabis use had more abnormal brain shapes. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Stroke / 22.11.2013

W. Scott Burgin, MD Professor and Chief Cerebrovascular Division Director, Comprehensive Stroke Center Department of Neurology USF College of Medicine Tampa General Hospital Stroke CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: W. Scott Burgin, MD Professor and Chief, Cerebrovascular Division Director, Comprehensive Stroke Center Department of Neurology USF College of Medicine Tampa General Hospital Stroke Center. MedicalResearch.com What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Burgin: Two cases of stroke, of embolic appearance, shortly after smoking synthetic marijuana. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Opiods, Pharmacology, Weight Research / 02.10.2013

Marsha A. Raebel, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP Investigator in Pharmacotherapy Institute for Health Research 10065 E. Harvard Ave Suite 300 Denver, CO 80231.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marsha A. Raebel, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP Investigator in Pharmacotherapy Institute for Health Research 10065 E. Harvard Ave Suite 300 Denver, CO 80231. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found that in a group of patients who took chronic opioids for non-cancer pain and who underwent bariatric surgery there was greater chronic use of opioids after surgery compared with before surgery, findings that suggest the need for proactive management of chronic pain in these patients after surgery. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Cocaine / 25.09.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Krishna Patel, M.S. Clinical Data Analyst Hartford Hospital|Institute of Living Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center Hartford, CT-06106 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer:  We looked at brain response to a monetary incentive delay (MID) task in current and former cocaine users compared to healthy controls using functional MRI. The task measures aspects of sensitivity to rewards and punishments. Current cocaine users showed abnormal under-activation in reward circuitry compared to healthy controls. In some of those regions former cocaine users (who had an average of 4years of abstinence from cocaine) also showed abnormalities. These former users also showed over-activation in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain, (an important region containing dopamine cell bodies) compared to both healthy controls and current cocaine users. Current and former cocaine users also scored higher on specific impulsivity measures, compared to healthy controls. (more…)
Addiction, CMAJ, JAMA, Pharmacology, Primary Care / 19.09.2013

Richard Saitz, MD MPH Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MassachusettsMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Richard Saitz, MD MPH Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Saitz: Chronic care management in primary care did not improve health outcomes (abstinence from cocaine, opioids or heavy drinking; or any other clinical outcomes, like addiction consequences, emergency or hospital use, health-related quality of life, addiction severity) for people with alcohol or other drug dependence. (more…)
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Pediatrics / 13.09.2013

Svetlana Popova, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. Senior Scientist, Social and Epidemiological Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Assistant Professor, Epidemiology Division Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto Assistant Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto Graduate Faculty Associate Member, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto CAMH, 33 Russell Street, Room # T507 Toronto Ontario, Canada M5S 2S1MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Svetlana Popova, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. Senior Scientist, Social and Epidemiological Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Assistant Professor, Epidemiology Division Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto Assistant Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto Graduate Faculty Associate Member, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto CAMH, 33 Russell Street, Room # T507 Toronto Ontario, Canada M5S 2S1 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Popova: We conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of internationally published and unpublished studies that reported the prevalence of FAS and/or FASD in all types of child care systems (e.g., orphanage, foster care, boarding school, adoption centre, or child welfare system). The primary objective was to estimate a pooled (combined) prevalence for FAS and FASD in various child care systems using data from existing studies that used an Active Case Ascertainment method (when researchers/clinicians actively seek and diagnose FASD cases). The available data was analyzed by using a standard statistical technique (called meta-analysis). This study revealed that the vast majority of existing studies report that the prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in the various child-care settings in the different countries is extremely high. Our analysis of these studies demonstrated that the pooled prevalence of FAS in child care settings (6%) was found to be approximately 9-30 times higher than the prevalence of FAS in the general population of North America, which is reported to range from 2 to 7 cases per 1,000 individuals in the USA and 1 per 1,000 in Canada. Thus, children in care represent a high-risk population for FASD. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Memory, Methamphetamine, Scripps / 11.09.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ph.D., Neurobiology & Behavior and Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory (2005), University of California, Irvine, CaliforniaCourtney A. Miller, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Metabolism & Aging Department of Neuroscience The Scripps Research Institute Jupiter, FL 33458 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Miller: The relapse rate for drug abusers, smokers and alcoholics is high because abstinence is so difficult. A major factor is the craving that drug associations can trigger. These range from seeing the neighborhood where someone used to buy, in the case of illicit drugs, to social drinking for a smoker. We’ve found a way to disrupt these drug-associated memories without affecting other, more benign memories. (more…)
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, JNCI, OBGYNE / 30.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ying Liu, MD, PhD Instructor, Division of Public Health Sciences Department of Surgery Washington University School of Medicine 660 South Euclid Ave Campus Box 8100 St. Louis, MO 63110 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Alcohol intake between menarche (first menstrual period) and first pregnancy was consistently associated with increased risks of breast cancer and proliferative benign breast disease. For every 10 gram/day alcohol intake (approximately a drink a day) during this specific time period, the risk for breast cancer increased by 11% and the risk for proliferative benign breast disease increased by 16%. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Lancet, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurological Disorders / 24.07.2013

Professor John Zajicek Professor of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Clinical Trials & Health Research - Translational & Stratified Medicine (Peninsula Schools of Medicine and DentistrMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor John Zajicek Professor of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Clinical Trials & Health Research - Translational & Stratified Medicine (Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry) MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Zajicek: Our study investigated whether dronabinol (one of the major active ingredients of cannabis) may slow the progression of multiple sclerosis. We currently have no treatments that are effective in modifying the disease course in people with either primary or secondary MS. We did a clinical trial across the UK involving nearly 500 patients, who were randomly allocated to dronabinol or placebo, and followed them up for three years to look at progression on rates. Overall we failed to find an effect of dronabinol on disease progression,  either clinically (using a variety of clinical measures) or using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There was a suggestion of an effect in people with the least disability (who didn't need a stick to help them walk), and there were no major problems with serious side effects.  However, over all the population that took part in the study also progressed less than we expected, which reduced our chances of finding an effect of treatment. The  study was not designed to investigate an effect on MS-related symptoms (such as pain and muscle stiffness), which have been investigated before. (more…)