Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Diabetes, Heart Disease, JACC / 02.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Scott David Solomon, MD Director, Noninvasive Cardiology Professor, Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: The sodium glucose transport proteins are known to be important in regulating uptake of glucose. SGLT-1 is predominantly located in the gut and is responsible for uptake of glucose and galactose in the small intestine. Individuals born with severe mutations of this gene have severe malabsorption syndrome. We looked at genetic variants that lead to reduced function of the protein, but not complete loss of function, in a large cohort of individuals in the NIH funded Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. We found that those with mutations in the gene had reduced glucose uptake, as measured by an oral glucose tolerance test, as well as less obesity, diabetes, heart failure and death. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Sexual Health / 02.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura M. Padilla-Walker, PhD Professor, School of Family Life Associate Dean, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences Brigham Young University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The current study included approximately 500 teens that we followed for 8 years starting at approximately age 14. In this particular study, we explored how parent-child sex communication regarding sexual safety changed from ages 14-18, and then how this change was associated with children’s sexual outcomes at age 21. Though we would hope and expect that parents would discuss sexual safety with their children at increasing levels as children age, findings from this study suggested low and unchanging levels of parent-child sex communication over time. In other words, parents are talking very little to their children about sexual safety, and how much they talk to children isn’t changing from age 14 to 18. In addition, mothers reported significantly higher levels of sex communication than did children and fathers, suggesting that mothers think they talk about sexuality more than children think they do. Though this is an issue of perception, what the child perceives is generally a more important predictor of positive outcomes. Mothers also reported talking with their sons less than their daughters, though sex communication with sons increased over time and by age 18 mothers reported the same (relatively low) levels of sex communication with both daughters and sons. That being said, initial levels and positive change in parent-child sex communication was associated with safer sex at age 21, suggesting that parents SHOULD talk with their children more and at increasing levels over time, because these factors are associated with positive child outcomes. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Urinary Tract Infections, Urology, UT Southwestern / 02.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Glass of Water" by Iwan Gabovitch is licensed under CC BY 2.0Professor Yair Lotan MD Chief of Urologic Oncology Holder of the Helen J. and Robert S. Strauss Professorship in Urology UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Department of Urology Dallas, Texas 75390-9110  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Urinary tract infections are extremely common in women and many women experience recurrent episodes which impact their quality of life.  There are also many women who do not drink as much water as is recommended. This study found that in healthy women with recurrent UTIs who drink less than 1.5 liters per day, the additional intake of 1.5 liters of water daily reduced the risk of recurrent infections by nearly 50%.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Pediatrics / 01.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthew D. Weaver, PhD Instructor in Medicine · Harvard Medical School Associate Epidemiologist · Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA 02215 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We were interested whether high school students who tended to sleep less than 8 hours per night reported more risk-taking behaviors compared to high school students who slept at least 8 hours per night on a school night. We utilized a nationally representative dataset from the CDC of surveys that were completed by high school students between 2007 and 2015. Over that time, approximately 67,000 students were surveyed. Students were asked about the hours of sleep that they obtained on an average school night. They were also asked how often, in the month prior to the survey, they engaged in a number of risk-taking behaviors. Some behaviors were related to driving, like driving without a seatbelt or driving drunk, while others were related to using alcohol, doing drugs, or being involved in a fight. They were also asked about their mood, including whether they felt sad or hopeless, considered suicide, and whether they had attempted suicide.  (more…)
AACR, Author Interviews, Cancer Research, MD Anderson, University Texas / 01.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Filip Janku, MD, PhD Associate Professor, Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (Phase I Clinical Trials Program) Center Medical Director, Clinical and Translational Research Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX 77030 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Clostridium novyi-NT is an attenuated strain of bacteria Clostridium, which induced a microscopically precise, tumor-localized response in a rat brain tumor model and in companion dogs bearing spontaneous cancers. Clostridium novyi-NT can only grow in hypoxic (low-oxygen) tumor environment and destroys cancer cells by secreting lipases, proteases, and other hydrolytic enzymes; recruiting inflammatory cells to tumors eliciting anti-tumor immune responses in animals. Furthermore, intratumoral injection can plausibly induce an immune mediated abscopal effect in non-injected tumor sites. Therefore, we designed a phase I dose-finding study to test for safety and tolerability of the single intratumoral injection of Clostridium novyi-NT in 24 patients with advanced cancers with no available standard therapies. We also designed experiments to study activation of antitumor immune response in blood and tumor samples from patients undergoing the therapy. We demonstrated that single dose of intratumoral injection of Clostridium novyi-NT is feasible and has led to significant destruction of injected tumor masses. Adverse events, which were often related to the tumor destruction at the infected site, could have been significant but mostly manageable. Correlative studies of pre-treatment and post-treatment tumor and blood samples suggested immune response to therapy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Social Issues / 30.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sage J. Kim, PhD Division of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our study examined the rates at which women who received patient navigation in a randomized clinical trial reported barriers to obtaining a screening mammogram. The trial, called the Patient Navigation in Medically Underserved Areas (PNMUA) study, randomly assigned patients to one of two groups: one received a patient navigation support intervention and the other served as a control. Of the 3,754 women who received the patient navigation intervention, only 14 percent identified one or more barriers to care, which led to additional interactions with navigators who helped overcome barriers. Black women, women living in poverty, and women who reported high levels of distrust of the health care system were the least likely to report barriers. Women who reported barriers were more likely to have additional contact with navigators and obtain a subsequent screening mammogram. The extra support could help with early diagnosis and better survival and mortality outcomes. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, HPV, UCLA / 28.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Manon Eckhardt, PhD Gladstone Institutes The Quantitative Biosciences Institute University of California San Francisco  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Infection with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) causes 5% of all cancers worldwide, including cervical cancer and an increasing number of head and neck cancers. Most cancers are caused by mutations in genes, leading to the production of malfunctioning proteins that result in unconstrained cell division. However, certain viruses like HPV can cause cancer without introducing mutations. In this study, we compared cancers of the same type (i.e. head and neck) that are caused by either mutation or virus infection to identify important processes that are dysregulated in both subsets. We hypothesized that identifying which proteins the virus binds can lead the way to prioritize which of the proteins and cellular processes (pathways) that are affected in cancer cells are most important. To do this, we identified the complete set of human proteins that interact with HPV. We next determined genes that were more frequently mutated in non-viral cancers, and combined both data sets. The proteins we find to be both binding to HPV and mutated in non-viral cancers will be potential targets for new, more specific drug development, and help better understand the development of head and neck cancer. From the many pathways we identified in this study, we highlighted two pathways with further mechanistic studies: the oxidative stress response, which helps cancer cells survive, as well as a pathway that allows the cancer to spread to other parts of the body. (more…)
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Pediatrics / 28.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Barry M. Lester, PhD Center for the Study of Children at Risk Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island;  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We know from rodent studies that maternal care or nurturing behavior can change the rat pups physiologic response to stress. More nurturing behavior makes it easier for rat pups to relax after stress. Not only that, these changes are permanent, they last into adulthood and there is evidence that these changes can be passed on to the next generation. With animal studies you can unlock the mechanism for this in ways that you can’t do with humans and we know from the rodent studies that the mechanism for these changes has to do with changes in gene activity. Nurturing behavior controls a specific gene that regulates the infant’s physiological response to stress. In other words, we are looking at maternal behavioral programming of a gene that can make, in our case, a human infant less physiologically reactive to stress. The physiological reactivity to stress that we studied was the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is part of the body’s flight or fight reaction, the body’s major response to stress and too much or too little cortisol can be harmful and is related to a wide range of mental and physical health disorders in children and adults. The concerns about separating immigrant children from their parents that we read about every day in the paper are based on this same physiological system, where brain structures that control cortisol production are damaged by the stress of separation.  (more…)
Author Interviews, End of Life Care, Hearing Loss, JAMA / 28.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tae-Min Rhee, M.D. Chief of Undersea and Diving Medicine, Underwater Medical Institute, National Maritime Medical Center, Republic of Korea Navy, Changwon Republic of Korea MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) has an incidence of 5 to 20 per 100,000 person-years in the general population and sometimes results in permanent deafness followed by considerable socio-economic costs. The causes of SSNHL are often unclear, and in these cases there are no treatment of choice that is proven to be effective. In addition, spontaneous recovery is not uncommon in SSNHL, making it difficult to predict the natural course of the disease, and thus a well-controlled clinical trial is rare in spite of its clinical significance. Many treatment options (systemic or intratympanic steroids, antiviral agents, vasodilators, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy) have been suggested and tried to date, but only systemic steroid therapy has been the most effective among them. However, for the cases with contraindications to steroids, or steroid-refractory SSNHL, there is paucity of information on the second line treatment option. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), i.e., high-pressurized oxygen therapy, is a method of treating patients within a chamber saturated with 100% oxygen maintained at a high pressure of 2.0 to 2.5 atm. Cochlea is an organ that relies more on the diffusion of oxygen than the direct vascular supply, and thus it is known to be vulnerable to ischemia. Since this is suggested as one of the main pathophysiology of SSNHL, we wanted to prove the hypothesis that, by providing high-pressure oxygen, the partial pressure of oxygen delivered to the inner ear is maximized, and the additional or complementary therapeutic effects can be observed. A number of reports have been published for 20 years, but there is no systematically organized evidence except a Cochrane Review in 2012. Therefore, our research team tried to integrate the evidence through a comprehensive meta-analysis and to provide important clues for further research.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, University of Pittsburgh / 27.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Masashi Okubo, MD. Clinical Instructor of Emergency Medicine Research Fellow Department of Emergency Medicine University of Pittsburgh MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major public health problem, annually affecting over 350,000 individuals in the US with low survival rate, 11.4% among those who were treated by emergency medical services (EMS). Prior studies showed a 5-fold difference (3.0% to 16.3%)  in survival to hospital discharge between 10 study sites in North America (US and Canada) and 6.5-fold difference (3.4% to 22.0%) between 132 US counties after OHCA. However, it was unclear how much patient outcome after OHCA differ between EMS agencies which play a critical role in OHCA care. Among 43,656 adults treated for Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by 112 EMS agencies in North America, we found that survival to hospital discharge differed from 0% to 28.9% between EMS agencies. There was a median difference of 56% in the odds of survival to hospital discharge for patients with similar characteristics between any 2 randomly selected EMS agencies, after adjusting for known measured sources of variability. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Heart Disease / 27.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Prash Sanders Director, Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders NHMRC Practitioner Fellow, Knapman-NHF Chair of Cardiology Research, University of Adelaide | SAHMRI Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology & Pacing, Royal Adelaide Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: CLINICALLY WE HAVE HAD SOME PATIENTS WHO HAVE SURVIVED SUDDEN DEATH EPISODES AND HAVE NOTED THAT THEY HAD MITRAL VALVE PROLAPSE. THIS STIMULATED US TO UNDERTAKE A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Gastrointestinal Disease, Microbiome, Science / 27.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joao Xavier PhD Associate Faculty Member | Computational & Systems Biology Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY 10065  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our team at Memorial Sloan Kettering has been investigating the intestinal microbiota of patients receiving bone marrow transplantations for more than eight years now. We have found through several studies that these patients lose important healthy bacteria from their microbiota, and that these losses are mostly caused by the antibiotics given as prophylaxis or to treat infections. We also found that the drastic changes in the microbiota composition, especially the intestinal dominations by bacteria such as Enterococcus, increase the risk of transplant-related complications and lowered patient survival. We aimed to determine the feasibility of autologous microbiota transplant (auto-FMT) as a way to reconstitute lost bacteria. This randomized study found that indeed auto-FMT could reconstitute important microbial groups to patients.  (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, NEJM / 27.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Amar Kelkar MD Clinical Fellow Division of Hematology & Oncology, Department of Medicine University of Florida College of Medicine, UF Health Shands Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are synthetic cannabinoids? Response: Starting in March 2018, patients began reporting to hospitals and clinics with unexplained and prolonged bleeding symptoms, first in Chicago, Illinois, and then spreading to Peoria, Illinois and elsewhere. This gained a lot of press because the initial identifying factor was that all the patients had reported recent use of synthetic cannabinoids. As the matter was studied further, it was determined that these patients were likely exposed to an anticoagulant poison mixed in with the synthetic cannabinoids. Synthetic cannabinoids are lab-derived illicit drugs that target the cannabinoid receptors that are also targeted by marijuana. They go by many names including synthetic marijuana, K2, and Spice. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Gender Differences, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Social Issues / 27.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Raghav Tripathi, MPH Case Western Reserve University MD Candidate, Class of 2021 MedicalResearch.com: Why did you decide to perform this study? Response: Differences in the impact of dermatologic conditions on different groups have been of interest to our research group for a long time. Previously, our group had found differences in time to treatment for patients with different skin cancers. Beyond this, we had found differences in mortality and incidence of various skin conditions (controlling for other factors) in different racial groups/ethnicities, socioeconomic groups, demographic groups, and across the rural-urban continuum. The goal of this study was to investigate socioeconomic and demographic differences in utilization of outpatient dermatologic care across the United States. As demographics throughout the country become more diverse, understanding differences in utilization of dermatologic care is integral to developing policy approaches to increasing access to care across the country.  (more…)
ALS, Author Interviews, Pharmaceutical Companies / 27.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: RetrotopeRobert J Molinari, Ph.D. President and CEO Retrotope, Inc.   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How does RT001 differ from other treatments for neurodegenerative diseases?  Response: Lipid peroxidation in critical cell and mitochondrial membranes represents a common pathway of cell death in many neurodegenerative diseases, regardless of the initiating trigger of original damage, e.g. aberrant gene expression, misfolded proteins such as tau and amyloid, environmental insults, etc. This hypothesis was supported by work showing that stabilizing lipids (using virtually indistinguishable isotopic variants of the original dietary molecules) was able to mitigate disease-related cell dysfunction, and reverse disease in a variety of animal models, and more recently, in human patients enrolled in clinical trials. It has been known for decades that lipid peroxidation detritus of oxidized membrane fats are present in most all diseases of degeneration and aging, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, atherosclerosis, ALS, Huntington’s, and fatal inborn genetic errors resulting in neurodegenerative diseases (among others). The hypothesis that controlling such oxidation could provide therapeutic benefit was abandoned when numerous formal trials of classical antioxidants, e.g. Co-enzyme Q, Vitamin E, and others failed to provide meaningful benefit. We believed that the antioxidant mechanism used to attempt control of the membrane oxidation was flawed, but that the target itself was correct. Indeed, by using a new class of oral drugs that are lipids fortified against damage at the key susceptible bonds, we observed reduction in lipid peroxidation damage that halted, and even reversed neurodegenerative disease progression. Dosed in amounts and forms similar to omega 3 and 6 supplements, these drugs exhibited profound disease modification across a broad range of diseases in animal models, placebo controlled- and open label- human trials. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Infections / 26.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Siberian Husky Puppies 2013-05-25" by Jeffrey Beall is licensed under CC BY 2.0Mark Laughlin, DVM Veterinary Medical Officer CDC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How common are Campylobacter infections?  How does a Campylobacter infection typically present?  Response: Campylobacter is one of the most common causes of diarrheal illness in the United States, causing an estimated 1.3 million illnesses each year. Most people with Campylobacter infection usually have diarrhea (often bloody), fever, and abdominal cramps. The diarrhea may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. These symptoms usually start within 2 to 5 days after exposure and last about a week. Most illnesses from Campylobacter likely occur due to eating raw or undercooked poultry, or from eating something that touched raw or undercooked poultry. Some illnesses can occur from contact with contaminated water, contact with animals, or from drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk. Since 2009, 13 outbreaks of human Campylobacter infections linked to contact with dogs have been reported to CDC. These outbreaks account for a reported 47 illnesses and 2 hospitalizations. (more…)
Author Interviews, Microbiome / 26.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pushpa Pandiyan, PhD Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences School of Dental Medicine Case Western Reserve University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The objective was to find the role of the resident bacteria in the mouth in controlling oral immunity. We examined this in a oral fungal infection model. How resident microbiome in the mouth maintains a healthy oral immune system was unknown before. We found that antibiotics led to destruction of microbiome and some of the good fatty acids the bacteria produced. This created an immune imbalance in the local tissue, thus making the host more susceptible to the fungal infection.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Psychological Science, Weight Research / 26.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Linda Solbrig PhD University of Plymouth MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Diets are restrictive; they work in the short-term, but re-gain is common. Individuals trying to manage their weight find that motivation fades over time and that this is the hardest part about maintain a healthy weight. When given choice to self-set goals we are much more likely to stick with them; they are more sustainable and we can succeed long-term. Using multi-sensory mental imagery supports motivation to change in the long run and also the opportunity to test out in our imagination if the actions we decided will lead to personal goal success actually fit with our lives, or whether we need to tweak, or even change them. Functional Imagery Training (FIT) is based on two decades of research showing that mental imagery is more strongly emotionally charged than other types of thought and that it can directly interfere with unwanted food cravings. It uses multi-sensory mental imagery to strengthen people’s motivation and confidence to achieve their own goals, and teaches people how to do this for themselves, so they can stay motivated even when faced with challenges. It is not about creating a static picture, but encourages the use of all our senses, how a situation may feel, seeing with the mind’s eye and hearing with the mind’s ear and so on, creating a mini movie in our minds where we are the lead actors working on our personal goals, overcoming adversity and succeeding.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Pharmaceutical Companies / 26.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Thomas J Moore AB Senior Scientist Institute for Safe Medication Practices Lecturer, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics The George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health Alexandria, VA 22314 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
  • The study provides realistic cost estimates of pivotal clinical trials that establish drug benefits to support FDA approval of 59 new drugs released for marketing in 2015-2016.
  • The median estimated cost was just $19 million, with half of the 138 trials studied clustered between $12 million and $33 million.
  • The highest cost trials–with estimates up to $345 million–were for new drugs that were similar to drugs already available and already proven in treating serious illnesses. 
(more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Education, Exercise - Fitness, Pediatrics / 26.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Marcus Smith PhD Reader in Sport and Exercise Physiology University of Chichester Co-founder, Clem Burke Drumming ProjectDr. Marcus Smith PhD Reader in Sport and Exercise Physiology University of Chichester Co-founder, Clem Burke Drumming Project MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The research group first started to examine rock drumming from a scientific perspective in 1999 through collaboration with Clem Burke, drummer with the iconic band ‘Blondie’. In 2008 the Clem Burke Drumming Project (CBDP) was formed (visit clemburkedrummingproject.org for further information) where academics from different disciplines came together to not only explore the physiological demands of rock drumming but also the potential use of rock drumming as an intervention in research studies. Rock drumming is attractive to the scientist in that it is a unique activity that requires the coordination of multiple limbs to produce the required drumming pattern. Inherent demands relating to timing, tempo and volume must also be met. Therefore, the ability to manipulate these facets of drumming performance in a research setting is very appealing. In relation to potential research populations drumming has a universal fascination regardless of age, gender, culture, language competency and ethnicity. Anecdotal evidence suggests that drumming is a ‘cool’ activity that has a unique ‘language currency’ in terms of stimulating communication within and between those who can and cannot play the drums. The impetus for our research study came from parents of autistic children contacting us to express their belief that drumming was having a positive effect on their child’s physical and psychological behaviour. A review of the literature showed a range of anecdotal evidence in support of such statements (Freidman 2000) and an increase in empirical drumming based research being undertaken (Bungay 2010). More recent studies have reported psychosocial benefits such as enhanced communication (Maschi et al. 2010; 2012), emotional processing and tension reduction (Flores et al. 2016; Maschi et al. 2010; 2012), group cohesion and connectedness (Blackett et al. 2005), concentration, psychomotor coordination and posture (Chen et al. 2017). The majority of this work was undertaken with adolescents with very little work focused on younger age groups. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Eli Lilly / 25.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lotus Mallbris, M.D., Ph.D., Vice president, Immunology Development Lilly Bio-Medicines  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: By exploring creative clinical approaches and patient-centric pathways to more thoroughly address the key aspects of treating these complex conditions, Lilly is bringing innovation forward in hopes of reducing the burden of dermatologic disease for people around the world. The results of the IXORA-S study suggest that Taltz may provide significantly greater clearance of nail psoriasis than ustekinumab. This is significant because nail lesions are a common feature of psoriasis. It’s often associated with discomfort, which can lead to functional impairment and distress, further supporting the importance of complete clearance.   (more…)
Author Interviews, Neurology, Pain Research / 25.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John Douglas Markman, M.D. Director, Translational Pain Research Program Department of Neurosurgery Professor University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Peripheral nerve injury after trauma and surgery is a leading cause of chronic pain and disability. These pain syndromes are often considered to have an underlying neuropathic mechanism because there is altered sensory processing (e.g., numbness, allodynia) at the site of trauma or surgical incision that localizes to the anatomic distribution of a peripheral nerve. A previous eight-week randomized clinical trial demonstrated efficacy for pregabalin in patients with chronic post-traumatic or -surgical pain.(10) The longer duration of treatment of this study was designed to meet the regulatory standard for a chronic pain indication in the US, 12 weeks of treatment at maintenance or fixed dosing. (more…)
Antibiotic Resistance, Author Interviews, Infections / 25.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "pseudomonas first bacteria to be patented. professor Chakrabarty" by adrigu is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr Dorival Martins Department of Microbiology and Immunology Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Research Institute McGill University Health Centre Montreal Canada.  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Antibiotic tolerance, together with drug resistance, makes bacteria refractory to antibiotics and can cause treatment failure in subacute and chronic bacterial infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major health concern worldwide, can cause severe chronic infections that are refractory to antibiotic treatments due to tolerance. Since the discovery of new antibiotics has been drastically diminished over the last decades, overcoming tolerance could be a strategy to enhance the efficacy of currently available antibiotic treatments. However, very little is known about the mechanism of tolerance, even though this phenomenon has been observed over 60 years ago. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition, Weight Research / 25.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, MBA Director of Clinical Research Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Washington, DC 20016  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: The effects of carbohydrates on body weight and insulin sensitivity are controversial. In this 16-week randomized clinical trial, we tested the role of carbohydrate quantity and quality, as part of a plant-based diet, on body weight, body composition, and insulin resistance. We have demonstrated that carbohydrates and dietary fiber play important roles in the regulation of body weight, body composition, and insulin resistance in overweight individuals. Increased consumption of total carbohydrate was associated with a decrease in BMI and volume of visceral fat, even after adjustment for energy intake. Increased consumption of total and particularly insoluble fiber was associated with a decrease in BMI, fat mass, and volume of visceral fat. (more…)
Author Interviews, Emory, JAMA, Orthopedics / 25.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. David H. Howard PhD Department of Health Policy and Management Emory University Atlanta, GA 30322 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: There is a lot of skepticism that physicians respond to evidence, especially when trials report that widely-used, separately-reimbursed procedures are not effective. Physicians are reluctant to abandon treatments. This study shows that in the case of knee arthroscopy, evidence has made a difference. The use of knee arthroscopy declined by 23% in Florida between 2002 and 2015. This change occurred despite increases in the prevalence of osteoarthritis.  (more…)
Author Interviews, CMAJ, Cost of Health Care / 25.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "patient in hospital bed with nursing staff gathered around" by Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Andrea Gruneir, PhD Department of Family Medicine University of Alberta Edmonton, AB Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Hospital readmissions – when a patient is discharged from hospital but then returns to hospital in a short period of time – are known to be a problem, both for the patients and for the larger health system. Hospital readmissions have received considerable attention and there have been a number of initiatives to try to reduce them, but with mixed success. Older adults are among the most vulnerable group for hospital readmission. Older adults are also the largest users of continuing care services, such as home care and long-term care homes (also known as nursing homes). Yet, few large studies have really considered how older adults with different pathways through hospital compare on the risk of hospital readmission. In our study, we take a population-level approach and use health administrative data to create a large cohort of older adults who were hospitalized in Ontario between 2008 and 2015. For each of the 701,527 patients in our study, we identified where they received care before the hospitalization (in the community or in long-term care) and where they received care after discharge (in the community, in the community with home care, or in long-term care).  (more…)