10 Dec H.pylori: Triple Therapy Pill TALICIA® Has Potential To Become Best Treatment Option
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ira Kalfus, M.D.,
Medical Director
RedHill BioPharma
Immunohistochemical staining of H. pylori from a gastric biopsy - Wikipedia image
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this announcement? Would you briefly explain the significance of H. pylori infections? What are the potential complications of infection with this bacteria?
Response: Heliobacter pylori is one of the most prevalent human pathogens. H. pylori bacterial infection affects over 50% of the adult population worldwide1 and 30-40% of the U.S. population2, with an estimated 2.5 million patients treated annually in the U.S.3 People infected with H. pylori may suffer from gastritis and have an increased risk of developing ulcers and gastric cancers. In fact, H. pylori is classified as a group I carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in part because it is the strongest risk factor for the development of gastric cancer.4
Eradication of H. pylori is becoming more difficult. Current standard-of-care therapies fail in approximately 30-40% of patients, who remain H. pylori positive. This is due to increasing resistance of H. pylori to antibiotics commonly used in standard combination therapies5. Clarithromycin-resistant H. pylori was formally categorized by the World Health Organization as a pathogen for which there is a high priority need to develop new treatments.6
The pervasive nature of H. pylori, the great health risks that it poses and the rapid development of resistance to currently available therapies speak to the great unmet medical need for new treatments that are effective at eradicating H. pylori infections. We set out to develop TALICIA®(RHB-105) as an answer to this growing public health concern with the hopes that it could someday be adopted as a new first-line therapy for all people affected by H. pylori infection.
Dr. Gardner[/caption]
Rebekah L Gardner MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Warren Alpert Medical School
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Burnout profoundly affects physicians, their patients, and the health care system.The role of technology in physician burnout, specifically health information technology (HIT), is not as well characterized as some of the other factors. We sought to understand how stress related to HIT use predicts burnout among physicians.
Our main findings are that 70% of electronic health record (EHR) users reported HIT-related stress, with the highest prevalence in primary care-oriented specialties. We found that experiencing HIT-related stress independently predicted burnout in these physicians, even accounting for other characteristics like age, gender, and practice type. In particular, those with time pressures for documentation or those doing excessive “work after work” on their EHR at home had approximately twice the odds of burnout compared to physicians without these challenges. We found that physicians in different specialties had different rates of stress and burnout.
Dr. Steen[/caption]
Dr. Lowell H. Steen, Jr., M.D.
Interventional Cardiologist
Loyola University Medical Center
Dr. Steen discusses how holiday treats & stress can increase the risk of heart attack.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main factors that are linked to an increase in heart related adverse events during the Christmas holiday season? Who is most at risk?
Response: The increase in holiday season heart-related hospitalizations and deaths are due to a variety of behaviors such as putting off seeking medical help until after the holidays, overeating rich foods, strenuous travel, excessive alcohol consumption and stressful family interactions. These factors can all trigger heart issues.
Factors such as age, diabetes, high cholesterol and smoking all increase heart risk. Additionally, those with high blood pressure, which is a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke, are exceptionally at risk and should celebrate the hectic holiday season with caution. 
Dr. Wadhera[/caption]
Dr. Rishi Wadhera, MD
Cardiology Fellow
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Harvard Medical School.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In the United States, an estimated half a million people are homeless on any given night. In recent years, policy efforts to improve the health of homeless individuals have intensified, but there is little large-scale, contemporary data on how these efforts have impacted patterns of acute illness in this vulnerable population.
In this study, we examined trends, causes, and outcomes of hospitalizations among homeless individuals in three states – Massachusetts, Florida, and California – from 2007 to 2013. We found that hospitalization rates among homeless adults increased over this period of time.
Strikingly, over one-half of these hospitalizations were for mental illness and substance use disorder. More broadly, homeless adults were hospitalized for a very different set of reasons compared with demographically similar non-homeless adults. In addition, homeless individuals had longer lengths of hospitalization but lower total costs per hospitalization.
Prof. VanderWeele[/caption]
Professor Tyler VanderWeele Ph.D
John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology
Harvard University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the key points of the paper?
Response: Several prior studies have suggested that religious service attendance is associated with lower rates of divorce. However, many of these studies have been with small samples and have not had rigorous study designs. In addition, most studies have focused on women earlier in life and there has been little research on the effects of religious service attendance on divorce later in life. While divorce rates in the United States in general has been falling, it has in fact been increasing for middle-aged groups, doubling between 1990 and 2010.
In our study we found that among women in mid- to late- life, regular religious service attendance was subsequently associated with 50% lower divorce rates over the following 14 years of the study.
We also found that among those who were widowed, religious service attendance was associated with a 49% increase in the likelihood of remarrying over the 14 years of the study.
Dr. Barrett[/caption]
Charles Barrett. Ph.D.
School Psychologist
Loudon County Virginia
Public Schools
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Numerous studies have shown that Black children are more likely to receive ratings that are more indicative of displaying externalizing behavior difficulties, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, many of these studies included teachers as the informants. Consistent with most teachers in the United States, raters have typically been White females. For this reason, it is unclear if these outcomes would exist if the rater and child shared the same racial/ethnic background. Additionally, most research in the United States that involved cross-cultural comparisons has used White and Hispanic boys. Few empirical studies have examined differences between Black and White boys.
The present study sought to address several limitations in the field. Most notably, cross-cultural comparisons between Black and White boys were included instead of Hispanic and White children. Next, maternal figures, rather than teachers, were included as the informants.
The present study was developed using a similar methodology that examined Hispanic and White boys’ behavior from the perspective of Hispanic and White teachers (Dominguez de Ramirez & Shapiro, 2005). In sum, we sought to determine if there were differences in how Black and White maternal figures rated Black and White boys who were demonstrating the same level/type of behavior (i.e., sub-clinical levels of 
Dr. Scullin[/caption]
Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Director, Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory
Baylor University
Waco, TX 76798
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: There is a gap between what health behaviors individuals know they should adopt, and what those individuals actually end up doing. For example, a growing literature shows that simply educating students on the importance of sleep does not change their sleep behaviors. Thus, we need to think outside of the box for solutions.
In three classes, we have now investigated a motivational solution: if students can earn extra credit on their final exam for sleeping better, will they do so even during finals week?
Dr. Bollag[/caption]
Wendy Bollag, PhD, FAHA
Professor of Physiology
VA Research Career Scientist
Augusta University, Georgia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We have previously shown that the lipid (fat) phosphatidylglycerol (PG) is able to inhibit rapidly growing keratinocytes (skin cells) and promote their maturation. We also found that PG can suppress skin inflammation.
Since the common skin disease psoriasis is characterized by inflammation and excessive growth and abnormal maturation of skin cells, we believed that PG might be useful as a treatment. However, the mechanism of its anti-inflammatory effect was unknown. PG in the lung has been found to inhibit inflammation induced by microbes or their components, which work by activating the innate immune system via binding to proteins called toll-like receptors (TLRs); however, psoriasis is not considered to be an infectious disease.
We hypothesized that PG would also inhibit inflammation induced by anti-microbial peptides that activate TLRs. Anti-microbial peptides, produced normally by the skin to protect against infection, are known to be excessively up-regulated in psoriatic skin. 
Dr. Daniel Romer[/caption]
Daniel Romer PhD
Annenberg Public Policy Center
The University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Previous research has found some troubling relations between adolescent cannabis use and subsequent increases in conduct problems and other unhealthy consequences. These studies were done in New Zealand in the late 90’s and we wanted to re-examine those relationships using more contemporary data in the US.
We had data on 364 adolescents who were followed from age 13 to 19 in Philadelphia that could provide a more up to date picture of the effects of using cannabis on one important outcome, conduct disorder. We also wanted to use more sensitive methods than had been used in prior research that would enable us to examine reciprocal relations between cannabis use and c (CP). That is, it might be the case that youth with CP are prone to using cannabis and that this helps to explain why there appears to be a relation over time between cannabis use and CP rather than cannabis use leading to CP.
Our findings supported that hypothesis. There was no prospective relation between changes in cannabis use and subsequent changes in conduct problems. Instead, changes in conduct problems were found to predict changes in use of cannabis. Youth with conduct problems also affiliated more with peers who used cannabis, adding further to their own use. There was also no evidence that youth who used cannabis sought out peers who used it apart from the effects of CP.
Finally, both use of cannabis and conduct problems predicted subsequent development of a mild cannabis use disorder (CUD).