Author Interviews, Circadian Rhythm, Heart Disease / 11.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: sunset copyright American Heart AssociationJay Chudow, M.D. Montefiore Medical Center Bronx, New York MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
  • Others found associations between daylight saving time transitions and sleep duration, sleep quality, workplace injuries and traffic accidents. Regarding cardiovascular health, studies in Europe and the United States have found an increased incidence of acute myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke in the days following daylight saving time transitions.
  • Our study found a significant increase in admissions for atrial fibrillation following the daylight saving time spring transition compared to the yearly average (average of 3.13 vs 2.56 admissions per day over the Monday to Thursday period). No significant difference was found following the autumn transition.
  • These findings add atrial fibrillation as a known condition associated with daylight saving time transitions. It adds to the knowledge base of negative health consequences of daylight saving time. 
Author Interviews, JAMA, Sexual Health / 11.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Sex in stone" by Nagarjun Kandukuru is licensed under CC BY 2.0Janna A Dickenson, PhD Doug Braun-Harvey Postdoctoral Fellow Program in Human Sexuality Department of Family Medicine University of Minnesota Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Researchers and clinicians have contested the term “sex addiction” in favor of alternative definitions and symptom presentations. Recently, the ICD-11 has characterized compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) as a persistent pattern that involves failing to control intense sexual urges or sexual behaviors that results in significant levels of distress and/or impairment in one’s functioning.
Researchers estimate that CSBD affects 2-6% of the population and is much more common among cisgender men than cisgender. Using a randomized national sample, we assessed the prevalence of a key feature of CSBD that researchers and clinicians agree upon: distress and impairment associated with difficulty controlling sexual feelings, urges, and behaviors.
We performed this assessment with a screening tool called the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI). Of the 2,325 adults, 8.6 percent overall (10.3 percent of individuals who identified as men and 7 percent of individuals who identified as women) met the clinical threshold of the CSBI; meaning that 8.6% of people expressed difficulty controlling their sexual feelings, urges and behaviors and experienced distress and/or impairment as a result. To be clear, this does not mean the 8.6% of the sample endorsed CSBD, but that 8.6% of our sample exhibited significant distress or impairment related to difficulty controlling one's sexual behaviors.
Aging, Author Interviews, Hearing Loss, JAMA / 11.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45881" align="alignleft" width="168"]David Loughrey PhD Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Global Brain Health Institute DeafHear Research Partner NEIL Programme Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience Dr. Loughrey[/caption] David Loughrey PhD Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Global Brain Health Institute DeafHear Research Partner NEIL Programme Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The World Organisation (WHO) estimate that one-third of older adults aged 65 and over have a disabling hearing loss. Increasingly, research is finding that age-related hearing loss (ARHL) may be associated with other negative health outcomes, including dementia which currently affects 50 million people worldwide. A study recently published in The Lancet reported that of nine possible modifiable risk factors, addressing age-related hearing loss (ARHL) could potentially lead to the largest reduction in the prevalence of dementia globally.
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Lifestyle & Health, Yale / 11.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45884" align="alignleft" width="133"]Nikolaos Papoutsidakis, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Research Scientist, Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT  Dr. Papoutsidakis[/caption] Nikolaos Papoutsidakis, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Research Scientist, Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Lifestyle education is a significant part of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy management. HCM patients, who frequently have to abstain from intense athletics, often ask if such restrictions extend to thrill-seeking activities they previously enjoyed, such as rollercoaster rides. Werealized there is very little data on this topic, which prompted us to set up this study. We found that for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy patients who elected to participate in thrill-seeking activities, adverse events (defined as losing consciousness or experiencing a shock from an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) were rare. We also asked patients (participating and non participating) about advice received from their physician on this topic. We found that, probably due to the lack of data, physicians often avoid providing advice or provide conflicting advice regarding participation in thrill seeking activities. 
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Nature / 10.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Mammogram" by slgckgc is licensed under CC BY 2.0Prof. Cathrin Brisken MD, PhD ISREC, School of Life Sciences Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale (EPFL) CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Estrogen receptor signaling has been well characterized in various in vitro models, like breast cancer cell lines.  Understanding estrogen receptor action in complex in vivo context is much more challenging. We obtained elegant mouse models in which either all estrogen receptor function or specifically either the hormone dependent (AF-2) or the hormone independent (AF-1) function were ablated. Using the mammary glands from these mice we performed tissue recombination studies to discern the role of the different aspects of estrogen receptor signaling in the mouse mammary epithelium and its different cell populations.
Author Interviews, Social Issues, University of Pennsylvania / 09.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Melissa G. Hunt, Ph.D. Diplomate - Academy of Cognitive Therapy Chair - PENDELDOT Associate Director of Clinical Training Department of Psychology University of PennsylvaniaMelissa G. Hunt, Ph.D. Diplomate - Academy of Cognitive Therapy Chair - PENDELDOT Associate Director of Clinical Training Department of Psychology University of Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Lots of prior research has established a correlation, or association, between social media use and depression.  Ours is the first study to establish an actual causal relationship between using more social media, and feeling more depressed.  
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Weight Research / 09.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Compare-the-Use-of-Carbohydrates-and-Lipids-in-Energy-Storage" by Zappys Technology Solutions is licensed under CC BY 2.0Kirsi-Marja Zitting, Ph.D. Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Departments of Medicine and Neurology Brigham and Women’s Hospital Boston, MA 02115 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This study is a follow-up study to our previous study where we found that chronic insufficient sleep together with chronic jet lag is associated with adverse changes in metabolism, including increase in blood sugar levels (Buxton et al. Science Translational Medicine, 2012). The present study focuses on the influence of the time of day on metabolism, which has not been investigated in humans independent of the effects of sleep, physical activity and diet.
Author Interviews, BMJ, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders, Surgical Research / 09.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45826" align="alignleft" width="200"]A pair of tonsils after surgical removal Wikipedia image A pair of tonsils after surgical removal
Wikipedia image[/caption] Tom Marshall, MSc, PhD, MRCGP, FFPH Professor of public health and primary care Institute of Applied Health Research University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Tonsillectomy is one of the most common childhood surgical procedures. There are two main indications: recurrent sore throat and sleep-related breathing problems (including obstructive sleep apnoea). Jack Paradise’s 1984 study made clear tonsillectomy is modestly effective in children with frequent, severe sore throats: seven in one year, or five yearly in two successive years, or three yearly in three successive years. Sore throats must have symptoms: fever, pus seen on tonsils, lymphadenopathy or confirmed Streptococcal infection. With surgery, children average two sore throats in the next year, without surgery, three. Two years later there is no difference. Further research shows the benefits are too tiny to justify surgery in children with less frequent, less severe or undocumented sore throats. Subsequent randomised controlled trials have not changed the evidence. There isn’t enough good evidence to support surgery in children with obstructive sleep apnoea or sleep related breathing problems. Tonsillectomy is not a trivial procedure, about 2% are readmitted with haemorrhage and about 1 in 40,000 dies. Childhood tonsillectomy is linked to risk of adult autoimmune diseases. It is important to be sure tonsillectomy is only undertaken in children where there are evidence-based indications.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Ophthalmology / 09.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jennifer P. Craig, Associate Professor Department of Ophthalmology New Zealand National Eye Centre Auckland, New Zealand MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Dry eye disease is a complex multi-factorial condition, which affects between 5% to 50% of the adult population in different parts of the world. The condition can have profound effects on the ocular comfort, visual function, and quality of life of sufferers. In both clinical practice and academic research settings, validated questionnaires are frequently used to screen for dry eye symptomology, before clinical assessment of tear film homeostatic markers is conducted to make an overall diagnosis of dry eye disease. Although a large number of validated symptomology questionnaires has previously been developed, the recently convened Tear Film and Ocular Surface Dry Eye Workshop II (TFOS DEWS II) identified that the considerable heterogeneities in the study populations, methodologies, and reference standards used in earlier diagnostic accuracy studies introduced significant challenges when trying to compare the diagnostic performance of these screening instruments. The current study is the first to offer a direct comparison of five commonly used validated questionnaires within the same study population, and uses the global consensus criteria for tear film homeostatic disturbance developed by the TFOS DEWS II as the reference standard.
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Toxin Research / 09.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Protect Coral Reefs" by NOAA's National Ocean Service is licensed under CC BY 2.0Ariel Kushmaro and Esti Kramarsky-Winter Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben Gurion University Beer Sheva, Israel The Republic of Palau, a South Pacific island nation, became the world's first country to ban sunscreen products containing environmentally harmful ingredients MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this announcement? What are the main findings?  Response: Coral reefs are important ecosystems that are under threat due to global human driven climate change. In addition to global changes, local hazards such as point pollution by eutrophication, dredging and chemical pollution are exacerbating and promoting reef destruction at local levels. This destruction affects not only island nations that depend on these reefs for protection and livelihood, they affect humanity as a whole as they are an important source for food and novel drugs and new materials. Our recent studies have shown that chemicals found in most commercial sunscreens and creams used to protect humans from deleterious effects of UV A and UVB wash off into the environment are persistent, have endocrine disruptive effects, and thus deleteriously affect marine organisms including corals. 
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, JNCI / 09.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45816" align="alignleft" width="132"]Angela Mariotto PhD Chief of the Data Analytics Branch Surveillance Research Program (SRP) Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences National Cancer Institute  Dr. Mariotto[/caption] Angela Mariotto PhD Chief of the Data Analytics Branch Surveillance Research Program (SRP) Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences National Cancer Institute (NCI MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Progressing to metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is one of the major concerns for women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Before our study there were no reliable numbers on risk of metastatic breast cancer recurrence after a (non-metastatic) breast cancer diagnosis, as registries do not routinely collect this data.
Author Interviews, Infections, Pediatrics, Pulmonary Disease / 08.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45813" align="alignleft" width="133"]Andrea Hahn, M.D., MS Infectious disease specialist and lead study author Children's National Health System Dr. Hahn[/caption] Andrea Hahn, M.D., MS Infectious disease specialist and lead study author Children's National Health System MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: People who have the genetic disease cystic fibrosis have increased sticky secretions in their lungs that put them at risk for repeated bacterial infections. They often will receive courses of intravenous antibiotics to treat more severe or difficult-to-treat infections associated with decreased lung function. However, not all patients fully recover their lung function after antibiotic treatment, despite directing antibiotic therapy toward the specific bacteria thought to be causing the infection. The goal of this study was to determine if the pharmacokinetics of commonly used antibiotics was associated with recovery of lung function. First, we found that patients with therapeutic blood levels of beta-lactam antibiotics had better lung recovery than patients with sub-therapeutic levels of these antibiotics. Second, we found that using higher antibiotic dosing according to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation guidelines was not sufficient to predict which patients would have therapeutically meaningful blood levels of antibiotics.
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Duke, Geriatrics, Hearing Loss, Hospital Readmissions, JAMA / 08.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45750" align="alignleft" width="189"]Nicholas S. Reed, AuD Assistant Professor | Department of Otolaryngology-Head/Neck Surgery Core Faculty | Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Nicholas Reed AuD[/caption] Nicholas S. Reed, AuD Assistant Professor | Department of Otolaryngology-Head/Neck Surgery Core Faculty | Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This study was a true team effort. It was funded by AARP and AARP Services, INC and the research was a collaboration of representatives from Johns Hopkins University, OptumLabs, University of California – San Francisco, and AARP Services, INC. Given all of the resent research on downstream effects of hearing loss on important health outcomes such as cognitive decline, falls, and dementia, the aim was to explore how persons with hearing loss interacted with the healthcare system in terms of cost and utilization. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: Over a 10 year period, untreated hearing loss (hearing aid users were excluded from this study as they are difficult to capture in the claims database) was associated with higher healthcare spending and utilization. Specifically, over 10 years, persons with untreated hearing loss spent 46.5% more, on average, on healthcare (to the tune of approximately $22000 more) than those without evidence of hearing loss. Furthermore, persons with untreated hearing loss had 44% and 17% higher risk for 30-day readmission and emergency department visit, respectively. Similar relationships were seen across other measures where persons with untreated hearing loss were more likely to be hospitalized and spent longer in the hospital compared to those without evidence of hearing loss.
Anesthesiology, Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Surgical Research / 08.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Anesthesia" by Liran Szeiman is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0James D. O’Leary, MD Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Child Health Evaluative Sciences The Hospital for Sick Children Department of Anesthesia, University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There is substantial evidence from laboratory studies that the developing brain is susceptible to injury from general anesthetic drugs, which culminated in the US Food Drug Administration issuing a safety communication in 2017 stating that the use of general anaesthetic drugs “for lengthy periods of time or over multiple surgeries or procedures may negatively affect brain development in children younger than 3 years”. Considering the substantial number of children who require general anesthesia every year (almost 3 million in the US annually) even small differences in child development outcomes after surgical procedures that require general anesthesia may have significant public health implications. Undertaking studies of anesthesia-related neurotoxicity in humans is difficult as adverse child development is a function of the complex interaction between many risk and protective factors. By examining differences between biological siblings in Ontario, Canada, this study seeks to mitigate differences in risk from biological vulnerability and environmental factors, to provide a more accurate estimate of the adverse effects of anesthesia and surgery on child development. In the current study, young children who had surgical procedures that require general anesthesia were not found to be at increased risk of adverse child development outcomes compared to their biological siblings who did not have surgery. These findings further support that exposure to anesthesia and surgery in early childhood is not associated with detectable adverse child development outcomes.
Alcohol, Author Interviews / 08.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Alcohol” by Jorge Mejía peralta is licensed under CC BY 2.0Sarah Hartz, MD PhD Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: This study is the first to show that daily drinking is dangerous. Specifically, drinking four or more times weekly, even if it’s only 1-2 drinks at a time, increases risk of mortality. This is in line with recent studies published in the Lancet, but we were able to break down their lowest drinking categories (up to 12.5 drinks weekly in one and up to 5.6 drinks weekly in the other) and found that the frequency is important, not just the average number of drinks per week. It looks like the increased mortality is predominantly due to cancer-related deaths.
Author Interviews, Brain Injury / 08.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Clara E. Dismuke-Greer, PhD Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center Charleston, SC 29401 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The background for this study is that previous research we had published had shown that Hispanic U.S. Veterans diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) had higher risk of mortality than non-Hispanic White U.S. Veterans, even after accounting for the effects of comorbidities as well as socio-demographics. This study sought to investigate further this apparent racial/ethnic disparity. Using a 10 year cohort followed for up to 14 years, and adjusting for TBI severity as well as comorbidities, socio-demographics and military factors, when we included location (urban vs. rural vs. highly rural vs. U.S. Territory (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, America Samoa and Mariana Islands), as well as race/ethnicity, we found that the racial/ethnic disparity disappeared, and that it was location which became statistically significant. Our main findings were that Veterans diagnosed with TBI residing in U.S. Territories have lower survival and higher risk of mortality relative to Veterans residing on the U.S. Mainland , even after statistical adjustment for the factors listed above.
Author Interviews, NEJM, STD / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45787" align="alignleft" width="200"]Intracellular Gram-negative, Neisseria gonorrhoeae diplococcal bacteria, - CDC image Intracellular Gram-negative, Neisseria gonorrhoeae diplococcal bacteria, - CDC image[/caption] Edward W. Hook, III, MD University of Alabama at Birmingham Medicine / Infectious Diseases Birmingham, AL MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Zoliflodacin represents a new class of antibiotics (spiropyrimidinetriones) with in vitro activity against Neisseria gonorrhoeae, as well as other STD  pathogens (Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium).  Because of this promising data and the fact that the manufacturer (Entasis Pharmaceuticals) was willing to pursue the possibility of using this drug to treat gonorrhea, a Phase II trial was conducted which showed he drug to be 96% effective for genital or rectal infections.  The drug was well tolerated as well making it a promising drug for gonorrhea treatment which might help to combat the increasing problem of antibiotic resistant gonorrhea. 
Author Interviews, JAMA, Opiods, Surgical Research, University of Michigan / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joceline Vu, MD Resident, PGY-5 Department of Surgery University of Michigan  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: This study examined how much opioid patients use after surgery, and looked at factors that might predispose some patients to use more or less. Patient opioid use after surgery is an interesting question that’s gained a lot of attention recently, because it’s different from other uses for opioids. If you have chronic pain, you’re probably going to use all of your prescription. But if you have surgery, you may not take all of your pills, and this leaves people with leftover pills that can be dangerous later. From this study, we found that patients only use, on average, about quarter of their prescription, meaning that a lot of them are left with leftover pills. Moreover, we found that the biggest determinant of how much they used wasn’t how much pain they reported, or any other factor—it was how big their original prescription was. What this means is that opioid use after surgery isn’t just determined by pain, but also by what surgeons prescribe. It’s important to keep this in mind as we try to reduce unnecessary opioid prescribing after surgical procedures. 
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45677" align="alignleft" width="128"]Dr. JeanPhilippe Empana, MD, PhD Research Director, INSERM U970 Paris Cardiovascular Research Center (PARCC) Team 4 Cardiovascular Epidemiology & Sudden Death Paris Descartes University Dr. Empana[/caption] Dr. Jean Philippe Empana, MD, PhD Research Director, INSERM U970 Paris Cardiovascular Research Center (PARCC) Team 4 Cardiovascular Epidemiology & Sudden Death Paris Descartes University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: In 2010, the American Heart Association (AHA) has emphasized the primary importance of the Primordial prevention concept, i.e. preventing the development of risk factors before they emerge, as a complementary prevention strategy for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Accordingly, the AHA has developed a simple 7-item tool, including 4 behavioral (nonsmoking, and ideal levels of body weight, physical activity and diet) and 3 biological metrics (ideal levels of untreated blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and total cholesterol) for promoting an optimal cardiovascular health (CVH). The relevance of the concept and of the tool has been several times reported by individual studies and meta-analyses (combining the results of several studies) showing substantial and graded benefit for cardiovascular disease but also mortality, quality of life and even cancer risk with higher level of CVH. However, most studies relied on one measure of  cardiovascular health. In the present work, using serial examinations from the well-known Whitehall Study II, we described change in CVH over time and then quantified the association of change in cardiovascular health over 10 years with subsequent incident cardiovascular disease and mortality. This analysis is based on 9256 UK men and women aged 30 to 55 in 1985-88, and thereafter examined every 5 years on average during 30 years.
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Social Issues / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Cockroaches at night" by Sigurd Tao Lyngse is licensed under CC BY 2.0Changlu Wang, PhD The Urban Entomology lab Department of Entomology Rutgers University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Cockroaches are an important public health pest. They carry pathogens and produce allergens which causes asthma. Some residential communities always have chronic cockroach infestations. This study is designed to understand the environmental and behavioral factors associated with cockroaches in low-income homes occupied by senior citizens. We found 30% of the 388 surveyed homes had German cockroaches. Sanitation and residents’ tolerance are two factors significantly associated with the presence of cockroaches. A dirty apartment is 2.7 times more likely to have German cockroaches. Gender, ethnicity, and clutter level are not associated with presence of cockroaches. People would be bothered by cockroaches when more than 3 cockroaches are caught in sticky traps when 4 traps were placed per apartment over 2 weeks period. A high percentage (36%) of residents were unaware of cockroaches when they were caught in traps in their homes. These findings are important for property managers and policy makers in designing better intervention methods to reduce the cockroach infestations. 
Author Interviews, Depression, Gender Differences, OBGYNE / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Sarah Myers PhDDr Sarah Myers PhD Honorary Research Associate UCL Department of Anthropology MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Postnatal or postpartum depression is unfortunately common after giving birth; a figure often quoted is 15%, but some studies have found much higher numbers. Postnatal depression is associated with a range of poorer outcomes for mothers and their infants, and the financial costs of treating maternal mental ill health put health services under considerable strain. Studies have found that providing additional emotional support to at risk mothers, for instance via peer support programmes or regular phone calls with health visitors, can reduce the likelihood of them developing the condition. Therefore, it is really important that we understand the full range of risk factors that put women at greater risk of becoming depressed after giving birth. There is increasing evidence for a link between inflammation and depression, with factors that trigger an inflammatory immune response also increasing the likelihood of depressive symptoms. The opens up the possibility of finding new risk factors for postnatal depression based on known associations with inflammation.
Author Interviews, BMJ, Global Health, Pediatrics / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala Professor of Biostatistics Department: Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering Northumbria University, UKProfessor Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala Professor of Biostatistics Department: Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering Northumbria University, UK  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: The background “UNICEF (2014) estimates that worldwide more than two hundred million women have undergone some form of FGM/C, and approximately 3.3 million girls are cut each year. Recent estimates show that if FGM/C practices continue at current, 68 million girls will be cut between 2015 and 2030 in 25 countries where FGM is routinely practiced and more recent data are available (UNJP, 2018).” Main findings: The prevalence of FGM/C among children varied greatly between countries and regions and also within countries over the survey periods. We found evidence of significant decline in the prevalence of FGM/C in the last three decades among children aged 0–14 years in most of the countries and regions, particularly in East, North and West Africa. We show that the picture looks different in Western Asia, where the practice remains and affects the same age group.
Author Interviews, Global Health, Hospital Acquired, Infections, Lancet / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Antibiotics" by Michael Mortensen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0Dr Alessandro Cassini MD Epidemiologist, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Solna, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We published an ECDC study estimating attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life-years caused by infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EU/EEA). This study is based on 2015 data from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net). The study was developed by experts at ECDC and the Burden of AMR Collaborative Group, and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Author Interviews, Opiods, Pediatrics, Social Issues / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45758" align="alignleft" width="157"]Troy Quast, PhD Associate Professor in the University South Florida College of Public Health Dr. Quast[/caption] Troy Quast, PhD Associate Professor in the University South Florida College of Public Healt MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: One of the cited repercussions of the opioid epidemic is its effect on families. However, there is considerable variation in opioid misuse across the county. This is the first nation-wide study to investigate the relationship between opioid prescription rates and child removals at the state level. I found that there are significant differences across states in the relationship between opioid prescription and child removal rates associated with parental substance abuse. In twenty-three states, increases in opioid prescription rates were associated with increases in the child removal rate. For instance, in California a 10% increase in the county average prescription rate was associated with a 28% increase in the child removal rate. By contrast, in fifteen states the association was flipped, where increases in the opioid prescription rate were associated with decreases in the child removal rate. There was no statistically significant relationship in the remaining states. 
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Ophthalmology / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45754" align="alignleft" width="130"]Nathan Radcliffe, MD Senior Faculty, Ophthalmology Glaucoma and Cataract surgeon Mount Sinai Health System Dr. Radcliffe[/caption] Nathan Radcliffe, MD Senior Faculty, Ophthalmology Glaucoma and Cataract surgeon Mount Sinai Health System MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness and the mainstay of therapy is to lower the intraocular pressure (IOP) with topical eye drops. Up to 40% of patients may require more than one eye drop to control the disease, and yet taking more than one eye drop bottle can result in higher costs, more eye irritation, worse therapeutic compliance, and possibly worse outcomes, be sure to consult your eye surgeon before increasing any eye treatment to ensure it won't do any further damage to the eye. Compounded therapies (not FDA approved, but made at the physician’s request by a compounding pharmacy) can be created to contain multiple glaucoma therapies in one bottle. We sought to determine if a compounded solution containing three or four drops in one bottle could control glaucoma as well as three or four separate bottles (standard of care) in patients requiring three or four eye drop bottles to control glaucoma. We performed a multi-center, randomized, observer-masked, parallel-group study comparing a compounded therapy containing latanoprost 0.05%, dorzolamide hydrochloride 2%, timolol maleate 0.5%, brimonidine tartrate 0.2% with 0.01% BAK to standard three or four bottle regaimins. We measured IOP and corneal staining (a sign of preservative toxicity), as well as other safety measures at week one, month one, two and three.
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Duke, Heart Disease, JAMA / 06.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45684" align="alignleft" width="100"]Yuichiro Yano MD PhD Assistant Professor in Community and Family Medicine Duke University Dr. Yano[/caption] Yuichiro Yano MD PhD Assistant Professor in Community and Family Medicine Duke University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: New blood pressure guidelines, issued in 2017 in the US, lowered the blood pressure thresholds for hypertension from systolic blood pressure/diastolic ≥140/90 mm Hg to systolic/diastolic ≥130/80 mm Hg. This change increased the prevalence of hypertension two- to three-fold among young adults. The guidelines also newly defined elevated blood pressure as, 120-129 mmHg systolic blood pressure over 80 mmHg diastolic or less. However, no study investigated that high blood pressure, as defined by the new criteria, is something that younger people should be concerned about as a potential precursor to serious problems. Our study is among the first to report that people younger than age 40 who have elevated blood pressure or hypertension are at increased risk of heart failure, strokes and blood vessel blockages as they age.
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Heart Disease, JAMA / 06.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Blood Pressure Monitor" by Medisave UK is licensed under CC BY 2.0Seulggie Choi MD, (one of the co-first authors) Department of Biomedical Sciences Seoul National University Graduate School Seoul, South Korea MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In 2017, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) issued a new High Blood Pressure Management Guideline, in which the definition of hypertension was modified as blood pressure of 130/80 mmHg or higher. This new criteria for hypertension was based on a number of previous studies that demonstrated higher cardiovascular disease risk for participants in the systolic blood pressure of 130-139 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure of 80-89 mmHg range, which is now defined as stage 1 hypertension. However, there is a relative lack of evidence on whether this association of higher cardiovascular disease risk among those within the stage 1 hypertension category according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines is also true among young adults aged 20-39 years. Our study consisted of about 2.4 million young men and women aged 20-39 years from the Korean National Health Insurance Service claims database. Compared to those with normal blood pressure, young adults with stage 1 hypertension had higher risk for cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and total stroke for both men and women. Moreover, among those who were prescribed anti-hypertensive medications within the next 5 years since blood pressure measurement, young adults with stage 1 hypertension had their higher cardiovascular disease risk attenuated to that of normal blood pressure participants.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, ENT, JAMA, Surgical Research / 06.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45744" align="alignleft" width="200"]Dr. Evan M. Graboyes is a otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon with the Medical University of South Carolina. CREDIT Emma Vought, Medical University of South Carolina Dr. Graboyes[/caption] Dr. Evan M. Graboyes MD Otolaryngologist: Head and Neck Surgeon Medical University of South Carolina MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Unfortunately, there is no screening test for head and neck cancer like there is for colorectal, prostate, breast, lung, or cervical cancers. As a result, two-thirds of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) present with loco-regionally advanced disease, making other aspects of timely treatment that much more critically important. We therefore sought to understand the association between treatment delay at different points along the cancer care continuum and oncologic outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer.
Allergies, Author Interviews, Pediatrics / 06.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45708" align="alignleft" width="144"]David Stukus, MD Associate Professor of Pediatrics Associate Director, Pediatric Allergy & Immunology Fellowship Program Director of Quality Improvement, Division of Allergy and Immunology Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University College of Medicine Columbus Ohio 43205 Dr. Stukus[/caption] David Stukus, MD Associate Professor of Pediatrics Associate Director, Pediatric Allergy & Immunology Fellowship Program Director of Quality Improvement, Division of Allergy and Immunology Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University College of Medicine Columbus Ohio 43205 Dr. David Stukus discusses the emerging science behind food allergy prevention. MedicalResearch.com: How many US children are affected by food allergies?  Response: Food allergies affect roughly 5-8% of all U.S. children, which is approximately 6 million children. This translates to about 1 in every 13 children, or an average of two children in every classroom.  MedicalResearch.com: Are food allergies becoming more common? Response: Yes, we know that the prevalence of food allergies have doubled over the past two decades. Unfortunately, there is no single or definitive answer as to why this increase has occurred.