Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Endocrinology, Hearing Loss, Menopause / 11.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sharon G. Curhan, MD, ScM Channing Division of Network Medicine Department of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02115 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Hearing loss affects approximately 48 million Americans and the number is expected to increase as the population ages. Some previous studies suggested that menopause may increase the risk for hearing loss, presumably due to the reduction in circulating estrogen levels, and that postmenopausal hormone therapy might slow hearing decline by “replacing” estrogen. To evaluate the role of menopause and postmenopausal hormone therapy as risk factors for hearing loss, we examined the independent associations between menopausal status, oral hormone therapy, and risk of self-reported hearing loss in 80,972 women who are participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II, aged 27-44 years at baseline, and were followed from 1991 to 2013. After more than 1.4 million person-years of follow-up, 18,558 cases of hearing loss were reported (~23% of the women developed hearing loss). We did not observe an overall independent association between menopausal status and risk of hearing loss. However, the risk among women who underwent natural menopause at an older age was higher. Specifically, the risk among women who underwent natural menopause at age 50 or older was 10% higher than among those who underwent natural menopause before age 50 [multivariable-adjusted relative risk (MVRR): 1.10, 95% CI 1.03, 1.17]. When we conducted an analysis restricted to women who underwent natural menopause and did not use hormone therapy (HT), the multivariable-adjusted relative risk among women who underwent natural menopause at age 50-54 years was 21% higher (MVRR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.34), and among women who underwent natural menopause at age 55+ years was 29% higher (MVRR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.50), compared with women who underwent natural menopause before age 50. Among postmenopausal women, we also found that use of oral HT was associated with higher risk of hearing loss, and the magnitude of the risk tended to increase with longer duration of use (p-trend < 0.001). Compared with women who never used any type of HT, the MVRR of hearing loss among women who used oral HT for 5-9.9 years was 15% higher (MVRR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.24), and for 10+ years was 21% higher (MVRR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.37). When specific types of oral HT were examined, longer duration of use of either oral estrogen-only or of combined estrogen plus progestogen HT were each associated with higher risk. Fewer women reported use of progestogen-only oral HT, yet among these women a higher risk was suggested, but not significant (MVRR: 1.15, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.35). Transdermal HT use was less common, but the associations observed were similar to those with oral hormone therapy. When examined separately by type of menopause, the results for HT use were similar. (more…)
ADHD, Author Interviews, JAMA, Karolinski Institute / 11.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Zheng Chang PhD MSc Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (MEB) Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: About 1.25 million people worldwide die annually because of motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). ADHD is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms that include poor sustained attention, impaired impulse control and hyperactivity. ADHD affects 5 percent to 7 percent of children and adolescent and for many people it persists into adulthood. Prior studies have suggested people with ADHD are more likely to experience MVCs. Pharmacotherapy is a first-line treatment for the condition and rates of ADHD medication prescribing have increased over the last decade in the United States and in other countries. Among the more than 2.3 million patients with ADHD (average age 32.5), we found patients with ADHD had a higher risk of an MVC than a control group of people without ADHD. The use of medication in patients with ADHD was associated with reduced risk for motor vehicle crashes in both male and female patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Emory, Mental Health Research, Technology / 10.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jessica Maples-Keller Emory University School of Medicine. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response:  This manuscript is a review of the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology within psychiatric treatment. VR refers to an advanced technological communication interface in which the user is actively participated in a computer generated 3-d virtual world that includes sensory input devices used to simulate real-world interactive experiences. VR is a powerful tool for the psychiatric community, as it allows providers to create computer-generated environments in a controlled setting, which can be used to create a sense of presence and immersion in the feared environment for individuals suffering from anxiety disorders. (more…)
Author Interviews, Immunotherapy, JAMA, Melanoma / 10.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yasuhiro Nakamura, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Skin Oncology/Dermatology Comprehensive Cancer Center Saitama Medical University International Medical Center Hidaka, Saitama MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Regressing nevi, which are frequently associated with halo phenomenon, occur in approximately 1% of the general population. In patients with melanoma, spontaneous or treatment-related depigmentation of the skin (vitiligo) is sometimes observed. Although humoral and cellular immune responses may play a crucial role in their development, immune reactions to benign melanocytic nevi (BMN) without a halo are extremely rare in both the general population and in patients with melanoma. This publication reports a rare case with multiple metastatic melanomas who showed a remarkable clinical response to nivolumab with a simultaneous prominent immune reaction to multiple BMN without halo phenomenon. This rare phenomenon may be associated with dramatic efficacy of nivolumab in melanoma patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Hepatitis - Liver Disease / 10.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Winston Dunn, MD Assistant Professor The University of Kansas Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It is widely believed that everyone with HCV can be cured with the medications now a day. But sadly, about 5% of the patients already have very bad damage done to the liver. We call this decompensated cirrhosis. Our medication is still very effective in curing the virus, but in decompensated cirrhosis, curing the virus is not always enough. Only about half to two-thirds of patients with decompensated cirrhosis clinically gets better, but the remaining struggles along or even gets worse after the cure. That is the problem. So, our research was to understand why that was. We used genetic factor to predict which patient would get better and which patient would not. We found that a gene previous found to be predictive of fatty liver and fibrosis is also predictive of recovery in this setting. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Heart Disease, Pain Research, Pharmacology / 10.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michèle Bally, BPharm, MSc, PhD Epidemiologist, Department of Pharmacy, CHUM Researcher, Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub, CRCHUM MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The objective of this study was to better understand the risk of heart attack associated with using oral prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs (ibuprofen, diclofenac, celecoxib, and naproxen) the way people usually do to treat pain and inflammation in real life circumstances. A lot of people take medication, but they do not understand that some can be more harmful than beneficial, especially with consistent use. Unfortunately, something like a heart attack can happen anywhere. You could be at work and show signs of an attack. If this does happen, hopefully you have someone who is first aid trained to at least help you deal with these symptoms, until you get to the hospital. This is why having someone who knows that they are doing is beneficial in any environment. If it wasn't for companies like Coast2Coast in Ottawa, the chances of someone who was suffering from a heart attack may not have made it to the hospital if it wasn't for the assistance of someone who was first aid trained. In clinical trials, NSAIDs were typically taken on a continuous basis in high standardized doses, as assigned by the trial protocol. However, the dosages and the treatment durations studied in trials may not represent the reality of many patients who use NSAIDs in low or varying doses, use these drugs on and off, or switch between NSAID medications. We were particularly interested in determining the onset of the risk, that is how soon does the risk of heart attack start increasing? Also, we wanted to investigate the effect of dose and duration of treatment. To do this, we studied the use of a low or high dose level of NSAIDs over certain set periods of time, including taking these medications only for 1 to 7 days. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Pediatrics / 10.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kris Jatana, MD FAAP Pediatric Otolaryngologist Nationwide Children’s Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study looked at a 21-year period – 1990 through 2010 – and focused on children younger than 18 years of age treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments for cotton tip applicator-related ear injuries. About 263,000 children were injured during the study period, which comes out to approximately 1000 injuries seen in emergency departments every month or 34 per day. The majority of injuries occurred when cotton tip applicators were used to clean a child’s ear canal (73%), and most of those injuries occurred when a child was using a cotton tip applicator on their own (77%), or their parent was using the device (16%) to clean the ear canal. About two out of every three patients were younger than 8 years of age, and patients aged 0-3 years accounted for 40% of all injuries. Surprisingly, the highest rate of injury was in children 0-3 years old. The most common injuries were foreign body sensation (30%), perforated ear drum (25%) and soft tissue injury (23%). (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition, Social Issues / 10.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jay L. Zagorsky Center for Human Resource Research The Ohio State University and Patricia K. Smith PhD Department of Social Sciences University of Michigan-Dearborn MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The prevalence of adult obesity in the U.S. has risen substantially, from about 13% in the early 1960s to nearly 38% now.  Obesity is associated with a variety of illnesses and imposes significant costs on individuals and society. Socioeconomic (SES) gradients in health and the prevalence of disease, including obesity, have been documented: health improves and disease prevalence falls as we move up each step of the SES ladder.  Differences in nutrition could help explain these health gradients and Americans commonly think the poor eat fast food more often than those in the middle and upper classes. Policy based on this notion has been proposed.  For example, in 2008 Los Angeles placed a moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in poor neighborhoods. (more…)
Allergies, Asthma, Author Interviews, Dermatology, PLoS, Vitamin D / 10.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brent Richards, MD, MSc Associate Professor of Medicine William Dawson Scholar / FRQS Clinical Research Scholar Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics, Epidemiology and Biostatistics McGill University Senior Lecturer, King's College London (Honorary) MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Some previous epidemiological studies have suggested that low vitamin D levels are associated with increased rates of asthma, atopic dermatitis—an itchy inflammation of the skin—and elevated levels of IgE, an immune molecule linked to atopic disease (allergies). In our study, we looked at genetic and health data on more than 100,000 individuals from previous large studies to determine whether genetic alterations that are associated with vitamin D levels predispose people to the aforementioned conditions. We found no statistically significant difference between rates of asthma (including childhood-onset asthma), atopic dermatitis, or IgE levels in people with and without any of the four genetic changes associated with lower levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the form of vitamin D routinely measured in the blood. (more…)
Author Interviews, C. difficile, Infections, Microbiome / 09.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sheila Connelly, PhD Vice President, Research Synthetic Biologics, Inc. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Synthetic Biologics, Inc. is focused on the protection and preservation of the gut microbiome which is the diverse collection of microorganisms that live in the intestinal tract. We are learning that the gut microbiome plays a key role in health. Negative changes to the microbiome, called dysbiosis, are linked to disease states including allergies, autism, and obesity, among a rapidly growing list of other conditions. A consequence of using antibiotics is that, in addition to fighting the bacterial infection being treated, they also kill the gut microbiota. The space left in the gut by the dead bacteria allows other surviving bacteria, many times opportunistic pathogens or microbes that are resistant to multiple antibiotics, to overgrow and fill the open niches. Exposure to antibiotics, particularly broad-spectrum antimicrobials, such as penicillins and cephalosporins, is a major risk factor for acquiring a potentially deadly Clostridium difficile infection. Another consequence of antibiotic use is the emergence of antibiotic-resistant organisms. Widespread use of antibiotics provides selective pressure for the evolution of lethal, multi-drug resistant pathogens, termed “nightmare bacteria”. The gut microbiome acts as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance that can be triggered, by antibiotic exposure, to acquire and propagate resistance genes. A way to protect the microbiome and reduce antibiotic resistance is to limit exposure of the gut microbiota to antibiotics. To this end, we developed an antibiotic inactivation strategy using a beta-lactamase enzyme to degrade beta-lactam antibiotics in the GI tract before they can harm the gut microbiome. Beta-lactamases are naturally-occurring bacterial enzymes that confer resistance to beta-lactams, the most widely used broad spectrum antibiotics, and their presence is normally considered an obstacle to efficacious infection control. We took advantage of the highly efficient antibiotic degradation activity of a beta-lactamase and developed SYN-004 (ribaxamase). Ribaxamase is a beta-lactamase engineered to inactivate penicillins and most cephalosporins, formulated for oral delivery, and intended for use with IV beta-lactam antibiotics to degrade the antibiotics in the GI tract to protect the microbiome. Ribaxamase was demonstrated to significantly reduce the occurrence of C. difficile disease in a recently completed Phase 2b clinical study. The study met its primary endpoint by demonstrating that ribaxamase, when delivered orally with IV ceftriaxone, significantly reduced C. difficile disease in patients treated for a respiratory tract infection. Ribaxamase also resulted in a significant reduction in new colonization by vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE). For the current study, pig models of antibiotic-mediated gut dysbiosis were established using three classes of beta-lactam antibiotics, a cephalosporin, ceftriaxone, a penicillin, amoxicillin, and a carbapenem, ertapenem. The ceftriaxone model was used to evaluate the protective effect of ribaxamase on the microbiome and the amoxicillin and ertapenem models are intended for evaluation of pipeline products. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Pediatrics / 09.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Monika Goyal, M.D., M.S.C.E. Assistant Professor of Pediatrics & Emergency Medicine Director of Research, Division of Emergency Medicine and Attending Physician Children’s National Health System The George Washington University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As pediatric emergency clinicians, unfortunately, many of us have cared for a number of children who have been victims of gun violence. We wanted to investigate whether gun laws may make a difference in the rates of firearm-related morbidity and mortality in children. We specifically were interested in emergency department visits because they relate directly to the care we provide to pediatric patients. Our main findings from our five-year study were that children are affected by gun violence nationally and, specifically, we saw regional differences in emergency department visits made by children who were victims of firearm violence. Overall, firearm-related visits by patients 21 and younger to emergency departments remained consistent over time at a rate of 65 per every 100,000 visits until 2013, when they decreased slightly to 51 per 100,000 visits. We also found that regions with more strict gun laws had lower rates of emergency department visits by children for gun violence compared with those regions with less stringent laws. We used the Brady Score, which looks at various state gun laws and assigns a score, to measure strictness. Then, based on state-level scores, we created regional composite scores. (more…)
AACR, Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Genetic Research / 08.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Youzhi Li Vice President at Boston Biomedical  MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: RNAi (RNA interference) technology has the potential to target any genes causing disease, including conventionally “undruggable” targets in cancer. One particularly interesting RNAi target in oncology is the CTNNBI oncogene, which encodes the β-Catenin protein whose nuclear form acts as a transcription factor promoting tumorigenesis. Aberrant β-Catenin signaling has been demonstrated in 90 percent of colorectal carcinomas, 40 percent of hepatocellular carcinoma, and 90 percent of non-ductal pancreatic carcinomas. Recent research also suggests active β-Catenin contributes to tumor immune evasion and to the recurrence of melanoma in patients post the check-point blockage immunotherapy. However, the direct blockade of β-Catenin activity has proved difficult with conventional approaches. While the application of traditional RNAi technology has the potential to block this pathway, in clinical cancer therapy, this approach has proven challenging due to the difficulty in systemic delivery of RNAi to tumor sites located in various organs. We have recently developed BBI-801, a lipid-based nanoparticle that encapsulates therapeutic aiRNAs targeting CTNNB1 and PD-L1 to simultaneously target immune evasion via both these pathways. Here, we investigate the in vivo delivery and anti-tumor activity of BBI-801. (more…)
Author Interviews, NYU, Schizophrenia / 08.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Donald C. Goff, MD Marvin Stern Professor Vice Chair for Research Department of Psychiatry NYU Langone Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Since their introduction in the 1950’s antipsychotic drugs have been an integral part of the treatment of schizophrenia. However, over the past decade concerns have been raised about whether these drugs might negatively affect the long-term course of the illness—either by causing supersensitivity of dopamine receptors, which might make patients more prone to psychosis and relapse, or by direct toxic effects on the brain. To address these concerns, we convened a panel of international experts to review the evidence supporting these concerns, including findings from clinical studies, brain imaging studies, post-mortem examination of the brains of people treated with these drugs, and studies in which these drugs were administered to animals. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Ophthalmology / 08.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John H Kempen, MD, PhD Protocol Chair, MUST Trial Follow-up Study; Vice Chair, MUST Research Group Director of Epidemiology for Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Harvard Medical School Editor-in-Chief, Ophthalmic Epidemiology President, Sight for Souls MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Uveitis is about the fifth leading cause of blindness in the united states.  Among types of uveitis, intermediate, posterior and panuveitis are the leading causes of blindness.  Before 2005, systemic therapy with corticosteroids—supplemented when indicated with immunosuppressive drugs (most of the time)—was the primary treatment recommended for these conditions.  With approval of the fluocinolone acetonide implant in 2005 for intermediate, posterior and panuveitis, it became unclear which of the alternative treatment approaches should be the treatment of choice. The multicenter uveitis steroid treatment (must) trial was initiated in 2005 to directly compare the alternative treatments.  Systemic therapy was administered using high dose prednisone followed by tapering of corticosteroids to maintenance doses of 10 mg/day or less (generally 7.5 mg/day or less) or to zero; this was supplemented by immunosuppressive corticosteroid-sparing drugs in 88% of participants.  Implant therapy was done by initial quieting of the anterior chamber of the eye with topical, injected or systemic corticosteroids followed by surgical implant placement within 28 days (first eye) and 56 days (second eye if it was indicated).  After this, systemic corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs were tapered off. (more…)
Author Interviews, CMAJ, Fertility, Karolinski Institute, OBGYNE / 08.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Neda Razaz, PhD, MPH Postdoctoral Fellow Reproductive Epidemiology Unit Karolinska Institutet MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Multiple births of twins and triplets – and the associated health risks – have increased in many high-income countries, with a respective two-fold and three-fold increase in recent decades. In Canada, triplet births or higher have increased from 52.2 per 100 000 live births to 83.5 between 1991 and 2009, mainly because of an increase in fertility treatments for older women of child-bearing age. In this study we found that among twin and triplet pregnancies that were reduced to singleton or twin pregnancies, there was a substantial reduction in complications such as preterm birth and very preterm birth. Although rates of death and serious illness were not lower among all multifetal pregnancies that were reduced, pregnancies that resulted from fertility treatments did show a significant reduction in rates of death or serious illness following fetal reduction. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Brain Injury, Pediatrics / 07.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Steven Daniel Hicks, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Division of Academic General Pediatrics College of Medicine Penn State Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There are about 3 million concussions in the US each year and the majority occur in children. Parents of children with concussions commonly cite length of recovery as a major concern, but pediatricians have no objective or accurate tests for addressing this concern. Our research group previously identified small regulatory molecules called microRNAs that were altered in both the spinal fluid and saliva in children with traumatic brain injuries. In this study we investigated whether those microRNAs could predict duration of concussion symptoms. In 52 children with concussion we found a set of microRNAs that predict whether concussion symptoms would last beyond one month with over 80% accuracy. This was significantly more accurate than survey based tools such as the sports concussion assessment tool or a modified concussion clinical risk score. Interestingly, the microRNAs with predictive accuracy targeted pathways involved in brain repair and showed correlations with specific concussion symptoms. (more…)
Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Merck, Rheumatology / 07.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Grace H. Lo MD MSc Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine Medical Care Line and Research Care Line, Houston VA HSR&D Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety Michael E. DeBakey Medical Center, Houston, TX MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. Many people who have signs of osteoarthritis on x-rays do not necessarily complain of pain. Presently, there are no known strategies for preventing the development of pain in this group of people. This study suggests that if these people have noisy knees (otherwise known as “crepitus”), they are at higher risk for developing pain within the next year compared to the people who do not have noisy knees. Future studies that target people who have x-ray signs of osteoarthritis, who do not complain of pain, but do report noisy knees, hold the promise of identifying interventions that can prevent knee pain. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetologia, Nutrition, Pediatrics / 07.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sari Niinistö, PhD Senior Researcher, Public Health Solutions, Nutrition Unit National Institute for Health and Welfare Helsinki, Finland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous prospective studies have observed protective association between fish-derived fat and type 1 diabetes related autoimmunity in older children. Also some other fatty acids have been associated with the risk for type 1 diabetes associated autoimmunity. We wanted to study very young children, because type 1 diabetes associated autoimmunity often begins early, already in infancy. Therefore, we investigated whether serum fatty acid levels during infancy or the main dietary sources of fatty acids (breast milk and infant formula) were related to the development of autoimmunity responses among children at increased genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Kidney Disease / 07.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tanushree Banerjee, M.S., M.Phil., Ph.D. Research Specialist, Department of General Internal Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has increased among adults with diagnosed hypertension (HTN), undiagnosed HTN and pre-hypertension as compared to normotension. However, whether CKD prevalence has changed across each of these groups is unknown. The prevalence of CKD decreased over time among persons with diagnosed, undiagnosed, and pre-hypertension while there was not any change in normotensives. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Occupational Health, Social Issues / 07.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tarani Chandola Professor of Medical Sociology Social Statistics Disciplinary Area of the School of Social Sciences University of Manchester MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We (the authors) were particularly interested in examining evidence for the common perception that people at the top of the occupational hierarchy are the most stressed. And also what happens to people’s stress levels when they retire. We had assumed that people with poorer quality work to have decreased levels of stress when they retired. There have been other studies on this topic before, but none that have used salivary cortisol to measure physiological stress responses. We analysed changes in people’s stress levels before and after retirement, in a follow up study of over 1,000 older workers in the British civil service. Stress levels were measured by taking salivary cortisol samples across the day, from awakening until bedtime. (more…)
Author Interviews, Memory / 07.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael C. Trumbo,  Sandia National Laboratories Department of Psychology Psychology Clinical Neuroscience Center The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The impetus for this study can be found in claims made by several commercial enterprises that you can get cognitive benefits from brain training games intended to enhance working memory (the amount of information you can hold and manipulate in your mind at one time). However, a burgeoning body of research shows working memory training games often do not provide the benefits claimed. Research led by my colleague Laura Matzen shows evidence that working memory training may actually impair other kinds of memory. A key concept in demonstrating improvement of the working memory system is task transfer – if working memory has been improved, then that improvement should be evident when attempting tasks aside from the trained task, to the extent that these new tasks utilize working memory. Brain stimulation combined with working memory training might work when training by itself falls short because stimulation allows for manipulation of brain plasticity in brain regions that are relevant to working memory task performance. If you’re improving connectivity in a brain region involved in working memory, then you should get transfer to other tasks to the extent that they rely on that same brain region. When you’re having people do tasks in the absence of brain stimulation, it’s not clear if you’re getting this general improvement in working memory brain areas. You might be getting very selective, task kind of improvements due to use of task-specific strategy development. Therefore, the current study was designed to see if noninvasive brain stimulation paired with different types of working memory training might result in improvement not only in the trained task, but in related tasks. The findings suggest that particular parings of stimulation parameters and training programs result in working memory improvement. This is important because working memory is a critical component of many everyday tasks, such as reading and language comprehension, and working memory deficits are common in a number of disease states, such as depression. Working memory decline is also evident as part of the healthy aging process, beginning as early as your mid-20s. Therefore, a safe, reliable way to improve working memory stands to benefit both healthy and clinical populations in a variety of task domains which are critical to achieving a high quality of life. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences / 07.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Moran Gershoni PhD Senior intern, Molecular Genetics Weizmann Institute of Science Ben Gurion University Rehovot Area, Israel MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The background for this study is the question why "bad" is common? More specifically, we asked why the prevalence of some unfitted traits, like diseases and infertility, is sometimes much higher than intuitively expected? Several years ago we hypothesized that, at least in some of the cases, the relatively high prevalence of a morbid phenotype is directly arises from the fact that humans are composed of two ‘kinds’, men and women. This is since men and women share nearly the same genome but differently utilize some of it. Thus, the very same genetic code might affect men and women in a different and even in an antagonist manner. Therefore, disease-cause mutations in one sex can be neutral, or even beneficial, to the other sex. This allows such mutations to be sustained and propagated to relative high population frequencies. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Occupational Health / 05.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sandhya Manohar, MBBS, Nephrology Fellow Project mentor: Sandra M. Herrmann, MD Department of Nephrology and Hypertension Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In the last few decades advances in the field of industrialization and technology has turned our world into a 24-7 work zone. Many organizations have turned to a shift system to keep up with the demands of the new world. The consequent changes to our circadian rhythm have resulted in dramatic effects to our body’s physiology. Reports have been surfacing of higher rates of diabetes, obesity, and even cancer in this shift work population. The risk of hypertension though was controversial and so we set out to review this in our meta-analysis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pediatrics, PLoS, Toxin Research / 05.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Antonio J. Signes-Pastor, PhD Institute for Global Food Security Queen’s University Belfast Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine Dartmouth College Lebanon, NH MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Inorganic arsenic is a human carcinogen, which has also been associated with several adverse health effects including neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic outcomes. Early life exposure is of particular concern since it may adversely impact on lifetime health outcomes. If low inorganic arsenic drinking water is available the main source of exposure is the diet, especially rice and rice-based products, which are widely used during weaning and to feed infants and young children. In order to reduce exposure, the EU has recently regulated (1st January 2016) the inorganic arsenic maximum level of 0.1 mg/kg for rice products addressed to infants and young children. This level is also under consideration by the US FDA. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Surgical Research / 05.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nayan Agarwal MD Intervention Cardiology Fellow, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Long term anticoagulation is indicated in patients with mechanical heart valves, prior thromboembolic events, atrial fibrillation etc, to prevent recurrent thrombo-embolic episodes. About 20-30% of these patients also have concomitant ischemic heart disease requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Post PCI, patients require treatment with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin and a P2Y12 inhibitor (clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor) to prevent stent thrombosis. Thus, these patients may end up needing triple antithrombotic therapy with oral anticoagulant (OAC) and DAPT, which increases the bleeding risk. Both American College of Cardiology(ACC) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC), currently recommend triple therapy in these patients. Recently new evidence has emerged that such patients can be managed with dual therapy of a single antiplatelet (SAPT) and OAC. Hence, we decided to do a systematic review of these studies to evaluate safety and efficacy of dual therapy of SAPT and OAC against triple therapy of DAPT and OAC. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Ophthalmology, Pediatrics / 05.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rohit Varma, MD, MPH Executive Director - USC Roski Eye Institute and Dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Visual impairment in early childhood has profound impact on a child’s development. It can significantly impair development of visual, motor, and cognitive function1-3 and lead to adverse psychosocial consequences. There has been a lack of accurate data characterizing the current and expected numbers of visual impairment cases among preschool children in the United States from 2015 to 2060. The number of preschool children with visual impairment is projected to increase by 26% in 2060. And 69% of these visual impairment will result from simple uncorrected refractive error such hyperopia and myopia, which can be prevented or treated by low-cost refractive correction. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, NEJM / 05.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kristian Kragholm, MD, PhD Departments of Cardiology and Epidemiology/Biostatistics, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, DK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It is well known that early help from bystanders including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before arrival of the emergency medical services can increase chances of 30-day survival by three to four times compared to situations where no bystander resuscitation was initiated. The main and novel finding of our study is that bystander interventions, in addition to increasing survival, also lowers the risk of damage to the brain and nursing home admission in 30-day survivors during the first year following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dengue, Vaccine Studies / 04.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Vianney Tricou DPhil Takeda Vaccines Singapore MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Dengue fever is a painful, debilitating mosquito-borne disease caused by any one of four closely related dengue virus serotypes, and persons living in dengue endemic regions may be affected by dengue more than once in their lifetime. Some individuals with dengue fever are hospitalized and may need intensive therapy to prevent shock and death, and severe dengue is a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children and adults in some Asian and Latin American countries. About half of the world’s population lives under the threat of dengue and the disease has a significant medical and economic impact in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world where dengue is endemic. Takeda is committed to improving global public health and to developing a life-saving dengue vaccine candidate for people around the world. Takeda’s tetravalent dengue vaccine candidate (TAK-003) is based on a live-attenuated dengue serotype 2 virus (DENV-2), which provides the genetic ‘backbone’ for all four attenuated dengue virus serotypes present in the vaccine. Takeda’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical study program includes 8 studies to date that assess the safety and/or immunogenicity of this candidate, before moving into Phase 3. Takeda’s ongoing Phase 2 DEN-204 study is designed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of one- and two-dose schedules of TAK-003 in 1,794 healthy children and adolescents ages two through 17 years living in dengue-endemic countries in Latin America and Asia. As published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases in March 2017, an interim analysis of DEN-204 data indicated that TAK-003 elicited antibody responses to all four dengue serotypes in the population studied, regardless of whether they had previous dengue exposure. A second TDV dose improved antibody responses against DENV-3 and DENV-4 in children who were seronegative before vaccination. In this study, the safety profile was consistent with that observed in earlier Phase 1 and 2 studies. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Kidney Disease, Surgical Research / 04.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nirat Beohar, MD Vice-Chief of Cardiology Director Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Director Structural Heart Disease Program Director Interventional Cardiology Fellowship program Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Columbia University Division of Cardiology, Mount Sinai Medical Center Miami Beach, Miami, FL 33140 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Nirat Beohar MD, Director of the Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory and Vice-Chief of Cardiology at the Columbia University Division of Cardiology at the Mount Sinai Medical Center and co-authors report the effect of trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) on subsequent renal function and outcomes in high-risk and inoperable patients presenting with baseline renal dysfunction (eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2). This was a sub-study of patients undergoing TAVR in the PARTNER 1 trial and continued access registry that was conducted in 25 centers in the United States and Canada. (more…)