Author Interviews
01 Feb Multifaceted Interventions Improve Cancer Screening Among Marginalized Groups
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31694" align="alignleft" width="141"]
Dr. Sheila Dunn[/caption]
Sheila F. Dunn, MD, MSc
Scientist, Women's College Research Institute
Director, Family Practice Health Centre
Staff Physician, Department of Family and Community Medicine
Women's College Hospital
Associate Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine
University of Toronto
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Despite organized cervical and breast cancer screening programs, inequities in screening remain. In Ontario, women who are newcomers, especially those of South Asian and East Asian origin, have much lower screening rates than Canadian-born women.
In order to address these inequities the CARES program used a multi-faceted community-based intervention to increase knowledge and promote cervical and breast cancer screening among newcomer and otherwise marginalized women in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We reached out to women in the target groups through a network of community agencies. Women attended group educational sessions co-led by peers who spoke their language. Access to screening was facilitated through group screening visits, a visit health bus and on-site Pap smears. Administrative data were used to compare screening after the education date for CARES participants with a control group matched for age, screening status and area of residence.
01 Feb Childhood Antibiotic Use Linked To Higher BMI At Age 3
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31548" align="alignleft" width="142"]
Dr. Melissa N. Poulsen[/caption]
Melissa N. Poulsen, PhD, MPH
Postdoctoral Fellow
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Geisinger Center for Health Research
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Several past studies report positive associations between early childhood antibiotic use (particularly in the first year of life) and body mass index (BMI) later in childhood. Studies have also observed positive associations with prenatal antibiotic use and BMI, but without information on childhood antibiotics, such studies cannot rule out an underlying causal relationship between prenatal antibiotic exposure and early childhood antibiotic use.
No study to date has concurrently evaluated prenatal and early childhood antibiotic exposure. We used mother-child linked electronic health record data to determine whether prenatal and childhood antibiotic use are independently associated with BMI at age 3 years.
01 Feb Exposure to Violence, Psychological Distress, and Gun Carrying Among Male Adolescents
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joan A. Reid, Ph.D., LMHC Assistant Professor Criminology Program DAV 266 University of South Florida St. Petersburg MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Firearm-associated homicide and suicide are leading causes of death among American youth (i.e., 10-24 years old), with disproportionately high rates observed among male youth of color. Notably, gun violence and psychological problems are often conflated in public discourse regarding gun violence and prevention. However, few studies have assessed the impact of exposure to violence, either as a witness or a victim, when exploring the association between gun-carrying behavior and psychological distress.31 Jan Key Gene Linked To Brain Plasticity and Learning Identified
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31658" align="alignleft" width="180"]
Dr. Keerthi Krishnan[/caption]
Keerthi Krishnan PhD
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Rett Syndrome is diagnosed as a neurodevelopmental disorder in girls, caused mainly by mutations in the gene MECP2. Many previous studies, including mine, have shown that mutations in MECP2 result in improper communication between nerve cells in the brain during sensitive periods of development. However, it was unclear if the same mechanisms were responsible for cognitive and behavioral problems found in adulthood.
In this paper, we have utilized a natural, learned response called pup retrieval behavior to study adult neural plasticity in a female mouse model of Rett Syndrome. With some learning, adult female mice will gather scattered pups to the nest, in response to distress calls from the pups. We found that the Rett Syndrome model mice with reduced MECP2 protein do not gather pups efficiently. This is due to the abnormal formation of structures called perineuronal nets on a specific type of neurons (called parvalbumin+ GABAergic neurons) that block plasticity and prevent learning of the appropriate response. Furthermore, the same neural and molecular mechanisms found earlier in development were also found to mediate learning in adulthood.
31 Jan How Many Calories Do You Add To Your Coffee or Tea?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31650" align="alignleft" width="165"]
Dr. Ruopeng An[/caption]
Ruopeng An, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Kinesiology and Community Health
College of Applied Health Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL 61820
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Coffee and tea are among the most widely consumed beverages in U.S. adults.1,2 Unlike other popular beverages including alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages that are typically consumed in isolation, many people prefer drinking coffee and tea with add-ins like sugar or cream. These add-in items are often dense in energy and fat but low in nutritional value. Drinking coffee and tea with add-ins on a regular basis might impact an individual’s daily energy/nutrient intake and diet quality.3 The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggests that “coffee, tea, and flavored waters also can be selected, but calories from cream, added sugars, and other additions should be accounted for within the eating pattern.”4
To our knowledge, no study has been conducted to assess consumption of coffee and tea with add-ins in relation to daily energy and nutrient intake at the population level. Bouchard et al. examined the association between coffee and tea consumption with add-ins and body weight status rather than energy/nutrient intake, and consumption was measured by a few frequency-related questions instead of a 24-hour dietary recall.5
The purpose of this study was to examine consumption of coffee and tea with add-ins (e.g., sugar, cream) in relation to energy, sugar, and fat intake among U.S. adults 18 years of age and above. Data came from 2001-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), comprising a nationally-representative (biennially) repeated cross-sectional sample of 13,185 and 6,215 adults who reported coffee and tea consumption in in-person 24-hour dietary recalls, respectively.
31 Jan Kids Confide More In Their Pets Than Their Siblings
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthew Cassels PhD candidate, Developmental Psychiatry University of Cambridge Cambridge UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Around 70% of UK families with young children own a pet. However, the impact of pets on children’s lives is understudied and poorly understood. Researchers in the field of Human-Animal Interaction have been working towards addressing this gap in our understanding by focusing on the role of pets in our lives. Compared to the owners of other pets, dog owners have been found to be more likely to derive a sense of safety, companionship, and security from their pets, and to perceive them as more responsive and affectionate. Factors that contribute to differences in the quality of human-animal relationships are of great interest because the magnitude of the benefits derived from these relationships is related to their quality. Pets may be especially significant to young people, aiding them in their social and emotional development, and serving as important substitutes for human attachment figures. Children consider their relationships with their pets as among their most important, report strong emotional bonds with their pets, spontaneously list pets when asked to name close friends and providers of social support, report turning to their pets when feeling sad, identify pets more often than humans as providers of comfort, and rely on their pets as playmates and confidants.31 Jan IV Etelcalcetide (Parsibiv®) Can Treat Elevated PTH in Dialysis Patients More Effectively Than Oral Medication
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31640" align="alignleft" width="120"]
Dr. Geoffrey Block[/caption]
Geoffrey A. Block, MD
Director of Research at Denver Nephrology
Denver, Colorado
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Secondary hyperparathyroidism is a chronic and progressive disorder characterized by elevations in parathyroid hormone (PTH). It is seen in most patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and has been associated with a number of important adverse health effects such as bone pain, fracture, premature cardiovascular disease, abnormal heart enlargement, pathologic calcium accumulation in blood vessels and tissues and premature death.
Currently there are several classes of drugs used to treat high PTH but each are associated with challenging side effects which limit their effectiveness. Active vitamin D compounds are effective in lowering PTH but do so at the expense of causing elevations in other minerals such as calcium and phosphorus which are felt to be harmful.
An oral drug known as cinacalcet (Sensipar®) is in the class of medicine known as ‘calcimimetics’ and reduces PTH and simultaneously reduces calcium and phosphorus however it must be taken daily due to its short half-life and is commonly associated with nausea when first initiated or the dose is increased. Clinical trials with cinacalcet are suggestive though not conclusive of a beneficial effect on improving cardiovascular events and prolonging life.
30 Jan Therapeutic Hypothermia After In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Children
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31628" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Victoria Pemberton[/caption]
Victoria Pemberton, RNC, MS, CCRC
Program Officer
Division of Cardiovascular Sciences
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH
Bethesda, Maryland
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
- Previous studies have examined cardiac arrest when it occurs outside of the hospital in both children and adults, with current guidelines recommending hypothermia (body cooling) or normothermia (maintenance of normal body temperature) after such an arrest. This trial addresses pediatric cardiac arrest in a hospital setting, for which no previous data existed. Because children who experience an in-hospital cardiac arrest differ significantly from children who arrest outside of the hospital, it is important to test these treatments in this population.
- The trial found no significant differences in survival and neurobehavioral functioning a year after cardiac arrest between children assigned to the hypothermia arm and those assigned to normothermia.
30 Jan Medical Residents Spend More Time Working on Electronic Medical Records than With Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dresse Nathalie Wenger Cheffe de clinique FMH médecine interne Département de Médecine Interne CHUV - Lausanne MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The structure of a residents’ working day dramatically changed during the last decades (limitation of working hours per week, wide implementation of electronic medical records (EMR), and growing volume of clinical data and administrative tasks), especially in internal medicine with increasing complexity of patients. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) have some positive effects but negative effects have been also described ie more time writing notes, more administrative works, and less time for communication between physicians and patients. Few time motion studies have been published about the resident's working day in Internal Medicine: the impact of the computer, and what really do the residents do during their work, especially the time spent with the patient versus the computer, as now the EMRs are widely implemented. Previous studies have been mostly performed in the US, so we decided to conduct one observational and objective study in Europe.30 Jan Does IVF Raise Risk of Malignancies in Offspring?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tamar Wainstock, PhD Department of Public Health; Faculty of Health Sciences Ben-Gurion University of the Negev ISRAEL MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There is a controversy in the medical literature regarding the possible association between infertility or infertility treatments, and the long-term offspring neoplasm risk: while some studies have found such an association, others have not. Since the number of offspring conceived following treatments are growing, and as they age, it is critical to clarify this possible association.30 Jan Comprehensive Lung Cancer Screening Is Complex Task With Many False Positives
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31587" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Linda Kinsinger[/caption]
Linda Kinsinger, MD, MPH
National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
NW Washington DC 20420
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for current and former heavy smokers ages 55 to 80.
However, clinicians have questioned the practical aspects of implementing lung cancer screening. VA provides care for 6.7 million Veterans each year, mostly older men – many of whom are current or former smokers – thus the implementation of a lung cancer screening program for VA patients would require substantial resources. In order to understand the feasibility and implications of this for patients and clinical staff, VA implemented a three-year Lung Cancer Screening Demonstration Project (LCSDP) in eight geographically-diverse VA hospitals. Investigators identified 93,033 primary care patients at eight sites who were assessed on screening criteria, of whom 2,106 patients were screened between July 2013 and June 2015.
30 Jan Treatment With Liraglutide (Victoza) Reduces Fat Around the Heart
Posted at 16:21h
in Author Interviews, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Heart Disease, Lipids, Pharmacology, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31502" align="alignleft" width="130"]
Dr. Gianluca Iacobellis[/caption]
Gianluca Iacobellis MD PhD
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Department of Medicine
University of Miami, FL
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We know that epicardial fat, the visceral fat of the heart, is associated with coronary artery disease, diabetes and obesity. My studies have shown that epicardial fat can be easily measured with non invasive imaging procedures. Remarkably, epicardial fat has recently emerged as therapeutic target responding to medications targeting the fat. Liraglutide, a GLP-1 analog has shown to provide modest weight loss and beneficial cardiovascular effects beyond its glucose lowering action. So , we sought to evaluate the effects of liraglutide on epicardial fat.
30 Jan What Is Right Ratio of Patients to Critical Care Specialists in ICUs?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31484" align="alignleft" width="125"]
Dr. Hayley Gershengorn[/caption]
Dr. Hayley B. Gershengorn, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine (Critical Care)
Assistant Professor, The Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology
Montefiore Medical Center
Bronx, NY
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The patient-to-intensivist ratio across intensive care units is not standardized and whether the patient-to-intensivist ratio impacts patient outcome is not well established. I
n this study, we conducted a retrospective cohort analysis including 49,686 adults across 94 United Kingdom intensive care units. In this setting, a patient-to-intensivist ratio of 7.5 was associated with the lowest risk adjusted hospital mortality, with higher mortality at both higher and lower patient-to-intensivist ratios.
30 Jan Majority of Neurologists Report Symptoms of Burnout
Posted at 01:46h
in Author Interviews, Education, Neurological Disorders, Neurology, University of Pittsburgh
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31604" align="alignleft" width="142"]
Dr. Neil A. Busis[/caption]
Neil A. Busis, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh Physicians
Department of Neurology
Chief of Neurology, UPMC Shadyside
Director of Community Neurology
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Previous studies showed that neurologists have both one of the highest rates of burnout and the lowest rates of satisfaction with work-life balance, compared to other physicians.
The mission of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is to promote the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care and enhance member career satisfaction. This is why AAN President Dr. Terrence Cascino initiated this research, to better define the issue. Our findings can guide current and future programs to prevent and mitigate neurologist burnout, promote neurologist career satisfaction and well-being, and direct efforts to advocate on behalf of neurologists and their patients.
27 Jan Premature Midlife Deaths Increase in US Whites and Native Americans
Posted at 20:50h
in Accidents & Violence, Addiction, Author Interviews, NIH, Opiods, Race/Ethnic Diversity
[caption id="attachment_31594" align="alignleft" width="160"]
Dr. Meredith Shiels[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr Meredith S Shiels
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics
National Cancer Institute
Bethesda, MD
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In most high-income countries, premature death rates have been declining, due to the overwhelming successes of public health efforts to prevent and treat chronic disease. The US is a major outlier, where death rates overall have plateaued, or even increased, as reported recently by our sister agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of particular concern are recent reports of increasing death rates among Americans during mid-life.
To expand upon prior findings, we focused on premature death, which we defined as death occurring between the ages of 25 and 64. We examined finely detailed death certificate data for the entire U.S. population and described changes in death rates during 1999-2014 by cause of death, sex, race, ethnicity, and geography. To provide context to our findings, we compared trends in death rates in the U.S. to England and Wales and Canada.
27 Jan Guidelines Address Treating Short Children With Hormone Therapy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31590" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Adda Grimberg[/caption]
Adda Grimberg, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics,
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Scientific Director, Diagnostic and Research Growth Center
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA 19104
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: This study sought to update the last guidelines for the use of growth hormone (GH) by the Drug and Therapeutics Committee of the Pediatric Endocrine Society (PES), published in 2003, and was the first to be endorsed also by the Ethics Committee of the PES. To facilitate evidence-based decision making, it was the first such GH guidelines to follow the approach recommended by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) group. Because idiopathic short stature (ISS) remains a controversial indication, and diagnostic challenges often blur the distinction between ISS, growth hormone deficiency (GHD), and primary insulin-like growth factor-I deficiency (PIGFD), this guidelines statement focused on these three diagnoses and added recombinant IGF-I therapy to the GH guidelines for the first time.
27 Jan Weight Shaming Can Cause Physical As Well As Mental Harm
Posted at 19:57h
in Author Interviews, Metabolic Syndrome, Psychological Science, University of Pennsylvania, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Rebecca L. Pearl PhD
Department of Psychiatry, Center for Weight and Eating Disorders
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Weight bias is a pervasive form of prejudice that leads to weight-based discrimination, bullying, and the overall stigmatization of obesity. Some individuals with obesity may internalize weight bias by applying negative weight stereotypes to themselves and “self-stigmatizing.” Exposure to weight bias and stigma increases risk for poor obesity-related health (in part by increasing physiological stress), but little is known about the relationship between weight bias internalization and risk for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
27 Jan Approval of Medical Disability Claims Vary By the Examiner
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31578" align="alignleft" width="100"]
Prof. Regina Kunz[/caption]
Prof. Dr. Regina Kunz
Professorin für Versicherungsmedizin
Evidence-based Insurance Medicine I Departement Klinische Forschung
Universitätsspital Basel
Basel Switzerland
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Many workers seek wage replacement benefits due to a disabling illness or injury. Public and private insurance systems provide wage replacement benefits for such employees, as long as eligibility criteria are met. Insurers often arrange for evaluation of eligibility by medical professionals, but there are concerns regarding low quality evaluations and poor reliability between medical experts assessing the same claimant. In order to better understand this situation, we performed a systematic review of reproducibility studies on the inter-rater agreement in evaluation of disability.
We carried out a systematic review of 23 studies, conducted between 1992-2016, from 12 countries in Europe, North America, Australia, the Middle East, and Northeast Asia. The studies include those carried out in an insurance setting, with medical experts assessing claimants for work disability benefits, and in a research setting, where evaluation of patients took place outside of actual assessments, for example, for rehabilitation.
27 Jan Cigarette Smoking Remains A Huge Public Health Problem
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrew Hyland, PhD Chair of the Department of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Karin Kasza, MA Senior Research Specialist in the Department of Health Behavior Roswell Park Cancer Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The PATH Study is unique because it is a large, nationally representative study of more than 45,000 youth and adults who are interviewed at multiple points over time and asked about their use of a wide array of tobacco products. The data reported in this study are from the baseline wave, and we find that while cigarettes are by far the most commonly used product for both youth and adults, we see a lot of use of non-cigarette products. E-cigarettes trailed only cigarettes in popularity for youth and water pipe smoking was high among 18-24 year olds. However, we see different patterns of use for different products with cigarettes being used much more frequently that other products like e-cigarettes. Another surprising finding was that about 4 in 10 youth and adult tobacco users were currently using two or more tobacco products.27 Jan A Split Brain Has Two Perceptions But One Mind
Posted at 16:41h
in Author Interviews
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31642" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Pinto[/caption]
DR. Y. (YAÏR) PINTO
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Programme group Brain and Cognition
UvA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: I've done research into patients in whom the corpus callosum was entirely removed surgically, at an adult age, to relieve epileptic seizures. The removal of the corpus callosum all but eliminates communication between both cerebral hemispheres. Therefore these patients are referred to as split-brain patients.
The canonical view of these patients is that their consciousness is split as well. That is, the notion, which is found in many textbooks and reviews, is that in a split-brain patient each hemisphere is an conscious agent, independent of the other hemisphere.
This notion is mainly based on the following key observation. When an image is presented to the left visual field, the patient indicates verbally, and with his right hand, that he saw nothing. Yet, with his left hand he indicates that he did see the object! Conversely, if a stimulus appears in his right visual field, he will indicate awareness of this stimulus when he responds verbally or with his right, yet with his left hand he will report that he saw nothing. This exactly fits the notion that in a split-brain patient the two separated hemispheres each become an independent conscious agent. The left hemisphere perceives the right visual field, controls language and the right side of the body. The right hemisphere experiences the left visual field and controls the left hand. This, and other discoveries on split-brain patients, earned Roger Sperry the nobel-prize in Medicine in 1981.
27 Jan Reduced Stem Cells Link Congenital Heart Disease To Impaired Brain Growth
Posted at 16:07h
in Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Neurological Disorders, Pediatrics, Science, Stem Cells
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31564" align="alignleft" width="233"]
Children's National Research Team[/caption]
Paul D. Morton, Ph.D.
Research PostDoc and lead study author of “Abnormal Neurogenesis and Cortical Growth in Congenital Heart Disease.”
Children’s National Health System Washington, DC
Nobuyuki Ishibashi, M.D.
Director of the Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratory at Children’s National Health System and co-senior study author.
Vittorio Gallo, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children’s National Health System and co-senior study author.
Richard A. Jonas, M.D.
Chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Children’s National Health System and co-senior study author.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the leading birth defect in the United States and often results in an array of long-term neurological deficits including motor, cognitive and behavioral abnormalities. It has become increasingly clear that children with CHD often have underdeveloped brains. In many cases of complex CHD, blood flow to the brain is both reduced and less oxygenated, which has been associated with developmental abnormalities and delay. The cellular mechanisms underlying the impact of CHD on brain development remain largely unknown. We developed a preclinical chronic hypoxia model to define these mechanisms.
27 Jan Our Personality is Shaped By Wrinkles and Folds of Our Brain
Posted at 15:46h
in Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Neurological Disorders, Psychological Science
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31560" align="alignleft" width="180"]
Dr. Roberta Riccelli[/caption]
Dr. Roberta Riccelli
Magna Graecia University
Catanzaro, Italy
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in personality neuroscience, an emergent field of research exploring how the extraordinary variety of human behaviors arise from different patterns of brain function and structure. According to psychologists, the extraordinary variety of human personality can be broken down into the so-called ‘Big Five’ personality traits, namely neuroticism (how moody a person is), extraversion (how enthusiastic a person is), openness (how open-minded a person is), agreeableness (a measure of altruism), and conscientiousness (a measure of self-control).
However, the relationships between personality profile and brain shape remains still poorly characterized and understood.
The findings of our study highlighted that the personality type characterizing each person is connected to the brain shape of several regions implicated in emotional behaviors and control. We found that neuroticism, a personality trait underlying mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders, was linked to a thicker cortex (the brain's outer layer of neural tissue) and a smaller area and folding in some brain regions. Conversely, openness, a trait reflecting curiosity and creativity, was associated to thinner cortex and greater area and folding in the brain. The other personality traits were linked to other differences in brain structure, such as agreeableness being correlated with a thinner prefrontal cortex (which is linked to empathy and other social skills). Overall, all the traits characterizing this model of personality are related to some features (e.g. thickness, area and folding) of brain regions implicated in attention, salience detection of stimuli and emotion processing. This could reflect the fact that many personality traits are linked to high-level socio-cognitive skills as well as the ability to modulate ‘core’ affective responses.
27 Jan Stool DNA Tests (Cologuard ) Increases Colon Cancer Screening and Detection Among Previously Noncompliant Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31554" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Mark Prince[/caption]
Dr. Mark Prince MD
USMD Health System
Arlington, TX 76017
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This 12-month retrospective study conducted to determine the screening compliance rates for a noninvasive multitarget stool DNA (mt-sDNA) screening test (Cologuard) for colon cancer among a cohort of nearly 400 average-risk Medicare patients who had previously not complied with recommended screening. These were patients who had never had a colonoscopy, had been more than ten years since last colonoscopy, or had been more than one year since last stool testing for occult blood.
27 Jan Thyroid Hormone Treatment In Pregnant Women With Subclinical Hypothyroidism
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31551" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Spyridoula Maraka[/caption]
Dr. Spyridoula Maraka
Assistant professor of medicine
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and
Central Arkansas Veterans Health Care System
Little Rock Arkansas
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Subclinical hypothyroidism, a mild thyroid dysfunction, has been associated in pregnancy with multiple adverse outcomes. Our aim was to estimate the effectiveness and safety of thyroid hormone treatment among pregnant women with subclinical hypothyroidism.
Using a large national US dataset, we identified 5,405 pregnant women diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism. Of these, 843 women, with an average pretreatment TSH concentration of 4.8 milli-international units per liter, were treated with thyroid hormone. The remaining 4,562, with an average pretreatment TSH concentration of 3.3 milli-international units per liter, were not treated.
Compared with the untreated group, treated women were 38 percent less likely to experience pregnancy loss. However, they were more likely to experience a preterm delivery, gestational diabetes or preeclampsia. Moreover, the benefit of thyroid hormone treatment on pregnancy loss was seen only among women with higher TSH levels (4.1 to 10 mIU/L) before treatment. We also found that for women with lower levels of TSH (2.5–4.0 mIU/L), the risk of gestational hypertension was significantly higher for treated women than for untreated women.
27 Jan Racial Disparities in Use of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy With ICD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31473" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Lucas Marzec[/caption]
Lucas Marzec MD
Instructor of Medicine
Section of Cardiac Electrophysiology
Division of Cardiology
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Aurora, CO 80045
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The addition of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) to an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) reduces the risk of mortality and heart failure events in select patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Given these benefits, it is important to ensure patients who have a guideline recommendation for CRT are considered for this therapy at the time of ICD implantation. Previously, little data were available on the contemporary use of CRT among guideline eligible patients undergoing ICD implantation.
Although ICDs alone reduce the risk of mortality in patients with heart failure and reduced systolic function, prior work shows these devices are not uniformly provided to eligible patients and that rates of ICD implantation vary widely by hospital. Prior to our study, it was unknown whether similar variation in the use of the combination of ICD and CRT (CRT-D) exists.
We analyzed data from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) ICD Registry to identify patient, provider, and hospital characteristics associated with CRT-D use and to determine the extent of hospital level variation in the use of CRT-D among patients eligible for CRT undergoing implantation of an ICD.
27 Jan Does Maternal BMI Affect Offspring’s Obesity Risk?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31442" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr Rebecca Richmond[/caption]
Dr Rebecca Richmond PhD
Senior Research Associate in the CRUK Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Programme
MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit
School of Social and Community Medicine
University of Bristol
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We have been involved in earlier work which applied the same methods used here (using genetic variants to provide causal evidence) and showed that higher maternal pregnancy body mass index (BMI) causes greater infant birth weight. The paper here aimed to build on that earlier research and asked whether maternal BMI in pregnancy has a lasting effect, so that offspring of women who were more overweight in pregnancy are themselves likely to be fatter in childhood and adolescence. Our aim was to address this because an effect of an exposure in pregnancy on later life outcomes in the offspring could have detrimental health consequences for themselves and future generations. However, we did not find strong evidence for this in the context of the impact of maternal BMI in pregnancy on offspring fatness.
27 Jan SYNTAX Score Predicts Better Results With Bypass Surgery For Type II Diabetes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_31599" align="alignleft" width="139"]
Dr. Fumiaki Ikeno[/caption]
Fumiaki Ikeno M.D.
Program Director (U.S.) Japan Biodesign
Stanford Biodesign
Medical Director/Research Associate
Experimental Interventional Laboratory
Division of Cardiology
Stanford University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We sought to determine whether the extent of coronary disease in terms of the number of lesions and their complexity in Type 2 Diabetes patients could predict major cardiovascular events, and hypothesized that revascularization would have greater effectiveness relative to medical therapy among patients with more number of lesions and higher complexity in coronary artery disease.
Coronary bypass surgery, catheter-based treatment, and medical therapy all had similar cardiovascular outcomes among patients with less complexity of coronary artery disease who had type 2 diabetes mellitus, stable ischemic heart disease, and no prior coronary revascularization. Among patients with mid or high complexity coronary artery disease, coronary revascularization with bypass surgery significantly reduced the rate of major cardiovascular events during 5 years of follow-up.
27 Jan Physical Activity and Abnormal Blood Glucose Among Healthy Weight Adults
Posted at 00:50h
in Author Interviews, Diabetes, Exercise - Fitness, Lifestyle & Health, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_31537" align="alignleft" width="139"]
Dr. Arch G. Mainous III[/caption]
Arch G. Mainous III, PhD
HSRMP Department Chair
Florida Blue Endowed Professor of Health Administration
University of Florida Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: As our post-industrial society becomes more and more sedentary, there is a concern that a lack of activity is associated with poor health outcomes like diabetes. At the same time, the medical community has a strong focus on determining whether patients are overweight or obese as a way to classify them as being at higher risk for poor health outcomes. However, individuals at a “healthy weight” in general, are considered to be at low risk. Some recent studies have shown that many individuals at “healthy weight” are not metabolically healthy. How then might we predict who at “healthy weight” would be unhealthy? We hypothesized that individuals at “healthy weight” who had a sedentary lifestyle would be more likely to have prediabetes or undiagnosed diabetes.
27 Jan Cognitive Behavior Therapy Most Effective Treatment for OCD, Anxiety and PTSD
[caption id="attachment_31445" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Prof. Mataix-Cols[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
David Mataix-Cols PhD
Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council
Stockholm, Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Exposure-based Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is the treatment of choice for patients with anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorders. Some patients do not respond sufficiently to such treatment. This has led researchers to find ways to augment (enhance) CBT with pharmacological agents, such as D-cycloserine (DCS).
Because CBT is such a powerful treatment for most patients, we suspected that the effects of DCS would probably be small. This means that very large samples of patients are needed to show statistically significant differences between groups. Previous studies and meta-analyses were underpowered to detect such small effects. Combining the raw data from all available studies to date gave us the power we needed to address the question of whether DCS is an efficacious augmenting strategy, over and above CBT.
We also had a second research question. Previous research from our group had suggested that there may be undesirable interactions between DCS and antidepressants, whereby patients taking both types of drugs would have significantly worse outcomes (see Andersson et al JAMA Psychiatry. 2015 Jul;72(7):659-67.
doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0546).