Asthma, Author Interviews, OBGYNE / 02.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Anju Joham (MBBS (Hons), FRACP, PhD) Endocrinologist, Monash Health Post doctoral Research Fellow Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation – MCHRI School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Monash University – in partnership with Monash Healtj MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Johan: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition affecting reproductive-aged women. Recent research suggests that asthma may be more commonly seen in women with PCOS; however, there are very limited studies that have examined this relationship. It will be helpful to understand if there is a relationship with PCOS and asthma. Women were randomly selected from the national health insurance database (Medicare) in Australia. Data was available for 8612 women. We found that in women aged 28 to 33 years, PCOS prevalence was 5.8% (95% CI: 5.3%-6.4%). The prevalence of asthma was 15.2% in women reporting PCOS and 10.6% in women not reporting PCOS respectively. PCOS was associated with 34% increased odds of asthma after adjusting for weight. In addition, weight in the overweight and obese range were associated with increased odds of asthma. (more…)
Author Interviews, Compliance, Infections / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Loren G. Miller, M.D., M.P.H. Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Division of Infectious Diseases Los Angeles BioMedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Torrance CA 90502  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Miller: We know that medication adherence (compliance) by patients to all sort of treatments for a variety of diseases is suboptimal. Adherence to medication varies a lot by disease state (e.g. it is typically high in cancer and low in hypertension), but adherence to antibiotics for skin infection is unstudied. We wanted to find out what adherence is to antibiotics for patients with skin infections is and whether it was associated with important clinical outcomes. We measured patients adherence to antibiotic dosing by using medication containers fitted with electronic caps that reported when the patient opened the antibiotic container. We followed 87 patients who had been hospitalized and suffered S. aureus associated skin and soft tissue infections We found that patients with S. aureus skin and soft tissue infections, on average, took just 57% of their prescribed antibiotic doses after leaving the hospital. Lower antibiotic adherence was associated with a higher chance of skin infection relapse or recurrence. Interestingly, we also found a large discrepancy in patient reports and the electronic measurement. Patients reported taking, on average, 96% of their medication, or nearly twice the 57% reported by the electronic caps. This suggests that asking patients how well they took their medication is highly problematic as non-adherent patients will typically vastly overstate their medication adherence. We also found higher rates of non-adherence to antibiotic regimens among patients who were prescribed more than one antibiotic after leaving the hospital, didn’t see the same healthcare provider for follow-up visits or felt they didn’t have a regular healthcare provider (more…)
Author Interviews, Bone Density, JAMA, Mediterranean Diet, Menopause / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bernhard Haring, MD MPH Department of Medicine I Comprehensive Heart Failure Center University of Würzburg Germany MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Haring: The primary aim of this study was to examine the association between adherence to a diet quality index constructed on the basis of dietary recommendations or existing healthy dietary patterns and bone outcomes in a large population of postmenopausal women. We found that higher diet quality based on a Mediterranean diet may play a role in maintaining bone health in postmenopausal women. (more…)
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Heart Disease, JAMA, UCSD / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: H Kirk Hammond, MD Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) University of California San Diego Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System San Diego, CA 92161  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Hammond: Heart failure affects >28 million patients worldwide and is the only cardiovascular disease that is increasing in prevalence. Despite steady improvement in drug therapy for heart failure, recent hospitalization rates and mortality have changed little. New therapies are needed. Adenylyl cyclase type 6 (AC6), is a protein that catalyzes the conversion of ATP to cAMP and is an important determinant of heart function. The amount and function of AC6 are reduced in failing hearts, and preclinical studies have shown benefits of increased cardiac AC6 content on the heart. The aim of the trial was to determine safety and heart function gene transfer of AC6, achieved by intracoronary delivery of an inactivated virus carrying the gene for AC6 (Ad5hAC6) in patients with symptomatic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. Our hypothesis was that AC6 gene transfer would safely increase function of the failing hearts of patients with heart failure. (more…)
Author Interviews, Fertility, Toxin Research / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anders Rehfeld MD, PhD Student University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine Copenhagen, Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Rehfeld: Human fertility is declining in many areas of the world and the reason is largely unknown. Our study shows that 44% tested chemical UV filters can induce calcium signals in human sperm cells, thereby mimicking the effect of progesterone and possibly interfering with the fertilizing ability of human sperm cells. Progesterone-induced calcium signaling, and the sperm functions it triggers, is absolutely essential for the human sperm cell to normally fertilize the human egg. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Le Min, MD,PhD Brigham and Women's Hospital, Endocrinology Division MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Min: As you know, immune checkpoint blockade therapies by anti-CTLA4 and Anti-PD1 have shown promising and durable anti-cancer effects on several advanced malignancies. Interestingly, endocrine disorders are among the most common adverse effects associated with immune checkpoint blockade therapies. More interestingly, it appears that hypophysitis, the inflammation of the pituitary is commonly related to anti-CTLA4 therapy while thyroid disorders are more commonly seen in anti-PD1 monotherapy and the combined therapy with anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4. Anti-CTLA4-related hypophysitis has been well characterized but there is no study to characterize the thyroid disorders associated with anti-PD1 monotherapy and the combined therapy with anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4. As an endocrinologist, I have been taking care of a population of such patients who received either monotherapy with anti-PD1 or combined therapy with anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4 and developed thyroid disorders. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pulmonary Disease / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof Michael Kreuter Center for Interstitial and Rare Lung Diseases, Pneumology and Respiratory Critical Care Medicine, Thoraxklinik, University of Heidelberg and Translational Lung Research Center Heidelberg, Germany MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Kreuter: Already in the 70s, early reports hypothesized a relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Since then, clinical and preclinical data suggested that micro-aspirations cause lung parenchymal injuries which may stimulate pulmonary fibrosis. The hypothesis of a potential relationship between idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF_ and GERD also provoked the question of an effect of GERD-treatment by antacid therapy (i.e. proton pump inhibitors or H2-blockers) on the course of IPF.  In this context, two analyses, one retrospective and one post hoc, reported that antacid treatment had positive effects on the course of pulmonary function and on survival in IPF patients. These data lead to a conditional recommendation for the treatment of patients with IPF with antacid therapy in the current international IPF guideline. However, the low confidence in estimates of the effect prompted us to initiate a new post-hoc analysis pooling data from the placebo arms of three multinational trials on pirfenidone in interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. In this new analysis, published in Lancet Respiratory Medicine, antacid therapy was not associated with a slower disease progression in IPF. Moreover, in patients with advanced disease antacid therapy was associated with a significantly higher incidence of pulmonary and non-pulmonary infections. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pulmonary Disease / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with – Professor Luca Richeldi University Hospital, Southampton Southampton, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Richeldi: The pooled analysis published in Respiratory Medicine is based on Ofev (nintedanib) data from the Phase II TOMORROW trial and the two Phase III INPULSIS studies, and a total of 1,231 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), 723 of whom were treated with Ofev. The results of this analysis confirm that Ofev significantly slows disease progression by approximately 50%, as measured by decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) across a range of patient types in the clinical trial program. In addition, the analysis confirms that Ofev reduces the risk of acute exacerbations by approximately 50% and has a favorable effect across mortality outcomes with a trend in lower all-cause mortality and a significant lower on-treatment-mortality. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. David W. Lawrence, MD Department of Family & Community Medicine St Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Lawrence: The risk of all-cause injury and concussion for NFL athletes is significant. There has been a lot of discussion recently about this risk of injury in the NFL and general player safety, particularly regarding concussions. The first step in improving player safety and lowering that risk is to identify the factors affecting injury rates. Once we can answer those questions, we can begin to modify player exposure. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Kidney Disease, Salt-Sodium / 31.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthew Bailey PhD Faculty Principal Investigator British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Bailey: This study started with our interest in salt homeostasis and long term blood pressure, so it’s firmly rooted in the cardiovascular/renal disease risk factor arena. We were interested in salt-sensitivity- why does blood pressure go up in some people when they eat salt but not in others. I’m a renal physiologist, so we had a number of papers looking at renal salt excretion and blood pressure. We initially used a gene targeting approach to remove a gene (Hsd11b2) which acts as a suppressor of the mineralocorticoid pathway. It’s mainly expressed in the kidney and when we deleted the gene  throughout the body we saw a number of renal abnormalities all associated with high mineralocorticoid activity. This was consistent with the “hypertension follows the kidney” theory of blood pressure control. There is a human disease called “Apparent Mineralocorticoid Excess”- there are people do not have the gene and are thought to have renal hypertension. Our study threw up some anomalies which we couldn’t easily interpret but suggested that the brain was involved. We moved to a more refined technology that allowed us to knockout a gene in one organ system but not another. We knew the gene was in the brain and localized to a very restricted subset of neurons linked to salt-appetite and blood pressure control. Previous studies had shown that these neurons were activated in salt-depleted rats (ie rats that needed to eat salt). We started there but didn’t anticipate that the effect on salt hunger and on blood pressure would be so large because renal function is -as far as we can tell- normal. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Toxin Research, UCLA / 31.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nancy L. Wayne, PhD Professor, Department of Physiology UCLA School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA 90095 MedicalResearch.com editor’s note: Campbell Soup Co. will stop using the chemical Bisphenol A in its canned products by the middle of 2017 due to consumers concerns that BPA raises the risk of cancer, brain damage and hormonal problems. Professor Nancy Wayne, is a reproductive endocrinologist and professor of physiology at UCLA. She has conducted extensive research on the health effects of the endocrine disruptors bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used by manufacturers to strengthen plastic, and its replacement, bisphenol S (BPS). Professor Wayne was kind of enough to discuss the implications of the Campbell Soup Co. announcement for the readers of MedicalResearch.com.  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this announcement?  What are the real and potential harmful effects of BPAs? Prof. Wayne: There has been increasing research publications on the impact of BPA on body functions in animal models, human cells in culture, and associations between high levels of BPA in human urine samples and dysfunctions and diseases. a pubmed (biomedical article search engine) keyword search of bisphenol + BPA showed 39 articles published in the 1990s, 1127 articles published in the 2000s, and over 2300 articles published since January 2010. The public is much more aware of this research now — even though the message from the U.S. FDA has been consistently that low levels of BPA are not harmful (this is not the case according to independent research). Public pressure is causing companies to re-think their use of BPA in their products that could lead to environmental exposure of humans to this chemical. BPA has been shown in animal models to alter genes in fetal heart that are known to play a role in heart diseases, leads to increased genetic abnormalities in fertilized eggs and miscarriages, increased premature birth, increases susceptibility to breast cancer, stimulates early development of the reproductive system, and increases the risk of obesity. We cannot do controlled studies in humans with toxins like we can with laboratory animals. However, there has been shown to be an association between high levels of BPA in human urine and many of the same problems seen in animals: increased body weight and fat in children, increased risk of miscarriages and premature birth, and increased incidence of prostate cancer. Although association doesn’t mean cause-and-effect, taken together with the animal studies — it is meaningful. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Technology / 31.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Nicola Gaibazzi Department of Cardiology Parma University Hospital Parma Italy MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Gaibazzi: As clinical and research cardiologists we have never accepted that cardiac arrests are so frequently deadly throughout the world (sudden cardiac arrest is the world’s leading cause of death) because many of such events could be easily reversed by early defibrillation if only witnessed by a bystander who could quickly call emergency in place of the incapacitated subject. This would be lifesaving for most of them, gaining quick  access to defibrillation within the golden 8-10 minutes (in the Oregon state study 6.5 minutes is the average time from call to defibrillation). While this issue of early defibrillation access is not easy to be solved for cardiac arrest in the general population, it was surprising to us that there was no available tool to date to automatically alert emergency contacts for people who regularly practice outdoor sports alone, such as running or cycling, and may undergo sudden and unexpected sports-associated cardiac arrest. It is a rare event, but it may happen during exercise, when cardiac arrest is actually several times more frequent than during resting condition, both in sedentary and active subjects. It was surprising to us seeing all people practicing with their earbuds, listening to music from their last-generation smartphone, often used only as if it were an old music cassette “walkman”, while it is a powerful and wireless-connected portable computer with an incredible potential for emergency rescue. Consequently, in 2015 we founded a startup company (www.parachute-app.com or temporary new site http://nicolagaibazzi.wix.com/mysite) and started building an app that could take advantage of the capabilities of modern smartphones to automatically detect sports-associated cardiac arrest, specifically aiming at recognizing ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. This was not an easy task, since we wanted to use simple, cheap and commercially-available hardware, possibly already at hand for sportspeople; otherwise too few subjects would use it and you would not impact such infrequent disease with only few sportsmen using it, since sports-associated cardiac arrest is rare (2/100000 athletes/year) but not negligible, with 2450 deaths in US only each year. We finally chose to use as the only additional required hardware a BT+ heart rate monitor chest strap (a chest strap can be bought if not already owned at 40$), which is cheap, reliable, able to transmit heart rate with trivial battery drainage detected through cardiac electrical signal with trivial battery drainage, and much more reliable than pulse-plethysmographic methods which fully depend on the device contact with the arm or wrist skin to collect a correct signal. We could not afford in our lifesaving app that a wrong wrist or arm device contact would cause absence of pulse signal detection erroneouslytriggering a cardiac arrest alert or not doing so when a cardiac arrest is truly present. Chest straps on the contrary send heart rate sensed from electrical heart activity and are almost impossible to displace even in case of an unconscious subject falling down. We built and tested our Parachute app for the iPhone during 2015, through long testing in the outdoor field and with arrhythmia simulators and at the ACC congress we present just part of the data collected from such tests in athletes running and cycling and with advanced arrhythmia simulators. Parachute was incredibly accurate both to avoid false positives and false negatives, thanks to continuously combined chest strap heart rate data and motion or, better, detection of “no motion”, corresponding to a possible incapacitated subject. These two mechanisms act together and complete each other, they are synergic, since while our patent-pending algorithm using heart rate data is very sensitive for serious arrhythmias, motion detection can easily exclude false positives during outdoor sports, where motion is by definition almost continuous. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, NEJM, NYU / 31.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joshua D. Lee MD, MSc Associate Professor in Medicine and Psychiatry NYU Langone Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Lee: Opioid use disorders, both from prescription pain medication and heroin use, and related death rates are increasing annually in the US.  Many states, counties, and cities that have previously not had great experience with heroin addiction are now overwhelmed.  This presents unprecedented challenges to affected families and communities, and also health providers and criminal justice systems that have historically not provided high rates of evidence-based treatment for opioid addictions.  Left untreated or inadequately treated, opioid use disorders are chronic, destructive, and often fatal. Extended-release naltrexone, an opioid receptor blocker, is a promising relapse prevention medication intervention, but had not been evaluated in a US criminal justice system (CJS) setting or under real-world conditions. This effectiveness study recruited 308 adults with US criminal justice system involvement (i.e., recent jail or prison incarceration, on parole or probation) and a history of opioid dependence (addiction), who were not currently accessing methadone or buprenorphine maintenance treatment, and were interested in treatment with extended-release naltrexone (XR-naltrexone).  All participants were off opioids (detoxed or recently abstinent) at the time of study start (randomization).  Participants randomized to an open-label, non-blinded evaluation of XR-naltrexone versus treatment-as-usual for six months of treatment.  Long-term follow-up occurred at 12 months and 18 months (6 and 12 months post-treatment).  We estimated rates of opioid relapse and opioid use between the two arms over the course of treatment.  We also tracked other drug and alcohol use, re-incarceration rates, and overdose rates throughout the study. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Prostate Cancer / 30.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: HICOR portraits, Nov. 4, 2014 Joshua A. Roth, PhD, MHA Assistant Member AHRQ Patient-Centered Outcomes Research K12 Scholar Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes ResearchJoshua A. Roth, PhD, MHA Assistant Member AHRQ Patient-Centered Outcomes Research K12 Scholar Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Roth: PSA prostate cancer screening is controversial because of uncertainty about the overall benefit-risk balance of screening and conflicting recommendations from a variety of prominent national panels. For example, there is debate about whether the cancer early-detection benefits of screening outweigh potential harms related to overdiagnosis of prostate cancer and associated overtreatment (for example, surgery and/or radiation therapy). However, this benefit-risk balance largely depends on how screening programs are structured (for example, the age range over which screening occurs, how often screened occurs, and the PSA level that triggers biopsies) and how screening detected prostate cancers are managed. With these factors in mind, we developed a simulation model to estimate the morbidity, mortality, and cost outcomes of many PSA screening approaches that have been proposed by national panels or discussed in the peer-reviewed literature. The model calculates these outcomes using inputs from national databases and major PSA screening clinical trials. The primary outcome of our model was the cost per quality-adjusted life year gained—a measure that reflects the value of medical interventions through impacts on cost, survival, and health-related quality of life. We don’t have explicit rules for willingness to pay per quality-adjusted life year in the United States, but interventions that cost $100,000 to $150,000 per quality-adjusted life year are generally considered to be of at least low to moderate value (whereas, for example, an intervention that costs $400,000 per quality-adjusted life year would be generally considered to be of very poor value). Using the model, we found that more conservative PSA screening strategies (that is, those with less frequent screening and higher PSA level thresholds for biopsy referral) tended to be more cost-effective than less conservative strategies. Importantly, we found that no strategy was likely to be of high value under contemporary treatment patterns where many men with low-risk prostate cancer (that is, those with a Gleason score lower than 7 and clinical T2a stage cancer or lower) receive treatment with surgery or radiation therapy, but several strategies were likely to be of at least moderate value (cost per qualityadjusted life-year=$70 831-$136 332) with increased use of conservative management (that is, treating only after clinical progression) for low-risk, screen-detected cancers. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Cocaine, Lancet / 30.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mascha Nuijten MSc Researcher/ PhD candidate Brijder Research (PARC) The Hague The Netherlands MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Crack-cocaine dependence is a complex disorder, for which no proven effective pharmacotherapy is yet available. Prior to our study, sustained-release dexamfetamine was found to be a promising treatment for cocaine dependence in several studies, but no studies so far had shown a convincing benefit in terms of substantial cocaine use reductions. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of sustained-release (SR) dexamphetamine in a robust dose of 60 mg/day in chronic crack-cocaine dependent patients. We found that the number of days of cocaine use decreased with almost 40% in the dexamfetamine group, compared with 9% in the matched placebo group. In addition, the number of cocaine self-administrations on days that patients used crack-cocaine decreased with 43% in the dexamfetamine group and with 7% in the placebo group. Thus, SR dexamfetamine both contributed to cocaine abstinence and to cocaine use reductions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Mental Health Research, OBGYNE / 30.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eyal Sheiner, MD,PhD Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Soroka University Medical Center Beer-Sheva Israel   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sheiner: The reported rates of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are constantly escalating and little is known about the long term complications in the offspring. Evidence from the field of epigenetics strongly advocated the need for research on the neuropsychiatric impact of being exposed prenatally to GDM. In our study, in utero exposure to  gestational diabetes mellitus was found to be an independent risk factor for long term neuropsychiatric morbidity of the offspring. (more…)
Author Interviews, Microbiome / 30.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jonas Schluter, DPhil Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York City Kirstie McLoughlin Department of Zoology Oxford University  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Microbes in our guts perform many important functions for our health. Healthy individuals are inhabited by a complex microbial community. A less diverse community is often a sign of ill health, and can be accompanied by loss of beneficial functions that a normal microbial community provides for the host. We try to understand how such complex communities can persist – after all, competition between microbes could lead to the eradication of slow-growing, but helpful microbes. We built a computer model of the gut that allows us to simulate how the host can actively help such slow microbes, and thereby maintain a healthily diverse microbial community. We show that a mechanism by which the host can achieve such selection is via secretions that help slow growing microbes persist by sticking in place. We propose that the host can change microbiota composition by conveying increased adhesion to disadvantages microbes, for example using mucus molecules and the attached sugars such as fucose. We hypothesise that this might also help explain the secretion of vast amounts of immune system molecules such as immunoglobulin A – perhaps they are not only a way to harm, but also to help certain microbes by anchoring them to the mucus. Indeed, we demonstrate that the host can change the selective effect of increased adhesion by tuning the mucus secretion rate: from beneficial for the adhered microbes at low mucus flow to detrimental at high mucus secretion rates. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Heart Disease / 30.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kazuomi Kario, MD, PhD, FACP, FACC, FAHA, FESC Professor, Chairman Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Jichi Medical University School of Medicine (JMU) JMU Center of Excellence, Cardiovascular Research and Development (JCARD) Hypertension Cardiovascular Outcome Prevention and Evidence in Asia (HOPE Asia) Network Staff Visiting Professor of Medicine, UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science University College London, London UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The relationship between out-of-office blood pressure (BP), such as ambulatory BP and home BP, and cardiovascular events has been investigated in several studies. However, there is insufficient evidence as yet regarding which BP measurement predicts coronary artery disease (CAD) events most strongly. The HONEST Study is the largest prospective observational study in the world, which enrolled >20,000 hypertensive patients. The study observed cardiovascular events, monitoring both clinic BP and home BP on treatment of antihypertensive agent. The present analysis shows that home blood pressure measured in morning (morning home BP) is a strong predictor of both CAD and stroke events in future, and may be superior to clinic BP in this regard. Furthermore, there does not appear to be a J-curve in the relationship between morning home  blood pressure and CAD or stroke events. (more…)
Author Interviews, HPV, OBGYNE / 29.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrew Combs MD Alan Fishman MD Obstetrix Medical Group San Jose, California MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Vaginal ultrasound is a common procedure in gynecology and obstetrics. To perform vaginal ultrasound, an ultrasound probe is placed in the vagina in order to get a close-up view of a woman’s pelvic organs. In non-pregnant women, this is the preferred method for ultrasound of the uterus and ovaries. In early pregnancy, vaginal ultrasound often yields better images of the developing embryo than abdominal ultrasound. In later pregnancy, vaginal ultrasound gives more accurate pictures of the cervix and placenta than abdominal ultrasound. In order to prevent transmission of disease from patient to patient, it is mandatory to clean and disinfect the probe after each vaginal exam. The FDA has a list of “high level” disinfectants that neutralize or kill a variety of bacteria and viruses. Several manufacturers make disinfectant systems that are approved for disinfection of ultrasound probes. It is also mandatory to cover the probe with a barrier during each exam. Various companies manufacture ultrasound probe covers intended to be barriers against infection.  MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: Recent studies found that two widely-used disinfectants (glutaraldehyde and ortho-ophthalaldehyde) do not neutralize human papilloma virus (HPV) even though they are on the FDA list of high level disinfectants. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the USA, affecting over 8 million women of reproductive age. HPV is responsible for 60% of cervical cancer worldwide. Clearly, it is critical to neutralize this virus on vaginal ultrasound probes. A different high-level disinfectant system, sonicated hydrogen peroxide, was found to be highly effective at neutralizing HPV. Other studies show that commercial ultrasound probe covers have a high rate of leakage, 8-81%. Condoms are safer probe covers, with leakage rates of 0.9 to 2%. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Respiratory, Vaccine Studies / 28.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tasnee Chonmaitree, M.D. Professor, Pediatrics and Pathology Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department of Pediatrics University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX 77555-0371 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Chonmaitree: Respiratory infections are common in infants and young children; they are caused by viruses and/or bacteria. Viral upper respiratory tract infection or the common cold is exceedingly common and leads to bacterial complications such as ear infection, which the leading cause of antibiotic prescription in the US and the most common reason children undergo surgery (ear tube placement). In the past few decades, some bacterial and viral vaccines have become available aiming to reduce respiratory infections in children. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Dr. Chonmaitree: Our study looked to update information on how often infants in the first year of life acquired the common cold, and ear infection in the new vaccine era. The study was performed between 2009 and 2014 and included 367 infants followed closely from near birth up to one year of age. We found that on average, an infant had about 3 colds in the first year of life, and almost half of infants had ear infection by age 1 year. This was less than what happened in the past few decades. The reduction of ear infection may have been the result of many factors from bacterial and viral vaccine use, to increased breastfeeding rate and reduction in household smoking. Risk factors for ear infection included carriage of bacteria in the nose, frequencies of common cold and lack of breastfeeding. (more…)
Author Interviews, Herpes Viruses, Vaccine Studies / 28.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Zeena Y. Nawas, MD Clinical Research Fellow Center for Clinical Studies Houston, TX, 77004 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Nawas: T cell immunity is believed to be particularly critical to the control of genital herpes, an incurable, lifelong sexually transmitted disease that affects roughly 500 million people worldwide. Genital herpes is characterized by recurrent, painful genital lesions and can be transmitted to sexual partners, even when there is no visible sign of the infection. Current genital herpes therapies only partially control the infection in some patients. These individuals continue to experience clinical symptoms and viral shedding, which drives disease transmission. Incomplete control of genital lesions and transmission risk, and the inconvenience of taking a daily medication are hurdles for effective long-term disease management. GEN-003, is a first-in-class immunotherapy developed by Genocea Biosciences and is intended to treat genital herpes by inducing both a T cell and B cell (antibody) immune response. GEN-003 has demonstrated promising results to date by showing statistically significant reductions in the clinical signs of genital herpes and viral shedding, as well as safety and tolerability in its Phase 1/2 and Phase 2 clinical studies. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Infections / 28.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Meghan Weinberg PhD Epidemic Intelligence Service CDC Michigan Department of Health and Human Services MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Weinberg: Tuberculosis (TB) is a deadly disease. Once a leading killer in the United States, national, state, and local TB program efforts have dramatically reduced cases. With fewer cases occurring each year in the United States, health care providers might not consider TB when a patient has symptoms of TB disease. Every year, temporary visa holders come to the United States to work in a variety of tourist locations including amusement parks, ski lodges, national parks, and cultural or historical sites. TB testing is not required for persons entering the United States on a temporary visa. This report documents three cases of infectious TB disease among temporary workers in the tourism industry. Increased Tuberculosis awareness is needed among employers, health care providers, and public health officials. (more…)