Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Memory / 04.12.2014

Joshua Sandry, Ph.D. Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research Kessler Foundation, West Orange, NJ Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Rutgers New Jersey Medical SchoolMedicalResearch.com Interview with Joshua Sandry, Ph.D. Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research Kessler Foundation, West Orange, NJ Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sandry: We were interested in better understanding the relationship between cognitive reserve and long-term memory impairment in moderate to severe Traumatic Brain Injury, from a cognitive perspective. The theory of cognitive reserve suggests that individuals who engage in intellectually enriching activities may be less susceptible to the negative cognitive consequences of long-term memory impairment that often accompanies neurological disorders. There’s significant evidence in support of cognitive reserve; however, it’s somewhat unclear what particular cognitive processes are involved in this relationship and how those cognitive processes may differ across high and low reserve individuals. We derived our predictions on the basis of well-established cognitive theory and found that working memory capacity partially mediates the cognitive reserve – long-term memory relationship in Traumatic Brain Injury. Or to put it another way, working memory may be one underlying cognitive process involved in this relationship. Importantly, this finding corroborates some recent related work we have conducted in multiple sclerosis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lung Cancer, PLoS / 03.12.2014

dr_Martin_C_TammemägiMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Martin C. Tammemägi Professor (Epidemiology), Brock University Department of Health Sciences St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Tammemägi: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in North America and the world. Lung cancer survival following diagnosis is generally poor, in the range of 10% to 15%, and has improved little over the last four decades. The biggest recent breakthrough for reducing lung cancer mortality came with the findings of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), a large, well-conducted randomized screening trial, which demonstrated that low dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening versus chest X-ray (CXR) screening can reduce lung cancer mortality by 20%. Currently, most guidelines for selecting screenees for lung screening use the NLST enrolment criteria of 30 or more pack-years smoked, former smokers must have quit smoking within 15 years and ages between 55 and 74, or use a variant of the NLST criteria. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) essentially recommends using the NLST criteria but extended the inclusion age to 80 years. The current study applied the PLCOm2012 lung cancer risk prediction model1 to NLST data and identified that the risk above which lung cancer mortality is consistently lower in the LDCT arm compared to the CXR arm, is ≥1.51% 6-year risk (65th percentile). The USPSTF and the PLCOm2012 risk ≥0.0151 criteria were then applied to the Prostate Lung Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) intervention arm smokers (the PLCOm2012 was developed in PLCO controls) to determine who would be selected for lung cancer screening. Compared to USPSTF criteria, the PLCOm2012 risk ≥0.0151 threshold selected 8.8% fewer individuals, but identified 12.4% more lung cancers (sensitivity 80.1% vs. 71.2%), and had fewer false positives (specificity 66.2% vs. 62.7%). 26% of smokers who were USPSTF criteria positive had risks below the PLCOm2012 risk ≥0.0151 threshold. Of PLCO former smokers who quit more than 15 years ago, 8.5% had PLCOm2012 risk ≥0.0151, suggesting that they might benefit from screening (2.9% of them developed lung cancer in 6 year). None of 65,711 never-smokers in the PLCO had PLCOm2012 risk ≥0.0151, indicating that never-smokers should not be screened. Individuals age ≥65–80 years had significantly higher risks and more lung cancers than those 55-64 years. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, OBGYNE, Weight Research / 03.12.2014

Stefan Johansson, MD PhD consultant neonatologist Stockholm, SwedenMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Stefan Johansson, MD PhD consultant neonatologist Stockholm, Sweden Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Johansson: Maternal obesity (BMI ≥ 30) has previously been linked to increased infant mortality. However, research has not produced consistent results. For example, there are disagreements whether infants to overweight mothers (BMI 25-29) are at increased risk, and research on BMI-related specific causes of death is scarce. (more…)
Author Interviews, General Medicine, Genetic Research, Nature / 03.12.2014

Prof Dr Isabelle Mansuy Lab of Neuroepigenetics University/ETH Zürich Brain Research Institute Zürich, SwitzerlandMedicalResearch Interview with: Prof Dr Isabelle Mansuy Lab of Neuroepigenetics University/ETH Zürich Brain Research Institute Zürich, Switzerland   MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Mansuy: It is recognised that being exposed to traumatic stress in early life increases the susceptibility to psychiatric and metabolic diseases later in life. This is true for people directly exposed but also for their progeny across generations. It is also known that sometimes, stress exposure in early life can help an individual develop response strategies and be better prepared for later stressful experiences. The mechanisms of such beneficial effects and the question of whether they can be transmitted or not are not known. This study in mice was designed to answer these questions. The main findings are that exposure to traumatic stress of mouse newborns makes the animals and their progeny more efficient in challenging tasks when adult. For instance, they are more able to adapt to rules that change in a complex task to get a water ration when they are thirsty. This suggests more adaptive behaviours in challenging situations that are transmitted across generation. The study identifies the mineralocorticoid receptor, a stress hormone receptor in the brain, as an important molecular mediator of this effect and demonstrates that its expression is altered in the brain by epigenetic mechanisms. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Osteoporosis, Pharmacology, Testosterone / 03.12.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Shabbir M. H. Alibhai, MD, MSc and Husayn Gulamhusein, BHSc Department of Medicine, University Health Network Toronto, Ontario, Canada Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? MedicalResearch: In 2009, we published a research letter in JAMA which examined the rate of bone mineral density (BMD) testing in men starting androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in the province of Ontario, Canada, between 1995 and 2008. Despite being recommended as a tool to better characterize fracture risk and optimize bone health, use of bone mineral density testing was low throughout the study period. This current study focuses on another aspect of bone health, which is the use of bisphosphonates among men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. Bisphosphonates are generally safe and effective medications that can reduce fracture risk particularly in those at higher risk of future fracture. Throughout the 17-year study period, we found that rates of new prescriptions for bisphosphonates remained low. Even when focusing on those men who should be receiving bisphosphonates as per Canadian guidelines due to their high risk for future fracture, i.e. those with a prior fragility fracture or prior diagnosis of osteoporosis, prescription rates remained low. Moreover, in all three groups, new bisphosphonate prescriptions dipped between the 2007-09 and 2010-12 time periods. This may be partly due to recent negative media attention regarding the association of bisphosphonates with rare but serious side effects (i.e. osteonecrosis of the jaw and atypical femoral fracture). (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care / 02.12.2014

Dr. John Romley PhD Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. John Romley PhD Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Romley: We've known for a long time now that there is tremendous variation in how much Medicare spends across the country, and that these differences are not necessarily related to quality of care.  Researchers have devoted great time, energy and intellect to understanding the drivers of Medicare spending.  While progress has been made, our understanding remains limited.  We also have had less insight into how private health care varies across the country. We used new information on how much private health plans pay health care providers over and above cost, and found that areas with low private payment levels tended to have substantially higher Medicare spending and utilization. (more…)
Author Interviews, Ophthalmology, Statins / 02.12.2014

B. John Mancini, MD, FRCPC, FACP, FACC Professor of Medicine; University of British Columbia; Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology; Research Director, Division of Cardiology; Director, Cardiovascular Imaging Research Core Laboratory (CIRCL); President, Vancouver Hospital Medical, Dental and Allied Staff; Staff Cardiologist, VH Cardiology Clinics and Cardiac Computed Tomographic Angiography Program; Staff Cardiologist, St. Paul's Hospital Healthy Heart/Prevention Clinic.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: B. John Mancini, MD, FRCPC, FACP, FACC Professor of Medicine; University of British Columbia; Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology; Research Director, Division of Cardiology; Director, Cardiovascular Imaging Research Core Laboratory (CIRCL); President, Vancouver Hospital Medical, Dental and Allied Staff; Staff Cardiologist, VH Cardiology Clinics and Cardiac Computed Tomographic Angiography Program; Staff Cardiologist, St. Paul's Hospital Healthy Heart/Prevention Clinic. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Mancini: The main findings are that we found evidence of a relationship between statin use and the need for cataract surgery. The unique nature of the study is that it looked for the association in two distinctly different populations (a Canadian database and a separate, American database) and found a consistent association in both populations. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections / 02.12.2014

Jack A Gilbert PhD Department of Ecology & Evolution Graduate Program in Biophysical Sciences University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637,MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jack A Gilbert PhD Department of Ecology & Evolution Graduate Program in Biophysical Sciences University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Gilbert: We have performed extensive analysis of the microbial distribution between humans and home surfaces in peoples houses. And are still exploring how bacteria are distributed around hospitals. Here we wanted to explore how bacteria from humans were distributed into a space in real time. By taking samples every hour post sterilization and seeing how the community stabilized, who remained active and whether they were pathogenic. We found that communities stabilized on a skin-associated microbiome within 5 hours, that staphylococcus remained active and yet none of these were particularly pathogenic. Yet we were able to identify pathogenic MRSA on surfaces around the bathroom, but they were extremely rare. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research / 02.12.2014

Dr. Pan Pantziarka Anticancer Fund, Brussels Belgium The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust, London, UKMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Pan Pantziarka Anticancer Fund, Brussels Belgium The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust, London, UK MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Pantziarka: The background of this study is that it is part of a series of investigations by the Repurposing Drugs in Oncology (ReDO) project into well-known non-cancer drugs which have evidence of activity that may be useful in cancer therapies. These drugs include mebendazole, itraconazole, diclofenac, nitroglycerin and cimetidine. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Hospital Readmissions / 02.12.2014

Amy Jo Haavisto Kind, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Division of Geriatrics University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health William S Middleton VA- GRECC Madison, WI 53705MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Amy Jo Haavisto Kind, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Division of Geriatrics University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health William S Middleton VA- GRECC Madison, WI 53705 MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Kind: By way of background: Socioeconomic disadvantage is a complex theoretical concept which describes the state of being challenged by low income, limited education and substandard living conditions for both the person and his or her neighborhood or social network. It is plausible that disadvantage would influence rehospitalization because vulnerable patients depend upon their neighborhood supports for stability, generally, and these needs are likely to be increased after a hospitalization. Yet, it is difficult to assess socioeconomic disadvantage during clinical encounters, yet the ADI provides an option for beginning such a discussion. ADI or Area Deprivation Index is a composite measure of neighborhood disadvantage, similar to other geographic measures of disadvantage employed in other countries for resource planning and health policy development. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics / 02.12.2014

Prof. Denise Kendrick Professor of Primary Care Research Division of Primary Care, University Park Nottingham UKMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Denise Kendrick Professor of Primary Care Research Division of Primary Care, University Park Nottingham UK Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Kendrick: More than 1 million US children aged 0-4 years attend emergency departments because of  a fall each year. Approximately half of all ED attendances in this age group are for falls, and most of these are falls from furniture, most commonly from beds, chairs , baby walkers, bouncers, changing tables and high chairs. In the US around 18,000 0-4 year olds are admitted to hospital following a fall each year  and in 2012 there were 31 deaths in the US in 0-4 year olds from falls. Healthcare costs for falls in the US  were estimated at $439 million for hospitalised children and $643 million for  ED attendances in 2005. We found that children were more likely to attend hospital because of a fall from furniture in families that did not use safety gates across doorways or on stairs. For infants (aged 0-12 months) we found they were more likely to attend hospital because of a fall from furniture if they had been left on a raised surface (e.g. beds, sofas, work tops etc), had diapers changed on a raised surface or been put in a car seat or bouncing cradle on a raised surface. We also found that children aged over 3 years who had climbed or played on furniture were more likely to have a fall requiring a hospital visit than children who had not. Finally we found that children whose parents had not taught their children rules about climbing on objects in the kitchen were more likely to have a fall needing a hospital visit than children whose parents had taught these rules. (more…)
Author Interviews, Opiods / 02.12.2014

Silvia S. Martins, MD, PHD Associate Professor of Epidemiology Department of Epidemiology Mailman School Of Public Health Columbia University New York, NY 10032MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Silvia S. Martins, MD, PHD Associate Professor of Epidemiology Department of Epidemiology Mailman School Of Public Health Columbia University New York, NY 10032 MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Martins: While a large proportion of young adults, ages 18 to 22, are prescribed opiates, non-medical use of opioids is second only to marijuana as the most prevalent form of illegal drug use among young adults. Until this study, little was known about nonmedical use of prescription drugs among non-college-attending young adults in the United States. Approximately 70 percent of all U.S. young adults enroll in some form of college education, but around 30% do not. We analyzed public data for 36,781 young adults between the ages of 18 and 22 over a 12-month period in 2008 through 2010 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual cross-sectional survey of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. Using the Kessler 6 screening instrument, we also measured past-year serious psychological distress as self-reported by the respondents. Among non-college-attending young adults with at least a high school degree, 13.1 percent reported using prescription opioids for non-medical reasons. The figure rose slightly to 13.2 percent for those who did not graduate from high school, and declined to 11.3 percent among college attendees. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Ebola / 01.12.2014

Victoria Vaughan Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GeorgiaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Victoria Vaughan Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The Global Mortality of Skin Disease study compares age adjusted mortality of disease with skin manifestations between developing and developed countries for the years 1990 and 2010. The main findings were that mortality from infectious conditions was greater in the developing world while melanoma contributed to mortality in the developed world. Ebola Virus Disease has cutaneous manifestations and affects the developing world preferentially. As of November 27, 2014, the mortality in West Africa totals 5444 according to the CDC. However, the United States has had only two deaths from Ebola Virus Disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Emergency Care, Stroke / 01.12.2014

Stroke Wasserman Perry 006768R PDF dr_karen_greenbergMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karen Greenberg, DO, FACOEP Capital Health Center for Neurologic Emergencies 750 Brunswick Ave, NJ 08638   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Greenberg: Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, NJ opened the first dedicated Neurologic Emergency Department in the country in January of 2011.  Dr. Veznedaroglu, our chief neurosurgeon, recognized the importance and emergent nature of patients with neurologic complaints.  He recruited dedicated Emergency Medicine Physicians, one of which is myself, who would be assigned to see patients with neurologic complaints during peak hours of 7a-6p daily seven days a week.  Having a section of the ED dedicated to identifying, triaging, and treating patients with neurologic emergencies has led to more advanced and efficient care.  Due to the initial success of the neuro ED, 5 dedicated physicians became educated and comfortable in administering IV-tPA to acute ischemic stroke patients.  This decision was made to eliminate delays associated with teleneurology or neurology consultation prior to administering thrombolytics in order to improve door-to-needle times and outcomes in acute stroke patients.  As far as we know, we are still the only dedicated Neuro ED in the country. (more…)
Author Interviews, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs / 01.12.2014

Christopher E. Dandoy, MD, MSc Divisions of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immunodeficiency, and James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christopher E. Dandoy, MD, MSc Divisions of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immunodeficiency, and James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center MedicalResearch.com Editor’s Note: Dr. Dandoy discusses a novel program to reduce the frequency of cardiac alarms in the setting of a large inpatient intensive care unit. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Why did you decide to do this study? Dr. Dandoy: During our three month investigation period we had roughly a million alarms go off in our intensive care unit. Our unit nurses reported spending 30-40 minutes per day responding to the various alarms. We first looked to see if there were established guidelines in the literature for cardiac monitors and found there were none. The alarms were a source of frustration and anxiety not just for the unit staff but also for patients and family members. Medical Research: What are the elements of your alarm reduction program? Dr. Dandoy: The first element was simply to have a plan or a process for initial ordering of monitor parameters based on age-appropriate standards. In our case, we established a standard order set in Epic, our electronic records program. Epic Cardiac Monitor Order Set Epic Cardiac Monitor Order Set (more…)
Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, Lipids / 01.12.2014

Thomas Weichhart, PhD Associate Professor, Medical University of Vienna Institute of Medical Genetics Vienna AustriaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Thomas Weichhart, PhD Associate Professor, Medical University of Vienna Institute of Medical Genetics Vienna Austria Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr.  Weichhart: Impairment of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) function has been associated with cardiovascular events in patients with kidney failure on hemodialysis. The protein composition of HDLs is altered in these patients presumably compromising the cardioprotective effects of HDLs. In an earlier study we found that two proteins in particular, namely Serum Amyloid A (SAA) and Surfactant Protein B (SP-B), are significantly raised in the HDL of dialysis patients, and these also contribute towards HDL losing its protective effect. In the current study we have now developed an novel test that can quickly and directly measure the SAA and SP-B bound to HDL. (more…)
Author Interviews, General Medicine, Heart Disease, JAMA, Kidney Disease / 30.11.2014

Giovanni Landoni, M.D. Head of Research,Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Associate Professor at Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, MilanMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Giovanni Landoni, M.D. Head of Research,Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Associate Professor at Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Landoni: The prevention and treatment of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery is a major therapeutic goal, but no effective agents have yet been identified. Meta-analyses suggested that fenoldopam might be effective. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Landoni: We found that in cardiac surgery patients with early acute kidney injury (defined as a ≥50% increase of serum creatinine from baseline or oliguria for ≥6 hours), fenoldopam had no impact on the need for renal replacement therapy or 30-day mortality, while increasing the rate of hypotension. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research / 30.11.2014

Charles Brenner, PhD Roy J. Carver Chair & Head of Biochemistry Departments of Biochemistry & Internal Medicine Carver College of Medicine University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52242MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Charles Brenner, PhD Roy J. Carver Chair & Head of Biochemistry Departments of Biochemistry & Internal Medicine Carver College of Medicine University of Iowa Iowa City, IA  52242 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Brenner: KRAS mutations are extremely common in human malignancies. The KRAS gene is an oncogene that drives cell growth pathways and that leads to silencing and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes. It was known that KRAS mutant cancer cells silence tumor suppressor genes but the precise mechanism for gene silencing was not known. In this study, we discovered that KRAS mutations turn off the TET1 gene. TET1 functions as an "eraser" of gene silencing marks. When KRAS mutations occur, the TET1 eraser isn't expressed any longer, and a series of tumor suppressor genes become silenced. This is an essential part of the aggressiveness of KRAS-dependent cancers and is controlled by the ERK pathway that is turned on by KRAS. In short, KRAS turns on ERK, which turns off TET1. When TET1 is off, a set of tumor suppressor genes are also turned off, which drives cancer formation. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Surgical Research / 30.11.2014

Hong Ryul Jin, MD Professor and Chair Department of Otorhinolaryngology-HNS Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, KoreaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hong Ryul Jin, MD Professor and Chair Department of Otorhinolaryngology-HNS Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Although autologous rib cartilage is a useful graft material for rhinoplasty, surgeons sometimes encounter unpleasant complication such as warping or donor-site morbidity. These complications are not infrequent, but there has been no systematic review with regarding this matter. For evidence-based practice, we aimed to assess the long-term safety of using rib cartilage by means of meta-analysis. By reviewing the 10 selected, eligible articles after extensive screening, we found that rates of warping, resorption, infection, and displacement were 3.1, 0.2, 0.6, and 0.4%, respectively. Hypertrophic scar at chest was found in 5.5%, with highest report of 23.8%. Warping and hypertrophic chest scarring showed relatively higher rates, warranting a surgeon’s attention (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Smoking / 30.11.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Darryl Konter Health Communications Specialist, Office on Smoking and Health at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, resulting in more than 480,000 premature deaths and $289 billion in direct health care expenditures and productivity losses each year. Despite progress over the past several decades, millions of adults still smoke cigarettes, the most commonly used tobacco product in the United States. Cigarette smoking among U.S. adults declined from 20.9% in 2005 to 17.8% in 2013. Among cigarette smokers who smoke daily, the average number of cigarettes smoked per day declined from 16.7 in 2005 to 14.2 in 2013, and the proportions of daily smokers who smoked 20–29 or ≥30 cigarettes per day also declined. However, an estimated 42.1 million adults still smoked cigarettes in 2013. Moreover, cigarette smoking remains particularly high among certain groups, including adults who are male, younger, multiracial or American Indian/Alaska Native, have less education, live below the federal poverty level, live in the South or Midwest, have a disability/limitation, or who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual. (more…)
Author Interviews, Prostate, Prostate Cancer, Testosterone / 29.11.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. h.c.* Dr. Farid Saad on behalf of Dr. Haider and co-authors Global Medical Affairs, Andrology c/o Bayer Pharma AG, D-13342 Berlin *Gulf Medical University, Ajman, UAE Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: In early 1940s Dr. Charles Huggins demonstrated that in few men with metastatic prostate cancer, castration reduced tumor growth and androgen administration promoted tumor growth. This observation became the corner stone of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in men with prostate cancer for the past 7 decades without any clinical evidence to the contrary. Indeed, normal prostate growth depends on androgens and therefore testosterone and its metabolite DHT are responsible for the biochemical signaling in the prostate cells through interaction with the androgen receptor. Since tumor cells have been transformed from normal epithelial cells, it is no surprise that they retained the expression of the androgen receptor and continue to depend on their growth on the androgen signal. For the past 7 decades, physicians thought that testosterone is a carcinogen for the prostate, despite lack of any biochemical or clinical data. This long period of training physicians on this unproven concept, has precipitated in the minds of many clinicians that testosterone (T) causes prostate cancer. Based on a plethora of clinical data, there is no evidence to support such myth. In fact, many recent studies have debunked this hypothesis based on longitudinal and prospective studies. A newly advanced hypothesis was formulated suggesting that “T therapy does not pose a greater risk for development of PCa.” However this hypothesis is met with considerable skepticism. Interestingly, however, no new compelling evidence is available to discredit or dismiss this newly advanced hypothesis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Inflammation, Nutrition / 28.11.2014

Joana Alves Dias, MPH Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Lund University Malmö, Sweden MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joana Alves Dias, MPH Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Lund University Malmö, Sweden Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The evidence that chronic inflammation may be in the genesis of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type-II diabetes, and certain types of cancer is increasing. It is suggested that lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption could influence the inflammatory state. Instead of focusing on single nutrient effects, we used a hypothesis-driven approach to food pattern studies, and constructed a diet quality index based on the Swedish Nutrition Recommendations and Swedish Dietary guidelines (DQI-SNR). The DQI-SNR consisted of 6 components. Individuals were assigned 0 when not adhering to a recommendation and 1 when adhering, resulting in total scores ranging from 0 to 6. We classified individuals in low (0 or 1 points), medium (2 or 3) and high (4-6 points) diet quality. We explored the association between the index scores and low-grade inflammation. Our study indicates that adherence to a high quality diet is associated with lower systemic inflammation, as measured by several soluble and cellular biomarkers of inflammation, in middle-aged individuals. In other words, adherence to the general nutrition recommendations could help prevent the development of diseases associated with chronic inflammation. The anti-inflammatory effects of Mediterranean-like diets have been studied extensively, but this study focused on the Swedish dietary habits and recommendations for the Swedish population, and reached similar conclusions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer / 28.11.2014

Ben Ho Park, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Oncology, Breast Cancer Program Associate Director, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Training Program The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Baltimore, MD 21287MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ben Ho Park, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Oncology, Breast Cancer Program Associate Director, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Training Program The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Baltimore, MD  21287 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? ​Dr. Park: To discover genetic mediators of tamoxifen resistance in breast cancers, we used genetic screening of breast cancer cell line models and patient data to ​identify a new gene that can mediate drug resistance. We found that amplification and overexpression of this gene in estrogen receptor positive breast cancers results in resistance and is associated with worse outcomes in patients whose tumors demonstrate amplification/overexpression of this gene. (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, Genetic Research / 28.11.2014

Dr. Hakon Hakonarson MD PhD The Center for Applied Genomics, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Department of Pediatrics, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Hakon Hakonarson MD PhD The Center for Applied Genomics, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Department of Pediatrics, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Hakonarson: We have built the world’s largest pediatric biobank at the Center for Applied Genomics at CHOP. Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is among the projects we have sampled in collaboration with the EoE Center in collaboration with Dr. Spergel. We have nearly 1,000 samples now of this relatively rare disorder, which is now well powered for GWAS.  We previously  reported association of the TSLP locus with Eosinophilic esophagitis. Here we report genome-wide significant associations at four additional loci; c11orf30 and STAT6, which have been previously associated with both atopic and autoimmune diseases, and two EoE-specific loci, ANKRD27 that regulates the trafficking of melanogenic enzymes to epidermal melanocytes and CAPN14, that encodes a calpain whose expression is highly enriched in the esophagus in EoE.  This discovery not only improves our understanding of the pathobiology of  EoE, but also represents novel targets for the development of new therapies to treat the disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Lancet / 28.11.2014

Dr Claudia Allemani PhD FHEA MFPH Senior Lecturer in Cancer Epidemiology Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London UKMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Claudia Allemani PhD FHEA MFPH Senior Lecturer in Cancer Epidemiology Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London UK Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Allemani:  Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control. The first CONCORD study was published in 2008.1 It brought together data from 101 cancer registries in 31 countries, and included 1.9 million patients diagnosed during 1990-94 with a cancer of the colon, rectum, breast or prostate and followed up to the end of 1999. It revealed very wide international differences in five-year survival, and it confirmed the well-known racial discrepancy in cancer survival in the USA. CONCORD-2 is the most comprehensive international comparison of trends in population-based cancer patient survival to date. It extends the first study in three ways:
  • it covers 10 common cancers: collectively, these account for almost two-thirds (63%) of all cancer patients diagnosed each year in both developed and developing countries
  • it includes data on more than 25 million cancer patients, provided by 279 cancer registries in 67 countries, in 40 of which the data provide complete (100%) coverage of the national population
  • it examines trends in cancer survival for patients diagnosed over the 15-year period 1995-2009 (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews / 28.11.2014

Prof. Takeo Watanabe The Fred M. Seed Professor Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences Brown UniversityMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Takeo Watanabe The Fred M. Seed Professor Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences Brown University Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Watanabe: In the current study also supported by NIH, we obtained surprising results. That is, older people learn what younger people do not learn. We asked subjects to do a letter identification task at the center of a screen while another stimulus was presented in the background. This background stimulus contained a group of dots moving in one direction with noises and had nothing to do with the task. Therefore the motion was task-irrelevant. If the motion is clearly perceived, learning on the motion as task-irrelevant did not occur when subjects were college students. However, older people ended up increasing sensitivity to and, therefore learned, such task-irrelevant motion. This might sound as if the older brain worked better than the younger brain in visual perceptual learning. However, that may not be the case. Our brain capacity is limited. If our brain learned items that are not relevant to a given task and therefore are unimportant to us, there would be the risk of such unimportant items replacing important information which has already existed in the brain. Thus, learning of task-irrelevant and therefore unnecessary information could be harmful and decrease the efficiency of learning of what is important. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 28.11.2014

Dr. Roberta Williams MD Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine VP for Pediatrics and Academic Affairs, Childrens Hospital Los AngelesMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Roberta Williams MD Professor of Pediatrics Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Williams: Although a large number of children with chronic disease are surviving into adulthood, the extent and type of health resource needs remains a mystery. Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) require lifelong care, so it is important to understand present resource utilization both as a foundation for planning services and as a reference point to assess the changes that occur with presumed improved access to care due to health care reform. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology / 28.11.2014

Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Tilo Biedermann Klinikdirektor Klinik und Poliklinik für Dermatologie und Allergologie der Technischen Universität München Biedersteinerstr. MünchenMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Tilo Biedermann Klinikdirektor Klinik und Poliklinik für Dermatologie und Allergologie der Technischen Universität München Biedersteinerstr. München Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Biedermann: The skin is constantly exposed to microbes and skin developed during evolution under the constant influence of microbes. Tightly regulated communication between microbes and the skin can be expected and levels of regulation still needed to be explored. We found that Gram-positive bacteria when sensed by one certain innate immune receptor (hetero dimer TLR 2-6 suppresses immunity both in animal models and in humans. Following the sensing of lipoproteins by toll like receptor 2-6) skin produces high levels of InterleukinL6 that induce the accumulation of so called myeloid-derived suppressor cells. These cells can be found in the blood but also migrate to the skin suppressing T-cell-immunity allowing infections to spread on the skin. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, General Medicine / 28.11.2014

Longjian Liu, MD, PhD, MSc(LSHTM), FAHA Interim Chair, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Senior Investigator, Center for Health Equality Drexel University School of Public Health, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine, Drexel U. College of Medicine MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Longjian Liu, MD, PhD, MSc(LSHTM), FAHA Interim Chair, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Senior Investigator, Center for Health Equality Drexel University School of Public Health, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine, Drexel U. College of Medicine Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Liu: The prevalence of diabetes is increasing rapidly in the United States and worldwide. In 2010, 25.8 million Americans, or 8.3% of the population had diabetes in the United States. In 2012, these figures were 29.1 million, or 9.3% in the nation. Philadelphia, the largest city in PA, ranks as the 5th largest city in the nation. However, the city also had the highest prevalence of diabetes according to the national surveys in 2009. We face a great challenge to stop the epidemic of diabetes locally and nationally. It is well-known personal risk factors at individual level, including lifestyles, play a role in the prevention and control of diabetes. However very limited studies addressed the importance that physical and socioeconomic environmental factors at community level may also play a pivotal role in the prevention and control of the disease. This study aimed to quantitatively examine (1) the trend of diabetes from 2002 to 2010 in the city of Philadelphia, and (2) the impact of physical and socioeconomic environmental factors at community level (assessed using zip-codes based neighborhoods) on the risk of the prevalence of diabetes. The main findings support our hypotheses that
  • (1) the prevalence of diabetes significantly increased from 2002 to 2012.
  • (2) residents who lived in neighborhoods with physical and socioeconomic disadvantage had an increased risk of the prevalence of diabetes.
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