Author Interviews, Diabetes, Nutrition / 30.04.2013

This interview content is written by Dr Dae-Kyu Song, the corresponding and responsible author of the manuscript shown at “Park, Jae-Hyung et al. (2013). Green tea extract with polyethylene glycol-3350 reduces body weight and improves glucose tolerance in db/db and high-fat diet mice. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg’s Archives of Pharmacology. DOI 10.1007/s00210-013-0869-9“. Dr Jae-Hyung Park is the first author of the manuscript and a graduate student of Dr. Dae-Kyu Song MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: At doses which could be achieved by drinking green tea on a daily basis, it has been known that green tea extract (GTE) inhibits intestinal glucose and lipid absorption when it is present in the intestinal tract. It is a reason why green tea consumption has been known to be beneficial for controlling obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, we have found that, after the intestinal absorption of GTE itself, the circulating GTE can elevate blood glucose levels by blocking cellular glucose uptake in most tissues, thereby limiting glucose utilization of the tissues. Therefore, we have tried to prolong the residence time of GTE in the intestine and block the intestinal absorption of GTE, by adding non-toxic polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) to GTE. As a result, in 4 week treatment, the GTE+PEG regimen dramatically helps obesity-induced diabetic mice lose body weight and ameliorate glucose intolerance. Interestingly, GTE alone is without any effect. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV / 27.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Sara Gianella Weibel, M.D. Center For Aids Research (CFAR) University of California San Diego La Jolla CA, 92093-0679 Email: [email protected] MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In this study we evaluated a large number of seminal samples from HIV-infected sexually active gay men treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) using an extensive battery of tests for viral and bacterial co-infections. Around 10% of enrolled subjects presented detectable levels of HIV RNA in semen despite being on suppressive ART. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Medical Imaging, Mental Health Research, MRI / 26.04.2013

Medical Research.com eInterview with: Prof. Jean Decety PhD Irving B. Harris Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry The University of Chicago 5848 S. University Ave. Chicago, IL 6063Prof. Jean Decety PhD Irving B. Harris Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry The University of Chicago 5848 S. University Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 - USA Faculty Web page: http://psychology.uchicago.edu/people/faculty/jdecety.shtml SCNL Web page: www.scnl.org Child NeuroSuite: www.childneurosuite.org MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Decety: In our study, psychopaths exhibited significantly less activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, and brainstem relative to controls, but surprisingly showed greater activation in the insula.  The major difference in brain response between psychopaths compared to controls during the perception of others in pain was the lack of engagement of regions in the brainstem, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). (more…)
Author Interviews, Hepatitis - Liver Disease / 26.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com: eInterview with: Soo Aleman Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Infectious Diseases Karolinska University Hospital, at Karolinska Institute 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden,Soo Aleman Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Infectious Diseases Karolinska University Hospital, at Karolinska Institute 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden, MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In this long-term, prospective study of 351 hepatitis C infected patients with liver cirrhosis, we found a reduced but persistent risk for hepatocellular cancer after successful treatment with eradication of the virus. This risk for hepatocellular cancer remained at a level of 1% per year for those with sustained virological response, and could persist as long as 8 years after eradication. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research, UCSF / 26.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. David Perry UCSF School of Medicine Clinical Fellow in Neurology 675 Nelson Rising Lane San Francisco CA 94158 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Perry: We described two patients with clinical syndromes and brain imaging patterns that are consistent with Alzheimer’s disease. Both were found to have mutations in GRN, which are typically associated with inherited frontotemporal dementia. They both showed evidence of underlying Alzheimer’s pathology, in one case through autopsy confirmation (demonstrating Alzheimer’s disease in addition to TDP-43 pathology), and in the other case from a positive amyloid PET scan. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Case Western, Cleveland Clinic, Mental Health Research / 25.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com: eInterview with Siran M. Koroukian, Ph.D. Population Health and Outcomes Research Core, Clinical & Translational Science Collaborative Associate Professor Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 44106-7281 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Koroukian: Among individuals who died of cancer, those with mental illness (MI) died an average of 10 years earlier than those without MI. Overall, there was excess mortality from cancer associated with having mental illness in all the race/sex strata: SMR, 2.16 (95% CI, 1.85-2.50) for black men; 2.63 (2.31-2.98) for black women; 3.89 (3.61-4.19) for nonblack men; and 3.34 (3.13-3.57) for nonblack women. We note statistically significant higher SMRs for every anatomic cancer site in nonblack men and women and for most cancer sites in black men and women. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy / 23.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Andrew Weickhardt, MBBS, DMedSc, FRACP MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Weickhardt: The study was hoping to confirm our earlier published observation that crizotinib use led to low testosterone in male patients. The earlier study was based on our observation of symptoms of low testosterone in some patients treated with the drug, and had suggested strongly that crizotinib led to rapid decrease in testosterone levels, however this was based only on a single center's patients, and only 19 patients. We hoped to do this by surveying a larger population of crizotinib treated patients across multiple institutions. We serially measured several relevant hormones. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mammograms, Medical Imaging / 22.04.2013

Nancy L. Keating MD, MPH Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy 180 Longwood Avenue Boston, MA 02115-5899MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Nancy L. Keating MD, MPH Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy 180 Longwood Avenue Boston, MA 02115-5899 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Keating: We examined data from the 2005, 2008 and 2011 waves of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) a national population-based in person survey to assess whether mammography rates changed following the Nov 2009 USPSTF recommendations.   Prior to 2009 the USPSTF recommended routine screening every 1-2 years for all women older than 40 years old. In 2009, the USPSTF advised against routine mammography screening in women under 50, and recommended biennial screening for women 50-74. (more…)
Author Interviews, CT Scanning, Mayo Clinic, Medical Imaging, Orthopedics / 17.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com:  Katrina N. Glazebrook, MB, ChB Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 MedicalResearch.com:  Why did you do the study? Dr. Glazebrook: We felt CT was being underutilized for evaluation of knee injuries. The utility of CT has been well documented in the assessment of fractures, but little attention has been made on soft tissue evaluation. CT now has high spatial resolution with very thin reconstructions in any desirable plane, and we have previously noted that this allowed injured soft tissue structures such as cruciate ligaments to be well visualized [presented at Society of Skeletal Radiology meeting March 2013]. We had determined in that prior study that the best reconstruction plane to evaluate both normal and torn anterior cruciate ligaments was the oblique sagittal plane parallel to the lateral femoral condyle as routinely used in MRI imaging of the knee The soft tissue window, single energy bone removal and Dual energy bone removal were the best reconstructions to determine the presence or absence of ACL disruption The bone removal techniques removed the distracting bone so the soft tissue structures were more apparent. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JAMA, Smoking, Tobacco Research / 16.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com Author Interview with Dr. Koon Teo, MB, PhD Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Teo: In this study we examined the prevalence of smoking cessation or avoidance, eating a healthy diet and undertaking regular physical activities in nearly 8000 individuals who had previously experienced a coronary heart disease event or stroke, on average 5 years after their events. The individuals were recruited from over 600 communities in 17 countries with varying incomes and economic development.  We found that although these healthy lifestyle activities could reduce the risk of further heart or stroke events, about one fifth of individuals continued to smoke, only one third undertook regular leisure or work related physical activities and about two fifths ate a healthy diet. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nature, Nutrition, Pediatrics / 12.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr Emma Boyland Biopsychology Research Group. Liverpool Obesity Research Network. University of Liverpool. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Boyland: Children who were exposed to a TV commercial for Walker’s potato chips featuring a celebrity endorser showed a greater brand preference for Walker’s and consumed more Walker’s chips than a purported ‘supermarket brand’. Exposure to the celebrity endorser in a different, non-promotional context (presenting a soccer highlights TV program) also had a similar impact on brand choice and intake. This effect was not seen in response to another snack food commercial or a non-food commercial. Importantly, children did not reduce their consumption of the perceived ‘supermarket brand’ to compensate, they simply consumed more Walker’s crisps so this effect could contribute to overconsumption. (more…)
Abuse and Neglect, Author Interviews, JAMA / 12.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with XinQi Dong, MD MPH APSA Congressional Policy Fellow/Health and Aging Policy Fellow Chair, IOM Global Violence Prevention Forum on Elder Abuse Senior Policy and Research Advisor, Administration on Aging Senior Policy Advisor (OCSQ), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director, Chinese Health, Aging and Policy Program Associate Director, Rush Institute for Healthy Aging Associate Professor of Medicine, Nursing and Behavioral Science Rush University Medical Center Chicago, IL 60612 www.chinesehealthyaging.org MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Dong and Simon investigated the prospective association between elder abuse and rate of hospitalization in a Chicago community population. From the Chicago Health and Aging Project, the study surveyed 6,674 older adults. After consideration of potential confounding factors, elder abuse victims compared to those without elder abuse had 2.7 times more frequent rate of hospitalizations in this Medicare population. Older adults who suffered psychological abuse, financial exploitation and caregiver neglect also had more frequent rate of hospitalization. Health care professionals should consider screening for elder abuse in hospital settings. Future research is needed to quantify impact of elder abuse and broader health service utilization in community-dwelling older persons. Elder abuse and neglect is something hundreds of thousands of senior citizens suffer from. It is advised to act if you suspect elder abuse is occurring by contacting the police. People may also see it fit to enlist the services of an elder neglect attorney to fight for the rights of the elderly (siegel-law-elder-abuse-neglect-attorney). (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Nature / 12.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview: Professor Nigel S. Scrutton ScD FRSC FSB Director Manchester Institute of Biotechnology EPSRC Established Career Fellow |Faculty of Life Sciences | Manchester Institute of Biotechnology | University of Manchester | Manchester | M1 7DN | UK | MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of your study? Dr. Scrutton: A major breakthrough has been made by our team of researchers seeking treatments for degenerative illnesses such as Parkinson's Disease. We have detailed how an enzyme in the brain interacts with a drug-like lead compound directed against Huntington's Disease (but also with major implications for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases) to inhibit its activity. The work – which solved the molecular structure of a crucial brain enzyme called kynurenine 3-monooxygenase – opens the door to effective treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The main findings not only describe the molecular details of the enzyme, but also how it interacts with a lead drug compound that inhibits the natural activity of the enzyme. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research / 12.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Vincent Yi-Fong Su MD Department of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Amiodarone, one of the most widely used medications to treat arrhythmias may increase the risk of developing cancer, especially in men and people exposed to high amounts of the drug. That is the conclusion of a new retrospective study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Patients who were male or who received high cumulative daily doses of amiodarone within the first year had an increased risk of developing cancer. Those with both factors were 46 percent more likely to develop cancer than those with neither factor. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research / 10.04.2013

Dr. Brian I. Labow MD Boston Children’s HospitalMedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Brian I. Labow MD Boston Children’s Hospital Dr. Labow received his MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed his postgraduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Plastic Surgery Training Program, Children's Hospital Boston, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Labow: The main finding of the study is that gynecomastia, the enlargement of breast tissue in men, can have a significant impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of adolescent patients.  Noted deficits were found in patients’ social functioning, mental health, and self-esteem when compared to healthy boys of the same age.  Validated surveys were given to both groups to assess a wide array of different health domains.  Interestingly there was no difference in the physical health of boys with gynecomastia and unaffected boys when differences in BMI were taken into consideration. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Diabetes, Exercise - Fitness, Nutrition, Weight Research / 10.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with

Manuel Franco MD, PhD Associate Professor Department of Health Sciences, Public Health Unit Universidad de Alcalá mfranco@uah.es http://www.uah.es/pdi/manuel_franco Adjunct Associate Professor Department of Epidemiology Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health mfranco@jhsph.eduManuel Franco MD, PhD Associate Professor Department of Health Sciences, Public Health Unit Universidad de Alcalá Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Adjunct Associate Professor Dept. of Epidemiology [email protected]

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Franco: Population wide weight loss of about 5 kg was related with large decreases in diabetes and cardiovascular mortality. On the contrary, Body weight regain was related with an increase in diabetes prevalence, incidence, and mortality, as well as a deceleration in the previously declining rates of cardiovascular death. (more…)
Author Interviews, Calcium, Mineral Metabolism / 09.04.2013

 MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Maoquing Wang Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Harbin MedicalUniversity, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150081, P. R. China MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Wang: Our group first reported that the 2-week low-calcium diet could result in metabolic changes and 27 reliable biomarkers of calcium deficiency were identified. The correlations between calcium intake and two of the biomarkers indicated that these biomarkers could be used alone or in combination as a non-invasive screening method with greater sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of calcium deficiency in humans in future. The identified biomarkers give new insights into the pathophysiological changes and molecular mechanisms of calcium deficiency. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Diabetes, JAMA, Medical Research Centers, Melatonin, Sleep Disorders / 04.04.2013

Dr. Ciaran McMullan MD from Channing Division of Network Medicine in Boston, a research division within the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston MassMedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Ciaran McMullan MD from Channing Division of Network Medicine in Boston, a research division within the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Mass MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. McMullan: In this observational study performed in non-diabetic women we found that lower nocturnal melatonin secretion predicted future risk of developing type 2 diabetes. When we categorized the individuals by category of nocturnal melatonin secretion we found that those in the lowest category had twice the risk as those in the highest category of nocturnal melatonin secretion. This association remained even after adjusting for other well established risk factors for development of diabetes including body mass index, physical activity, dietary factors, family history of diabetes, smoking and hypertension. This increased risk translates into the lower melatonin secretion group having an additional 5 cases of incident diabetes per 1000 person years than the high melatonin secretion group. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, UT Southwestern, Weight Research / 03.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Ildiko Lingvay, MD, MPH, MSCS Departments of Internal Medicine–Endocrinology and Clinical Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lingvay: We found that the restrictive diet imposed after a bariatric procedure like RYGB is the key element to the rapid improvement in the diabetes seen immediately after surgery. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Genetic Research, PNAS / 03.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Mathieu Lupien PhD Dr. Mathieu Lupien PhD Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) Assistant Professor Department of Medical Biophysics University of Toronto Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) Assistant Professor Department of Medical Biophysics University of Toronto MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lupien: Approximately 50% of breast cancer patients fail to respond to the standard of care based on endocrine (hormonal) therapy. Our research identifies a mechanism that accounts for this resistance. Drugs against this mechanism are already tested for other diseases. Hence, our discovery should rapidly help reposition these drugs against endocrine therapy resistant breast cancer. (more…)
Author Interviews, Memory, Mental Health Research, PNAS / 02.04.2013

Karl K. Szpunar PhD Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138MedicalResearch.com Interview with Karl K. Szpunar PhD Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 MedicalResearch.com:   What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Szpunar: The results of our experiments demonstrate that students can have difficulty paying attention to online lectures, and that including brief quizzes during lectures can help to alleviate this problem. Specifically, we found that students who were tested throughout a 21-minute long Statistics lecture were half as likely to mind wander during the lecture, three times as likely to take additional notes, and much better able to retain the contents of the lecture at a later time. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, PNAS / 02.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Prof. Eytan Domany Department of Physics of Complex Systems and Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, IsraelDepartment of Physics of Complex Systems and Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Domany: The findings are two-fold: methodological and clinical.  A novel method was introduced for personalized analysis of cancer, and was applied on large colon cancer and glioblastoma datasets. The method uses high throughput (gene expression) data to infer a pathway deregulation score (PDS) for individual tumors, for hundreds of pathways and biological processes. The method is knowledge-based in that it uses well known information about the assignment of genes to biologically relevant pathways. No detailed knowledge of the underlying networks of interactions and activations is necessary. Each tumor is represented by a few hundred of these PDSs, and further analysis uses this representation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Smoking, University of Pennsylvania / 01.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Dr. Steven A. Branstetter, PhD The Pennsylvania State University, 315 E. HHD, University Park, PA 16810.Dr. Steven A. Branstetter, PhD The Pennsylvania State University, 315 E. HHD, University Park, PA 16810. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Branstetter: This study demonstrated that the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking is associated with increased levels of a NNAL, a metabolite of a powerful tobacco-specific carcinogen, NNK -- even after controlling for the total number of cigarettes smoked per day. For years, the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking was one of several questions assessing nicotine dependence on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), the gold standard questionnaire int he field. Over time, it was found that much of the predictive validity of the FTND was due to the time to first cigarette item. Researchers have found that single time to first cigarette item was highly correlated with other measures of nicotine dependence, and was predictive of more difficulty quitting smoking and increased intake of nicotine. Our current study demonstrates that this behavioral measure, is predictive of exposure to the cancer-causing components of cigarettes, regardless of the total number of cigarettes smoked per day. The results suggest that researchers, clinicians and smokers can assess the level of nicotine dependence and potential cancer risk by looking at the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking. (more…)
Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 30.03.2013

 MedicalResearch.com Interview with Matt T. Bianchi MD PhD MMSc Assistant Professor Department of Neurology Director, Sleep Division Massachusetts General HospitalMatt T. Bianchi MD PhD MMSc Assistant Professor Department of Neurology Director, Sleep Division Massachusetts General Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Bianchi: We showed that patients reporting symptoms of insomnia tend to under-estimate the amount of time they slept during overnight sleep testing in our clinical sleep laboratory. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Depression, Mental Health Research / 28.03.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Mylin A. Torres, M.D. Assistant Professor Department of Radiation Oncology Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, GA 30322 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?  Dr. Torres: Radiation treatment for breast cancer is not associated with increased depressive symptoms, but of disease and treatment-related factors, prior chemotherapy treatment is a significant predictor of depression before and after radiation treatment.  Prior chemotherapy treatment was associated with inflammatory mediators, including nuclear factor-kappa B DNA binding, soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor 2, and interleukin-6, which predicted for depressive symptoms after radiation on univariate analysis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Menopause, Weight Research / 28.03.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Sylvia Santosa, PhD Department of Exercise Science Concordia University Department of Exercise Science Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6Dr. Sylvia Santosa, PhD Department of Exercise Science Concordia University Department of Exercise Science Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Santosa: Our results show that postmenopausal women burn less fat making more available to be stored.  Our results also suggest that greater fat storage in postmenopausal women are likely to be attributed to changes in the pathways our fat cells use to store fat.  We found that some of the proteins that help our fat cells store fat were more active and this greater activity corresponded with the amount of fat stored from our circulation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Prostate Cancer, University of Pennsylvania / 28.03.2013

MEDICALRESEARCH.COM INTERVIEW WITH Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H. Research Assistant Professor CCEB University of Pennsylvania MEDICALRESEARCH.COM: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Zeigler-Johnson: The main findings of the study are:
  • Younger African-American men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer at an early age (under the age of 60) are more likely to have had a personal history of early-onset baldness (baldness by age 30.)
  • For older patients, this is not necessarily the case, and future studies will need to focus on which factors place men in this age group at risk for prostate cancer. (more…)
Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 27.03.2013

 MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christer Hublin Apulaisylilääkäri, neurologian dosentti (Helsingin yliopisto) - Assistant Chief Medical Officer, Docent (Adjunct Professor) in Neurology (Helsinki University) Unilääketieteen erityispätevyys (Suomen lääkäriliitto) Sleep medicine specialist (NOSMAC/ESRS) Työterveyslaitos - Finnish Institute of Occupational Health FIN-00250 Helsinki Finland MedicalResearch.com What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found in an adult twin cohort (the Finnish Twin Cohort) that the proportion of variance in sleep length accounted for by genetic effects was relatively low (about one third) but stable (correlation 0.76 over a period of 15 years.). In contrast, the proportion of variance accounted for by environmental effects was high (about 0.7) and these effects were less stable (correlation over the time period 0.18). The proportion of short sleepers was more than doubled in both genders, whereas in the proportion of long sleepers no major change was seen during the follow-up. To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study providing data on the contribution of genetic factors to stability and change of sleep length over time. (more…)
Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 26.03.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Christopher Papandreou Department of Social Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Clinic, Medical School, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Papandreou: Certain adipose tissue fatty acids measured in the gluteal site were found to be associated with sleep quality parameters in obese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome after controlling for possible confounders. (more…)
Author Interviews, Duke, Genetic Research, Leukemia, MD Anderson, UT Southwestern / 23.03.2013

MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Jun J. Yang, Ph.D. Assistant Member Dept. of Pharm. Sci. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 262 Danny Thomas Pl., MS313 Memphis, TN 38105 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Yang: We performed a comprehensive survey of inherited genetic variations for their contribution to the susceptibility of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. This is by far the largest study of its kind (in terms of the number of subjects involved), and also the first one to include multi-ethnic populations. We identified 4 genomic loci related to the predisposition to ALL, 2 of which contributed to racial differences in the incidence of ALL.  This study provided unequivocal evidence for inherited susceptibility of childhood ALL and pointed to novel biology of the pathogenesis of this disease. (more…)