Author Interviews, BMJ, Hip Fractures, Hormone Therapy, Orthopedics / 25.01.2014

Professor Nigel Arden Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences Botnar Research Centre Windmill Road Oxford OX3 7LDMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Nigel Arden Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences Botnar Research Centre Oxford  OX3 7LD MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Professor Arden: We found that in a cohort of women who had used hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and underwent knee or hip replacement their risk of implant revision was reduced by about 40% compared to non-users of HRT. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Testosterone / 10.01.2014

J. Bradley Layton, PhD Postdoctoral Research Associate University of North Carolina at Chapel HillMedicalResearch.com Interview with: J. Bradley Layton, PhD Postdoctoral Research Associate University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Layton: Use of testosterone testing and treatment had greatly increased over the past decade, with more pronounced increases seen in the United States than in the United Kingdom. The increases in testing in the UK seem to be targeted, identifying more men with reduced testosterone levels, but the increases in the US seem to be identifying more and more men with normal levels. Many of the men who begin testosterone treatment in the US appear to have normal testosterone levels to begin with. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, JAMA, Mayo Clinic, Thyroid Disease / 31.12.2013

Ajay K Parsaik, MD, MS Department of Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences The University of Texas Medical School, Houston Department of Neurology and Mayo Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MinnesotaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ajay K Parsaik, MD, MS Department of Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences The University of Texas Medical School, Houston Department of Neurology and Mayo Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Parsaik: Main findings of our study are that clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism is not associated with mild cognitive impairment in an elderly population after accounting for possible confounding factors and interactions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology / 18.12.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christopher D Kassotis  (MU-Student) Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health and Division of Biological Sciences University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211; MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The main findings of our study are twofold: First, we found that 12 chemicals used in the fracking process disrupt hormone action. Specifically, we found that they inhibited the action of estrogens such as estradiol and androgens such as testosterone; classes of reproductive hormones that are critical for normal development and reproductive maturation. Second, we found that surface and ground water from a drilling-dense area in Colorado has much greater hormonal activity than samples from areas with limited drilling. Specifically, ground water had elevated estrogenic activity (mimicking the effects of estrogens), while surface water exhibited anti-estrogenic and anti-androgenic activities, similar to the chemicals we tested. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Menopause, PNAS, Stanford / 28.11.2013

Dr. Victor W. Henderson MD Professor of Health Research and Policy and of Neurology and Neurological Sciences Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Victor W. Henderson MD Professor of Health Research and Policy and of Neurology and Neurological Sciences Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Henderson: Estrogen or hormone therapy effects on some health outcomes differ by age, harmful at one age and beneficial at another. This difference is sometimes referred to as the “critical window” or “timing” theory. It is controversial whether the so-called critical-window applies to memory or other cognitive skills. In assessing the critical window hypothesis, we found that the relation between blood levels of estrogen and memory or reasoning skills is the same in younger postmenopausal women as in older postmenopausal women.  Essentially, there is no association at either age. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Testosterone / 25.11.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bledar Daka MD, PhD-student. University of Gothenburg in Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of your study? Answer: The main finding of our study was that low testosterone levels were associated with MI in both men and women but the association was stronger in men with type 2 diabetes. This finding was in concert with findings that could associate the CVD death with low levels of testosterone especially in elder men. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Testosterone / 25.11.2013

Michael Ho, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology Cardiology 111B 1055 Clermont Street Denver CO 80220MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Ho, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology Cardiology 111B  1055 Clermont Street Denver CO 80220 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Ho:  We found that testosterone use was associated with a 29% increased risk of death, MI and stroke over a follow-up period of 27 months. The risk was similar among patients with or without coronary artery disease on coronary angiography. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, JCEM, Testosterone / 23.11.2013

Dr Bu Beng Yeap MBBS, FRACP, PhD Professor, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia Endocrinologist, Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Fremantle Hospital. School of Medicine and Pharmacology
Level 2, T Block, Fremantle Hospital, Alma Street, Fremantle, Western Australia 6160, AustraliaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Bu Beng Yeap   MBBS, FRACP, PhD Professor, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia Endocrinologist, Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Fremantle Hospital. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found that older men with testosterone levels in the middle of the range had the lowest mortality risk. Having a low testosterone level predicted higher mortality, and there was no benefit of having a high-normal testosterone level. Men with optimal rather than high testosterone levels lived longest. The other important finding was that men with higher dihydrotestosterone levels had lower mortality from ischaemic heart disease, suggesting that androgens may protect against heart disease in older men. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Lipids, Thyroid Disease / 18.11.2013

Angela M. Leung, MD, MSc Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine University of California Los AngelesMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Angela M. Leung, MD, MSc Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine University of California Los Angeles   MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Leung: Despite current guidelines to screen for thyroid dysfunction as a secondary cause of newly-diagnosed hyperlipidemia, this was performed only about 50% of the time by primary care providers in over 8,700 patients at a large, urban Boston academic medical center. Approximately 5% of patients who had thyroid function checked were found to have hypothyroidism. The majority of hypothyroid patients who received treatment with levothyroxine had successful correction of the initial hyperlipidemia within one year. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology / 14.10.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Liora Lazar The Jesse Z and Sara Lea Shafer Institute for Endocrinology and Diabetes National Center for Childhood Diabetes Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel 14 Kaplan St., Petah Tikva 49202, Israel MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lazar: The study aims to assess the reproductive outcome and social adjustment of former Central precocious puberty (CPP) women between the 3rd and 5th decades of life. The main findings of this study are: 1.       Clinical hyperandrogenism was more prevalent among former CPP women, both treated and untreated, as compared to controls. 2.      Fertility problems were more prevalent only among untreated–CPP women. 3.       Educational achievements and marital status were similar in former CPP women and their controls. (more…)
Author Interviews, Hormone Therapy, Neurological Disorders, Parkinson's / 28.07.2013

Kalipada Pahan, Ph.D. The Floyd A. Davis, M.D., Endowed Chair of Neurology Professor Departments of Neurological Sciences, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Rush University Medical Center 1735 West Harrison St, Suite 320 Chicago, IL 60612MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kalipada Pahan, Ph.D. The Floyd A. Davis, M.D., Endowed Chair of Neurology Professor Departments of Neurological Sciences, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Rush University Medical Center 1735 West Harrison St, Suite 320 Chicago, IL 60612 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Pahan: While different toxins and a number of complex genetic approaches are used to model Parkinson’s disease in mice, this study delineates that simple castration is sufficient to cause persistent Parkinson’s like pathology and symptoms in male mice. This simple, but persistent, model may be helpful in discovering drugs against Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, these results suggest that sudden drop of testosterone level could trigger Parkinson’s disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Thyroid Disease / 31.05.2013

Pauline Mendola, PhD Investigator Epidemiology Branch Division of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH Rockville, MD 20852MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Pauline Mendola, PhD Investigator Epidemiology Branch Division of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH Rockville, MD 20852 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Mendola: Women with thyroid disease during pregnancy had more obstetric complications including preeclampsia and preterm birth.  They were also more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit during their delivery admission. (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…)