JAMA
01 Sep Non Fatal Firearm Injuries Are Significant Public Health Issue
Posted at 18:52h
in Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Emergency Care, JAMA, Surgical Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55282" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Spitzer[/caption]
Sarabeth Spitzer, MD
Co-Chair of Board, Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic (SAFE)
Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Firearm injury is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, resulting in almost 40,000 deaths annually in the United States, but very little is known about the epidemiology of nonfatal firearm injuries. Nonfatal firearm injuries can have significant long-term morbidity and are associated with significant cost. We found that there were over 81,000 nonfatal firearm injuries in California over the study period. Over the period, there was a decrease in nonfatal firearm injuries by 38.1%, driven primarily by a decrease in assault injuries.
31 Aug ADHD and Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals During Adolescence
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55258" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Shoaff[/caption]
Jessica Shoaff, MPH, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow and
[caption id="attachment_55259" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Korrick[/caption]
Susan A. Korrick, MD
Pulmonary and Critical Care
Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health
Harvard Medical School · Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Channing Laboratory Boston, MA 02115
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Our study posed the question: Do teenagers’ exposures to chemicals that are often found in consumer products increase behaviors that are common among individuals diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? Our results suggest that teenagers exposed to chemicals often found in consumer products (particularly phthalates) may have increased behaviors that are common among individuals diagnosed with ADHD. However, we did not study the diagnosis of ADHD (most of our study teens did not have ADHD). This means our results cannot answer the question of whether these chemical exposures increase the likelihood of being diagnosed with ADHD. Also, in our study design, chemical exposures and ADHD-related behaviors were measured at the same time, so it is not possible to know with certainty whether the chemical exposures altered behavior or behavior altered chemical exposures.
28 Aug USPSTF Recommends Behavioral Counseling for Teens and Adults at Risk of STIs
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55266" align="alignleft" width="133"] Dr. Simon[/caption]
Melissa A. Simon, M.D., M.P.H.
George H. Gardner Professor of Clinical Gynecology
Vice Chair of Clinical Research
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Professor of Preventive Medicine and Medical Social Sciences
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise across the country, with approximately 20 million new cases in the U.S. each year. If untreated, STIs can lead to serious health complications including infertility, AIDS, and cancer.
The good news is that effective behavioral counseling has the potential to reduce STI rates by approximately a third. The Task Force continues to recommend behavioral counseling for all sexually active teens and for adults who are at increased risk for STIs.
28 Aug Cochlear Implants May Be Superior to Hearing Aids for Some Older Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55235" align="alignleft" width="145"]
Dr. Wick[/caption]
Cameron C. Wick, MD
Assistant Professor, Otology/Neurotology
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO
MedicalResearch.com: What do you see as the primary message of your findings for the general public?
Response: Older adults not satisfied with their hearing aids achieved clinically meaningful improvement in both hearing and quality of life with a cochlear implant compared to an optimized bilateral hearing aid condition.
MedicalResearch.com: Do you see your findings as changing the way older adults with hearing loss are managed?
Response: Yes and partially because this study is unique in its design and the outcomes that were measured. Specifically the study is a prospective, multicenter clinical trial conducted at 13 locations across the United States. All patients were setup with a 30-day optimized hearing aid experience before cochlear implantation (context: sometimes hearing aids are not appropriately optimized so baseline testing may not reflect the "best" that hearing aids can do). This study assesses both hearing data as well as quality of life data before and 6-months after cochlear implantation. After implantation patients were tested in both the unilateral (cochlear implant alone) and bimodal (cochlear implant plus hearing aid in the opposite ear) conditions. My paper is a subanalysis of adults 65 years and older (range 65 - 91 years) enrolled in the clinical trial. The principal investigator of the clinical trial is Dr. Craig Buchman. Dr. Buchman and myself are at Washington University in St. Louis which was the lead center for the clinical trial.
The findings of the study are meaningful because they demonstrate clear superiority of cochlear implants over hearing aids in many key areas, such as understanding speech, hearing in background noise, and ability to communicate. Hearing loss, which becomes more prevalent as we age, can negatively impact communication leading to social isolation, depression, frustration, and possibly cognitive decline. This study highlights that if patients are not satisfied with their hearing aid performance then they should be referred to a center that can evaluate for cochlear implantation. Cochlear implant indications have evolved considerably since they were first FDA approved in 1984. This study emphasizes that patients do not have to be profoundly deaf to experience significant hearing and social benefits from cochlear implants. Also, it demonstrates that cochlear implant surgery is well tolerated even as adults age and acquire other health ailments.
24 Aug Children Residing at Higher Altitudes Are Born Shorter and Have Lower Growth Trajectory
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kaleab Baye PhD Center for Food Science and Nutrition Addis Ababa University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Reducing child stunting is one of the most important objectives of the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the World Health Assembly (WHA). Progress is routinely measured using anthropometric indices such as height-for-age z score that compare child height to the World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards. Such comparisons rely on the assumption that children living in ideal home environment that promotes adequate growth have the same growth potential, irrespective of their genetic make-up. This assumption was confirmed by the Multicenter Growth Reference Study (MGRS), which was the origin of the development of the growth standards. However, the MGRS excluded sites above 1500 m above sea level (asl); hence, it remains unclear whether the widely adopted WHO growth standards are applicable to populations above the 1500 m asl threshold. This study investigated the association between altitude and linear growth faltering and evaluated whether the prescriptive WHO growth standards can apply to children residing at higher altitudes.
21 Aug Younger Patients with Atherosclerotic Heart Disease Less Likely To Receive Aspirin or Statins
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: First Author Dhruv Mahtta, DO, MBA Cardiovascular Disease Fellow Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX Senior & Corresponding Author [caption id="attachment_55170" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Virani[/caption]
Salim S. Virani, MD, PhD, FACC, FAHA, FASPC
Professor, Section of Cardiovascular Research
Director, Cardiology Fellowship Training Program
Baylor College of Medicine
Staff Cardiologist, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Co-Director, VA Advanced Fellowship in Health Services Research & Development
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease among young patients has been on the rise. These patients with premature and extremely premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease experience similar rates of mortality compared to older adults. Additionally, these young patients have a greater accrued rate of life-time morbidity. Therefore, secondary prevention measures such as use of guideline concordant statin therapy and aspirin therapy are paramount in this population.
21 Aug How Has COVID-19 Affected Prison Populations?
Posted at 15:23h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, COVID -19 Coronavirus, JAMA, Social Issues
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55163" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Jimenez[/caption]
Monik Carmen Jimenez, Sc.D
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Brigham and Women's Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We wanted to get a comprehensive picture of the epidemiology of COVID-19 in carceral facilities that included jails and was not restricted solely to prisons. We utilized publicly available data collected in Massachusetts, pursuant to a court order. These data included prison and jail systems and were used to calculate rates of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and testing rates among incarcerated individuals. We were also able to compare those to changes in the population size within each system.
19 Aug How Do COVID-19 Deaths in NYC Compare to Spanish Flu in 1918?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55114" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Faust[/caption]
Jeremy Samuel Faust, M.D., M.S., M.A., FACEP
Brigham & Women's Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine
Division of Health Policy and Public Health
Instructor, Harvard Medical School
President, Roomful of Teeth Vocal Arts Project (www.roomfulofteeth.org)
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We sought to compare the initial covid-19 outbreak in NYC to the peak of the 1918 H1N1 pandemic in that same city. We found that the covid-19 pandemic was associated with more than 70% as many deaths per capita (monthly) as 1918 H1N1 was. But because baseline mortality rates are about 1/2 of what they were a century ago, death rates were over 400% of usual rates in March and April of this year compared to recent years, while 1918 was "merely" over 280% of usual death rates from prior years leading up to it.
17 Aug Large Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Hospitalizations
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55140" align="alignleft" width="142"] Dr. Karaca Mandic[/caption]
Pinar Karaca-Mandic, PhD
Professor, Finance Department
Arthur Williams Jr. Professor of Healthcare Risk Management
Academic Director, Medical Industry Leadership Institute (MILI)
Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Several studies have highlighted disparities in COVID-19 infection rates and deaths. Less is known about disparities in hospitalizations. Reports from the Centers for Disease Control showed that in the nation overall, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics and American Indian Alaska Native persons have substantially higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalization. Our study extends this work by providing a state-by-state analysis of race/ethnic prevalence of cumulative COVID-19 hospitalizations and comparing this prevalence to ethnic/racial composition of each state’s population.
Through our University of Minnesota Covid-19 hospitalization tracking project (https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/mili-misrc-covid19-tracking-project) we collect data every day from state department of health websites, and we started collecting information on race/ethnicity breakdown of the hospitalizations as soon as states started reporting such data. During our study period, between April 30 and June 24, 12 states reported cumulative hospitalizations by race/ethnicity. By the end of our study, our data from these 12 states represented almost 50,000 hospitalizations.
14 Aug Atopic Dermatitis: No Link Found Between Topical Calcineurin Inhibitor Use and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
Posted at 14:37h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, Dermatology, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55124" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Asgari[/caption]
Maryam M. Asgari, MD MPH
Professor
Department of Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are Topical Calcineurin Inhibitors used for?
Response: Topical calcineurin inhibitors (TCIs) are FDA approved for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (though they are used off-label to treat a wide range of inflammatory conditions of the skin, including psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, and contact dermatitis). There are currently two drugs available – tacrolimus and pimecrolimus – both of which carry a black box label warning users about the potential for increased skin cancer risk. The risk associated with keratinocyte carcinoma, the most common cancer (defined as basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma), remains poorly defined because findings from large-scale post-marketing surveillance studies are lacking.
12 Aug Lupus Anticoagulant and Blood Clots Common in COVID-Hospitalized Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55105" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Reyes Gil[/caption]
Morayma Reyes Gil M.D., Ph.D.
Director of hematology and Coagulation Labs
Associate Professor, Pathology
Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein School of Medicine
Bronx, NY 10467
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Antiphospholipid Syndrome is an entity caused by autoantibodies that cause arterial and venous thrombosis as well as miscarriages. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we tested 187 patients for Lupus anticoagulant (LA); 68 turned out to be COVID positive. 30 of the 68 COVID-positive patients were found to be positive for LA by the DRVVT test, and 17 of them were also determined to be positive by the hexagonal phospholipid neutralization STACLOT-LA test. Importantly, of the 30 patients who were LA positive, 19 had documented thrombosis (arterial and venous), an event rate of 63%, as compared with a rate of 34% (p = .03) for LA-negative patients.
We also checked CRP, an inflammatory marker known to affect the hexagonal phospholipid neutralization STACLOT-LA test. Although the mean CRP level was higher in patients testing positive for LA by DRVVT (14.4 vs 7.5 mg/dL; P < .01), patients with thrombosis did not have significantly higher CRP levels than those with no thrombosis. Hence, we adjusted for CRP, and LA was found to be independently associated with thrombosis (odds ratio, 4.39; 95% CI, 1.45-14.57; p= .01). No statistically significant difference was found by anticoagulation at the time of thrombosis, gender, race, ethnicity, ventilation, and mortality between patients who tested LA positive vs. negative.
12 Aug Metabolic Syndrome Can Help Identify Patients Who Benefit Most From PCSK9 Inhibition With Evolocumab – Repatha®
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55111" align="alignleft" width="147"] Dr. Deedwania[/caption]
Prakash Deedwania, MD, FACC,FAHA,FASH,FHFSA,FESC
Professor of Medicine, UCSF School of Medicine,
San Francisco
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: This paper describes the findings form the FOURIER study, a very large study evaluating the efficacy of evolocumab, a PCSK9 inhibitor in patients with metabolic syndrome and preexisting atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) who were already being treated with statins.
In this largest study of its kind of 27,000 patients we found that 60% of patients with ASCVD had metabolic syndrome. We also found that the presence of metabolic syndrome identified a higher risk of future cardiac & coronary events in these patients despite them receiving maximum tolerated doses of statin.
Furthermore, study treatment with evolocumab was efficacious in reducing the increased risk during the median follow up of nearly 3 years . Unlike treatment with statins there was no risk of new-onset diabetes with evolocumab, which was generally well tolerated. What was interesting thatpatients without metabolic syndrome had much less benefit with PCSK9 inhibition. These findings suggest that the presence of metabolic syndrome can help the clinicians identify the ASCVD patients who are most likely to benefit from treatment with PCSK9 inhibitors. This will be of great help for the cost containment of therapeutic strategy as PCSK9 inhibitors as a class are still quite expensive drugs.
11 Aug Genetic Change Detected in Brothers Helps Explain Why COVID-19 More Severe in Men
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Caspar van der Made, MD Resident in Internal Medicine, PhD-student Alexander Hoischen, PhD Geneticist, Assistant professor, Departments of Human Genetics and Internal Medicine Radboud University Medical enter Nijmegen, The Netherlands First author Caspar van der Made is a resident in Internal Medicine and PhD-student on the topic of immunogenomics. Alexander Hoischen is geneticist with a special focus on the application of genomic technologies in primary immunodeficiencies and last author of this study. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This study was initiated to investigate the presence of monogenic factors that predispose young individuals to develop a severe form of COVID-19. It has become clear that several general risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus increase the risk of developing severe coronavirus disease. However, even though differences in interindividual genetic make-up are thought to influence the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, such specific genetic risk factors had not yet been identified. We therefore chose to study young brother pairs (sharing half of their genomes) without any general risk factors that nevertheless contracted severe COVID-19. We hypothesized these highly selected case series may offer the most optimal chance of identifying a (possible X-linked) primary immunodeficiency specific to COVID-19.
11 Aug Contact Lenses in Childhood May Slow Development of Nearsightedness
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55057" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Walline[/caption]
Jeffrey J. Walline, OD PhD
Associate Dean for Research
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210-1240
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Greater amounts of nearsightedness are related to higher risks of sight-threatening complications in adulthood, so anything we can do to slow the progression of nearsightedness in childhood can have meaningful benefits in the future.
As the prevalence of nearsightedness increases worldwide and affects approximately 1/3 of the people in the United States, a treatment that provides clear vision AND slows the progression of nearsightedness can have a profound effect.
10 Aug COVID-19 Antibodies Among Health Care Works From a Large NYC Hospital
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55070" align="alignleft" width="132"] Dr. Davidson[/caption]
Karina W. Davidson, PhD, MA
Senior Vice President of Research, Northwell Health
Director, Center for Personalized Health, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research
Dean of Academic Affairs & Professor, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research
Donald and Barbara Zucker Professor in Health Outcomes, Department of Medicine, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: New York was epicenter for COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic, and Northwell Health, the largest health system in New York, did everything in its power to care for our sick community members but also care for and protect our frontline health care providers (HCPs) and 72,000 employees. We were fortunate enough to have not run out of PPE – from masks to gowns. Through our employee health team we were able to offer free antibody screenings and through the Northwell Health Research Consortium and the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research we looked to use the data collected from our consented employees to determine the prevalence of antibodies.
We designed the study to not only identify the presence of antibodies but also key factors like demographics, in what capacity our providers worked on the frontlines and if they suspected infection. Our data helped identify the best practices Northwell Health – from PPE to care procedures - and others nationwide would need to do to keep our frontline workers safe.
Key takeaways from the research show that from April 20 to June 23, of the final consented sample of health care providers (40,329), 13 percent (5,523) tested positive for antibodies. The positive sample pool included 28.4 percent (11,468) nurses and 9.3 percent (3,746) physicians.
07 Aug Hospitalizations for Heart Attacks Drop Sharply During COVID Pandemic
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55053" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Gluckman[/caption]
Ty J. Gluckman, M.D., FACC
Providence St Joseph Health
Portland, Oregon
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In spite of significant decreases in the incidence of coronary artery disease, an estimated 800,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) this year. For large numbers of these patients, substantial benefit is afforded by early diagnosis and treatment. Accordingly, multiple campaigns have been launched over time to increase public awareness about the symptoms and signs of AMI and the need to seek immediate medical attention.
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed health care delivery worldwide. While early attention was disproportionately focused on efforts to “flatten the curve”, recent reports have revealed a disturbing finding—a substantial decrease in the hospitalization rate for AMI. Most worrisome among potential reasons for this has been reluctance of patients with an AMI to seek medical attention out of fear that they become infected with SARS-CoV-2.
To better understand the impacts associated with this, we performed a retrospective, cross-sectional study of all AMI hospitalizations in a large multistate health care system (Providence St. Joseph Health). We sought to define changes in AMI case rates, patient demographics, cardiovascular comorbidities, treatment approaches and in-hospital outcomes during the pandemic.
05 Aug Young Children Have Same or More COVID-19 in Respiratory Tract as Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_54986" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Heald-Sargent[/caption]
Taylor Heald-Sargent, M.D., Ph.D.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital
Chicago
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Given the ongoing debate around the ability of children to transmit SARS-CoV-2, we noticed that our clinical data could address one of the prevalent assumptions. Some people postulated that the reason children have less severe infections with SARS-CoV-2 is because they are not able to replicate virus as much as adults and therefore may not transmit as readily.
04 Aug Dramatic Drop in Newly Diagnosed Cancers During COVID Pandemic
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55014" align="alignleft" width="200"] Harvey Kaufman[/caption]
Harvey W. Kaufman, MD, MBA, FCAP
Senior Medical Director, Medical Informatics
Quest Diagnostics
Needham, MA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted routine healthcare and in particular cancer screenings. We documented the impact on patients who were newly identified by cancer in the early months of the pandemic by analysis of Quest Diagnostics data.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: We saw a 46% decline in newly identified patients with six common types of cancer. In accordance to healthcare recommendations, many patients didn’t receive mammograms, colonoscopies, low-dose CT scans, and avoided physician visits for minor complaints. When these patients return, some will present with more advanced stages of cancer than they would have without the disruption of the pandemic.
03 Aug Racial Health Gap Widening in Rural America
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55005" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Ferdows[/caption]
Nasim B. Ferdows, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Administration and Policy
Hudson College of Public Health
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Oklahoma City, OK
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This half a century study of US senior men and women who died between 1968 and 2016 shows how disparities in the Black and White mortality of older US citizens have changed over time, as well as how the racial disparities differ in rural, suburban and urban areas.
28 Jul Are High Deductible Health Care Plans Associated With Worse Cardiac Outcomes?
Posted at 10:23h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cost of Health Care, Heart Disease, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_54971" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Wharam[/caption]
Frank Wharam, MD, MPH
Department of Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute
Boston, MA 02215
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There is substantial concern that high-deductible health plans increase people’s risk of major adverse health events such as heart attack and stroke. No studies have examined this question. This study examines the effects of a transition to a high-deductible health plan on the risk of major adverse cardiovascular outcomes (myocardial infarction and stroke).
The study group included individuals with risk factors for cardiovascular disease who were continuously enrolled in low-deductible (<$500) health plans during a baseline year followed by up to 4 years in high-deductible (≥$1000) plans after an employer-mandated switch. The matched control group included individuals with the same risk factors who were contemporaneously enrolled in low-deductible plans. We examined time to first major adverse cardiovascular event, defined as myocardial infarction or stroke.
28 Jul MRI Study Revealed Ongoing Cardiac Inflammation in Patients Recovering from COVID-19
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_54938" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Puntmann[/caption]
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Valentina Puntmann, MD, PhD, FRCP
Deputy Head
Goethe CVI Fellowship Programme Lead
Consultant Physician, Cardiologist and Clinical Pharmacologist
Institute for Experimental and Translational Cardiovascular Imaging
DZHK Centre for Cardiovascular Imaging - Goethe CVI
Department of Cardiology, Division of Internal Medicine
University Hospital Frankfurt, Germany
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Patients who recently recovered from COVID19 have been identified through the testing centre and invited to be screened for cardiac involvement with MRI. Importantly, they have not come to us because of having heart problems. In fact, none of them thought that they had had anything wrong with the heart. They were mostly healthy, sporty and well prior to their illness. A considerable proportion had been infected while on skiing vacations.
22 Jul How Do Patients Feel About Being Asked to Donate to Hospitals?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_54896" align="alignleft" width="132"] Dr. Jagsi[/caption]
Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil.
Newman Family Professor and Deputy Chair
Department of Radiation Oncology
Director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine
University of Michigan
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Hospitals and health care institutions often rely on philanthropy for support to be able to pursue their missions to serve the public health. Little is known about public perspectives, which are needed to inform ethical guidelines.
14 Jul Plasma Apolipoprotein E Linked to Risk of Dementia
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51654" align="alignleft" width="133"] Dr. Koch[/caption]
Manja Koch, Ph.D., Research Associate
Department of Nutrition
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
[caption id="attachment_51694" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Jensen[/caption]
Majken K. Jensen, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Nutrition
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health &
Professor in the Department of Public Health
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are highly prevalent conditions. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 50 million people are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias worldwide. Lower apolipoprotein E in plasma is a risk factor for dementia, but the underlying biological mechanisms are not fully understood. Thus, we investigated the role of apolipoprotein E overall and in lipoproteins with distinct metabolic functions in relation to cognitive function and dementia risk..
14 Jul CABG: Long-Term Outcomes Using Radial Artery vs Saphenous Vein
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_54851" align="alignleft" width="127"] Dr. Gaudino[/caption]
Mario Fl Gaudino MD
Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Weill Cornell Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The radial artery is currently used in less than 10% of CABG procedures in the US.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: The JAMA paper provides convincing evidence that the use of the radial artery rather than the saphenous vein to complement the internal thoracic artery for CABG is associated with improved long-term outcomes.
14 Jul Report Underscores Importance of Universal COVID-19 Testing in Nursing Homes
It is critical to rapidly enact widespread testing so that positive cases can be identified and isolated before more transmission occurs....
09 Jul How Do Non-Soda Fructose-Containing Foods Affect Metabolic Syndrome Risk?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Zhila Semnani-Azad, Ph.D. Candidate Department of Nutritional Sciences Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Dietary fructose-containing sugars have been suggested to be an important contributing factor to increased metabolic syndrome risk. Several studies have consistently shown a strong association between sugar-sweetened beverages and increased incidence of metabolic syndrome. There is little information, however, on the role of other food sources of fructose-containing sugars in the development of metabolic syndrome.
07 Jul COVID-19 Ripple Effects Mean Related Deaths Likely Undercounted
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_54782" align="alignleft" width="178"] Dr. Woolf[/caption]
Steven H. Woolf, MD, MPH
Center on Society and Health
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Richmond
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Our concern since the pandemic began was that lives would be lost not only to the virus but also to the ripple effects of how society responds to the crisis, such as reduced access to health care, extreme economic hardships, and psychological stress.
07 Jul Lack of REM Sleep as a Predictor of Mortality
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_54770" align="alignleft" width="200"] Eileen B. Leary[/caption]
Eileen B. Leary, Ph.D. Student
Epidemiology and Clinical Research
Stanford University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by REM sleep?
Response: Sleep is a regulated, reversible, and recurring loss of consciousness that is a critical requirement for a happy, healthy life. REM sleep is an important component of sleep defined by rapid eye movements and commonly associated with dreaming.
We learned from previous studies that sleep duration is associated with mortality, however little was known about how the different sleep stages relate to timing or cause of death.
28 Jun Who Loses Benefits With Work Requirements for SNAP Benefits?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_54721" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Brantley[/caption]
Erin Brantley, PhD, MPH
Senior Research Associate
Department of Health Policy and Management
Milken Institute School of Public Health
Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We looked at what happened when work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation, or SNAP, were turned on in many places after the Great Recession.
We found large drops in participation in SNAP benefits due to work requirements, and that black recipients were more likely to lose benefits than white recipients. We think this is driven by the fact that black workers face higher unemployment rates than white workers, and work requirement policies do not take this into account.
We also found that some people who report having disabilities lost benefits, even though the intent of work requirements is that they apply to people without disabilities.