Ridge Maxson[/caption]
Ridge Maxson
M.D. Candidate, Class of 2024
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Dog walking is an increasingly popular mode of physical activity for adults in the US, but its injury burden and associated risk factors are not fully understood. This study found that the 3 most common injuries sustained by adult dog walkers in the US were finger fracture, TBI, and shoulder sprain or strain. Dog walking-related injuries sent approximately 423,000 adults to US EDs between 2001 and 2020, with an annual average of more than 21,000 visits. During that 20-year period, the estimated annual injury incidence increased by more than 4-fold. Among injured dog walkers, older adults and women were particularly vulnerable to serious injury, such as fracture and TBI.
The hectic nature of modern living, especially if you’re very much immersed in the changing world of business, can result...
Dr. den Hoed[/caption]
Marcel den Hoed, PhD
Researcher,Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology
Uppsala University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In this paper we performed a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of 51 genome-wide association studies, in data from over 700,000 individuals. This yielded 11 DNA regions that are robustly associated with self-reported moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity during leisure time (MVPA), and 88 DNA regions for self-reported leisure screen time (LST).
Around half of the identified DNA regions are also associated with objectively assessed physical activity traits in data from the UK Biobank. Causal inference using a Mendelian randomization approach subsequently showed bidirectional causal effects between LST and body mass index (BMI), with the effect of LST on BMI being 2-3-fold larger than vice versa. Less LST and more MVPA protect from diabetes, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, and earlier age at death, with all causal effects of MVPA and leisure screen time being mediated or confounded by BMI. Further analyses showed that DNA regions associated with LST are more often located close to genes whose expression in skeletal muscle is altered by strength training than expected by chance, suggesting that these genes may influence the likelihood of adopting an active lifestyle by influencing the response to training.
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
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Dr. Pbert[/caption]
Lori Pbert, Ph.D Professor, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences Associate chief of the Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine Founder and director of the Center for Tobacco Treatment Research and Training University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School Dr. Pbert joined the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2019
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Heart attacks and strokes are the number one killer of adults in the United States. Based on the evidence we reviewed, the Task Force found that some people would benefit from counseling interventions to support their cardiovascular health, however the overall benefits are small. For that reason, we continue to recommend that healthcare professionals decide together with their patients who do not have cardiovascular disease risk factors whether counseling interventions on healthy diet and physical activity might help them prevent heart attacks and strokes. This is a C grade recommendation.
How long you can maintain a health regime is one of the biggest factors in its potential for success. ...
It's understandable if you fear visiting the hospital if you feel unwell. You worry that you will get a terrible diagnosis. You would rather pretend that everything is okay than face the truth. Remember that it's better to have early detection of an illness than waiting until everything is late. People's lives were saved because they decided to ask for medical advice early.
You can begin your path to recovery
Just because you received an unfavorable diagnosis doesn't mean your life is over. Even some life-threatening conditions like cancer already have a cure. Many people underwent remission after months or years of treatment. If you decide against getting medical advice, these potential cures might not work anymore. You will regret not starting the process earlier on.
Simple lifestyle and diet changes may improve digestion in those experiencing chronic, frequent, or occasional symptoms....
Do you know how many calories are in your nightly glass of wine or in that can of soda you...
Dr. Epling[/caption]
Dr. John Epling, M.D., M.S.Ed
Professor of family and community medicine
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke, VA.
Medical director of research for family and community medicine
Medical director of employee health and wellness for the Carilion Clinic
Dr. Epling joined the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2016.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Nearly half of all adults have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Evidence shows that counseling aimed at helping people improve their diet and increase their physical activity can help prevent cardiovascular disease. This typically involves a trained counselor who provides education, helps people set goals, shares strategies, and stays in regular contact.
The Task Force recommends behavioral counseling interventions that promote a healthy diet and physical activity to help people at risk for cardiovascular disease stay healthy.
Dr. Mora[/caption]
Samia Mora, MD MHS
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Director, Center for Lipid Metabolomics
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Boston, MA 02215
@SamiaMoraMD
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Couples, both married couples and domestic partners, are likely to share similar environmental exposures, adopt similar behavior patterns, and have similar characteristics. However, the degree to which couples share similar levels of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and behaviors is uncertain. If high levels of poor CV risk factor measures and behaviors are common in both members of a couple, programs that target improvement of these risk factors and behaviors may simultaneously benefit CV health in both members of the couple.
Dr. Griffin[/caption]
John M. Griffin PhD
James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Finance
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The importance of personal traits compared to context for predicting behavior is a long-standing issue in psychology. Yet, we have limited evidence of how predictive personal conduct, such as marital infidelity, is for professional conduct.
We use data on usage of a marital infidelity website as a measure of marital infidelity and find that it is strongly correlated with professional conduct in four different professional settings.
Dr. Wei Bao[/caption]
Wei Bao, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
College of Public Health,
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242
and Yang Du
University of Iowa
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In 2008, the US Department of Health and Human Services released the first federal Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, which recommended that people should do at least 150 minutes moderate- to vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. This key recommendation has been reaffirmed in the 2018 recently updated Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. In addition, the new 2018 Guidelines for the first time discussed health risks of sedentary behaviors.
Insufficient physical activity and long sitting time have long been recognized as risk factors for major chronic diseases and mortality. Therefore, we were curious whether there have been a significant changes in adherence to the Physical Activity Guidelines in US adults since the release of the first edition of the federal guidelines in 2008 and whether sedentary behavior in US adults changed during the same period.
Dr. Preston[/caption]
Samuel Preston, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Life expectancy at birth in the United States is low by international standards and has been declining in recent years. Our study aimed to identify how these trends differed by age, sex, cause of death, metropolitan status, and region.
We found that, over the period 2009-11 to 2014-16, mortality rose at ages 25-44 in large metropolitan areas and their suburbs as well as in smaller metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan areas. Mortality at ages 45-64 also rose in all of these areas except large metropolitan areas. These were the ages responsible for declining life expectancy.
Changes in life expectancy were particularly adverse for non-metropolitan areas and for women. The metropolitan distinctions in mortality changes were similar from region to region.
The cause of death contributing most strongly to mortality declines was drug overdose for males and mental and nervous system disorders for women.
Francesco Zaccardi, MD, PhD
Clinical Epidemiologist
Assistant Director Leicester Real World Evidence Unit
Leicester Diabetes Centre
UK
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The role of excess body weight on mortality has been extensively investigated during the last decades. Studies from several countries have also shown, however, that the risk of death in persons who are overweight or obese is lower if their fitness, a parameter indicating cardio-pulmonary health, is higher.
Most of these studies reported the beneficial effect of fitness in terms of relative risk reduction, for example 20% reduction of risk of death. Relative estimates, though, are difficult to interpret.
Heli Virtanen[/caption]
Heli Virtanen, PhD Student
University of Eastern Finland
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Optimal amount of protein in diet for supporting longevity is unclear. In addition, there have been indications that different protein sources have differential associations with mortality risk. Thus, we investigated the associations of proteins and protein sources with mortality risk in the Finnish men of the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study.
Dr. Patel[/caption]
Ravi B. Patel, MD
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The digital attention of scientific articles can be readily quantified using the Altmetric score. The Altmetric score is a weighted measure, incorporating a variety of media platforms.
We aimed to characterize the Top 10% of articles by Altmetric score among 4 major cardiovascular journals (Circulation, European Heart Journal, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and JAMA Cardiology) in 2017.
Our primary findings were:
1) nearly half of the most disseminated articles were not original research investigations,
2) the most common article topic was nutrition/lifestyle, and
3) there was a weak but significant correlation between Altmetric scores and citation number.
Dr. Ussery[/caption]
Emily N Ussery, PhD
Epidemiologist
LT, US Public Health Service
Physical Activity and Health Branch
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Sitting for too long and being physically inactive can have negative health consequences, and it is important to understand how common these behaviors are among US adults.
This study describes sitting time and leisure-time physical activity reported by US adults in a national survey.
Pallavi Bhandarkar MPH
Nova Southeastern University
Kirkland, Washington
preetipshenoy@gmail.com
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Gender based preventative health has been of interest to medical community since 1900’s with health disparities between males and females being of particular interest. United States founded National Research Institutes for female health in 1900. This led to comprehensive and systematic medical services being offered which have improved female health care significantly. Similar research programs and initiatives to improve men’s health were started only in 2000 (1).
Cultural depiction of men being fearless and based on perception of masculinity leads them to underutilize the preventative health care screenings available to them or sometimes even delay care when they need it the most. Males have been found to have higher mortality rates compared to females.
Life expectancy for females was 5.0 years higher than for males. The difference in life expectancy between the sexes has narrowed since 1979, when it was 7.8 years, but it increased 0.2 year in 2016 from 2015, the first increase since 1990. Death rates for males increased significantly for age groups 15–24, 25–34, 35–44, and 55–64. Rates decreased significantly for age groups 75–84 and 85 and over” (2)
My research study adopted the basic survey design and conducted an anonymous survey throughout United States with men aged 18 to 40 being the participants.
Our goal was to identify these gaps, analyze the reasons for underutilization and identify opportunities to improve preventative care guidelines among the male population. The main findings were almost similar to the BFRSS data obtained by CDC in the year 2016.
Dr. Papoutsidakis[/caption]
Nikolaos Papoutsidakis, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Research Scientist,
Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, CT
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Lifestyle education is a significant part of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy management. HCM patients, who frequently have to abstain from intense athletics, often ask if such restrictions extend to thrill-seeking activities they previously enjoyed, such as rollercoaster rides. Werealized there is very little data on this topic, which prompted us to set up this study.
We found that for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy patients who elected to participate in thrill-seeking activities, adverse events (defined as losing consciousness or experiencing a shock from an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) were rare. We also asked patients (participating and non participating) about advice received from their physician on this topic. We found that, probably due to the lack of data, physicians often avoid providing advice or provide conflicting advice regarding participation in thrill seeking activities.
Dr Fehmidah Munir CPsychol, AFBPsS
Reader in Health Psychology
Athena SWAN School Champion
School of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences
National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine
Loughborough University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Given the evidence of the harmful effects of high levels of sitting time on health and the high proportion of time the majority of adults spend in this behaviour, particularly in the workplace, methods to reduce overall and prolonged sitting were needed.
Our SMArT Work (Stand More AT Work) programme was delivered to NHS office workers and involved brief education about the impact of sitting on health and benefits of reducing sitting, feedback on sitting behaviour, providing staff with a height-adjustable desk to enable them to work either standing up or sitting down, motivational posters and brief chats with a researcher to see how they were getting on. They received this programme over 12 months.
We found that office workers in our study spent nearly 10 hours/day sitting down, which can be bad for health, but we’ve shown that those office workers who received our SMArT Work programme had lower sitting time by around 80mins per day after 12 months compared to those who didn’t receive our programme. Those who received SMArT Work also reported an increase in work engagement, job performance and quality of life and less musculoskeletal issues such as back and neck pain, they felt less tired after a day at work, had less feelings of anxiety and lower sickness presenteeism (working whilst sick). We didn’t find any differences in the number of days absent at work though. Whether you work remotely from home or in an office environment, it may also be good to invest in new Office Furniture. This could also help combat the issue of back and neck pains that you may be experiencing.
Matthieu Boisgontier PhD
Movement Control & Neuroplasticity Research Group
KU Leuven
Brain Behaviour Laboratory
University of British Columbia, Canada
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: For decades, society has encouraged people to be more physically active. Yet, despite gradually scaling up actions promoting physical activity across the years, we are actually becoming less active. From 2010 to 2016, the number of inactive adults has increased by 5% worldwide, now affecting more than 1 in 4 adults (1.4 billion people). This context raised the question: Why do we still fail to be more physically active?
Our hypothesis was that this failure is explained by an “exercise paradox” in which conscious and automatic processes in the brain come into conflict. To illustrate this paradox, you can think of people taking the elevator or escalator when they go to the gym, which does not make sense. This non-sense, this paradox, could be due to the fact that their intention to exercise come into conflict with an automatic attraction to resting in the elevator.
Dr. Manuel[/caption]
Dr. Doug Manuel MD, MSc, FRCPC
Professor and Senior Scientist
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute | L’Institut de Recherche de l’Hôpital d’Ottawa
Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa
Départment de Médicine Familiale
Université d’Ottawa
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: A lot of people are interested in healthy living, but often we don't have that discussion in the doctor's office," says Dr. Manuel, who is also a professor at the University of Ottawa. "Doctors will check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but they don't necessarily ask about lifestyle factors that could put you at risk of a heart attack and stroke. We hope this tool can help people — and their care team — with better information about healthy living and options for reducing their risk of heart attack and stroke."
"What sets this cardiovascular risk calculator apart is that it looks at healthy living, and it is better calibrated to the Canadian population," says Dr. Doug Manuel, lead author, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and a senior core scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).” Cardiovascular risk appears simply as a summation of bad genes and an unhealthy lifestyle, there is no multiplier effect....
Filippos Filippidis MD, MSc, MPH, PhD
Lecturer in Public Health
School of Public Health
Imperial College London
London
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Previous research suggests that big sports and international events are associated with happiness, productivity, suicides and homicides. Considering the popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Europe, we wanted to see if there is any association between performance in the competition and life satisfaction and suicides. We used interview data from more than 160,000 people in Europe collected from 2009 to 2015 and found that better performance in the contest was associated with higher levels of life satisfaction in the country. Winning the competition did not confer any additional advantage. When comparing bad performance in the ESC with no participation at all, we found that even bad performance was associated with higher satisfaction with life compared to absence from the competition.
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