Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy, Melanoma, Science, UT Southwestern / 22.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60218" align="alignleft" width="150"]Andrew Y. Koh, M.D.Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Microbiology University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Director of Pediatric Cellular and ImmunoTherapeutics Program University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Health Dr. Koh[/caption] Andrew Y. Koh, M.D. Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Microbiology University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Director of Pediatric Cellular and ImmunoTherapeutics Program University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We asked the basic question how does a bacteria in your gut help your immune system fight a cancer outside the gut (extraintestinal tumor).  Based on work that our group and others have published in the infectious diseases, microbiology, and inflammation fields, we knew that certain conditions (e.g. inflammation, infection) promote gut microbiota to move from the gut to the mesenteric lymph nodes.  So we hypothesized that immune checkpoint therapy (which essentially induces inflammation to promote tumor killing) might induce gut microbiota translocation to the mesenteric lymph nodes and that this might be the first step by which gut bacteria can engage with host immune cells. 
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Genetic Research, JAMA, Personalized Medicine, Vanderbilt / 18.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60195" align="alignleft" width="143"]Jonathan Mosley, MD, PhDAssociate Professor Division of Clinical Pharmacology Departments of Internal Medicine and Biomedical Informatics Vanderbilt University Medical Center Dr. Mosley[/caption] Jonathan Mosley, MD, PhD Associate Professor Division of Clinical Pharmacology Departments of Internal Medicine and Biomedical Informatics Vanderbilt University Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Prostate cancer is an important source of morbidity and mortality among men. Earlier detection of disease is essential to reduce these adverse outcomes. Prostate cancer is heritable, and many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with disease risk have been identified. Thus, there is considerable interest in using tools such as polygenic risk scores, which measure the burden of genetic risk variants an individual carries, to identify men at elevated risk of disease.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Nature, NYU/NYMC, Pancreatic / 17.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60185" align="alignleft" width="161"]Aristotelis Tsirigos, Ph.D.Professor of Medicine and Pathology Co-director, Precision Medicine Director, Applied Bioinformatics Laboratories New York University School of Medicine Dr. Tsirigos[/caption] Aristotelis Tsirigos, Ph.D. Professor of Medicine and Pathology Co-director, Precision Medicine Director, Applied Bioinformatics LaboratoriesNew York University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal types of cancer with only 12% of patients surviving more than 5 years after diagnosis. One of the main reasons behind the dismal prognosis is the complexity of the tumor. Pancreatic cancer cells are very heterogenous and interact with different types of non-malignant cells in what is known as the tumor microenvironment.
Author Interviews, Infections, NIH, OBGYNE / 01.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
William A. Petri, MD PhDWilliam A. Petri, MD PhD Wade Hampton Frost Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair for Research of the Department of Medicine Professor of Medicine, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, and Pathology, Medicine: Infectious Diseases and International Health, Medicine: Infectious Diseases and International Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? MedicalResearch.com We tested if prophylactic antibiotics could prevent sepsis and death in women in the late stages of normal vaginal labor and delivery. It was previously known that antibiotic were effective for this purpose in women undergoing C-section. The study was a randomized placebo-controlled trial at 8 international sites of nearly 30,000 women.
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Karolinski Institute, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 28.02.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60075" align="alignleft" width="128"]Yuxia Wei | PhD Student Unit of Epidemiology Institute of Environmental Medicine Karolinska Institutet Stockholm | Sweden Yuxia Wei[/caption] Yuxia Wei | PhD Student Unit of Epidemiology Institute of Environmental Medicine Karolinska Institutet Stockholm | Sweden   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Diabetes is traditionally known for having two types (type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes). However, it is becoming increasingly clear that diabetes is much more complex than this traditional classification. Several attempts have been made to address this heterogeneity and in 2018, a  Swedish ground-breaking study proposed that there are five distinct subtypes of diabetes in adults. They have been replicated in different populations and it has been shown that there are differences between the subtypes in terms of genetics and risks of complications. Another way of elucidating the relevance of these subtypes is to investigate whether the influence of known risk factors for diabetes is different on different subtypes. Our study is one of the first attempts to address this. We used a study design known as Mendelian randomization, to investigate the influence of childhood obesity on these diabetes subtypes that typically occur after age 35. This work was a collaboration between Karolinska institutet in Stockholm, University of Bristol in the UK and Sun Yat-Sen University in China.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Stanford / 21.02.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60059" align="alignleft" width="125"]Yann Le Guen, Ph.D.Assistant Director, Computational Biology Quantitative Sciences Unit Stanford Medicine Dr. Yann Le Guen[/caption] Yann Le Guen, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Computational Biology Quantitative Sciences Unit Stanford Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Apart from aging, the strongest contributing factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease is a specific allele of the APOE gene, which has three common alleles E2, E3, and E4. While E3 is the most common and considered as the reference, E2 is associated with decreased Alzheimer’s disease risk and E4 is associated with increased Alzheimer’s disease risk. Notably the prevalence of E4 among Alzheimer’s patient is high with about 60% of these carrying at least one E4 allele, while solely about 30% Americans carry one E4 allele. It’s worth emphasizing that individuals with an E4/E4 genotype have an exponential increased in their risk to develop AD (10 times as likely than the reference E3/E3 genotype), and individuals with an E3/E4 genotype have an intermediate risk. Though, most studies of Alzheimer’s disease genetic have been focused on European ancestry, this is beginning to change thanks to NIH’s efforts to fund more studies in non-European ancestry individuals. Our study built on these recent efforts to assess the Alzheimer disease risk associated with an APOE variant (R145C) present in about ~4% African Americans, but extremely rare in Europeans.
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, NIH, Pediatrics / 20.02.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60043" align="alignleft" width="100"]Natalie Shaw, M.D., MMSc.Principal Investigator Head of the Pediatric Neuroendocrinology Group Dr. Shaw holds a secondary appointment in NIEHS  Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory. Dr. Shaw[/caption] Natalie Shaw, M.D., MMSc. Principal Investigator Head of the Pediatric Neuroendocrinology Group Dr. Shaw holds a secondary appointment in NIEHS Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory.   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly describe the two affected conditions? Dr. Shaw: Congenital arhinia is a rare congenital malformation characterized by the complete absence of an external nose and internal olfactory (smell) structures.  It is frequently associated with eye and reproductive defects.  Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) type 2 is a form of muscular dystrophy that presents in young adulthood.  Both conditions are caused by mutations in the gene SMCHD1.  In FSHD type 2, we know that loss of SMCHD1 activity leads to expression of a toxic protein called DUX4 in muscle.  The cause of arhinia was unknown.
Author Interviews, Case Western, Stroke / 13.02.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60014" align="alignleft" width="142"]Amrou Sarraj, MD FAHAProfessor of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine George M. Humphrey II Endowed Chair, University Hospitals Neurological Institute Director, Comprehensive Stroke Center and Stroke Systems, University Hospitals Dr. Sarraj[/caption] Amrou Sarraj, MD FAHAProfessor of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of MedicineGeorge M. Humphrey II Endowed Chair, University Hospitals Neurological Institute Director, Comprehensive Stroke Center and Stroke Systems, University Hospitals MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Endovascular thrombectomy was proven safe and effective in patients with acute ischemic, stroke, neurologist, occlusion presenting up to 24 hours from last known well in multiple clinical trials. Patients with large ischemic changes were largely excluded from those trials, and thus limited randomized evidence of thrombectomy in this patient population exists. Our study found that thrombectomy improved the odds of achieving better functional outcomes by 1.5 times in patients with large ischemic changes on non-contrast CT or perfusion imaging. Proportion of patients achieving functional independence (mRS 0-2) and Independent ambulation (mRS 0-3) were also significantly higher with thrombectomy. Symptomatic hemorrhage occurred in very few patients and was not higher with thrombectomy. Results from analyses of subgroup based on clinical and imaging characteristics were also largely similar to those of primary analysis.
Author Interviews, Autism, JAMA, Pediatrics, UCSD / 08.02.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59999" align="alignleft" width="150"]Karen Pierce, Ph.D.Professor, Department of Neurosciences, UCSD Co-Director, Autism Center of Excellence, UCSD Dr. Pierce[/caption] Karen Pierce, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Neurosciences, UCSD Co-Director, Autism Center of Excellence, UCSD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The mean age of ASD diagnosis and eventual treatment remains at ~52 months in the United States1 - years beyond the disorder’s prenatal origins2, and beyond the age when it can be reliably diagnosed in many cases3. Currently the only way to determine if a child has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is to receive a developmental evaluation from an experienced clinician (usually a licensed clinical psychologist). There are often long waiting lists, and only a small number of clinicians have the experience required to make early-age (i.e., between 12-36 months) diagnoses of ASD. Thus, there are many places in the country as well as world wide wherein children wait months or years to receive a formal diagnosis due to a lack of available expertise. Moreover, diagnostic evaluations are expensive and usually cost the parent and/or insurance approximately ~$2,000 or more per evaluation.  Finally, clinical evaluations usually take between 2-3 hours to complete and result in fatigue for both the parent and toddler. Eye-tracking, which generates biologically-relevant, objective, and quantifiable metrics of both visual and auditory preference profiles in babies and toddlers in just minutes, is a technology that can dramatically change how ASD is diagnosed.
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, JAMA, Karolinski Institute, Weight Research / 31.01.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59970" align="alignleft" width="200"]Lisa Dinkler, Ph.D. | Postdoctoral researcherCenter for Eating Disorders Innovation (CEDI) Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Dr. Dinkler[/caption] Lisa Dinkler, Ph.D. | Postdoctoral researcher Center for Eating Disorders Innovation (CEDI) Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a relatively recently defined eating disorder. Affected people severely restrict their food intake in terms of total amount or variety. This leads to serious physical, psychological, and social consequences such as weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, and social isolation. Compared to people with other eating disorders – such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder – food restriction in people with ARFID is not driven by body dissatisfaction or the desire to lose weight. Despite how serious ARFID is, we still know very little about what causes it – making it difficult to develop effective treatments. We do know that genetic factors contribute significantly to the development of other eating disorders (so-called heritability), but we did not yet know to which degree genetic factors play a role in the development of ARFID. We therefore conducted the first twin study of ARFID, using a sample of ~34,000 Swedish twins including ~700 children with ARFID.
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Pharmaceutical Companies, Yale / 22.01.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59948" align="alignleft" width="150"]Neeraj PatelMedical Student (MS-2), Yale School of Medicine New Haven, CT Neeraj Patel[/caption] Neeraj Patel Medical Student (MS-2), Yale School of Medicine New Haven, CT MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising has been increasing in popularity for the past two decades or so, particularly via television. But it’s highly controversial. Only two high-income countries (the U.S. and New Zealand) widely permit this type of advertising for prescription drugs. Critics have pointed to a growing body of literature that suggests that direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs can be misleading, lead to inappropriate prescribing, and inflate healthcare costs. Proponents have argued that it improves public health by promoting clinically beneficial prescribing.
Author Interviews, Lancet, MRSA, NIH / 18.01.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Otto PhD Senior Investigator Laboratory of Bacteriology Chief of the Pathogen Molecular Genetics Section NIAID, NIH Bethesda, MD 20814 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:  Staphylococcus aureus is one the of the most important causes of infectious diseases worldwide. It is known mostly for causing skin infections in the community and as a hospital-associated pathogen. It is in fact the most frequent cause of infections patients acquire in the hospital when they are weakened by underlying diseases or immune-suppressing therapy. The type of infections Staph can cause in these situations are diverse – comprising bone, lung, and blood infections (sepsis) - and can be quite severe and often fatal. Except for moderately severe skin infections that may not require antibiotic treatment, treatment of Staph infections is by antibiotics. S. aureus has naturally been very responsive to penicillin-type antibiotics, but already in the mid of the last century, resistance to penicillin spread worldwide. Then, methicillin was invented to overcome this resistance, but nowadays there also is considerable spread of methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA). The current situation is difficult for two reasons:
  • First, S. aureus has become increasingly resistant to many antibiotics, and
  • Second, the alternatives to methicillin are often by far not as efficient as penicillin/methicillin against Staph.
Researchers have therefore been searching for alternatives to antibiotics to treat Staph infections. Unfortunately, vaccines that work against Staph have not yet been produced despite intensive efforts for decades. Other modern approaches of treatment, like virulence-targeted drugs or phages are still only at the early investigational level. As with many diseases, an alternative to treatment is prevention. In the case of S. aureus, a type of preventative strategy that has often been proposed and tested is decolonization. This is based on the fact that ~ 1/3 of the population is naturally colonized with S. aureus (asymptomatically), and these colonized people have an increased risk of being infected. In other words, Staph infections stem from the Staph you carry on your body and which only under certain conditions causes infection. Thus, eliminating the colonizing Staph would reduce the risk for infection, which is the basis for Staph decolonization-based infection prevention strategies.
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, JAMA, Sleep Disorders, Yale / 18.01.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59926" align="alignleft" width="200"]César Caraballo-Cordovez, MDPostdoctoral Associate Yale/YNHH Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) New Haven, CT 06511 Dr. Caraballo-Cordovez[/caption] César Caraballo-Cordovez, MD Postdoctoral Associate Yale/YNHH Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) New Haven, CT 06511 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our group has been interested in how patients’ experience during hospitalization impacts their recovery and their health for a while. In 2013, Dr. Harlan Krumholz (senior author of the current study) identified that patients who were recently hospitalized experienced a period of generalized risk for myriad adverse health events, a condition that he named ‘post-hospital syndrome’. One of the possible explanations for this observation is that the stress from being hospitalized negatively impacts patients’ health during their stay in the hospital and after being discharged. The stress in a hospital may come from different sources–including sleep deprivation. Sleep is fundamental for recovery, and there are many challenges for patients to have adequate sleep while being hospitalized. Among the many sources of sleep interruption are early morning blood draws. Blood draws are often performed in the early morning in order to have recent lab tests results available during morning medical rounds. However, this common practice may disrupt patients’ recovery by interrupting their sleep. We were interested in determining to what extent blood draws contribute to early morning sleep disruptions and whether there has been recent progress in reducing them. We used data from Yale New Haven Hospital from 2016 to 2019 and found that nearly 4 in 10 of total daily blood draws were collected between 4:00am and 7:00am–a proportion that was persistently high over the 3 years we studied. Importantly, we found that this occurred across patients with different sociodemographic characteristics, including older individuals who are at highest risk of adverse health events from sleep deprivation.
Aging, Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Hearing Loss, JAMA, Johns Hopkins / 10.01.2023

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle,   MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59905" align="alignleft" width="200"]Alison R. Huang, PhD MPH Senior Research Associate Cochlear Center for Hearing & Public Health Department of Epidemiology Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Dr. Huang[/caption] Alison R. Huang, PhD MPH Senior Research Associate Cochlear Center for Hearing & Public Health Department of Epidemiology Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Hearing loss is a critical public health issue affecting two-thirds of older adults over 70 years old. There is growing understanding of a strong link between hearing loss and dementia, which impacts millions of Americans. Our main findings are that in a nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, every 10 decibel increase in hearing loss was associated with 16% greater prevalence of dementia, such that prevalence of dementia in older adults with moderate or greater hearing loss was 61% higher than prevalence in those with normal hearing. We also found that in older adults with moderate or greater hearing loss, hearing aid use was associated with a 32% lower prevalence of dementia.
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Heart Disease, JACC, University of Michigan / 21.12.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59873" align="alignleft" width="130"]Salim S. Hayek MDAssistant Professor Medical Director of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center Clinics University of Michigan Dr. Hayek[/caption] Salim S. Hayek MD Assistant Professor Medical Director of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center Clinics University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Essentially, immune checkpoint myocarditis is a rare but deadly complication of immune checkpoint inhibitors – amazing drugs that are increasingly used for the treatment of various cancers. Most patients present late, and when they do, they’re very ill and have a 50% chance of death. Diagnosing ICI myocarditis is challenging, given there is no one test that can differentiate it from other causes of cardiac injury. It is important to diagnose it fast, early and accurately in order to start immunosuppressive therapy as soon as possible. What we did in this study was look at commonly measured biomarkers in all patients receiving ICI at the University of Michigan. What we found was that patients who developed ICI myocarditis had early signs of muscle destruction (rise in CPK) levels and hepatitis (rise in AST, ALT), and that all patients who had myocarditis with bad outcomes had rises in all of the aforementioned biomarkers. Creatinine phosphokinase was the most sensitive.
Accidents & Violence, Aging, Author Interviews, BMJ, Brain Injury, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Exercise - Fitness / 15.12.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59841" align="alignleft" width="150"]Rachel Grashow PhDResearch Scientist Department of Environmental Health Football Players Health Study at Harvard University Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dr. Grashow[/caption] Rachel Grashow PhD Research Scientist Department of Environmental Health Football Players Health Study at Harvard University Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Anecdotally, we heard from former NFL players that they felt older than their chronological age. At the same time, doctors and medical care providers treating former players also observed that players appeared clinically older in some health domains. These observations motivated us to ask:  despite superior fitness and success as young men, are football players experiencing early aging and living with illness and disability for more years than their non-football peers?
Addiction, Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Race/Ethnic Diversity, University of Pennsylvania / 15.12.2022

[caption id="attachment_59828" align="alignleft" width="150"]Rebecca Arden Harris Dr. Harris[/caption] MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rebecca Arden Harris, MD, MSc Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The impact of the nationwide overdose epidemic on Black women has received little attention from policy-makers, researchers, or the press. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response:  Over the 7-year study period, preventable overdose deaths among Black women resulted in nearly 0.75 million years of life lost (YLL). Women aged 25-34 have suffered a rising proportion of this burden.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Duke, Heart Disease, Pediatrics / 06.12.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59798" align="alignleft" width="150"]Amy Berkman, MDDepartment of Pediatrics Duke University School of Medicine Dr. Berkman[/caption] Amy Berkman, MD Department of Pediatrics Duke University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Cancer incidence in adolescents and young adults (AYAs, aged 15-39 years at diagnosis) is increasing, with approximately 90,000 new diagnoses annually in the US. Improvements in 5-year survival have led to a growing population of survivors of AYA cancer, currently estimated at >600,000 survivors. Survivors are at increased risk of treatment related chronic conditions including cardiovascular disease (CVD). We wanted to determine whether certain sociodemographic and medical history factors further increase the risk of CVD in AYA cancer survivors and also compare risk of CVD between AYA cancer survivors and the general population.
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Rheumatology, University of Pittsburgh / 01.12.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Raisa Silva, M.D. Resident physician in Internal medicine University of Pittsburgh Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus for short) is a complex disease that significantly affects patients’ lives. Adherence to medications for lupus is known to be suboptimal (it can be as low as 15% in some studies). Multiple social factors may affect treatment adherence. For example, costs of medications (including copayments, deductibles, co-sharing), polypharmacy (patients with lupus often have comorbid diseases that also need medications), and potential side effects are some of the reasons why patients may have difficulty in taking medications for lupus every day. The costs of insurance copayment may represent a major obstacle to adherence. The lack of adherence to lupus medications is associated with poor control of disease, more symptoms, and worse disease outcomes, such as more hospitalizations and more severe disease. In our study, we examined the association between lupus medications copayment and adherence to these medications (some of the most commonly used medications for lupus).
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Emory, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 29.11.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chris A. Rees, MD, MPH Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine Research Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Emory University School of Medicine Attending Physician, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Research Scientist, CHAMPS, U.S. Program Office  and Eric W. Fleegler, MD, MPH, FAAP Associate in Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine Director Sedation Service Boston Children’s Hospital Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Rates of firearm fatalities in the United States have reached a 28-year high. Yet, an understanding of the specific demographic groups who have been most affected, and where in the United States these fatalities have occurred, has not been clearly described in the past.
Aging, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Dermatology, Heart Disease, Herpes Viruses, Stroke / 23.11.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:| [caption id="attachment_59757" align="alignleft" width="133"]Sharon G. Curhan, MD, ScM| Dr. Curhan[/caption] Sharon G. Curhan, MD, ScM| Director, CHEARS: The Conservation of Hearing Study Channing Division of Network Medicine Department of Medicine Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02114 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:       Herpes zoster, commonly known as “shingles,” is a viral infection that often causes a painful rash. Shingles can occur anywhere on the head or body. Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a person has chickenpox, the virus stays in their body for the rest of their life. Years and even decades later, the virus may reactivate as shingles. Almost all individuals age 50 years and older in the US have been infected with the varicella zoster virus and therefore they are at risk for shingles. About 1 in 3 people will develop shingles during their lifetime, and since age is a risk factor for shingles, this number may increase as the population ages. The risk is also higher among individuals of any age who are immunocompromised due to disease or treatment. A number of serious complications can occur when a person develops shingles, such as post-herpetic neuralgia (long-lasting pain), but there was limited information on whether there are other adverse long-term health implications of developing shingles. There is a growing body of evidence that links VZV, the virus that causes shingles, to vascular disease. VZV vasculopathy may cause damage to blood vessels and increase the risk of stroke or coronary heart disease. Although some previous studies showed a higher risk of stroke or heart attack around the time of the shingles infection, it was not known whether this higher risk persisted in the long term. Therefore, the question we aimed to address in this study was to investigate whether shingles is associated with higher long-term risk of stroke or coronary heart disease. To address this question, we conducted a prospective longitudinal study in 3 large US cohorts of >200,000 women and men, the Nurses’ Health Study (>79,000 women), the Nurses’ Health Study II (almost 94,000 women) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (>31,000 men), without a prior history of stroke or coronary heart disease. We collected information on shingles, stroke and coronary heart disease on biennial questionnaires and confirmed the diagnoses with medical record review. We followed the participants for up to 16 years and evaluated whether those who had developed shingles were at higher risk for stroke or coronary heart disease years after the shingles episode. The outcomes we measured were incident stroke, incident coronary heart disease [defined as having a non-fatal or fatal myocardial infarction (heart attack) or a coronary revascularization procedure (CABG, coronary artery bypass graft or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty)]. We also evaluated a combined outcome of cardiovascular disease, which included either stroke or coronary heart disease, whichever came first.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Lung Cancer, NYU/NYMC / 14.11.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59732" align="alignleft" width="150"]Dr. Sally Lau Dr. Sally Lau[/caption] Dr. Sally Lau MD Medical oncologist, NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center Assistant professor of medicine NYU Grossman School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: How big is the problem of lung cancer? Response: Amongst all cancer types, lung cancer is the number 1 killer in the US.
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Technology, Yale / 09.11.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59724" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Dhingra[/caption] Lovedeep Singh Dhingra, MBBS Postdoctoral Research Associate Cardiovascular Data Science (CarDS) Lab Yale School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Wearable devices are shown to have multiple health-related features, including heart rate and activity monitoring, ECG tracing, and blood pressure monitoring. In our analyses of the nationally-representative Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), we discovered that patients with and at risk of cardiovascular disease are less likely to use wearables. Older patients, patients with lower education, and patients with lower incomes are less likely to use wearables. Also, among adults with access to wearables, patients with cardiovascular disease use their devices less frequently as compared to the overall population.
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Nutrition, Occupational Health, Sleep Disorders / 09.11.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59713" align="alignleft" width="136"]Zhilei Shan, MD, PhD Postdoctoral fellow on Nutritional Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dr. Shan[/caption] Zhilei Shan, MD, PhD Postdoctoral fellow on Nutritional Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Unhealthy sleep behaviors and sleep disturbances are associated with higher risk of multiple diseases and mortality. The current profiles of sleep habits and disturbances, particularly the differences between workdays and free days, are unknown in the contemporary US. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: In this nationally representative cross-sectional analysis with 9004 adults aged 20 years or older, differences in sleep patterns between workdays and free days were observed. The mean sleep duration was 7.59 hours on workdays and 8.24 hours on free days (difference, 0.65 hour). The mean sleep and wake times were at 11:02 PM and 6:41 AM, respectively, on workdays and 11:25 PM and 7:41 AM, respectively, on free days (differences, 0.23 hour for sleep time and 1.00 hour for wake time). With regard to sleep disturbances, 30.5% of adults experienced 1 hour or more of sleep debt,46.5% experienced 1 hour or more of social jet lag, 29.8% had trouble sleeping, and 27.2% experienced daytime sleepiness.
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Schizophrenia, Sleep Disorders / 18.10.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59652" align="alignleft" width="150"]Dr. Michael J Prerau Dr. Prerau[/caption] Michael J. Prerau, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Faculty, Division of Sleep Medicine Harvard Medical School Associate Neuroscientist and Director of the Neurophysiological Signal Processing Core Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Department of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The brain is highly active during sleep, which makes it an important, natural way to study neurological health and disease. Scientists typically study brain activity during sleep using the electroencephalogram, or EEG, which measures brainwaves at the scalp. Starting in the mid 1930s, the sleep EEG was first studied by looking at the traces of brainwaves drawn on a paper tape by a machine. Many important features of sleep are still based on what people almost a century ago could most easily observe in the complex waveform traces. Even the latest machine learning and signal processing algorithms for detecting sleep waveforms are judged against their ability to recreate human observation. In this study, the researchers asked: What can we learn if we expand our notion of sleep brainwaves beyond what was historically easy to identify by eye?
Addiction, Alcohol, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Education, JAMA, Pediatrics, Social Issues, UCLA / 06.10.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59623" align="alignleft" width="150"]Mitchell Wong, MD PhD Professor of Medicine Executive Vice Chair for Research Training, Department of Medicine Executive Co-Director, Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program Director, UCLA CTSI KL2 Program UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research Los Angeles, CA 90024 Dr. Wong[/caption] Mitchell Wong, MD PhD Professor of Medicine Executive Vice Chair for Research Training Department of Medicine Executive Co-Director, Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program Director, UCLA CTSI KL2 Program UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research Los Angeles, CA 90024 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: It is estimated that social factors like poverty, education, and housing have a large impact on health. Yet, there are few interventions that exist to directly address those issues.  Schools are a promising solution since society already invests heavily in education and schools are an everyday part of most children’s lives.
Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, Heart Disease, Karolinski Institute, Kidney Disease / 06.10.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59616" align="alignleft" width="150"]Juan Jesus Carrero Pharm PhD Professor of Epidemiology Cardio-renal Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Dr. Carrero[/caption] Juan Jesus Carrero Pharm PhD Professor of Epidemiology Cardio-renal Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Concerns on the possibility of (direct oral anticoagulants)  DOAC-related nephropathy may limit its use. In this cohort study of non-valvular AF patients from routine clinical practice, initiation of DOAC vs (vitamin K antagonists) VKA was associated with more favorable kidney outcomes, i.e., a lower risk of the composite of kidney failure and sustained 30% eGFR decline, as well as a lower risk of AKI occurrence. In agreement with trial evidence, we also showed that DOAC vs VKA treatment was associated with a lower risk of major bleeding, but a similar risk of the composite of stroke, systemic embolism or death.
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Immunotherapy, NEJM, University of Pittsburgh / 06.10.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rohit Aggarwal, MD, MS Rheumatology, Professor of Medicine Medical Director, Arthritis and Autoimmunity Center Sub-Specialty Education Coordinator Division of Rheumatology Department of Medicine University of Pittsburgh MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? [caption id="attachment_59610" align="alignleft" width="150"]dermatomyositis-hand-2__dermnet-image One example of Dermatomyositis: DermNet image[/caption] Response: Dermatomyositis is a rare autoimmune inflammatory disease that affects muscles and skin, although muscular forms without skin symptoms and vice versa are also seen. The exact etiology of the disease is not known but is thought to be immune-mediated with many patients having highly specific autoantibodies. There is no cure for dermatomyositis, but several types of treatment have been successfully used in the last years including different kinds of immunosuppressants (e.g. steroids) and intravenous immune globulins (IVIG) to improve the patient’s condition. So far, none of these treatments was approved for use in dermatomyositis based on large, randomized, placebo-controlled trials. Their effectiveness was mainly deduced from clinical experience and from small clinical trials. The ProDERM study was the first large, pivotal, randomized placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) in dermatomyositis patients.
Author Interviews, JAMA, NYU/NYMC, STD, USPSTF / 30.09.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_56129" align="alignleft" width="133"]Gbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH Dr. Adolph & Margaret Berger Professor of Population Health Director, Division of Health & Behavior Director Center for Healthful Behavior Change Department of Population Health NYU Langone Health NYU School of Medicine Dr. Ogedegbe[/caption] Gbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH Dr. Adolph & Margaret Berger Professor of Population Health Director, Division of Health & Behavior Director Center for Healthful Behavior Change Department of Population Health NYU Langone Health NYU School of Medicine Member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Syphilis has become more common over the past 20 years, after reaching a record low in 2000. The Task Force found that screening people who are at increased risk for syphilis can identify the infection early so it can be treated before problems develop. For that reason, the Task Force recommends screening people who are at increased risk for syphilis infection.
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Melatonin, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders / 28.09.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_59589" align="alignleft" width="150"]Rebecca Robbins, Ph.D. Instructor in Medicine Associate Scientist, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Investigator, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Departments of Medicine and Neurology Brigham and Women's Hospital Dr. Robbins[/caption] Rebecca Robbins, Ph.D. Instructor in Medicine Associate Scientist, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Investigator, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Departments of Medicine and Neurology Brigham and Women's Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Teens face myriad challenges to sleep, ranging from biological factors, including a preference for later bedtimes and increased need for sleep, to social factors, including social pressures and increased academic workloads, all limiting teenagers in their ability to keep a healthy sleep schedule. In a nationally representative sample, we explored the prevalence of another potential barrier to sleep among teens, which are a set of beliefs that are held in the population, yet are actual counter to scientific principles regarding sleep and circadian rhythms.