Author Interviews, Genetic Research, JAMA, Karolinski Institute, Weight Research / 31.01.2023
Twin Study Finds Rare Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Highly Heritable
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
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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.
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.
Dr. Caraballo-Cordovez[/caption]
César Caraballo-Cordovez, MD
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.
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.
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 
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dr. Orkaby[/caption]
Ariela Orkaby, MD, MPH
Geriatrics & Preventive Cardiology
Associate Epidemiologist
Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: As the population is living longer, there is increased risk of frailty and vulnerability. Frailty is defined as reduced physiological reserve and decreased ability to cope with even an acute stress. Up to half of adults over the age of 85 are living with frailty and preventative measures are greatly needed. We tested the effect of vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on the risk of developing frailty in healthy older adults in the US enrolled in the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) trial.
Dr. Orkaby[/caption]
Ariela Orkaby, MD, MPH
Geriatrics & Preventive Cardiology
Associate Epidemiologist
Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: As the population is living longer, there is increased risk of frailty and vulnerability. Frailty is defined as reduced physiological reserve and decreased ability to cope with even an acute stress. Up to half of adults over the age of 85 are living with frailty and preventative measures are greatly needed. We tested the effect of vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on the risk of developing frailty in healthy older adults in the US enrolled in the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) trial.
Dr. Han[/caption]
Meilan K Han MD, MS
Henry Sewall Professor of Medicine
Professor of Internal Medicine and Section Head
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Medical School
University of Michigan
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In the NIH sponsored SPIROMICS study we demonstrated that symptomatic, tobacco exposed individuals have frequent exacerbations. Many of these individuals are treated with the same inhaled medications that have shown benefit in COPD, but we don’t have any evidence basis for this practice.
Dr. Maki Inoue-Choi,[/caption]
Maki Inoue-Choi, Ph.D., M.S., R.D.
Staff Scientist
Metabolic Epidemiology Branch
National Institutes of Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Tea is rich in bioactive compounds that can possibly protect against health conditions such as cancer and heart disease. A lower risk of death was seen among tea drinkers than non-drinkers in previous studies, but these were largely in populations where green tea drinking is common. In contrast, the studies in populations where black tea drinking is more common have been limited and the findings from these studies have been inconsistent.
Dr. LeBoff[/caption]
Meryl S. LeBoff, MD
Dr. Manson[/caption]
JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH
Professor, Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School Of Public Health
Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women's Health, Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Chief, Preventive Medicine, Brigham And Women's Hospital
Co-Director, Womens Health, Brigham And Women's Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Osteoporosis is a major public health problem. Although supplemental vitamin D has been widely used to reduce the risk of fractures in the general population, studies of the effects of vitamin D on fractures, the most important bone health outcome, have been conflicting.
Randomized controlled trials, the highest quality studies, from around the world have shown benefit, no effect, or even harm of supplemental vitamin D on risk of fractures. Some of the trials used bolus dosing, had small samples sizes or short study duration, and co-administered calcium. No large RCTS of this scale tested whether daily supplemental vitamin D (without co-administration with calcium) prevented fractures in the US population.
To fill these knowledge gaps, we tested the hypothesis in this ancillary study to VITAL, whether daily supplemental vitamin D3 reduced the risk of incident total, non-spine and hip fractures in women and men in the US.
Dr. Altan-Bonnet[/caption]
Nihal Altan-Bonnet, Ph.D.
Chief of the Laboratory of Host-Pathogen Dynamics
NHLBI
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Enteric viruses such as norovirus, rotavirus and astrovirus are responsible for nearly 1.5 billion global infections per year resulting in gastrointestinal illnesses and sometimes leading to death in the very young, in the elderly and in the immunocompromised. These viruses have been thought to traditionally infect and replicate only in the intestines, then shed into feces and transmit to others via the oral-fecal route (e.g. through ingestion of fecal contaminated food items).
Our findings reported in Nature, using animal models of norovirus, rotavirus and astrovirus infection, challenge this traditional view and reveal that these viruses can also replicate robustly in salivary glands, be shed into saliva in large quantities and transmit through saliva to other animals.
In particular we also show infected infants can transmit these viruses to their mothers mammary glands via suckling and this leads to both an infection in their mothers mammary glands but also a rapid immune response by the mother resulting in a surge in her milk antibodies. These milk antibodies may play a role in fighting the infection in their infants .