Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Duke, JAMA, Ophthalmology / 14.03.2014

Glenn Yiu, MD, PhD Duke Ophthalmology Duke University Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Glenn Yiu, MD, PhD Duke Ophthalmology Duke University Medical Center MedicalResearch.com:  What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Yiu: This paper reported a child who suffered injury to both eyes from a powerful blue laser pointer purchased via the internet from overseas. Our report reviews the scientific basis for laser injuries in eyes and the factors that may affect outcomes, such as power, wavelength, duration, and distance of exposure. Newer green and blue lasers, especially high-powered ones, may be more prone to inducing eye injuries. We summarized the clinical features of ocular laser injuries, methods of prevention, and discussed how consumer availability of high powered lasers may require careful federal regulations. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA / 12.03.2014

Matthias Briel, MD, MSc Basel Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthias Briel, MD, MSc Basel Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada  MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Briel: Using a retrospective cohort of 1017 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) based on archived protocols approved by six research ethics committees in Switzerland, Germany, and Canada between 2000 and 2003, we found that 25% of initiated RCTs were discontinued. While discontinuation was common with RCTs involving patients (28%), it was rare in RCTs with healthy volunteers (3%). The most commonly reported reason for RCT discontinuation was poor recruitment (10% of included RCTs). We found that trials with investigator sponsor (versus industry) and those with smaller planned sample sizes were at higher risk of discontinuation due to poor recruitment. Of discontinued RCTs, up to 60% remained unpublished. Trial investigators rarely informed research ethics committees about trial discontinuation and publication. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Tobacco, UCSF / 12.03.2014

Lauren Dutra, ScD Postdoctoral Scholar, UCSF School of Medicine Cardiovascular Research Institute San Francisco, CA 94143MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lauren Dutra, ScD Postdoctoral Scholar, UCSF School of Medicine Cardiovascular Research Institute San Francisco, CA 94143 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Middle and high school students who used e-cigarettes were more likely to smoke tobacco cigarettes. They were also more likely to progress from experimenting with tobacco cigarettes to becoming regular smokers. Teen smokers who used e-cigarettes were more likely to be planning to quit in the next year and less likely to have abstained from smoking recently, compared to smokers who had never used e-cigarettes. They were also more likely to be heavier smokers (smoke more cigarettes per day) than those who had never tried e-cigarettes, that being said there are eliquids available that have no nicotine content whatsoever and these are therefore a much healthier option, you can see a wide variety of these at Gourmet E-Liquid. (more…)
Author Interviews, Inflammation, JAMA, Mental Health Research, PTSD / 12.03.2014

Dr. Dewleen Baker MD Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Dewleen Baker MD Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Baker: The main finding of this study is that a marker of peripheral inflammation, plasma CRP may be prospectively associated with PTSD symptom emergence, suggesting that inflammation may predispose to PTSD. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Hearing Loss, JAMA / 12.03.2014

Dr. Chuan-Ming Li MD, PhD Statistician (Health/Medicine) Division of Scientific Programs The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication DisordersMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Chuan-Ming Li MD, PhD Statistician (Health/Medicine) Division of Scientific Programs The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Chuan-Ming Li: We used data on adults 18 years or older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the study and found that prevalence of moderate to severe depression was 4.9 percent for individuals who reported excellent hearing, 7.1 percent for those with good hearing and 11.4 percent for participants who reported having a little hearing trouble or greater hearing impairment (HI). Depression rates were higher in women than in men. The prevalence of depression increased as hearing impairment became worse, except among participants who were deaf. There was no association between self-reported HI and depression among people ages 70 years and older; however, an association between moderate HI measured by pure-tone threshold hearing exams and depression was found in women aged 70 years and older but not in men. (more…)
ALS, Author Interviews, JAMA, Radiology / 12.03.2014

Prof. Dr. Philip Van Damme, MD, PhD Neuromuscular Reference Center, Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven Vesalius Research Center, VIB, Leuven Leuven Institute of Neurodegenerative Disorders (LIND) KU Leuven, BelgiumMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Philip Van Damme, MD, PhD Neuromuscular Reference Center, Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven Vesalius Research Center, VIB, Leuven Leuven Institute of Neurodegenerative Disorders (LIND) KU Leuven, Belgium MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Prof: Van Damme: Earlier FDG-PET studies carried out in the 80’ties already pointed out that patients with ALS had decrease glucose uptake in the brain that is more extended than the motor cortex, at least at the group level. Of course, this imaging technique has been improved since then. We prospectively assessed the diagnostic and prognostic value of FDG-PET in patients that were referred to us because a diagnosis of ALS was suspected. The most important finding of our study probably is that FDG-PET shows perirolandic and variable frontotemporal hypometabolism in most patients with ALS at the first presentation in our clinic. It suggests that FDG-PET is a very sensitive marker of cerebral involvement in ALS, which has a high sensitivity at the single patient level. In addition our study revealed that the co-occurrence of extensive prefrontal or anterior temporal hypometabolism was present in about 10% of patients and had a negative effect on survival after disease onset. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Emergency Care, JAMA / 11.03.2014

Andrew I. Geller, MD Medical Officer in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at CDC.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrew I. Geller, MD Medical Officer in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at CDC. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Geller: Using CDC’s national medication safety monitoring system, we estimated that, each year, there were about 100,000 visits made to U.S. emergency departments (EDs) for insulin-related hypoglycemia and errors during 2007-2011, or about half a million ED visits over the 5-year study period.  This is important because many of these ED visits for insulin-related hypoglycemia may be preventable. We also found these ED visits were more common with increasing age:  every year, 1 in 49 insulin-treated seniors (aged 65 years or older) visited the ED because of hypoglycemia while on insulin or because of a medication error related to insulin. Among the very elderly (aged 80 years or older), this number was 1 in 8 annually. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Karolinski Institute, Kidney Disease / 04.03.2014

Juan Jesus Carrero PhD (Pharm and Med) Associate Professor in Renal Medicine Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Juan Jesus Carrero PhD (Pharm and Med) Associate Professor in Renal Medicine Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.   MedicalResearch.com: Why did you choose to study this particular question? Answer: We chose this question because there is currently an important knowledge gap regarding safety and effectiveness of common drugs in individuals with chronic kidney disease. Because kidney dysfunction interferes with drug metabolism and drug elimination, patients with kidney dysfunction have traditionally been excluded from randomized controlled trials. Yet, practice guidelines are afterwards extrapolated to those in the absence of formal evaluation. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 27.02.2014

Brian D'Onofrio, PhD Associate Professor Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Indiana University Bloomington, IN MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brian D'Onofrio, PhD Associate Professor Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Indiana University Bloomington, IN MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of your study? Dr. D'Onofrio: The main finding from our study is that the specific associations between advancing paternal age at childbearing and offspring psychiatric and academic problems were much larger than in previous studies. In fact, we found that advancing paternal age was associated with greater risk for several problems, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, suicide attempts and substance use problems, whereas traditional research designs suggested advancing paternal age may have diminished the rate at which these problems occur. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections, JAMA / 26.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tobias Skillbäck, MD Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology Department of Neurochemistry, Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg Mölndal, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Skillbäck: There were two main findings in this study. First; Levels of t-tau and the T-tau/P-tau ratio in CSF of CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) patients are markedly increased, as compared to patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and they  are high enough to distinguish CJD against these important differential diagnoses. Secondly, levels of these biomarkers tend to increase rapidly with disease progress in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. This trend could not be observed for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and could also be used to clinically distinguish CJD and indicates that repeated CSF measurements might be of value if a clinical suspicion of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Diseaseis present. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Weight Research / 25.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD, MRP Epidemiologist and Analysis Branch Chief NHANES Program/NCHS/CDC Hyattsville, MD 20782 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Ogden: We continue to track obesity levels in the US population using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. New data are now available for 2011-2012. We found that 17% of youth and 35% of adults were obese.  Overall there has been no change in obesity levels among either youth or adults in the last 10 years. The prevalence of obesity among youth was 16.9% - exactly the same as in 2009-2010.  In separate age groups analyses we found a decrease in obesity among 2-5 year olds and an increase in obesity among older women 60+ years. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections, JAMA, Vaccine Studies / 25.02.2014

Signe Sørup, PhD Research Center for Vitamins and Vaccines (CVIVA) Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut Artillerivej 5, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, DenmarkMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Signe Sørup, PhD Research Center for Vitamins and Vaccines (CVIVA) Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut Artillerivej 5, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Sørup: We found that admissions with any type of infection was reduced with 14 % for Danish children having the live, attenuated vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) as the most recent vaccine compared with children having the inactivated vaccine against Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, and Haemophilus Influenzae type b (DTaP-IPV-Hib) as the most recent vaccine. In Denmark herd immunity against measles, mumps, and rubella is high and only 26 of the more 42,000 admissions was related to measles, mumps, and rubella; so this finding cannot be explained by the specific protection against the targeted diseases. In Denmark MMR vaccination is recommended at 15 months of age, but only 50% of the children in the study had received MMR before 16 months of age. We estimated that one hospital admission between 16 and 24 months of age could be avoided for 201 children vaccinated with MMR before 16 months of age rather than later. These results are based on a retrospective cohort study including approximately half a million Danish children. The analyses are adjusted for age and a long range of background factors, including socio-economic factors. (more…)
ADHD, Author Interviews, JAMA / 25.02.2014

Jørn Olsen, M.D., Ph.D.  Professor Institute of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology UCLA Aarhus University Aarhus,DenmarkMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jørn Olsen, M.D., Ph.D.  Professor Institute of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology UCLA Aarhus University Aarhus,Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Olsen: Acetaminophen (paracetamol) is drug being used by many, including pregnant women. In our data about half of all pregnant women in 1995 to 2002 had used the drug all least once during their pregnancy. The drug has shown hormonal disruptor properties in animal studies. We found that women who used this drug during pregnancy gave birth to children who 5 – 10 years later slightly more often had behavioral problems or were treated for ADHD. The risk was highest for those who took the medication late in pregnancy and/or had taken the drug several times. The increased risk was about 10-30%. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, JAMA, Vegetarians / 24.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yoko Yokoyama, Ph.D., M.P.H. National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, Japan, MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Yokoyama: We found consistent evidence that a vegetarian diet has a significant blood-pressure-lowering effect, and this was clear both in observational studies of individuals who had chosen vegetarian diets on their own and in intervention trials in which people were asked to make diet changes. Our meta-analysis included 32 observational studies and 7 controlled clinical trials. In the observational studies, vegetarian diets were associated with blood pressures that were about 7 mmHg lower systolic and 5 mmHg lower diastolic. In the clinical trials, the reductions were about 5 mmHg systolic and 2 mmHg diastolic. These are pooled averages, so for some individuals, particularly those with higher body weights or higher blood pressures at the beginning, the blood-pressure-lowering effects could be much greater. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA / 22.02.2014

Carlos A. Morillo, MD, FRCPC, FACC, FHRS, FESC
 Professor Department of Medicine, Cardiology Division
 Program Director Cardiac Electrophysiology and Autonomic Physiology Fellowship
 Arrhythmia & Pacing Service McMaster University-HHSC
 Director Syncope and Autonomic Disorder Unit
 Senior Investigator, Arrhythmia & Global Health, Population Health Research Institute
 Hamilton, ON, CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carlos A. Morillo, MD, FRCPC, FACC, FHRS, FESC
 Professor Department of Medicine, Cardiology Division Program Director Cardiac Electrophysiology and Autonomic Physiology Fellowship
,Hamilton, ON, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Morillo: The main findings were that Ablation of atrial fibrillation was superior to conventional antiarrythmic drug therapy in patients with Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation that had not been treated with Antiarrhythmic medications. Ablation extended the time to first recurrence of atrial fibrillation within the 2 year follow-up of the study and significantly reduced the  recurrence of repeated episodes of AF. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Surgical Research / 20.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mike K.Liang, MD, Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital,Houston, TX 7702 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Liang: Compared to suture repair, mesh repair of primary ventral hernias (umbilical, epigastric, spigelian, lumbar), the most common type of ventral hernias, is associated with fewer hernia recurrence but slightly more seromas and surgical site infections. (more…)
General Medicine, JAMA, University of Michigan / 19.02.2014

Dr. David Hanauer, MD Associate Professor, University of Michigan Medical School 1500 East Medical Center Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5940MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. David Hanauer, MD Associate Professor, University of Michigan Medical School 1500 East Medical Center Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5940 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study Dr. Hanauer: From my perspective, the primary findings were that 65% of the general public is now aware of physician rating web sites and among those who are aware, about 36% had used them in the prior year.  Awareness and usage seems to be rapidly increasing compared to what has been reported in prior studies from just a few years ago.  We also found that patients consider word of mouth recommendations (from family/friends) to be almost twice as important as ratings sites are. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Surgical Research, Vitamin D / 19.02.2014

Sadeq A. Quraishi, MD, MHA Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Boston, MassachusettsMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sadeq A. Quraishi, MD, MHA Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Quraishi: Our retrospective study suggests that there is an association between pre-operative 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and the risk of hospital-acquired infections after gastric bypass surgery. In particular, patients with 25(OH)D levels <30 ng/ml before surgery were almost 4 times more likely to develop a surgical site infection within 30 days of surgery than patients with pre-operative 25(OH)D levels at 30 ng/ml or higher. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 19.02.2014

Anton P. Porsteinsson M.D. William B. and Sheila Konar Professor of Psychiatry Director, Alzheimer's Disease Care, Research and Education Program (AD-CARE) University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Rochester, N.Y. 14620MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anton P. Porsteinsson M.D. William B. and Sheila Konar Professor of Psychiatry Director, Alzheimer's Disease Care, Research and Education Program (AD-CARE) University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Rochester, N.Y. 14620 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Porsteinsson: Identifying drugs outside the antipsychotic class with targeted anti-agitation effects that provide greater benefit or lower risk among patients with Alzheimer’s disease is a research priority.  Citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is frequently used in older individualsand has been suggested as an alternative to antipsychotic drugs for agitation and aggression in dementia.  Among 186 patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease and agitation receiving psychosocial intervention, the addition of citalopram compared with placebo robustly and significantly reduced agitation and caregiver distress, but modest cognitive and cardiac adverse effects of citalopram may limit its practical application at the 30 mg/d dose studied in this trial. There are insufficient data on efficacy for agitation at lower doses of citalopram. (more…)
Author Interviews, Erasmus, JAMA, Stroke / 18.02.2014

dr_Arfan_IkramMedicalResearch.com Interview with: M. Arfan Ikram, MD, PhD Departments of Radiology, Epidemiology, and Neurology Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands MedicalResearch.com:  What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Ikram: The main finding of the study, carried out within the Rotterdam Study and led by drs. Daniel Bos and Arfan Ikram (both from the Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands), was that intracranial atherosclerosis is a major risk factor for stroke in the Western (white) population. Traditionally, intracranial atherosclerosis has not been considered of major importance to stroke risk in Western populations. In contrast, most research on intracranial atherosclerosis originates from Asian and African populations, where is was actually recognized as the most important risk factor of stroke. Our study demonstrates that also in the Western population intracranial atherosclerosis is a major risk factor for stroke and should get more focus in clinical practice. Moreover, our findings indicate that its contribution to the proportion of all strokes is greater than that of atherosclerosis in other vessel beds that are further away from the brain. (more…)
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, JAMA, Weight Research / 18.02.2014

Dr Clare Llewellyn PhD Cpsychol Lecturer in Behavioural Obesity Research Health Behaviour Research Centre Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University College London, LondonMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Clare Llewellyn PhD Cpsychol Lecturer in Behavioural Obesity Research Health Behaviour Research Centre Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University College London, London  MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Llewellyn:This study indicated that appetite – and, in particular, satiety sensitivity (how quickly you feel full during eating, or how long you remain full after eating) – could be one of the mechanisms through which ‘obesity genes’ influence body weight. We know that body weight has a strong genetic basis, but the mechanisms through which ‘obesity genes’ influence weight are largely unknown. We showed that children with a higher genetic predisposition to obesity (estimated from a score comprising 28 known obesity-related genes) not only had more body fat (a larger BMI and waist circumference), but importantly they were also less sensitive to satiety. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, University of Pennsylvania / 13.02.2014

Dr. Misha A. Rosenbach Assistant Professor of Dermatology Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Section Editor, JAMA Dermatology Patient PageMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Misha A. Rosenbach Assistant Professor of Dermatology Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Section Editor, JAMA Dermatology Patient Page MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Rosenbach: There is strong agreement between teledermatologists and in-person dermatologists when evaluating inpatients at a tertiary care academic hospital.  The primary aim of this study was to assess telederm as a triage tool.  Many dermatologists are not full-time hospitalists, but work in private practice or clinics which may be remote from affiliated hospitals.  The goal was to evaluate whether teledermatology could help those providers assess the acuity of inpatient consults.  There was strong concordance. (more…)
Author Interviews, HPV, JAMA, Karolinski Institute, Vaccine Studies / 12.02.2014

Lisen Arnheim Dahlström Associate Professor (Docent) Institutionen för medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Karolinska Institutet SwedenMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lisen Arnheim Dahlström Associate Professor (Docent) Institutionen för medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Karolinska Institutet Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The main finding, when studying HPV vaccine effectiveness against condyloma by dose level is that 3 doses offered the maximum protection, although 2 doses also offered a substantial protection. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Menopause, Sexual Health, University of Pittsburgh / 11.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Holly Thomas, MD General Internal Medicine Fellow, Women's Health and Clinical Research University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15213 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Thomas: We found that, despite popular perception, the majority of women (85%) who are sexually active at midlife will remain sexually active four years later. We also found that the majority of women score low on a measure of sexual function. However, low sexual function scores did not mean women stopped having sex. In fact, the score on the sexual function measure did not predict whether women maintained sexual activity. Finally, we found that importance of sex was a strong predictor of whether women remained sexually active. Women who felt sex was moderately to extremely important in their lives were 3 times more likely to maintain sexual activity. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Nutrition, Sugar / 03.02.2014

MedicalReseach.com Interview with: Quanhe Yang, PhD Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341 MedicalReseach.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Yang: The majority of US adults consume more added sugar than is recommended for a healthy diet. On average, Americans consume about 15% of daily calories from added sugar.  About 70% of adults consume more than 10%of calories from added sugar and another 10% consume more than 25% of calories from added sugar. When you compare those who consume 7.5% (lowest quintile) of calories from added sugar with participants who consume between 17%-21% (quintile 4) of calories from added sugar, the latter group has a 38% higher risk of CVD mortality. But the risk of CVD death more than doubles  for those who consume  ≥21% (highest quintile) of calories from added sugar. (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, JAMA, Primary Care / 26.01.2014

Dr. Lyndonna Marrast MD                                                                                       Fellow in General Internal Medicine Cambridge Health Alliance 1493 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02139 MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Lyndonna Marrast MD Fellow in General Internal Medicine Cambridge Health Alliance Cambridge, MA 02139 MedicalResearch.com:   What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Marrast: We found that disadvantaged patients (categorized as racial and ethnic minorities, non-English home language speakers, being low income, having Medicaid, or reporting fair or poor health) were more likely than other patients to be cared for by a minority physician. A majority, 54%, of black, Hispanic and Asian patients received care from a minority doctor and the vast majority, 70%, of those who report not speaking English at home got care from a minority physician. (more…)
Author Interviews, FDA, JAMA, Yale / 23.01.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nicholas S. Downing, AB Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, Connecticut MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In our systematic review of all new drugs approved by the FDA over an 8 year period, we found that there was real variability in the quality and quantity of clinical trial evidence used as the basis of the agency’s approval decisions. Some drugs were studied in multiple randomized, double-blinded, controlled clinical trials that provide very helpful information for patients and physicians. However, other drugs were studied in clinical trials that did not produce as much information about their safety and effectiveness. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, JAMA / 22.01.2014

John W. O'Kane M.D. Associate Professor Family Medicine and Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Medical Coordinator, U.W. Intercollegiate Athletics University of Washington Sports Medicine Clinic, SeattleMedicalResearch.com Interview with: John W. O'Kane M.D. Associate Professor Family Medicine and Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Medical Coordinator, U.W. Intercollegiate Athletics University of Washington Sports Medicine Clinic, Seattle MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. O’Kane:  In 11 to 14 year old female elite soccer players the concussion incidence was 13% with a rate of 1.2 per 1000 athletic exposures.   Symptoms lasted a median of 4 days and players with light or noise sensitivity, emotional lability, memory loss, nausea, and concentration problems took significantly longer to recover.  Heading the ball accounted for 30.5% of concussions and the vast majority of concussions (86%) occurred in games.  The majority of players (58.6%) reported playing with symptoms and less than half (44.1%) sought medical attention for their symptoms.  Those seeking medical attention were symptomatic longer and were less likely to play with symptoms. (more…)
Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, JAMA, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research / 17.01.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel A. Anaya, MD, FACS Associate Professor of Surgery - Surgical Oncology Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery Baylor College of Medicine Chief, General Surgery & Surgical Oncology SectionDirector, Liver Tumor Program Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center Houston, TX 77030 and Dr. Courtney J. Balentine, MD First author and surgical resident at Baylor College of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Anaya:  That a good proportion of patients having colorectal operations will need additional assistance to recover during the postoperative period, resulting in being discharged to other facilities (nursing facilities, skilled care, etc) after surgery, and that hospitals where a higher-volume of colorectal operations are performed are more likely to discharge patients back to home after surgery. (more…)