Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, OBGYNE / 24.07.2014

Jason D. Wright, M.D. Levine Family Assistant Professor of Women's Health Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Gynecologic Oncology Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons 161 Fort Washington Ave, 8th Floor New York, New York 10032MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jason D. Wright, M.D. Levine Family Assistant Professor of Women's Health Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Gynecologic Oncology Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons 161 Fort Washington Ave, New York, New York 10032 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Wright: This study is one of the first large scale studies to examine the risk of cancer specifically in women who underwent hysterectomy with electric power morcellation. Among 32,000 women treated at over 500 hospitals across the US we noted cancer in 27 per 10,000 women. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lancet, Pain Research / 24.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: R Chris Williams PhD Honorary Fellow, Musculoskeletal Division The George Institute for Global Health Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Williams: We found that in addition to advice and reassurance, ‘regular’ or ‘as needed’ paracetamol did not improve recovery time for people with low back pain, compared to placebo. We also found the pain intensity and a range of other relevant measures, such as patient’s physical function was not different between the treatment groups. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Diabetes, Genetic Research, Nature, Vanderbilt / 23.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Qiuyin Cai, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Medicine Vanderbilt University Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Cai: We conducted a genome-wide association study in East Asians to search for additional genetic changes that are linked to breast cancer development. The study was conducted as part of the Asia Breast Cancer Consortium, which includes 22,780 women with breast cancer and 24,181 control subjects. We found DNA sequence changes in two genes, PRC1 and ZC3H11A, and a change near the ARRDC3 gene were associated with breast cancer risk. These results were also replicated in a large consortium, including 16,003 breast cancer cases and 41,335 control subjects of European ancestry. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, General Medicine, Infections, Journal Clinical Oncology, Sloan Kettering / 23.07.2014

Allison Lipitz-Snyderman, PhD Assistant Attending Outcomes Research Scientist Center for Health Policy and Outcomes Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY 10065MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Allison Lipitz-Snyderman, PhD Assistant Attending Outcomes Research Scientist Center for Health Policy and Outcomes Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY  10065 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lipitz-Snyderman: Long-term central venous catheters are used to administer intravenous fluids and treatments such as chemotherapy.  These catheters can also be a source of bloodstream infections which can be harmful to cancer patients.  However, this risk is not well understood.  In our study, we found that the use of these catheters was associated with an increased risk of infections for patients with cancer.  We used a population-based dataset, SEER-Medicare, to study this issue in older adult cancer patients.  This dataset allowed us to study patients treated in different institutions and follow them over time. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, JAMA, Neurological Disorders, Stroke / 23.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Agustin Ibanez, PhD Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience Institute of Cognitive Neurology and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council and Sandra Baez, MS; Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Institute of Neuroscience, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Both patients with the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and patients with frontal strokes presented moral judgment abnormalities. Their deficits were related to impairments in the integration of intentions and outcomes. Specifically, both patient groups judged moral scenarios by focusing on the actions' outcomes instead of the protagonists' intentions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Genetic Research, Nature / 23.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr Lim Weng Khong Research Fellow, National Cancer Centre Singapore. Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr Lim Weng Khong: This study uncovered the genetic cause fibroadenomas, which are very common benign breast tumours in women. The team from National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore General Hospital and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School identified a critical gene called MED12 that has frequent durations in a remarkable 60 per cent of fibroadenomas studied. Their findings have been published in the top-ranked journal Nature Genetics. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, JAMA, Surgical Research, UC Davis / 23.07.2014

  Erin Brown, MD General Surgery PGY6 UC Davis Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Erin Brown, MD General Surgery PGY6 UC Davis Medical Center Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Brown: This study sought to determine with childrearing during training put residents at increased risk of quiting.  We looked at both male and female surgical residents who chose to have children during residency and found that residents having children during training were not more likely to quit than those who did not have children.  We also found that there childrearing had no negative impact on surgical training based on total surgical case numbers, board pass rates, and annual exam scores.  Main findings of the study were that neither female gender nor childrearing during training were associated with residents quitting. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, JAMA / 22.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brian M. Wong, MD, FRCPC Staff Physician, Division of General Internal Medicine Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine Director, Continuing Education & Quality Improvement Associate Director, Centre for Quality Improvement & Patient Safety (C-QuIPS) Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Lisa Richardson, MD., MA, FRCPC Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Division of General Internal Medicine, University Health Network, HoPingKong Centre for Excellence in Education and Practice, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Our study sought to characterize how many clinically important issues that occur during the overnight on-call period were handed over and discussed by the on-call resident with the daytime medical team. For example, if a patient developed chest pain in the middle of the night and the on-call resident evaluated the patient, did the resident then 'handover' this issue to the team the next morning so that they could follow up and make sure that the patient receives timely care? In our study, we found that approximately 40% of these issues did not get handed over. This finding was consistent across 2 major Canadian academic teaching hospitals. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Heart Disease, JACC, Yale / 22.07.2014

Aakriti Gupta, MD, MBBS Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, ConnecticutMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Aakriti Gupta, MD, MBBS Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut Medical Research: What were the main findings? Dr. Gupta: Using a national database, we found that heart attack hospitalization rates for patients under the age of 55 have not declined in the past decade while their Medicare-age counterparts have seen a 20 percent drop. We also found that among younger patients below 55 years of age, women fare worse because they have longer hospital stays, and are more likely to die in the hospital after a heart attack. Young women were also more likely to have higher prevalence of co-existing medical conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure and higher cholesterol levels. Overall, all patient groups in the study saw increases in these conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure in the past decade. (more…)
Author Interviews, Flu - Influenza, Lancet / 22.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Jean-Francois Rossignol, FRSC, FRCPath Romark Laboratories, LC MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Rossignol: Nitazoxanide, a new orally administered drug in development for treating influenza, reduced the duration of symptoms of uncomplicated influenza compared to a placebo. The drug also reduced viral shedding. Side effects were similar for the drug and placebo treatment arms. The study was designed and conducted in compliance with FDA guidelines for studying new drugs for influenza. (more…)
Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, JAMA / 21.07.2014

Riyaz Bashir MD, FACC, RVT Associate Professor of Medicine Director, Vascular and Endovascular Medicine Department of Medicine Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, PA 19140MedicalResearch.com Interview with Riyaz Bashir MD, FACC, RVT Associate Professor of Medicine Director, Vascular and Endovascular Medicine Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, PA 19140 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Bashir : Blood clots of legs called deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a very common disease that occurs in about 1.0 person per 1000 population per year. This condition is responsible for more than 600,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States and approximately 6% of these patients will die within 1 month of the diagnosis. Amongst these patients 20% - to 50% will go on to develop chronic leg pains, swelling, heaviness, skin discoloration, and ulcers, in spite of conventional treatment with Blood thinning medications (anticoagulation) and compression stockings.This condition, which is called Post-thrombotic syndrome PTS markedly impairs the quality of life of these patients and is a significant economic burden (2.4 billion dollars and 200 million work days lost annually in US) on the society.In fact, many of these people lose their jobs because of the disability it causes. Several small studies have shown that early clot removal by minimally invasive catheter-based clot busting procedure called Catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) leads to a significant reduction in Post-thrombotic syndrome along with improvements in quality of life. Unfortunately, due to the small number of patients in these studies, we did not have any data about the safety of this treatment option. This has led to conflicting recommendations by various medical societies like the American College of Chest Physicians recommending against its use while the American Heart Association recommends Catheter-directed thrombolysis as first-line treatment for these patients. In light of these conflicting directives, we reviewed the frequency and safety of CDT versus conventional treatment in these patients with blood clots above the knees in the United States using Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from 2005 to 2010. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 21.07.2014

Kanako K. Kumamaru, MD PhD Assistant Professor, Departments of Radiology Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02446MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kanako K. Kumamaru, MD PhD Assistant Professor, Departments of Radiology Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02115 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Kumamaru: When a patient does not have diabetes and had no or ≤25% coronary stenosis in his/her previous coronary CT angiography (CCTA) performed within 3 years, the probability of newly developed coronary artery disease (CAD) is very low, suggesting no repeat CCTA necessary, even if the clinical scenario suggested CCTA to be appropriate. Especially, when coronary arteries were completely normal at the prior scan, no patient underwent subsequent revascularization during the study period. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, HIV, JAMA, Weight Research / 21.07.2014

Steven Grinspoon, MD Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Director, MGH Program in Nutritional Metabolism Co-Director, Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, MA 02114MedicalResearch.com Interview with Steven Grinspoon, MD Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Director, MGH Program in Nutritional Metabolism Co-Director, Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, MA 02114 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Grinspoon: The primary finding is that tesamorelin, a hypothalamic peptide that increases the endogenous pulsatile secretion of growth hormone, reduced liver fat in HIV-infected patients with increased visceral (abdominal) fat.  Increased visceral fat is very closely linked with increased liver fat in HIV patients, but the effects on liver fat were not known.  Our data show that tesamorelin reduces liver fat in conjunction with decreasing visceral fat, which may be clinically important for patients with HIV-infection who have both increased abdominal fat and fatty liver disease. In addition the study demonstrated that this treatment strategy was neutral to glucose by the end of the 6 month study. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 21.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cheol Whan Lee and Seung-Jung Park Division of Cardiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan Seoul, Korea Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The time window of DES (drug-eluting stent) failure is widely variable from soon after DES implantation to several years after DES implantation. We observed patients with late DES failure are commonly presented with acute coronary syndrome. We hypothesized that temporal patterns of DES failure may be different, and analyzed all patients with first DES failure at our institution. We found that late drug-eluting stent failure is more likely to progress to acute myocardial infarction, aggressive angiographic patterns, and worse outcomes following retreatment. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, JAMA / 20.07.2014

Dr Peter MacPherson MBChB PhD Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Department of Clinical Sciences Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Peter MacPherson MBChB PhD Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Department of Clinical Sciences Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. MacPherson: In 2012, an estimated 35 million individuals were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) substantially reduces the risk of HIV transmission as well as greatly reducing illness and death, raising hopes that high uptake of annual HIV testing and early initiation of ART could improve HIV prevention as well as care. Achieving high coverage of HIV testing and treatment is a major challenge however, with low rates of HIV testing and poor linkage into HIV care. Self-testing for HIV infection (defined as individuals performing and interpreting their HIV test in private) is a novel approach that has seen high acceptance in Malawi and the United States, and is a process that could overcome barriers to conventional facility-based and community-based HIV testing, which lack privacy and convenience. However, no studies in high HIV prevalence settings have investigated linkage into HIV care after HIV self-testing. Among 16,6660 adults in Blantyre, Malawi offered HIV self-testing, optional home initiation of HIV care (including two-weeks of ART for those eligible) compared with standard HIV care resulted in a substantial and significant increase in the proportion of adults initiating antiretroviral therapy. HIV self-testing was also extremely popular, with 58% of the adult population self-testing with just 6-months. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate a comprehensive home-based HIV testing, eligibility assessment and treatment initiation strategy. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, Lancet / 20.07.2014

Dr. Colette SmithMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Colette Smith: PhD Research Department of Infection and Population Health University College London, London, UK   Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Smith: We followed a group of approximately 45,000 HIV-positive people from Europe, USA and Australia between 1999 to 2011. We found that the death rate approximately halved over the 12-year study period. For every 1,000 people, around 18 died per year in 1999-2001, reducing to 9 deaths per year in 2009-2011. We also studied what people died of. We found that the death rate from AIDS and from liver disease decreased by around two-thirds. Deaths from heart disease approximately halved. However, the rate of cancer deaths (excluding cancers that are classified as AIDS events) remained constant over time. One in three deaths were caused by AIDS in 1999 to 2011, and this decreased to one in five deaths in the last two years of the study. However, even in recent years it was the joint most common cause of death. The proportion of deaths from cancer increased over time. One in ten deaths were from cancer in 1999 to 2001, and this increased to one in five deaths in 2009 to 2011. By the end of the study it was the joint-most common cause of death. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, JAMA, OBGYNE / 19.07.2014

Jared Baeten, MD PhD Professor, Departments of Global Health and Medicine Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology University of Washington Seattle, WA 98104MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jared Baeten, MD PhD Professor, Departments of Global Health and Medicine Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology University of Washington Seattle, WA 98104 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Baeten: Among heterosexual African couples in which the male was HIV positive and the female was not, receipt of antiretroviral pre-exposure preventive (PrEP) therapy did not result in significant differences in pregnancy incidence, birth outcomes, and infant growth compared to females who received placebo. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, JAMA / 17.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emmanuel Lagarde Director of Research at INSERM, France Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lagarde: Concussion accounts for more than 90 percent of all traumatic brain injuries, although little is known about prognosis for the injury. The symptoms cited as potentially being part of post concussion syndrome fall into three areas: cognitive, somatic and emotional. But the interpretation of symptoms after concussion should also take into account that injuries are often sustained during psychologically distressing events which can lead to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Medical Research: Were any of the findings unexpected? Dr. Lagarde: Yes, as we were expecting to observe long term (3-month) symptoms following brain injury, but few were found to be specific : most of them were as frequent among patients with other injuries. Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report? Dr. Lagarde: It seems as if there is little evidence of the existence of a specific syndrome following mild traumatic brain injury. However, patients who experienced a concussion are at risk of another well-known syndrome called Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, which is associated with the distressing event that led to the injury. Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study? Dr. Lagarde: The classification system of symptoms following mild brain injury should be revisited as our results are challenging the very relevance of the DSM-V post concussion syndrome. Citation: Association of Symptoms Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder vs Postconcussion SyndromeMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emmanuel Lagarde Director of Research at INSERM, France Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lagarde: Concussion accounts for more than 90 percent of all traumatic brain injuries, although little is known about prognosis for the injury. The symptoms cited as potentially being part of post concussion syndrome fall into three areas: cognitive, somatic and emotional. But the interpretation of symptoms after concussion should also take into account that injuries are often sustained during psychologically distressing events which can lead to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Red Meat / 17.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr inz. Joanna Kaluza Department of Human Nutrition Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW Warsaw POLAND Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Response: The most important finding of my study is the fact that processed red meat consumption, but not unprocessed red meat, increases a risk of Heart Failure incidence and Heart Failure mortality. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Lipids, NEJM / 17.07.2014

Professor Jane Armitage Professor of Clinical Trials and Epidemiology Clinical Trial Service Unit, Oxford Cardiovascular Science Oxford, United KingdomMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Jane Armitage Professor of Clinical Trials and Epidemiology Clinical Trial Service Unit, Oxford Cardiovascular Science Oxford, United Kingdom Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Armitage: The study showed that adding extended release niacin with laropiprant (to reduce the flushing) to standard treatment including statins in people with heart disease or strokes did not improve their outcome or reduce the risk of recurrent heart attacks or strokes. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Stroke, Surgical Research / 17.07.2014

Mads E. Jørgensen, M.B. University of Copenhagen, DenmarkMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mads E. Jørgensen, M.B. University of Copenhagen, Denmark Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We included all patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery in 2005-2011, which were then categorized by time elapsed between stroke and surgery. Patients with a very recent stroke, i.e. less than 3 months prior to surgery, had a significant 14 times higher relative risk of 30-day MACE following surgery, compared with patients without prior stroke. Patients with a more distant stroke had a 2-5 fold higher risk of MACE following surgery, and still significantly higher than risks in patients without prior stroke. An additional model including time between stroke and surgery as a continuous measure showed a steep decrease in risks of perioperative MACE during the first 9 months. After 9 months, an increase in time between stroke and surgery did not further reduce the risks. The results for 30-day all-cause mortality showed similar patterns, although estimates were not as dramatic as for 30-day MACE. When analyzing the MACE components individually, we found that recurrent strokes were the main contributor to the high risk of MACE. A history of stroke any time prior to surgery was associated with a 16 fold increased relative risk of recurrent stroke, compared with patients without prior stroke. We also performed analyses stratified by surgery risk as low- (OR for stroke anytime, 3.97; 95% CI, 2.79-5.66), intermediate- (OR for stroke anytime, 4.46; 95% CI, 2.87-5.13) and high-risk (OR for stroke anytime, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.20-3.27), which were somewhat challenged in power. However, results indicated that stroke associated relative risk was at least as high in low and intermediate-risk surgery as in high risk surgery. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Prostate Cancer, Testosterone / 16.07.2014

Grace Lu-Yao PhD, MPH Professor of Medicine Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ 08903-2681MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Grace Lu-Yao PhD, MPH Professor of Medicine Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ 08903-2681 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lu-Yao: Primary ADT (ie., use of androgen deprivation as an alternative to surgery, radiation or conservative management for the initial management of prostate cancer) is not associated with improved overall or disease specific survival. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer, Cancer Research / 16.07.2014

Rebecca H. Johnson, MD Assistant Professor, Clinical Genetics University of Washington Seattle, WashingtonMedicalResearch.com Interview with  Rebecca H. Johnson, MD Assistant Professor, Clinical Genetics University of Washington Seattle, Washington Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Johnson: We observed that, over the past two decades, there has been an increase in the incidence of testicular cancer in Hispanic American adolescents and young adults (AYAs) between 15 and 39 years of age. This increase is seen in both major subtypes of testicular cancer and affects Hispanic AYA patients with all stages of disease at the time of diagnosis. No comparable increase was observed in non-Hispanic white AYA,s or in older American men regardless of Hispanic ethnicity.  Between 1992 and 2010, the incidence of testicular cancer in AYA Hispanics has increased 58% in contrast to just 7% in non-Hispanic white AYAs. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pain Research / 15.07.2014

Kurt Kroenke, M.D. Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine Research Scientist, Indiana University Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research Research Scientist, Center for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Director of Education and Training Programs, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Core Investigator, VA HSR&D Center for Health Information and CommunicationMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kurt Kroenke, M.D. Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine Research Scientist, Indiana University Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research Research Scientist, Center for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Director of Education and Training Programs, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Core Investigator, VA HSR&D Center for Health Information and Communication
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Kroenke: The telecare intervention including monitoring of pain using automated phone calls or the Internet with contacts by a nurse care manager who met weekly with a physician pain specialist to discuss treatment of new patients or patients already being followed who were not improving.
  • Almost twice as many patients in the telecare group had improvement in their pain compared to the usual care control group (52% vs. 27%).
  • Moreover, nearly twice as many patients in the usual care group got worse over 12 months (36% vs. 19%).  Thus, patients with chronic pain may not only fail to improve with current treatment, they in fact can get worse over time.
  • Although one-third of these chronic pain patients were on opioids at start of study, there were very few patients in which opioids needed to be started or dose increased.
  • The intervention group was about equally divided between those who chose to do automated symptom monitoring (ASM) by IVR (51%) or internet (49%).  The majority of patients rated the monitoring as easy to do, and the telecare intervention helpful.
(more…)
Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, NEJM, Transplantation / 15.07.2014

Paul Kimmel, M.D. Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Professor Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension The George Washington UniversityMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paul Kimmel, M.D. Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Professor Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension The George Washington University Medical Research:   What are the main findings of the review? Dr. Kimmel: AKI (Acute Kidney Injury) and CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease), two syndromes approached separately in medical school  curricula  as well as in the clinical arena are inextricably intertwined.  They should be taught as a combined entity, culminating in progressive loss of renal function necessitating renal replacement therapy (dialysis or transplantation). The two syndromes increase risk for cardiovascular disease and diminished quality of life as well.  Preventive and therapeutic strategies should be directed at the combined entity. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Stroke / 15.07.2014

Iftikhar J. Kullo, MD Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Mayo Clinic Rochester, MNMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Iftikhar J. Kullo, MD Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN   Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Kullo: The main findings of the study are: 1) Family history of stroke or heart attack is associated with presence of significant narrowing (greater than 70%) of the carotid arteries. These are the arteries that supply blood to the brain and narrowing or blockage of these arteries is associated with increased risk of stroke; 2) Having a sibling history of stroke or heart attack was more strongly associated with narrowing of the carotid artery than having a parent with such history; 3) The greater number of relatives with history of stroke or heart attack, the greater the odds of having narrowing in one of the carotid arteries. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, End of Life Care / 15.07.2014

Dr. Kirsty Boyd Programme theme head (Clinical Communication) Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer Primary Palliative Care Research Group Division of Community Health Sciences: General Practice University of EdinburghMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Kirsty Boyd Programme theme head (Clinical Communication) Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer Primary Palliative Care Research Group Division of Community Health Sciences: General Practice University of Edinburgh Medical Research: What do we know already about people with ‘multimorbidity’? Dr. Boyd: We know that an increasing number of patients have multiple life-limiting illnesses or progressively deteriorating health due to several long term conditions or general frailty. Caring for them well poses major challenges and they are often hospitalised in the last year of life. They do not fit well into illness and healthcare models that focus on single conditions. Understanding the experiences of patients and their family caregivers is vital to inform improvements in best supportive care and palliative care. We wanted to build on care models for integrated care of people with long term conditions and consider the needs of those at risk of dying with multiple conditions in more detail. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Emergency Care / 15.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jeffrey Allen Kline Vice Chair of Research Department of Emergency Medicine MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jeffrey Allen Kline Vice Chair of Research Department of Emergency Medicine Indiana University Health Medical Research: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Kline: We believe that clinicians use information from their patients’ faces to make decisions about diagnostic testing. This is particularly relevant in emergency medicine, where the clinicians make decisions rapidly with limited information. We videotaped patients’ faces who had chest pain and dyspnea and used the most well-known facial scoring system to assess their facial expression variability in response to seeing visual stimuli. We found that patients who ultimately had emergent problems tended to hold their faces in a neutral position and be less likely to show the expression of surprise. The investigators were not surprised at this, but we did find that patients with emergent problems also tended to have less negative affect as well as less positive affect. In other words, patients who were sickest even tended to frown less than patients with no medical problem. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Lipids / 14.07.2014

Sripal Bangalore, MD, MHA, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI Director of Research, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Director, Cardiovascular Outcomes Group Associate Professor of Medicine, New York University School of Medcine Principal Investigator ISCHEMIA-CKD trialMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sripal Bangalore, MD, MHA, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI Director of Research, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Director, Cardiovascular Outcomes Group Associate Professor of Medicine, New York University School of Medcine Principal Investigator ISCHEMIA-CKD trial Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Bangalore: Our objective was to evaluate whether non-fasting LDL has similar prognostic significance as that of the conventionally measured fasting LDL values. We found that in an analysis of over 16,000 patients from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that the non-fasting LDL values had similar prognostic significance as that of fasting LDL values for the prediction of long term (up to 14 years) death or cardiovascular death, thus questioning the traditional practice of insisting that patients fast prior to blood draw for a lipid panel. This was also true for other components of the lipid panel including the triglycerides and total cholesterol. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Journal Clinical Oncology, Metabolic Syndrome, Prostate Cancer / 14.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com with: Sandip M. Prasad MD Assistant Professor Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SCSandip M. Prasad MD Assistant Professor Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC and Scott E. Eggener, MD Associate Professor of Surgery Co-Director, Prostate Cancer Program Director of Translational and Outcomes Research, Section of Urology University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL;Scott E. Eggener, MD Associate Professor of Surgery Co-Director, Prostate Cancer Program Director of Translational and Outcomes Research, Section of Urology University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL; Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Depressed men with a diagnosis of intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer have worse overall outcomes than those without baseline depression and are less likely to undergo definitive therapy. The difference in overall survival between men with and without a depression diagnosis was independent of prostate cancer treatment type. (more…)