Medical Research Journals
14 Jan Commercialism in School Food and Beverages
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Yvonne M. Terry-McElrath, MSA
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: This study examined 2007-2012 commercialism trends in schools attended by nationally representative samples of US elementary and secondary students.
While some measures showed significant decreases over time (especially
beverage vending measures), most students at both elementary and secondary
school levels continued to be exposed to school-based commercialism.
Commercialism increased significantly with grade level. The most frequent
type of commercialism varied by school level: food coupons used as
incentives was most common at the elementary school level, while exclusive
beverage contracts were the most prevalent type of commercialism for middle
and high school students.
14 Jan Patient Preferences for Cancer Screening
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr Jonathan Banks
Programme Manager: The Discovery Research Programme
Centre for Academic Primary Care
NIHR School for Primary Care Research
School of Social and Community Medicine
University of Bristol Bristol BS8 2PS
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Banks: We asked members of the public attending their local general practice or
primary care centre to consider a series of hypothetical scenarios or
vignettes which depicted cancer symptoms, their risk of cancer and the
investigative processes involved in testing for cancer. We wanted to
measure the point at which the risk of cancer outweighed the burden and
inconvenience of testing in relation to lung, colorectal and pancreas
cancers. Most people, around 88%, opted for testing even at the lowest risk
of cancer which in our vignettes was 1%. Further analyses showed variation
between cancers with fewer people opting for testing for colorectal cancer
at a low (1%) risk and more people choosing to be tested for all cancers in
the 60-69 age group.
12 Jan Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Ten Year Follow Up Study
[caption id="attachment_48090" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Chew[/caption] MedicalResearch.com Interview Emily Y. Chew, M.D. Deputy Director, Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications National Eye Institute National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Chew: We provided 10 year rates of development of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), either neovascular...
11 Jan Childhood Type I Diabetes: Brain White Matter Changes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Naama Barnea-Goraly M.D.
Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research
Stanford University
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Our main findings showed that compared with age and sex matched controls, children with type 1 diabetes have significant differences in white matter structure in widespread brain regions. Within the type 1 diabetes group, earlier onset of diabetes and longer duration were associated with greater alterations in white matter structure. In addition, measures of hyperglycemia and glucose variability, but not hypoglycemia were associated with white matter structure; however, hypoglycemia exposure and the number of severe hypoglycemia events in our sample were too small to identify statistically meaningful differences. Finally, we observed a significant association between white matter structure and cognitive ability in children with type 1 diabetes, but not in controls.
10 Jan Health IT: Focus on Meaningful Use
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Robert S. Rudin, Ph.D.
Associate Policy Researcher
RAND Corporation
Boston, MA 02116
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Rudin: We found that most published health IT implementation studies report positive effects on quality, safety, and efficiency. Most evaluations focus on clinical decision support and computerized provider order entry. However, not all studies report equally positive results, and differences in context and implementation are one likely reason for these varying results, yet details of context and implementation are rarely reported in these studies.
10 Jan Alzheimer Disease: Effect of Vitamin E on Slowing Functional Decline
MedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation
Maurice Dysken, MD
Professor, School of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry
Minneapolis VA Health Care System,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Dysken: In patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease who were taking an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, a dosage of 2000 IU/d of vitamin E significantly slowed functional decline compared to placebo by 6.2 months over the mean follow-up period of 2.27 years. Over this period of time caregiver time increased least in the vitamin E group compared to the other three groups (memantine alone, vitamin E plus memantine, and placebo) although the only statistically significant difference was between vitamin E alone and memantine alone. There were no significant safety concerns for vitamin E compared to placebo and mortality was lowest in the vitamin E alone group. It should be noted that patients who were on warfarin were excluded from the study because of a possible interaction with vitamin E that could have possibly increased bleeding events.
10 Jan Never Too Late To Switch to a Healthy Mediterranean Diet
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jordi Salas-Salvadó, MD, PhD
Human Nutrition Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Healthy Sciences
Universitat Rovira i Virgili, C/ Sant Llorenç, 21, 43201 Reus, Spain
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Randomized trials have shown that lifestyle interventions promoting weight loss can reduce the incidence of type-2diabetes, however, whether dietary changes without calorie restriction or increased physical activity also protect from diabetes development has not been evaluated in the past. In our study, we found that a long-term adherence to a high-quality dietary pattern akin to the traditional MedDiet and rich in extra-virgin olive oil was able to reduce the incidence of new cases of diabetes in older individuals at high cardiovascular risk. We have demonstrated for the first time that a beneficial effect on diabetes prevention could be obtained witha healthy dietary pattern (without calorie restriction, increased physical activity or weight loss). These benefits have been observed in participants between 55 to 80 years-old at high cardiovascular risk; therefore,the message is that it is never too late to switch to a healthy diet like the Mediterranean.
10 Jan Severe Psychotic Disorders and Substance Use Patterns
 MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Sarah M. Hartz, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study?
Dr. Hartz: This is the first large-scale study to comprehensively evaluate substance use in people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other severe mental illness.We found that people with severe mental illness have rates of smoking, alcohol use, and other substance use that are 3 to 5 times higher than people in the general population.
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10 Jan Albuterol Nebulizer and Increase in Serum Lactate
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Lawrence M. Lewis, MD Professor, Emergency Medicine and Medicine Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Lewis: The main finding of the study is that there is a dose-dependent increase in serum lactate concentration with increasing amounts of nebulized albuterol administered. This hyperlactatemia did not portend a worse prognosis, and was not associated with worse FEV1 or dyspnea scores.
08 Jan Acute Stroke: Cost Effectiveness of Thrombolysis Therapy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with
Dr. James Sheppard
MRC Research Fellow
Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
University of Oxford
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Sheppard: The aim of our study was to develop a decision-tree model which estimates the cost-effectiveness and potential implementation costs of a series of interventions which increase thrombolysis rates in acute stroke. The model examined all possible acute stroke patient pathways and was based on real life patient data. We found all proposed interventions to be cost saving whilst increasing patient quality of life after stroke. We estimate that, assuming a "willingness-to-pay" of USD $30,000 per quality adjusted life year gained, the potential budget available to deliver interventions which improve acute stroke care range from USD $50,000 to USD $144,000.
07 Jan Mindfulness Meditation to Improve Anxiety, Depression and Pain
Posted at 16:11h
in Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA, Johns Hopkins, Mental Health Research, Pain Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Madhav Goyal MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
General Internal Medicine
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Goyal:
- The evidence is moderately strong that there is a small but consistent benefit for mindfulness meditation programs to improve 3 symptoms: anxiety, depression, and pain. We found low level evidence that mindfulness meditation helps with symptoms of stress and distress, as well as with the mental health dimension of quality of life.
- For the symptoms of anxiety and depression for which we find moderate evidence of benefit, we need to keep in mind that most of the trials didn't study people with a clinical diagnosis of anxiety or depression (although a few did). Most were studying diverse patient populations who may have had a low level of these symptoms, such as those with breast cancer, fibromyalgia, organ transplant recipients, and caregivers of people with dementia.
- We found about a 5-10% improvement in anxiety symptoms compared to placebo groups. For depression, we found a roughly 10-20% improvement in depressive symptoms compared to the placebo groups. This is similar to the effects that other studies have found for the use of antidepressants in similar populations.
- While we found that the evidence was moderately strong that mindfulness meditation programs may improve pain, there weren't as many trials evaluating chronic pain, and so we don't understand what kinds of pain this type of meditation may be most useful for.
05 Jan ARDS: IV Interferon-beta-1a Effect on Mortality
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof Sirpa Jalkanen MD, PhD
MediCity Research Laboratory and Department of Medical Microbiology
University of Turku Turku, Finland
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Pulmonary vascular leakage occurs early in acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS). Mortality is high (35-45%), but no effective pharmacotherapy exists. Production of anti-inflammatory adenosine by ecto-5’-nucleotidase (CD73) maintains endothelial barrier function. Interferon-beta-1a (IFN-beta) increases CD73 synthesis and might thus reduce vascular leakage and mortality in ALI/ARDS. We tested this hypothesis and the findings were as follows:
1.IFN-beta increased the number of CD73-positive vessels in human lung culture (4- and 14.3-fold on days 1 and 4 respectively, p=0.04 and 0.004).
2. The optimal tolerated FP-1201 dose (a unique intravenous formulation of interferon-beta 10 μg /day for six days) caused a significant rise in serum MxA (a marker for interferon response) and CD73 levels and a fall in interleukin-6 (an inflammatory cytokine) concentration.
3. Most importantly, odds of 28-day mortality was 81% lower in the treated than untreated subjects (8% vs 32%, OR[95% CI]0.19[0.03 to 0.72], p=0.01).
04 Jan Osteoporosis: Improving Bone Mineral Density Postmenopause with Monoclonal Antibody Romosozumab
MedicalResearch.com Interview with
Michael McClung, MD
Founding Director, Oregon Osteoporosis Center
5050 NE Hoyt Street, Suite 626
Portland, OR 97213
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. McClung: In this Phase 2 trial, each of five romosozumab dose regimens significantly increased BMD compared with pooled placebo groups at the lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck regions (all p<0.001). The largest increases were observed with the romosozumab 210 mg once-monthly dose, with mean increases, compared with baseline, of 11.3 percent at the lumbar spine, 4.1 percent at the total hip and 3.7 percent at the femoral neck.
02 Jan CANHEART: Cardiovascular Health Measurement Tool
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura Maclagan, MSc. Epidemiologist, Cardiovascular Program ICES Central Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We developed the CANHEART health index in order to measure the cardiovascular health of the Canadian population. The index is based on the prevalence of six health factors and behaviours known to be associated with cardiovascular health; being a non-smoker, being physically active, consuming at least 5 fruits and vegetables per day, having a low body mass index (BMI <25 kg/m²) and being free of diabetes and hypertension. The factors were summed to create an index ranging from 0 (worst) to 6 (best/ideal). We found that only 9.4% of Canadian adults age 20 and older met our definition of ideal cardiovascular health. 53.3% of adults were in intermediate cardiovascular health (4-5 healthy behaviours/factors) and 37.3% were in poor cardiovascular health (0-3 healthy behaviours). We found that the cardiovascular health of Canadians was stable over the 2003-2011 study period.02 Jan Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Outcomes in Hospitalized Pneumonia Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation with:
Dr. Peter Lindenauer MD MS
Director, Center for Quality of Care Research
Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA, US
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Among a cohort of 250,000 patients hospitalized for pneumonia at 347 US hospitals, those with a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea were twice as likely to be intubated at the time of hospital admission than patients without sleep apnea. In addition, patients with sleep apnea had approximately 50% higher risk of needing to be transferred to the ICU after initial admission to a regular bed, and a 70% increased risk of requiring intubation later in the hospital stay. Patients with sleep apnea stayed longer in the hospital and incurred higher costs than those without sleep apnea.
02 Jan Texting and Phone Use Especially Dangerous For Novice Drivers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sheila G. Klauer, Ph.D Virginia Tech Transportation Institute MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr.Klauer: We found that novice drivers are especially at risk of crash/near-crash involvement when engaging in secondary tasks that take their eyes off of the forward roadway. This includes tasks with wireless devices such as texting, dialing, and reaching for the device as well as reaching for any object, eating, and looking at objects along the roadway. We also found that the prevalence of engaging in these high risk tasks increases over time which concerns traffic safety researchers. This is particularly concerning with the proliferation of highly capable smart phones where teens can do not only texting but also sending pictures, watching video, skype, etc.02 Jan High LDL, Low HDL Levels and Elevated Brain Amyloid
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Bruce Reed PhD
Professor of Neurology,
Associate Director UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center
Davis, CA 95616
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Reed: We found that high LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol in blood were both associated with higher amyloid deposition in the brain. This is potentially very important because the deposition of amyloid seems to be a critical step that kicks off a whole chain of events that eventually lead to Alzheimer's disease. It is widely believed (although not proven) that if this deposition of amyloid could be blocked that we could greatly decrease the incidence of Alzheimer's. The connection to cholesterol is exciting because we know a fair amount about how to change cholesterol levels. A great deal more research needs to be done, but this does suggest a potential new path toward trying to prevent AD.
02 Jan Pneumonia: Improved Antibiotic Strategies and Decreased Mortality
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Simone Gattarello Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Critical Care Department Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and Medicine Department, Spain MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Gattarello: The main findings from the present study are a 15% decrease in ICU mortality due to severe community-acquired pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in the last decade; moreover, several changes in antibiotic prescription practices were detected and an association between improved survival and both earlier antibiotic administration and increased combined antibiotic therapy were identified. In summary, in severe pneumococcal pneumonia combined antibiotic therapy and early antibiotic administration are associated with lower mortality.31 Dec Adolescent Health: Sex Discussions During Office Visits
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Stewart C. Alexander, PhD
Department of Medicine
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Alexander: Adolescents are reluctant to talk about sex with their doctors and won't raise the topic with their doctors. For physicians, there are common and valid barriers to talking about sexuality with adolescents, including time pressures and discomfort with the topic. Two-thirds of adolescents in our study had some sexuality talk during their annual visit, lasting 36 seconds long. Girls, African Americans, and older teens were more likely to receive sexuality talk. Additionally, longer visits and visits where the physician talked confidentially with their adolescent patient were more likely to have sexuality talk. Our study suggest that sexuality conversations in annual visits can be improved.
31 Dec Lung Cancer: Annual CT Screening for High Risk Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Harry J de Koning, MD PhD
Professor of Public Health & Screening Evaluation
Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. de Koning: Annual CT screening for lung cancer has a favorable benefit-to-harm ratio for individuals ages 55 through 80 years with 30 or more pack-years’ exposure to smoking. It would lead to 50% (model ranges, 45% to 54) of cases of cancer being detected at an early stage (stage I/II), 575 screenings examinations per lung cancer death averted, a 14% (range, 8.2% to 23.5%) reduction in lung cancer mortality, 497 lung cancer deaths averted, and 5250 life-years gained per the 100 000-member (1950-) cohort. Harms would include 67 550 false-positive test results, 910 biopsies or surgeries for benign lesions, and 190 overdiagnosed cases of cancer (3.7% of all cases of lung cancer [model ranges, 1.4% to 8.3%]), again for a 100 000-member (1950-) cohort.
31 Dec Hypothyroidism and Mild Cognitive Impairment Risk?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ajay K Parsaik, MD, MS
Department of Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences
The University of Texas Medical School, Houston
Department of Neurology and Mayo Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Parsaik: Main findings of our study are that clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism is not associated with mild cognitive impairment in an elderly population after accounting for possible confounding factors and interactions.
31 Dec Hospital Readmissions: Many Caused by Co-Morbid Diseases, Infections
Posted at 11:23h
in Author Interviews, BMJ, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Hospital Readmissions, Medical Research Centers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Jacques Donzé MD PhD
Research Associate
Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115,
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Donzé: In a large retrospective cohort study, we identified the primary diagnoses of 30-day potentially avoidable readmissions in medical patients according to the most common comorbidities. Interestingly, almost all of the top five diagnoses of potentially avoidable readmissions for each comorbidity were possible direct or indirect complications of that comorbidity. Patients with cancer, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease had a significantly higher risk of potentially avoidable readmission than those without those comorbidities. Also, when readmitted, patients with chronic kidney disease had a 20% higher risk of having the readmission be potentially avoidable.
29 Dec Peanut Allergy: Does Eating Peanuts During Pregnancy Reduce Allergies in Children?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael C. Young, M.D. Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Harvard Medical School Division of Allergy & Immunology Children's Hospital Boston MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Young: We found an association between increased maternal peripregnancy consumption of peanuts/ tree nuts and reduced risk of nut allergies in the offspring.29 Dec Antibiotic May Treat Dry Eye Disorder
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Yang Liu
Preceptor and
Dr. David A. Sullivan, MS, PhD, FARVO
Senior Scientist, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA, USA 02114
MedicalResearch.com: What is the main finding of the study?
Answer: We discovered that azithromycin (AZM) can directly stimulate the function of human meibomian gland epithelial cells. Given this finding, it is possible that this antibiotic may prove beneficial as a treatment for meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), which is the leading cause of dry eye disease in the world.
26 Dec Pediatric Migraines: Cognitive Therapy Plus Amitriptyline
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Scott W. Powers, PhD APBB
Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology and
Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Powers: Cognitive behavioral therapy plus amitriptyline resulted in greater reductions in days with headache and migraine-related disability compared with the use of headache education plus amitriptyline. Children and adolescents with chronic migraine began the study with an average of 21 days with headache per 28 days and disability measured in the severe range. After 20 weeks of treatment, 2 out of 3 participants in the CBT group had a 50% or greater reduction in headache days and 3 out of 4 had a reduction in disability to the mild to none range.
26 Dec Sham Surgery as Effective as Meniscectomy for Degenerative Knee Mensicus Tear
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Raine Sihvonen, M.D. From the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology Hatanpää City Hospital, Tampere Finland MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Järvinen: The main finding of the study is that arthroscopic partial meniscectomy is not superior over sham-surgery (placebo) when treated patients with knee pain attributable to degenerative meniscus tear, even in the `best-case-scenario, that is patients with no knee OA.23 Dec Diabetes: Effect of Lifestyle Intervention on Weight Change
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof. Raj S Bhopal
Bruce and John Usher Professor of Public Health
Edinburgh Ethnicity and Health Research Group,
Centre for Population Health Sciences,
University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH89AG
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof. Bhopal: In a randomised controlled trial, a tailored, family orientated intervention whereby dietitians worked in the family home to provide diet and exercise advice in people at high risk of developing diabetes, had a modest but potentially important effect in reducing weight at the end of the three-year intervention, by 1.6 kg more than in the control group.
23 Dec Patient-Relevant Research Outcomes from Published vs Non-Published Data
Medical Research.com Interview with:
Dr. Beate Wieseler
Head of Department Dept. Drug Assessment
Institute for Quality and Efficiency
in Health Care (IQWiG)
Im Mediapark
Köln Germany
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Wieseler: Our study shows that unpublished clinical study reports, i.e. reports submitted to regulatory authorities during the approval procedure for a drug, provide substantially more information on patient-relevant outcomes than publicly available sources, i.e. articles published in medical journals and reports published in online clinical trial registries. (A “patient-relevant outcome” is an outcome describing morbidity, mortality or health-related quality of life.)
22 Dec Is Robotic Surgery Better than Traditional Colectomy?
Posted at 12:35h
in Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA, Johns Hopkins, Surgical Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Nita Ahuja, MD
Departments of Surgery and Oncology,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Ahuja: Across the nation, laparoscopic colectomy is performed about as frequently as open colectomy, despite being associated with a lower complication rate and a lower overall hospital cost. On the other hand, an exponentially growing prevalence was found with robotic colectomy, a procedure that has so far demonstrated only equivalent outcomes with laparoscopic colectomy but a higher overall cost.