Medical Research Journals
12 Apr Degenerative Disease Research: Structural basis of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase inhibition
MedicalResearch.com eInterview: Professor Nigel S. Scrutton ScD FRSC FSB Director Manchester Institute of Biotechnology EPSRC Established Career Fellow |Faculty of Life Sciences | Manchester Institute of Biotechnology | University of Manchester | Manchester | M1 7DN | UK | MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of your study? Dr. Scrutton: A major breakthrough has been made by our team of researchers seeking treatments for degenerative illnesses such as Parkinson's Disease. We have detailed how an enzyme in the brain interacts with a drug-like lead compound directed against Huntington's Disease (but also with major implications for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases) to inhibit its activity. The work – which solved the molecular structure of a crucial brain enzyme called kynurenine 3-monooxygenase – opens the door to effective treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The main findings not only describe the molecular details of the enzyme, but also how it interacts with a lead drug compound that inhibits the natural activity of the enzyme.10 Apr Population-wide weight loss and regain in relation to diabetes burden and cardiovascular mortality in Cuba 1980-2010: repeated cross sectional surveys and ecological comparison of secular trends
Posted at 13:57h
in Author Interviews, BMJ, Diabetes, Exercise - Fitness, Nutrition, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with
Manuel Franco MD, PhD Associate Professor Department of Health Sciences, Public Health Unit Universidad de Alcalá Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Adjunct Associate Professor Dept. of Epidemiology mfranco@jhsph.edu
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Franco: Population wide weight loss of about 5 kg was related with large decreases in diabetes and cardiovascular mortality. On the contrary, Body weight regain was related with an increase in diabetes prevalence, incidence, and mortality, as well as a deceleration in the previously declining rates of cardiovascular death.04 Apr Melatonin Secretion and the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes
Posted at 03:02h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Diabetes, JAMA, Medical Research Centers, Melatonin, Sleep Disorders
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Ciaran McMullan MD
from Channing Division of Network Medicine in Boston, a research division within the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Mass
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. McMullan: In this observational study performed in non-diabetic women we found that lower nocturnal melatonin secretion predicted future risk of developing type 2 diabetes. When we categorized the individuals by category of nocturnal melatonin secretion we found that those in the lowest category had twice the risk as those in the highest category of nocturnal melatonin secretion. This association remained even after adjusting for other well established risk factors for development of diabetes including body mass index, physical activity, dietary factors, family history of diabetes, smoking and hypertension. This increased risk translates into the lower melatonin secretion group having an additional 5 cases of incident diabetes per 1000 person years than the high melatonin secretion group.
03 Apr Genome-wide reprogramming of the chromatin landscape underlies endocrine therapy resistance in breast cancer
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Mathieu Lupien PhD
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network
Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI)
Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Lupien: Approximately 50% of breast cancer patients fail to respond to the standard of care based on endocrine (hormonal) therapy. Our research identifies a mechanism that accounts for this resistance. Drugs against this mechanism are already tested for other diseases. Hence, our discovery should rapidly help reposition these drugs against endocrine therapy resistant breast cancer.
02 Apr Interpolated memory tests reduce mind wandering and improve learning of online lectures
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Karl K. Szpunar PhD
Department of Psychology,
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Szpunar: The results of our experiments demonstrate that students can have difficulty paying attention to online lectures, and that including brief quizzes during lectures can help to alleviate this problem. Specifically, we found that students who were tested throughout a 21-minute long Statistics lecture were half as likely to mind wander during the lecture, three times as likely to take additional notes, and much better able to retain the contents of the lecture at a later time.
02 Apr Pathway-based personalized analysis of cancer
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Prof. Eytan Domany
Department of Physics of Complex Systems and Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof. Domany: The findings are two-fold: methodological and clinical. A novel method was introduced for personalized analysis of cancer, and was applied on large colon cancer and glioblastoma datasets.
The method uses high throughput (gene expression) data to infer a pathway deregulation score (PDS) for individual tumors, for hundreds of pathways and biological processes. The method is knowledge-based in that it uses well known information about the assignment of genes to biologically relevant pathways. No detailed knowledge of the underlying networks of interactions and activations is necessary. Each tumor is represented by a few hundred of these PDSs, and further analysis uses this representation.
19 Mar Effect of Aerobic Exercise (Walking) Training on Functional Status and Health-related Quality of Life in Chronic Stroke Survivors
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Carron D. Gordon, PhD Section of Physical Therapy, University of the West Indies, Mona, Box 126, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Gordon: The walking group showed a 17.6% improvement in distance walked in six minutes (measure of endurance) compared to 4% in the control group and 16.7% improvement in SF36-Physical Component (health-related quality of life) compared to 2.6% in the control group.15 Mar Cognitive function and other risk factors for mild traumatic brain injury in young men
Medical Research.com Interview with
Dr. Anna Nordström MD
Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Medicine, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Medical Research.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Nordström: We have found that low cognitive function and factors related to low socioeconomic status and intoxications are strong independent risk factors for mild traumatic brain injury in men.
Medical Research.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. Nordström: Our knowledge of risk factors that predispose people to sustaining such injury is limited. Previous research has inferred that mild traumatic brain injuries have important long-term consequences on cognitive function. However, we found similar deficits in cognitive function in subjects that sustained a mild traumatic brain injury before and after cognitive testing. Thus our data suggest that the injury itself may not reduce cognitive function.
15 Mar Regional Variation in Spending and Survival for Older Adults With Advanced Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Gabriel Brooks MD
Fellow, Medical Oncology
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Brooks: First, we found that there is substantial regional variation in Medicare spending for patients with advanced cancer. For patients with a new diagnosis of advanced stage cancer, spending in the six months following diagnosis varied by 32% between regions in the highest and lowest quintiles of spending. And for patients who died from cancer, spending in the last six months of life varied by 41% between the highest and lowest spending regions.
Second, we tested the association between area-level spending and survival from the time of advanced cancer diagnosis. We found that there was no consistent association between increasing spending and survival for any of the five cancer sites included in our study (non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreas cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer).
11 Mar Influenza Virus Aerosols in Human Exhaled Breath: Particle Size, Culturability, and Effect of Surgical Masks
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Dr. Donald K. Milton, MD, Dr.P.H
Dr. Donald K. Milton, MD, Dr.P.H
Professor and Director
Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health
University of Maryland
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Milton: We found that total viral copies detected by molecular methods were 8.8 times more numerous in fine (≤5 µm) than in coarse (>5 µm) aerosol particles and that the fine particles from cases with the highest total number of viral RNA copies contained infectious virus.
Surgical masks reduced the overall number of RNA copies by 3.4 fold.
08 Mar Selection Criteria for Lung-Cancer Screening
Medical Research.com
Author Interview: Dr. Martin C. Tammemägi
Professor (Epidemiology) Brock University
Department of Community Health Sciences
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1
Medical Research.com What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Tammemägi: Our study accomplished three things:
1. We presented an updated Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model, which compared to our previously JNCI-published model, incorporates more predictors but is simpler to use because we changed the way we modeled nonlinear effects.
2. We demonstrated that using the Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model to select individuals for lung cancer screening was much more effective than using the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) enrolment criteria. 41.3% fewer lung cancers were missed. Sensitivity and positive predictive value of identifying individuals who develop lung cancer were significantly improved. Shortly after our NEJM paper was published, Ma et al published in CANCER their findings that 8.6 million Americans are NLST-criteria positive and if they were CT screened under ideal conditions 12,000 lung cancer deaths would be averted. Our NEJM article findings indicate that an additional 2,764 lives would be saved if the selection criteria had enrolled 8.6 million individuals for screening based on highest risk by our Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model.
3. Importantly, using NLST data we demonstrated that the beneficial effect of CT screening did not vary by model predicted lung cancer risk.
08 Mar Extended Use of Dabigatran, Warfarin, or Placebo in Venous Thromboembolism
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Sam Schulman M.D., FRCPC(C)
Professor, Division of Hematology and Thromboembolism, Department of Medicine
Associate Professor, Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Director, Clinical Thromboembolism Program Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton General Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Response: Similar effect of dabigatran as warfarin, 92% risk reduction compared to placebo. The risk of bleeding is reduced by almost 50% compared to warfarin but in comparison with placebo there is an increased risk of minor bleeding. No routine coagulation monitoring or dose adjustments are required, making the treatment convenient for patients and physicians.
11 Jul Using biomarkers to identify and treat schizophrenia
In the current online issue of PLoS ONE, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say they have identified a set of laboratory-based biomarkers that can be useful for understanding brain-based abnormalities in schizophrenia. The measurements, known as endophenotypes, could ultimately be a boon to clinicians...
12 Apr Targeting Glucagon Pathway May Offer a New Approach to Treating Diabetes
Newswise — (NEW YORK, NY, April 12, 2012) —Maintaining the right level of sugar in the blood is the responsibility not only of insulin, which removes glucose, but also of a hormone called glucagon, which adds glucose. For decades, treatments for type II diabetes have taken aim at insulin, but a...
29 Mar Scientists create small molecules that alter biological clock and lead to weight loss
The new molecules could lead to unique treatments for obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and sleep disorders JUPITER, FL -- Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have synthesized a pair of small molecules that dramatically alter the core biological clock in animal models, highlighting the compounds' potential effectiveness...
09 Mar Study: Cancer of the Appendix is Different than Colon Cancer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – March 7, 2012 – Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have demonstrated that cancer of the appendix is different than colon cancer, a distinction that could lead to more effective treatments for both diseases. The study by Edward A. Levine, M.D., professor of surgery and chief of...
20 Nov Researchers find genetic rearrangements driving 5 to 7 percent of breast cancers
Posted at 23:26h
in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Duke, Genetic Research, Nature, University of Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered two cancer-spurring gene rearrangements that may trigger 5 to 7 percent of all breast cancers. These types of genetic recombinations have previously been linked to blood cancers and rare soft-tissue tumors, but are beginning to be...
11 Oct Study shows increased prostate cancer risk from vitamin E supplements
Men who took 400 international units (I.U.) of vitamin E daily had more prostate cancers compared to men who took a placebo, according to an updated review of data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). The findings showed that, per 1,000 men, there were 76 prostate...
05 Oct Interactive Video Games Appear Valuable for ICU Patients
Release Date: 10/03/2011 Interactive video games, already known to improve motor function in recovering stroke patients, appear to safely enhance physical therapy for patients in intensive care units (ICU), new research from Johns Hopkins suggests. In a report published online in the Journal of Critical Care, researchers studied the safety and feasibility...
22 Sep Cellular origin of a rare form of breast cancer identified
BOSTON (September 22, 2011) -- Identifying the cellular origins of breast cancer might lead to earlier diagnosis and more efficient management of the disease. New research led by Charlotte Kuperwasser of Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) has determined that common forms of breast cancer originate from breast cells known...
21 Sep Study finds genetic ‘overlap’ between schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
Posted at 20:05h
in Bipolar Disorder, Genetic Research, Mental Health Research, Nature, Schizophrenia
Knowledge about the biological origin of diseases like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions is critical to improving diagnosis and treatment. In an effort to push the field forward, three UCLA researchers, along with scientists from more than 20 countries, have been taking part in one of the largest collaborative...
08 Sep Intensive Medical Therapy vs Stent Angioplasty for Stoke : Which is Better?
Aggressive medical therapy could help prevent stroke To prevent a common type of stroke, intensive medical therapy could be better by itself than in combination with surgery that props open affected arteries. But it remains to be seen whether the apparent advantage will prove true over the long term. The findings, from...
05 Sep Gene that predisposes people to leukemia discovered
Those at risk because of family history may soon obtain tests to detect the genetic error before symptoms emerge A new genetic defect that predisposes people to acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplasia has been discovered. The mutations were found in the GATA2 gene. Among its several regulatory roles, the gene acts...
16 Aug Pegloticase aids gout patients not helped by standard treatments
Injections of pegloticase, a modified porcine enzyme, can produce significant and sustained clinical improvements in 2 out of 5 patients with chronic gout that is resistant to conventional therapies, researchers report in the August 17, 2011, issue of JAMA. In two controlled clinical trials, pegloticase rapidly lowered high levels of uric...
16 Aug Vitamin D and protection against the Advance of Colon Cancer
A study conducted by VHIO researchers confirms that a lack of vitamin D increases the aggressiveness of colon cancer The indication that vitamin D and its derivatives have a protective effect against various types of cancer is not new. In the field of colon cancer, numerous experimental and epidemiological studies show...
11 Aug Team reports genetic sequences most common bladder cancer
August 11, 2011 (Aurora, CO)--In an article published online this week in Nature Genetics, a University of Colorado Cancer Center team in partnership with universities in China and Denmark. Recognizing the genetic mutations that make bladder cancer cells different than their healthy neighbors may allow early genetic screenings for cancer and...
11 Aug Report: NSAIDS reduce the severity of postpartum breast cancers in animal models
Published online on Aug. 7, 2011, the journal Nature Medicine reports that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including ibuprofen reduce the severity of postpartum breast cancers in animal models. “We caution patients and providers that because a mother’s body is undergoing radical changes during this time, we can’t yet speak to the...
10 Aug New Multiple Sclerosis Gene Associations Discovered
An international team of scientists has identified 29 new genetic variants linked to multiple sclerosis, providing key insights into the biology of an important and very debilitating neurological disease. Multiple sclerosis (MS), one of the most common neurological conditions among young adults, affects around 2.5 million individuals worldwide. It is a...
07 Aug Sporadic Mutations cause more than half the cases of Schizophrenia
Columbia University Medical Center researchers have shown that new, or "de novo," protein-altering mutations—genetic errors that are present in patients but not in their parents—play a role in more than 50 percent of "sporadic" —i.e., not hereditary—cases of schizophrenia. The findings will be published online on August 7, 2011, in...