Medical Research Journals
21 Sep Too Much or Too Little Sleep Linked to Cognitive Decline
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wuxiang Xie, PhD Peking University Clinical Research Institute Peking University First Hospital Beijing, China MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Dementia is one of the most common and serious disorders in later life. A strong relationship between sleep and cognitive function had been previously reported, while the relationship between sleep duration and the trajectory of cognitive decline remains unclear.
21 Sep False Claims Act Linked to Drop in Stent Surgery
Posted at 20:00h
in Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Emory, Heart Disease, JAMA, Surgical Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55443" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Howard[/caption]
David H. Howard, PhD
Professor, Health Policy and Management
Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Application of the False Claims Act (FCA) to medically unnecessary care is controversial, both in the courts and in the Department of Justice. Although there haven’t been many FCA suits against hospitals and physicians for performing unnecessary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), the suits that have occurred have been against some of the highest-volume hospitals and physicians. Some cardiologists have been sentenced to prison.
17 Sep Sepsis: Monoclonal Antibody Procizumab Improves Cardiac Function in Animal Model Study
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55417" align="alignleft" width="150"] Prof. Mebazaa[/caption]
Prof. Alexandre Mebazaa
Head of the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care
Hôpital Lariboisiere and of the Research group MASCOT supported by Inserm and the Université de Paris (Paris, France).
Prof. Mebazaa is the principle investigator of the recently published preclinical experiments on Procizumab, a potent, pre-clinical drug candidate targeting DPP3 in patients with acute mycardial depression.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What is the significance of DPP3?
Response: The global burden of sepsis counts for one in three deaths world-wide. Recent findings have shown that circulating Dipeptidyl Pepidase 3 (cDPP3) is elevated in critical patients, including cardiogenic shock and septic patients, with the highest DPP3 blood levels found in non-survivors.
Dipeptidyl Peptidase 3 (DPP3) is an intracellular peptidase that is released into the bloodstream upon cell injury and death, where it inactivates many circulating peptides including angiotensin II. This process likely leads to cardiac depression. Procizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody in preclinical development that targets and modulates DPP3. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the benefits of inhibiting circulating DPP3 by Procizumab in a preclinical model of sepsis-induced myocardial depression.
16 Sep Apparent Treatment-Resistant Hypertension: Missed Opportunities to Achieve Blood Pressure Control in Black Adults
Posted at 19:56h
in AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, NYU/NYMC, Race/Ethnic Diversity
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55410" align="alignleft" width="340"] Dr. Langford[/caption]
Aisha T. Langford, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Population Health
Co-Director, CTSI Recruitment and Retention Core
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
NYU Langone Health
New York, NY 10016
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In 2018, the American Heart Association (AHA) published an updated Scientific Statement on Resistant Hypertension. The term apparent treatment-resistant hypertension (aTRH) is used when pseudoresistance (e.g., white coat effect, medication nonadherence) cannot be excluded. The current study was designed to investigate if Black adults with aTRH, a group disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease, receive evidence-based approaches to lower blood pressure as recommended in the 2018 AHA Scientific Statement.
Specifically, we studied healthy lifestyle factors including not smoking, not consuming alcohol, ≥75 minutes of vigorous-intensity or ≥150 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week, and body mass index <25 kg/m2; and recommended antihypertensive medication classes among US Black adults.
16 Sep Traumatic Brain Injury: Out-of-Hospital Tranexamic Acid vs Placebo
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55382" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Rowell[/caption]
Susan Rowell MD, MBA, MCR
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Division of Trauma, Acute & Critical Care Surgery
Duke University School of Medicine
Durham, NC 27710
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been increasingly used in trauma patients since publication of the CRASH-2 trial in 2010 demonstrated a survival benefit for patients at risk for traumatic hemorrhage. Subsequently, it was shown that the earlier TXA was administered, the better the outcome. There had been several small studies suggesting that TXA may also be beneficial in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), however, an adequate prospective randomized trial was needed.
In this trial we randomized over 1000 patients with moderate and severe TBI as early as possible after injury (by paramedics in the prehospital setting an average of 42 minutes after injury) to either a 1-gram TXA bolus followed by a 1-gram 8-hour TXA infusion (the dose typically used for trauma patients), a 2-gram TXA bolus only (a logistically easier route of administration requiring no maintenance infusion), or placebo only.
14 Sep Significant Number of Men Are Sharing Teir Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Medication With Others
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gordon Mansergh, PhD Senior Behavioral Scientist CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention MedicalResearch.com: What would you say is the take home message from the study? Response: A small but notable subgroup of gay and bisexual men are sharing their PrEP medication with others. As PrEP continues to be more commonly used, it is important to better understand and address the context of PrEP sharing, and to emphasize messaging about provider monitoring of medication use over time for health and safety reasons.
10 Sep Large US Academic Medical Center Study Finds Low Risk Of COVID-19 Transmission to Patients Within Hospital
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55346" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Rhee[/caption]
Chanu Rhee MD MPH
Associate Hospital Epidemiologist
Attending Physician, Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Brigham and Women's Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Many patients have been avoiding essential care during the COVID-19 pandemic due to fear of contracting SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings. Little is known, however about the adequacy of infection control practices in preventing nosocomial COVID-19 in U.S. acute care hospitals.
We therefore conducted this observational study to determine the incidence of nosocomial COVID-19 in patients hospitalized at a large academic medical center in Boston (Brigham and Women’s Hospital) during the first 12 weeks of the surge in Massachusetts.
10 Sep Trends in E-Cigarette Use Among US Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55319" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Obisesan[/caption]
Funmi (Abiru) Obisesan, MD, MPH
Postdoctoral Fellow
Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
Postdoctoral Fellow
Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: E-cigarettes are conceived by many individuals to be less harmful than combustible cigarettes, resulting in their use among young individuals and other vulnerable subpopulations. The recent outbreak of EVALI (e-cigarette, or vaping, product-use associated lung injuries) which was directly associated with e-cigarette use, and the rapidly evolving e-cigarette market, as well as regulations concerning them necessitates the need for up-to-date analyses of e-cigarette use trends.
09 Sep Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Surgery as an Alternative to CPAP-like Devices
Posted at 13:38h
in Author Interviews, ENT, JAMA, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders, Surgical Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55334" align="alignleft" width="136"] Prof. MacKay[/caption]
Prof Stuart MacKay BSc (Med) MB BS (Hons) FRACS
Honorary Clinical Professor Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
Clinical Professor at University of Wollongong Graduate School of Medicine
Adjunct Professor Faculty of Health Sciences
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
- Sleep Apnea is common and impairs daytime function and carries health risk.
- Many patients have difficulty with CPAP, the main treatment.
- Surgery offers an alternative, and we tested this at a very high level in this clinical study.
- Surgery creates marked improvement in stoppages (apnea) and droppages (hypopnea) in airflow.
- Surgery significantly improves patient reports of daytime sleepiness.
- Many other outcomes related to quality of life, snoring and general well being improve with surgery.
09 Sep Increasing Costs of Supplying PReP to Prevent HIV Infection
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55322" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Furukawa[/caption]
Dr. Nathan Furukawa, MD, MPH
Medical officer, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention
CDC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The cost of the PrEP medication is the largest driver of the cost of providing PrEP care. Most patients need insurance or help from a medication assistance program to cover the large costs of the PrEP medication. We wanted to describe how these costs were paid by patients (out-of-pocket payments) and insurers (third-party payments) nationally.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: The study found that the cost for a month of the PrEP medication tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine increased from $1350 to $1638 from 2014 to 2018, an average annual increase of 5%. Out-of-pocket costs increased faster from $54 to $94, an average annual increase of 14.9%. In 2018, at least $2 billion was spent paying for the PrEP medication, and this covered 18% of people that had an indication for PrEP.
09 Sep More Merit-Based Pay for Physicians Affiliated with Health Care Systems
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55315" align="alignleft" width="116"] Dr. Johnston[/caption]
Kenton J. Johnston, PhD
Associate Professor
Dept of Health Management & Policy
Dept of Health & Clinical Outcomes Research
Saint Louis University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Consolidation of physician practices into larger health systems comprised of hospitals and other group practices has been occurring rapidly in the U.S. market over the past 10 years. During this same period, Medicare has been gradually increasing the use of “pay for performance,” or “value-based payment” programs. 2019 was the first year that nearly all physicians in the U.S. were paid under Medicare’s new mandatory Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). We conducted a study to see whether physicians who were affiliated with health systems performed better under the MIPS than those not affiliated with health systems.
08 Sep Comparison of COVID-19 vs Seasonal Influenza in Children
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Xiaoyan Song, PhD, MBBS, CIC Director, Office of Infection Control/Epidemiology Children's National Hospital Professor of Pediatrics George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Science Washington, D.C. 20010 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: As soon as SARS-COV-2 virus began spreading in early January and raising concerns for a potential pandemic, both the public and healthcare providers have wondered how this new virus is compared to influenza, a virus that human has known for a century and has become much more familiar with its spread pattern, disease characteristics, and treatment. In contrast, we have very little knowledge about SARS-COV-2 and are still getting to know it little by little. At Children’s National, we always maintain high vigilance on emerging infectious diseases and have excellent surveillance programs for influenza and other respiratory viral diseases. Therefore, driven by 1) Our curiosity to know if SARS-COV-2 is indeed similar or different from influenza, and 2) Availability of both SARS-COV-2 and influenza data, we conducted this retrospective study.08 Sep Risk of Aortic Aneurysm or Aortic Dissection with Infections vs Fluoroquinolones
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yaa-Hui Dong PhD Faculty of Pharmacy National Yang-Ming University Taipei, Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous observational studies found that fluoroquinolones may be associated with more than 2-fold increased risk of aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection (AA/AD). However, these studies might not well address the influence of concurrent infection, which is also a suggested risk factor for AA. Moreover, most of these studies compared fluoroquinolone use versus no fluoroquinolone use, which might overestimate the risk with fluoroquinolones as patients on fluoroquinolones may have more severe infection versus those not on fluoroquinolones.
03 Sep False Negative COVID-19 Tests Relatively Common During Recovery
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Dr. Francesco Venturelli
Servizio di Epidemiologia
Direzione Sanitaria - Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia
Padiglione Ziccardi, Via Amendola
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Contact tracing and isolation for people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 are two of the main strategies to limit the viral spread and contain the current pandemic. Long persistence of viral RNA detected by RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal swabs is commonly reported, while its correlation to virus viability is still debated.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: The study showed that in people with COVID-19, the median time between symptoms onset and viral clearance at RT-PCR was 36 days. Moreover, an overall 20% risk of “false negative” results at RT-PCR was observed, decreasing with time from diagnosis.
03 Sep Targeted Combination Immunotherapy Improved Survival in Stage III Melanoma
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55278" align="alignleft" width="133"] Prof. Dummer[/caption]
Reinhard Dummer, Prof. Dr. med.
Stv. Klinikdirektor
Universitätsspital Zürich, Dermatologische Klinik
Zürich
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Based on molecular biology analysis, a substantial proportion of melanomas are driven by mutations of BRAF resulting in an ongoing growth activating signal. Based on the key role of BRAF several multiple kinase molecules have been developed in order to target this crucial pathway. These medications have shown to improve progression free survival and overall survival in advanced metastatic melanoma.
Because there is a tendency for improved outcome in patients with low tumor burden, combined targeted therapy using Dabrafenib and Trametinib have been investigated in the adjuvant (after complete surgical resection) setting in stage III melanoma. And the 5 year data are now available in the New England Journal of Medicine.
01 Sep Non Fatal Firearm Injuries Are Significant Public Health Issue
Posted at 18:52h
in Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Emergency Care, JAMA, Surgical Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55282" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Spitzer[/caption]
Sarabeth Spitzer, MD
Co-Chair of Board, Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic (SAFE)
Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Firearm injury is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, resulting in almost 40,000 deaths annually in the United States, but very little is known about the epidemiology of nonfatal firearm injuries. Nonfatal firearm injuries can have significant long-term morbidity and are associated with significant cost. We found that there were over 81,000 nonfatal firearm injuries in California over the study period. Over the period, there was a decrease in nonfatal firearm injuries by 38.1%, driven primarily by a decrease in assault injuries.
31 Aug ADHD and Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals During Adolescence
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55258" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Shoaff[/caption]
Jessica Shoaff, MPH, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow and
[caption id="attachment_55259" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Korrick[/caption]
Susan A. Korrick, MD
Pulmonary and Critical Care
Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health
Harvard Medical School · Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Channing Laboratory Boston, MA 02115
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Our study posed the question: Do teenagers’ exposures to chemicals that are often found in consumer products increase behaviors that are common among individuals diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? Our results suggest that teenagers exposed to chemicals often found in consumer products (particularly phthalates) may have increased behaviors that are common among individuals diagnosed with ADHD. However, we did not study the diagnosis of ADHD (most of our study teens did not have ADHD). This means our results cannot answer the question of whether these chemical exposures increase the likelihood of being diagnosed with ADHD. Also, in our study design, chemical exposures and ADHD-related behaviors were measured at the same time, so it is not possible to know with certainty whether the chemical exposures altered behavior or behavior altered chemical exposures.
28 Aug USPSTF Recommends Behavioral Counseling for Teens and Adults at Risk of STIs
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55266" align="alignleft" width="133"] Dr. Simon[/caption]
Melissa A. Simon, M.D., M.P.H.
George H. Gardner Professor of Clinical Gynecology
Vice Chair of Clinical Research
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Professor of Preventive Medicine and Medical Social Sciences
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise across the country, with approximately 20 million new cases in the U.S. each year. If untreated, STIs can lead to serious health complications including infertility, AIDS, and cancer.
The good news is that effective behavioral counseling has the potential to reduce STI rates by approximately a third. The Task Force continues to recommend behavioral counseling for all sexually active teens and for adults who are at increased risk for STIs.
28 Aug Cochlear Implants May Be Superior to Hearing Aids for Some Older Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55235" align="alignleft" width="145"]
Dr. Wick[/caption]
Cameron C. Wick, MD
Assistant Professor, Otology/Neurotology
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO
MedicalResearch.com: What do you see as the primary message of your findings for the general public?
Response: Older adults not satisfied with their hearing aids achieved clinically meaningful improvement in both hearing and quality of life with a cochlear implant compared to an optimized bilateral hearing aid condition.
MedicalResearch.com: Do you see your findings as changing the way older adults with hearing loss are managed?
Response: Yes and partially because this study is unique in its design and the outcomes that were measured. Specifically the study is a prospective, multicenter clinical trial conducted at 13 locations across the United States. All patients were setup with a 30-day optimized hearing aid experience before cochlear implantation (context: sometimes hearing aids are not appropriately optimized so baseline testing may not reflect the "best" that hearing aids can do). This study assesses both hearing data as well as quality of life data before and 6-months after cochlear implantation. After implantation patients were tested in both the unilateral (cochlear implant alone) and bimodal (cochlear implant plus hearing aid in the opposite ear) conditions. My paper is a subanalysis of adults 65 years and older (range 65 - 91 years) enrolled in the clinical trial. The principal investigator of the clinical trial is Dr. Craig Buchman. Dr. Buchman and myself are at Washington University in St. Louis which was the lead center for the clinical trial.
The findings of the study are meaningful because they demonstrate clear superiority of cochlear implants over hearing aids in many key areas, such as understanding speech, hearing in background noise, and ability to communicate. Hearing loss, which becomes more prevalent as we age, can negatively impact communication leading to social isolation, depression, frustration, and possibly cognitive decline. This study highlights that if patients are not satisfied with their hearing aid performance then they should be referred to a center that can evaluate for cochlear implantation. Cochlear implant indications have evolved considerably since they were first FDA approved in 1984. This study emphasizes that patients do not have to be profoundly deaf to experience significant hearing and social benefits from cochlear implants. Also, it demonstrates that cochlear implant surgery is well tolerated even as adults age and acquire other health ailments.
24 Aug Children Residing at Higher Altitudes Are Born Shorter and Have Lower Growth Trajectory
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kaleab Baye PhD Center for Food Science and Nutrition Addis Ababa University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Reducing child stunting is one of the most important objectives of the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the World Health Assembly (WHA). Progress is routinely measured using anthropometric indices such as height-for-age z score that compare child height to the World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards. Such comparisons rely on the assumption that children living in ideal home environment that promotes adequate growth have the same growth potential, irrespective of their genetic make-up. This assumption was confirmed by the Multicenter Growth Reference Study (MGRS), which was the origin of the development of the growth standards. However, the MGRS excluded sites above 1500 m above sea level (asl); hence, it remains unclear whether the widely adopted WHO growth standards are applicable to populations above the 1500 m asl threshold. This study investigated the association between altitude and linear growth faltering and evaluated whether the prescriptive WHO growth standards can apply to children residing at higher altitudes.
21 Aug Younger Patients with Atherosclerotic Heart Disease Less Likely To Receive Aspirin or Statins
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: First Author Dhruv Mahtta, DO, MBA Cardiovascular Disease Fellow Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX Senior & Corresponding Author [caption id="attachment_55170" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Virani[/caption]
Salim S. Virani, MD, PhD, FACC, FAHA, FASPC
Professor, Section of Cardiovascular Research
Director, Cardiology Fellowship Training Program
Baylor College of Medicine
Staff Cardiologist, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Co-Director, VA Advanced Fellowship in Health Services Research & Development
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease among young patients has been on the rise. These patients with premature and extremely premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease experience similar rates of mortality compared to older adults. Additionally, these young patients have a greater accrued rate of life-time morbidity. Therefore, secondary prevention measures such as use of guideline concordant statin therapy and aspirin therapy are paramount in this population.
21 Aug How Has COVID-19 Affected Prison Populations?
Posted at 15:23h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, COVID -19 Coronavirus, JAMA, Social Issues
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55163" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Jimenez[/caption]
Monik Carmen Jimenez, Sc.D
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Brigham and Women's Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We wanted to get a comprehensive picture of the epidemiology of COVID-19 in carceral facilities that included jails and was not restricted solely to prisons. We utilized publicly available data collected in Massachusetts, pursuant to a court order. These data included prison and jail systems and were used to calculate rates of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and testing rates among incarcerated individuals. We were also able to compare those to changes in the population size within each system.
19 Aug How Do COVID-19 Deaths in NYC Compare to Spanish Flu in 1918?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55114" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Faust[/caption]
Jeremy Samuel Faust, M.D., M.S., M.A., FACEP
Brigham & Women's Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine
Division of Health Policy and Public Health
Instructor, Harvard Medical School
President, Roomful of Teeth Vocal Arts Project (www.roomfulofteeth.org)
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We sought to compare the initial covid-19 outbreak in NYC to the peak of the 1918 H1N1 pandemic in that same city. We found that the covid-19 pandemic was associated with more than 70% as many deaths per capita (monthly) as 1918 H1N1 was. But because baseline mortality rates are about 1/2 of what they were a century ago, death rates were over 400% of usual rates in March and April of this year compared to recent years, while 1918 was "merely" over 280% of usual death rates from prior years leading up to it.
19 Aug Bisphosphonates: Fragile Broken Bones vs Atypical Fractures
The benefits of bisphosphonates and other osteoporosis treatments, including the reduction of the devastating consequences of hip and other fractures far, far outweigh the risks of atypical fractures....
17 Aug 3D Structure of Crucial DNA Repair Enzyme Resolved
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55134" align="alignleft" width="130"] Dr. Aggarwal[/caption]
Professor Aneel K Aggarwal, PhD
Pharmacological Sciences and Oncological Sciences
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: DNA polymerase ζ (Pol ζ) is the crucial enzyme that allows cells to cope with DNA damage resulting from exposure to environmental and industrial carcinogens and to other daily genotoxic stresses. At the same time, Pol ζ has emerged as an important target for discovery of therapeutics in the treatment of chemotherapy-resistant cancers.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: We have succeeded in resolving the 3-D atomic structure of the complete Pol ζ enzyme using cryo-electron microscopy.
17 Aug Large Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Hospitalizations
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55140" align="alignleft" width="142"] Dr. Karaca Mandic[/caption]
Pinar Karaca-Mandic, PhD
Professor, Finance Department
Arthur Williams Jr. Professor of Healthcare Risk Management
Academic Director, Medical Industry Leadership Institute (MILI)
Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Several studies have highlighted disparities in COVID-19 infection rates and deaths. Less is known about disparities in hospitalizations. Reports from the Centers for Disease Control showed that in the nation overall, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics and American Indian Alaska Native persons have substantially higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalization. Our study extends this work by providing a state-by-state analysis of race/ethnic prevalence of cumulative COVID-19 hospitalizations and comparing this prevalence to ethnic/racial composition of each state’s population.
Through our University of Minnesota Covid-19 hospitalization tracking project (https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/mili-misrc-covid19-tracking-project) we collect data every day from state department of health websites, and we started collecting information on race/ethnicity breakdown of the hospitalizations as soon as states started reporting such data. During our study period, between April 30 and June 24, 12 states reported cumulative hospitalizations by race/ethnicity. By the end of our study, our data from these 12 states represented almost 50,000 hospitalizations.
14 Aug Atopic Dermatitis: No Link Found Between Topical Calcineurin Inhibitor Use and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
Posted at 14:37h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, Dermatology, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_55124" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Asgari[/caption]
Maryam M. Asgari, MD MPH
Professor
Department of Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are Topical Calcineurin Inhibitors used for?
Response: Topical calcineurin inhibitors (TCIs) are FDA approved for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (though they are used off-label to treat a wide range of inflammatory conditions of the skin, including psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, and contact dermatitis). There are currently two drugs available – tacrolimus and pimecrolimus – both of which carry a black box label warning users about the potential for increased skin cancer risk. The risk associated with keratinocyte carcinoma, the most common cancer (defined as basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma), remains poorly defined because findings from large-scale post-marketing surveillance studies are lacking.
12 Aug Lupus Anticoagulant and Blood Clots Common in COVID-Hospitalized Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55105" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Reyes Gil[/caption]
Morayma Reyes Gil M.D., Ph.D.
Director of hematology and Coagulation Labs
Associate Professor, Pathology
Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein School of Medicine
Bronx, NY 10467
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Antiphospholipid Syndrome is an entity caused by autoantibodies that cause arterial and venous thrombosis as well as miscarriages. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we tested 187 patients for Lupus anticoagulant (LA); 68 turned out to be COVID positive. 30 of the 68 COVID-positive patients were found to be positive for LA by the DRVVT test, and 17 of them were also determined to be positive by the hexagonal phospholipid neutralization STACLOT-LA test. Importantly, of the 30 patients who were LA positive, 19 had documented thrombosis (arterial and venous), an event rate of 63%, as compared with a rate of 34% (p = .03) for LA-negative patients.
We also checked CRP, an inflammatory marker known to affect the hexagonal phospholipid neutralization STACLOT-LA test. Although the mean CRP level was higher in patients testing positive for LA by DRVVT (14.4 vs 7.5 mg/dL; P < .01), patients with thrombosis did not have significantly higher CRP levels than those with no thrombosis. Hence, we adjusted for CRP, and LA was found to be independently associated with thrombosis (odds ratio, 4.39; 95% CI, 1.45-14.57; p= .01). No statistically significant difference was found by anticoagulation at the time of thrombosis, gender, race, ethnicity, ventilation, and mortality between patients who tested LA positive vs. negative.
12 Aug NEJM: Compression Therapy Prevention of Recurrent Cellulitis Without Antibiotics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55120" align="alignleft" width="133"] Elizabeth Webb[/caption]
Elizabeth Webb, M.P.H
Physiotherapy Department
Calvary Public Hospital Bruce
Bruce, Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Our study showed that in patients with a history of leg swelling (chronic edema), compression therapy by a skilled lymphedema therapist reduced the risk of infection in the leg (cellulitis) by a huge 77%. With up to 47% of patients experiencing recurrence of cellulitis in their legs within 3 years, this result is a game-changer in terms of our approach to managing patients with leg swelling and recurrent cellulitis.
Until now, the use of prophylactic antibiotics to prevent cellulitis has been the only evidence-based practice. We know however, there are many reasons why avoidance of antibiotics is important within our community.