02 Jul High-Intensity Binge Drinking Linked to Abnormal Lipids and Liver Function Tests
Our study highlights the possible negative cardiovascular and hepatic impact associated with high-intensity binge drinking....
Medical Research Journals
30 Jun Trends in Health Equity by Race/Ethnicity, Sex, and Income
If we want serious progress on health equity, we need serious research on its causes. ...
30 Jun Limited Opioid Addiction Treatment Resources Should Be Geared Towards Most Affected Counties
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49992" align="alignleft" width="135"] Dr. Haffajee[/caption]
Rebecca L. Haffajee, J.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management & Policy
umichsphumichsph
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Evidence suggests that the availability of medications to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) has been slow to expand, particularly in rural areas, despite the efficacy and effectiveness of these medications in reducing overdose deaths and other adverse life outcomes. We were interested in understanding the characteristics of counties both with high need (as measured by above-national rates in opioid overdose deaths) AND low provider capacity to deliver medications to treat OUD in 2017.
We found that such "opioid high-risk" counties were likely to be in the East North Central (e.g., Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana), South Atlantic (e.g., North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia), and Mountain (e.g., New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada) regions.
We also found that these opioid high-risk counties were more likely to have higher rates of unemployment and less likely to have fewer primary care clinicians or be micropolitan
28 Jun Spirometry Threshold Establishes Diagnosis of Clinically Significant COPD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49933" align="alignleft" width="198"] Dr. Oelsner[/caption]
Elizabeth C. Oelsner, MD, MPH
Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of General Medicine
New York Presbyterian
Columbia University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Uncertainty regarding how to diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has posed significant problems for early detection and treatment of this common disease. Simplifying and standardizing the diagnosis of COPD has the potential to improve diagnosis, clinical care, and clinical research for this common and under-diagnosed chronic lung disease.
We therefore aimed to provide robust evidence for the best threshold to diagnose COPD by comparing how well various thresholds predict hospitalizations and deaths from COPD.
28 Jun Sexting Linked to Increased Sexual Activity and Substance Abuse Among Teenagers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Camille Mori, B.A. (hons)
M.Sc. candidate
Clinical Psychology Program
Determinants of Child Development Lab
University of Calgary
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Sexting, which is the sharing of sexual messages, images, or videos over technological devices, has recently become a cause for concern among parents, teachers, and policy makers. However, the research on sexting among youth is still in early stages, and evidence of the risks associated with sexting is inconsistent. One way to resolve discrepancies in the field is to conduct a meta-analysis, which statistically summarizes existing research. We conducted a meta-analysis in order to examine the association between sexting and sexual activity (having sex, multiple sexual partners, and lack of contraception use). The associations between sexting and mental health related variables, including delinquent behaviour, substance use, and depression/anxiety were also examined.
27 Jun Diagnostic Value of Cerebrospinal Fluid Neurofilament Light Protein in Neurologic Diseases
Posted at 02:03h
in ALS, Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Biomarkers, JAMA, Multiple Sclerosis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_50018" align="alignleft" width="200"] Prof. Teunissen[/caption]
Charlotte E. Teunissen, PhD
Neurochemistry Laboratory, Department of Clinical Chemistry
VU University Medical Centre, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Several reports have shown increased in NfL in various neurological disorders, separately. We wanted to know how the levels are in these disorders relative to each other. Moreover, some reports showed absence of age effects in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients, which is normally present in controls. So, we thought that it would be good to study age effects in a large group of controls, and if these effects are absent in other diseases, similarly as in MS.
27 Jun Acute Brain Injury: Detection of Brain Activation in Unresponsive Patients
Posted at 01:29h
in Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Columbia, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, NEJM, Neurology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_49981" align="alignleft" width="134"] Dr. Claassen[/caption]
Jan Claassen, MD, PhD, FNCS
Associate Professor of Neurology
Division of Division of Critical Care and Hospitalist Neurology
Columbia University Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Unconsciousness is common and predicting recovery is challenging – often inaccurate. Many patients do not show movements on commands and typically this is interpreted as unconsciousness. Some of these patients may be able to have brain response to these commands raising the possibility of some preservation of consciousness. This has previously been shown months or years after the injury mostly using MRI.
We were able to detect this activation at the bedside in the ICU shortly after brain injury. For this we applied machine learning to the EEG to distinguish the brain’s responses to commands. Patients that showed this activation were more likely to follow commands prior to discharge and had better outcomes one year later.
25 Jun Statins May Double Risk of Diabetes
Individuals who used statins for the longest period of time (more than 2 years) had an even greater risk (3 times greater) for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, after adjusting for confounding factors....
25 Jun Do Decision Aids Make a Difference in Prostate Cancer Screening?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49921" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Tikkinen[/caption]
Kari Tikkinen, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor
Departments of Urology and Public Health
University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital
Helsinki, Finland
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Men’s choice of whether to undergo screening is value and preference sensitive: fully informed men will make different choices depending on their experience and perspective. For such decisions, shared decision-making represents an ideal approach to decision making. In shared decision-making both the patient and health care provider contribute to the medical decision-making process. The health care provider explains alternatives to patients, informs them of the best evidence regarding the anticipated consequences of a decision for or against the intervention, and helps them choose the option that best aligns with their preferences. All major guidelines of prostate cancer screening acknowledge the importance of informing men about risks and benefits of PSA screening.
Shared decision-making is challenging because it requires time, knowledge, and specific skills. Prostate cancer screening decisions aids may, by summarizing the current best evidence and by supporting conversations that address what matters most to men, address these challenges. The impact of decision aids on the decision-making process is, however, uncertain. We therefore undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of the randomized trials that have addressed the impact of decision aids in the context of prostate cancer screening.
24 Jun Lowered Price of Repatha® (evolocumab) Translates to Cost Effectiveness for Range of Heart Conditions in Some High Risk Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_25325" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Gregg Fonarow[/caption]
Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, FACC, FAHA
Eliot Corday Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science
Director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center
Co-Chief of Clinical Cardiology, UCLA Division of Cardiology
Co-Director, UCLA Preventative Cardiology Program
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Last year, Amgen made the PCSK-9 inhibitor evolocumab available at a reduced list price of $5,850 per year This 60% reduction was aimed at improving patient access by lowering patient copays, especially for Medicare beneficiaries.
Additionally, the treatment landscape for PCSK9 inhibitors was further defined in 2018 when the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Multisociety Clinical Guideline on the Management of Blood Cholesterol recommended PCSK9 inhibitors for, among other patient populations, patients with very high-risk (VHR) ASCVD whose low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels remain at 70 mg/dL or more despite a heart-healthy lifestyle and treatment with standard background therapy.
24 Jun Decrease in Obesity Among Young US Children Enrolled in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program 2010-2016
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49924" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Pan[/caption]
Liping Pan, MD, MPH
Epidemiologist
Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Children with severe obesity face significant health and social challenges. Children with obesity are at higher risk for having other chronic health conditions and diseases, such as asthma, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, and type 2 diabetes. They also have more risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure, impaired glucose tolerance, and high cholesterol than their healthyweight peers. Children with obesity can be bullied and teased more than their healthyweight peers. They are also more likely to suffer from social isolation, depression, and lower self-esteem. Children with obesity are also more likely to have obesity as adults. This can lead to lifelong physical and mental health problems. Adult obesity is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and many types of cancers.
Childhood obesity is more common among children from lower-income families, as many lack access to healthy, affordable foods and beverages and opportunities for low-cost physical activity.
23 Jun NEJM: Early Sedation with Dexmedetomidine in Critically Ill Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49917" align="alignleft" width="128"] Dr. Shehabi[/caption]
Yahya Shehabi PhD, FANZCA, FCICM, EMBA, GAICD
Director of Research, Critical Care and Peri-operative Medicine, Monash Health
Professor, School of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University
Professor Intensive Care Medicine, Clinical School of Medicine, University New South Wales
Critical Care and Peri-Operative Medicine Lead – Monash Health Translational Precinct
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: SPICE III was the final phase of a series of SPICE studies. SPICE I showed 2 important findings, first, deep sedation in the first 48 hours is strongly associated with higher mortality, longer ventilation time and higher risk of delirium.
Second; that Dexmedetomidine is mainly used as an adjunct secondary agent 3-4 days after commencing mechanical ventilation and not as a primary sedative agent. In addition, albeit with several limitations, previous RCTs comparing Dexmedetomidine with conventional sedatives showed reduced iatrogenic coma, shortened ventilation time and reduced delirium with Dexmedetomidine treatment.
So based on the above we hypothesized that using Dexmedetomidine soon after commencing ventilation as a primary sedative agent, through reducing early iatrogenic coma, ventilation time and delirium, would impact 90 day-mortality.
21 Jun Most Older Adults Have Eyes Examined, But Disparities Remain
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49831" align="alignleft" width="144"] Dr. Ehrlich[/caption]
Joshua R. Ehrlich, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Kellogg Eye Center
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
University of Michigan
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This study came out of data collected as part of the National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA). The NPHA is funded by AARP and the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan to inform the public, healthcare providers, and policymakers on a variety issues related to health. The vision survey, conducted in March 2018, was just one of many NPHA surveys.
Due to aging of the population, the number of older U.S. adults with blindness and vision impairment is expected to double over the next 30 years. Thus, this study was designed to provide crucial data on contemporary data on patterns of eye care utilization in older adults.
21 Jun Chronic Pain in Cancer Patients Varies by Income and Insurance Status
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49868" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Jiang[/caption]
Changchuan (Charles) Jiang MD, MPH
MSSLW Internal Medicine Residency Program
Class of 2020
Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Chronic pain is one of the common side effects of cancer treatments and it has been linked to low life quality, lower adherence to treatment, higher medical cost. As the population of cancer survivors grows rapidly, chronic pain will be a major public health issue in this population. We know from previous studies that chronic pain is common in certain cancers such as breast cancer. However, little was known about the epidemiology of chronic pain in the cancer survivors until our study.
21 Jun Cinematic Rendering of CT Scans Can Assist Surgeons in Preparation for Surgery
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49894" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Krautz[/caption]
Christian Krautz, MD
Department of Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen Nürnberg
Erlangen, Germany
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In this preclinical study that included 720 case evaluations, visualization with Cinematic Rendering allowed a more correct and faster comprehension of the surgical anatomy compared to conventional CT imaging independent from the level of surgical experience. Therefore,Cinematic Rendering is a tool that may assist HPB surgeons with preoperative preparation and intraoperative guidance through an improved interpretation of computed tomography imaging data.
19 Jun Unprofessional Behavior by Surgeons Linked to Surgical Complications in Their Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49834" align="alignleft" width="155"] Dr. Cooper[/caption]
William Cooper, M.D., M.P.H.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor
Pediatrics and Health Policy
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
Director, Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: For surgical teams, high reliability and optimal performance are dependent on effective communication, mutual respect, and continuous situational awareness. Surgeons who model unprofessional behaviors may contribute to undermining a culture of safety, threaten teamwork, and thereby increase risk for medical errors and surgical complications.
19 Jun Most Patients with Cellulitis May Not Need IV Antibiotics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49801" align="alignleft" width="200"] Example of cellulitis erysipelas from DermnetNZ.org[/caption]
Richard Brindle DM FRCP
Honorary Reader, University of Bristol, UK
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This review is an update of the 2010 Cochrane Review of Interventions for cellulitis and erysipelas (DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004299) but focusing on antibiotics. It provides a valuable resource for clinicians in summarizing current best evidence and highlighting gaps in the research. This review will inform the production of evidence-based guidelines covering antibiotic choice, route of administration, duration of treatment and the role of combinations of antibiotics.
18 Jun Opioids During Hospitalization Linked to Post-Discharge Opioid Prescriptions
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49771" align="alignleft" width="130"] Dr. Donohue[/caption]
Dr. Julie Donohue, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management
Vice Chair for Research
Graduate School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The opioid epidemic is exacting a significant burden on families, communities and health systems across the U.S. Prescription and illicit opioids are responsible for the highest drug overdose mortality rates ever recorded. We know from previous studies that some surgical and medical patients who fill opioid prescriptions immediately after leaving the hospital go on to have chronic opioid use. Until our study, however, little was known about how and if those patients were being introduced to the opioids while in the hospital.
My colleagues and I reviewed the electronic health records of 191,249 hospital admissions of patients who had not been prescribed opioids in the prior year and were admitted to a community or academic hospital in Pennsylvania between 2010 and 2014. Opioids were prescribed in 48% of the admissions, with those patients being given opioids for a little more than two-thirds of their hospital stay, on average.
17 Jun Older Women Need Screening For Hip Fracture Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49813" align="alignleft" width="132"] Dr. Ensrud[/caption]
Kristine E. Ensrud MD MPH
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Community Health
University of Minnesota
Core Investigator, Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research
Minneapolis VA Health Care System
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Women aged 80 years and older, a rapidly growing segment of the population, account for the majority of hip fractures in the United States. Hip fractures account for 72% of fracture-related health care expenditures and lead to significant morbidity and mortality. However, many late-life women at high risk of hip fracture are undiagnosed. Clinicians have difficulty identifying late-life women most likely to benefit from osteoporosis screening and interventions to prevent hip fracture in part due to concerns about comorbidity burden and prognosis in this patient population.
17 Jun Non-Invasive Echocardiograms Can Be Overused Leading To Increased Costs
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49804" align="alignleft" width="142"] Dr. Pack[/caption]
Quinn R Pack, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of Massachusetts Medical School -
Baystate Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Because echocardiograms are non-invasive, very low risk, and nearly universally available, it is easy to over-use this technique. In myocardial infarction, echo is also recommended in guidelines.
However, in our lab, we frequently find echocardiograms that are ordered purely out of routine, without any thought as to the likelihood of finding an abnormality. Prior studies also suggested that as many as 70% of echocardiograms provide no additional diagnostic value. When spread across the approximate 600,000 patients in the United States each year, this low diagnostic yield represents an opportunity to reduce costs by reducing echocardiograms.
16 Jun Could Breast Milk from Overweight Moms Play a Role in Childhood Obesity?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49782" align="alignleft" width="183"]
Dr. Nuss[/caption]
Henry J. Nuss, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
School of Public Health
New Orleans, LA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Childhood obesity rates in the U.S. have been increasing within the past 30 years. We can point to things like sedentary lifestyle, energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and savvy marketing techniques of large food corporations that target kids and their parents to buy food items that aren’t healthy. That said, we do know that women who have an unhealthy weight status (as measured by BMI ≥ 25) tend to have offspring that eventually attain an unhealthy weight status themselves. Aside from environmental factors, could this be due to maternal programming or perhaps something in the breastmilk? Or both? We saw some interesting research that showed breastfed infants/toddlers born to asthmatic moms were more likely to develop asthma. Furthermore, this association became stronger the longer the infants/toddlers were breastfed. The conclusion here is that it must be something in the breastmilk.
We knew that asthma and obesity are both inflammatory in nature and that there are specific pro- and anti-inflammatory and obesogenic bioactive compounds in human breastmilk. Some have been studied before but there were no studies at the time that tied all of the pieces together. If we could target specific compounds in the milk that were associated with unhealthy growth patterns in infants then we could perhaps be more specific in how we fight this problem.
16 Jun TAVR vs Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement Among Low-Risk Patients With Aortic Stenosis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49721" align="alignleft" width="198"] Prof. Biancari[/caption]
Fausto Biancari, MD, PhD
Professor
University of Turku and University
Oulu, Finland
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Current data is scarce regarding the short- and midterm benefit of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) compared to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in low-risk patients with severe aortic valve stenosis.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: In this observational study on 2841 low-risk patients with aortic valve stenosis from the Finnish nationwide FinnValve registry, propensity score matching analysis showed similar 30-day and three-year survival after TAVR and SAVR.
14 Jun Past and Present Smoking Raises Risk of Dermatology Surgery Complications
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49759" align="alignleft" width="144"] Dr. Maher[/caption]
Ian A. Maher, MD
Department of Dermatology
St Louis University, St Louis, Missouri
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: One of our wonderful trainees at Saint Louis University was interested in the role of smoking in flap failures. Dogma has been that smoking was a major risk factor for flap failures. Looking at our database as well as published data, flap failures are a rare event, so rare as to be difficult to definitively associate with anything. We decided to look more broadly at complications both acute (infections failures) and chronic (mainly cosmetic scarring associated) in flaps and grafts.
13 Jun Use of AV Grafts Drops in Dialysis Patients, But Still Room For Improvement
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49763" align="alignleft" width="80"] Dr. Hicks[/caption]
Caitlin W. Hicks, M.D., M.S.
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Recipient of the Department of Surgery
Rothman Early Career Development Award for Surgical Research
Johns Hopkins Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Arteriovenous fistula are associated with better long-term patency, lower rates of infection, and lower long-term costs compared to arteriovenous graft. As a result, the Fistula First Catheter Last Guidelines recommend placement of an arteriovenous fistula over an AVG whenever possible.
We looked at individual physician utilization of AVF vs AVG for first-time AV access in Medicare beneficiaries. We found that the median physician utilization rate for AVG was only 18%, but that 21% of physicians use AVG in more than 34% of cases, which is above currently recommended practice guidelines.
13 Jun Metagenomic Sequencing Enhanced Diagnosis of Meningitis and Encephalitis Infections
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49751" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Chiu[/caption]
Dr. Charles Chiu, M.D./Ph.D.
Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Medicine / Infectious Diseases
Director, UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center
Associate Director, UCSF Clinical Microbiology Laboratory
UCSF School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you describe what is meant by metagenomic sequencing?
Response: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is the use of technology to generate millions of sequence reads to diagnose infection sin patients by characterizing the full range of potential pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites) in a single sample. Although shown to be a promising diagnostic tool for infectious diseases in case reports and limited case series (Chiu and Miller Nature Reviews Genetics 20, 341-355 (2019)), to date the “real-life” utility of this approach for patient care has hitherto not been demonstrated. This study is the first prospective, multi-center study of clinical mNGS testing for the diagnosis of neurological infections in acutely ill hospitalized patients presenting with meningitis and/or encephalitis.
13 Jun PCSK9 Inhibitor (evolocumab) Added to Statin Lowered Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Kidney Disease Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49703" align="alignleft" width="225"] Dr. Charytan[/caption]
David Charytan, MD MSc
Chief, Nephrology Division
NYU Langone Medical Center
New York, NY 10010
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Cardiovascular events are much more frequent in patients with impaired kidney function (chronic kidney disease), and cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in advanced chronic kidney disease. This risk remains high despite the use of standard medical therapies including statins, the most commonly used cholesterol lowering agents.
The PCSK9 inhibitor evolocumab is a new class of highly potent cholesterol lowering medications that can further reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients already taking statins. We analyzed data from the FOURIER trial, which randomized study patients with clinically evident atherosclerosis and an LDL cholesterol level >=70 mg/dL or HDL cholesterol level >= while on a statin, to assess the safety and efficacy of evolocumab, a PCSK9 inhibitor, compared with placebo in individuals with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease.
There were several major findings
- a) evolocumab appears to be equally safe in individuals with preserved and mild to moderately impaired kidney function
- b) evolocumab appears to have preserved efficacy at preventing cardiovascular events as kidney function declines.
- c) We were unable to detect any significant impact on kidney function.
- In addition, because the baseline risk of cardiovascular events is much higher in individuals with chronic kidney disease, the absolute benefits of treatment with evolocumab appear to be magnified as kidney function declines.
13 Jun PTSD: Comparative Effectiveness of Medications, Psychotherapeutic and Combination Treatments
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49746" align="alignleft" width="178"] Dr. Gerger[/caption]
Dr. Heike Gerger | Senior Postdoc
University of Basel | Faculty of Psychology | Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
Basel | Switzerland
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most prevalent mental disorders, with a high risk of chronicity, comorbidity, and functional impairment. PTSD is complicated to treat, and the debate on the most efficacious treatment approach is ongoing. Treatment guidelines for the treatment of PTSD typically recommend different types of trauma-focused psychotherapeutic treatments as first-line PTSD treatment. However, concerning pharmacological therapies recommendations are inconsistent.
12 Jun Turn Off the Smartphone and TV at Night To Reduce Risk of Weight Gain
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49741" align="alignleft" width="100"]
Dr. Park[/caption]
Lead author: Yong-Moon (“Mark”) Park, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow
Epidemiology Branch
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
[caption id="attachment_49742" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Sandler[/caption]
Senior author: Dale P. Sandler, PhD
Chief, Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: A few studies had suggested that exposure to artificial light while sleeping was associated with obesity. However, the previous studies were cross-sectional, so we really do not know which came first - exposure to artificial light while sleeping or obesity. Another problem was that previous studies did not fully account for other characteristics that could affect this association, such as sleep duration and quality, calorie intake and dietary patterns, and physical activity.
We studied nearly 44,000 women ages 35-74 from across the US who are enrolled in the Sister Study cohort. Women had body weight characteristics measured at baseline and provided self-reported information on weight at baseline and follow-up – on average 5.7 years later.
12 Jun Aspirin for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49654" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Mehta[/caption]
J.L. Mehta, MD, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Physiology and Biophysics
Stebbins Chair in Cardiology
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System
Little Rock, AR 72205
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Aspirin is commonly used for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease events in a variety of subjects around the world. Recent studies, however, show that routine use of aspirin without assessment of risk for cardiovascular disease events may not be appropriate, and may even be harmful.
11 Jun Updated Expert Consensus Statement on Platelet Function/Genetic Testing for Guiding P2Y12 Receptor-Inhibitor Treatment in PCI
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49698" align="alignleft" width="200"] Prof. Sibbing[/caption]
Prof. Dr. med. Dirk Sibbing, MHBA, FESC
Oberarzt, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) München
Chairperson ESC Working Group on Thrombosis
München, Germany
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this consensus statement? What are the main findings that led to these conclusions?
Response: The availability of different P2Y12 receptor inhibitors (clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor) with varying levels of potency has enabled physicians to contemplate individualized treatment concepts. Such concepts may include escalation or de-escalation of P2Y12 inhibiting therapy.
Alternative DAPT strategies may be chosen according to the clinical setting (stable coronary artery disease vs. acute coronary syndrome), the stage of the disease (early vs. chronic treatment) and patient risk for ischemic and bleeding complications. As always in clinical medicine, guidance by means of biomarkers or risk scores is always helpful and warranted. Here specifically, a tailored DAPT approach may be potentially guided by platelet function (PFT) or genetic testing.