Medical Research Journals

19 Apr

Posted at 01:35h in Author Interviews, Autism, Depression, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33979" align="alignleft" width="133"]Simone Vigod, MD, MSc, FRCPC Psychiatrist and Lead, Reproductive Life Stages Program Women’s Mental Health Program Women’s College Hospital Toronto, ON Dr. Vigod[/caption] Simone Vigod, MD, MSc, FRCPC Psychiatrist and Lead, Reproductive Life Stages Program Women’s Mental Health Program Women’s College Hospital Toronto, ON MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Depression is one of the most common problems that can complicate a pregnancy. Untreated, or incompletely treated, it can be associated with significant harm to mother and child. While psychotherapies alone may be effective for women with mild (or even moderate) severity symptoms, sometimes antidepressant medication is required. In these cases, the benefits of treatment must be weighed against potential risks. Previous research suggested that there may be an increased risk for autism in children exposed to antidepressant medication during pregnancy. However, previous studies were limited in their ability to account for other potential causes of autism in their analyses. In our study, we used several different strategies to try to compare children whose pregnancy exposures were very similar, except for exposure to an antidepressant. The main finding was that after using these strategies, there was no longer a statistically significant association between in-utero antidepressant exposure and autism.

19 Apr

Posted at 01:25h in Author Interviews, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33953" align="alignleft" width="156"]Neha Pagidipati, MD MPH Duke Clinical Research Institute Duke University Durham, North Carolina Dr. Pagidipati[/caption] Neha Pagidipati, MD MPH Duke Clinical Research Institute Duke University Durham, North Carolina MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines for treatment of blood cholesterol to prevent cardiovascular disease created a new paradigm for lipid management and raised numerous ongoing controversies. In 2016, the US Preventive Services Task Force released recommendations for primary prevention statin therapy which were different in some important ways from the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines. We aimed to understand the practical difference between these two sets of guidelines in terms of the number of Americans who would be potentially eligible for statin therapy. Using U.S. cross-sectional survey data between 2009 and 2014, we found that, if fully implemented, the USPSTF recommendations would reduce the percentage of US adults age 40-75 who should initiate statin therapy from 24% to 16% as compared to the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines. Those newly recommended for statin therapy would be in addition to the 21% of US adults already taking lipid-lowering therapy. Of the approximately 9 million adults who would no longer be recommended to receive statin therapy under the new USPSTF recommendations, over half of them would be younger adults with a high long-term risk of cardiovascular disease (about 1 in 3), and over one quarter would be individuals with diabetes.

18 Apr

Posted at 23:23h in Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Genetic Research, PLoS
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daryl Armstrong Scott, M.D., Ph.D Associate Professor Molecular and Human Genetics Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX, US MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This case started with a male child with intellectual disability, developmental delay, hypotonia, hypermobile joints and relative macrocephaly (large head size). Clinical testing showed that he carried a small deletion on chromosome Xp11.22. Since the deleted region had not been previously associated with human disease, the patient was referred to our clinic for additional testing. However, a more detailed analysis revealed that mice that were missing one of the genes located in the deletion interval, Maged1, had neurocognitive and neurobehavioral problems. This sparked additional inquiries which resulted in the identification of three other males from two other families who carried small, overlapping Xp11.22 deletions and had similar features. In all cases, their deletions were inherited from their asymptomatic mothers. We concluded that deletion of an ~430 kb region on chromosome Xp11.22 that encompasses two pseudogenes (CENPVL1 and CENPVL2) and two protein-coding genes (MAGED1 and GSPT2) causes a novel, syndromic form of X-linked intellectual disability characterized by developmental delay, hypotonia, hypermobile joints and relative macrocephaly.

18 Apr

Posted at 13:50h in Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Inflammation, Nature
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33993" align="alignleft" width="163"]Borja Ibáñez MD Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research Madrid Dr. Ibáñez[/caption] Borja Ibáñez MD Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research Madrid MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) is a severe condition responsible for thousands of deaths every year and with important long-term consequences for survivors. Best treatment for acute myocardial infarction is a rapid coronary reperfusion. Upon reperfusion, all inflammatory cells and mediators accumulated in the circulation during the infarction process, enter into the myocardium and causes an extra damage to the heart. Activated neutrophils play a critical role in this damage occurring upon reperfusion. The final size of infarction is the main determinant for mortality and long-term morbidity. The possibility of limiting the extent of infarcted tissue is of paramount importance. Betablockers have been used in patients for more than 4 decades, mainly to treat arrhythmias and high blood pressure. Recently the same group of investigators demonstrated that the very early administration (i.e. during ambulance transfer to the hospital) of the betablocker “metoprolol” was able to reduce the size of infarction in patients. The mechanism by which metoprolol was protective in patients suffering a myocardial infarction was unknown.

18 Apr

Posted at 00:57h in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Genetic Research, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33859" align="alignleft" width="166"]Fergus J. Couch, Ph.D. Zbigniew and Anna M. Scheller Professor of Medical Research Chair, Division of Experimental Pathology Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN 55905 Dr. Couch[/caption] Fergus J. Couch, Ph.D. Zbigniew and Anna M. Scheller Professor  of Medical Research Chair, Division of Experimental Pathology Department of Laboratory Medicine  and Pathology Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The main finding is that RAD51D, BARD1, and MSH6 can now be included in the list of moderate risk breast cancer genes. In contrast, other genes such as MRE11A and RAD50 do not increase risk of breast cancer. In addition, we provide initial estimates of the level of breast cancer risk associated with mutations in the genes that cause breast cancer. The "new" breast cancer genes may now be useful for identifying women who can benefit from enhanced screening. These new data will need to be considered by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) which provides guidelines for clinical management of individuals with mutations in cancer predisposition genes. These results will also be useful for identifying members of families who are at increased risk of breast cancer.

18 Apr

Posted at 00:49h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Opiods, Surgical Research, University of Michigan
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33814" align="alignleft" width="124"]Chad M. Brummett, MD Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Dr. Brummett[/caption] Chad M. Brummett, MD Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, MI 48109  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The opioid epidemic has received considerable attention, but most of the focus has been on chronic pain and primary care. However, surgeons prescribe ~40% of the opioids in the US, and little attention has been given to the importance of prescribing after surgery. In this study, we found that among patients not using opioids in the year prior to surgery, ~6% of patients continued to use opioids long after what would be considered normal surgical recovery. Furthermore, there was no difference between patients undergoing minor and major surgeries, thereby suggesting that some patients continue to use opioids for reasons other than pain related to surgery.

18 Apr

Posted at 00:44h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Johns Hopkins, Mammograms
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Archana Radhakrishnan MD MHS Division of General Internal Medicine Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We were interested in understanding the current practice trends in breast cancer screening recommendations by doctors in light of the guideline changes.  We performed a national survey of primary care providers and gynecologists asking about their breast cancer screening practices. We found that a large number of doctors recommend breast cancer screening to younger and older women—upwards of 80% of doctors recommend it for younger women (ages 40-44) and almost 70% for women 75 and older.  But this varies by the type of doctor that a woman see.  Gynecologists were, in general, more likely to recommend routine mammograms.

18 Apr

Posted at 00:35h in Aging, Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, PLoS
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Hector Zenil Co-director Information Dynamics Lab Unit of Computational Medicine, SciLifeLab Center for Molecular Medicine Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The generation of randomness is known to be related to cognitive abilities. It has also recently been shown that animals can recur to random behaviour to outsmart other animals or overcome certain situations. Our results that humans can best outsmart computers in generating randomness at a certain age (25). The results correspond to what it was suspected, that cognitive abilities peak at an early age before declining and that no other factor was important. We quantified a type of mathematical randomness that is known to be the true type of randomness as opposed to e.g. 'statistical randomness'. Something that is random is difficult to describe in a succinct way. Unlike 'statistical randomness', 'algorithmic randomness' does not only produce something that appears random but also that is very difficult to generate or produce. Conversely, something that may look random for the standard of statistical randomness may not turn out to be truly random.

18 Apr

Posted at 00:30h in Author Interviews, Heart Disease, HIV, JAMA, Vanderbilt
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthew S Freiberg, MD, MSc Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine Vanderbilt Translational and Clinical Cardiovascular Research Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:  HIV infected people are living longer and are at risk for cardiovascular diseases. While acute myocardial infarction has been studied and the increased risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) among HIV+ people compared to uninfected people is well documented, there are less data describing the risk of HIV and different types of heart failure, including reduced and preserved ejection fraction heart failure. Understanding more about the link between HIV and different types of HF is important because reduced and preserved ejection fraction heart failure differ with respect to underlying mechanism, treatment, and prognosis. Moreover, as cardiovascular care has improved, HIV infected people who experience an AMI are likely to survive but may live with a damaged heart. Understanding more about the link between HIV and heart failure may help providers and their patients prevent or reduce the impact of HF on the HIV community.

17 Apr

Posted at 23:59h in Addiction, Author Interviews, BMJ, Ophthalmology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Rebecca Rewbury Sussex Eye Hospital Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust Brighton, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: ‘Poppers’ are recreational drugs which are illegal to sell for human ingestion, but are sold under the guise of household cleaning products. Inhalation leads to a brief sense of euphoria, enhanced sexual arousal and smooth muscle relaxation. The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 was due to outlaw poppers, but they were excluded on the basis that they do not act directly on the central nervous system. The main constituent of poppers, isopropyl nitrite, replaced isobutyl nitrite when the latter was classified as a carcinogen in 2006. Since then, there have been several case reports of ‘poppers maculopathy.’ We noted an increase in patients presenting with central visual disturbances after using poppers and describe 12 such cases. They all demonstrated similar disruption of the photoreceptor layer on retinal imaging. Onset of symptoms was frequently linked to specific brands of poppers, with 3 people having used poppers for many years and only developing side effects on changing brand. Chemical analysis showed that these products contained isopropyl nitrite. One brand of poppers, used without side effects by one patient, contained amyl nitrite, 2-methyl butyl nitrite and isobutyl alcohol, but no isopropyl nitrite. The outcome of poppers maculopathy varied, but following abstention, visual disturbances and retinal damage tended to improve over months, if not fully resolve. Although in some cases, symptoms and/or imaging findings were prolonged. Ongoing use of implicated brands led to persistent, but not worsening maculopathy, whereas one patient that switched back to another brand showed full recovery.

17 Apr

Posted at 23:57h in AstraZeneca, Author Interviews, Autism, Boehringer Ingelheim, Depression, Eli Lilly, J&J-Janssen, JAMA, Merck, OBGYNE
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Florence Gressier MD PhD Insermk Department of psychiatry CHU de Bicêtrem Le Kremlin Bicêtre France MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Results from recent studies have suggested an increased risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) in children exposed to antidepressants in utero. We performed a systematic review of and a meta-analysis of published studies to assess the association between ASDs and fetal exposure to antidepressants during pregnancy for each trimester of pregnancy and preconception. Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggests a significant association between increased ASD risk and maternal use of antidepressants during pregnancy; however, it appears to be more consistent during the preconception period than during each trimester. In addition, the association was weaker when controlled for past maternal mental illness. Maternal psychiatric disorders in treatment before pregnancy rather than antenatal exposure to antidepressants could have a major role in the risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

17 Apr

Posted at 21:48h in Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, PNAS
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33947" align="alignleft" width="160"]Zhiyong Zhao, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, MD Dr. Zhiyong Zhao[/caption] Zhiyong Zhao, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, MD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Diabetes in early pregnancy can cause neural tube defects in fetus. The defects are a result of failure in neural tube closure, due to excess cell death. The aim of this study was to delineate molecular processes that induce cell death. The main findings of this study are: (1) Hyperglycemia disrupts protein folding. The misfolded proteins, including the ones that are associated with neurodegenerative diseases, form aggregates, indicating similar molecular processes in both fetal neural tube defects and adult neurodegenerative diseases. (2) Protein aggregation leads to formation of a neurodegenerative disease-related cell death inducting mechanism.

14 Apr

Posted at 22:40h in Author Interviews, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joshua Barocas, MD Clinical and Research Fellow Division of Infectious Diseases Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program began treating HCV-infected individuals with the new oral medications. Based on clinical experience and previous experience with medication adherence in the setting of HIV, there were no clinical reasons that homeless persons should be excluded. As a result, we began to track the experience of treated individuals including cure, side effects, and adherence. We found that in the initial group of treated individuals, 62 of 64 persons achieved SVR. There were minimal side effects and adherence was excellent. 

14 Apr

Posted at 22:14h in Author Interviews, Nature, Zika
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33892" align="alignleft" width="160"]Dr. Jikui Song PhD Assistant professor of biochemistry University of California, Riverside. Dr. Jikui Song[/caption] Dr. Jikui Song PhD Assistant professor of biochemistry University of California, Riverside. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Recent outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) has become a wordwide health concern. However, no vaccines or antiviral drugs against ZIKV are currently available. To explore potential druggable sites for ZIKV, we set out to determine the crystal structure of full-length ZIKV NS5, the molecular machinery responsible for the genomic replication of ZIKV. The major findings of our study include the identification of a conserved domain conformation within flavivirus NS5 family, which may be important for functional regulation of flavivirus NS5. Furthermore, our structural analysis revealed a potential drug-binding site of ZIKV NS5, providing basis for future development of novel antivirals against ZIKV.

13 Apr

Posted at 22:23h in Author Interviews, Boehringer Ingelheim, Diabetes, JAMA, Ophthalmology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33673" align="alignleft" width="170"]Marco A Zarbin, MD, PhD, FACS Alfonse Cinotti, MD/Lions Eye Research Professor and Chair Institute of Ophthalmology & Visual Science Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School Rutgers University Newark, NJ 0710 Dr. Zarbin[/caption] Marco A Zarbin, MD, PhD, FACS Alfonse Cinotti, MD/Lions Eye Research Professor and Chair Institute of Ophthalmology & Visual Science Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School Rutgers University Newark, NJ 0710  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
  1. Most large, randomized clinical trials are powered to assess the efficacy of drugs or interventions, but they usually do not enroll enough patients to accurately assess the frequency of uncommon, undesirable side effects.
  2. In order to compensate for this deficiency in trial design, investigators aggregate the results of numerous studies all of which address the same clinical question with the same (or similar) drugs/interventions to increase the power to detect uncommon side effects. These aggregate studies can be meta-analyses.
  3. Unfortunately, most meta-analyses do not have the ability to answer some critical questions such as the timing of an adverse event relative to the last exposure to the drug, nor can they compensate fully for differences among the aggregated studies in trial design, length of patient follow-up, or presence pre-existing risk factors for the side effects in question.
  4. A pooled analysis of combined clinical trials using patient level data, however, allows a more in depth analysis of side effects than study level data, which are usually used for most published meta-analyses, because patient level data allow one to incorporate the per-patient duration of exposure to treatment, adjust for imbalances in predefined baseline risk factors, and adjust for the effect of results of single studies on the overall result.

13 Apr

Posted at 22:17h in Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Vitamin D
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Robert Scragg, MBBS, PhD School of Population Health The University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Interest in a possible role for vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease was stimulated by studies showing a seasonal variation in cardiovascular disease, which is much higher in winter, when body levels of vitamin D are low, than in summer. Main findings are that bolus monthly doses of vitamin D supplementation do not prevent against cardiovascular disease, even in people with low levels of vitamin D.

13 Apr

Posted at 13:36h in Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Nature, Neurological Disorders
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Muhammad Ayub MBBS, MRCPsych, MSc., MD Professor of Psychiatry Chair Division of Developmental Disabilities Department of Psychiatry Queens University Kingston Kingston ON Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: Intellectual Disability affects about 1 percent of the population worldwide. Genetics play a major role in its etiology. Better understanding of the genetic causes is a necessary step in development of improved diagnosis and treatment. Recessive inheritance where the affected child inherits a defective copy of a gene from both the parents is an important genetic mechanism for prevalence of the disease in populations where within family marriages are common. These types of marital bonds are common in South Asia and Middle Eastern countries. The families where parents are related are an effective resource to study recessive forms of Intellectual Disability.

13 Apr

Posted at 00:56h in Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Hearing Loss, Nature
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33853" align="alignleft" width="163"]Lukas Landegger MD Molecular Neurotology Laboratory (PI Konstantina Stankovic) Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Dr. Landegger[/caption] Lukas Landegger MD Molecular Neurotology Laboratory (PI Konstantina Stankovic) Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Genetic hearing loss affects more than 125 million people worldwide and constitutes a major hurdle for language acquisition and child development in general. Technological advances over the last decades, such as cochlear implants, have made it possible for deaf children to partially regain their sense of hearing. However, these devices still have several shortcomings, especially when listeners attempt to understand speech in noise or listen to music. In establishing Anc80L65 as a reliable vector for gene delivery in the inner ear and releasing the first data demonstrating convincing hearing and vestibular function rescue in mice, we provide a foundation for other researchers interested in assessing the benefits of gene therapy in animal models of human disease.

13 Apr

Posted at 00:32h in Author Interviews, Diabetes, Heart Disease, NEJM
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33866" align="alignleft" width="141"]Aidin Rawshani, MD, PhD student Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg Dr. Rawshani[/caption] Aidin Rawshani, MD, PhD student Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Management of diabetes has improved in the past decades, studies have shown that mortality and cardiovascular disease among patients with diabetes has decreased, but these studies have not compared the trends among persons with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes to those of the general population, where there have also been reductions in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We observed marked reductions in incidence for cardiovascular disease and mortality among individuals with diabetes, however, similar trends were observed for the general population. We observed a 43% (HR 1.43, 95% CI 1.25–1.62) greater event rate reduction for cardiovascular disease among individuals with type 1 diabetes compared to matched controls. The reduction in the rate of fatal outcomes did not differ significantly between patients with type 1 diabetes and controls, whereas patients with type 2 diabetes had a 13% (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.85–0.89) lesser event rate reduction compared with matched controls. There was a 27% (HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.22–1.32) greater event rate reduction for cardiovascular disease among individuals with type 2 diabetes, compared with matched controls. Nevertheless, there remains a substantial excess overall rate of all outcomes analysed among persons with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, as compared with the general population.

13 Apr

Posted at 00:27h in Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Lipids, Nutrition, Stroke, Yale
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33863" align="alignleft" width="200"]Eric J. Brandt, MD Yale University Cardiovascular Disease Fellow Dr. Eric Brandt[/caption] Eric J. Brandt, MD Yale University Cardiovascular Disease Fellow MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: From previous studies we know that industrial trans fatty acid (trans fat) consumption is linked to elevated risk for cardiovascular disease. Even small amounts of consumption can be deleterious to cardiovascular health. In New York state, there were 11 counties that restricted the use of trans fatty acids in eateries. We compared hospitalization for heart attacks and stroke from 2002 through 2013 in counties that did and did not have restrictions. Our study found that when comparing populations within New York state that restricted the use of trans fat, compared to those that did not, there was an associated additional decline beyond temporal trends for heart attacks and stroke events combined by 6.2%.

10 Apr

Posted at 16:07h in Author Interviews, End of Life Care, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33665" align="alignleft" width="96"]Charles D. Blanke, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.S.C.O. CHAIR, SWOG Professor, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute Marquam II Dr. Blanke[/caption] Charles D. Blanke, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.S.C.O. CHAIR, SWOG Professor, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute Marquam II MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act as a voter initiative which law in 1997 – the first of its kind in the nation. Now, physician aid-in-dying is spreading quickly, with the states of Washington, Vermont, Colorado, and California passing similar legislation, as well as the District of Columbia, and Montana (through a court ruling). Millions of Americans lives in states where they would have the opportunity, if they were terminally ill, to take a lethal dose of medication with a doctor’s prescription. My team here at SWOG, a global cancer research community that designs and conducts publicly funded clinical trials, wanted to look at Oregon’s 18 years of aid-in-dying data and answer some simple questions: Who is using the law? Why? Are the drugs effective? What are the trends in actually taking the prescribed medications? We found that use of law has mostly increased over time – and substantially increased in 2014 and 2015. We found that predominantly white, older, well-educated people, take advantage of the law, and many of them – 77 percent – have underlying terminal cancer. The medication is also 99.4 percent effective.

10 Apr

Posted at 15:35h in Author Interviews, Autism, Environmental Risks, JAMA, Toxin Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Keith Fluegge BS Institute of Health and Environmental Research (IHER) Cleveland Graduate School, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The research letter discusses the possible link between rainfall precipitation and risk of autism. Earlier research suggested a link, although there remained quite a bit of skepticism surrounding the findings at the time. The purpose of the study was to briefly highlight the role of environmental exposure to the agricultural and combustion pollutant, nitrous oxide (N2O), as a possible etiological factor in neurodevelopmental disorders. We have published a series of epidemiological investigations, reviews, and correspondences discussing this possibility. In my continued research on this topic, I learned that rainfall and extreme weather-related events, like hurricanes, drive N2O emissions, especially from nitrogen amended soils. Exposure to this particular air pollutant may, therefore, plausibly undergird the relationship between rainfall precipitation and risk of autism.

10 Apr

Posted at 15:28h in Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Primary Care, UCLA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33781" align="alignleft" width="200"]John N. Mafi, MD, MPH Assistant Professor of Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA 90024 Affiliated Natural Scientist in Health Policy RAND Corporation 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401 Dr. John Mafi[/caption] John N. Mafi, MD, MPH Assistant Professor of Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA 90024 Affiliated Natural Scientist in Health Policy RAND Corporation 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Between 10-30% of healthcare costs are due to low value care, or patient care that provides little to no benefit to patients, and can sometimes cause harm (e.g., radiation exposure from diagnostic imaging tests). In this study, we found that hospital-based primary care practice provide more low value care than community-based primary care practices across the United States. Understanding where and why low value care occurs is going to be essential if we want to get serious about eliminating it.

10 Apr

Posted at 15:22h in Author Interviews, CDC, JAMA, Stroke
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33788" align="alignleft" width="180"]Mary G. George, MD, MSPH Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, Georgia Dr. George[/caption] Mary G. George, MD, MSPH Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, Georgia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 130,000 Americans each year—that’s 1 of every 20 deaths—and costs the nation $33 billion annually, including the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity. And, stroke is leading cause of serious disability. An ischemic stroke, sometimes called a brain attack, is a stroke that occurs when there is a blockage of the blood supply to the brain.

10 Apr

Posted at 11:37h in Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Pediatrics, PLoS, Vitamin D
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33775" align="alignleft" width="120"]Benjamin Udoka Nwosu, MD, FAAP Associate Professor of Pediatrics Division of Endocrinology University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester, Massachusetts Dr. Nwosu[/caption] Benjamin Udoka Nwosu, MD, FAAP Associate Professor of Pediatrics Division of Endocrinology University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Vitamin D deficiency has been reported in various gastrointestinal disorders but the vitamin D status of children and adolescents with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has not been previously characterized. Secondly, the vitamin D status in IBS has not been compared to those of other malabsorption syndromes such as irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, and celiac disease.

09 Apr

Posted at 13:20h in Author Interviews, Hematology, Lancet
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. med. Kathleen Selleng, OÄ, QB Hämotherapie Universitätsmedizin Greifswald Institut für Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin, Abt. Transfusionsmedizin Sauerbruchstraße Greifswald Deutschland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Red blood cell concentrates (RBCs) of blood group O RhD negative are frequently used as universal blood for emergency transfusions in patients with unknown blood type. This leads to an over-proportional use of these red blood cell concentrates and regular shortages of O RhD negative RBCs. Due to these shortages, patients with known RhD negative blood type sometimes have to be transfused with RhD positive RBCs. The present study shows that the overall risk to induce an anti-D by transfusing all emergency patients with unknown blood type with O RhD positive RBCs is in the range of 3 to 6%, while this risk is much higher (20-30%) in RhD negative patients which have to be transfused with RhD positive RBCs due to RhD negative RBC shortages.

06 Apr

Posted at 19:23h in Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, JAMA, Karolinski Institute, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33749" align="alignleft" width="133"]Hanna Sahlin MSc, Lic psychologist, Lic psychotherapist Specialist in clinical psychology PhD-student Departement of Clinical Neuroscience Karolinska Institutet National Self-harm project Centre for Psychiatry Research, CPF Stockholm, Sweden Hanna Sahlin[/caption] Hanna Sahlin MSc, Lic psychologist, Lic psychotherapist Specialist in clinical psychology PhD-student Departement of Clinical Neuroscience Karolinska Institutet National Self-harm project Centre for Psychiatry Research, CPF Stockholm, Sweden What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study is the result of wanting to find a more conclusive answer to whether individuals who engage in non-fatal deliberate self-harm are more prone to aggression towards others. There has long been a debate on whether aggression to oneself and aggression towards others co-occur, but the studies that have been conducted thus far have been on smaller samples or with clinical or forensic cohorts. Also, the studies have had great variability regarding the definition of both “deliberate self-harm” and “violence”. Thus, it has been difficult to establish an ”overall” effect size for this association, or to draw firmer conclusions on how and if this association plays out in the general population. We had the opportunity to study this association in several large nationwide population-based registries including all Swedish citizens, and with high specificity regarding the ingoing variables of interest – i.e., non-fatal deliberate self-harm (as registered in the National Patient Register) and violent crime convictions (as registered in the National Crime Register). We found a five times increased crude risk (hazard) of being convicted of a violent crime if one had received self-harm associated clinical care, and vice-versa, that there was an equally increased risk of self-harm if one had been convicted of a violent crime. After controlling for relevant psychiatric comorbidities and socio-economic status, an almost doubled risk of violent crime conviction remained among self-harming men and women compared to individuals not exposed to self-harm. It is important to notice that our study did not find any evidence suggesting that self-harm behaviours cause violent criminality. Therefore, we conclude that the engagement in violence towards oneself and towards others share an underlying vulnerability to impulsive and aggressive behaviours.

06 Apr

Posted at 11:33h in Author Interviews, Global Health, JAMA, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Nicholas Kassebaum, MD Assistant Professor Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation University of Washington MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Reducing deaths of young children has been an international priority over the past few decades, and much progress has been made in this regard. Comprehensive and timely measurement of death and disease burden among children and adolescents is essential for improving the health of young people. Analyzing the latest estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), the current study quantifies and describes levels and trends of mortality and disease burden among children and adolescents under the age of 19 from 1990 to 2015.

06 Apr

Posted at 11:29h in Author Interviews, Epilepsy, JAMA, Karolinski Institute, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Neda Razaz-Vandyke, PhD, MPH Postdoctoral Fellow Reproductive Epidemiology Unit Karolinska Institutet   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response:   There is a growing concern about long-term neurological effects of prenatal exposure to maternal overweight and obesity. The etiology of epilepsy is poorly understood and in more than 60% of cases no definitive cause can be determined. We found that maternal overweight and obesity increased the risks of childhood epilepsy in a dose-response pattern.

06 Apr

Posted at 11:15h in Author Interviews, Education, Electronic Records, JAMA, Johns Hopkins
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33589" align="alignleft" width="125"]Ge Bai, PhD, CPA Assistant Professor The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Washington, DC 20036 Dr. Ge Bai[/caption] Ge Bai, PhD, CPA Assistant Professor The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Washington, DC 20036 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We examined the hospital data breaches between 2009 and 2016 and found that larger hospitals and hospitals that have a major teaching mission have a higher risk of data breaches.