Pediatrics

21 Mar

Posted at 18:12h in Abuse and Neglect, Accidents & Violence, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Pediatrics, PLoS
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_40688" align="alignleft" width="145"]Neha Bairoliya, Ph.D. Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies Cambridge, MA 02138 Dr. Bairoliya[/caption] Neha Bairoliya, Ph.D. Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies Cambridge, MA 02138 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: While the high prevalence of preterm births and its impact on infant mortality in the US have been widely acknowledged, recent data suggest that even full-term births in the US face substantially higher mortality risks compared to European countries with low infant mortality rates. In this paper, we use the most recent birth records in the US to more closely analyze the primary causes underlying mortality rates among full-term births. We show that infants born full-term in the US face 50%-200% higher risks of infant mortality compared to leading European countries. The two main drivers of these high relative risks are increased risk of mortality due to congenital malformations, which patients cannot really do much about other than ensuring adequate screening during pregnancy, and high risk of sudden unexpected deaths in infancy, which should largely be preventable through appropriate sleeping arrangements. While we do not have data on actual sleeping arrangements from our study, other data sources suggest that a substantial number of babies continue to sleep on their tummy; we also found a shockingly large number of babies dying from suffocation, which suggests that parents either use covers that are not safe, or let children sleep in their own beds.

20 Mar

Posted at 12:23h in ADHD, Author Interviews, Brain Injury, JAMA, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Megan E. Narad, PhD Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center | CCHMC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Previous research has shown that children with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) demonstrate difficulties with attention following injury; however, most studies only follow children 2-3 years after injury. Our study followed a group of children with a history of TBI 7-10 years after injury. The main finding is that those with severe TBI were at greater risk for developing secondary attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (SADHD) than those with orthopedic injury; however, it should also be noted that kids with less severe injuries were also at risk of developing SADHD. In addition to injury severity, environmental factors (maternal education and family functioning) also played a role in SADHD development. It should also be noted that a number of kids developed SADHD >3.5 years after injury suggesting that these difficulties may not surface until many years after injury.

19 Mar

Posted at 16:30h in Author Interviews, Orthopedics, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_40632" align="alignleft" width="200"]Baron  Lonner, MD Professor of Orthopaedics Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Dr. Lonner[/caption] Baron  Lonner, MD Professor of Orthopaedics Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: 2-3% of adolescents have idiopathic scoliosis and 1 in 10 of these individuals will require surgery to correct severe scoliosis which if left untreated can lead to back pain and disability as well as pulmonary (breathing) problems later in life. For the adolescent with curvatures that require surgical treatment, body image and self esteem are big issues as they are for all adolescents going through their developmental stages. Scoliosis has an impact on body shape, which is seen by the affected individual looking in the mirror as well as by their peers and those around them. This can lead to self esteem and body image disturbance issues. We set out to explore the body shape distortions that occur with scoliosis, that are not depicted by x-rays that are standardly used to assess curvatures of the spine, and the improvements in parameters of body shape that occur with corrective surgery. We can assess body shape directly through surface topography imaging, that is light-based, thus, not involving x-ray exposure. This technology (Diers Formetrics) uses the same scientific methodology that is used to create modern topographical maps through satellite imagery. We found dramatic improvements in body shape asymmetry with surgery that correlated with some improvements in quality of life for the adolescent in this cohort of 23 patients as well as with the improvements in curvatures evaluated by x-rays. 

07 Mar

Posted at 21:04h in Allergies, Author Interviews, Dermatology, Inflammation, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nidhi Malhotra PhD Boston Children's Hospital Division of Allergy and Immunology Senior Scientist at Elstar Therapeutics Inc. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Allergies such as Atopic Dermatitis (AD) are rampant in the industrialized nations. Why are we more predisposed to developing hypersensitive reactions to innocuous proteins (allergens) is not well understood. To gain better understanding and to develop better therapies, we need to first delve deeper into how our immune system regulates homeostasis in tissues such as skin. The main cell types that thwart inflammatory reactions are known as regulatory T cells. These cells are generated in thymus and reside in secondary lymphoid tissues but they are also prominent at tissue sites such as in dermal layer of skin. In this study, I focused on understanding how Tregs resident in skin are distinct from the Tregs in secondary lymphoid organs such as lymph nodes (LNs). I uncovered that functioning of Tregs in skin is underpinned by a distinct set of genes. One main gene that I found to be highly expressed in skin Tregs but not in LN Tregs is Rora, which encodes for the transcription factor ROR alpha (RORa). This observation was intriguing as previous studies had elucidated the requirement of RORa in the development of inflammatory type-2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) and it has been considered the antagonizing RORa functioning would curb allergic responses. However, I observed that Tregs require RORa to suppress allergic responses. In particular, RORa regulates the expression of a TNF receptor family member DR3, which binds to the cytokine TL1A. TL1A has a role in enhancing suppressive activity of Tregs while also enhancing type-2 cytokine production from ILC2s. Hence, in the absence of DR3 in Tregs, we believe more TL1A is available to ILC2s resulting in unrestrained allergic responses. 

26 Feb

Posted at 14:29h in Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, JAMA, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_40257" align="alignleft" width="149"]Sabrina Twilhaar, MS, PhD candidate Child Study Group, sectie Klinische Neuropsychologie Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Sabrina Twilhaar[/caption] Sabrina Twilhaar, MS, PhD candidate Child Study Group, sectie Klinische Neuropsychologie Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: It is well-known that preterm birth has negative consequences for cognitive development. During the early 1990s important progress in neonatal health care resulted in a considerable increase in the survival of preterm infants. Earlier meta-analyses showed large differences in intelligence between very preterm and full-term born children. However, these meta-analyses included mostly studies on children born before 1990. Because of the advances in neonatal health care since that time, it was important to update our knowledge on the outcomes of more recently born preterm infants. We combined the results of 71 studies, together including 7752 very preterm and 5155 full-term born children, and found a difference in intelligence between very preterm and full-term children that was still large. Interestingly, despite advancing neonatal health care, we also found no indication of improvement in the cognitive outcomes of very preterm born children during the period from 1990 to 2008. In addition, we searched for factors that increase the risk for poor cognitive outcomes in these children and we found that children with a chronic lung disease that is amongst others caused by mechanical ventilation of the immature lungs are even more at risk for poor cognitive outcomes.

25 Feb

Posted at 12:58h in Author Interviews, Education, Kidney Disease, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_40249" align="alignleft" width="300"]L-R: Kerry Chen, Anita van Zwieten, Madeleine Didsbury, Germaine Wong L-R: Kerry Chen, Anita van Zwieten, Madeleine Didsbury, Germaine Wong[/caption] Dr. Kerry Chen Centre for Kidney Research, The Kids Research Institute The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney Sydney, New South Wales, Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Chronic kidney disease is a major public health issue, with end-stage disease often requiring a combination of complex medication regimens, dialysis and/or transplant surgery. In children, the major causes of CKD are genetic and congenital. The consequences of CKD in children can be long-term and debilitating especially as they transition into adulthood, affecting their physical, intellectual and emotional well-being. To better understand these changes, the Kids Health and Wealth Study (KCAD) is the largest longitudinal cohort study of children and adolescents with CKD in Australia and New Zealand. Spread across 5 paediatric nephrology centres so far, the KCAD Study takes a life-course approach to collecting and analysing data pertaining to the interactions between reduced renal function and associated clinical, socio-economic, quality of life, psychological, cognitive and educational outcomes in children, especially as they progress in CKD stage and also as they transition into adulthood.

23 Feb

Posted at 19:26h in Author Interviews, Education, Infections, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_40224" align="alignleft" width="153"]Ole Köhler-Forsberg, PhD Student Department of Clinical Medicine - Psychosis Research Unit Aarhus University Ole Köhler-Forsberg[/caption] Ole Köhler-Forsberg, PhD Student Department of Clinical Medicine - Psychosis Research Unit Aarhus University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Prior studies have demonstrated that serious illnesses, for example severe infections such as measles, rubella or meningitis, which we vaccinate against, affect the brain and thereby the child's ability to learn. From this we know that illnesses and in particular infections to some degree have an influence on our brains. In this study, we decided to look at how children perform following the less severe infections that many of them frequently experience during their childhood. After all, this is the largest group of children, but this has not been studied previously in such a large population. Basically, we found that among 598,553 Danes born 1987-1997, the less severe infections treated with anti-infective agents during childhood did not affect the child´s ability to perform well in school, nonetheless whether 5, 10 or 15 prescriptions had been prescribed. On the other hand, we found that children who had been admitted to hospital as a result of severe infections had a lower chance of completing 9th grade. The decisive factor is therefore the severity of the disease, but not necessarily the number of sick days.  

23 Feb

Posted at 16:40h in Author Interviews, Infections, Pediatrics, Vaccine Studies
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_40153" align="alignleft" width="309"]This illustration provides a 3D graphical representation of a number of Rotavirus virions set against a black background. Note the organism’s characteristic wheel-like appearance, which is visible when viewed under the electron microscope. It’s this morphology that gives the Rotavirus its name, which is derived from the Latin rota, meaning "wheel". Rotaviruses are nonenveloped, double-shelled viruses, making them quite stable in the environment. CDC- PHIL collection: Illustrator: Alissa Eckert, MS This illustration provides a 3D graphical representation of a number of Rotavirus virions set against a black background. Note the organism’s characteristic wheel-like appearance, which is visible when viewed under the electron microscope. It’s this morphology that gives the Rotavirus its name, which is derived from the Latin rota, meaning "wheel". Rotaviruses are nonenveloped, double-shelled viruses, making them quite stable in the environment.
CDC- PHIL collection: Illustrator: Alissa Eckert[/caption] Professor Julie Bines Inaugural Victor and Loti Smorgon Professor of Paediatrics and Deputy Head of Department of Paediatrics University of Melbourne. Murdoch Childrens Research Institute  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain the significance of Rotavirus infections? Diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of child illness and death, and rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea. Globally rotaviruses cause approximately 215,000 deaths in children under five years. This disease doesn’t discriminate – it infects children worldwide under the age of five – irrespective of what environment you live in. The rotavirus vaccines that are currently available work very well in places like Australia, the US and Europe but they don’t seem to work as well in low income settings in Africa and Asia where severe gastroenteritis is common and many children die. In a world-first clinical trial conducted in Indonesia, the oral RV3-BB vaccine was administered to babies within their first five days of life. Current rotavirus vaccines can only be administered to children older than six weeks, which leaves newborn babies particularly vulnerable to rotavirus infection. In lower resource settings, birth is often the best contact between mother, baby and health services. The oral RV3-BB vaccine was developed from the human neonatal rotavirus strain RV3 identified in the stool of healthy newborn babies. It does not naturally cause diarrhoea like other rotaviruses. The RV3-BB vaccine program aims to take advantage of the characteristics of this novel strain to target a birth dose vaccination strategy. 

22 Feb

Posted at 19:49h in Author Interviews, Cannabis, Columbia, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “medical marijuana : strains and varieties” by torbakhopper is licensed under CC BY 2.0Professor Deborah Hasin PhD Department of Epidemiology in Psychiatry Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We began to think about this study after we published an earlier report (Hasin et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 2015) showing that after state medical marijuana laws (MML) were passed, U.S. teen marijuana use did not increase compared to the period before the laws were passed and to overall national trends. However, people continued to question whether MML led to teen increases in marijuana use. Therefore, in the present study, we combined findings from 11 large-scale national studies of teens to provide a more definite answer. The findings were clear that teen marijuana use did not increase after passage of medical marijuana laws. Medical marijuana is widely available from stores like kush guys, yet despite this prevalence, there is no conclusive evidence of abuse. Rather the benefits are plain to see.

20 Feb

Posted at 12:31h in Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Guoqing Hu, PhD Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics Xiangya School of Public Health Central South University Changsha, Hunan, China    On behalf of the authors MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We've known for some time that suffocation is a leading cause of death for American infants - in fact, it is the cause of over 3/4 of the injury deaths to babies under 12 months of age. We've also known that there are strategies, such as "safe sleeping", that can greatly reduce the risk of a baby suffocating to death. The surprise in our study is that the suffocation rate for infants under 12 months of age appears to be increasing in the United States over the past 15 years. More babies are dying from suffocation today than in the 1990s, and that is a significant public health concern. Think about the implications of each one of those deaths to the infant's parents and loved ones. There are few things more devastating than losing a baby to an unintentional, or "accidental" death. There are ways we can prevent unintentional suffocations, and we need to work together to inform parents and ensure babies are kept safe to reduce those deaths, especially as rates in the US appear to be increasing.

17 Feb

Posted at 12:42h in Author Interviews, BMC, Pediatrics, Tobacco
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Summer Sherburne Hawkins, PhD, MS Associate Professor School of Social Work Boston College Summer Sherburne Hawkins, PhD, MS Associate Professor School of Social Work Boston College MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Increasing cigarette taxes has been a major policy driver to decrease smoking, including adolescent smoking, while taxes on other tobacco products have received less attention. Taxes on cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars are all fiscal policies, but they are not all equal. While state taxes on cigarettes have increased substantially over the past decade, there has been little change in policies governing alternative tobacco products. Realsitcally, everyone wants to pay as little tax as they can, which is why Tax software deals are so great for helping people pay the right amount. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of chewing tobacco and cigar taxes, cigarette taxes, and the enactment of smoke-free legislation on adolescent male and female use of smokeless tobacco and cigars.

13 Feb

Posted at 13:33h in Author Interviews, BMJ, Education, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Lt. Governor Brown Visits Hamilton Elem_Mid School to Highlight Summer Meals Program” by Maryland GovPics is licensed under CC BY 2.0Peymané Adab, MD University of Birmingham in England MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Childhood obesity is an increasing problem worldwide. In the UK, the proportion of children who are very overweight doubles during the primary school years. Furthermore during this period inequalities emerge. At school entry there is little difference in the likelihood of being overweight between groups. However on leaving international primary schools, children from minority ethnic groups and those from more deprived, compared to more affluent backgrounds are more likely to be overweight. Excess weight in children is linked with multiple health, emotional and social problems.  As children spend a lot of time at school, it seems intuitive that they are an ideal setting for prevention interventions. Although a number of studies have investigated the evidence for school obesity prevention programmes, the results have been mixed and methodological weaknesses have prevented recommendations being made. As a result we undertook a major high quality trial to evaluate an intervention that had been developed in consultation with parents, teachers and the relevant community. The 12 month programme  had four components. Teachers at participating schools were trained to provide opportunities for regular bursts of physical activity for children, building up to an additional 30 minutes each school day. There was also a workshop each term, where parents came in to cook a healthy meal (breakfast, lunch of dinner) with their children. In conjunction with a local football club, Aston Villa, children participated in a six-week healthy eating and physical activity programme. Finally, parents were provided with information about local family physical activity opportunities. We involved around 1500 year 1 children (aged 5-6 years) from 54 state run primary schools in the West Midlands. At the start of the study, we measured their height and weight and other measures of body fat, asked the children to complete a questionnaire about their wellbeing, to note everything they ate for 24 hours, and to wear an activity monitor that recorded how active they were. After this, the schools were randomised to either receive the programme or not. We then repeated the measures 15 and 30 months later.

12 Feb

Posted at 21:33h in Author Interviews, Dermatology, Herpes Viruses, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_39993" align="alignleft" width="300"]Depicted here, is a close-up of a maculopapular rash that was diagnosed as a crop of chickenpox lesions. Depicted here, is a close-up of a maculopapular rash that was diagnosed as a crop of chickenpox lesions.
"Dew-drop on a rose petal pattern" CDC image[/caption]

Hannah Song, BA Medical studen Harvard Medical School and Jennifer T. Huang, MD Division of Immunology, Dermatology Program Boston Children's Hospital Boston, MA

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Infection with the varicella-zoster virus leads to chickenpox, or primary varicella. The virus then lies dormant and can later reactivate as shingles, or herpes zoster.  Varicella-zoster vaccine is made of an attenuated live virus that prevents most people from getting chicken pox, but rarely can reactivate and cause shingles. There were several pediatric patients who presented to our clinics with shingles/herpes zoster that was localized to one extremity. My hunch was that the extremity where the patients had shingles could be the same limb where they had received vaccination. We called the patient’s pediatricians because pediatricians typically document the extremity where the vaccination is given, and confirmed the theory that shingles in vaccinated children may be more likely to occur at the site of vaccination. Importantly, vaccination may modify the classic appearance of shingles, and you might see pink and red papules and pseudovesicles, rather than classic grouped fluid-filled vesicles on a red base. 

05 Feb

Posted at 20:55h in Author Interviews, Hearing Loss, Pediatrics, Technology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_39835" align="alignleft" width="300"]BruceBlaus - Own work An illustration of a cochlear implant. An illustration of a cochlear implant: Wikipedia image[/caption] Niki Katerina Vavatzanidis MSc Department of Neuropsychology Max Planck Institute for Human and Cognitive Brain Science Leipzig, Germany Technische Universität Dresden, Germany      MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Cochlear implants (CIs) are a way of providing hearing to sensorineural deaf individuals. The implant works by first picking up sounds from the environment and transforming them into an electric signal. Via an array of electrodes the implant then transmits the signal directly to the auditory nerve, which then leads to auditory sensations in the brain. In our study, we were interested to see how language acquisition is affected when language immersion occurs at an untypically late age. Children with cochlear implants that grow up in exclusively or predominantly hearing environments will have their first language encounter at the time of implantation, which nowadays is roughly between the age of one and three. Besides the later starting point in language acquisition, children with CIs are facing a compromised input quality compared to typical hearing. We know from typically hearing children that it is around the age of 14 months that their vocabulary becomes robust enough to react to name violations. That is, when a picture is labelled incorrectly, their brain waves will display with the so-called N400 effect. In our study we were interested whether children with CIs would also show the N400 effect and if so, how many months of hearing experience are necessary. We measured the brain activity of children implanted between the age of one and four at three time points: 12, 18, and 24 months after implant activation. To our surprise, congenitally deaf children whose only language input had been via the cochlear implant already displayed the N400 effect after 12 months of language immersion, i.e. earlier than seen in typically hearing children.  

30 Jan

Posted at 13:02h in Author Interviews, Education, JAMA, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “preschool joy” by kristin :: prairie daze is licensed under CC BY 2.0Arthur J. Reynolds, PhD Institute of Child Development University of Minnesota, Minneapolis  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Educational attainment is the leading social determinant of health. Higher attainment measured by years of education or postsecondary attainment is linked to lower cardiovascular disease risk; lower rates of smoking, diabetes, and hypertension; and higher economic well-being. Evidence on the long-term effects of early childhood programs on educational attainment is mixed. Some studies show impacts on high school graduation but not college attainment, the reverse pattern, or no measurement into adulthood. No studies of large-scale public programs have assessed impacts beyond young adulthood. Whether duration of participation over ages 3 to 9 is linked to mid 30s attainment also has not been investigated.

26 Jan

Posted at 16:38h in Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Pediatrics, Toxin Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Toys” by Holger Zscheyge is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr Andrew Turner Reader in Environmental Science (Biogeochemistry and Toxicology) School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Plymouth, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: The study arose through a larger investigation into hazardous substances in consumer plastics, both old and new. The main finding of the present research was the widespread occurrence of restricted elements in old plastic toys, and in particular cadmium, lead and bromine (the latter an indicator of the presence of flame retardants); in many cases, these elements could migrate from the plastic under conditions simulating the human digestive system.

26 Jan

Posted at 00:45h in Author Interviews, CDC, Education, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “He isn't sleeping, he is mad. When we don't get our way pouting always works (okay.. It's worth a try at least!) #kids #dad #father #family #funny #like #parenting #photooftheday #instaphoto #instacute” by dadblunders is licensed under CC BY 2.0Anne G. Wheaton, Ph.D. Epidemiologist Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of Population Health Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch Atlanta, GA  30341-3717 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Insufficient sleep among children and adolescents is associated with an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, and attention and behavior problems. In previous reports, CDC had found that, nationwide, approximately two thirds of U.S. high school students report sleeping <8 hours per night on school nights. CDC conducted this study to provide state-level estimates of short sleep duration on school nights among middle school and high school students using age-specific recommendations from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). AASM has recommended that children aged 6–12 years should regularly sleep 9–12 hours per 24 hours and teenagers aged 13–18 years should sleep 8–10 hours per 24 hours for optimal health.

25 Jan

Posted at 00:26h in Addiction, Author Interviews, Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_39573" align="alignleft" width="149"] Dr. Molina[/caption] Brooke S. G. S Molina, PhD Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Pediatrics University of Pittsburgh  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There has been inconsistency across previous studies of children with ADHD and their risk of substance use in...

24 Jan

Posted at 15:39h in Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders, Technology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “social media” by Jessie James is licensed under CC BY 2.0Jean-Philippe Chaput, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa Research Scientist, Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute Ontario, Canada    MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: No studies to date have examined the association between social media use (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and sleep duration in a representative sample of middle and high school students, who are a vulnerable age group that has reported high levels of social media use and insufficient sleep, writes Buzzoid. Our findings suggest an important association between the use of social media and short sleep duration among student aged 11-20 years. Using social media for at least one hour per day was associated with short sleep duration in a dose-response manner.   

22 Jan

Posted at 16:44h in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Pediatrics, Sexual Health
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_39455" align="alignleft" width="133"]Chiara Acquati, Ph.D., MSW Assistant Professor Graduate College of Social Work University of Houston Houston, TX   Dr. Acquati[/caption] Chiara Acquati, Ph.D., MSW Assistant Professor Graduate College of Social Work University of Houston Houston, TX   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer are individuals between the ages of 15 and 39 years at diagnosis, as defined by the National Cancer Institute. Considerable research has unveiled unique psychosocial challenges experienced by AYAs, including poor quality of life, an altered body image, and social isolation. As a result of these life disruptions, normative psychological and emotional development is affected by the disease and its treatment, particularly with respect to sexual identity, development, and behavior. However, few studies have examined sexual functioning and AYA patients’ needs with respect to emotional intimacy and sexual relationships. Estimates of the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in AYAs are limited to date and vary because of data derived from mixed-age groups, single items instead of standardized instruments, and cross-sectional designs. Yet, the state of the science suggests that one-third to two-thirds of cancer patients experience sexual dissatisfaction and a reduced frequency of intercourse. Furthermore, failure to address sexual health may place AYAs at risk for long-term consequences related to sexual functioning and identity development, interpersonal relationships, and quality of life. Hence, detecting changes in the rate of sexual dysfunction over time may help in identifying the appropriate timing for interventions to be delivered. This study was conceptualized to increase our current knowledge of sexual functioning among AYAs by examining the prevalence of sexual dysfunction over the course of 2 years after the initial cancer diagnosis and the identification of variables that contribute to the probability of reporting sexual dysfunction in order to recognize individuals at higher risk. Young adult patients (≥18 years old) were administered the sexual functioning scale as part of a larger longitudinal multisite survey, and only those who completed the instrument at least once were included in this analysis; for this reason the article focuses on the experience of “young adults”.

20 Jan

Posted at 18:51h in Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Race/Ethnic Diversity
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_39409" align="alignleft" width="200"]Chintan Bhatt  MBBS, MPH    (HE/HIM/HIS) Department of Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University Miami Fl  Dr. Bhatt[/caption] Chintan Bhatt  MBBS, MPH    (HE/HIM/HIS) Department of Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University Miami Fl  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Women and children are disproportionately affected by the uncertainty around medical health insurance rising in the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was implemented on Jan 1st, 2014, since then the uninsured rate decreased considerably, especially in women aged 18 to 64 years. ACA revised and expanded Medicaid eligibility. Under the law, all U.S. citizens and legal residents with income up to 133% of the poverty line, including adults without dependent children, would qualify for coverage in any state that participated in the Medicaid program. Because of the large proportion of maternal, infant, and child health care and preventive services funded by Medicaid. The purpose of our study was to examine the potential effect of Medicaid expansion on infant mortality rates by comparing infant mortality rate trends in states and Washington D.C. by Medicaid expansion acceptance or decline.

18 Jan

Posted at 15:35h in Author Interviews, Education, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Reading” by Kate Ter Haar is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr. Jon Quach, PhD Postdoctoral research fellow Royal Childrens Hospital's Centre for Community Child Health Murdoch Children’s Research Institute  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: The reading practices of mothers and fathers was assessed in 405 families in Melbourne when children were 2, and child had their language and literacy skills assessed when they were 4 years old. We found fathers reading practices were associated with better language outcomes 2 years later, even after accounting for mothers reading and key family demographics 

17 Jan

Posted at 23:02h in Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Spring Soccer” by terren in Virginia is licensed under CC BY 2.0Roland Rössler PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Dept of Public and Occupational Health Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports VU University Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous studies have shown that exercise-based injury prevention programmes can reduce the number of sport injuries. However, no previous study investigated the prevention of football (soccer) injuries in children under the age of 14 years [1], even though the number of football players under 14 years of age could be estimated as around 15 million worldwide. In comparison, only about 100,000 players, so 150 times less, are considered professional players (earning enough money to live from playing football). The large number of children playing football and the fact that every year about 10% of these players sustain an injury, indicates the relevance of injury prevention in this population. Based on the existing “11+” programme (that has been designed for players from the age of 14 years onwards) and our epidemiological data on injuries in football players under 14 years of age [2, 3], we developed and pilot tested an injury prevention programme for 7- to 13-year-old children (called “11+ Kids”) with an international group of experts.[4] We designed the present cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate whether the “11+ Kids” programme reduces the incidence of injuries in children’s football.

17 Jan

Posted at 16:39h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_39342" align="alignleft" width="140"]James L. Wynn, MD Department of Pediatrics, Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine University of Florida, Gainesville Dr. James Wynn[/caption] James L. Wynn, MD Department of Pediatrics, Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine University of Florida, Gainesville MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Reports from the National Institutes of Health show a reduction in physician-scientists. Objective data on R01 funded pediatric physician-scientists, including the number of R01 awards, individuals awarded an R01, as well as their institutions, subspecialty, academic rank, leadership status, and sex are unknown.

14 Jan

Posted at 17:48h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Ophthalmology, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Andreas Stahl Geschäftsführender Oberarzt Leiter Arbeitsgruppe Angiogenese Universitätsaugenklinik Freiburg | University Eye Hospital Freiburg Freiburg, Germany MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a sight-threatening disease and one of the main reasons for irrreversible bilateral blindness in children. Particularly infants born at very early gestational ages or with very low birth weight are affected. In these infants, vascularization of the retina is unfinished at the time of birth. Severeal weeks into the life of these very prematuerly born infants, angiogenic growth factors, mainly vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), become upregulated in the avascular parts of the retina, leading to a re-activation of physiologic vascular growth. If all goes well, these re-activated retinal blood vessels progress towards the periphery and lead to a fully vascularized and functional retina. If, however, the vascular activation by VEGF is too strong, then vascular growth becomes disorganized and vessels are redirected away from the retina and into the vitreous. If left untreated, these eyes can then proceed towards tractional retinal detachment and blindness. Since the 1990s, the standard method of treating ROP has been laser photocoagulation of avascular parts of the retina. This treatment is sensible because VEGF as the main angiogenic driver of pathologic blood vessel growth is expressed in these avascular parts of the retina. The downside of laser treatment, however, is that treated retinal areas are turned into functionless scar tissue and are lost for visual function. In addition, infants treated with laser need to be under general anesthesia for hours during treatment which can be troublesome in very young and fragile preterm infants. And in the long run, infants treated with laser have a high risk of developing high myopia in later life.

07 Jan

Posted at 15:15h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Smoking, Tobacco, Tobacco Research, UCSF
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “hookah” by Ksenia M is licensed under CC BY 2.0Benjamin Chaffee, DDS MPH PhD UCSF School of Dentistry San Francisco, CA 94118 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Non-cigarette tobacco products, which include electronic cigarettes, hookah (tobacco waterpipe), smokeless tobacco, and non-cigarette combustibles, like cigars, are increasingly popular among young people. Considerable debate surrounds whether use of these non-cigarette products encourages youth to begin smoking conventional cigarettes. Several previous studies have shown associations between non-cigarette tobacco use and youth smoking. These studies had largely looked at only one type of tobacco product at a time. This study included more than 10,000 adolescents from all over the United States, surveyed at two time points one year apart. Therefore, this study featured enough participants and detailed information about tobacco behaviors to consider all types of tobacco products in a comprehensive way. We found that each type of non-cigarette tobacco product (i.e., e-cigarettes, hookah, combustibles, or smokeless tobacco) added to smoking risk. Among youth who had never smoked a cigarette at the start of the survey, use of any of the non-cigarette products approximately doubled the odds of cigarette smoking within a year, after adjusting for multiple smoking-related risk factors. Each product independently increased risk. The adolescents most susceptible to future smoking to were those who had tried two or more types of non-cigarette tobacco.

05 Jan

Posted at 13:54h in Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Probiotics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_39212" align="alignleft" width="133"]Dr Valerie Sung MBBS (Hons) FRACP MPH PhD Department of Paediatrics The University of Melbourne Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Parkville, Australia Dr. Sung[/caption] Dr Valerie Sung MBBS (Hons) FRACP MPH PhD Department of Paediatrics The University of Melbourne Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Parkville, Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Infant colic is excessive crying in babies less than 3 months old with no underlying medical cause. It affects 1 in 5 newborns, is very distressing, and is associated with maternal depression, Shaken Baby Syndrome, and early cessation of breastfeeding. Up to now, there has been no single effective treatment for colic. The probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 has recently shown promise but results from trials have been conflicting. In particular, a previous trial from Australia, the largest in the world so far, did not find the probiotic to be effective in both breastfed and formula-fed infants with colic. This international collaborative study, which collected raw data from 345 infants from existing trials from Italy, Poland, Canada and Australia, confirms Lactobacillus reuteri to be effective in breastfed infants with colic. However, it cannot be recommended for formula-fed infants with colic. Compared to a placebo, the probiotic group was two times more likely to reduce crying by 50 per cent, by the 21st day of treatment, for the babies who were exclusively breastfed. The number needed to treat for day 21 success in breastfed infants was 2.6. In contrast, the formula fed infants in the probiotic group seemed to do worse than the placebo group, but the numbers for this group were limited.

04 Jan

Posted at 15:28h in Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, Pediatrics, Surgical Research, UCSD
[caption id="attachment_39174" align="alignleft" width="300"]This file was derived from Blausen 0165 Cardiomyopathy Dilated.png Structural categories of cardiomyopathy Wikipedia image[/caption] MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rakesh K. Singh MD, MS Department of Pediatrics, University of California–San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, California Steven E. Lipshultz MD Department of Pediatrics Wayne State University School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Michigan Detroit, Michigan  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease characterized by dilation and dysfunction of the left ventricle of the heart. While DCM is a relatively rare disease in children, nearly 40% of children with DCM require a heart transplant or die within 2 years of diagnosis. Heart transplantation has improved the outcomes of children with DCM over the last 3 decades, but is limited by donor heart availability. Newer therapies, including advanced ICU care and artificial heart machines, are now being used to treat children with DCM. This study published in the November 28, 2017 issue of the Journal of American College of Cardiology (JACC) sought to determine whether more children with DCM were surviving longer in the more recent era. Specifically, it investigated whether children with DCM were surviving longer without the need for heart transplantation. Rakesh Singh, MD is the first author and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at UC San Diego/Rady Children’s Hospital, while the senior author is Steven Lipshultz, MD, Professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine/Detroit Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Director of Children’s Research Center of Michigan. The Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry (PCMR) is a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) sponsored registry from 98 pediatric centers in United States and Canada created to study the outcomes of children with various heart muscle disorders known as cardiomyopathies. For this study, outcomes of 1,199 children diagnosed with DCM from 1990-1999 were compared with 754 children diagnosed with DCM from 2000-2009.

03 Jan

Posted at 13:21h in Author Interviews, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Breastfeeding welcome here” by Newtown grafitti is licensed under CC BY 2.0Clare Relton, PhD School of Health and Related Research University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England MedicalResearch.com: What are the key findings of your report? Response: Our five year research project explored whether offering financial incentives (shopping vouchers) for breastfeeding increased breastfeeding. We studied what happened to breastfeeding rates at 6 to 8 weeks post-partum in areas in England with low (<40%) breastfeeding prevalence. Our cluster randomized clinical trial (which included 10 010 mother-infant dyads) showed that areas with the financial incentive had significantly higher rates of breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks (37.9% vs 31.7%) compared to usual care. The financial incentive scheme was widely acceptable to healthcare providers (midwives, health visitors, doctors) and mothers. The financial incentives made it easier for everyone to discuss breastfeeding and mothers reported feeling valued (supported and rewarded) for breastfeeding.

02 Jan

Posted at 18:15h in Author Interviews, Diabetes, JAMA, Nutrition, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Baby Bottle” by brokinhrt2 is licensed under CC BY 2.0Mikael Knip, MD, PhD Professor of Pediatrics TRIGR PI  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Experimental studies have indicated that the avoidance of early exposure to cow's milk proteins reduces the cumulative incidence of autoimmune diabetes in animal models of human type 1 diabetes, e.g. BB rats and NOD mice. Epidemiological studies in humans have suggested that there may be a link between type 1 diabetes and short breastfeeding or early introduction of infant formulas. All regular infant formulas contain intact cow's milk proteins. The main finding was that weaning to an extensively hydrolyzed formula did not reduce the cumulative incidence of Type 1 diabetes in at-risk children by the mean age of 11 years. The extensively hydrolyzed formula did not contain any intact cow's milk proteins but only small peptides (maximal size 2000 daltons).