Abuse and Neglect, Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics / 21.04.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Barbara Chaiyachati, MD PhD SafePlace: The Center for Child Protection and Health Division of General Pediatrics The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Children in foster care have high rates of medical problems including chronic diseases. There is less known about the differences in mortality for children in foster care. Looking at national data from 2003 to 2016, this study finds that children (ages 1 to 18) in foster care have higher mortality compared to children in the general population and that the difference in mortality has increased over time.   (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, JAMA, Ophthalmology, Pediatrics / 13.04.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Natasha Nayak Kolomeyer, MD Glaucoma Service, Wills Eye Hospital Co-authors: Eric J. Shiuey, MS Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University Anton M. Kolomeyer, MD, PhD Scheie Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: I still remember the 6-year-old boy that was brought in to our emergency room on July 4th with a ruptured globe (severe eye trauma) due to fireworks; he permanently lost vision in that eye despite surgery. This is not a rare occurrence especially around certain holidays. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics / 10.04.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Alfredo Tagarro MD PhD Pediatrician - Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofía Clinical Research - Fundación Investigación Hospital Assistant Professor - Universidad Europea de Madrid Madrid MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Madrid is being hit hard by the disease. Almost all doctors, including pediatricians, are dedicated to attending COVID-19 patients, essencially adults. However, there are some moderate and severe cases among children. In Madrid, clinical pediatricians from 30 hospitals joined their efforts to report and analyze pediatric patients with COVID-19.   (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, JAMA, Johns Hopkins, Pediatrics / 07.04.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Johnathon P. Ehsani, PhD Assistant Professor Johns Hopkins School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Car crashes are the leading cause of death and disability for young people. So, what can parents do during the learner stage of licensing to reduce their teenagers’ crash risk during independent driving? The learner stage is a brief window of opportunity to influence the safety of their teenager. This is when teenagers are required to practice driving under the supervision of a licensed adult – typically mom or dad. Once teenagers get their license to start driving on their own, their crash risk increases - but parents have fewer chances to intervene at that point.  (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Infections, Pediatrics / 07.04.2020

genentech MedicalResearch.com: What are the applicable pediatric and post-exposure indications? Response: We recently announced that the U.S. FDA has accepted a New Drug Application (NDA) as well as two supplemental New Drug Applications (sNDA) for Xofluza® (baloxavir marboxil). The FDA accepted an NDA for a new formulation of Xofluza as one-dose granules for oral suspension (2 mg/mL), potentially offering a more convenient option for children and those who have difficulty swallowing. In addition, the application seeks approval of Xofluza for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza in otherwise healthy children aged one to less than 12 years of age who have been symptomatic for no more than 48 hours. The FDA also accepted an sNDA for post-exposure prophylaxis of influenza in people one year of age and older for both the oral suspension and currently-available tablet formulation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics / 26.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jillian Hardin, Ph.D. Developmental Psychophysiology Lab Florida Atlantic University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Most Kangaroo Care (KC) research examines the procedure’s positive physiological and psychological developmental effects on preterm infants as these infants are separated from their mothers before the end of gestation. However, the aim of our study was to determine whether kangaroo care parent-training and implementation with non-vulnerable, full-term infants provided developmental neurophysiological benefits.  (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Opiods, Pediatrics / 23.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Leah Nelson, MD MS Addiction Medicine Fellow University of New Mexico MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: With the progression of the opioid epidemic over the past decade, more women of reproductive age are seeking treatment for addiction. Many more pregnant women are prescribed methadone and buprenorphine, two opioid medications that prevent relapse and overdose. Maternal use of mediations for opioid use disorder is recommended because it lowers the risk to the fetus from uncontrolled drug use and also allows the mother to engage with prenatal care and social work. Subsequently, the number of infants born after prenatal exposure to opioids is increasing. Several previous studies have shown measurable differences in the cognitive scores of children after prenatal opioid exposure. However, much of the previous work was done on convenience samples (easy to recruit rather than rigorously matched for comparability) and the demographic characteristics of both mothers and children in the exposed and unexposed groups varied widely on important factors such as maternal education, socioeconomics, employment, tobacco use, and infant gender. Each of these factors has been demonstrated to impact early childhood development in the absence of opioid exposure. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Pediatrics / 18.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Adawiyah Jamil, AdvMDerm Associate Professor at Department of Medicine University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We commonly observed poor dietary pattern and multiple food restrictions imposed on atopic dermatitis (AD) children by their parents in our daily clinical practice. Food allergy is often associated with AD, however excessive and medically unsubstantiated restriction may lead to various health issues. AD is a chronic skin disease, like any other chronic diseases it affects an individual’s general health. Growth and development are key measures of health in children. We embarked on this study as we were very worried of the consequences of medically unsupervised food restriction, especially those with severe disease.  We were concerned about how our atopic dermatitis children are eating and how to help them. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA, Orthopedics, Pediatrics / 17.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yun-Han Wang, PhD Student Karolinska Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use has been linked to increased risk of fracture in adults. Despite an increasing trend in prescription of PPIs in children, there is scarce evidence regarding this safety concern in pediatric patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 16.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ashlesha Datar, PhD Senior Economist Director of Program on Children & Families USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) University of Southern California  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Prior research, including our own work, has suggested that there might be some kind of social contagion or social transmission in obesity. So we wanted to explore that avenue further. In the present study, we showed teens in military families a set of human body figures with varying body sizes and asked them to choose the figure that best captured their ideal body size. (more…)
Allergies, Asthma, Author Interviews, Dermatology, Pediatrics / 10.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marcella Aquino, M.D. Hasbro Children's Hospital Department of Pediatrics Division of Allergy & Immunology Associate Professor of Pediatrics   Daphne Koinis-Mitchell PhD Professor (Research) in the Departments of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Pediatrics Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Providence, Rhode Island 02903   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Urban minority children with asthma are at increased risk for sleep loss and poorer sleep quality secondary to socio-contextual stressors (poverty, stressors of urban living) and the underlying challenges related to following possibly complex asthma treatment regimens. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is very frequently seen in children with asthma and increases the risk for poor quality sleep, for example difficulty falling asleep, awakenings during the night, difficulty awakening in the morning, and/or daytime sleepiness.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Exercise - Fitness, Pediatrics / 05.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Robert F. Heary, M.D. Co-Director, Reynolds Family Spine Laboratory Director, Spine Center of New Jersey Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Newark, New Jersey MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This article was written to assess the relative danger versus safety of youth football.  As this is a hot-button topic in the world of neurosurgery and neurology, we decided to look into this issue. In a suburban town, middle school football players were studied.  They wore helmets with accelerometers mounted inside the hemet to measure how many hits the player absorbs and the magnitude of the force behind the hits.  Also, soft “guardian caps” we worn over the outside of the helmets during practices. For all football activities (practices and games), the helmets were worn and data were accumulated.  In addition, specialized coaching related to safe tackling techniques was provided. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Pediatrics / 03.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hooman Azad First author and a 3rd year medical student Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University Eric Fleegler, MD MPH FAAP Senior author and Pediatric Emergency Physician Boston Children’s Hospital Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Pediatric firearm violence is a public health crisis. The firearm fatality rate has increased by >50% over the past 10 years. Over our 26-year study period (1991-2016), 13,697 children under the age of 15 died at the hands of a firearm. Laws have been employed to try to reduce these deaths, and Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws, which aim to hold parents liable for the safe storage of their firearms, were passed in 25 states between 1989-2000. No new state passed a CAP laws after the year 2000. Child Access Prevention laws come in two flavors – recklessness laws that hold firearm owners liable for directly providing firearms to a minor, and negligence laws that hold the firearm owner liable for the unsafe storage of firearms with variability in how storage is defined and what penalties are imposed. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Sugar / 03.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lori Spruance PhD Assistant Professor, Public Health College of Life Sciences Brigham Young University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: I was interested in studying this phenomenon after I attended a research conference presentation where the presenter was describing results from a study where they found that children between ages 6-11 who were physically active drank more sugar-sweetened beverages than children in that age group who were not physically active. The presenter suggested that they believed this was due to youth sports and Gatorade consumption. I was really intrigued by the fact that kids were getting physical activity, but had really high sugar-sweetened beverage intake. Prior to the study, I did some qualitative interviews with parents of children involved in youth sports. During these interviews, parents discussed the “snack culture” and the shame they sometimes feel being the “healthy parent”. I really wanted to investigate further what was happening. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics / 02.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karl Alcover, PhD Postdoctoral Research Associate Behavioral Health Innovations Washington State University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: It has been a public health focus to prevent early exposure to drugs. Our paper shows that the average age of initiation of drug use among adolescents and young adults has been increasing from 2004 to 2017. We found that 12 of 18 drugs (including alcohol and tobacco products) had statistically increasing average ages of initiation. To our knowledge, no studies have documented these findings. We think this is great news because delaying initiation of drugs prevents early exposure, which we know is associated with various long-term negative health outcomes. Also, these promising trends may serve as initial evidence that prevention strategies, especially those that focus on adolescents and young adults, are working. (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, CMAJ, Environmental Risks, Pediatrics / 20.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jaclyn Parks, B.Sc. Health Sciences M.Sc. Health Sciences Candidate | Faculty of Health Sciences Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Childhood asthma is a major public health concern, and many researchers are interested in determining environmental and modifiable exposures in early life so that we can recommend preventative measures. The findings of our study add to the understanding of which exposures in early life may be important to the development of childhood asthma and allergies and allows us to identify specific areas of intervention for parents and other stakeholders involved in protecting children’s health. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Pediatrics / 14.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Mohammadali Khan Mirzaei Institute of Virology Helmholtz Zentrum München Neuherberg, Germany  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Can you briefly explain what is meant by a bacteriophage? Response: Child stunting a severe growth impairment, globally affecting about 1 in 5 of children. The correlation between altered gut microbiota and stunting is already known. In contrast to what we know about the link between altered gut bacteria and stunting, the role of phages was not explored. Phages are the bacterial viruses that match the number of bacterial cells by a 1:1 ratio in the human gut. They are central to the biogeochemistry of most ecosystems by driving bacterial physiology, diversity, and abundance. Therefore, we expect a significant role for them in the human gut. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dental Research, Environmental Risks, Pediatrics / 12.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: R. Constance Wiener, DMD, PhD Associate Professor West Virginia University School of Dentistry MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemical groups that have had a wide variety of uses due to their ability to their ability to repel water and stains. They might be found in food packaging, water-repellant clothing and carpeting, paints, fire-fighting foam, and water, for example. Although many are no longer manufactured in the United States, PFAS persist in the environment as they do not readily break down. Adverse health effects have been speculated especially for low birthweight babies, immunological effects, certain cancers and thyroid hormone disruption.1 With these considerations, we hypothesized that there may be an association of PFAS with tooth development and subsequent dental caries (cavities). (more…)
Asthma, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, NEJM, Pediatrics, Vitamin D / 10.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Augusto A. Litonjua, M.D., M.P.H. Professor - Department of Pediatrics, Pulmonology Interim Chief - Department of Medicine , Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Professor - Department of Medicine , Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care University of Rochester MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is prevalent worldwide. Prior observational studies have shown that low vitamin D levels have been associated with the development of asthma. Animal studies have reported that antenatal vitamin D is important for lung development in utero. Thus, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation in pregnant women to see if we could prevent the development of asthma and wheezing illnesses in young children. The initial report of the trial results showed that children born to mothers in the vitamin D supplementation arm had lower risks for developing either asthma or recurrent wheezing episodes over the first 3 years, but this was not statistically significant (p=0.051)(Litonjua et al. JAMA 2016). (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 04.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrea M. Tilstra Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology Population Program, Institute of Behavioral Science University of Colorado Boulder MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Average U.S. birth weight declined across the 1990s and 2000s, and this has puzzled most researchers. We investigate this and find that the increases in cesarean deliveries and induction of labor between 1990 and 2013 resulted in a shift in the gestational age distribution of U.S. births. We find that births are less likely to occur at gestational weeks 40+ and much more likely to occur between weeks 37-39. Additionally, results from our simulations show that if U.S. rates of cesarean deliveries and labor induction had not increased over time, then average birth weight would have increased.   (more…)
Author Interviews, ENT, JAMA, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Pediatrics / 03.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jonathan R. Skirko, MD , MHPA, MPH Assistant professor Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology University of Utah Health  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Obstructive sleep apnea is a common problem that that impacts the lives of many people. Understanding treatment effectiveness is important and Health-State Utility is a standardized way of assessing quality of life.  Before this study, we didn't have a way of measuring quality of life in this population in this important way. You have to accurately measure something before you can improve it. (more…)
Abuse and Neglect, Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Tobacco / 30.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hongying (Daisy) Dai, PhD Associate Professor Department of Biostatistics | College of Public Health University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: E-cigarette use increased dramatically from 11.7% to 27.5% for high school students and from 3.3% to 10.5% for middle school students during the periods of 2017 - 2019. In September 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that youth e-cigarette use is reaching an epidemic proportion. Exposure to secondhand aerosol (SHA) from e-cigarettes is not harmless as e-cigarettes aerosol contains nicotine and potentially harmful substances, including carbonyl compounds, TSNAs, heavy metals, and glycols. This study analyzed the 2015-2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) and the main findings are:
  • The prevalence of secondhand aerosol exposure significantly increased from 25.6% in 2017 to 33.2% in 2018 (p<.001) after being stable during 2015 and 2017 (25.2% vs. 25.6%, p>0.05). The increase of SHA exposure from 2017 to 2018 was observed across socio-demographic groups.
  • Among never tobacco users in 2018 NYTS, students who reported secondhand aerosol exposure (vs. no) had higher odds of susceptibility to use e-cigarettes (38.8% vs. 21.0%) and cigarettes (30.7% vs. 21.2%) and higher odds of reporting exposure to e-cigarette marketing.
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Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 29.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Carol Chelimo PhD Research Fellow Dept. of Paediatrics, School of Medicine University of Auckland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: New Zealand has the third highest prevalence of obesity among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. Pediatric obesity is associated with development of cardiovascular risk factors in later life, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome. Antibiotic exposures in early life may affect weight by altering the gut microbiota, potentially increasing the risk of childhood obesity. The overall aim of this research was to examine whether repeated antibiotic exposure by age 48 months is associated with higher body mass index (BMI) at age 54 months. Specifically, it evaluates whether the number, timing (age), and type of antibiotic exposures are associated with a higher body mass and an increased likelihood of overweight and obesity. This work incorporates antibiotic exposure during pregnancy (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Duke, Pediatrics / 22.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yuichiro Yano MD Assistant Professor in Family Medicine and Community Health Duke University  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The blood pressure (BP) guideline in the US recommend using an “average” of multiple BP measurements over time for screening for and management of high BP in young adults. While it is well known that BP varies across visits, that “variability” (i.e., visit-to-visit blood pressure variability) is dismissed as a random fluctuation in the clinical setting. Little is known regarding the clinical relevance of visit-to-visit blood pressure variability over time in young adults. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Dermatology, Pediatrics / 21.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jonathan L. Silverberg MD PhD MPH Director of Clinical Research and Contact Dermatitis Associate Professor of Dermatology George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Washington, DC  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We previously found that children from single parent families, and unsafe or unsupportive neighborhoods are more likely to have atopic dermatitis. Parents in these settings may experience greater psychosocial distress and higher rates of depression in the post-partum period and beyond. As such, we sought to understand the relationship of maternal depression with atopic dermatitis in their children. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics / 15.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lucia Diaz, M.D., is chief of pediatric dermatology, dermatology residency associate program director and assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at Dell Medical School. She is also co-director of the dermatology-rheumatology combined clinic at Dell Children’s Medical Center. Sasha Jaquez, Ph.D. is a pediatric psychologist at Dell Children's Medical School/Dell Children's Medical Center and specializes in seeing children with chronic medical illness, including skin disorders.     MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Trichotillomania (TTM) can be an extremely disabling chronic condition that impacts the psychosocial development of children. It is classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as an obsessive-compulsive disorder, where a person recurrently pulls out hair from any region of their body resulting in hair loss. Recognizing this disorder and being informed of treatment options allows medical providers to correctly diagnose and intervene early in the disease course. We reviewed the psychosocial impacts of pediatric trichotillomania and the current evidence-based interventions used in the population.  (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Brain Injury, JAMA, Pediatrics, UCSF / 08.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Benjamin N. Breyer MD, MAS, FACS Associate Professor Departments of Urology and Epidemiology and Biostatistics University of California, San Francisco Vice-Chair of Urology Chief of Urology, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center Director, UCSF Male Genitourinary Reconstruction and Trauma Surgery Fellowship MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There has been a large increase in upright scooter usage among adults as a mode of transportation. It's convenient for commuters and may encourage greater use of public transit leading to less car traffic in cities. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Opiods, Pediatrics / 06.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rachel H. Alinsky, MD, MPH Adolescent Medicine and Addiction Medicine Fellow Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We know that over 4,000 adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15-24 are dying from an opioid overdose every year. Nonfatal opioid overdose has been identified as a potential touchpoint with the healthcare system when individuals can be drawn into treatment, yet very little is known about health care use following opioid overdose in youth. We were interested in figuring out the extent to which adolescents and young adults are receiving evidence-based treatment after an opioid overdose. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 02.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Elvira Isganaitis, M.D., M.P.H. Pediatric Endocrinologist, Joslin Diabetes Center Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02215 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The concept that a mother's nutrition prior to and during pregnancy is important for health outcomes in the offspring is now well accepted. For example, women intending to get pregnant must take prenatal vitamins, and are encouraged to attain a healthy weight before conception. However, much less is known about how a father's nutritional status may influence childhood health outcomes.  Based on studies in animals, exposure to undernutrition, high-fat diet, or stressful experiences in fathers can result in increased risk of obesity and diabetes in the offspring. These effects are mediated in part by epigenetic mechanisms (i.e. changes in gene expression due to differences in DNA methylation, histones, or other non-genetic mechanisms). (more…)
Author Interviews, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, Mental Health Research, Opiods, Pediatrics / 23.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Megan Land, MD, PGY 6 Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Emory University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
  • Much of the research on the opioid crisis has focused on the impact to adults; however, children and adolescents in the US are also negatively affected by the opioid epidemic.
  • The percentage of children admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit increased over the study period as the clinical effects of the opioid ingestions increased in severity.
  • The primary intent of opioid ingestions was suspected suicide attempts in adolescents resulting in increasing admissions to a psychiatric hospital.
  • Opioids associated with the highest odds of needing an intervention in an intensive care unit were methadone, fentanyl, and heroin. 
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