Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Gender Differences, UCLA / 25.04.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yusuke Tsugawa, MD, PhD Associate Professor of Medicine & Health Policy and Management, UCLA Director of Data Core, UCLA Department of Medicine Statistics Core Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90024   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Prior studies have found that female and male physicians practice medicine differently. For example, female physicians are, on average, more likely to abide by clinical guidelines and spend more time listening to patients. However, evidence was limited as to whether such differences have clinically meaningful impact on patients’ health outcomes, which was the aim of this study. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Dermatology / 14.11.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ying Li MD, PhD Graduate School Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Chengdu, China MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a prevalent dermatological condition affecting approximately 1% of the global population. It is characterized by persistent itching and the development of hives, significantly impairing patients' quality of life. More than 90% of patients with CSU require urgent medical treatment to relieve itching. However, few therapies are specifically designed to treat pruritus in The management of pruritus is one of the main goals in the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria . Antihistamines are a common treatment of CSU, and current guidelines recommend second-generation antihistamines as first-line therapy. However, nearly 40% of patients do not respond to second-generation antihistamines, even when the dose is increased 2- to 4-fold. Omalizumab as a second-line treatment is effective in controlling urticaria, but it is costly and is not reimbursed in many countries, limiting its use to most patients worldwide. Given the shortcomings of existing therapies for pruritus in CSU, novel therapeutic interventions or strategies are emerging. Acupuncture, a traditional physical therapy with a rich historical background spanning over a millennium, has been regarded as an effective treatment for urticaria in China. However, previous randomized controlled trials investigating acupuncture's efficacy have been marred by methodological limitations, thereby undermining the credibility of the evidence. To address this gap, we conducted a multicenter randomized controlled trial to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the management of CSU. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Exercise - Fitness, JAMA / 01.11.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Peter A. Harmer, PhD, MPH, AT-Ret, FACSM Senior Associate Research Scientist Oregon Research Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Decline in various aspects of cognitive function, such as memory, executive function, and multitasking ability is common as we age. The rate and extent of decline varies among older adults but approximately 20% of those aged 65+ will experience clinically relevant mild cognitive impairment, which places them at increased risk of progressing to Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. It is also associated with decreased mobility, increased risk of falls and impaired capacity for complex activities of daily living. Research has shown that physical and mental activity may attenuate the decline and that combined physical/mental challenges may be more effective than either alone but up to this point there has been little quality clinical evidence. Building on previous successful studies with our established tai ji quan therapy, we developed a cognitively-enhanced training tai ji quan protocol to determine its effectiveness in enhancing global cognition and dual-task walking compared to our standard tai ji quan program and a stretching program in adults 65+ with mild cognitive impairment or self-reported memory concerns. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, UCSF / 21.07.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:   Chi-yuan Hsu, MD, MSc (he/him/his) Professor and Division Chief Robert W. Schrier Distinguished Professor Division of Nephrology University of California, San Francisco     MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Acute kidney injury (AKI) had previously been considered a reversible short-term medical problem among hospitalized patients without long-term sequalae in that there is recovery of kidney function back to baseline should the patient survive the hospitalization. Then about 15 years ago, the concept began to shift as research by us and others showed that for patients with severe AKI (e.g. AKI severe enough to require acute dialysis in the hospital), there was more rapid subsequent loss of renal function.  Now based largely on additional observational studies in humans (and animal models), many nephrologists and opinion leaders think that even mild to moderate cases of AKI have long-term sequelae.  We are concerned that the paradigm has swung too much in the opposite direction and we questioned the results of many published studies which did not fully account for differences in background kidney function among those who did and did not experience AKI. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, CDC, Infections / 29.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Meghan Lyman MD Medical Officer in the Mycotic Diseases Branch CDC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Candida auris (C. auris) is a fungus considered an urgent public health threat because it is often multi-drug resistant and spreads easily in healthcare settings.  CDC has been conducting tracking cases and is concerned about increasing numbers and geographic spread of C. auris cases in recent years, suggesting increased transmission.  Because C. auris cases and resistance are rising in the U.S., immediate public health actions to stop this threat are critical. (more…)
Author Interviews / 03.02.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tom Arild TorstensenTom Arild Torstensen Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society Division of Physiotherapy, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden and Holten Institute, Stockholm, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: People suffering from pain due to knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a major and increasing problem. There there is today good scientific evidence for different forms of exercise therapy, but there is no agreement regarding what type of exercises and what dose of exercise therapy is best. Thus, we wanted to investigate if high dose medical exercise therapy is superior to low dose. (more…)
Aging, Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, NIH, Nutrition / 01.09.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maki Inoue-Choi, Ph.D., M.S., R.D. Staff Scientist Metabolic Epidemiology Branch National Institutes of Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Tea is rich in bioactive compounds that can possibly protect against health conditions such as cancer and heart disease. A lower risk of death was seen among tea drinkers than non-drinkers in previous studies, but these were largely in populations where green tea drinking is common. In contrast, the studies in populations where black tea drinking is more common have been limited and the findings from these studies have been inconsistent. (more…)
Allergies, Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Pharmacology / 29.03.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chintan V. Dave, PharmD, PhD Assistant Professor Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Institute Rutgers University MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?  Response: The risks of anaphylaxis among intravenous (IV) iron products currently in use has not been assessed. Older adults have a higher risk of experiencing drug-induced anaphylaxis. Accordingly, our study objective was to elucidate the risk of anaphylaxis  among older adults receiving the five frequently used IV iron products: ferric carboxymaltose, ferumoxytol, ferric gluconate, iron dextran, and iron sucrose. (more…)
Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 13.01.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joshua D. Bundy, PhD, MPH Department of Epidemiology Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and Tulane University Translational Science Institute New Orleans Louisiana MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What is included in the KFRE score? Response: Kidney function is quantified using estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which is often calculated in clinical practice using filtration markers like serum creatinine and/or cystatin C, and patient characteristics like age, sex, and race. Recently, new eGFR equations were created that remove race adjustment because of concerns that using a patient’s race may perpetuate racial inequities in healthcare delivery. The Kidney Failure Risk Equation (KFRE) is the most commonly-used tool to predict end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) risk and includes age, sex, eGFR, and urinary albumin-creatinine ratio. We sought to evaluate the impact of removing race from eGFR on prediction of ESKD.  (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Tobacco, Tobacco Research, UCLA / 09.03.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brian P. Lee, MD, MAS Assistant Professor Clinical Medicine University of Southern Californi Keck School of Medicine Los Angeles, California MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with mental health stressors, including anxiety, loneliness, and social instability. We hypothesized the pandemic may have led to increased alcohol and tobacco use as a coping mechanism for these stressors. National retrospective questionnaires had suggested higher reports of substance use, but these are limited by selection and recall biases, in addition to subjective report – we sought to address this knowledge gap by using a nationally-representative longitudinal cohort (Nielsen National Consumer Panel) tracking real-time purchases of households across the US.  (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, Pediatrics / 12.11.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Hans Pottel PhD Professeur Invité (titre honorifique) Faculté de Médecine Université de Liège KULeuven-KULAK, Kortrijk, Belgium  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Why do we need a new GFR? Response: The currently recommended equations have flaws, mainly because there is one equation (CKiD) recommended for children, and one recommended (CKD-EPI) for adults (by KDIGO). When transitioning from pediatric nephrology care to adult nephrology care, the switch from CKiD to CKD-EPI causes implausible jumps (of more than 50%), mainly because CKD-EPI largely overestimates GFR in young adults (18-30 years). The new equation overcomes this problem as it applies for all ages (for children and adults) and overcomes the known flaws of the currently most used equations. The new equation is less biased and more precise across the full age spectrum and for the full range of serum creatinine concentrations. The equation was developed in 11 251 participants from 7 cohorts (development and internal validation datasets) and validated in 8 378 participants from 6 cohorts (external validation dataset). Data were coming from European and American nephrology centers. No patients of African-American ancestry were included. Actually, the previously published FAS-equation served as the basic mathematical form for the equation, but we adjusted the power coefficients for serum creatinine (very much like it was done in the CKD-EPI equation). You could say that we used properties of both the FAS and CKD-EPI equation to come to an improved equation to estimate GFR. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Esophageal, Gastrointestinal Disease / 20.10.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: 加藤元嗣　Mototsugu KATO MD PhD 院長  独立行政法人国立病院機構函館病院 Director, National Hospital Organization Hakodate National Hospita MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The primary goal of upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopic examination is to detect neoplastic lesions in the pharynx, esophagus, and stomach. However, early-stage lesions may frequently be overlooked by conventional white light endoscopy. Since the recent launch of image-enhanced endoscopy, many studies have evaluated its efficacy in diagnosing upper GI neoplasms as well. Linked color imaging (LCI )emphasizes the difference in color to make it easier to detect neoplastic lesions. The aim of this trial is to compare the performance of LCI with white light imaging in detecting upper GI tract neoplastic lesions.  (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Heart Disease / 25.08.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eric J. Chow, MD, MS, MPH Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer (completed in 2020); Influenza Division. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
  • Both heart disease and influenza epidemics cause substantial morbidity and mortality every year. In some seasons, influenza virus infections alone contribute up to 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths. There is increasing evidence that there is overlap between infections, specifically influenza, and heart disease. In our study, we sought to describe the frequency and risk factors for acute cardiac events in patients who are hospitalized with influenza.
  • In over 80,000 adults hospitalized with influenza over 8 seasons (2010-2018), almost 12% were diagnosed with acute cardiac events, with acute heart failure and acute ischemic heart disease being the most common.
  • Among patients hospitalized with influenza who experienced acute cardiac events, almost one-third were admitted to the intensive care unit and 7% died while hospitalized.
  • Our study also reaffirmed that people who are older, smoke tobacco or have underlying cardiovascular disease, diabetes and kidney disease are at increased risk for the most common acute cardiac events, acute heart failure and acute ischemic heart disease.
  • Although vaccinated persons had a lower risk of acute ischemic heart disease and acute heart failure, this study was not designed to specifically assess vaccine effectiveness.  However, this and other studies support the importance of influenza vaccines for people with underlying heart conditions. 
(more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Vaccine Studies / 28.07.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Shepshelovich MD Professor, Department of Medicine Rabin Medical Center Israel MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The study was initiated as part of a research project aiming to assess the quality of post marketing surveillance of various medical interventions. This includes drugs (file:///C:/Users/danielshep/Downloads/jamainternal_ross_2019_en_190008.pdf), medical devices (accepted to a leading medical journal, still under embargo) and additional studies in specific settings (e.g. cancer drugs, immune-modulating drugs). Through this perspective, vaccines are clearly safer as a group than drugs or medical devices, with significantly less post-marketing safety issues, most of which were not clinically important, and a more effective post-marketing surveillance program. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Osteoporosis / 28.07.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Hal Solomon, MD, MPH Associate Physician, Brigham and Women's Hospital Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Medicine Rheumatology, Immunology Boston, MA 02115 Editor’s note: Prolia® is the trade name for denosumab.  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We conducted this study to assess whether delays in denosumab (injections were associated with an increased risk of fractures. In a prior study, we found that the improvements in bone mineral density were reduced among patients who delayed injections. (more…)
Author Interviews, Surgical Research, Telemedicine / 17.07.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Leonardo Mattos, PhD Head of Biomedical Robotics Lab Advanced Robotics Department Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Genova, Italy MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We have been working on robotic microsurgery for several years, and have developed robotic technology for it that is getting ready for use on humans. Then, 5G started to become a reality here in Italy, and we wanted to test if it could be used to enable remote telesurgery. So we joined forces with Vodafone Italia to realize this study and proof of concept demonstration. Telesurgery has been a dream for over 20 years, and has been demonstrated already back in 2001. However, the wide scale adoption of the technology has been limited by many factors, including the limited availability of surgical robots and the lack of a telecommunication network that is fast and reliable enough for such operation. Recent technological progress is changing this scenario, with surgical robots being used in hospitals around the world and high-performance telecommunications system becoming widely available. This study shows that telesurgery is now feasible using the newest 5G telecommunication networks, enabling us to consider a large scale adoption of the technology.  (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Colon Cancer / 26.05.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Nastazja Dagny Pilonis, MD Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, Poland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Currently recommended 10-year interval between screening colonoscopies is based on the limited evidence. We decided to assess what is the risk of colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer death after singe negative screening colonoscopy. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus / 18.04.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nathan Stall, MD, FRCPC Geriatrics and Internal Medicine (Clinical Associate) Sinai Health System and the University Health Network Hospitals PhD Candidate, Clinical Epidemiology & Health Care Research Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation Eliot Phillipson Clinician-Scientist Training Program
Vasily Giannakeas, MPH Epidemiologist/ Dedicated ICES Analyst Women's College Hospital Toronto, Ontario, Canada   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: As some health care systems approach collapse, a pressing need exists for tools modeling the capacity of acute and critical care systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed an online tool to estimate the maximum number of COVID-19 cases that could be managed per day within the catchment area served by a health care system, given acute and critical care resource availability. The COVID-19 Acute and Intensive Care Resource Tool (CAIC-RT) is open access and available at https://caic-rt.shinyapps.io/CAIC-RT. (more…)
Addiction, Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, NIH, Opiods / 10.04.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nora D. Volkow, MD Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How does vaping, hookah use, inhaled marijuana, smoking etc impact the risk of coronavirus infection?  Could these activities account for some the risks and infections in younger individuals?   Response: Apart from older age, having underlying cardiopulmonary conditions is a known risk factor for the worst clinical course and outcomes of COVID-19, and many of those conditions are known to be caused or exacerbated by smoking. While evidence continues to emerge about how smoking might interact with COVID-19, it is a reasonable assumption that smoking could contribute to risk even in younger individuals. We still don’t know how vaping—whether of nicotine or marijuana or just flavorings—contributes to the risk of infection or illness severity with the virus that causes COVID-19, but there are a number of reasons to be concerned. We have already seen lung illnesses caused by some vaping products, and evidence suggests vaping may disrupt lung epithelial cell function, which in turn increases viral susceptibility and may put individuals at increased risk of infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 or with more severe disease outcomes. Vaping is a relatively new technology, and as such, there are many unknowns. The rapid increases in vaping by young people over the last few years make this an area of concern, and thus an area where more research is urgently needed. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Yale / 19.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joshua D. Wallach, MS, PhD Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences) Yale School of Public Health New Haven, CT MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Over the past few years, there has been growing interest in the potential health benefits of cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound in cannabis. Although only one CBD-derived prescription drug has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of epilepsy, I recently started seeing products containing CBD advertised and sold across the US (e.g. CBD in foods, beverages, dietary supplements, and cosmetics). I noticed that many of these products were being marketed with unproven claims to prevent, cure, and treat various conditions, and became interested in learning more about the research supporting the use of CBD, the potential for misleading claims, and impact that the CBD-industry may be having on research that is being generated and disseminated to the public. Research funding sources and other author conflicts of interests (e.g. consulting fees, honoraria, travel expenses) can influence the way that research is designed, conducted, and reported. Previous studies have consistently demonstrated associations between authors' conflicts of interest and proindustry conclusions in clinical research. Given the growing number of companies invested in CBD's commercial success, we decided to analyze the disclosed funding sources, conflicts of interest statements, author employment details, and CBD-related conclusions in a large sample of published articles on the characteristics, use, and therapeutic effects of cannabidiol. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, Mammograms / 25.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Xabier Garcia-De-Albeniz MD PhD Research Associate Department of Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Mongan Institute for Health Policy Massachusetts General Hospital  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The goal of breast cancer screening is to reduce deaths from breast cancer by finding breast cancer at early, more treatable stages. The main way to screen for breast cancer is periodic mammography, which is an x-ray of the breast that can show tumors before they are large enough to feel. High-quality studies called clinical trials have shown that screening women in their 50s and 60s decreases breast cancer deaths. However, the point at which women can safely stop screening because it no longer decreases breast cancer deaths has not been studied. More than half of women in the United States continue screening mammography after age 75 years.  (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Heart Disease / 23.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. PJ Devereaux MD, PhD, FRCP(C) Director of the Division of Cardiology Scientific Leader Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine, and Surgical Research Group Population Health Research Institute McMaster University  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There is an ethical obligation to provide patients with an accurate estimation of the potential benefits of surgery and the potential risks, to facilitate informed decision making about the appropriateness of surgery.  There are two common approaches to risk estimation. First, physicians commonly use clinical risk indices.  Based upon a patient’s clinical history (e.g., history of prior heart attack or stroke) an estimate of perioperative risk is determined.  Research demonstrates that these clinical risk indices have suboptimal risk discrimination capabilities, and they will underestimate risk in many patients. The second approach that has commonly been used is to have patients undergo an expensive and time consuming non-invasive cardiac test (e.g., stress nuclear cardiac study).  Although these non-invasive cardiac tests can enhance risk estimation in some patients who will have a perioperative cardiac event, these tests more commonly exaggerate risk in patients who will not have a complication. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, UC Davis / 04.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Barbara J Turner MD, MSED, MA, MACP Senior Advisor, Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science Professor of Clinical Medicine Keck School of Medicine, USC  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection affects millions of persons in the United States but especially minorities and persons from low income communities. Current national guidelines recommend testing all baby boomers (born 1945 – 65) for HCV with the aim of ultimately curing those with chronic HCV infection with a short course of highly effective medication.  However implementation of these guidelines faces many hurdles in “safety net” practices serving vulnerable populations. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Emergency Care / 24.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Murtaza Akhter, MD Assistant Professor Department of Emergency Medicine University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Recent years have brought a significant increase in emergency department visits, and therefore also a boon in openings of freestanding emergency departments (FrEDs). However, it is has been unclear whether the opening of FrEDs reduces healthcare costs. Our study showed that in increase in FrEDs was associated with an increase in spending per Blue Cross Blue Shield enrollee. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Outcomes & Safety, Stanford / 08.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Tawfik, MD, MS Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Professional burnout is very common among health care providers and is frequently associated with poor quality of care in the published literature. However, we know that reporting biases are common in many fields of literature, and these biases typically result in exaggerated effects being published relative to the true effect. Research on burnout and quality of care appears especially vulnerable, because many studies are not pre-specified or have several potential methods of analysis. If the studies or analyses with more impressive results are more likely to be published, this would result in a skewed picture of the relationship between burnout and quality of care. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Electronic Records / 24.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John (Xuefeng) Jiang PhD Professor and Plante Moran Faculty Fellow Eli Broad College of Business Accounting & Information Systems Michigan State University East Lansing, MI MedicalResearch.com: How did you get interested in this issue? Response: This is the third project of our data breach trilogy. We first examined which healthcare providers (focusing on hospitals) more likely suffer from a data breach. We documented large hospitals, despite their resources, are more likely to experience a data breach. Some hospitals experienced multiple incidents (https://jamanetwork.altmetric.com/details/18464149). The findings made us wonder what happened? Besides size, what other factors contribute to data breaches? Based on detailed event descriptions, we documented the circumstances under which each data breach occurred (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2715158). We found more than half of data breaches could be attributed to healthcare providers’ internal mistakes or negligence (e.g., forgot to encrypt laptop computers, used cc instead of bcc in emailing patients, didn’t revoke former employees’ login credentials after employment terminated) rather than external forces (e.g., hacking). We also found mobile devices (e.g. laptop computers, usb drives) are associated with most data breaches than paper records or network servers. Our results suggest if healthcare providers strengthen their internal control and limit the use of mobile device might be effective ways to reduce data breach risks.  (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 17.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Vanessa Selak MBChB, MPH (Hons), PhD, FAFPHM, FNZCPHM Senior Lecturer in the Section of Epidemiology & Biostatistics School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences University of Auckland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: For people who have already had a cardiovascular event, the benefits of aspirin generally outweigh its harms but the balance of benefits and risks is unclear in primary prevention. It was hoped that the results of three major trials published last year would determine whether or not aspirin had a role in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among people at intermediate risk of CVD, but these trials recruited participants at lower CVD risk than expected. An updated meta-analysis of aspirin for the primary prevention of CVD, which incorporated the findings from these three trials, has confirmed that aspirin reduces the relative risk of CVD and increases the relative risk of bleeding. We investigated, using an individualized assessment of the absolute cardiovascular benefits of aspirin and its bleeding harms among New Zealand adults aged 30-79 years without established CVD who had their CVD risk assessed in primary care between 2012 and 2016, whether there are individuals without established CVD for whom the absolute cardiovascular benefits of aspirin are likely to outweigh its absolute bleeding harms. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Heart Disease, Stroke / 28.08.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gwen Windham, MD MHS Professor of Medicine Memory Impairment & Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center University of Mississippi Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Silent infarctions are a primary cause of strokes in the brain, but they are also common in people without a history of a stroke. Infarctions are generally only reported if they are larger (at least 3mm) and are ignored clinically if they are smaller (less than 3mm). We examined 20 years of cognitive decline among stroke free, middle-aged people with and without smaller, and larger infarctions. The comparison groups included participants as follows: those with (1) no infarctions, the reference group; (2) only smaller infarctions; (3) only larger infarctions 4) both smaller and larger infarctions (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, CDC, Hospital Acquired, Infections / 02.08.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Snigdha Vallabhaneni, MD, MPH Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, GA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: We are concerned about the fungus Candida auris (or C. auris) because it causes serious infections, is often resistant to medications, and continues to spread at alarming rates in U.S. healthcare settings. Candida. auris  primarily affects patients in who are hospitalized for a long time or are residents of nursing homes that take care of patients on ventilators. C. auris is still rare in the United States and most people are at low risk of getting infected. People who get C. auris or other Candida infections are often already sick from other medical conditions and often have invasive medical care, including ventilators for breathing support, feeding tubes, central venous catheters, and have received lots of antibiotics. Many patients infected and colonized with C. auris move frequently between post-acute care facilities and hospitals, which increases the risk of spreading C. auris between facilities. (more…)