Author Interviews, Pharmaceutical Companies, Prostate, Urology / 31.05.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Steven A. Kaplan, M.D., FACS Professor of Urology Director, The Men's Health Program Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: PLUS is the first large-scale trial conducted in North America and Europe specifically designed to study the effects of mirabegron in controlling residual symptoms of urinary urgency and frequency in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) using common agents such as tamsulosin (Flomax). We explored whether mirabegron (Myrbetriq), an agent approved for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB), improved patient outcomes when added to tamsulosin. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center study enrolling 715 male patients 40 years of age and older. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Diabetes, Prostate, Urology / 24.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Ruth Andrew PhD Chair of Pharmaceutical Endocrinology University/BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science Queen's Medical Research Institute University of Edinburgh  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our research group has been interested for a number of years in how stress hormones (called glucocorticoids) influence the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Glucocorticoids help us control stress and regulate how the body handles its fuel, for example the carbohydrate and fat we eat. However exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids, can increase the risk of diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. We studied men with prostate disease who took 5α-reductase inhibitors, because over and above the beneficial actions of these drugs in the prostate, they also slow down inactivation of glucocorticoids. We had carried out some short term studies with the drugs in humans and found that they reduced the ability of insulin to regulate blood glucose. Therefore in the study we have just published in the BMJ, we examined how patients receiving these drugs long-term responded and particularly we were able to show that over an 11 year period that there was a small additional risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the type of disease common in older people, compared with other types of treatments. (more…)
Author Interviews, Prostate, Urology / 18.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Nikhil K. Gupta and Kevin McVary, MD, FACS Professor, Department of Surgery Chair, Division of Urology Southern Illinois University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Male lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia, or LUTS due to BPH, have most commonly been treated with a combination of medication, such as alpha-blockers and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, and surgery, such as transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) and Greenlight photovaporization of prostate (PVP). These treatments, however, have potentially serious adverse and sexual side effects. Minimally invasive surgical therapies (MIST) for LUTS due to BPH have tried to thread the needle between medications and invasive surgery, giving effective relief of symptoms with minimal anesthetic need while preserving sexual function. Previously developed MISTs have been unable to provide durable relief of symptoms, causing patients to undergo multiple treatments in a short period of time, and have been limited by prostate size and conformation, e.g. the inability to treat a middle lobe or median bar. LUTS due to BPH is also very strongly and likely causally linked with obesity, and obesity seems to have an effect on the efficacy of treatment as well, as obesity affects response to medication and tends to dampen the treatment effect of TURP. Convective Radiofrequency Water Vapor Energy ablation of the prostate, named Rezūm®, is a new MIST that uses radiofrequency to generate energy in the form of water vapor. The water vapor acts as a convective energy source and, once injected into the treatment area, distributes itself evenly within the treated tissue, causing uniform necrosis througout the treated area. This mechanism using convection is in contrast to previous technologies using conductive heat energy, which created a heat gradient with tissue closest to the heat source receiving the largest amount of energy and tissue farthest from the heat source receiving almost no energy. Thus conductive energy has a different effect on different parts of the treated area. With Rezūm, MRI studies have shown that the water vapor creates a uniform treatment effect while staying within collagen barriers, obeying natural tissue planes and affecting only the intended treatment areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of Rezūm in treatment of LUTS due to BPH, examine the treatment's effect on sexual function, and to determine whether obesity affected treatment efficacy. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Urology / 21.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Blayne Welk, MD, FRCSC Assistant Professor of Surgery Western University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Concerns have been raised by regulatory agencies and patients about possible serious psychiatric side effects associated with the use of 5 alpha reductase inhibitors. These medications can be used for both enlarged prostates and alopecia. We used administrative data to assess for potential psychiatric side effects associated with finasteride and dutasteride usage in older men with benign prostatic enlargement. In our study we found that there was no increased risk of suicide associated with the use of these medications. However, there was a small increase in both self-harm and new onset depression associated with the use of 5 alpha reductase inhibitors. (more…)
Author Interviews / 04.09.2014

Kate Wolin, ScD, FACSM Associate Professor Departments of Surgery & Public Health Sciences Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of MedicineMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kate Wolin, ScD, FACSM Associate Professor Departments of Surgery & Public Health Sciences Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Men who are physically active are less likely to experience nocturia. (more…)