AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, Stroke / 05.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Neal S. Parikh, M.D. Administrative Chief Resident Department of Neurology Weill Cornell Medicine & NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In contrast to the gastrointestinal and systemic hemorrhagic and thrombotic complications of cirrhosis, little was known about the risk of cerebrovascular complications. In this analysis of Medicare beneficiaries' claims data, we found cirrhosis to be associated with stroke, with associations appearing to be stronger for hemorrhagic stroke than for ischemic stroke. We controlled for demographic variables and stroke risk factors and relevant comorbidities, and our results were essentially unchanged in multiple sensitivity analyses. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, Transplantation / 24.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jasmohan S. Bajaj, M.D. Virginia Commonwealth University Associate Professor Department of Internal Medicine Division of Gastroenterology MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Hepatic encephalopathy is a devastating complication of cirrhosis, which often recurs despite standard of care therapy with lactulose and rifaximin. This has a basis in an altered gut milieu therefore we need to change that in a more meaningful way to help patients. This was an FDA-monitored Phase I safety study of Fecal microbiome transfer (FMT) using a rationally-derived donor compared to standard of care. We found that FMT was safe and was associated with lower all-cause and hepatic encephalopathy-related hospitalizations over 5 months compared to standard of care. (more…)
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease / 28.01.2015

Gro Askgaard MD Department of Hepatology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark Copenhagen DenmarkMedicalResearch.com Interview with Gro Askgaard MD Department of Hepatology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark Copenhagen Denmark Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Askgaard: Alcohol is the main risk factor of cirrhosis in Europe, where 1.8% of all deaths are attributable to liver disease. Alcohol amount is known to be a significant factor of development of cirrhosis - the greater alcohol amount, the greater risk. Less is known about drinking pattern - how the way you drink alcohol affects your risk. In this study we evaluated the influence of drinking frequency (drinking days/week), of lifetime alcohol consumption versus recent alcohol consumption, and alcohol type (wine, beer, liquor). (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, UT Southwestern / 07.05.2014

Amit Singal MD MS Assistant Professor of Medicine Medical Director, Liver Tumor Program Dedman Scholar of Clinical Care Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases University of Texas Southwestern Dallas TX 75201 - 8887MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Amit Singal MD MS Assistant Professor of Medicine Medical Director, Liver Tumor Program Dedman Scholar of Clinical Care Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases University of Texas Southwestern Dallas TX 75201 - 8887 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Singal: We conducted a meta-analysis of current studies to characterize the association between hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance and early detection, curative treatment rates, and overall survival in patients with cirrhosis.  We identified 47 studies with 15,158 patients, of whom 6,284 (41.4%) had hepatocellular carcinoma  detected by surveillance. Hepatocellular carcinoma  surveillance was associated with improved early stage detection (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.80–2.37) and curative treatment rates (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.99–2.52). These associations were robust to several sensitivity analyses, including study design, study location, and study period. Hepatocellular carcinoma  surveillance was associated with significantly prolonged survival (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.67–2.17), which remained significant in the subset of studies adjusting for lead-time bias. Three-year survival rates were 50.8% among patients who underwent surveillance, compared to only 28.2% among hepatocellular carcinoma  patients with tumors detected outside of a surveillance program. (more…)
Author Interviews, Coffee, Gastrointestinal Disease, Hepatitis - Liver Disease / 03.04.2014

Woon-Puay Koh (Associate Professor) Office of Clinical Sciences Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore 8 College Road Level 4 | Singapore 169857MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Woon-Puay Koh (Associate Professor) Office of Clinical Sciences Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore 8 College Road Level 4 | Singapore 169857   MedicalResearch.com:  What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The main finding is that coffee intake was associated with a lower risk of death from cirrhosis, specifically for non-viral hepatitis related cirrhosis. Subjects who drank two or more cups per day had a 66% reduction in mortality risk, compared to non-daily coffee drinkers. However, coffee intake was not associated with viral hepatitis B related cirrhosis mortality. (more…)