Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, mBio / 04.08.2014

Dr. Sridhar Mani MD Departments of Genetics and Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Sridhar Mani MD Departments of Genetics and Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, NY 10461

  Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Mani: In a series of studies using cells grown in the lab and mouse studies, the researchers found that a metabolite called indole 3-propionic acid (IPA)—produced exclusively by so-called commensal bacteria —both strengthens the intestinal epithelium’s barrier function and prevents its inflammation by activating an orphan nuclear receptor, Pregnane X Receptor (PXR). Specifically, PXR activation suppresses production of an inflammatory protein called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-á) while increasing levels of a protein that strengthens the junctions between intestinal epithelial cells (makes the intestines less permeable to noxious substances). Loss of PXR protein and/or IPA results in a disrupted intestinal barrier and increased propensity towards intestinal inflammation and/or toxin induced injury to the intestines. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Mediterranean Diet, Nutrition / 30.07.2014

Dr Michelle Morris Research Fellow Nutritional Epidemiology Group School of Food Science & Nutrition University of LeedsMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Michelle Morris Research Fellow Nutritional Epidemiology Group School of Food Science & Nutrition University of Leeds Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Morris: The healthiest diets consumed by UK Women are the most expensive. This study is UK centric, using dietary patterns consumed by UK women and scored for healthiness according to the UK Department of Health Eatwell Plate. Cost of diet was estimated using average prices taken from an evaluated UK food cost database. (more…)
Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, JAMA / 21.07.2014

Riyaz Bashir MD, FACC, RVT Associate Professor of Medicine Director, Vascular and Endovascular Medicine Department of Medicine Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, PA 19140MedicalResearch.com Interview with Riyaz Bashir MD, FACC, RVT Associate Professor of Medicine Director, Vascular and Endovascular Medicine Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, PA 19140 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Bashir : Blood clots of legs called deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a very common disease that occurs in about 1.0 person per 1000 population per year. This condition is responsible for more than 600,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States and approximately 6% of these patients will die within 1 month of the diagnosis. Amongst these patients 20% - to 50% will go on to develop chronic leg pains, swelling, heaviness, skin discoloration, and ulcers, in spite of conventional treatment with Blood thinning medications (anticoagulation) and compression stockings.This condition, which is called Post-thrombotic syndrome PTS markedly impairs the quality of life of these patients and is a significant economic burden (2.4 billion dollars and 200 million work days lost annually in US) on the society.In fact, many of these people lose their jobs because of the disability it causes. Several small studies have shown that early clot removal by minimally invasive catheter-based clot busting procedure called Catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) leads to a significant reduction in Post-thrombotic syndrome along with improvements in quality of life. Unfortunately, due to the small number of patients in these studies, we did not have any data about the safety of this treatment option. This has led to conflicting recommendations by various medical societies like the American College of Chest Physicians recommending against its use while the American Heart Association recommends Catheter-directed thrombolysis as first-line treatment for these patients. In light of these conflicting directives, we reviewed the frequency and safety of CDT versus conventional treatment in these patients with blood clots above the knees in the United States using Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from 2005 to 2010. (more…)
Author Interviews, Neurology, Stroke / 20.07.2014

Sang-Beom Jeon, MD, PhD From the Department of Neurology Asan Medical Center University of Ulsan College of Medicine Seoul, Republic of Korea.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sang-Beom Jeon, MD, PhD From the Department of Neurology Asan Medical Center University of Ulsan College of Medicine Seoul, Republic of Korea. Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Sang-Beom Jeon: In this MRI study of 825 stroke patients, we demonstrated that high plasma concentrations of homocysteine, also known as hyperhomocysteinemia, were associated with small-vessel disease (lacunar infarcts and leukoaraiosis) and large-vessel atherosclerosis of cerebral arteries. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, Lancet / 20.07.2014

Dr. Colette SmithMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Colette Smith: PhD Research Department of Infection and Population Health University College London, London, UK   Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Smith: We followed a group of approximately 45,000 HIV-positive people from Europe, USA and Australia between 1999 to 2011. We found that the death rate approximately halved over the 12-year study period. For every 1,000 people, around 18 died per year in 1999-2001, reducing to 9 deaths per year in 2009-2011. We also studied what people died of. We found that the death rate from AIDS and from liver disease decreased by around two-thirds. Deaths from heart disease approximately halved. However, the rate of cancer deaths (excluding cancers that are classified as AIDS events) remained constant over time. One in three deaths were caused by AIDS in 1999 to 2011, and this decreased to one in five deaths in the last two years of the study. However, even in recent years it was the joint most common cause of death. The proportion of deaths from cancer increased over time. One in ten deaths were from cancer in 1999 to 2001, and this increased to one in five deaths in 2009 to 2011. By the end of the study it was the joint-most common cause of death. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, JAMA, OBGYNE / 19.07.2014

Jared Baeten, MD PhD Professor, Departments of Global Health and Medicine Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology University of Washington Seattle, WA 98104MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jared Baeten, MD PhD Professor, Departments of Global Health and Medicine Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology University of Washington Seattle, WA 98104 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Baeten: Among heterosexual African couples in which the male was HIV positive and the female was not, receipt of antiretroviral pre-exposure preventive (PrEP) therapy did not result in significant differences in pregnancy incidence, birth outcomes, and infant growth compared to females who received placebo. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections / 18.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Joshua Thaden MD, PhD Duke University Division of Infectious Diseases Durham, North Carolina Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Thaden: The primary findings of the study are that
  • The rate of detection of particularly antibiotic resistant bacteria -- the carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) -- has increased 5-fold in a set of community hospitals in the southeastern United States, and that
  • This increase is due to both changes in how we detect CRE and in increased endemicity (i.e., there are just more CRE around).
(more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Frailty, Geriatrics / 18.07.2014

Dr. Wenjun Li , PhD Health Statistics and Geography Lab Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester.MedicalResearch.com: Interview with: Dr. Wenjun Li , PhD Health Statistics and Geography Lab Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester. Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Wenjun Li: Compared to those walking for recreational purposes only, older adults walking for utilitarian purposes had higher risk for outdoor falls and fall-related injuries that require medical attention. (more…)
Author Interviews, Karolinski Institute, Red Meat / 18.07.2014

Andrea Bellavia From the Unit of Nutritional Epidemiology and the Unit of Biostatistics Institute of Environmental Medicine Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SwedenMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrea Bellavia From the Unit of Nutritional Epidemiology and the Unit of Biostatistics Institute of Environmental Medicine Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Bellavia: By evaluating together the consumption of processed and fresh red meat, we observed that processed red meat consumption was associated with shorter life, implying a potential negative effect on health. On the other hand, consumption of only fresh red meat was not associated with either shorter or longer survival. Therefore, the main finding of this work is that the negative effects of red meat consumption might only be due to meat processing, which counteract the positive effects of the beneficial nutrients of meat. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cognitive Issues / 17.07.2014

Florien Boel MSc VU University Medical Center Department of Medical Psychology Amsterdam, The Netherlands MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Florien Boel MSc VU University Medical Center Department of Medical Psychology Amsterdam, The Netherlands Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In postmenopausal breast cancer patients, endocrine therapy is widely used, and often for many years on end. Endocrine therapy is thought to have an effect on cognitive functioning, but previous studies have not yet accounted for the possible influence of the diagnosis of cancer and subsequent anxiety, depression or fatigue on cognitive performance. In addition, the cognitive effects of endocrine therapy after long-term use are still mostly unknown. Therefore, we compared cognitive functioning of postmenopausal breast cancer patients who underwent surgery and/or radiotherapy (N=43) with the cognitive performance of women who also received adjuvant endocrine therapy (tamoxifen) (N=20) and a group of healthy matched individuals (N=44). In accordance with the literature, we found that especially cognitive domains that rely heavily on verbal abilities (verbal memory and fluency) seem to be at risk for deterioration during long-term treatment (~2.5 years) with tamoxifen. (more…)
Cannabis, Neurology, Stroke / 09.05.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tara Dutta M.D. Vascular Neurology Fellow University of Maryland Medical Center MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Dutta: We analyzed data from the Stroke Prevention in Young Adults Study in order to evaluate for an association between self-reported marijuana use and ischemic stroke.   1,101 cases and 1,154 age, gender, and race-matched controls, aged 15-49 years old, were recruited from the greater Baltimore-Washington area between 1992 and 2008. Interviews were conducted to assess for various potential stroke risk factors, including illicit drug, alcohol, and tobacco use. Individuals reporting use of vasoactive illicit drugs, including cocaine and amphetamines, were excluded, yielding 751 cases and 813 controls. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between marijuana use and ischemic stroke, adjusting for age, gender, race, current tobacco use, current alcohol use, hypertension, and diabetes. We did not find a positive association between marijuana use and ischemic stroke risk in our population of young-onset stroke patients compared to matched controls, even after controlling for current tobacco and alcohol use, hypertension, and diabetes.   A statistically significant inverse relationship was observed between remote use (defined as any use over one year ago) and stroke risk (adjusted OR 0.77, CI 0.61-0.98, p = 0.03). We also looked to see whether recent use (in the past 30 days), and particularly recent heavy use, was associated with ischemic stroke risk as has been suggested in the medical literature. Though our data did not show this association, the number of patients reporting recent use in our study was very small­­­­­­­. (more…)