Aging, Author Interviews, Geriatrics, PLoS, Social Issues / 17.03.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Holly Bennett PhD Research Associate Population Health Sciences Institute Campus for Ageing and Vitality Newcastle upon Tyne MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings? Response: Life expectancy has been increasing over time and we want to ensure these are years in good health rather than increasing years in poor health. There has mainly been good news for those living with long term health conditions. With better treatment, prevention and care, the proportion of remaining years lived disability-free has increased for more recent generations. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Global Health, Melanoma / 10.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Suzanne Dobbinson, PhD Senior Research Fellow Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Behavioural Science Division Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Skin cancer prevention programs, such as the SunSmart program in Victoria, have been implemented in Australia over 30 years with the aim of reducing the population’s exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV), the main cause of skin cancer. A recent reduction in melanoma rates among younger Australians has led to this paper which examines the extent of behaviour change in Melbourne, Australia, and the potential contribution of prevention programs to the decline in melanoma rates. Previous population-based studies assessing the impact of these programs have focused on measuring the change in the prevalence of individual sun protection behaviours, and thus have largely overlooked the use of sun avoidance and composite sun protection behaviours. The focus on tracking individual behaviours may have underestimated the behaviour change associated with these programs. We analysed data from a series of cross-sectional surveys conducted in Melbourne during summer months between 1987 and 2017. These data include the summer before the SunSmart program commenced (1987-88) and across summers in three subsequent decades. (more…)
Author Interviews, Orthopedics, PLoS / 12.08.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Inger Mechlenburg, PhD, DMSc Orthopaedic Department, Aarhus University Hospital Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Traditionally, displaced 2-part humerus fractures have been operatively treated using a metal plate and screws. However, there are no studies showing a benefit of operation of those fractures. Therefore, we were interested in investigating, in a direct comparison between operation and non-operative treatment, whether there was a difference in patient-reported function, pain and health-related quality of life two years after the fracture. In this Nordic research collaboration http://nitep.eu/en/ between Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Denmark we showed that there is no difference in functional results between operative and non-operative treatment in persons aged 60 or more with displaced proximal humerus fractures. In the study, only fractures with a significant displacement between bone fragments were included. In the non-operative treatment group, patients used a collar and cuff sling for three weeks and underwent instructed physiotherapy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, OBGYNE / 07.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Dino A. Giussani PhD ScD FRCOG Professor of Developmental Cardiovascular Physiology & Medicine Department of Physiology Development & Neuroscience University of Cambridge Director of Studies in Medicine College Lectureship in Medicine '1958' Gonville & Caius College UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Heart disease kills 1 in 3 people worldwide.  When we hear about heart disease, the first thing we think of is a gene-environent interaction.  That is to say, how our genes interact with traditional lifestyle factors, such as smoking, obesity and/or a sedentary lifestyle to promote an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.  However,  it has also become established that the gene-environment interaction early in life may be just as, if not more, important in ‘programming’ future heart health and heart disease. That is to say, how the quality of the intrauterine environment in which we develop may also shape our future heart risk.  Evidence from human sibling-pair studies suggests that these relationships are causal, that they occur independently of genotype and that they are significantly influenced by the quality of the intrauterine environment during pregnancy.  For instance, bariatric surgery to decrease the weight of obese women reduced the risk of obesity, insulin resistance and raised blood pressure in children born after surgery compared to those born before. Therefore, these studies highlight a disproportionate risk of disease in offspring born from the same mother but under different in utero conditions, providing strong evidence in humans that the environment experienced during this critical period of development directly influences long-term cardiovascular health. One of the most common outcomes of complicated pregnancy in humans is chronic fetal hypoxia, as can occur during placental insufficiency or preeclampsia. The main findings of our study show that prenatal hypoxia can programme future heart disease in the offspring and that maternal treatment with the antioxidant vitamin C can be protective (see paper attached). (more…)
Author Interviews, Flu - Influenza, Infections, PLoS, University of Michigan / 25.01.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Betsy Foxman PhD Hunein F. and Hilda Maassab Endowed Professor of Epidemiology Director, Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Influenza is a major cause of human illness and death worldwide. Vaccines are the best available means of prevention. However, vaccine effectiveness has been low to moderate in recent years and coverage remains low in many countries. There is increasing evidence suggesting the microbiome plays an important role in shaping host immunity and may be a potential target for reducing disease. In our study, we used a household transmission study to explore whether the respiratory microbiome was associated with influenza susceptibility.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Genetic Research, Weight Research / 24.01.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brian R. Lane MD PhD Division of Urology Spectrum Health Grand Rapids, Michigan MedicalResearch.com: Can you explain how you conducted your study, and what the main findings were? Response:  We used large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify genetic variants associated with obesity measures, blood pressure, lipids, type 2 diabetes, insulin, and glucose. these genetic variants were used as proxies for the above-mentioned risk factors and evaluated in relation to renal cell carcinoma risk (kidney cancer) using GWAS data from 10,000 RCC patients and 20,000 control participants. -          Based on these genetic data, we found that multiple measures of obesity, as well as diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and fasting insulin, are associated with renal cell carcinoma risk. In contrast, we found little evidence for an association with RCC risk for systolic blood pressure (SBP), circulating lipids, overall diabetes, or fasting glucose.  (more…)