Author Interviews, BMJ, OBGYNE, Occupational Health / 26.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Luise Mølenberg Begtrup Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There are indications that working fixed night shifts is associated with a higher risk of miscarriage. Since many women work rotating shifts including night shifts, we were interested in examining the association between the amount of night work and miscarriage. We were able to do this by use of detailed exposure data based on payroll data. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, MRI, Pediatrics / 09.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eman S. Mahdi, MD, MBChB Pediatric Radiology Fellow Catherine Limperopoulos, PhD Director, Developing Brain Research Laboratory Co-Director of Research, Division of Neonatology Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology Children’s National Health System Washington, DC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Premature birth is a major public health concern in the United States affecting 1 in 10 infants each year. Prematurity-related brain injury is very common and associated with a high prevalence of brain injury and accompanying lifelong neurodevelopmental morbidities. Early disturbances in systemic and cerebral hemodynamics are thought to mediate prematurity-related brain injury. The extent to which cerebral blood flow (CBF) is disturbed in preterm birth is poorly understood, in large part because of the lack of monitoring techniques that can directly and non-invasively measure cerebral blood flow. We report for the first time early disturbances in global and regional cerebral blood flow in preterm infants following brain injury on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) over the third trimester of ex-uterine life using arterial spin labelling images. In terms of regional differences, we saw a marked decrease in blood flow to the thalamus and the pons, regions known to be metabolically active during this time. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, OBGYNE / 04.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cynthia Ferre MA PhD Division of Reproductive Health National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion CDC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Reductions in births to teens and preterm birth rates are two recent public health successes in the United States. To date, however, we haven’t had data to indicate whether these two declines are associated. So, we used age-specific data on trends in births overall and in preterm births to determine the effects of changes in maternal age on preterm birth. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, PLoS / 16.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joseph Leigh Simpson, MD FACOG, FACMG President at International Federation of Fertility Societies March of Dimes Foundation White Plains, NY MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Preterm birth (PTB) is the most common single cause of perinatal and infant mortality, affecting 15 million infants worldwide each year with global rates increasing. A total of 1.1 million infants die each year. Preterm births and their complications are the leading cause of deaths in children under age 5. The biological basis of preterm birth remains poorly understood, and for that reason, preventive interventions are often empiric and have only limited benefit. Large differences exist in preterm birth rates across high income countries: 5.5 percent in Sweden and at present 9.6 percent in the U.S. The International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO)/March of Dimes Working Group on Preterm Birth Prevention hypothesized that identifying the risk factors underlying these wide variations could lead to interventions that reduce preterm birth in countries having high rates. (more…)