Author Interviews, Infections / 22.06.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Rafael Kroon Campos PhD Department of Microbiology and Immunology University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting millions of people. COVID-19 is a disease that primarily affects the lungs, but it also affects other organs and tissues, including heart and olfactory receptors. There is a growing body of evidence showing that COVID-19 can affect reproductive health by reducing androgen hormones, sperm counts and causing pain and discomfort in the testes. The virus that causes this disease is named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is unknown whether these symptoms are caused by direct virus testes infection or a byproduct of the immune system fighting the virus. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, JAMA, Opiods / 27.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD Professor and Director, Office of Biostatistics Don W. and Frances Powell Professor in Aging Research Mukaila Raji, MD, MS, FACP Professor & Director Edgar Gnitzinger Distinguished Professorship in Aging Preventive Medicine and Population Health UTMB Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Medicare beneficiaries who qualified because of disability constitute a growing population of patients hospitalized for opioid/heroin overdose. Although the CDC regularly generates reports of opioid overdose deaths by demographics and states, studies on policy actionable predictors of overdose mortality (e.g., clusters of medical and psychiatric conditions, types of disabling conditions) are lacking in this population.  (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA / 27.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James S. Goodwin, M.D. George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Geriatric Medicine University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX  77555-0177James S. Goodwin, M.D. George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Geriatric Medicine University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX  77555-0177 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Full time hospital doctors, called hospitalists, now provide the medical care for most patients hospitalized in the US. Depending on the hospital and also the hospitalist group, the working schedules of hospitalists can have vary greatly. For example, some might work 8 AM to 5PM for seven days followed by seven days off. Others might work 24 hours on and 72 hours off. Depending on the schedule of the hospitalists proving care, a patient  might have one or two or three or more different doctors proving care during their stay. Some patients see a new doctor each day. Our goal was to see if patients who received care from hospitalists who tended to work several days in a row did better than those who were cared for many different hospitalists with intermittent schedules. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Colon Cancer, Genetic Research, University Texas / 10.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mohammad Bilal, MD University of Texas Medical Branch MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer among adults in the United States and the second leading cause of cancer related deaths. Recent studies have shown an increasing incidence of CRC in younger patients. This has led to increasing interests in identifying patient populations who might be at increased risk of developing CRC. The U.S. Multi-Society Task Force of Colorectal Cancer (MSTF) recommends that CRC screening should begin at age 50 in average-risk persons. However, recently the American Cancer Society (ACS) have published recommendations to begin CRC screening at age 45 years in average risk patient population. These recommendations were primarily based of modeling studies since there is little outcomes data in younger age groups in regards to prevention and detection of CRC. Despite these new recommendations from the ACS, there is limited direct evidence to support CRC screening at a younger age. In our study, we have evaluated the predictors of increased prevalence of adenomas in the 40 to 49-year-old individuals undergoing colonoscopy.  (more…)