Medical Thought Leaders

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News Medical's "Thought Leaders" series is a selection of articles written by national and international experts and trusted advisers in health and medicine. All the articles are written by experts who have been invited as recognised leaders in their fields to provide a "state of the art" contribution.

Telemedicine house calls for Parkinson’s patients: an interview with Dr Ray Dorsey, Johns Hopkins University

Access to neurological care for Parkinson disease is currently limited by distance, disability, and the distribution of doctors.

18 Apr 2013

Obesity epidemic in the Asia Pacific region: an interview with Prof Drexel, European Society of Cardiology

The prevalence of obesity is about 20 % in Australia, 17 % in Japan, but only 3 – 4 % in China. Thus, Asia Pacific is a very heterogeneous region.

15 Apr 2013

Migraine severity and adiponectin: an interview with Dr. B. Lee Peterlin, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Migraine affects an estimated 30 million people in the U.S, with the one year prevalence of migraine estimated at 12% of the general population, including 18% of all women and 6% of all men.

12 Apr 2013

GP clinics at hospitals: an interview with Dr Sharma, Monash University

Around 13 per cent of hospitals have a primary care unit within the emergency department and 6 per cent have a free standing primary care unit.

11 Apr 2013

Lynch syndrome and cancer risk: an interview with Prof. Ellen Kampman, Wageningen University

Lynch syndrome is one of the inherited cancer syndromes characterized by the development of colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer and other cancers at an early age.

10 Apr 2013

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway: an interview with Dr. Paul Mischel, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

The mammalian target of rapamycin, mTOR is a central integrator of the cell that coordinates growth factor receptor signaling with energy and nutrient status to control a wide array of activities, including the regulation of cellular proliferation and survival.

9 Apr 2013

Business Network Services from Anglia Ruskin: an interview with Prof Young

The Anglia Ruskin Medtech Campus Business Network Services have been developed in partnership with Chelmsford City Council, Harlow District Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council as part of plans to form the largest MedTech cluster in the UK over three development sites in Essex.

8 Apr 2013

Animal robots for dementia treatment: an interview with Professor Wendy Moyle, Griffith University

A robotic cat was first trialled in the US in early 2004 as a companion pet for people with dementia. A number of nursing homes have either ‘toy’ or robotic animals that they use as entertainment for older residents as well as people with dementia.

5 Apr 2013

Weight loss and heart damage: an interview with Dr Lili Barouch, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Obesity causes an increase in the stiffness of the heart, making it hard for the heart muscle to relax and fill with blood in between heartbeats. This abnormal stiffness can lead to congestive heart failure and other problems as it becomes more severe.

4 Apr 2013

New born neurons as a therapeutic strategy: an interview with Mi-Hyeon Jang, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota

There are two regions in the brain that continue to produce new neurons well into adulthood. One of these regions is the hippocampus and as we converse this region is actively involved in memory formation, mood regulation and cognition.

2 Apr 2013

Inflammation and epigenetics: an interview with Dr Belkina and Dr Denis, Boston University School of Medicine

Inflammation can be thought of as taking two major forms: acute or chronic. Acute inflammation, which can be painful, usually arises quickly and resolves quickly. It accompanies bacterial infections, traumatic injury and is useful to fight infections and promote healing.

28 Mar 2013

Prostate cancer prognosis tables: an interview with Dr John B. Eifler, Brady Urological Institute of Johns Hopkins

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Despite many advances in diagnosis and treatment over the past two decades, it remains the second most common cause of cancer related death in men.

28 Mar 2013

Housing and health: an interview with Hilary Thomson, Senior Investigator Scientist at the UK Medical Research Council

I have been working on this topic for 13 years. Our research programme centres around generating research evidence which can be used in public policy to promote health. This is a broad topic and investigates the potential for investment in socio-economic determinants of health, like housing, transport, welfare, employment etc, to have an impact on health.

26 Mar 2013

Patient participation in care (PPC): an interview with Professor Wendy Chaboyer, NHMRC

Patient-centred care, that is partnering ‘with’ patients, rather than providing services ‘to’ them, is advocated as a way to improve patient safety.

25 Mar 2013

Fibromyalgia: an interview with Dr Frederick Wolfe, University of Kansas School of Medicine

Fibromyalgia is a common disorder that is diagnosed in people who have pain in many areas of their body together with important symptoms such as...

22 Mar 2013

HIV home tests: an interview with Dr Nitika Pant Pai, McGill University

30 years into the HIV epidemic, there is no vaccine in sight. Yet, even though there are fantastic and effective cheap and universally available drugs, and a treatment as prevention strategy is known to work, people do not wish to get tested for HIV! If everyone got tested, and treated, we could have brought the infection under control a long time ago!

21 Mar 2013

Ill health and retirement: an interview with Dr Sabrina Pit, University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney

In our study population, which was drawn from NSW Australia only, the proportion of working aged men who were fully retired due to ill-health in cities is five percent, eight percent for inner regional areas and nine for outer regional areas.

20 Mar 2013

NHS intravenous (IV) fluids: an interview with Dr Ian Roberts, LSHTM

Saline is just salty water, whereas colloids are solutions that have large molecules in them. In this case, the molecules are starch. The idea is that because these molecules are big they don’t leak out of the circulation as much.

18 Mar 2013

Synthesis & Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre: an interview with Dr Mary Shire, University of Limerick

This is a new research centre led by the University of Limerick that supports the pharmaceutical sector in Ireland. The centre will carry out research on the key aspects of what it takes to synthesise the pharmaceutically active molecule to isolate a pure material and to formulate this into a medicine.

14 Mar 2013

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement: an interview with Judit Rius, Médecins Sans Frontières

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade deal currently being negotiated between eleven countries of the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, United States, Singapore and Vietnam.

12 Mar 2013