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.

Malaria vaccine trial: an interview with Professor Sir Brian Greenwood

Malaria is an infection caused by a parasite called plasmodium, which is transmitted from person to person by females of some species of mosquito. It is primarily a disease of tropical countries.

14 Dec 2012

Bariatric surgery: an interview with Dr Shyam Dahiya

The only long term solution to severe or morbid obesity, as found by the National Institutes of Health, is surgery. When someone has tried diet and other means to lose weight and has failed, surgery is the only option.

12 Dec 2012

Dementia therapy: an interview with Assoc Prof. Olivier Piguet and Sharon Savage

Dementia is the umbrella term used to describe a number of neurodegenerative brain disorders that cause progressive changes in thinking abilities and behaviour. The kind of deficits experienced by individuals diagnosed with dementia depends on the location and severity of the pathology in the brain.

11 Dec 2012

Traumatic brain injury incidence: an interview with Professor Valery Feigin

Traumatic brain injury can be defined as an injury to the brain due to mechanical forces. Mechanical forces usually include falls, car accidents, accidental forces from another person or animal. It also includes sports-related brain injuries.

11 Dec 2012

Childhood obesity: an interview with Professor Clodagh O’Gorman

Childhood obesity is harder to define than adult obesity. This is because any definition of obesity relies on measurements of both height and weight, and the calculation of body mass index (BMI) based on these measurements.

10 Dec 2012

Kidney cancer survival rates: an interview with Dr Wong-Ho Chow

There are two major forms of kidney cancer. One is called renal cell cancer, which is an adenocarcinoma that occurs in the renal parenchyma. The other major type is called renal pelvis cancer, which is mostly of transitional cell type and they form in the centre of the kidney where the urine collects.

7 Dec 2012

Breast milk banks: an interview with Dr. Pieter Koorts

The available literature clearly demonstrates that in almost all circumstances a mother’s own breast milk is the ideal food for her infant. This is particularly important for preterm infants. Preterm infants are babies born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy.

5 Dec 2012

Smoking cessation support: an interview with Robyn Whittaker

Tobacco smoking involves a physiological addiction to nicotine for a lot of people. Quitting can cause some nasty symptoms due to the withdrawal of nicotine.

5 Dec 2012

Diabetes tests: an interview with Dr. Danielle Stowasser

Diabetes is a serious condition that causes high levels of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood. There are three main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which are lifelong conditions, and gestational diabetes, which only occurs in women during pregnancy.

3 Dec 2012

Heart attack centres: an interview with Dr Sayan Sen

Heart attack networks are designed to facilitate the rapid transfer of heart attack patients to centres with facilities that allow the manual unblocking of the coronary artery with angioplasty.

3 Dec 2012

Stroke effects: an interview with Dr Ingvars Birznieks

Stroke often affects both our ability of our hands to feel and our ability to contract muscles. Sensory and motor functions are tightly linked.

30 Nov 2012

Cancer-related fatigue and exercise: an interview with Dr Fiona Cramp

It is likely that there is more than one reason why people with cancer experience fatigue. The causes are likely to include side effects of the treatment that people are receiving for cancer as well as the direct effects of the cancer.

28 Nov 2012

Diptheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine: an interview with Dr. Rudi Eggers, World Health Organisation

The Diptheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine is sometimes also called the “triple vaccine” and has been around for about 50 years, and it protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. These are serious diseases caused by bacteria.

28 Nov 2012

Chronic suppurative lung disease: an interview with Dr Robyn Marsh

Chronic suppurative lung disease, or CSLD, is used to describe a range of lung diseases characterised by a chronic wet cough and progressive lung damage. We are interested in the non-cystic fibrosis forms of the disease with a focus on bronchiectasis – the severe form of CSLD.

26 Nov 2012

Weight loss and quality of sleep: an interview with Kerry Stewart

In our particular study we used a survey which consisted of 50 different questions which get at different aspects of sleep health. It was a patient self-report.

26 Nov 2012

Obesity and oxidative stress: an interview with Dr Elizabeth New

Even though oxygen is essential for us to live, it can react with other compounds in the body to produce molecules called free radicals, which are highly reactive and damaging.

22 Nov 2012

Electrophysiology: an interview with Dr Kaylene Young

Bioelectricity is an essential part of our make-up. All cells in our body communicate by electrical activity. If an electrical charge is applied to one of our muscles it will interpret that electrical activity as a signal telling it to contract.

21 Nov 2012

Biomolecular imaging: an interview with Professor Roger Reddel

The reason Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) exists is to find ways to treat or prevent childhood disease. Our research programs are focussed on the areas of cancer cell growth, nerve cell signalling, embryology and gene therapy. These four programs have a shared aim of translating novel findings into new treatments for the benefit of families everywhere.

19 Nov 2012

Physical performance capabilities across the lifespan

Physical performance capabilities, which decline across the lifespan, are strongly associated with daily levels of physical activity. The decrease in physical activity across the lifespan has consequences for health and well-being.

16 Nov 2012

Myasthenia gravis therapies: an interview with Professor Daniel Drachman

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease that produces weakness and fatiguability of muscles. It affects between 1 and 7 people per 10,000, according to the best statistics.

15 Nov 2012