Newswise — Welcome to the July 2019 edition of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s (BIDMC) Research & Health News Digest.

This edition’s update includes:

  • More harm than good: Researchers find widespread aspirin use despite few benefits, high risks (General Health)
  • Heat-related injuries and how to stay cool (Emergency Medicine)
  • Avoiding sunburns this summer (Dermatology)
  • Study finds subclinical cardiovascular disease associated with higher fall risk (Cardiovascular)
  • Drinking red wine on the red planet: Ingredient in grapes may protect against musculoskeletal atrophy in partial gravity (Neuromuscular Disease)
  • Study finds key metabolic changes in patients with chemotherapy-related heart damage (Cardiovascular)
  • Safe summer grilling (General Health)
  • Combination therapy may combat deadly drug-resistant bacteria (Clinical Microbiology)
  • Crunching the numbers of cancer metastasis (OBGYN/Cancer)
  • Researchers develop screening tool to help clinicians prevent new HIV infections (Infectious Disease/HIV)

If any of these briefs pique your interest and you’d like to speak with one of our experts, please contact us at [email protected] or at 617-667-7300. You can also reach the BIDMC communications team member on call through the BIDMC page operator at (617) 667-4700 and asking for pager ID #33880.

The BIDMC Media Relations Team

BIDMC Research & Health News Digest: July 2019

More Harm Than Good: Researchers Find Widespread Aspirin Use Despite Few Benefits, High Risks

BIDMC physician-researchers Colin O’Brien, MD, Christina C. Wee, MD, MPH, and Stephen Juraschek, MD, PhD, reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine that a substantial portion of adults may be taking aspirin without their physician’s advice and potentially without their knowledge. The findings reveal that more than 6 million Americans take aspirin daily without a physician’s recommendation, and nearly half of Americans over the age of 70 years without cardiovascular disease take aspirin daily – despite current guidelines against this practice.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2019/07/more-harm-than-good---researchers-find-widespread-aspirin-use-despite-few-benefits-high-risks

Heat-related Injuries and How to Stay Cool

Before lathering on the sunscreen and heading outdoors, it’s important to know the signs of heat-related injuries and how to stay cool when the temperatures soar. BIDMC emergency medicine physician Laura Burke, MD, shares some tips.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/wellness-insights/summer-health/2019/07/heat-related-injuries-and-how-to-stay-cool

Avoiding Sunburns This Summer

Sunburns are no fun, but more importantly, they are dangerous. Suzanne Olbricht, MD, Chief of Dermatology at BIDMC, shares tips for protecting your skin this summer.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/wellness-insights/summer-health/2018/07/avoiding-sunburns-this-summer

Study Finds Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease Associated with Higher Fall Risk

Researchers led by Stephen Juraschek, MD, PhD, a primary care physician at BIDMC, found that subclinical myocardial damage and cardiac wall strain are associated with a higher risk of falling in older adults without known cardiovascular disease (CVD). The findings, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, suggest that optimizing cardiovascular health even in older adults without a CVD diagnosis might represent a strategy for preventing falls among seniors.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2019/07/study-finds-subclinical-cardiovascular-disease-associated-with-higher-fall-risk

Drinking Red Wine on the Red Planet: Ingredient in Grapes May Protect Against Musculoskeletal Atrophy in Partial Gravity

New research published in the Frontiers in Physiology suggests that resveratrol, an antioxidant and compound found in blueberries and the skin of grapes, could be part of a future dietary strategy that keeps astronauts strong on Mars. Marie Mortreux, PhD, a research fellow in the laboratory of Seward Rutkove, MD, at BIDMC, looked at the effects of resveratrol on rats exposed to simulated Martian gravity.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2019/07/drinking-red-wine-on-the-red-planet

Study Finds Key Metabolic Changes in Patients with Chemotherapy-Associated Cardiotoxicity

Researchers led by Aarti Asnani, MD, Director of the Cardio-Oncology Program at BIDMC, investigated whether early changes in energy-related metabolites in the blood – measured shortly after chemotherapy – could be used to identify patients who developed heart toxicity at a later time. The study, published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research, found that metabolites associated with the mitochondria changed differently in patients who later developed heart dysfunction compared to those who did not.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2019/07/metabolic-changes-in-patients-with-chemotherapy

Safe Summer Grilling

Lori DeCosta, MS, RD-AP, LDN, Director of Nutrition at BIDMC, shares tips to help make summer get-togethers as safe as they are delicious.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/wellness-insights/summer-health/2018/07/safe-summer-grilling

Combination Therapy May Combat Deadly Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Because bacteria – especially Gram-negative strains – are becoming increasingly resistant to current antibiotics, investigators are studying the potential of combining two or more drugs to work together to combat resistant bacterial pathogens. A team of investigators led by James E. Kirby, MD, Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at BIDMC, have now demonstrated that existing antibiotics, some of which have been in use for decades, may have potent activity against such strains when used in combination. The work is published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2019/07/combination-therapy-may-combat-deadly-drugresistant-bacteria

Crunching the Numbers of Cancer Metastasis

In a study published in Scientific Reports, Yamicia D. Connor, MD, PhD, a resident in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at BIDMC, and colleagues, reveal that unlike non-metastatic cells, breast metastatic cells have the ability to change shape, flattening to more effectively cross the endothelium and into the blood stream. In addition to demonstrating the transformation, the team developed a mathematical model to quantitatively illustrate this interaction between the metastatic and endothelial cells that can be easily modified for studying similar cellular systems.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2019/07/crunching-the-numbers-of-cancer-metastasis

Researchers Develop New Screening Tool to Help Clinicians Prevent New HIV Infections

In a study published in The Lancet HIV, researchers including infectious disease specialist Douglas S. Krakower, MD, of BIDMC, used machine learning to build an HIV risk prediction model to improve prescribing of HIV-preventative medications among high risk populations.

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2019/07/hiv-screening-tool