@amit-r Public health strategies, such as reduced alcohol availability, labeling alcohol products with a health warning, and marketing bans, could reduce rates of alcohol-driven cancer

Cardiorespiratory fitness emerged as a stronger predictor of all-cause mortality than did any traditional risk factor across the spectrum of age, sex, and race in a modeling study that included more than 750,000 US veterans. In addition, mortality risk was cut in half if individuals achieved a moderate cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) level — that is, by meeting the current US physical activity recommendations of 150 minutes per week, the authors note.

Researchers have identified changes in the eye in patients with Parkinson's disease that can be seen with noninvasive, inexpensive imaging equipment, raising hopes that this could in future become a method for the early diagnosis of the condition. The team led by eye specialists from Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, report decreased retinal microvascular perfusion and structural alterations in the choroid compared with findings in cognitively healthy control individuals.

In Japanese adults with type 1 diabetes insulin-pump treatment (continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion) and higher problem-solving perception appear protective against impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH), while diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is associated with increased risk. Diabetes distress and fear of hypoglycemia are common in people with IAH.

Shigella organisms are a group of gram-negative, facultative intracellular pathogens. They were recognized as the etiologic agents of bacillary dysentery or shigellosis in the 1890s. Shigella were discovered over 100 years ago by a Japanese microbiologist named Shiga, for whom the genus is named. Shigella was adopted as a genus in the 1950s. These organisms are members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and tribe Escherichieae; they are grouped into 4 species: Shigelladysenteriae, Shigellaflexneri, Shigellaboydii, and Shigellasonnei, also known as groups A, B, C, and D, respectively. They are nonmotile, non – spore forming, rod shaped, and nonencapsulated. Subgroups and serotypes are differentiated from each other by their biochemical characteristics (e.g., ability to ferment D-mannitol) and antigenic properties. Group A has 15 serotypes, group B has 8 serotypes, group C has 19 serotypes, and group D has 1 serotype.

Multiple biomarkers of depression involved in several brain circuits are altered in patients with unipolar depression. The first comprehensive meta-analysis of all biomarkers quantified to date in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of individuals with unipolar depression showed that several could be "clinically meaningful" because they suggest neuroimmunological alterations, disturbances in the blood-brain barrier, hyperactivity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and impaired neuroplasticity as factors in depression pathophysiology. However, said study investigator Michael E. Benros, MD, PhD, professor and head of research at Mental Health Centre Copenhagen and University of Copenhagen, Denmark, this is on a group level. "So in order to be relevant in a clinical context, the results need to be validated by further high-quality studies identifying subgroups with different biological underpinnings," he told Medscape Medical News.

Ivermectin is no more effective than placebo in reducing the severity of COVID-19 among newly diagnosed patients, according to the largest trial to date that has investigated this question. Treatment with ivermectin failed to reduce hospital admissions for worsening COVID-19 and failed to shorten the time that patients with COVID-19 stayed as outpatients in the emergency room for observation.

@monami-s Work addiction, often called workaholism, has become more well-defined as its prevalence increases. In a 2014 study in Occupational Medicine, physicians practicing at a French university hospital took a survey based on their work addiction risk and psychosocial constraints. Of 445 respondents, 13% were highly work addicted and 35% were mildly work addicted. And Medscape's 2022 Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report, which surveyed more than 13,000 physicians, found 55% of respondents would take a reduction in salary to have a better work/life balance, 70% have had relationships fail because they don't have time for a social life, and 20% rarely spend enough time on their health.

An experimental brain-computer interface has allowed a man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who was unable to speak or move to communicate. Using a commercially available implant and newly designed software, the patient, who was in the advanced stages of Lou Gehrig's disease and unable to move his eyes, was able to interact with researchers and caregivers, requesting goulash, beer, and music from the band Tool, thanking the researchers who developed the technology and inviting his 4-year-old son to watch a Disney film. The investigators note the study shows for the first time that communication is possible in patients in a completely locked-in state (CLIS) and offers hope for a better quality of life in this population.

@kakali The evaluation for suspected sexual abuse may be complicated and is often not straightforward. Frequently, nonspecific behavioral changes are the presenting symptoms prompting an evaluation and leading the health care provider to consider sexual abuse as a possible diagnosis. These nonspecific behaviors are not diagnostic of sexual maltreatment and may be observed in other situations where the child manifests stress as well. Nonspecific behavior changes that warrant consideration of the possibility of sexual abuse may include (1) sexualized behaviors, (2) phobias, (3) sleep disturbances, (4) changes in appetite, (5) change in or poor school performance, (6) regression to an earlier developmental level, (7) running away, (8) truancy, (9) aggressiveness and acting out behaviors, and/or (10) social withdrawal, sadness, or symptoms of depression.