Early detection and management of hearing loss to reduce dementia risk in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: findings from the treating auditory impairment and cognition trial (TACT).

Background: Age-related hearing loss and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) independently increase dementia risk. The Ageing and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders randomised controlled trial (RCT) found hearing aids reduce cognitive decline in high-risk older adults with poor hearing.

Methods: This pilot RCT in London memory clinics randomised people with MCI (aged ≥55, untreated hearing loss defined as Pure Tone Average 0.

Trends in cutaneous melanoma mortality and incidence in European Union 15+ countries between 1990 and 2019.

Background: Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is the leading cause of skin cancer mortality with associated high healthcare costs. Up-to-date reporting of epidemiological trends for CM is required to project future trends, assess the burden of disease and aid evaluation of new diagnostic, therapeutic and preventative strategies.

Objectives: To describe the trends in CM mortality, incidence, mortality-to-incidence indices (MIIs) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) over the last three decades.

Lung cancer mortality among aircraft manufacturing workers with long-term, low-level, hexavalent chromium exposure.

Hexavalent chromium (CrVI) is known to cause lung cancer among workers exposed to high concentrations in certain historical industries. It is also a toxic air contaminant considered to pose a potentially significant cancer risk at comparatively low concentrations in urban air. However, very limited data currently exist to quantify risk at low-concentration occupational or environmental exposures.

Linking metabolic syndrome, cerebral small vessel disease, and cognitive health: insights from a subclinical population study using TriNetX.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been linked to accelerated cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) via cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD); however, this relation in MetS without overt cardiometabolic disease comorbidities is unknown and may represent a population amenable to preventative strategies. Our study aimed to determine risk profiles for neurocognitive decline and ADRDs in early-stage MetS with evidence of CSVD using the TriNetX electronic health records (EHR) research network. Patients aged 50 to 80 years old meeting MetS criteria were identified utilizing TriNetX data from 76 healthcare organizations.

Nepali oral microbiomes reflect a gradient of lifestyles from traditional to industrialized.

Background: Lifestyle plays an important role in shaping the gut microbiome. However, its contributions to the oral microbiome remain less clear, due to the confounding effects of geography and methodology in investigations of populations studied to date. Furthermore, while the oral microbiome seems to differ between foraging and industrialized populations, we lack insight into whether transitions to and away from agrarian lifestyles shape the oral microbiota.

Vascular limitations in blood pressure regulation with age in women: Insights from exercise and acute cardioselective β-blockade.

Younger women rely on altering cardiac output ( ) to regulate blood pressure (BP). In contrast, older women rely more on altering vascular tone. However, evidence suggests that the ability to alter systemic vascular conductance (SVC) is diminished in older women.

Realist analysis of qualitative data in health professions education research.

Background: Qualitative realist analysis is gaining in popularity in health professions education research (HPER) as part of theory-driven program evaluation. Although realist approaches such as syntheses and evaluations typically advocate mixed methods, qualitative data dominate currently. Various forms of qualitative analysis have been articulated in HPER, yet realist analysis has not.

Effects of short-term dietary nitrate supplementation on exercise and coronary blood flow responses in patients with peripheral artery disease.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a prevalent vascular disorder characterized by atherosclerotic occlusion of peripheral arteries, resulting in reduced blood flow to the lower extremities and poor walking ability. Older patients with PAD are also at a markedly increased risk of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction. Recent evidence indicates that inorganic nitrate supplementation, which is abundant in certain vegetables, augments nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability and may have beneficial effects on walking, blood pressure, and vascular function in patients with PAD.

Nepali oral microbiomes reflect a gradient of lifestyles from traditional to industrialized.

Background: Lifestyle plays an important role in shaping the gut microbiome. However, its contributions to the oral microbiome remains less clear, due to the confounding effects of geography and methodology in investigations of populations studied to date. Furthermore, while the oral microbiome seems to differ between foraging and industrialized populations, we lack insight into whether transitions to and away from agrarian lifestyles shape the oral microbiota.

Temporal Analysis of the Incidence, Mortality and Disability-Adjusted Life Years of Benign Gallbladder and Biliary Diseases in High-Income Nations, 1990-2019.

Objective: The aim of this observational study was to analyze trends in the incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of benign gallbladder and biliary diseases across high-income countries between 1990 and 2019.

Background: Benign gallbladder and biliary diseases place a substantial burden on healthcare systems in high-income countries. Accurate characterization of the disease burden may help optimize healthcare policy and resource distribution.

Adult-onset hearing loss and incident cognitive impairment and dementia - A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Background: We comprehensively summarized the cohort evidence to date on adult-onset hearing loss as risk factor for incident cognitive impairment and dementia, and examined the evidence for dose-response, risk for various dementia subtypes, and other moderators. Previous meta-analyses were less comprehensive.

Methods: We included cohort studies with participants without dementia and with hearing assessments at baseline, minimum 2 years follow-up and incident cognitive outcomes.

Social histories of public health misinformation and infodemics: case studies of four pandemics.

Recognition of misinformation as a public health threat and interest in infodemics, defined as an inundation of information accompanying an epidemic or acute health event, have increased worldwide. However, scientists have no consensus on how to best define and identify misinformation and other essential characteristics of infodemics. We conducted a narrative review of secondary historical sources to examine previous infodemics in relation to four infectious diseases associated with pandemics (ie, smallpox, cholera, 1918 influenza, and HIV) and challenge the assumption that misinformation is a new phenomenon associated with increased use of social media or with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Probabilistic risk assessment of residential exposure to electric arc furnace steel slag using Bayesian model of relative bioavailability and PBPK modeling of manganese.

Electric arc furnace (EAF) slag is a coproduct of steel production used primarily for construction purposes. Some applications of EAF slag result in residential exposures by incidental ingestion and inhalation of airborne dust. To evaluate potential health risks, an EAF slag characterization program was conducted to measure concentrations of metals and leaching potential (including oral bioaccessibility) in 38 EAF slag samples.

New solutions to old problems: A practical approach to identify samples with intravenous fluid contamination in clinical laboratories.

Objectives: Contamination with intravenous (IV) fluids is a common cause of specimen rejection or erroneous results in hospitalized patients. Identification of contaminated samples can be difficult. Common measures such as failed delta checks may not be adequately sensitive nor specific.

Longer Colonoscopy Withdrawal Time Is Associated With the Detection of Visible Dysplasia in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Colonoscopy withdrawal time (CWT) of at least 6-9 minutes is the minimum time needed for adequate adenoma detection in the general population. The ideal CWT in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has not been determined. We aimed to identify the optimal CWT associated with the detection of visible dysplasia in patients with IBD.

Impact of COVID-19 Treatment on Real-World Outcomes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: While there are multiple safe and effective agents for COVID-19 treatment, their impact in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains uncertain.

Aims: Our objective was to assess the effects of these therapies on both IBD and COVID outcomes.

Methods: A single-center retrospective study of adult patients with IBD who contracted COVID-19 between 12/2020 and 11/2022 was performed.

Medical Student Intentions to Move Abroad: A UK-Based Realist Evaluation.

Introduction: Medical students moving abroad after qualification may contribute to domestic healthcare workforce shortages. Greater insights into how medical students make decisions about moving abroad may improve post-qualification retention. The aim was to develop a programme theory explaining medical students' intentions to move abroad or not.

Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion with Expandable Cages.

Background: Minimally invasive surgical transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) is an increasingly common procedure for the treatment of lumbar degenerative pathologies. The MIS-TLIF technique often results in less soft-tissue injury compared with the open TLIF technique, reducing postoperative pain and recovery time. However, the narrow surgical aperture of this minimally invasive technique has increased the difficulty of interbody cage placement.

A roadmap to realist interviews in health professions education research: Recommendations based on a critical analysis.

Context: Realist evaluation is increasingly employed in health professions education research (HPER) because it can unpack the extent to which complex educational interventions work (or not), for whom under what circumstances and how. While realist evaluation is not wedded to particular methods, realist interviews are commonly the primary, if not only, data collection method in realist evaluations. While qualitative interviewing from an interpretivist standpoint has been well-articulated in the HPER literature, realist interviewing differs substantially.