The British Geriatrics Society's position on assisted dying.

In response to increased focus on the issue of Assisted Dying (AD) in the UK due to the presentation of The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25 [1] and bills before parliaments in the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Scotland, the British Geriatric Society (BGS) recently developed a position statement opposing legalisation of AD in the UK [2]. We set out our key reasoning behind this position, namely the current adverse health and social care context and significant concern about whether effective safeguards can be created to protect older people with complex needs from undue harms. The BGS asks for improved, personalised, multidisciplinary care for older people at the end of their lives, including high-quality palliative and end-of-life care.

Association between education and allostatic load with risk of cancer mortality among Hispanic women.

Purpose: Cancer remains the leading cause of death among Hispanics in the US. While social determinants of health, such as educational attainment, have been linked to negative health outcomes, their biological mechanisms remain poorly understood. We evaluated the association between educational attainment and allostatic load (AL), a measure of chronic physiologic stress, with risk of cancer mortality in Hispanic women from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Graded Intensity Aerobic Exercise to Improve Cerebrovascular Function and Performance in Older Veterans: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Growing health care challenges resulting from a rapidly expanding aging population necessitate examining effective rehabilitation techniques that mitigate age-related comorbidity and improve quality of life. To date, exercise is one of a few proven interventions known to attenuate age-related declines in cognitive and sensorimotor functions critical to sustained independence.

Objective: This work aims to implement a multimodal imaging approach to better understand the mechanistic underpinnings of the beneficial exercise-induced adaptations to sedentary older adults' brains and behaviors.

Nutrition's checkpoint inhibition: The impact of nutrition on immunotherapy outcomes.

Objectives: To determine if nutritional status effects response to immunotherapy in women with gynecologic malignancies.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on gynecologic cancer patients who received immunotherapy at a single institution between 2015 and 2022. Immunotherapy included checkpoint inhibitors and tumor vaccines.

Cancer health awareness through screening and education: A community approach to healthy equity.

Background: The Cancer Health Awareness through screeNinG and Education (CHANGE) initiative delivers cancer awareness education with an emphasis on modifiable risk factors and navigation to screening for prostate, breast, and colorectal cancers to residents of public housing communities who experience significant negative social determinants of health.

Methods: Residents of five communities participated. Community advisory board members were recruited and provided feedback to local environmental change projects, recruitment, and community engagement at each site.

Development of a multidimensional military readiness assessment.

There is a need to be able to accurately evaluate whether an injured service member is able to return to duty. An effective assessment would challenge and measures physical and cognitive performance in a military-relevant context. Current assessments are lacking in one or more of these aspects.

Racial disparities in the relationship of regional socioeconomic status and colorectal cancer survival in the five regions of Georgia.

Introduction: The study's purpose was to examine 5-year colorectal cancer (CRC) survival rates between White and Black patients. We also determined whether regional socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with CRC survival between White and Black patients in the Clayton, West Central, East Central, Southeast, and Northeast Georgia public health districts.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis using data from the 1975 to 2016 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program.

A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial of Cranial Electrical Stimulation for Fibromyalgia Pain and Physical Function, Using Brain Imaging Biomarkers.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome that presents with a constellation of broad symptoms, including decreased physical function, fatigue, cognitive disturbances, and other somatic complaints. Available therapies are often insufficient in treating symptoms, with inadequate pain control commonly leading to opioid usage for attempted management. Cranial electrical stimulation (CES) is a promising non-pharmacologic treatment option for pain conditions that uses pulsed electrical current stimulation to modify brain function via transcutaneous electrodes.

3D printing of heart valves.

3D printing technologies have the potential to revolutionize the manufacture of heart valves through the ability to create bespoke, complex constructs. In light of recent technological advances, we review the progress made towards 3D printing of heart valves, focusing on studies that have utilised these technologies beyond manufacturing patient-specific moulds. We first overview the key requirements of a heart valve to assess functionality.

How Does Religiosity Influence Gambling? A Cross-Cultural Study Between Portuguese and English Youth.

Research has shown that religion can play a protective role in diverse risky behaviors among young people. However, very little is known about the effect of religion in gambling, especially among young problem gamblers. A strong moral belief regarding gambling may prevent adolescents and young adults engaging in gambling and developing problems.

Synergy of the microRNA Ratio as a Promising Diagnosis Biomarker for Mucinous Borderline and Malignant Ovarian Tumors.

Epithelial ovarian cancers (EOCs) are a heterogeneous collection of malignancies, each with their own developmental origin, clinical behavior and molecular profile. With less than 5% of EOC cases, mucinous ovarian carcinoma is a rare form with a poor prognosis and a 5-year survival of 11% for advanced stages (III/IV). At the early stages, these malignant forms are clinically difficult to distinguish from borderline (15%) and benign (80%) forms with a better prognosis due to the large size and heterogeneity of mucinous tumors.

The Burden of Pruritus Associated With CKD: A Mixed Methods Analysis Among Patients Undergoing Dialysis.

Rationale & Objective: Despite its prevalence and distress to patients, chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) is poorly characterized, which may contribute to the condition's underdiagnosis and inadequate management. This study aimed to understand the symptom experience of patients with CKD-aP and the extent to which pruritus impacts their lives.

Study Design: Mixed methods study including one-on-one qualitative interviews and completion of the Skindex-10 Questionnaire (measuring itch-related quality of life).

Three-Dimensional Bioprinting in Cardiovascular Disease: Current Status and Future Directions.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing plays an important role in cardiovascular disease through the use of personalised models that replicate the normal anatomy and its pathology with high accuracy and reliability. While 3D printed heart and vascular models have been shown to improve medical education, preoperative planning and simulation of cardiac procedures, as well as to enhance communication with patients, 3D bioprinting represents a potential advancement of 3D printing technology by allowing the printing of cellular or biological components, functional tissues and organs that can be used in a variety of applications in cardiovascular disease. Recent advances in bioprinting technology have shown the ability to support vascularisation of large-scale constructs with enhanced biocompatibility and structural stability, thus creating opportunities to replace damaged tissues or organs.

Urinary incontinence-related effects on functional connectivity circuits in persons with Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common and disruptive symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to identify neural correlates associated with UI among PD patients with UI (UI-PD) compared to those PD patients without UI (nonUI-PD) with the expectation of demonstrating increased functional connectivity (FC) between areas in the striatum and limbic system and decreased FC in executive areas.

Methods: rsfMRI and T1w data (n = 119) were retrieved from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI).

Preventive behaviors and behavioral risk factors among gynecologic cancer survivors: Results from the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey.

Background: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an important factor in promoting positive outcomes for gynecologic cancer survivors.

Methods: We examined preventive behaviors among gynecologic cancer survivors (n = 1824) and persons without a history of cancer in a cross-sectional analysis, using data from the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey (BRFSS). BRFSS is a cross-sectional telephone-based survey of U.

ehealth technology in cardiac exercise therapeutics for pediatric patients with congenital and acquired heart conditions: a summary of evidence and future directions.

Many children and adolescents with congenital and acquired heart disease (CHD) are physically inactive and participate in an insufficient amount of moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise. Although physical activity (PA) and exercise interventions are effective at improving short- and long-term physiological and psychosocial outcomes in youth with CHD, several barriers including resource limitations, financial costs, and knowledge inhibit widespread implementation and dissemination of these beneficial programs. New and developing eHealth, mHealth, and remote monitoring technologies offer a potentially transformative and cost-effective solution to increase access to PA and exercise programs for youth with CHD, yet little has been written on this topic.

Provision of palliative and end-of-life care in UK care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods observational study with implications for policy.

Introduction: Little consideration has been given to how the provision of palliative and end-of-life care in care homes was affected by COVID-19. The aims of this study were to: (i) investigate the response of UK care homes in meeting the rapidly increasing need for palliative and end-of-life care during the COVID-19 pandemic and (ii) propose policy recommendations for strengthening the provision of palliative and end-of-life care within care homes.

Materials And Methods: A mixed methods observational study was conducted, which incorporated (i) an online cross-sectional survey of UK care homes and (ii) qualitative interviews with care home practitioners.

Lysosomal lipid peroxidation regulates tumor immunity.

Lysosomal inhibition elicited by palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1) inhibitors such as DC661 can produce cell death, but the mechanism for this is not completely understood. Programmed cell death pathways (autophagy, apoptosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, and pyroptosis) were not required to achieve the cytotoxic effect of DC661. Inhibition of cathepsins, or iron or calcium chelation, did not rescue DC661-induced cytotoxicity.