The historical evolution of smallpox treatment in Japan visualised through Japanese artwork and woodblock prints.

Art reveals core human emotions during catastrophes like epidemics, allowing people to narrate their coping stories. This review examines smallpox's historical evolution and treatment in Japan, integrating visual art with medical history. It provides chronological insights from smallpox's arrival and traditional remedies to the era of vaccination and public health measures leading to eventual eradication.

Reevaluating the Causes of Otitis Externa: A Case Report.

A 28-year-old female domestic helper presented to the Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic complaining of three weeks of right otalgia associated with a right blocked ear. The hearing was otherwise normal, and she denied otorrhoea, dizziness or imbalance, ear digging, or water contact, and has no history of ear eczema. She has no other past medical history and no recent travel history.

Optimising topical wound care outcomes for fungating breast wounds - A systematic review of current institutional practice.

Background: Fungating breast wounds cause significant complications and morbidity to patients. Wound care is of paramount importance in optimising care and alleviating suffering for patients with malignant breast wounds. Currently, routinely implemented objective assessment tools for fungating breast wound treatment outcomes are non-existent, and institutional practice varies.

A Unique Phenotype of Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young With a Novel Disease-Causing Insulin Gene Variant.

Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) represents 1% to 5% of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), and numerous genes associated with MODY have been identified. While mutations of the insulin gene () are known to cause permanent neonatal DM, rare disease-causing variants have also been found in MODY. These patients demonstrate variable clinical phenotypes-from milder forms requiring lifestyle or oral agent interventions to severe forms requiring lifelong insulin.

Estimated potassium intake and major adverse cardiovascular events in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study with trans-ethnic validation.

Background: Data on the relationship between potassium intake and major cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with diabetes are scarce. We aim to study the association between estimated potassium intake and risk of MACE in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: The discovery cohort consisted of 1572 participants with type 2 diabetes from a secondary hospital.

The comprehensive role of dual-energy CT in gout as an advanced diagnostic innovation.

Gout is a common and growing health concern globally, marked by the deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in joints and soft tissues. While diagnosis relies on synovial fluid analysis, it is limited by technical difficulties and a notable rate of false negatives. Over the past decade, dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) has emerged as a highly sensitive and less-invasive modality for detecting MSU crystals.

A qualitative study on burnout and coping in palliative nurses.

Background: With burnout rates highly prevalent in palliative care nurses, it is important to have a holistic understanding of the causes of burnout and strategies both to prevent burnout and to cope with burnout.

Aim: To understand the causes of burnout and strategies used to prevent and cope with burnout in palliative care nurses. This would allow the implementation of strategies on a personal level and organisational level to mitigate the effects of burnout.

Peroneal Tendon Tears: Four Simple-to-Complex Cases.

Peroneal tears are an important cause of lateral ankle pain and are often missed. Peroneal tears can present in different combinations requiring different surgical strategies. If the tears are symptomatic in patients in whom conservative treatment has failed, surgery is an option.

Non-alcohol-related cirrhosis leads to higher 6-week mortality after acute variceal bleeding than alcohol-related cirrhosis.

Introduction: Acute variceal bleeding (AVB) portends significant 6-week mortality in patients with cirrhosis. It remains unclear if the correlation between liver prognostic scores and 6-week mortality are similar across different etiologies of liver cirrhosis, particularly alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) vs. non-alcohol-related liver disease (non-ALD).

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an app and rewards-based intervention in type 2 diabetes: A randomised controlled trial.

Aim: Digital health interventions and economic incentives have shown promise in facilitating diabetes self-management, though evidence is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a comprehensive app-based diabetes self-management programme with rewards for healthy behaviours and health outcomes.

Materials And Methods: The TRIal to slow the Progression Of Diabetes (TRIPOD) study was an open-label, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial conducted at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.

Unplanned hospitalisations among subsidised nursing home residents in Singapore: Insights from a data linkage study.

Introduction: Hospitalisations can pose hazards and may not be an appropriate care setting for frail nursing home (NH) residents. Few studies have quantified the extent of NH resident hospitalisations in Singapore, hence we aimed to address this knowledge gap by studying characteristics of unplanned hospitalisations over a 1-year period.

Method: This was a retrospective cohort study of 9922 subsidised residents across 59 NHs in Singapore, with analysis using administrative healthcare data.

Global prevalence of depression in caregivers of children with autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Problem: Depression is reported as the most common disorder among caregivers, especially for caregivers of children with autism. However, limited systematic reviews have investigated the prevalence of depressive symptoms among these caregivers. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to synthesize the prevalence of global depressive symptoms among caregivers of children with autism and identify associated factors.

The association between osteoprotegerin and arterial stiffness in a 10-year longitudinal study of patients with type 2 diabetes.

: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) inhibits vascular calcification which is central to pathogenesis of arterial stiffness. However, it promotes inflammation by upregulating expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1), thereby contributing to arterial stiffness. We investigated longitudinal association between OPG and arterial stiffness in type 2 diabetes (T2D), causality of the association and mediation by VCAM-1.

Challenges and perceived impacts of ambulance diversions during emergency department overcrowding: a multi-stakeholder study.

Objectives: Ambulance diversion has emerged as a strategy to address Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding, but the question of when or whether diversion should be triggered is widely debated. Although the positive and adverse impacts of diversion have been primarily studied using quantitative data, little is known about the experience and perceptions of key stakeholders involved in diversions. Our study aims to explore the challenges and impacts of ambulance diversion as experienced by key stakeholders and their suggestions for improving the diversion process.

The scope of practice for diagnostic radiographers in Singapore: A preliminary survey.

Introduction: There has been an increased demand for medical imaging procedures through the years. This demand requires the diagnostic radiographers in the workforce to be equipped with adequate training and understanding of their roles. The aims of this research are to distill and further describe the current scope of practice as established by the Allied Health Professional Council and map the diffusion of tasks, roles and responsibilities within Singapore's radiography imaging modalities.

Patients and Spine Surgeons' Perspectives regarding Decision-Making and Outcomes in Lumbar Surgery: An Exploratory, Qualitative Study.

Background: Decision-making in lumbar surgery for degenerative conditions is influenced by various factors, including patient expectations and empowerment. The role of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in guiding these decisions is underexplored. This study aims to understand the perspectives of patients and spine surgeons in decision-making for lumbar surgery and explore their perspectives on the relevance and influence of pre- and post-surgery PROs.

A systematic review of multimorbidity clusters in heart failure: Effects of methodologies.

Background: Clustering algorithms can identify distinct heart failure (HF) subgroups. The choice of algorithms, modelling process, and input variables can impact clustering outcomes. Therefore, we reviewed analytical methods and variables used in studies that performed clustering in patients with HF.

Mobile Apps and Visual Function Assessment: A Comprehensive Review of the Latest Advancements.

Introduction: With technological advancements and the growing prevalence of smartphones, ophthalmology has opportunely harnessed medical technology for visual function assessment as a home monitoring tool for patients. Ophthalmology applications that offer these have likewise become more readily available in recent years, which may be used for early detection and monitoring of eye conditions. To date, no review has been done to evaluate and compare the utility of these apps.

Precision medicine in diabetes care.

Purpose Of Review: This review highlights emerging evidence supporting the premise of precision diabetes care including but not limited to monogenic diabetes and discuss potential opportunities, challenges, and limitations for clinical adoption.

Recent Findings: Driven by a single gene mutation, monogenic diabetes remains the best use-case for precision diabetes care. However, the increasing prevalence of diabetes among adolescents and young adults in an obesogenic environment makes triaging potential patients for genetic screening clinically challenging.

The relationships between sleep and adiposity amongst multi-ethnic Asian populations: a cross-sectional analysis of the Health for Life in Singapore (HELIOS) study.

Background: Short sleep duration and poor sleep quality have been associated with obesity. Asian populations report shorter sleep duration compared to other groups. We therefore aimed to explore the relationships between sleep duration, sleep quality, dozing, daytime napping, snoring, insomnia and adiposity in a multi-ethnic Asian population, and investigate the potential contribution of disturbed sleep to the risk of obesity amongst Asian populations.

A Combinatorial Functional Precision Medicine Platform for Rapid Therapeutic Response Prediction in AML.

Background: Despite advances made in targeted biomarker-based therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment, remission is often short and followed by relapse and acquired resistance. Functional precision medicine (FPM) efforts have been shown to improve therapy selection guidance by incorporating comprehensive biological data to tailor individual treatment. However, effectively managing complex biological data, while also ensuring rapid conversion of actionable insights into clinical utility remains challenging.

Care Refusal by Older Adults With Dementia Receiving Professional Care: A Scoping Review.

Care refusal behaviors by institutionalized older adults with dementia pose significant challenges for professional caregivers in residential care settings. This scoping review mapped the determinants and effects of care refusal in this population. A systematic search of five databases identified 19 studies published between 2013 and 2023.