A mandatory cognitive screening policy targeting older drivers appeared to lower car crashes involving people over 70, according to results from a large population-based study using data from Japan. But the same study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, also reported a concurrent increase in pedestrian and cycling injuries, possibly because more … Read more
Melissa Strong was living her dream. Home was Estes Park, Colorado, gateway to glorious Rocky Mountain National Park. Her passion was climbing, mostly bouldering, that purist sport of scaling big rocks without ropes, relying on just your fingertips, feet, and crash pads below. Her career was hospitality, managing a busy restaurant while fantasizing about owning … Read more
A network of neural connections is linked to six psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (BD), depression, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and anxiety, new research shows. Investigators used coordinate and lesion network mapping to assess whether there was a shared brain network common to multiple psychiatric disorders. In a meta-analysis of almost 200 studies encompassing more … Read more
Cluster headache (CH) is associated with a significantly increased risk for comorbid conditions, including mental disorders and other neurologic disease, leading to significant disability and absenteeism, new research shows. Results from a Swedish register-based study also showed that patients with CH had a sixfold increased risk for central nervous system (CNS) disorders and a twofold … Read more
Approaching a van that distributes supplies for safer drug use in Greenfield, Massachusetts, a man named Kyle noticed an alert about xylazine. “Xylazine?” he asked, sounding out the unfamiliar word. “Tell me more.” Tapestry Health Systems nurse Katy Robbins hands bottles of water to Kyle as he visits the harm reduction mobile unit in Greenfield, … Read more
Two McMaster University researchers working on projects that address pandemic-associated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among healthcare workers have received more than $4.5 million in Canadian federal funding. The projects include a website with evidence-based resources and a smartphone app that encourages early intervention and peer support. Together, the projects are expected to reach more than … Read more
In an unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court set aside the convictions of two physicians accused of violating the Controlled Substances Act (1970) and running “pill mills.” The cases were sent back to their respective jurisdictions to be reheard in order to consider whether the juries were properly instructed. If they were not, said the … Read more
On June 25, President Joe Biden signed into law the most extensive gun safety legislation in decades. Coming after a rash of mass shootings this year, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act expands background checks for gun purchasers younger than 21 years and stiffens penalties against so-called straw purchasers, who buy a gun and sell it … Read more
If you had to choose one person to let out a scream, the last guy you’d pick would be Harold Gouzoules. The Emory University professor has short white hair, glasses, and the demeanor of someone who’d return your wallet if you dropped it. Gouzoules, who holds a master’s in psychology and a PhD in zoology, … Read more
The murder earlier this month of John Cheng, MD, a family physician who died trying to disarm a shooter inside a Taiwanese church, has left members of the Asian American community in Southern California reeling. Cheng, 52, was struck with three bullets while rushing toward the gunman, according to a witness account published in The … Read more