Articles related to Family Medicine/General Practice

We already shared the story about the financial advantage of AI being used in colonoscopies — here is a related story featuring key takeaways regarding the importance of screening in younger people, new techniques such as linked color imaging, and the non-invasive modality MRI colonography.

A new study published in Virus Research found that gargling with mouth wash leads to a mild decrease in the rate of COVID-19 transmission. Several antiseptic mouth rinses have shown potential antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in vitro; however, the antiseptic agent responsible for this effect was not clear until now.

In a 7-year study of 171,000 individuals with a mean age of 56 years, these researchers elucidate the hazard ratio for death from CVD or cancer and levels of daily coffee consumption.

Although many studies have claimed that moderate alcohol consumption and drinks such as red wine can be healthy for the human heart, a new study presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2022 meeting takes a contrarian viewpoint and draws a link between alcohol consumption and heart failure in people with hypertension, diabetes, or obesity.

A new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine looks at the link between cardiovascular disease among adults with type 2 diabetes, which might be more prevalent than previously thought. This study compares cardiovascular outcomes in patients taking first line metformin vs. SGLT-2 inhibitors, based on claims data over a 7-year period. SGLT-2 inhibitor use was associated with lower rates of hospitalization for heart failure and all cause mortality. Rates for MI and stroke were similar for the two treatments.

Monkeypox is again spreading around the world, from Europe to North America. This is the first outbreak in US the since 2003 and the disease is now spreading fairly rapidly on a daily basis. Transmission between people mostly occurs through large respiratory droplets, normally meaning prolonged contact face to face. But the virus can also spread through bodily fluids. The latest cases have mainly been among men who have sex with men. Currently, the UK has the largest number of diagnosed cases, followed by Portugal, Canada, and Spain. Latest case counts by country can be seen here.