Medical Bulletin 11/November/2023

Here are the top medical news of the day:

Researchers identify incidence and risk factors for new-onset interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis

New research at ACR Convergence 2023, the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) annual meeting, reports the incidence and risk factors for new-onset interstitial lung disease (ILD) in previously ILD-negative systemic sclerosis patients.

Although the prevalence and risk factors for ILD are well known, less is known about the annual incidence and risk factors associated with the disease that occurs in patients who test negative on screening tests conducted at baseline. To answer these questions, study authors drew on data from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) group, an international scleroderma research network.

Reference: AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RHEUMATOLOGY

Increasing workplace flexibility associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease

Increasing workplace flexibility may lower employees’ risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Penn State University. In workplaces that implemented interventions designed to reduce conflict between employees’ work and their personal/family lives, researchers observed that employees at higher baseline cardiometabolic risk, particularly older employees, experienced a reduction in their risk for cardiovascular disease equivalent to between five and 10 years of age-related cardiometabolic changes.

The researchers randomly assigned the intervention to work units/sites within two companies: an IT company, comprised of 555 participating employees, and a long-term care company, with 973 participating employees.

Reference: “Employee Cardiometabolic Risk Following a Cluster-Randomized Workplace Intervention From the Work, Family and Health Network,” Lisa F. Berkman, Erin L. Kelly, Leslie B. Hammer, Frank Mierzwa, Todd Bodner, Tay McNamara, Hayami K. Koga, Soomi Lee, Miguel Marino, Laura C. Klein, Thomas W. McDade, Ginger Hanson, Phylis Moen, Orfeu M. Buxton, The American Journal of Public Health, November 8, 2023, DOI: http://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307413

For epilepsy, yoga may be good for your mind

For people with epilepsy, doing yoga may help reduce feelings of stigma about the disease along with reducing seizure frequency and anxiety, according to new research published in the online issue of Neurology®.

For the study, researchers looked at people with epilepsy with an average age of 30 in India.

Researchers then identified 160 people who met the criteria for experiencing stigma. Participants had an average of one seizure per week and on average took at least two anti-seizure medications.

Ref: AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY

JOURNAL: Neurology