Medical Bulletin 20/January/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Irritable bowel syndrome linked to lower bacterial diversity: Study

People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have lower bacterial diversity in the intestine than do healthy people, according to a team of Korean investigators. The investigators believe that theirs is the first analysis to find a clear association between IBS and reduced diversity in the microbiota of the gut. The research appears in Microbiology Spectrum, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Normally, “More than 10,000 species of microorganism live in the human intestine,” said corresponding author Jung Ok Shim, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul. Disruption of the microbiome of the human gastrointestinal tract can trigger IBS. Typically, IBS causes bloating, diarrhea, and stomach pain or cramps.

Reference:

Jung Ok Shim et al,Lower bacterial diversity is associated with irritable bowel syndrome, AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY

Connection between multiple sclerosis lesions and depression uncovered

Two major health conditions appear to share a connection. Multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease which eats away at the body’s central nervous system, affects millions of people globally and depression, a mood disorder with debilitating symptoms, affects hundreds of millions of people globally. Patients with MS are at nearly three times the risk for depression than the general population. Exactly how and why MS and depression are related has remained unclear until a new study by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, addressed this gap in understanding. Utilizing a recent study that outlined a depression circuit in the brain, the team attempted to localize MS depression, comparing lesion sites in the brains of MS patients to lesion sites in this previously described circuit and finding new connections and potential therapeutic targets. Their results are published in Nature Mental Health.

Reference:

Shan Siddiqi and Isaiah Kletenik, et al. “Lesion network localization of depression in multiple sclerosis” Nature Mental Health DOI: 10.1038/s44220-022-00002-y

American Heart Association scientific statement for transient ischemic attack

Stroke symptoms that disappear in under an hour, known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA), need emergency assessment to help prevent a full-blown stroke, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in the Association’s journal Stroke. The statement offers a standardized approach to evaluating people with suspected TIA, with guidance specifically for hospitals in rural areas that may not have access to advanced imaging or an on-site neurologist.

TIA is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain. Each year, about 240,000 people in the U.S. experience a TIA, although this estimate may represent underreporting of TIA because symptoms tend to go away within an hour. While the TIA itself doesn’t cause permanent damage, nearly 1 in 5 of those who have a TIA will have a full-blown stroke within three months after the TIA, almost half of which will happen within two days. For this reason, a TIA is more accurately described as a warning stroke rather than a “mini-stroke,” as it’s often called.

Reference:

Diagnosis, Workup, Risk Reduction of Transient Ischemic Attack in the Emergency Department Setting: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association,Stroke, DOI:10.1161/STR.0000000000000418