Tag: News Approved

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Opinion: What if this Ebola outbreak can’t be stopped?

In 2014, we came far closer to losing control of Ebola than most people realize. We witnessed impossible choices daily, such as watching treatment centers turning away infected patients because there were no beds left.

The epidemic eventually receded, but not because anyone had mastered Ebola. It ended because of extraordinary international cooperation, local adaptations, and no small measure of luck.

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5 takeaways from STAT’s series on the soaring cost of health insurance

More than 150 million Americans get their health insurance from a job, making it the primary way people in the U.S. get coverage. STAT is examining this crucial source of insurance to understand how and why it is becoming unaffordable for workers and their families across the country.

Health benefits are fading away at small companies

Nearly all large companies offer health insurance. But fewer than 60% of smaller firms, with 200 or fewer workers, now offer insurance, an all-time low. The costs of health insurance are pushing small businesses — beloved by politicians and the bedrocks of entire communities — to a financial cliff. Watering down their insurance plans, or deciding not to offer insurance at all, makes it more difficult for these businesses to retain employees.

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Suvorexant 3 – PE-PC

Conditions: PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Insomnia; TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)

Interventions: Drug: Suvorexant; Drug: Placebo; Behavioral: Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Primary Care (PE-PC)

Sponsors: Northern California Institute of Research and Education; Lowcountry Center for Veterans Research

Not yet recruiting
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Case Report: Delirium and complications resulting from the abuse of compound liquorice tablets

BackgroundCompound liquorice tablets is a cough-suppressing compound formulation containing opium powder and liquorice. With the strict regulation of traditional opioids, this medication has emerged as a novel alternative for substance abuse due to its easy accessibility and low cost; however, its addiction potential and severe adverse complications remain underrecognized and insufficiently addressed in clinical practice.Case summaryThe patient is a 29-year-old male who began self-medicating with compound liquorice tablets for a dry cough after COVID-19 infection. His daily dosage gradually escalated to 200–600 tablets within two years, resulting in established drug dependence. Two days after discontinuing the medication, he developed delirium manifested as confusion, disorientation, visual hallucinations and psychomotor agitation, accompanied by palpitations, hypertension, tremors, rhinorrhea, vomiting, severe hypokalemia, and bilateral lower limb edema. Organic brain diseases were excluded by systematic examinations. According to the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria, he was diagnosed with opioid-induced mental and behavioral disorders, hypokalemia and hypertension. We implemented a benzodiazepine tapering regimen to control delirium and sympathetic excitation associated with withdrawal symptoms, combined with antidepressants and antipsychotics to improve mood, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms, Under the guidance of a cardiologist, we actively managing hypertension and correcting internal environmental disturbances. Following comprehensive management, the patient’s withdrawal symptoms and delirium resolved, with stable emotional state and blood pressure, resulting in successful withdrawal.ConclusionThis is the first reported case of delirium caused by withdrawal from compound liquorice tablets. It provides preliminary insights for clinical identification, diagnosis, and multidisciplinary management of dependence on compound liquorice tablets, as well as related withdrawal symptoms and complications. This case also alerts to the emerging risk of abuse associated with new substances such as compound liquorice tablets and underscores the need for stricter prescription controls and patient education regarding the risks of abuse.
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Fatherhood and addictive disorders: experiences and support needs – results of a qualitative interview study

ObjectivesParental addictive disorders are a major public health problem. Despite already known negative effects, the parental role of men seeking help is rarely acknowledged within addiction support services. This study aims to identify existing relations between fatherhood and addiction, and the resulting support needs of affected fathers.MethodsFor data collection 15 fathers with addictive disorders were interviewed by using qualitative, guided interviews. The data material was analyzed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe effects of addictive disorders on fatherhood are predominantly unfavorable. Conversely, fatherhood can have consumption-reducing as well as consumption-increasing effects. In this context, five topics were identified in which fathers expressed specific support needs. Particularly fathers with substance use disorders expressed their need for further support, while fathers with behavioral addictions expressed a lesser need.ConclusionsPaying attention to fatherhood in the context of addiction services provides a starting point for increasing the motivation to change. Individual support needs should be considered when implementing father-specific programs. Not only the fathers themselves, but also their children can benefit from successful treatment and expected changes in fatherhood.
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Mechanisms and durability of residential treatment for co-occurring gambling and substance use disorders: a mixed-methods eight-year follow-up study

IntroductionGambling disorder is associated with substantial psychosocial harm, yet long-term outcome data for residential treatment programs remain limited.MethodsThis mixed-methods study examined outcomes among 36 former residential treatment clients assessed between six months and eight years following discharge from a program treating co-occurring gambling and substance use disorders. Structured interviews evaluated gambling behavior, psychiatric symptoms, substance use, and functional outcomes, supplemented by qualitative thematic analysis.ResultsSixty-one percent reported gambling following discharge; however, participants demonstrated significant improvements in gambling craving strength, life satisfaction, gambling-related interference, and alcohol use. Employment increased from 25.0% to 66.7%. Treatment non-completion was associated with earlier return to gambling and higher odds of post-discharge gambling. Qualitative analysis identified environmental restructuring, urge-management skill development, structured routines, and post-discharge support as key recovery mechanisms.DiscussionResidential treatment may support durable improvements in functioning and gambling-related distress among individuals with severe gambling disorder, although causal conclusions are limited by the observational design.
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From spatial patterning to coordinated execution: a cross-system framework for autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by differences in social communication and restricted or repetitive behaviors, yet converging evidence also points to altered neural timing, synchronization, and large-scale coordination despite largely preserved gross neuroanatomy. Parallel observations across non-neural systems, including functional gastrointestinal disturbances, minor anomalies in neural crest–derived tissues, and variation in epithelial patterning outcomes, raise the possibility of a broader vulnerability in coordination-dependent biological processes. Here, we propose a framework in which developmental systems distinguish between spatial patterning mechanisms that establish tissue geometry and a calcium-dependent execution layer that stabilizes coordinated behavior across time. Patterning systems, including planar cell polarity signaling, morphogen gradients, and neural crest guidance cues, specify directional organization and spatial relationships among cells. Their realization, however, requires intracellular processes capable of synchronizing cytoskeletal remodeling, adhesion dynamics, excitability, and metabolic coupling across cells and networks. Within this framework, intracellular Ca²+ signaling – and particularly endoplasmic reticulum Ca²+ release mediated by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (ITPRs) – represents a candidate mechanism for stabilizing coordinated execution across biological systems. Partial disruption of this coordination layer could degrade synchronization, propagation, and temporal integration without abolishing underlying structural organization. This perspective provides a potential basis for linking altered cortical synchronization with coordination-dependent processes in enteric function, neural crest development, and epithelial patterning outcomes observed in ASD.This framework is not proposed as a universal explanation for ASD, but as a testable organizing model for coordination-related phenotypes across systems. By distinguishing spatial developmental instruction from the mechanisms that stabilize coordinated execution, this perspective generates experimentally tractable predictions across cellular, organoid, and systems-level models and offers a unifying framework for investigating coordination-dependent biology in ASD.