ArcaMax

After age and tobacco use, the third-biggest driver of cancers among people aged 30 and older is alcohol, with roughly 5% of cancer cases in men and women are attributable to drinking.

Recent data published by the American Cancer Society and the International Agency for Research looked at alcohol use associated with seven types of cancers, including colorectal, liver and female breast cancer, the last of which had the strongest association: 16% of cases (or 44,000 people) in 2019 were linked to drinking.

The harm was found to be irrespective of the type of beverage. The more alcohol consumed, the higher the risk of cancer, which means even moderate levels of consumption carry some risk. Conversely, any reduction in drinking reduces the chances of developing associated cancers.

COVID-19 and Pregnancy

New data shows pregnant people are at higher risk of developing more severe cases of COVID-19, which in turn increases the risk of serious pregnancy complications, such as preterm birth and stillbirth.

The research also showed that nearly 10% of people who came down with COVID-19 during pregnancy ended up developing long COVID. The most common symptoms of pregnant people who developed long COVID were fatigue, gastrointestinal issues and feeling exhausted by routine activities. Persons with anxiety, depression and obesity also faced a higher risk of developing long COVID after an infection during pregnancy.

Body of Knowledge

Empirical evidence suggests that people with higher cognitive abilities and greater learning skills tend to dream more often and have more vivid dreams.

Get Me That, Stat!

Only three of five teens (58.8%) say they always or usually receive the social and emotional support they need, according to the National Health Interview Survey (2021-22).

Mark Your Calendar

August is awareness month for children's eye health, digestive tract paralysis, breastfeeding, immunization, spinal muscular atrophy, psoriasis and sun safety. Side note: Surveys indicate most people don't apply enough sunscreen or reapply often enough.

Counts

500,000: Number of foreign-educated registered nurses who worked in U.S. hospitals in 2022, primarily to address a chronic and growing shortage of U.S.-trained nurses (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)

Doc Talk

Lanugo: The fine, soft hair that grows all over the body of a fetus and is typically shed before birth

Phobia of the Week

Athazagoraphobia: Fear of being ignored or forgotten, or of forgetting someone or something

Food for Thought

In the American South and elsewhere, kudzu is an invasive weed that sometimes seems to gobble up everything in its path. In Asia, where it's indigenous, it has both medicinal values that make it a food additive for treating hangovers and headaches and use as an ordinary foodstuff. Its leaves, for example, can be used like spinach leaves; its flowers are edible, and some folks have made glazes, jellies and pancake syrup from the plant (except for the seeds and seed pods, which are inedible).

Best Medicine

When I was a kid, we were so poor that when my little brother broke his arm, we had to take him to the airport for x-rays.

Observation

"Another good reducing exercise consists in placing both hands against the table edge and pushing back." -- American journalist and humorist Robert Quillen (1887-1948)

Medical History

This week in 1986, William J. Schroeder of Jasper, Indiana, the world's longest-surviving recipient of a permanent artificial heart, died at age 54 after living 620 days with the Jarvik 7 synthetic pump.

He died after a series of strokes impaired his ability to breathe. Schroeder was the second Jarvik 7 recipient when the pump was implanted on Nov. 25, 1984, at Humana Heart Institute in Louisville, Kentucky, by Dr. William DeVries.

Schroeder was the first patient to live outside the hospital with the artificial heart. He spent some of that time being a parade grand marshal in his hometown, making a fishing trip with his sons and celebrating his 33rd wedding anniversary at a Louisville restaurant.

However, after a stroke, he was bedridden for his final seven months.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously, and even harder to ignore.

In 1999, the Ig Nobel Prize in biology went to Paul Bosland, director of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University, for breeding a spiceless jalapeno chili pepper.

Self-Exam

Q: How many bones are in the human hand?

A) 12

B) 19

C) 27

D) 32

A: C) 27. The human foot has almost as many: 26.

Curtain Calls

Francis P. Cahill was a blacksmith living in Arizona in the old West. On Aug. 17, 1877, Cahill got into an argument with Henry McCarty, alias William H. Bonney, during which harsh words were exchanged. Cahill ultimately grabbed McCarty/Bonney and threw him to the floor. The latter pulled a gun and shot Cahill dead, making him the first victim of Billy the Kid, who would claim to have killed 21 men in his 21 years of life, though the actual tally is likely far lower.

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