Temporal trends in colorectal cancer mortality rates (1999-2022) in the United States.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks as the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States (U.S.). Our study aims to analyze CRC mortality patterns in the U.S., focusing on gender and age groups from 1999 to 2022. We analyzed Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates (AAMRs) for CRC-related deaths using the CDC Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) database and assessed differences between age and sex. CRC-related mortality decreased significantly from 1999 to 2011 (-2.81% APC) and from 2011 to 2020 (-1.95% APC) but a not significant uptrend from 2020 to 2022 (2% APC). Males experienced a more significant decrease. Among age groups, crude mortality decreased until 2020, except in age group 45-54, which showed an annual increase in mortality of 0.9% from 2004 to 2022. Furthermore, individuals aged 75-84 and 85+ saw a nonsignificant annual increase of 1.8% and 4.5% from 2020 to 2022, respectively. Our study highlights a significant decline in age and gender-specific CRC-related mortality from 1999 to 2020. However, the worrisome uptrend observed in the younger age group of 45-54 emphasizes the importance of implementing targeted public health measures and evidence-based interventions.

Blockchain technology in healthcare: A systematic review.

Blockchain technology (BCT) has emerged in the last decade and added a lot of interest in the healthcare sector. The purpose of this systematic literature review (SLR) is to explore the potential paradigm shift in healthcare utilizing BCT. The study is compiled by reviewing research articles published in nine well-reputed venues such as IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Springs Link, Scopus, Taylor & Francis, Science Direct, PsycINFO, Ovid Medline, and MDPI between January 2016 to August 2021. A total of 1,192 research studies were identified out of which 51 articles were selected based on inclusion criteria for this SLR that presents the modern information on the recent implications and gaps in the use of BCT for enhancing the healthcare procedures. According to the outcomes, BCT is being applied to design the novel and advanced interventions to enrich the current protocol of managing, distributing, and processing clinical records and personal medical information. BCT is enduring the conceptual development in the healthcare domain, where it has summed up the substantial elements through better and enhanced efficiency, technological innovation, access control, data privacy, and security. A framework is developed to address the probable field where future researchers can add considerable value, such as data protection, system architecture, and regulatory compliance. Finally, this SLR concludes that the upcoming research can support the pervasive implementation of BCT to address the critical dilemmas related to health diagnostics, enhancing the patient healthcare process in remote monitoring or emergencies, data integrity, and avoiding fraud.

Antihistamines Increase Body Mass Index Percentiles and Z-Scores in Hispanic Children.

The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased over the years in the United States and contributed to a rise in metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Animal studies suggested the role of histamine blockade on mesenteric lymphatics tone, contributing to weight gain and hepatic steatosis. This study aimed to investigate an association between antihistamines (AH) use in children and obesity. A single-center retrospective cohort study on children with a diagnosis of NAFLD, followed in the gastroenterology clinic, was performed between January 2018 and April 2019. The demographics, medications, and body mass index (BMI) were assessed. Participants were divided into an AH group with documented use and comparison group, antihistamine naïve. Of the 32 participants in the study, 13 used AH, and 19 did not. Antihistamine users had a mean increase in BMI percentile per year of 1.17 compared to a decrease of 0.06 in comparison group (p = 0.0008). AH usage correlated with a mean increase in BMI z-score of 0.23 per year, as opposed to a decrease by 0.012 in comparison group (p = 0.0016). No difference was found in triglycerides (TG), glucose, and liver enzymes. AH use increases BMI percentiles and z-scores over time and is associated with obesity in children.