Increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic: explained

jerry-zhang-2jzy-VfhI04-unsplash

Ian Hamilton reviews a recent longitudinal study from Finland, which explores the psychological stressors predicting increased drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[read the full story...]

Violence and mental illness: does ignoring this blog stigmatise some people who need our help?

Featured

In his debut blog, Joseph Schwartz explores a systematic review finding that a range of psychiatric disorders are associated with an elevated risk of violence.

[read the full story...]

Masculinity, depression and suicide risk in men with a history of childhood maltreatment

Featured

In her debut blog, Cara Richardson explores whether masculine values are differentially linked to men’s mental health functioning, depending on exposure to childhood maltreatment.

[read the full story...]

High frequency or prolonged use of mouthwash increased risk of head and neck cancer

shutterstock_12720943-mouthwash

This study from the INHANCE collaboration pooled data from 12 case-controlled studies. Long-term use (35 yrs) of mouthwash was associated with an increase risk OR=1.15 (95%CI; 1.01 to 1.30) of head and neck cancer but with regular (>2 x daily), long-term (>35 years) use OR = 1.75 (95%CI; 1.25 to 2.48).

[read the full story...]

Coffee consumption and oral cancer

Prescribing a placebo does not equate to no treatment, because the healthcare setting itself should include all kinds of supportive and therapeutic elements.

This review includes 11 case-controlled and 4 cohort studies and suggests a 37% reduction of oral cancer risk in high coffee drinkers compared with low or no coffee drinkers OR= 0.63 (95%CI; 0.52 – 0.75)

[read the full story...]

Risk Factors for the Onset of Nonspecific Low Back Pain in Office Workers: A Systematic Review

Woman at computer

Although most Musculoskeletal Elves lead very physically active lives there are a small minority of Elves who are office based. Occasionally I hear them complain of episodes of low back pain and they have enquired of me as to what contributed to its onset. Although I felt I had a reasonable idea as to the main [read the full story…]

Is Work Load a Risk Factor for Osteoarthritis of the Hip? A Systematic Review

man pulling pallet

A previous blog by one of our industrious Musculoskeletal Elves looked at how osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip or knee affected work participation. This got me thinking about the converse situation – can work be a predisposing factor for the development of OA? We Elves are involved in quite a lot of heavy lifting, particularly around Christmas [read the full story…]