Increases in alcohol use, high-risk drinking, and DSM-IV AUD in the US population and among subgroups, especially women, older adults, racial/ethnic minorities, and the socioeconomically disadvantaged, constitute a public health crisis. Taken together, these findings portend increases in many chronic comorbidities in which alcohol use has a substantial role.

Public health messages should emphasize the potential cardiometabolic risk associated with drinking in excess of national guidelines and binge drinking.

Background There is currently no drug or therapy that cures COVID-19, a highly contagious and life-threatening disease. Objective This systematic review and meta-analysis summarized contemporary studies that report the use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) to treat COVID-19. Search strategy Six electronic databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Wanfang Data and China National Knowledge Infrastructure) were searched from their beginning to May 15, 2020 with the following search terms: traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, COVID-19, new coronavirus pneumonia, SARS-CoV-2, and randomized controlled trial. Inclusion criteria Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from peer-reviewed journals and non-reviewed publications were included. Further, included RCTs had a control group that was given standard care (SC; such as conventional Western medicine treatments or routine medical care), and a treatment group that was given SC plus CHM. Data extraction and analysis Two evaluators screened and collected literature independently; information on participants, study design, interventions, follow-up and adverse events were extracted, and risk of bias was assessed. The primary outcomes included scores that represented changes in symptoms and signs over the course of treatment. Secondary outcomes included the level of inflammatory markers, improvement of pneumonia confirmed by computed tomography (CT), and adverse events. Dichotomous data were expressed as risk ratio or hazard ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI); where time-to-event analysis was used, outcomes were expressed as odds ratio with 95% CI. Continuous data were expressed as difference in means (MD) with 95% CI, and standardized mean difference (SMD) was used when different outcome scales were pooled. Results Seven original studies, comprising a total of 732 adults, were included in this meta-analysis. Compared to SC alone, CHM plus SC had a superior effect on the change of symptom and sign score (−1.30 by SMD, 95% CI [−2.43, −0.16]; 3 studies; n = 261, P = 0.03), on inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP, mg/L; −11.82 by MD, 95% CI [−17.95, −5.69]; 5 studies; n = 325, P = 0.0002), on number of patients with improved lung CT scans (1.34 by risk ratio, 95% CI [1.19, 1.51]; 4 studies; n = 489, P < 0.00001). No significant adverse events were recorded in the included RCTs. Conclusion Current evidence shows that CHM, as an adjunct treatment with standard care, helps to improve treatment outcomes in COVID-19 cases.

The Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine, at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) held a symposium on "Acupuncture for Cancer Symptom Management" on June 16 and 17, 2016. Invited speakers included 19 scientists and scholars with expertise in acupuncture and cancer research from the United States, Europe, and China. The conference reviewed the NCI's grant funding on acupuncture, analyzed the needs of cancer patients, reviewed safety issues, and assessed both the current scientific evidence and research gaps of acupuncture in oncology care. Researchers and stakeholders presented and discussed basic mechanisms of acupuncture; clinical evidence for specific symptoms; and methodological challenges such as placebo effects, novel biostatistical methods, patient-reported outcomes, and comparative effectiveness research. This paper, resulting from the conference, summarizes both the current state of the science and clinical evidence of oncology acupuncture, identifies key scientific gaps, and makes recommendations for future research to increase understanding of both the mechanisms and effects of acupuncture for cancer symptom management.

Background:Little is known about remission, recovery, and other outcomes of alcohol use disorder (AUD) as defined by the DSM-5.Methods: Data from a large representative sample of the United States was used to examine correlates of past-year AUD status among individuals with prior-to-past-year AUD: persistent AUD, symptomatic high-risk drinking, asymptomatic high-risk drinking, symptomatic low-risk drinking, asymptomatic low-risk drinking (nonabstinent recovery, NAR), and abstainer (abstinent recovery, AR). Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to compare: (i) AR and NAR with persistent AUD, (ii) AR with NAR, and (iii) asymptomatic and symptomatic high-risk drinking with AR and NAR.Results: Among individuals with AUD prior to past year (n = 7,785), 34.2% were classified with persistent AUD, 8.8 and 1.6% were symptomatic high-risk and symptomatic low-risk drinkers, respectively, 21.5% were asymptomatic high-risk drinkers, 17.9% were asymptomatic low-risk drinkers, and 16.0% were abstainers. One-quarter of individuals with AUD prior to past year achieved AR or NAR without the benefit of treatment, while a much greater percentage of individuals achieving AR (43.2%) reported receiving treatment relative to those with NAR (12.3%). The number of lifetime AUD symptoms was greater among those achieving AR (among the treated) and lower among those achieving NAR relative to persistent AUD. The number of AUD symptoms was also greater among those achieving AR than NAR and lower among asymptomatic and symptomatic risk drinkers relative to those achieving AR and NAR. Consumption was greater among those achieving AR relative to those achieving NAR and greater among asymptomatic and symptomatic risk drinkers relative to AR and NAR. Odds of achieving AR or NAR relative to persistent AUD were generally lower among non-Hispanic Blacks and those with higher education, greater among women and married individuals, and lower among illicit drug users and individuals with histories of a personality disorder or mood/anxiety disorder.Conclusions: There appears to be a substantial level of recovery from AUD. Information on specific factors associated with AUD outcomes can be useful in targeting appropriate treatment efforts.

The association of lifetime alcohol drinking pattern with the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is largely unknown. Analyses were conducted on a population-based sample in a cross-sectional study (N=2818, ages 35-79 years, 93% whites). Included were subjects who drank at least once a month for a period of at least six months during their lifetimes and were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer at the time of interview. Lifetime drinking measures included total years of drinking, total drinking days, volume (total drinks) and average intensity (#drinks/drinking day); frequency of intoxication and heavy drinking; and age drinking began and ended. Metabolic syndrome components included impaired fasting glucose (IFG), high triglycerides (HTG), low HDL cholesterol (LHDLC), abdominal obesity (ABO), and hypertension (HBP). Potential confounders examined were age, gender, race, family history of coronary heart disease or diabetes, years of education, lifetime and current cigarette smoking, current drinking status, physical activity, and dietary factors. Multiple logistic regressions indicated that average intensity was directly related to IFG, HTG, HBP, and metabolic syndrome overall (p for linear trend=0.03, 0.04, 0.003, and 0.009, respectively) and to ABO in women only (p for trend=0.0004). Prevalence ratios (95% CI) for the metabolic syndrome according to quartiles of intensity were 1.00 (lowest), 1.23 (0.91-1.67), 1.43 (1.06-1.91) and 1.60 (1.12-2.30). Total drinking days was inversely related to LHDLC (p for trend=0.0002) and to ABO in women only (p for trend<0.0001). It is concluded that lifetime drinking patterns are significantly related to the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome.

No abstract

No abstract