Six surgeons directly involved in caring for injured patients during the war in Ukraine shared their experiences Wednesday, Oct. 19, during the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2022 in San Diego. "We're not done improving medical and surgical care and burns until there are no deaths, no scars, and no pain. We're not there yet. We cannot be satisfied with the status quo," said Steven E. Wolf, MD, FACS, professor and chief, division of burn and trauma surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

People with a recent diagnosis of dementia – including adults under the age of 65 – may have an increased risk of suicide, according to new research published in the journal JAMA Neurology. “This is the first national study of suicide risk within the first 12 months of dementia diagnosis,” Jeff Temple, PhD, a licensed psychologist at UTMB’s Center for Violence Prevention (who was not involved in the study), told Seasons. “This is important because it overcomes many of the limitations of previous studies that used local samples, which limits generalizability. The large sample also allowed the researchers to examine specific predictors of suicide risk.”

If you’re wondering whether your lack of motivation or anger outbursts could be warning signs of something more serious, you may want to consult a professional sooner rather than later. “Just like any illness, the earlier you do something about it, the better,” according to Dr. Jeff Temple, a licensed psychologist and the director of UTMB’s Center for Violence Prevention. When left unchecked, depression can wreak havoc on your quality of life and relationships. “I wish more men could get out of their own way and understand that it’s OK to not be OK, that being depressed doesn’t mean that you failed as a man or a husband or a father; instead, it means that you’re human and may need a little extra help,” Temple said.

Dr. Jeff Temple, a psychologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, explained that we all have things that set us off, whether they’re triggers or micro-triggers. Temple adds that sometimes fearing these transitions can trigger us. “There’s anticipatory anxiety, which is anxiety about being anxious, as opposed to actual things to be anxious about,” he said.

In the latest Vaccine Smarts column, Drs. Megan Berman and Richard Rupp discussed the odds of getting shingles after having a chickenpox vaccination. “You cannot catch shingles from people with shingles,” they wrote. “Rather, unvaccinated people who have never had chickenpox can develop chickenpox when they come in contact with a shingles rash. Your vaccination should keep you from catching chickenpox.”

“If you have some time this week, find some butterflies, or better yet, let them find you,” wrote Dr. Victor S. Sierpina in his column. “Enjoy watching them do their cosmic dance. You will feel lighter yet more centered, knowing that small things can make big differences.”

Because Sudan ebolavirus outbreaks have been rare, researchers have not been able to test vaccine candidates thoroughly. Three vaccines have undergone early tests to ensure that they are safe in humans, but larger trials needed to confirm efficacy haven’t been possible. These should be prioritized for hospital workers, including health-care personnel who are interacting with people who have been infected and their direct contacts, and the contacts of those contacts, said Dr. Gary Kobinger, a virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston who specializes in Ebola. Still, vaccines and antivirals, even if proved to be effective, will not stop the outbreak just because they exist, Kobinger said. To achieve that, enough doses need to be produced quickly and then distributed widely, which will pose a challenge, he said. Becker’s Hospital Review reported on the Nature article, including Dr. Kobinger’s comment that he hopes containment measures will be successful but fears that the outbreak could "really get out of hand."

The University of Texas Medical Branch conducted a study recently that found brain development in grandchildren could be affected by what their grandmother eats. It builds on findings from a previous study done by Shelly A. Buffington, assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology and faculty in the Sealy Center for Microbiome Research at UTMB, demonstrating the effects of maternal high-fat diet on offspring brain plasticity and social behavior. “Our study focused on the impact of high-fat diet exposure in the maternal lineage on behavioral outcomes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in descendant generations,” Buffington said. “Remarkably, we found that a high fat grandmaternal diet has the potential to impact neurodevelopment and long-term behavioral outcomes across multiple descendant generations.” The Galveston County Daily News also shared this news.