Trends in Anesthesiology

A new study, analyzing data from 2020–21, found that men are two to three times more likely to die from overdose in the United States than women. It has long been known that men abuse drugs at higher rates than women. However, researchers at Icahn School of Medicine analyzed overdose mortality data from every state and controlled for the varying rates of drug misuse among men and women. They looked at the number of overdose deaths per 100,000 drug abusers for each gender (ages 15–74). Researchers noted that men died at a two to three times greater rate across all the drugs assessed (synthetic opioids, heroin, psychostimulants, and cocaine) and all age groups. Biological factors such as vulnerability to the toxicity of drugs may be at play. The Icahn School of Medicine study highlights the need to investigate drug misuse and overdose from an intersectional standpoint – simultaneously analyzing biological, behavioral, social, and gender-related factors.

Source: asamonitor.pub/3PyyHgx

New information about aging surfaced in unexpected areas. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) noticed the molecular signature associated with aging in Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus as it was regenerating a new body. Hydractinia is a small, tubular saltwater animal that lives symbiotically on the shells of hermit crabs. NIH researchers have indicated that seeing aging’s molecular signature show up during Hydractinia’s healing process could have new implications for how healing and aging are evolutionally related. In humans, this same sequence is associated with chronic inflammation and pain, not with healing. Ultimately, the discovery could lend itself to fresh insights into the evolution and biology of aging. Scientists often look to other species with better healing capabilities to learn about human disease and recovery. Unlike humans, Hydractinia use stem cells throughout their lifetime, thus their impressive regenerative abilities. Moreover, researchers have previously found that wounded Hydractinia were able to revert adult cells into stem cells to heal. This was discovered when whole new Hydractinia organisms were able to grow from severed parts that contained no stem cells. Upon further research and RNA sequencing, it was found that when the molecular signatures associated with aging were deleted from the wounded animal, the Hydractinia could no longer regenerate by reverting adult cells into stem cells. This molecular signature for aging, common to humans and Hydractinia, is called senescence. More research is needed to understand this link between senescence and the triggering of regeneration. Hydractinia are an extremely distant relative to humans – our last shared relative was over 600 million years ago. Studying them offers a new perspective on the origins and purpose of our biological processes and how we can advance the fields of regenerative medicine and aging.

Source: asamonitor.pub/44kqrp9