Many adults take a low-dose aspirin daily, believing that it can help prevent a heart attack or stroke. But a new study finds that for people who do not have cardiovascular disease, the practice provides little to no benefit and may increase the risk of dangerous bleeding.

For adults ages 60 and up with no cardiovascular disease or high risk of developing it, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force determined there was no benefit to starting aspirin if not already on it.

Among adults 40 to 59 years old, the task force concluded "with moderate certainty" that there was a small net benefit among those who have a 10% or higher risk of developing heart disease in a 10-year period.

Body of Knowledge

Newborn babies have nearly 100 more bones than full-grown adults. Many of these bones will fuse over time.

Get Me That, Stat!

Clinical faculties and academic leadership at American medical schools are not keeping up with the growing diversity of the U.S. population, according to a new analysis of 42 years of data and reported in STAT.

While women have achieved marked progress, improvement has stagnated or worsened for groups underrepresented in medicine. Female clinical faculty levels rose from 15% in 1977 to 43% in 2019, and female deans from 0% to 18%.

But Black and Hispanic doctors still represent a small part of total clinical faculty, and growth and representation of Black men in academic medicine has remained flat or decreased.

At all faculty levels, non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native accounted for less than 1%.

Counts

18: Percentage of parents of children under 5 who say they would seek a COVID vaccination "right away" if authorized

38: Percentage who would "wait and see"

27: Percentage who would definitely not vaccinate their child

11: Percentage who would vaccinate only if required by school or child care

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

Doc Talk

Synchronous diaphragmatic flutter: hiccups

Mania of the Week

Asymmetromania: an uncontrollable obsession for asymmetrical things

Never Say 'Diet'

The Major League Eating record for SPAM from the can is 9.75 pounds in 8 minutes, held by Geoffrey Esper. SPAM is molded meat comprised of pork shoulder and ham, with salt, water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrite. The can is molded metal and lower in sodium nitrite.

Best Medicine

Never lie to an X-ray technician. They can see right through you.

Hypochondriac's Guide

Intermittent explosive disorder is a psychological condition that involves repeated, sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts in which the person reacts wildly out of proportion to the situation.

It is chronic and can continue for years, though severity of outbursts may decrease with age. Treatment involves medications and psychotherapy.

Observation

"Life should be touched, not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it." — American author Ray Bradbury (1920-2012)

Medical History

This week in 1867, the first gallstone operation in the United States was performed by Dr. John Stough Bobbs, known as "the father of cholecystostomy," in Indianapolis, Indiana. While operating on his patient Mary E. Wiggins for a suspected ovarian cyst, he found the gallbladder inflamed and containing structures like "several solid ordinary rifle bullets." He opened the sac and removed multiple gallstones but left the gallbladder in place after closing the defect (cholecystostomy). The patient recovered and outlived Bobbs.

The first account of gallstones dates back to at least 1420 by Florentine pathologist Antonio Benivieni, when he was describing a woman who died with abdominal pain. Jean-Louis Petit performed gallbladder surgery in Europe in 1743.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously, and even harder to ignore.

In 2021, the Ig Nobel Prize in economics went to Peter Blavatskyy of the Montpellier Business School in France for discovering that the obesity of a country's politicians may be a good indicator of that country's level of corruption.

Using images of 299 cabinet ministers from 15 post-Soviet states, Blavatskyy found that a higher body mass index among the politicians correlated with higher measures of conventional corruption in their countries.

Med School

Q: Which is the largest hollow space in the human body?

a) Abdominal cavity

b) Pelvic cavity

c) Ventral cavity

d) Dorsal cavity

A: a) Abdominal cavity

Last Words

"Now, as soon as you please you may commence the part of Creon in the tragedy, and cast out this body of mine unburied. But, O gracious Neptune, I, for my part, while I am yet alive, arise up and depart out of this sacred place; though Antipater and the Macedonians have not left so much as thy temple unpolluted." — Greek statesman and orator Demosthenes (384-322 B.C.) after taking poison to avoid arrest and trial for corruption. Apparently, the poison was slow-acting.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: HeungSoon at Pixabay