Young children who see parents consume alcohol form gender-specific perceptions of drinking

Young children's exposure to their mothers' and fathers' drinking influences their perceptions of who consumes alcohol, with "vast implications" for their own future use, a new study suggests. The study, in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, provides compelling evidence of intergenerational transmission of drinking behaviors to children, including gender-based perceptions—the first time these effects have been demonstrated in children aged 4–8.

Diabetes: When circadian lipid rhythms go wrong

Like all living beings, human physiological processes are influenced by circadian rhythms. The disruption of our internal clocks due to an increasingly unbalanced lifestyle is directly linked to the explosion in cases of type 2 diabetes. Now, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), in Switzerland, has found that his disturbance disrupts the metabolism of lipids in the cells that secrete glucose-regulating hormones. Sphingolipids and phospholipids, lipids located on the cell membrane, seem to be particularly affected. This change in lipid profiles then leads to a rigidity of the membrane of these cells. These results, appearing in the journal PLOS Biology, provide further evidence of the importance of circadian rhythms in metabolic disorders.

A healthy lifestyle almost halves the risk of dementia in people with type 2 diabetes

A healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of dementia in those with type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a study of hundreds of thousands of people in the U.K. being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Stockholm, Sweden (19–23 Sept).

China health chief tells public not to touch foreigners after first monkeypox case

A top Chinese health official has warned the public to avoid "skin-to-skin contact with foreigners" to prevent the spread of monkeypox after the country confirmed its first case.

Safer opioid supply program shows improved outcomes for people at high risk of overdose

For people at high risk of overdose enrolled in a safer opioid supply (SOS) program, there was a rapid decrease in emergency department visits and hospitalizations soon after initiation, according to new research published in Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMJA). These programs may help to address the devastating drug poisoning overdose crisis in Canada.