Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 2h

Psychiatrists Grant Brenner and Ari Gildengers share moving reminiscences of their mothers on Story Corps by @npr.org.

#medsky

www.npr.org/2025/10/10/n...

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 10h

Great @npr.org interview of Christopher Blevins, first American male XC MTB champ in 34 years and member of a family of prominent Black physicians.

Get out there and ride!

www.npr.org/2025/10/10/n...

Christopher Blevins on his mountain bike with arms extended in victory

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 1d

One of our hard-won democratic traditions is academic freedom - which we must preserve and defend in the face of increasing threats.

Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 1d

It should inspire those engaged in similar struggles around the world - and remind those of us lucky enough to live in America that we have a solemn responsibility to constantly preserve and defend our own hard-won democratic traditions.

1

Reposted by Art Walaszek, MD

@CLOSLER @closler.bsky.social · 3d

"Bike riding reduces stress & lowers dementia risk. Do it daily & routinely ask patients, 'What does your typical daily movement look like?'"- @christiplady.bsky.social @vipsmdmed.bsky.social
@hubermanlab.com #MedSky

tinyurl.com/4ekfc7v6

4 3

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 1d

Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado for her very well deserved Nobel Peace Prize for keeping “the flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness.”

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...

Maria Corina Machado at a March in Caracas in Feb 2019, Photo by Alexcocopro CC BY-SA 4.0

1 5

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 2d

Congratulations to @uwmadison.bsky.social faculty, Ángel F. Adames Corraliza and Sébastien Philippe, receiving MacArthur "genius grants" for their work on meteorology in the tropics and modeling the consequences of nuclear weapon use and nuclear war.

news.wisc.edu/two-uw-madis...

Two UW–Madison professors named MacArthur Fellows

Atmospheric scientist Ángel F. Adames Corraliza and nuclear security specialist Sébastien Philippe, professors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, have been awarded 2025 MacArthur Fellowships.

news.wisc.edu

Reposted by Art Walaszek, MD

Maria Mora Pinzon, MD, MS, FACPM @mariamorapinzonmd.bsky.social · 8d

The @istaart.bsky.social Health Policy PIA is very proud to co-host this webinar with the Partnering with Research Participants:

Walking the Talk for Dementia (WTD 2025)
October 27, 2025 | 10:00 a.m. CT (USA)

Register and learn about this iniative and its impact: alz-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

2 4

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 4d

Future studies of sex differences in dementia risk should make sure to account for medical and psychiatric comorbidities.

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 4d

- controlling for endocrine/metabolic, cardiovascular, respiratory & digestive diseases, cancer, and injuries, women still had higher risk of dementia than men
- controlling for psychiatric disease, men have higher dementia risk

Results are from 18-yr prospective study of 53k adults in Israel.

1 1

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 4d

Could sex differences in dementia risk - women have generally been shown to be at ⬆️risk - be due in part to comorbidities?

Yes, for some comorbidities but not others:

- when controlling for GU & MSK disease, women = men w/r/t dementia risk

...

#medsky

alzres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

The association between sex and the risk of incident dementia (adjusted for eleven demographic or medical domains). HR indicates hazard ratio from the Cox proportional hazards regression model. 95% CIs are Wald 2-sided 95% CIs. P values are for test of the hypothesis HR = 1 vs the hypothesis HR ≠ 1.

1 2

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 5d

The Giving Voice Initiative leads a worldwide movement to bring dementia-friendly choruses to every community.

These choruses can help people living with #dementia and their caregivers feel more connected with their communities.

#medsky

www.givingvoicechorus.org/giving-voice...

The Giving Voice Network: People standing and singing with arms uplifted

1 3

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 6d

Great primer by Cory Doctorow at @theguardian.com on the enshittification of Amazon specifically & internet in general.

Same thing w/ Xbox Game Pass: users pay more, less money (+layoffs) for developers, greater profits for $MSFT.

Implications for @bsky.app...?

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...

www.theguardian.com

1

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 7d

3- Finally, the authors called for more medical education on "emotional awareness, recognition, & regulation strategies because emotions, both positive & negative, significantly influence clinical reasoning."

This paper won a Research in Medical Education (RIME) Award from @aamc.org.

#meded

2

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 7d

2- Positive emotions may result in better diagnostic accuracy & fewer medical errors.

The authors noted the value of gut feelings, cultivated through practice, "as a critical component of clinical reasoning, enabling health care practitioners to make appropriate and timely management decisions."

1 2

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 7d

1- Emotions may be a driver of variability in clinical reasoning & decision-making, according to this review.

Negative emotions (fear, distress, etc.) can impair problem-solving & lead to ordering more tests.

#medsky

journals.lww.com/academicmedi...

The authors categorized emotions as positive, neutral, and negative (x-axis) and activating or deactivating (y-axis)

1 1 3

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 7d

It’s been a long week and Dewey needs to rest. Happy #Caturday!

17

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 7d

New resources for physicians to help talk with patients about vaccines:

www.ama-assn.org/public-healt...

#medsky #vaccine #vaccination

How to answer patients' questions about vaccinations

Comprehensive vaccine recommendations developed by a CDC advisory committee provides answers to patients' questions. Learn more about vaccinations on AMA.

www.ama-assn.org

3 3

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 7d

Apathy - but not psychosis, agitation, irritability or sleep disturbance - is assoc. w/ ⬆️mortality in #dementia, according to meta-analysis of 10 studies.

Due to ⬇️self-care, physical activity or adherence to medical treatments?

www.ajgponline.org/article/S106...

(sorry article paywall)

#medsky

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 8d

The authors developed and used a caregiver-rated tool, the Financial Frailty Battery (FFB) measuring:

- trust
- susceptibility to scams
- behavioral tendencies (e.g., giving away money more easily)
- financial management
- use of money

www.ajgponline.org/cms/10.1016/... (link to DOC)

www.ajgponline.org

1

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 8d

The risk of financial exploitation of persons living with #dementia may depend on the cause of dementia:

- FTD -> prone to scams
- AD, LBD & PPA -> financial mismanagement

according to small (N=166) cross-sectional study

www.ajgponline.org/article/S106...

#medsky

Profiles of Vulnerability to Financial Exploitation in the Degenerative Dementias

Making informed financial decisions is crucial for a financially independent life. Financial decision making is a generic and rather broad concept, requiring practical skills (such as counting coins),...

www.ajgponline.org

1 2

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 9d

I had to look up instructions for how to unlock the carriage :)

1 1 1

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 9d

I love the @uwmadison.bsky.social Cool Science Image Contest - an awesome blend of art and science.

news.wisc.edu/2025-winners...

2025 winners of the Cool Science Image Contest

This year's winners used a variety of tools—from phone cameras to CT scanners— to capture fascinating, surprising and simply beautiful aspects of the natural world.

news.wisc.edu

6

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 10d

Using a #typewriter for the first time since the 1980s. This is a Remington 5 from 1937.

Middle aged man hunting and pecking at typewriter

2 1 18

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 10d

We're just a week away from the @wisconsinadrc.bsky.social Fall Community Conversation!

Join us virtually or in person on 10/9 at 4:30 pm CT in Middleton, Wisconsin, to learn more about "Addressing Hearing Loss for Better Brain Health."

#medsky @kmueller123.bsky.social

www.adrc.wisc.edu/fcc2025

Register today! 2025 Fall Community Conversation: Addressing Hearing Loss for Better Brain Health | Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

This annual educational event, hosted by the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), is free and open to all. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between heari...

www.adrc.wisc.edu

1 5

Art Walaszek, MD @walaszek.medsky.social · 10d

That was fantastic. Thank you for sharing.

1 1