News briefs

Inflammatory arthritis has a significant impact on sex life

Researchers from Curtin University have found that people with inflammatory arthritis are more likely to experience higher levels of sexual dysfunction in their intimate relationships. Arthritis affects one in six people in Australia, and it is projected that the number will rise to 5.4 million people by 2030. The research, published in Arthritis Care and Research, analysed 55 published research studies from Europe, America, Asia and Africa to better understand the impact of inflammatory arthritis on intimate relationships in both men and women. The authors found that people with inflammatory arthritis were more likely to experience pain and mobility restrictions during sexual intercourse, as well as psychological effects such as reduced self‐esteem, poor body image perception, and lower mood, which in turn impaired sexual function. For men with inflammatory arthritis, erectile dysfunction was the most significant problem, leading to additional frustration, stress, and a sense of emasculation. Negative body image, reduced desire for intercourse, and erectile dysfunction all contributed to an altered sense of sexuality in men and women. The authors suggested that partners who understood the disease better were more likely to try to strengthen their relationship, while those with no understanding experienced added fear and tension in the relationship.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/acr.23857

Psychostimulants may play role in fatal strokes in young adults

Researchers from UNSW Sydney have found that psychostimulant use plays a major role in stroke deaths among people under 45. In a study published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, the authors, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, found that nearly one‐fifth of 279 people aged 15–44 years who suffered a fatal stroke in Australia during 2009–2016 used psychostimulant drugs, and that in most cases there was evidence of psychostimulant consumption immediately before the fatal stroke. An estimated 76 million people worldwide use psychostimulants, including illicit drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), as well as prescription stimulants. In most cases of fatal stroke in young adults, methamphetamine was the implicated drug, and the median methamphetamine blood concentration was similar to that reported for methamphetamine‐related deaths in Australia in general, but fewer than half the deaths were attributed to methamphetamine toxicity alone, suggesting that high blood levels are not necessary for methamphetamine‐related stroke. Cases of haemorrhagic stroke were also documented that involved other illicit and licit psychostimulants, but medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were not implicated in any deaths. Significantly, the anatomic location of the fatal stroke was different for psychostimulant users: the researchers found that they were more likely to suffer a stroke in the substance of the brain itself, rather than in the subarachnoid space around the brain. These types of strokes are far more likely to be fatal.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1556-4029.14056