Epidemiologic data show a high incidence of central nervous system (CNS) disease, which therefore is a prominent healthcare issue. Adults and the elderly are most commonly affected, with heavy repercussions on society and caregivers. The outcome of CNS disease, whether the etiology is vascular, degenerative or traumatic, is often significant disability or death. Motor, language and cognitive deficits are most prevalent, but vision is also frequently affected, in the form of visual field defects or oculomotor and binocular disorders. In the present paper, we discuss peripheral and central visual field defects.

A variety of behavioral, environmental, developmental, and genetic factors have been documented as contributing to the development of Substance use disorders (SUDs) in youth. For example, it has been suggested that things such as the perceived availability of substances, familial history of anti-social behavior, personal attitudes favorable towards drug use all have strong correlations to the development of substance use in youth.

Suicide rates are on the rise in the United States as is mortality associated with opioid toxicity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 7% of opioid overdose deaths are suicide, but this number may be under-reported. Many people who use opioids or have opioid use disorder, (OUD), may have “passive” intentions to commit suicide that are difficult to quantify. Further, both chronic pain and mental health disorders are prevalent in those who use opioids, and both are independently associated with suicide. It appears that suicide is associated with a trio of interlocking risk factors: opioids and opioid use disorder, chronic pain, and psychiatric illness.

Unresolved inflammatory processes contribute to impaired healing in diabetic wounds, with increasing evidence implicating persistent pro-inflammatory macrophage polarization as a driver of chronic inflammation and delayed wound closure. Previous investigations aimed to uncover the role of regulatory RNAs in macrophage polarization and to understand how aberrant expression patterns contribute to wound healing impairment, with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets for promoting normal wound healing progression. In the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Hu et al. reveal a role of the tumor suppressor, long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) Growth Arrest-Specific 5 (GAS5), in regulating macrophage polarization.

Anesthesia and surgical interventions may induce cognitive impairments, such as postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) [1]. These dysfunctions particularly affect the elderly population [2] and increase morbidity and mortality thus representing a major burden for the healthcare system [1].