FDA supplement warning

Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should avoid any supplement containing vinpocetine, according to a statement from the FDA.

Vinpocetine may be referred to on product labels as Vinca minor extract, lesser periwinkle extract, or common periwinkle extract.

Dietary supplements containing vinpocetine are often marketed for uses that include enhanced memory, focus, or mental acuity; increased energy; and weight loss.

Be careful with PPIs

Long-term use of proton-pump inhibitors like Nexium and Prilosec can be deadly. A new study published in the British Medical Journal found that…

The evidence from all available studies suggests that long term PPI use is associated with serious adverse events, including an increased risk of all cause mortality, and our results specifically suggest an increased mortality due to cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and upper gastrointestinal cancer.

(The above link is to the study. Here’s a news article.)

Double-duty drugs

Can antidepressants act as antibiotics? We wouldn’t be asking if the answer wasn’t “Maybe.” That’s what a team from Virginia Commonwealth University (and others) has found.

Antidepressant drugs called FIASMAs, including desipramine, amitriptyline, and nortriptyline, halt the growth or kill four different intracellular bacterial pathogens in tissue cell culture and animal models.

The 4,400

Women: You don’t need to take 10,000 steps a day to make a difference. It turns out that less than half that — a mere 4,400 steps — is enough. (And any more than 7,500 is wasted.)

Wait a sec. Where did that “10,000 steps” figure come from, anyway?

The researchers aren’t sure where that 10,000-step daily goal came from. They suspect it was from a pedometer made by a Japanese company in the 1960s. The name of the device was Manpo-kei. Translated into English, that means 10,000-step meter.

I guess this means you don’t need to clean your kitchen 409 times a day, or eat 19 bowls of cereal for breakfast, either.

Death to skeeters

Mosquitos kill more people than any other creature on Earth (yes, even more than humans do), so finding ways to control the little buggers is a good idea.

The latest way: A fungus, genetically engineered to include a spider toxin, that kills malaria-carrying mosquitos. In tests. In the lab. In specific conditions. But in the wild it may not work, or it may mutate into the plot of the next post-apocalyptic young-adult thriller. Stay tuned.

Brush your teeth to avoid dementia

Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway have found that the bacteria that causes gingivitis produces a protein that apparently kills brain cells — and can lead to Alzheimer’s. “[I]f you have established gingivitis and have Alzheimer’s in your family, to go to your dentist regularly and clean your teeth properly.”

FDA looks at CBD

CBD-toting products are everywhere these days, promising … well, promising the sorts of effects that used to be hawked by a guy with a covered wagon, top hat, and handlebar moustache. All those claims finally got the attention of the FDA, which is holding its first hearing on questions of CBD’s actual powers, not to mention how safe it is.

I have no idea what this means, but it could be important

“Scientists reported a novel molecular mechanism for the regulation of PCNA cycling during DNA replication. They proved that ATAD5-RLC opens PCNA ring to be removed from DNA as a bona-fide PCNA unloader.”