CORRECTION! Region meetings — 2020 style!

Yesterday’s reminder about the November 17 region meetings had a broken link for registering. Sorry about that!

Here is the correct link to register — don’t miss the meeting and the easy CE!

E-cigs do just what you might expect

More reasons not to vape: “E-cigarette users have a roughly 30% higher risk for developing respiratory illness, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma.”

Chapman to head foundation

A bittersweet congratulations to GPhA past president Liza Chapman, who has taken over as chair of the Georgia Pharmacy Foundation. Alongside her volunteer work with GPhA and the foundation, Liza is currently VP of partnership development for PTCB. Liza follows in the footsteps of Jim Bartling, who passed away in September.

(And while we’re talking foundations, congrats also to Wellstar’s Julie Teer, named president of the Wellstar Foundation.)

Distributing that Pfizer vaccine

Eventually — probably soon — there will be a Covid-19 vaccine ready to ship to the teeming millions. How’s that gonna go? It’s a big country, the virus has to be stored correctly, and there are other issues that states — which will be handling the bulk of the distribution — will need to deal with.

Keeping cool, camel style

When you’re looking to keep something cool, there are worse places to look than camel fur*. And that’s just what MIT researchers did, coming up with a combination hydrogel and aerogel that both insulates and cools whatever it’s wrapped around.

The hydrogel layer is like the camel’s sweat gland, allowing water to evaporate and provide a cooling effect, whereas the aerogel layer plays the same role as the camel’s fur, providing crucial insulation to keep out heat from the surroundings, while still allowing water from the hydrogel to escape through it.

(Honestly, the only reason they say “inspired by camel fur” is as an excuse to include a camel photo.)

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You come home from a long day on your feet. You take off your shoes. And as the air fills with the acrid tang of a terrifying miasma, you wonder if you’re in violation of an EPA reg … or the Geneva Conventions.

Fear not. Survivors in your home might soon be able to help. Dermatologists in Thailand have found that socks coated with a zinc oxide nanoparticle produced significantly less foot odor.

Study results showed cadets in the coated sock group demonstrated less foot odor compared with baseline, while cadets in the uncoated sock group produced more intense foot odor with a greater negative effect on daily life.

(To be fair, though, when your foot odor has “a negative effect on daily life,” you really have to start rethinking your hygiene habits.)

Today’s potential Covid treatment is…

Fluvoxamine.

By the end of that time [15 days], none of the patients who took the drug had seen their infection progress to serious illness, compared with six (8.3%) of the patients who took the placebo.

Diabetes control is “suboptimal”

The CDC’s lovingly titled Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report says that only 26.4 percent of U.S. adults meet the combined goals for preventing or at least delaying complications of diabetes: control of glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol, and smoking.

Drug pricing may not be the problem

We’ve heard over and over how Americans’ drug spending is crazy high. And it certainly is higher than in the rest of the world. But what if, argues one economic strategist, it’s not just the list price, but the amount of drugs?

Using federal data, he found that “Starting in their mid-30s, Americans tend to fill 5% to 6% more prescriptions each year, including refills.”

  • 35-44 years old: an average of 7.2 prescriptions per year
  • 45-54: 12.2 prescriptions
  • 55-64: 18.1 prescriptions

This 150% increase in the number of prescriptions as people age corresponds to an equivalent rise in prescription drug spending. […] In other words, the very usefulness of medicines to fight the ills of aging, combined with the copayment insurance model, translates into rising spending for individuals.

One obvious problem, though: He didn’t compare these numbers with other OECD countries to see whether Americans use more drugs than folks in, say, Scandinavia.

Today’s non-pharma-but-really-cool science story

You’ve heard about some female spiders killing their mates right after makin’ whoopie? Well some other male spiders must have heard about it. They’re not taking chances.