Dirty dozen

Apparently most of the Covid-19 misinformation on social media is the product of just 12 individuals, including anti-vaxxers like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who literally believes that 5G towers are responsible for Covid. Facebook isn’t banning them, but it is labeling some of their posts, which is ever so helpful.

You can wait a bit on the second Pfizer shot

For older folks (80+), waiting 12 weeks for a second Pfizer vaccine seems to give more protection than waiting only three weeks — at least according to a small British study. There’s a greater antibody response, although it seems kind of hard to do much better than 97 percent effective.

The important part is that the extra waiting time means more people get their first doses, helping spread immunity.

Do we have to tell you this?

If you’re vaccinated around other vaccinated people, you don’t need a mask. It’s not only common sense, now the CDC says so.

If you’re not vaccinated: Mask, distance, outdoors — pick at least two.

See? Simple!

Today’s axis

It’s the gut-lung axis. The latest news: A particular probiotic may reduce respiratory infections in overweight people. What’s wild is that the researchers found the effect, but don’t really know (yet) why it happens. Still….

According to study results, participants in the probiotic cohort experienced a 27% lower incidence of URTI symptoms compared with the placebo cohort.

Here’s the thing, though. The headline refers to “probiotics” having this effect, but it was in fact one particular probiotic — Lab4P from Lab 4 Probiotics, not one you can get from the Greek yogurt section of the supermarket.

Wind in their sails

When ventilators were in short supply during the peak of the pandemic, Japanese researchers began looking for alternative ways to supply patients with oxygen. And yep, they found one: Mammalian enteral ventilation. They published their results in the journal Cell.

Money quote:

“It looks like a crazy idea,” says Sean Colgan, a gastroenterologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who was not involved in the study. “But if you look at the data, it’s actually a very compelling story.”

Combo treatment for migraines

Sodium valproate can treat migraines, but patients don’t like it, what with side effects like fatigue, dizziness, and nausea. Meanwhile, magnesium seems to have at least some effect in preventing migraines from occurring in the first place, and without serious side effects.

So why not combine the two (thought neurologists in Iran)? And they did, developing a combination drug — magnesium valproate — that seems to offer the best of both worlds.

[T]his study indicated that valproate was “significantly more effective than magnesium in the reduction of migraine frequency and severity, duration of attacks, painkiller number, and MIDAS and HIT scores.”

Curing the 10-year itch

Sure, why not? Johns Hopkins dermatologists say that medical marijuana — i.e., marijuana — is a potential therapy for chronic itch. That’s based on a case study of one woman.

Her tale: After 10 years (!) of chronic itch, and having been unsuccessfully treated with “systemic therapies, centrally acting nasal sprays, steroid creams and phototherapy,” one dose of Mary Jane cured her itch within 10 minutes.

Next up: controlled studies.