A little sip’ll do ya

It’s time again to spin the Wheel of Conflicting Studies to answer (yet again) “Is moderate drinking good or bad for you?”

Today’s answer … it’s good for you!

Apparently (say British and Australian epidemiologists) light to moderate drinking is “cardio-protective” for those with heart disease — although they also mention that’s it’s supposed to be good for healthy people, too.

But the benefit comes from the “light” end of that spectrum — just eight measly grams. (The average U.S. drink has about 14g.)

People who averaged 8 grams per day had a 27% lower risk of death from heart attack, stroke or angina, compared with those who did not drink. Those who drank 7 grams per day had a 21% lower risk of death due to any cause.

Worth every penny

Remember “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, (former head of Turing Pharma, who raised the price of generic Daraprim by 5,000%)? He’s in prison for securities fraud, and he owed a $7.4 million fine for defrauding investors.

We say “owed” — past tense — because Shkreli’s fine was paid off from (get this) the sale of his one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” (Only a single copy was ever produced, and Shkreli bought it at auction for $2 million in 2015.)

Turning to pharmacies

If you noticed more people coming to your pharmacy for “health and wellness services” in 2021, you’re not alone. a J.D. Power survey found that the number of people turning to pharmacies for vaccinations and routine screenings.

• 2019: About 43 percent of people did so
• 2020: 48 percent of people
• 2021: 51 percent of people

Even better:

Customers who use at least one health and wellness-oriented service provided by their pharmacy each spend an average of $5 more than those who do not use these services.

Third time the charm

Pfizer claims its data show that a third dose of its Covid vaccine provides a ton of extra protection against the Delta variant:

[The data] suggest that antibody levels against the Delta variant in people ages 18 to 55 who receive a third dose of vaccine are greater than five-fold than following a second dose.

And it’s an even bigger boost for people over 65.

One size fits every guy

Here’s something to note: Although about 70 percent of healthcare workers are women, most PPE is designed for men, with our freakishly large faces and hands. (And that doesn’t take into account going to the bathroom when you’re wearing a HAZMAT suit.)

[R]espiratory equipment “poorly fit” 16.7% of female health workers compared to 7.6% of men. PPE — including gloves, goggles, face masks, visors, or protective suits — that doesn’t fit properly leaves users exposed to harmful substances or chemicals as well as infections.

Not a lot of people think about that, but Women in Global Health certainly has, and you can expect to hear more about it.

Three quick congrats

To doctors Deborah Elder, Eileen Kennedy, and Jason Zastre, all of whom were named to the leadership team of UGA’s Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Department.

Iron, man

So you want to make a reversible male contraceptive. You figure you’ll use heat to do it. Obviously nanoparticles will come into play (this being 2021), but your first attempt, using rust (sorry, iron oxide) is, well, suboptimal. Sure, you can guide them into place with magnets, but…

The injection can be painful, the heating can damage skin, and most nanomaterials tested so far are not biodegradable.

Second attempt: Coat the particles with polyethylene glycol! These sure get hot, but the magnets don’t work to put them in the right place. Ouch.

Third attempt: Coat them with citric acid. Lo and behold, it works!

The nanoparticles heated the testes to a temperature of 104 F, shrinking them and inhibiting spermatogenesis before gradual recovery 30 to 60 days after treatment.

That was with mice. Next step is to find grad students for human testing.