Potential sunscreen changes

The FDA is proposing some changes to sunscreen regulations. There are apparently about 16 ingredients used in them. Two are safe and effective (zinc oxide and titanium dioxide). Two are NOT (PABA and trolamine salicylate), and the other 12 … well, the agency would like more data.

Oh, and it’s also considering allowing sunscreens to claim an SPF up to 60, instead of the current 50.

There’s still time to apply for the GPhA Board of Directors

The GPhA Board of Directors sets the goals of the association — what services to offer, what policies to support, how best to spend the association’s resources, and more.

You can be a part of that. You can be one of the 11 members of the board. (Yes, there are requirements and responsibilities; you can read them at GPhA.org/2019board.)

For the 2019-2020 board, GPhA is looking to fill three seats, each with three-year terms:

• One person representing the Academy of Independent Pharmacists
• Two people to be at-large members elected by the GPhA membership

Nominate yourself or someone else to run for a seat on the board. We encourage applications from all pharmacy practice settings. (If you have questions, feel free to contact Governance Manager Merrily Bennett at mbennett@gpha.org.)

Click here to go directly to the nomination form.

The deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m. EST on March 11, 2019. The election itself will begin May 23, 2019 and last until 11:59 p.m. on June 13, 2019. The results will be announced on June 14 at the second general session of the Georgia Pharmacy Convention.

Don’t just stand there, offer to lead. Be a bigger part of Georgia pharmacy — serve on the board.

Chase grandpa around the block

It’s good for his blood pressure.

Common ground in Congress

To the tune of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s“:

You’ll say we’ve got nothing in common,
No common ground to start from,
and we’re falling apart.
You say the world has come between us,
Our lives have come between us.
Still I know you just don’t care.

And I said, “What about high insulin prices?”
She said, “I don’t really like them, and as I recall
we both promised to end them.”
And I said, “Well, that’s one thing we’ve got.”

American exceptionalism

The U.S. has the highest drug-overdose rate among wealthy nations. In the early 2000s it was Finland and Sweden, but now we’re double their rate — and that means we have the lowest life expectancy. Ugh.

Cellular vacuum

A plant in Japan — ashitaba — might help you live forever. (Not really, but it does appear to help cells with autophagy; i.e., cleaning up cellular debris and detritus.) It’s more effective than resveratrol (which gets all the hype), and it gave fruit flies a 20-percent lifespan boost.

Spread the smiles instead

What’s more contagious than measles? Anger. The culprit? “Computer-mediated communication” — aka, social media. (Good news: Happiness is, too.)

OK, this is just really cool

In short, scientists put single-celled organisms in a bucket.* Then they added predators (also unicellular). Within 750 generations (i.e., a blink of an eye*), those original organisms had evolved into multicellular life forms.

Artist’s conception

* Metaphorical

ICYMI:

Google is adding drug dropoff locations to Google Maps.

A search for queries like “drug drop off near me” or “medication disposal near me” will display permanent disposal locations at your local pharmacy, hospital or government building.