This doesn’t bode well

The current flu in Australia — which later this year will be our flu — is looking pretty awful, with three times as many cases today as the same time in 2019.

The trade war and generic meds

The trade war with China means we’re all paying more for a lot of Chinese goods (and those made with Chinese components), but not a lot has been written about how it might affect medication. Forbes weighs in with a piece on how the war might affect generics.

China produces 40% of the active components (APIs) of our medicines. These APIs then supply much of the Indian market, where final manufacturing of the drugs occurs. We import 80% of our medicines from India.

Downside: The piece seems to flip between issues: the risk to medication supply, and the differences between “identical” generic meds.

The guts to battle anxiety

Add anxiety to the list of conditions treatable by a change in gut bacteria.

research has indicated that gut microbiota — the trillions of microorganisms in the gut which perform important functions in the immune system and metabolism by providing essential inflammatory mediators, nutrients and vitamins — can help regulate brain function through something called the “gut-brain axis.”

Pot, pain, and the NFL

The NFL and it’s players’ union are together looking into the use of marijuana to treat pain. Currently a positive test for pot can lead to fines and suspension.

In recent years, some players have expressed frustration over the continued punishment of players who test positive for marijuana, even if it’s being used to help manage pain, at a time when more states are legalizing the drug.

Don’t mix meds and the other stuff

A watchdog group is suing Walmart for its homeopathic products — not for selling them, but for selling them mixed in with actual medicine.

“By displaying homeopathic products alongside science-based medicines, without any distinction between them, Walmart is failing to provide truthful information to its customer base, and deliberately creating the false idea in its customers that there is no difference between these two radically different sets of products.”

The suit is not asking Walmart to remove the products. “Instead, the organization seeks to ensure retailers properly label products and keep science-based medicine from being sold side-by-side with homeopathic products.”

Have a Coke and a rictus

If you drink sugary beverages, including fruit juices, you’re gonna die soon. That’s the conclusion of a six-year study of 13,440 black and white adults 45 years and older.

Specifically, “each additional 12-oz serving per day of sugary beverages was associated with an 11% higher all-cause mortality risk, and each additional 12-oz serving per day of fruit juice was associated with a 24% higher all-cause mortality risk.”

So if our math is right*, drinking just a little more than nine cans of Coke in one day (or a quart and a half of orange juice) will mean 100% mortality.

* It isn’t.

Shocking medical headlines

“Anxious people quicker to flee danger”

“Children who walk to school less likely to be overweight or obese“