Prenatal anti-seizure meds appear to cause autism

The question: “Is there an association between prenatal exposure to anti-seizure medications and neurodevelopmental disorders?”

Yes. There’s a link between a mother’s taking topiramate or valproate (and some combinations of other anti-seizure meds) and an increased risk of a child having autism or intellectual disability.

This comes from a 15-year study of 4.5 million children from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden by a group of international researchers. So yes, it’s a pretty big deal, as the only caveats were not identifying the mothers’ type of epilepsy, and not having background data on the fathers.

CBD and driving

We replaced these drivers’ normal blood with blood chock full of CBD! Let’s see if they (or others on the road) notice!

In fact, say Aussie cannabinoid researchers*, “1500mg, the highest daily medicinal dose of cannabidiol (CBD), has no impact on people’s driving or cognitive abilities.”

“We do, however, caution that this study looked at CBD in isolation only, and that drivers taking CBD with other medications should do so with care.”

Why asthma treatment (sometimes) doesn’t work

Rescue inhalers don’t work on some people with severe asthma, but it was never clear why. Rutgers immunology researchers now think they have the answer.

In short, some people with severe asthma have genes that express differently in the lining of their bronchial airways. When exposed to corticosteroids, these genes secrete two growth factors in the airway — they “work directly against the action of the corticosteroids.”

Next step: Developing a treatment that could stop the expression of those genes, allowing the steroids to do their job.

You are permitted to roll your eyes and let out a deep sigh

It’s time to start thinking about flu season. Hey, don’t look at me — this comes from the good (if overly enthusiastic) folks at NCPA. They’re offering a free CE webinar, “Vax Chat: Pneumococcal and Influenza Vaccine Updates and Use of Immunization Information Systems (Registries)”.

This CE program is packed with content on the latest changes to recommendations, leveraging your workflow impact, and how to enhance your registry usage.

It’s coming up fast — Wednesday, June 8, from 8:00–9:00pm edt via Zoom. It’s free and gives 1.0 hours of CE credit, but you need to register.

The most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on

The paper: “CRISPR-Cas9 editing of the arginine–vasopressin V1a receptor produces paradoxical changes in social behavior in Syrian hamsters”.

The news story: “Scientists accidentally made a vicious mutant attack hamster”.

The gist: In an attempt to create a friendlier, more cuddly hamster, Georgia State University neuroscientists used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to shut down both vasopressin and its receptor, Avpr1a. The goal was ‘unregulated friendliness.’

But in fact, it had the opposite effect: they were incredibly aggressive, territorial, and violent towards other hamsters of the same sex.

“Paradoxical changes” indeed.

I AM SO #%$@❉⅋☣ SICK OF THIS ❉⅋☀%$@ PANDEMIC

“Covid-19 Cases Rise To Nearly 110,000 Per Day As Millions Of Americans Travel For Memorial Day Weekend”

Artificial shrooms

We know that psilocybin can fight treatment-resistant depression, but it’s got some significant downsides. But now a small Canadian company has a psilocybin analog, and it’s filed an application with the FDA to begin clinical trials.

The advantage (per Toronto-based Cybin) is that its CYB003 acts faster, ends more quickly, and avoids side effects like headaches, gas, bloating, and diarrhea. So … less of a trip and more of a visit.

“Hit me with the science!” you say. Sure thing:

“Psilocybin is dephosphorylated to form its metabolite, psilocin, which can cross the blood-brain-barrier. Given its structural similarity to serotonin, psilocin can easily activate the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. CYB003 is a deuterated psilocybin analog designed to achieve less variability in plasma levels, faster onset of action, shorter duration of effect and potentially better tolerability.”

Coffee is so good for you…

How good is it? It’s so good that you can even drink it with sugar and you’ll still live longer.

Chinese scientists, publishing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, used data from more than 171,000 British subjects over seven years to determine this.

• It’s not caffeine, it’s coffee — decaf and even 🤮 instant had similar effects.
• Unsweetened-coffee drinkers saw the biggest effect, but adding sugar didn’t reduce it much. “The trend was less clear for people who used artificial sweeteners.”
• “The greatest reduction, a 29% lower risk of death, was seen for those drinking between 2.5 and 4.5 cups [2 to 3 typical American mugs] a day.”
• It even took into account “age, sex, ethnicity, educational level, smoking status, amount of physical activity, body mass index and diet.”

Today’s non-pharma medical story: No more sticking needles in babies

Instead of drawing blood to monitor a newborn’s electrolytes in the NICU, researchers from Georgia Tech, Korea’s Pukyong National University, and Washington State University are working on a “Smart bioelectronic pacifier” that will use saliva instead of blood.

At this point it’s just an idea that seems possible with current technology, but there’s much testing and tweaking to be done. “The creators still have a high bar to beat in terms of accuracy and patient safety, both of which are of critical importance.”