Open wide and say “Mmnnnmmnn”

Behold! A new diet device works by clamping your teeth together so they can’t open more than 2 mm. And yes, it is lockable.

While the “DentalSlim” is cheaper than hiring someone to slap the cookies out of your hand, it’s worth noting that you can slip an Oreo through a space that small … well, a layer at a time, anyway.

[Study] participants complained that the device was hard to use, causing discomfort with their speech. They said they felt tense and that “life in general was less satisfying”.

Shocking. But hats off: “One participant did not follow the rules and instead consumed foods they were not supposed to, such as chocolate, by melting them.”

Give Georgia a hand

For the sixth consecutive year, STD rates in the U.S. have set a record — Georgia is well represented, coming in at #7 for cases of chlamydia and #8 for cases of syphilis.

Two quickies on Long Covid

One: Researchers from UGA and World Organization in Watkinsville were part of the international team that thinks it’s discovered the cause of Long Covid: Reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus that’s been laying dormant.

The EBV is a ubiquitous virus, infecting approximately 90% of the worldwide population and 95% of healthy adults. Moreover, symptoms of EBV are known to include fatigue, brain fog, myalgia and headaches.

Two: Be prepared, or at least concerned. We might be dealing with Long Covid for a while once the pandemic is over.

Research suggests one in three people who contract Covid will have symptoms that last longer than two two weeks, while about 10% of people have symptoms that persist for 12 weeks or longer. Online, support groups for Covid-19 “long haulers” have swelled to tens of thousands of members.

Nixed: Chantix

Pfizer is suspending its anti-smoking treatment while it tracks down the source of contamination by the carcinogen NDMA.

The FDA has not issued a recall on Chantix. In Canada, health authorities instituted a recall June 8 for Champix, the name under which the drug is sold in that nation.

Fixed: Shingrix marketing

As the pandemic winds down in the U.S., GSK plans to relaunch its blockbuster shingles vaccine, Shingrix, as part of a push to turn the company into a vaccine-making powerhouse. (Shingrix sales plummeted in 2021 as people are concerned about ‘mixing’ vaccines.)

Yanked: Lilly’s Covid-19 antibody treatments

The federal government is suspending distribution of the bamlanivimab and etesevimab monoclonal antibody cocktail (and etesevimab alone), and urging that it not be used in private practice. The drugs simply don’t work well against the variants that are in circulation.

Spanked: J&J

The company agreed to pay New York $263 million to settle claims that it was part of the whole opioid-epidemic mess, although not as an opioid maker; it supplied raw ingredients. The company said it’s going to quit supplying those ingredients altogether.

For most of us, it’s over

The only people dying from Covid-19 now are those who are unvaccinated. Breakthrough infections are in the range of about 0.1 percent (maybe a tad bit higher), and the vast majority of those are mild. While there are some people who cannot take the vaccine for medical reasons, the vast majority are simply not interested in it … but that might change later this year.

The preventable deaths will continue, experts predict, with unvaccinated pockets of the nation experiencing outbreaks in the fall and winter. Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, said modeling suggests the nation will hit 1,000 deaths per day again next year.

Today’s “Will we need a vaccine booster?” answer

The Magic 8-Ball says…

As the New York Times explained:

The vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna set off a persistent immune reaction in the body that may protect against the coronavirus for years, scientists reported on Monday.

The key word, of course, is “may.” It will depend, in part, on what variants arrive and how nasty they are

A little late to the party

“Mass mask-wearing notably reduces COVID-19 transmission,” reports a team of 13 researchers from the University of Bristol. You don’t say. Next up, “Water useful for relieving dehydration.”

The Long Read: Teen Spirit edition

When ignorant parents refuse Covid vaccinations, savvy teens, um, find a way.

[W]ith many teenagers eager to get shots that they see as unlocking freedoms denied during the pandemic, tensions are crackling in homes in which parents are holding to a hard no.

To make it more confusing, some states are easing restrictions, while others are adding them.