Super-quick Covid update

Cases aren’t falling anymore, because vaccinations have hit a plateau. Deaths are falling, but that probably won’t last as the delta variant spreads.

Vaccinated people are likely safe from even that delta variant, but unvaccinated people are at serious risk.

“If you’re fully vaxxed, I wouldn’t be too worried, especially if you’re in a highly vaxxed region. If you’re not vaccinated: I’d be afraid. Maybe even very afraid.”

A different respiratory virus is making the rounds

The CDC is warning that there’s ‘Increased inter-seasonal Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) activity in parts of the southern United States.’ And that’s not a virus you want to get, especially if you’re very young or very old. To make things worse, it’s spreading (via droplets in the air) just as people are able to remove their masks — and it presents like Covid-19, too.

So the CDC wants more RSV testing for patients “presenting with acute respiratory illness” if they test negative for Covid. I.e., don’t let them walk out thinking it’s just a cold.

And now there are four (or is it five?)

Novavax’s two-shot Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90 percent effective in a large phase 3 trial, meaning it’s likely to become the fourth vaccine available in the U.S.

What do you tell your Alzheimer’s patients?

The approval of Aduhelm brings up a big issue for healthcare folks: How do you explain the nuance of the drug to potentially desperate patients and their families?

There’s little proof it works, but it seems to be mostly safe (except for the whole brain-swelling thing*). There’s no guidance for monitoring patients who take it. And, of course, Biogen is charging $56,000 a year for it —and it has to be taken forever. Oh, and it’s not even available yet.

“There are people that are so desperate, they’re going to try anything. I want to make sure that we’re doing it as safely as possible. We’re still in the process of figuring that all out. There were no guidelines yet released that help us understand the infrastructure we have to have in place.”

* “More than one-third of trial participants developed brain swelling and 17% to 19% had small bleeds in their brains.”

Obtuse psychology

Humans are so screwy… (How screwy are they?)

They’re so screwy, that mandating vaccines can backfire (according to German researchers) because people become like petulant children told to eat a new food. “If you tell me to eat it, it’s gotta taste awful.”

Vitamin D, opioids, and sun addiction

Among our many running themes is the importance of vitamin D. When I was in school, we learned in science* class that vitamin D deficiency led to rickets — full stop. Now we know better, and how little vitamin D can cause all sorts of issues.

The latest: A vitamin D deficiency can lead to cravings for opioids. Oh, and also for UV light.

If your reaction is “Wait, what?” you’re not alone. Read on. A Mass General study found it’s all about the endorphin.

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays (specifically the form called UVB), causes the skin to produce the hormone endorphin, which is chemically related to morphine, heroin and other opioids — in fact, all activate the same receptors in the brain.

So when you’re low on D, you’re low on the endorphin, and you might crave the sun. But it also raises your sensitivity to opioids (like being hungry makes the local bakery smell even better).

These findings […] suggest that addressing the common problem of vitamin D deficiency with inexpensive supplements could play a part in combating the ongoing scourge of opioid addiction.

Could it be time to consider adding vitamin D to more than just milk — kind of like we did with iodine starting in 1924?

* Back then it was called “natural philosophy”.

While you sleep, worms crawl in your head

Earworms, that is. “Involuntary musical imagery.” The songs you can’t get out of your head.

I would walk 500 miles…

A Baylor University researcher and team discovered that earworms in your head before you go to sleep can also persist while you sleep.

And I would walk 500 more…

In fact, they found, “individuals who frequently listen to music reported persistent nighttime earworms, which were associated with worse sleep quality.”

Just to be the man who walked a thousand…

The more you listen to music, the more likely you are to catch an earworm that won’t go away at bedtime. When that happens, chances are your sleep is going to suffer.”

…miles to fall down at your door.

ICYMI: Beech-Nut Recall

Not only is the company recalling its rice cereal baby food, it’s getting out of the rice-baby-food business altogether. It’s for the same reason: arsenic. It tends to contaminate rice more than other grains, and since the company can’t guarantee an arsenic-free supply (and isn’t in the baby-poisoning business), it’ll stick with other grains.

Click the link for the recall details.

Crazy non-pharma science story

Your smartphone is always listening, even when you’re not using it. So researchers from companies like Burger King, Coors, and Xbox had an idea: What if your phone could listen for when you fell asleep — maybe by tracking your smartwatch data, or just listening for snoring. And then, what if it quietly played ads designed to influence your bleepin’ dreams?

Not a joke. In fact, the possibility is serious enough that a group of sleep researchers signed an op-ed calling for some kind of regulation before it gets out of hand. (And we’re not just talking about, say, alcoholics or vegetarians.)

[Targeted dream incubation] advertising is not some fun gimmick, but a slippery slope with real consequences. Planting dreams in people’s minds for the purpose of selling products, not to mention addictive substances, raises important ethical questions. The moral line dividing companies selling relaxing rain soundtracks to help people sleep from those embedding targeted dreams to influence consumer behavior is admittedly unclear at the moment.