If you have cancer, don’t eat peanuts

Cancer patients who eat a lot of peanuts risk having their cancer spread. No, really — that comes from University of Liverpool researchers gastroenterologists.

A protein in peanuts, they found, interacts with the endothelial cells inside blood vessels. They produce a couple of cytokines that make those endothelial cells stickier, “making them more attractive to the circulating tumour cells and thus potentially promoting metastasis.”

And that peanut protein also makes cancer cells stickier, making them more likely to form clumps and live longer while they circulate.

Georgia at 40

Meaning the state ranked #40 in the annual WalletHub list of “States with Best Health Care Systems.” It took into account 44 criteria covering cost, access (including how many healthcare professionals are practicing), and outcomes (from life expectancy to prevalence of various diseases).

Hurting Georgia the most were the state’s low percentage of insured adults and its high infant mortality rate.

No surprises: The top states were Massachusetts and Rhode Island; on the bottom were Alabama and Louisiana.

So much to learn

GPhA’s just added a whopping 20 new CE courses to our CPEasy lineup — that’s 20 more ways to get your ACPE-accredited instruction and meet those CE requirements from the comfort of your living room. (If your living room isn’t comfortable, you can try the nearest hotspot.)

From immunization and law updates to obesity and hep C treatment — and even medical marijuana — we’ve got you covered with classes that aren’t the same old, same old.

Head over the GPhA.org/cpeasy and check out the lineup!

Techs and interns can give flu shots

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has extended PREP Act coverage, allowing pharmacy technicians and interns (with proper training!) to give flu shots to adults as of August 4. They have to be under a pharmacist’s supervision, of course.

Before you start sticking needles in arms, though, NCPA has a one-pager detailing the requirements. And if you have trouble sleeping, you can read the entire “Eighth Amendment to Declaration Under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act for Medical Countermeasures Against COVID-19.” (Pro tip: Click here to skip to the good stuff.)

Speaking of flu shots…

Another study — this one a cohort analysis out of the University of Miami — has confirmed that the flu shot seems to provide at least some protection from Covid-19. Specifically, it reduces the chance of stroke, sepsis, and blood clots, and of a trip to the ER or ICU.

The analysis revealed that, while the risk of death didn’t change, those who had not had the flu shot were…

• 20% more likely to have been admitted to the ICU
• 58% more likely to visit the ER
• 45% more likely to develop sepsis
• 58% more likely to have a stroke
• 40% more likely to suffer from deep vein thrombosis

Less is more

When it comes to antibiotics for men’s UTIs, at least. A study out of the Minneapolis VA Health Care System found that giving seven days of ciprofloxacin (or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole) was just as effective as giving a 14-day course.

Fun fact:

[T]here are no formal guidelines for antibiotic treatment for UTIs in men. The Infectious Diseases Society of America recommends 3 to 5 days of antibiotics for uncomplicated UTIs in women, but, because of limited data, has not developed guidance for men.

How long do they last?

So how long do mRNA vaccines protect against Covid-19? The latest answer: At least six months after the second shot, according to Moderna, which says it found it was 93 percent effective at that point.

But … let’s not be so hasty says the company, whose R&D chief said he “expects a third dose of mRNA vaccines will ‘likely be necessary’ before the winter to keep people ‘as safe as possible’.”

What to blame for old age

Sure, the young ‘uns can run faster and longer, but there’s a price: old age, and the ravages thereof. Johns Hopkins researchers, in fact, found it’s all about a protein called CaMKII. On the one hand, it giveth power. On the other hand, it taketh away lifespan.

When CaMKII oxidizes, it provides more energy for young vertebrates to catch prey and or evade predators. Good stuff. But when that vertebrate gets older, that same power turns against us:

Elevated CaMKII activity has long been linked to tissue damage seen in heart failure, atrial fibrillation, cancer, lung and neurodegenerative diseases.

So what about anti-oxidants? Would those help reduce the CaMKII activity? Maybe a little. But “The scientists say that designing treatments to specifically target gene regulators such as CaMKII may work better.”

Found: Barometer, used

We know our bodies regulate blood pressure, meaning there’s some kind of internal barometer. But no one knew what, exactly, that barometer was … until now.

They had a name for it: “baroreceptor.” They figured it was in the kidneys, where renin cells release blood-pressure-regulating hormones. But what was signaling the renin cells?

It turns out the call was coming from inside the house all along. The baroreceptors (discovered University of Virginia researchers) were inside the renin cells themselves — organelles called “mechanotransducers.”

[W]hen the baroreceptors detect too much pressure outside the renin cell, production of renin is restricted, while blood pressure that is too low prompts the production of more renin. This marvelous mechanism is vital to the body’s ability to maintain the correct blood pressure. And now, after more than 60 years, we finally understand how and why.

Elsewhere: A Booster By Any Other Name edition

San Francisco General Hospital is offering boos— er, supplemental shots of the Pfizer or Moderna Covid vaccine to people who got the Johnson & Johnson shot.

“Potential benefit, no downside. To me, as we look at the future of this virus and now we’re facing a fourth surge, it does make sense.”