Yet another reason to drink caffeine

It may prevent kidney stones. Swedish researchers say they have proven (for now, anyway) that the more caffeine you have, the less your chance of developing kidney stones.

(Note: As usual, they interchange “coffee” and “caffeine,” so it’s not clear when the study is talking about coffee specificially, or about caffeine in general.)

The method is pretty funky, actually: Rather than rely on reports of caffeine consumption, they looked at genetics (“randomly allocated at conception”), how those genes affect the chances of kidney stones, and how caffeine affects those particular gene variants.

Reminder: GPhA/AIP is looking for a VP

The Academy of Independent Pharmacy of the Georgia Pharmacy Association is continuing to interview candidates for the position of vice president of the academy. The position is located in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

The vice president’s position is responsible for growing the AIP membership through continually increasing the academy’s value proposition. The position supervises up to five people, so prior supervisory experience is required. For further information about the position, please click here to review the job description.

If interested, please send your résumé or CV to asullivan@gpha.org, along with your salary history no later than October 29, 2021. References will be required if your résumé is selected for follow up.

Questions about the position may be sent to bcoleman@gpha.org.

‘Tis the season … for death

Once you take out a couple of factors — the pandemic panic and human behavior (e.g., crowding together in bursts, like Christmas parties or to watch the ACL World Championships) — it looks like Covid-19 is a seasonal virus.

Spanish researchers looked at the virus’s transmission rate based on the ambient temperature and humidity, and they’re confident that, at its core, Covid-19 is (or, rather, will be) a seasonal condition.

“Altogether, our findings support the view of COVID-19 as a true seasonal low-temperature infection, similar to influenza and to the more benign circulating coronaviruses.”

So yay — we can look forward to it every year!

Moderna is ready for kids

Moderna, not surprisingly, says its Covid-19 vaccine also works for kids. Its study is ongoing but “it plans to share the interim results with the FDA and global regulators soon.”

Red blood cells’ noble sacrifice

Once more, your middle school bio class was wrong. Red blood cells do more, it seems, than carry and delivery oxygen. They also fight infection. Unfortunately, that can cause problems — specifically, anemia.

UPenn researchers discovered this when trying to figure out the role red blood cells play during an infection, because so many seemed to disappear. It turns out they sacrifice themselves.

The short version: During an infection, red blood cells actually join the fight, expressing a protein (TLR9) that lets them scoop up scraps of DNA from injured tissues. The good news is that reduces inflammation. But in doing so, the blood cells’ shape changes — immune cells then see them as invaders and destroy them. Fewer red blood cells = anemia.

“Now that we know more about the mechanism of anemia, it allows us to look at new therapies for treating acute inflammatory anemia without transfusions, such as blocking TLR9 on the red blood cells.”

(Link above is to the news story. Want the full paper? Here you go.)

Captain Obvious got stuck

“Kaiser Permanente study shows people vaccinated against COVID-19 had lower non-COVID-19 death rates than people who were not vaccinated.” In other news, people who eat shown to be less hungry than those who don’t.

Please don’t start peddling scorpions

That said, Scottish and Egyptian researchers are testing whether scorpion venom can be used as a treatment for coronaviruses. Testing. This doesn’t mean they found a secret cure that the government is trying to suppress — just that, hey, ‘let’s see if there’s something there.’

Scorpion venoms contain a “fascinating cocktail” of biologically active peptides, many of which are very potent neurotoxins, while several have shown strong antibacterial and antiviral activities and are thought to play a role in protecting the venomous gland from microbial infection.

Two things to know about booster shots

“Here’s how to get a booster shot in Georgia — and who should get one” (from Georgia Public Broadcasting)

“COVID-19 Vaccine Billing and Reimbursement” for pharmacists (from NCPA — 4-page PDF)

Aspirin vs cancer — yes or no?

Ah, nuance. We hate it, deeply. We want simple, clear answers, but that’s not how life works.

So, should people take aspirin to help prevent colorectal cancer? The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is thinking maybe not. But Andrew Chan, director of cancer epidemiology at the Mass General Cancer Center, had the nerve to suggest that the answer ‘needs a dose of nuance.’

“We’ve seen too many examples where a one-size-fits-all approach fails. The clinical trials don’t produce the results we thought they would because we’re trying to apply something to a too-broad population. Cancer is complicated.”

I’m just gonna share this headline without comment

“Rise in teen girls with ‘tic-like’ behaviours could be linked to TikTok, doctors say”