With Omicron, Moderna’s in the same boat

The latest line on the Omicron vs. Moderna cage match sounds just like Omicron vs. Pfizer: Two shots are a lot less effective against the omicron variant than against Delta, but a booster seems to bring antibodies up to speed.

How’s your B12?

Got patients with depression? You may want to suggest either vitamin B12 supplements, or that they get a blood test for B12.

Irish researchers found that a low level of vitamin B12 “is associated with a significantly greater risk of depressive symptoms“. How significant? A 51 percent greater chance of depression than if you had normal levels. So, yeah, quite a difference. (And folate levels? No effect on depression.)

Good flu news

• The season is mild to moderate so far (except in New Mexico for some reason).
• Moderna has good results from its phase 1 study of an mRNA flu vaccine. If it’s ever approved it will still be needed every year, but it will be quicker and cheaper to produce than today’s egg-based vaccines.

“Innovation”

Pharmaceutical companies have a ton of cash these days, so they’re investing it into research and development. Ha! Just kidding! They’re planning to merge and acquire.

Pfizer plans “to be very active in dealmaking, and we certainly have the ability to do that,” Pfizer executive Aamir Malik said on an investor call.

In unrelated news, “About 30 percent of Americans delayed medical care for a health problem in the last three months because of concerns about the cost”.

And a new Gallup poll finds that “Nearly one in five adults (18%) report that there has been at least one time in the prior 12 months when they or a family member skipped prescribed medicine to save money.

Cannabis and seizures

As marijuana rules relax around the world, more research is coming out on what exactly cannabis can do, besides increase sales of Doritos and Girl Scout Cookies. The latest result comes courtesy of British neuropsychopharmacologists, who found that “Epileptic seizure frequency fell by 86% in kids treated with whole plant medicinal cannabis.”

What’s of note here: None of the 10 kids treated had responded to conventional treatment, and two had even tried CBD oil. So the researchers gave them the full Monty — whole-plant cannabis, which includes THC, CBD, “other neuroactive cannabinoids, and molecules such as terpenes.”

Monthly seizure frequency reduced for all 10 children by an overall average of 86%. […] Parents and carers reported significant improvements in the health and wellbeing of their children, including in sleep, eating, behaviour and cognition after they started to take whole plant medicinal cannabis products. Only a few minor side effects, such as tiredness, were reported.

The 12-month arthritis warning

A full year before they’re diagnosed, people who will soon learn they have rheumatoid arthritis will already be 30 percent less productive at work. So found Dutch researchers, who also noted that there wasn’t a change in absenteeism — just how much pain people were in while they worked.

King Phillip Came Over from Germany, Stoned

Once upon a time, the “tree of life” was simple: “plants,” “animals,” and “humans”. But these days it’s not only bigger, but a heck of a lot more complex. To that end, the British Ecological Society launched OneZoom — a dauntingly huge and detailed visualization of all life that we know of today.

To get an idea of how huge the tree is, search on “ladybird beetles” from the top of the tree and let the animation take you through the layers. (You’ll want to view it on your computer, not your phone.)

And if you have some spare cash lying around, for £75 you can sponsor a single life form.

[insert middle finger joke here]

Ladies, get out your rulers — it’s time to measure your fingers. Fun fact out of Austria: The longer your ring finger is compared to your pointer (i.e., the lower your 2D:4D ratio), the stronger your grip is likely to be. What you can do with this information is anyone’s guess.

ICYMI: Suicide prevention song

A study just published in the British Medical Journal found that, since the debut of Logic’s song “1-800-273-8255,” there’s been a notable increase in calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline — and a reduction in suicides. That was especially true after the song was featured on the MTV Video Music Awards, and at the Grammy Awards.

The Long Read™: Too Much of a Good Thing edition

The FDA approved Zimhi and Kloxxado, two higher-dosage forms of naloxone (injection and nasal spray, respectively). So why are overdose-prevention organizations unhappy?