Pass the research on the left hand side

It seems 2021 has seen a record number of scientific papers published on the subject of … cannabis? (Apparently that’s “according to the results of a keyword search of the National Library of Medicine/PubMed.gov website.”)

It’s time to nominate someone!

Know someone who’s a bit extraordinary — at least in the field of pharmacy? (Georgia pharmacy, to be specific.) Why not nominate her, him, it, or them for a 2022 GPhA award?

Yep, it’s that time of year — time to start choosing the best of the best in Georgia pharmacy, and that means we need your nominations for the 2022 awards, which will be presented in style at the 2022 Georgia Pharmacy Convention in Amelia Island, Fla.

What awards, you ask? The details are at GPhA.org/awards, but here’s the list:

• The Bowl of Hygeia: You know it or you don’t — it’s among the most prestigious awards in pharmacy and the only one with a Wikipedia page.
• Larry L. Braden Meritorious Service Award: GPhA’s highest honor
• Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award (“Young” meaning in the profession for less than a decade)
• Excellence in Innovation Award for Pharmacy Practice
• Faculty Member of the Year
• Jim Bartling Student Pharmacist of the Year*
• Pharmacy Technician of the Year

Yes, these are GPhA awards, but nominations come from you, the members. That’s what gives them meaning. And it starts now.

Visit our awards page at GPhA.org/awards for more information on award criteria, and to make your nominations. The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2022.

* Note that, by tradition, the winner of this award is expected to buy a round drinks for the other student pharmacists attending the convention.

Who’s most at risk (and a surprising finding)

British researchers wanted to see who was most at risk of developing Covid-19 after exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Most of what they found isn’t all that surprising — risk factors include being Asian, living in an overcrowded home, visiting indoor public places, being overweight, and some others.

A couple of interesting findings, though: Age, sex, pet ownership, alcohol use, and “other medical conditions, diet or micronutrient supplement use” had no effect on risk … with one exception: atopic diseases.

It seems that ‘People with allergic conditions such as hay fever, rhinitis, or atopic eczema may have a lower risk of Covid-19 infection, especially if they also have asthma.’

A microdose of acid helps the depression go down

In the latest ‘largest study to date’ (in this case it’s of psychedelic microdosing), researchers at the University of British Columbia found that microdosing on psychedelics like psilocybin or LSD — i.e., giving yourself a dose large enough to have an effect, but too small to impair you — “can be a valuable tool for those struggling with anxiety and depression.”

They used an anonymous self-reporting system to track 8,500 people from 75 countries. And they found a lot of people “who are microdosing to treat their mental health conditions and enhance their wellbeing—rather than simply to get high.”

The point? People are doing this, it’s working, so it bears investigating.

Panic in the streets

The first case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been reported. You know what that means.

“Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies, rivers and seas boiling, 40 years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from the grave, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria ….”

“Change the function of living body parts”

Medical engineers at Indiana University had developed a way to “reprogram biological tissue” and turn it into … well, a different kind of biological tissue. For example, “change skin tissue into blood vessels and nerve cells.”

Oh, and it’s tiny. Nanoscale. It’s literally put inside a patient’s body and told to turn one kind of tissue into another — “a non-invasive nanochip device that can reprogram tissue function by applying a harmless electric spark to deliver specific genes in a fraction of a second.”

While it will eventually get into the hands of a James Bond villain, the IU researchers envision something more altruistic:

“For example, if someone’s blood vessels were damaged because of a traffic accident and they need blood supply, we can’t rely on the pre-existing blood vessel anymore because that is crushed, but we can convert the skin tissue into blood vessels and rescue the limb at risk.”

They plan to seek FDA approval for the technology within a year, while construction on their volcano fortress continues in the event of rejection.

Freud would have something to say

Using electronic cigarettes more than twice a day, an NYU study has found, increases a guy’s chance of having erectile dysfunction. (Smoking was already known to have this effect, but the researchers say the result is regardless of the person’s smoking history.)

Compared to those who never used ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems], daily users were more than two times more likely to report having ED (2.2 times in the full sample and 2.4 times in the restricted sample).

Oh, and the subjects had “normal body mass index and [were] without cardiovascular disease,” so don’t go blaming your bad date on not going to the gym.

ICYMI: molnupiravir’s halfhearted endorsement

An FDA advisory panel recommended an emergency-use authorization for Merck’s antiviral pill to treat mild Covid-19. The vote, though, was a close 13 to 10.

The pill only reduces the risk of hospitalization or death by about 30%, and it has to be used early. There are also potential side effects for pregnant women and kids, plus it has to be taken for five days straight. Oh, and Pfizer’s better pill, ritonavir, is coming down the pike.

Always read the fine print

“Daily prune consumption has a protective effect on men’s bone health” reads the headline. Heck, a study out of San Diego State University said so.

Odd, though, that a study about prunes would warrant a press release by a big-name PR firm like FleishmanHillard. What’s up with that? Ah: Turns out that the study showing prunes are good for you was sponsored by the California Prune Board.