A vaccine for … aging?

Senescent cells accumulate like zombies — dead but not, and interfering with the living. So why not convince the immune system to attack them?

In other words, why not develop a vaccine to clear out dead cells so the living ones can keep doing their jobs?

That’s what Japanese researchers did, publishing their results in Nature Aging.

[T]hey developed a vaccine against senescent cells using a protein that is only expressed by these cells. Then, they used this vaccine to eliminate senescent cells in mice and observed significant improvements in both the normal and disease-causing effects of aging.

It’s not quite a vaccine against aging, but if it works for humans, taking out the trash might be a simple way to help people live longer.

Hey, pharmacy techs!

Your chance to get some excellent training in immunization delivery is only a few weeks away! We couldn’t come up with a fancy name, so it’s “Immunization Delivery Training for Pharmacy Technicians,” — a 6.0 hour CE program consisting of both home-study and live training.

And yes, it’s approved by PTCB to help you get that spiffy Immunization Administration Certificate.

That live training is on Saturday, February 19, at GPhA’s North American Headquarters in Sandy Springs. Space is limited, so click here to get the details and sign up now!

Anti-shingles, anti-dementia?

Here’s an unexpected benefit: The shingles vaccine seems to reduce the odds of a person getting dementia. Looking at data for more than 200,000 seniors, researchers at Saint Louis University found the correlation, although they aren’t sure what the mechanism is.

In fact, they say, it may not be the shingles vaccine. It could be vaccines in general — if you got the shingles shot, you probably got a lot of other vaccines during your life…

…which trains the immune system to respond to bacterial and viral threats and prevents chronic inflammation and neurotoxicity.”

What a short, normal trip it could be

We’re learning more and more that psychedelics can help depression — a bit of psilocybin or LSD might cure what ails ya.

The downside, of course, is that some trips are “Yellow Submarine” and others are “Eraserhead.” In fact, the trip is a side effect — it’s not necessary to the treatment.

Now a group of Chinese biochemists say they’ve separated the “antidepressive effects from those that cause hallucinations.” Result: new compounds that can relieve depression without the hallucinations.

Overdose crisis — the next phase

Fentanyl was bad enough — so much stronger than other opioids that even addicts weren’t prepared for its punch. Now it’s gotten worse (apparently) as medical examiners are finding two new drugs making appearances.

Just as fentanyl was mixed with, say, heroin, these two — para-fluorofentanyl and metonitazene — are being mixed with fentanyl.

Here, have a scary paragraph:

“These (victims) just crumple and collapse. Frequently they don’t even inject the full syringe” before overdosing, said [Dr. Darinka] Mileusnic-Polchan, who leads the medical examiner’s office in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Interesting tidbits: A) If metonitazene sounds familiar, it was developed as a painkiller in the 1950s but never authorized. B) Yes, naloxone works against these overdoses, but you gotta be fast and you’ll probably need to use a lot.

The gift that keeps on giving

About 5.8 million more Americans have health insurance this year, as Obamacare enrollment set another records with 14.5 million total signups.