Lyrica danger

British health officials are warning pregnant women to stay away from Lyrica, aka pregabalin. Why?

A recent study in four Nordic countries of over 2,700 pregnancies found that 5.6% of babies born to women who took pregabalin in the first three months of pregnancy had birth abnormalities. That compares to 4.1% of babies whose mothers did not use pregabalin.

Although the pregabalin-abnormalities link wasn’t confirmed, the risk and potential impact were both high enough to flip the “Err on the Side of Caution” switch to On.

(In the U.S., the FDA’s warning label for Lyrica used to say that it is “not known if Lyrica will harm your unborn baby.” But that was changed to “Lyrica may harm your unborn baby.”)

Consumer trends

Drug Store News reports how pharmacies (and other retailers) are seeing higher demand — and making more shelf space for — an … unexpected class of products.

It’s thanks to a combination of pandemic lockdowns, better online information, Millennial demand, and the fact that “Consumers are embracing a holistic approach to health and wellness.”

PSA: Board of health meeting

In case you feel like checking it out, here’s a reminder that the Georgia Board of Public Health will be holding its next public meeting on Tuesday, May 10, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM via Zoom.

It’ll cover issues including pediatric hepatitis, fentanyl and overdoses, a Covid testing update, and of course the ever-popular “Closing remarks.”

Covid-19 quickies

Dairy law, overdose prevention

Healthcare advocates, concerned about fentanyl poisonings, are hoping Governor Kemp will sign the Georgia Raw Dairy Act. Why? Because at the very end of that bill is a provision that would make fentanyl test strips easier to access by adding a sentence to the Georgia Controlled Substances Act:

“…any testing equipment used to determine whether a controlled substance has been adulterated and contains a synthetic opioid shall not be considered a drug related object.” (Emphasis ours.)

That one small change would ensure that fentanyl test strips are no longer considered drug paraphernalia under Georgia law, and make them easier to distribute.

Long Covid is long

Long Covid symptoms — including breathing troubles, fatigue, and “brain fog” — don’t go away quickly for the sickest people. In fact, fewer than 1 in 3 hospitalized patients are fully recovered after a year. That comes from a study of patients from 39 British hospitals.

Just 26 percent reported a full recovery after five months, and that number rose only slightly to 28.9 percent after a year.

Boosters for the littlest

Both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have asked the FDA to approve their Covid vaccines for children under 6.

Covid is rising

…but it doesn’t seem to be surging. Still, the numbers are going up in most of the country — not surprising as mask requirements are removed. Good news: The numbers are still going down in Georgia … for now.

Of course, as the Atlantic (“World’s Most Depressing Magazine”) points out, there could be a heck of a lot of unreported cases thanks to home testing — an “Invisible Covid Wave.”

Lupus breakthrough

Sometimes it is lupus.

A Spanish girl — just 7 years old — contracted lupus. Unlucky for her, but lucky for medicine: Her sudden onset meant the cause was almost certainly genetic, and that allowed a team of mostly-Australian, mostly-immunologists to determine exactly what that cause was.

It turns out to be a single mutation on a single gene — TLR7, which is on the X chromosome (and thus explains why women and their two Xs get lupus more often than men).

The mutation (named “kika” by the girl) isn’t the only cause of lupus, but finding it — and directing research to the TLR7 gene — is a major breakthrough.

“While it may only be a small number of people with lupus who have variants in TLR7 itself, we do know that many patients have signs of overactivity in the TLR7 pathway. By confirming a causal link between the gene mutation and the disease, we can start to search for more effective treatments.”

Elsewhere

Michigan tackles insulin

Michigan is considering going the way of California and producing its own generic insulin for its citizens if manufacturers — who have jacked up the price for decades — won’t sell it to the state at cost.