Chronic Covid?

People who are hospitalized severe Covid-19 can seem to recover fully, but they’ll actually have a higher risk of death over the next 12 months — like 61 percent higher. (So found University of Florida researchers.)

The solution, according to those same researchers, is fairly simple: Keep them on steroids. Because it works:

This risk [of death] is reduced […] by 51% if anti-inflammatory steroids are prescribed upon discharge. We need to think of Covid-19 as a potentially chronic disease that requires long-term management.

Convention, simply

No fancy language or slick graphics. Here’s why you need to be at the Georgia Pharmacy Convention (June 9–12, Omni Amelia Island Resort):

• There’s a huge amount of CE in one place, with great speakers.
• Do the math: It’ll pay for itself with just a couple of industry connections or a few courses.
• It’s (probably) tax-deductible — let The Man help pay for your trip. (Check with your tax advisor to be sure)
• The location is just right — far enough to be “away” but close enough that it’s not a hike.
• The resort is amazing. If you’ve been, you know.
• It’s the perfect size: Hundreds of attendees and dozens and dozens of exhibitors means it’s big enough to make lots of new connections, but not so gigantic you feel overwhelmed.
• Come alone or bring the family. No one’s getting bored.

Click here for info and to register.

Help them get Paxlovid

If someone tests positive for Covid-19, he or she’s gonna want to get Paxlovid. But how? It’s not always easy to find. Help ’em out.

Good: NPR explains “3 ways to get COVID pills, if you’ve just tested positive.” It also includes links to resources, like finding a test-to-treat location.

Less good: You have to scroll waaaay down to get past the yada yada to the actually info. Scroll to “A prescription is the key” — that’s where it starts.

… but warn them of “Paxlovid mouth”

The latest Covid weirdness actually comes from Paxlovid — some people taking it report a metallic taste that can last for hours. They call it (as the headline says) “Paxlovid mouth,” and it can affect 6 percent of people taking it.

Pfizer knows about it and says “that most cases of Paxlovid mouth were ‘mild’ and ‘nonserious’.” It’s probably caused by a combination of a bitter drug and the fact that it’s secreted by the salivary glands.

Latest coffee news

This is more a confirmation of earlier studies, but it bears repeating: If you have cholesterol issues, you want to choose your coffee brew more carefully — especially if you’re a guy.

Coffee made without a paper filter contains more diterpenes; that’s what gives French press java its slightly oily appearance (and great taste). But diterpenes also raise serum cholesterol, so some folks should avoid it.

The latest study focused on espresso in particular, and Scandinavian researchers found something interesting: While both French press and espresso raised cholesterol, espresso raised it more in men than in women. (Filtered coffee actually raised women’s cholesterol more than men’s, but it was only a small amount.)

Side note: If you haven’t tried an Aeropress for coffee, you’re missing out.

Get yer diabetes prevention training here

Are you thinking of facilitating a National Diabetes Prevention Program group class? If so, remember that you need to complete a recognized training training program.

Good news! That very program is being offered by Emory’s Diabetes Training and Technical Assistance Center (sponsored by Georgia’s DPH). It’s a combination of self-training and live virtual sessions, and the whole process takes about four weeks.

Curious or interested? Start with the promotional flyer from the DTTAC to see the training dates for June.

Then complete the DPH Application form and complete and return the DPRP Capacity Assessment form to Tamiko Pickett at Tamiko.Pickett@dph.ga.gov.

Got questions? Contact Tamiko Pickett and she’ll help you out.

With calcium-channel blockers, nasal spray beats pills

Patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT — a kind of arrhythmia) found that an experimental etripamil nasal spray worked faster than oral CCBs when they had a sudden attack. Speed counts, obviously, and being able to reduce symptoms within 15 minutes (the median from the study) “could potentially avert some of the many emergency department visits made by patients with PSVT.”

The alternative to either dosage form is surgery — catheter ablation — which a lot of patients prefer to avoid.

“Before we end up putting somebody on daily therapy or doing an ablation, they may use this and be happy with it if they have a few episodes a year.”

Rinvoq for Crohn’s disease

If current treatments for Crohn’s diseases — typically anti-inflammatories or immunosuppressants — don’t work for a patient, a new option might be on the table.

AbbVie says its Rinvoq (upadacitinib to you and me) works a treat against Crohn’s disease in a phase-3 maintenance study. Those results, it said, “will be included in future regulatory submissions,” but that wouldn’t prevent any off-label use, would it?

Captain Obvious gets his shut-eye

“Limiting Resident-Physician Work Hours Improved Patient Safety Outcomes”

(It strikes the good captain that you could remove the words “Resident-Physician” and “Patient” and still be accurate. Pharmacists, pharmacy techs, pilots, truck drivers, mountain climbers, bomb makers….)

Drain the young

We know that fecal transplants from young mice can rejuvenate old ones. You can even do the same with blood.

So what else can we extract from the young so older people, er, mice can live longer and better?

How about cerebrospinal fluid? As a matter of fact, it works — and the paper comes from the student of the researcher who did the blood-transfusion study: “A week of infusions of young cerebrospinal fluid improved the memories of older mice.”

Don’t expect a New You anti-aging center to open up anytime soon, though:

Infusing the fluid of a young human into an older patient is probably not possible; extracting the liquid generally requires a spinal tap, and scientists say that there are ethical questions about how to collect enough cerebrospinal fluid for infusions.