Have your grain of salt handy

On the one hand, a new study (the “largest-ever study of ketamine therapy”) found that “at-home programs can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety with minimal side effects.”

89% of the participants reported improvement in their depression or anxiety symptoms, and 63% of participants experienced a greater than 50% reduction.

On the other hand, it was conducted by a company that provides … ketamine therapy.

But on the gripping hand, it was published in the respected and peer-reviewed Journal of Affective Disorders, and six of the 10 authors were not company employees.

GPhA’s 2022 Day at the Braves!

Let’s head out to the ball game! It’s Georgia Pharmacy Day at the Braves, when the Atlanta Braves take on the New York Mets, Sunday, October 2 at 1:35 p.m. — the last game of the season!

Go have a blast! Join the fun with your GPhA pharmacy friends — tickets are only $34 (plus Ticketmaster fees, of course). Click here to order yours!

Mets fans are even welcome (as long as they behave themselves).

Covid notes

Ticked off

Having had Lyme disease (or possibly anaplasmosis) increases your risk of contracting severe Covid-19.

Polish researchers found that patients with severe Covid-19 were more likely to have higher levels of antibodies targeting tick-borne bacteria, specifically Borrelia mayonii. “[I]ncreased levels of Borrelia-specific IgGs,” they said, “strongly correlated with Covid-19 severity and with the risk of hospitalization.”

Covid on ice

The Covid-19 virus can live on frozen meat or fish for at least a month. In fact, found the public-health researchers who did the study, “the viruses didn’t fare as well in refrigerated temperatures as in freezer temperatures.”

[T]heir findings are significant because SARS-CoV-2 can reproduce in the gut, not just in the respiratory tract where most people feel its effects.

The Long(ish) Read: CBD and pain

The story is old: Some traditional treatment works well, so scientists delve into TKTK and find the specific cause: Willow bark leads to acetylsalicylic acid; penicillium leads to penicillin.

Now comes CBD, which (if you believe the hype) can treat just about anything in man or beast. But let’s narrow it down to its painkilling properties … or, rather, let’s read about how two Harvard researchers are looking to find CBD’s painkilling mechanism and turn a “highly variable” substance into a useful (and non-addictive) painkiller.

Smile for the day