Good news for people taking ADHD meds

Squirrel! Also, there doesn’t seem to be any cardiovascular risk to taking ADHD meds like Adderall or Ritalin— at least according to “a meta-analysis of 19 observational studies with more than 3.9 million participants” out of Sweden.

An earlier study older people had found an increased risk, but the thought is that older folks’ risk might be higher because of the other drugs they’re taking (and whatever interactions those might cause).

Is this the final word on stimulants and CV risk? Hahahahahahahaha … no.

Kids and iron: Supplement early

Having an iron deficiency is bad for kids’ brains; it essentially makes them not as smart as they could be. But here’s an even more important reason for parents to check their kids’ levels: University of Toronto researchers found that kids with chronic iron deficiency showed lower cognitive scores than their peers even a year after dietary and supplement intervention.

Urgent, urgent (but no emergency)

Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association want the White House to declare a national emergency over the widespread and growing waves of respiratory viruses — flu, RSV, and Covid-19 — that are filling hospitals.

But the Biden administration said, “Not yet.”

The organizations are hoping to get access to federal emergency funds to help alleviate capacity and staffing issues, but HHS said that at this point it’s helping on a case-by-case basis.

(CDC figures show that the pediatric hospitalization level in mid-November was peaked at “twice as high as any other season on record.”)

Quinoa and the gut

Like most people, you’ve probably been at a party where someone asked, “How does quinoa affect the gut microbiome of men?” If you were at a loss for an answer, good news: Now we know, thanks to a British study published in the journal Nutrients.

The conventional wisdom held that, as a whole grain that’s popular with hipsters, quinoa would benefit the gut biome and thus the body. But that turns out not to be the case.

The current study revealed that four weeks of consuming quinoa-enriched bread did not alter specific bacteria phyla and genera composition or the [diversity] of the gut microbiome.

So there’s nothing wrong with eating quinoa (provided you can pronounce it properly), but don’t expect huge health benefits.

Your post-Thanksgiving news story

“Bloating Common Issue Among Americans, Study Reports”

Cannabis in the news

Did you know that legalization of marijuana is “linked with increased alcohol drinking”?

Or how about that cannabis oil, unfortunately, doesn’t help improve pain or quality of life for cancer patients in palliative care?

In fact (despite claims from Skeeter at the mall) a new meta-analysis of randomized trials found that nope, there was “no significant difference between cannabis and a placebo for reducing pain.”

And young adults are quitting smoking (it’s down to 11% in the U.S.), while switching to pot — and so are their parents.

The bottom line: Cannabis studies get a lot of media coverage (according to Swedish neuroscience researchers).

Pfizer CEO’s oopsie

See if you can figure out where Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla crossed the line:

“Covid in schools is thriving,” he told the BBC in an interview a year ago. And that, he said, made him believe that Covid vaccines should be available to five- to 11-year-olds, as they already were in the U.S. “[T]here is no doubt in my mind that the benefits, completely, are in favour of doing it.”

Did you catch his big mistake?

A complaint filed with the UK’s Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority called those statements “disgracefully misleading” (kids don’t really need the vaccines, they said) — and the PMCPA seems to agree. Bourla apparently broke the UK’s rules…

…including by misleading the public, making unsubstantiated claims, and by failing to present information in a factual and balanced way.

Imagine how quickly social media would collapse if people here were punished for “misleading the public, making unsubstantiated claims, and […] failing to present information in a factual and balanced way.”

The conspiracy theories will see you now

If you’re tired of getting accurate information about Covid-19, you can always turn to Twitter. Elon Musk quietly ended the platform’s policy of removing medical misinformation, saying that freedom of speech also protects lying.

Most major companies have already pulled their advertising from the platform; the Twitter death watch continues.