Some good news about this winter’s viruses

They might be battling each other. Well, interfering — enough so that no one of them can gain dominance for long because “One virus tends to bully the others.”

Although waves of each virus may stress emergency rooms and intensive care units, the small clique of researchers who study these viral collisions say there is little chance the trio will peak together and collectively crash hospital systems the way Covid-19 did at the pandemic’s start.

Diabetes: Kneel before Tzield!

The FDA has approved Provention Bio’s Tzield — the first drug (an injection) designed to delay (and in some cases prevent) the onset of stage 3 type-1 diabetes in patients with stage 2.

It’s being called a “pathbreaker” and of course a “game-changer.”

After more than four years…

  • 44% of patients receiving teplizumab went on to develop stage 3 type 1 diabetes, compared to 72% of placebo patients.
  • Those who developed the disease could have more than two years of extra time before the onset of stage 3.

(If you want to try making your own, the formula is C6462H9938N1738O2022S46.)

NSAIDs can backfire

Here’s a surprise: NSAIDs don’t help reduce osteoarthritis, according to a study out of the Radiological Society of North America. In fact…

The results showed no long-term benefit of NSAID use. Joint inflammation and cartilage quality were worse at baseline in the participants taking NSAIDs, compared to the control group, and worsened at four-year follow-up.

That’s not to say they don’t help with pain, but as far as the anti-inflammatory effects? That, says the paper’s author (from UC San Francisco, if you’re interested) “should be revisited.”

Could psilocybin and MDMA go legal?

Probably not legal, but they may be made available for some terminally ill patients, if a bi-partisan bill passes.

The Breakthrough Therapies Act […] would allow the Drug Enforcement Administration to make the necessary findings to reclassify breakthrough therapies such as MDMA or psilocybin as Schedule II drugs.

Right now they’re C-I, even though there now is some accepted medical use. (The DEA considers them as dangerous as heroin, LSD, and — gasp! — marijuana*.

* Also mescaline and peyote. Seems like the list hasn’t been updated in a bit.

Covid notes

Covid vaccines and periods

It’s been known for a while that the Covid vaccine affected some women’s periods, but it was mostly anecdotal. Now there’s actual data thanks to British researchers.

The gist: Yes, it does … a little. It’s meant a small increase in the number of women who have a very late period, and it’s doubled (from 7% to 14%) the number who had a heavier period.

The most important part, though: “[I]n all cases these effects were only temporary.”

(Link goes to a news story. If you’d like the study itself, it’s here.)

You really don’t want this thing

This is a case where I’ll just let the news summary do the talking: “Neuroimaging study reveals significant brain changes in areas associated with language comprehension, cognition, and circadian rhythm control six months after Covid-19 infection.”

Big variant, no treatment

The BQ.1.1 Omicron subvariant is one of the two dominant strains circulating in the U.S. right now — it makes up almost a quarter of infections. And it’s “resistant to all of the available monoclonal antibody treatments. Yes, all of them.”

So if you get it, hopefully you’re vaccinated (or previously infected) and that makes your body strong enough to fight it.

Compounding rules are changing

Do you do any compounding? Are you ready for the freshly updated USP Chapters <797>, <795>, and <800>? Pharmacy Times wants you to be, and it’s got an interview (video and text) with one Annie Lambert, the clinical program manager of clinical surveillance and compliance* at Wolters Kluwer Health.

“Every section of the chapters have been changed with both chapters <795> and <797>, even from the published drafts that we have been working on over the last year. But I think they can really be summarized by saying what were once best practices are now being held as standards.”

* She must have a very large business card.

Another vaccine idea

What if you could create a live, weakened virus for a vaccine, but tweak its DNA so it couldn’t replicate? Could that give you the best of both worlds — a powerful and safe vaccine against viruses like chickenpox and herpes … and any other virus that hijacks our DNA?

Rutgers microbiologists thought so. And they went and did it.

Once injected into lab mice, the weakened virus infects cells but didn’t spread. Over time, the mouse immune system produced sufficient antibodies to shut down the virus and eliminate the infection.

Only problem: It’s called a “live-attenuated, replication-defective DNA virus vaccine,” and you just know that anti-science types will be all over those scary, scary words.

Have your grain of salt ready

Almonds can help you lose weight … according to an Aussie study published in the European Journal of Nutrition — and funded by the Almond Board of California.