Don’t get too excited

The headline: “Men who use Viagra are 25% less likely to suffer early death.”

The reality: The USC study was based on insurance claim data and death records, and it found that men who had filled at least one prescription for PDE-5is had a lower death rate and were less likely to suffer a major heart issue.

It showed correlation but nothing close to causation. As Forbes’s Bruce Lee (no relation) points out, the men who took ED drugs were the ones having sex — “typically you don’t take ED medications just for the heck of it”.

“[W]hen you are regularly having sex, there’s a good chance that you are already reasonably healthy. Sex is probably not the first thing that may come to mind when you are experiencing symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath.”

FDA proposes annual Covid shots

The FDA is proposing (to its own advisory panel) that Covid shots become an annual affair — each year, people would get a combo shot that included the original, OG Covid strain, plus whatever Omicron variant is currently in circulation.

[B]arring development of a significantly improved vaccine, periodic future updates […] will likely be needed to induce and maintain vaccine effectiveness.

The advisory committee will decide whether to recommend that shot-a-year plan (two shots for the immunocompromised) and also whether to update the first shot for unvaccinated people to include Omicron protection.

ICYMI: Another good reason to keep boosted

Getting Covid while pregnant increases the mother’s risk of death sevenfold. Or, if you want to sound scary, “…by 700%”.

And yet another

There’s evidence (out of Britain) of fetal brain hemorrhages linked to mom having Covid-19. The culprit is “a reduction in blood vessel integrity,” but it’s not clear whether it’s the virus acting directly, or because of the mother’s immune response to the infection.

Oh, and this applies to cases of “severe viral infection,” not the mother’s response to a vaccine.

Beauty and pre-term birth

Chemicals from beauty products can accumulate in the vagina and lead to pre-term birth. Yeah, let that sink in.

Researchers from Columbia and Penn “found that a handful of non-biological chemicals previously found in cosmetics and hygiene products are strongly associated with preterm birth.”

Originally they thought the clue to unexplained pre-term births (i.e., just about all of them) was in the microbiome, but then they looked at external sources as well. They found that strong association with a set of chemicals “that were significantly higher in women who had delivered early” including diethanolamine, ethyl-beta glucoside, tartrate, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.

None of them are produced by humans or the microbiome — but they’re all found in cosmetics and hygiene products.

“The good news is that if these chemicals are to blame, it may be possible to limit these potentially harmful exposures.”

New STI arrives

America’s first cases of a “novel strain” of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea has been reported in Massachusetts. Luckily it was treatable with ceftriaxone, but how long that will remain true is anyone’s guess.

This strain had previously been reported in the Asia-Pacific region and the UK, but these two unrelated cases in New England are the first in the US.

Overall, these cases are an important reminder that strains of gonorrhea in the US are becoming less responsive to a limited arsenal of antibiotics.

Nursing homes get anti-psychotic scrutiny

Are nursing homes giving residents unnecessary anti-psychotics, perhaps to keep them docile? CMS is going to start checking.

Beginning this month, CMS will conduct targeted, off-site audits to determine whether nursing homes are accurately assessing and coding individuals with a schizophrenia diagnosis.

Perhaps more notably, if a “deficiency” is found, HHS will post that information to its Care Compare website immediately, even if the facility disputes it. “Displaying this information while it is under dispute can help consumers make more informed choices when it comes to evaluating a facility.”