Aspirin vs. diabetes

The ups and downs of low-dose aspirin continue. The latest comes from Australia’s Monash University, where researchers, after analyzing previous study data, determined that “low-dose aspirin could lower risk of type 2 diabetes in people over 65.”

Caveats! First, there’s the word could. Second, they say they aren’t sure if it affects people who already have diabetes. Third, there’s that big ol’ downside: The same study they reanalyzed found that “aspirin conferred a 38% increased risk of major hemorrhage in older adults.”

So the bottom line is that aspirin’s effects need a bunch more study.

Remember to renew!

You should have received your GPhA dues renewal info in the (paper) mail by now, so if you haven’t sent it in, here’s your gentle reminder to please do that so Membership Director Mary Ritchie can get a good night’s sleep.

If you don’t want to use a stamp, you can always renew online: Just head to GPhA.org/renew or…

Good news about Pirola (but…)

The latest Covid variant, Pirola (aka BA.2.86), might not be a big deal after all. Sure, it’s got plenty of mutations, but two US labs — as well as those in China and Sweden — have said it looks as if our immune systems can fight it off more easily than the various XBB strains going around.

The early results paint BA.2.86 as more of a paper tiger rather than the looming beast it first appeared to be, although that impression could change as more results come in.

Yay!

But wait:

While the focus has been on Pirola, it’s the Fornax (FL.1.5.1) variant, which currently causes about 15% of US infections, that might be a problem. In the lab, at least, it was the most immune-evasive. Only time will tell how bad it is and how well this season’s vaccines will work.

Stop the presses!

Kenvue (formerly J&J’s consumer division) has introduced a new pain-relieving cream it claims doesn’t smell funny or feel greasy. And it doesn’t just have one rollerball — it’s got three “uniquely designed rollerballs” to spread that lidocaine and menthol. Whee!

Boosting chemo

Some head and neck cancers can resist chemotherapy, but now British scientists have found a way to lower those defenses (or defences).

1. The cancer’s resistance is caused by two particular genes.
2. Turning off those genes’ expressions makes the cancer susceptible to chemo.
3. There are two substances “that could target the two genes specifically and make resistant cancer cells almost 30 times more sensitive to […] cisplatin.”

Those two substances: sirodesmin A (a fungal toxin) and carfilzomib (an existing cancer med). Next up will have to be human testing, but that’ll be easier because these aren’t new chemicals.

Keeping an eye on the animals

Canadian researchers were curious about how Covid-19 is transmitted from humans to animals (and possibly back again). So off they went to look at the sequenced viral genomes. What they found:

• Humans transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to cats, dogs, minks, and deer — a lot.
• Cats and dogs rarely gave it back.
• Minks, though, gave it back plenty of times, likely as revenge for the whole “coat” thing.
• The virus collects the most mutations in deer, but it’s not clear if those mutations might affect how it transmits to humans.