Sleeping off addiction

Could opioid addiction be treated by … sleeping? Insomnia is linked to both stress and cravings, so Scripps Research researchers “wondered whether treating the insomnia associated with opioid withdrawal might help prevent relapse.”

To find out, they gave opioid-dependent rats an experimental sleep aid^* similar to suvorexant so they could get a good night’s sleep.

“The idea behind testing this treatment was that if people or animals sleep better during that withdrawal period, then when they wake up, perhaps they won’t feel so much craving and won’t be as likely to relapse.”

Well it worked. The rats that slept better not only didn’t show withdrawal symptoms, but they acted like they were no longer dependent on the opioids even when given the chance to take a hit. And it worked for days.

Weird side note: The treatment worked better for male rats. Why? Dunno. ‘More research is needed.’

* They don’t explain why they need to use an experimental drug. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hurricane Lee: Be prepared

On the off-hand you haven’t paid attention to the weather, now is the time to prepare for the (possible) arrival of Hurricane Lee. It’s already a category 4, the water is extra warm, and it’s headed for the east coast. Looking at you, Savannah. (It’s possible it will veer north, as these storms often do.)

The Board of Pharmacy may activate Policy 14, which loosens some restrictions on dispensing, using out-of-state pharmacists and technicians, and more. You can read about it here, in our 2019 post on Hurricane Dorian — we’ll repeat it if Lee looks like it’s going to threaten Georgia or nearby states.

Important: Keep up with the details on the Board of Pharmacy’s site rather than taking what we say at face value. To be clear: Policy 14 has not been activated, but it may be.

Students in the news

Shout-out #1: To UGA student pharmacists (and others) who helped bring some healthcare to the migrant workers who A) don’t have any health insurance and 2) pick the fruits and veg we all love to eat — a job no one else wants to do, especially in this heat.

Shout-out #2: To Mercer CoP P4 student Ashlea Gordon, named national vice president of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association. (She was Mercer chapter president for the 2022-2023 academic school year, too.)

Semaglutide’s latest latest trick

New weight loss drugs are good news for type 1 diabetics — dropping the pounds can go a long way to managing the disease.

But what if those drugs went even further? A new study out of the University of Buffalo found that “Treating newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes patients with semaglutide […] may drastically reduce or even eliminate their need for injected insulin.”

Considering that these drugs were originally meant to treat type 2 diabetes, this isn’t a huge shock — but it’s at least a surprise, especially the part about eliminating the need for insulin.

They think that because type 1 diabetics still have some insulin reserve, semaglutide stimulates that insulin secretion. But the study was small, so you know the drill: More research is needed.

Covid boosters coming real soon now

‘Knowledgeable sources’ say the FDA is about to approve this year’s Covid-19 boosters, which will then need to get CDC approval before hitting the streets. So if the sources are correct, it could be next week that shipments will arrive.

Side notes: Hospitalizations continue to rise and while the boosters have been shown to work against the new Pirola variant, they haven’t been tested against Fornax (FL.1.5.1), which is the latest Omicron subvariant and already accounting for 15% of US infections.

Lyme vax: Another small step

Pfizer/Valneva say their experimental Lyme disease vaccine has passed its first phase 2 study and “showed a strong immune response in both children and adolescents a month after a booster shot.”

Money from menthol

If for some reason the FDA doesn’t get around to banning menthol cigarettes (as it’s expected to), states would do better to levy higher taxes on them rather than ban them outright, at least according to a study out of the University of Washington.

The logic: If you ban them, people will just go across the border to buy them. But not as many people will travel just to save a few bucks, and the state can cash in on the tax revenue.

The Long Read: Origins edition

Check out the surprising origins of some of the drugs you work with every day.