DIY flu vax?

Patients may be able to give themselves the FluMist quadrivalent vaccine next year, if AstraZeneca’s request is approved by the FDA.

The company said it expects the FDA to decide on the vaccine by the first quarter of 2024, adding that it expects the vaccine to be made available for self-administration in the United States during the 2024-2025 flu season, if approved.

Diabetes treatment: The eyes have it

When you’re looking for a place to stick a device that help provide insulin, you probably wouldn’t think “in the eye.” That’s just what Swedish researchers did, though, and it wasn’t just because it sounds cool.

The miniature implants consist of a combo of insulin-producing islets of Langerhans and some electronic sensors, and they’re implanted between the iris and the cornea. Why there? First, the eye is “immune-privileged,” meaning it doesn’t have immune cells that will attack the device. Second, it’s easy for the Swedes to look into it (it being the eye and all) and see how the implant is doing.

The first tests on mice found that the implants work just fine for at least several months. It’s a proof of concept — now they want to see about adding the electronics to adjust the release of insulin as needed.

CDC: Ration the RSV vaccine

Due to shortages of the RSV vaccine — nirsevimab — the CDC is asking providers to ration their supply and only give the vaccine to the most vulnerable infants.

CDC recommends prioritizing available nirsevimab 100mg doses for infants at the highest risk for severe RSV disease: young infants (age <6 months) and infants with underlying conditions that place them at highest risk for severe RSV disease.

Captain Obvious is working overtime

Did they really need to do a study?

Drexel University released this bombshell: “Can We Trust Autism Information on TikTok? Not Always.”

[T]he research team concluded most of the information provided on TikTok appears to be misaligned with current clinical knowledge.

“Wearing an ‘I abuse drugs’ T-shirt” isn’t on the list

Canadian researchers have found a shocking list of “10 predictors linked to opioid overdose in chronic pain patients.”

• If they’re getting high-dose opioids
• If they’re getting fentanyl
• If they’re using multiple pharmacies
• If they’re using multiple prescribers
• If they have a substance use disorder
• If they have a history of opioid overdoses
• If they’re suffering from mental illness, depression, or bipolar disorder
• And the one that actually is worth noting: If they have pancreatitis

Get up and exercise

Who needs Daddy’s Little Helper? Apparently an effective alternative to Viagra is a bit of aerobic exercise^*. A new study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine …

…found that aerobic activities — such as walking or cycling – improved erectile function in all men with erectile dysfunction, regardless of body weight, overall health, or medication use.

And the worse the, er, problem, the more the exercise helped. On the standardized scale for this sort of thing, men with the biggest (?) issues reported an average improvement of 5 points with exercise and 4 to 8 points with Viagra or Cialis. So that’s pretty good.

This isn’t entirely new. Back in the Long Long Ago (2011), Nigerian researchers published a paper, “Effects of Aerobic Exercise in the Management of Erectile Dysfunction: A Meta Analysis Study on Randomized Controlled Trials” where they found the same thing.

^* “If I could get the aerobic exercise, I wouldn’t need the Viagra!” Ha ha.

Thanks, AIP members!

A big thank-you to all the AIP members who attended AIP’s fall meeting in Peachtree City! Check out some photos on AIP VP Jonathan Marquess’s Facebook post!

Safer bone marrow transplants … with potatoes

People who get a bone marrow transplant have a big risk of graft-versus-host disease (GCHD) — we’re talking 50%. You know what can help reduce that risk? The right gut bacteria.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Michigan found that the gut biome changes after a bone marrow transplant, “and that this change contributes to GVHD aggravation.” Specifically, their levels of butyrate go down.

How do you get butyrate levels up? Potato starch. People can’t digest it directly, but a specific gut bacteria can — and it produces butyrate. So add a potato starch supplement, make the right bacteria happy, and reduce the risk from GVHD.

So far they’ve confirmed that taking a supplement isn’t a problem. Now they’re beginning to see how much of a difference it’ll make for transplant patients.