Clean house, live longer

Researchers at Cold Spring National Laboratory claim they’ve found the Fountain of Youth — or, rather, that they’ve created it.

What they did was reprogram CAR-T^* cells so they attack the senescent cells in a mouse’s body. Those are the cells that have worn out and no longer replicate, instead building up like grandma’s plastic-tray collection until they interfere with normal functions and start causing inflammation.

The CSNL folks’ treatment is like clearing out grandma’s kitchen cabinets while she’s distracted with “Wheel of Fortune” reruns. But it doesn’t have to be grandma:

“If we give it to aged mice, they rejuvenate. If we give it to young mice, they age slower. No other therapy right now can do this.”

The cool thing about this technique is that T cells have a long memory, so it’s like hiring a permanent cleaning crew rather than doing a one-time scrubbing. “That single treatment can protect against conditions that commonly occur later in life, like obesity and diabetes.”

^* Yep, those are the same CAR-T cells used to fight cancer.

Congrats x 4

Three grads of the UGA College of Pharmacy had their businesses named to the university’s 2024 UGA Bulldog 100 list, “which recognizes the 100 fastest growing, alumni-owned businesses.”

So a big GPhA congrats to…

• Starr Clark ’87 and Ben Ross ’08 — Clark Drug Company, Waynesboro
• Dorris and John Hyer ’12 — King’s Hometown Pharmacy, Blairsville
• Naveed Tharwani ’11 — SynerGrx, Chamblee

And while we’re at it….

A high-five for Jill Augustine, associate professor (and director of assessment) at Mercer’s College of Pharmacy who was named a 2024 APhA – APRS fellow. Nice going!

Covid, women, and the S word

Warning: This story involves sex. If that bothers you, you might want to skip to the next one.

Ladies, here’s another reason you don’t want Covid — or worse, long Covid: It can lead to sexual dysfunction.

A study led by Boston University found that by a host of measures having Covid at any point isn’t good for your sex life. It’s not just a problem while you’re sick (obviously) but even going forward. It’s the viral gift that keeps on giving.

But long Covid is the real problem. Women who have had Covid at least once had lower sexual function than those who never had it, but at least they were still “functional^*”. Women who had long Covid, though, scored much lower on the Female Sexual Function Index.

“Covid-19 infection may be associated with impairment of both cognitive and physiological aspects of sexual function.” Just as the body and mind might take some time to get back to firing on all cylinders when it comes to work, study, and exercise, the same may apply to sex.

^* Based on “levels of desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction.” 

ICYMI

Eight lots of Robitussin have been voluntarily recalled for microbial contamination. If Haleon hasn’t been in touch, the link above has the lot numbers to watch for.

Most people don’t rebound from Ozempic

The anecdotal evidence has hinted that people who take GLP-1 drugs to lose weight will start putting that weight back on as soon as they stop taking the meds. But a new study out of Epic Research found that’s not the case.

Two teams studied more than 20,000 patients who lost at least 5 lbs. (⅓ stone) on semaglutide and then stopped taking it for at least a year. The big news: “a majority (56.2%) of patients either remained around the same weight they were at when stopping the medication or continued to lose additional weight.”

Yep — they lost additional weight. Only about 18% regained the weight they had lost. The chart breaks it down:

Results for liraglutide were almost identical. This means patients might be able to use Ozempic or Wegovy to lose a chunk, then pinkie-promise to eat smart and get some exercise to keep the weight off.

Autism, anxiety and … propranolol?

Good ol’ propranolol, the blood pressure med, can also reduce anxiety for kids on the autism spectrum. Neuroscientists at the University of Missouri found this after following 69 patients over 3 years.

Compared to a placebo group, the participants who received propranolol showed significantly reduced anxiety levels at their 12-week check-up appointments while receiving the medication.

It didn’t change the other effects of autism, such as social communication skills, but reducing anxiety was pretty good on its own. It was admittedly a small study, so the authors admit, “This will need confirmation in a larger multicenter trial.”

ACA signups

Georgia is one of 12 states that saw more than a 45% increase in Obamacare-marketplace enrollments for 2024. In fact, it was the third year in a row of record enrollment thanks to the pandemic and Congress increasing subsidies for low-income patients.

This year’s big jump in particular is due to the number of people kicked off Medicaid last year as part of the post-pandemic ‘winddown’; almost a quarter of enrollees were new to the marketplaces this year.

Elsewhere/ICYMI: Pennsylvania Ave. edition

The Defense Department was a bit unhappy with what it found at the White House pharmacy back in 2018. It just released the report from its inspector general. (Link is to the news story. Click here for the report itself (PDF).)

We found that the White House Medical Unit provided a wide range of health care and pharmaceutical services to ineligible White House staff in violation of Federal law and regulation and DoD policy. Additionally, the White House Medical Unit dispensed prescription medications, including controlled substances, to ineligible White House staff.