Stopping migraines before they start

A study funded by AbbVie found that its CGRP inhibitor Ubrelvy (aka ubrogepant) can stop a migraine from progressing if you take it as soon as the early warning signs appear.

About 24 hours after taking the pill, 65% of those who took ubrogepant reported that they had little to no migraine symptoms, compared to 48% of those who took a placebo.

Have you renewed your GPhA membership yet?

Because today, August 31, is, like, technically the deadline. Head over to GPhA.org/renew if you haven’t, lest someone have to take … measures.

Keeping the elderly upright

Here’s a surprising correlation: Giving older people antidepressants (specifically bupropion or escitalopram) can reduce their risk of falling — that is, if they have depression.

A study out of the University of Pittsburgh of 100,000 Medicare patients found that those given bupropion (Wellbutrin) had a 26% lower risk of falls, while those given escitalopram (Lexapro) had a 17% lower risk.

Sure there were concerns of drowsiness as a side effect, but the researchers say the risk of untreated depression is worse. And yes, it’s the meds — psychotherapy didn’t help with falls.

Express Scripts pulls Humira

Cigna’s Express Scripts PBM won’t pay for Humira starting next year. Following CVS Caremark’s lead, it’s “removing branded Humira from its largest commercial formularies come 2025 in favor of biosimilar options from Teva, Sandoz, and Boehringer Ingelheim.”

A different kind of breathalyzer

The newest entry (that we know of) into the world of wearable health-monitoring devices is a smart mask that monitors your breath for respiratory ailments like asthma, COPD, and post-Covid infections. In case you were unaware that you had asthma, COPD, or a post-Covid infection.

What the Caltech engineers who made it say makes this mask different is that it actually “can analyze the chemicals in one’s breath in real time.”

Snark aside, obviously it’s not meant to detect whether you have one of those conditions, but rather whether it’s acting up or if your medication is working. It’s currently in proof-of-concept stage, but the materials to make it cost about a buck per mask.

While not called a game-changer, the Caltech folks do call it “a new paradigm.”

Under 30? ID, please

ICYMI, the FDA has a new mandate: Retailers must verify the age of anyone under 30 when they try to buy tobacco products — until now it was under 27.

That means you have to look at someone and think, “Do they look under 30?” rather than “Do they look under 27?”

GLP-1s’ next trick

They might reduce the risk of glaucoma. A study out of the University of Utah found that after 1–3 years “Patients treated with a GLP-1RA agonist had a 41-50% lower risk of developing primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension than those taking metformin. (Earlier this year a group of those shifty Danes found something similar.)

Want some science? Here you go:

The agents have been shown to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, improve neuronal survival and function by activating signaling pathways to enhance cellular resistance and reduce apoptotic cell death, and mitigate inflammatory responses in the retina.

The Long Read: Stuck in the Middle

Sandwiched neatly between type 1 and type 2 diabetes is … anyone? That’s right — type 1.5 diabetes. Two Aussie boffins explain what that means.