Lyme vax update

Pfizer and Val­ne­va are very happy about the results from a phase-2 trial of their Lyme disease vaccine. Specifically, it was for a booster given a year after the initial shot.

Not only did subjects show “strong im­mune re­spons­es” from the booster (good for patients), but the trial shows that they’ll probably need an annual shot to keep up with the disease (good for the bottom line).

Goldilocks and the BP cuff

At-home sphygmomanometers^* are great for the home-health kit, but cuff sizes can be a big issue. How big? A new study out of Johns Hopkins found that “the standard arm-size ranges for these devices won’t appropriately fit millions of U.S. consumers.”

Yes, yes, mostly the cuffs are too small, but it points to a potentially bigger issue: Patients may not realize the fit is a problem and thus get erroneous readings. Some products come with multiple cuffs, while others (like one at Buzz HQ) include a coupon for a free larger cuff. If you’re selling them, it might be worth a word about accuracy.

^* I have to brag. I spelled that right on the first try. 

The Long(ish) Read: Diabetes and Dementia edition

People with type 2 diabetes who take SGLT-2 inhibitors are less likely — 35% less likely — to develop dementia than those who take DPP-4 inhibitors. (That’s what came out of a Korean study of 220,000 people with type 2 diabetes who were followed for about 2 years.)

Why would this be the case, though? What’s the connection? An Australian dementia expert looks into it.

5 is enough

When it comes to uncomplicated respiratory infections, a shorter course of antibiotics is probably all you need. There’s been mixed evidence supporting these shorter courses, so Dutch researchers decided to find the answer once and for all (until the next study, anyway).

What they found, in broad strokes, is that previous studies showed “moderate-quality evidence that 5 days of antibiotics is clinically non-inferior to a longer course” for either mild community-acquired pneumonia or acute exacerbation of COPD.

The number of the counting shall be five, though — ‘evidence for shorter durations was scarce.’

Potential big caveat — the source material the Dutchies used wasn’t great: “[T]he quality of the reviews was generally low and the quality of evidence varied between type of infection.”

Old antihistamine, new seizures?

Some kids are still given first-generation antihistamines — think chlorpheniramine maleate, hydroxyzine hydrochloride, or piprinhydrinate — usually for runny noses, itching, or, you know, to get them to fall asleep. But that might not be a good idea.

According to a study out of Korea, because these drugs cross the blood-brain barrier, they affect brain waves and result in a higher risk of seizures.

In particular, they can induce symptomatic seizures, affect electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and seizure thresholds in adults with inherent seizure susceptibility, and alter resting EEG activity.

An editorial accompanying the paper highlights the questions this study brings up, from “How should a relatively small risk translate into clinical practice?” to questioning whether newer antihistamines have similar effects and “Should antihistamines be avoided altogether in younger children?”

Gut check

We’ve often said that 95% of all diseases are either caused by inflammation or gut bacteria. Now Mayo Clinic scientists have developed a way to check #2. It can’t diagnose a specific disease, but it can analyze the bacteria and determine healthy vs. not so healthy with about 80% accuracy.

The process was simple in the age of AI: analyze 8,000 samples, tell the computer which belong to healthy people, and let it learn.

The tool, called Gut Microbiome Wellness Index 2, could detect even subtle changes in gut health, identifying whether a person may be progressing toward or recovering from a disease.

Because it’s AI-based, the researchers themselves don’t necessarily know what constitutes a healthy gut biome, just that the computer can sort it out for them.