Cancer might lead to depression, but not the other way around

Good news for people with depression or anxiety: For all the bad things it can do to your body, at least it won’t increase your cancer risk.

That hasn’t always been clear. Some studies suggested a risk, others didn’t, so Dutch researchers decided to do a big ol’ meta-analysis of the data. By big we mean data from “18 prospective study groups with more than 300,000 adults from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Canada.”

The team found no associations between depression or anxiety and overall, breast, prostate, colorectal, and alcohol-related cancers during a follow-up of up to 26 years.

(There was a slight increased risk of lung cancer, but that all but disappeared when they adjusted for other risk factors.)

And there you have it … until the next study.

School’s back in session…

…and that means it’s time for the AIP staff to hit the streets and listen to our members.

AIP VP Jonathan Marquess and MSR Ashton Sullivan met with longtime friend and GPhA Bowl of Hygeia winner Ben Flannagan, RPh, at Lacey Drug in Acworth, GA. “It was great that Ben took a few minutes to talk with us — and ditto for his terrific staff!”

A step toward an Epstein–Barr vaccine

Most people carry the Epstein-Barr virus, which is usually benign. Sometimes, though, it acts up and leads to serious conditions like mononucleosis, some cancers, and notably multiple sclerosis.

Because of the way the Epstein-Barr virus hides in B cells, the body relies heavily on killer T cells to attack it rather than antibodies. If a vaccine is going to work, it’s those T cells it’ll need to train.

And what do you know, scientists at Australia’s QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute think they’ve done just that: created a vaccine against Epstein-Barr — one that “induces that killer T cell immune response as well as the neutralising antibody immune response.”

The big downside: This was a preclinical finding, so it’ll be a while before we start talking about an MS vaccine.

Dues renewal is nigh!

It’s almost time to render unto Mary that which is Mary’s. (Meaning Mary Ritchie, GPhA’s director of membership.) Your GPhA 2023–24 dues invoice will be coming to your mailbox next week, so keep an eye out.

And please, if you would be so kind as to send it back quickly, it’ll make Mary’s life a bit easier. Thank you!

Confusing drug names: They’re updating their list (over there)

Imagine a class with a Kaylee, Kayleigh, Kayley, and a Kaylie, and maybe a Hayley and Hayleigh to boot. Now imagine those are drugs … and patient’s lives are on the line. Thus you see why the Institute for Safe Medication Practices maintains a list of drug-name pairs that are easy to confuse — a list it just updated for the first time in four (for, fore) years with 80 new entries.

Is this clonazepam or lorazepam?

Older drugs like cefazolin and cefotetan have been confusing since the 1980s, and it’s even worse now with more drugs in their class, not to mention long-acting and high-dose versions of drugs or vaccines.

What’s to be done? There’s “tall man lettering” — using case and boldface to differentiate drugs (e.g., vinBLAStine and vinCRIStine). There’s writing the indication. And of course there’s e-prescribing … although with drop-down menus it’s still possible to make an error when, say, hydrochlorothiazide is right above hydroxychloroquine.

And there’s always the age-old practice of double- and triple-checking.

Covid continues to tick up

The latest data from the Walgreens Covid-19 index shows that test-positivity is starting to rise in a bunch of states; it’s now at 44.7% nationwide, the highest percentage since May 2022. Georgia saw its rate jump 9% in the past week. [insert foreboding music here]

Captain Obvious enjoys seeing the world

“Young people are more likely to fall while texting and walking”

The Long Read: Sexist Migraines edition

Women get migraines more than men — a lot more. Why is that? There are a lot of factors in play, explains a neurologist at the University of Colorado.

There are several factors […] These include hormones, genetics, how certain genes are activated or deactivated — an area of study called epigenetics — and the environment. All of these factors play a role in shaping the structure, function and adaptability of the brain when it comes to migraines.