When antibiotics fail (even though you’d think they would work)

If a patient has a bacterial infection in the lower lungs, antibiotics would seem to be a good choice to treat it.

Wrong.

Researchers from Georgetown, the University of Wisconsin, and UGA found that that giving antibiotics to treat a cough — even when it’s caused by a bacterial infection — usually doesn’t work.

The antibiotics prescribed in this study for lower-tract infections were all appropriate, commonly used antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. But the researchers’ analysis showed that of the 29% of people given an antibiotic during their initial medical visit, there was no effect on the duration or overall severity of cough compared to those who didn’t receive an antibiotic.

Combined with simply not knowing whether a cough is bacterial or viral (and of course the whole overuse-of-antibiotics concern) it’s probably best to use “Basic symptom-relieving medications plus time.”

Drug shortages set new record

Drugs in shortage have hit their highest level since 2001, according to data from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists — that’s as far back as it tracked those numbers.

Most med­i­cines in ac­tive short­age at the end of March were cen­tral ner­vous sys­tem drugs, with 66 on the list, fol­lowed by an­timi­cro­bials at 43. Round­ing out the top five are hor­mon­al agents (34), chemother­a­py (32) and flu­ids and elec­trolytes (25).

Until the president is willing to press the big red “Lower Drug Prices” button on his desk^*, there’s a lot of blame and speculation going around — it’s almost as if there are several issues at work. The DEA’s opioid reaction of tightening restrictions are a part. Wholesalers are a part. Drug companies are a part. You get the picture.

Here’s an interesting tidbit: “[A] vast ma­jor­i­ty (60%) of man­u­fac­tur­ers told the Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah Drug In­for­ma­tion Ser­vice that they do not know or re­fused to pro­vide a po­ten­tial rea­son for the short­ages.” The 40ish percent who did reply assigned blame equally to supply/demand, manufacturing issues, or “business decision.”

^* It’s right next to the “Lower Gas Prices” button.

In a related story….

One of the issues with drug shortages is the competing priorities: Independence from Chinese manufacturers and an uninterrupted supply of critical meds.

For example, one of the Chinese companies that Congress is investigating for its ties to the Chinese government also happens to make “blockbuster drugs for the American market that have been hailed as advances in the treatment of cancers, obesity and debilitating illnesses like cystic fibrosis.”

No simple answers, huh?

Supplements for schizophrenia?

A new study out of Iran found that a combination of probiotics and vitamin D “significantly improves cognitive function in schizophrenic patients.”

It was a small study (69 patients) based on the idea that both “good” gut bacteria and vitamin D can regulate the kind of inflammation that might be associated with schizophrenia.

We say “might” because the causes of schizophrenia still aren’t clear. (“It has been suggested that anti-inflammatory strategies can be effective in the treatment of schizophrenia.”) They also suggested that “In the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, vitamin D deficiency is an important factor.”

This is one of those studies that gets put in the ever-growing pile of “Data that might lead to a path that leads to a treatment.”

Let’s applaud these scientists

We might be on the cusp of a ia vaccine. It’s still in the early-trial stage, but UK infectious-disease researchers — with help from some of those shifty Danes — have developed “CTH522,” which uses and outer membrane molecule of the Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria to create an immune response.

Chlamydia, as you probably know, is the most common STD in the country and is easily treatable … if it’s found. It usually doesn’t present symptoms in women, but it can cause a lot of issues including vision loss and the inability to get pregnant. And with STD rates skyrocketing in these parts, a vaccine would be a Very Big Deal.

Still, the vaccine candidate is very much in the early stages, but the fact that it exists at all is good news.

Stopping flu’s deadly side

In addition to all its other issues, the flu causes collateral damage to lung tissue — potentially life-threatening damage. Now, though, scientists at four major research institutions^* have developed a drug that not only protects against that lung damage, but also “seemed to improve the adaptive response against the virus.”

Well, in mice at least.

Still, the drug “UH15-38,” removes one of the deadliest aspects of the flu for those mice: the inflammation that permanently damages the lungs.

Some inflammation is good, as it means the immune system is in gear. But too much, obviously, can be a big problem. Here comes the science:

The collaborating scientists achieved a Goldilocks amount of inflammation using clever chemistry. Their new drug inhibited one part of a major inflammation protein in immune cells: Receptor-Interacting Protein Kinase 3 (RIPK3). RIPK3 controls two cell death pathways in response to infection: apoptosis and necroptosis. Necroptosis is highly inflammatory, but apoptosis is not. Both pathways are used in the antiviral response. UH15-38 was designed to prevent RIPK3 from starting necroptosis while maintaining its pro-apoptotic properties.

Even better, unlike current flu treatments (i.e., Tamiflu), UH15-38 works even if taken 5 days after initial infection.

^* Fox Chase Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of Houston

Bad chemical romance

If your garage is filled with a variety of chemicals — old paint, car fluids, that rusted can of something of Uncle Sonny’s — you might be increasing your risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aka ALS^*.

University of Michigan researchers knew that exposure to heavy-duty toxins at work was dangerous, but when they looked at home storage (i.e., in the garage), they found that even casual woodworkers and gardeners were at risk.

Through statistical analysis, they found that the storage of chemicals — including gasoline and gasoline powered equipment, lawn care products, pesticides, paint and woodworking supplies — were significantly associated with ALS risk.

The good news is that this only applies to attached garages. Detached ones are only risk if you spend too much time there.

^* Once called “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” until we learned that it isn’t what he actually had.