The researchers used data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to calculate annual overdose deaths from 2002 to 2021 among people aged 65 and older.
Overall, they found that fatal overdoses quadrupled from 1060 in 2002 (three per 100,000) to 6702 (12 per 100,000) in 2021, with the highest rates in Blacks (30.9 per 100,000).
In 2021, about 13% of overdoses were intentional, 83% were unintentional, 4% were undetermined, and less than 1% were homicide. Older women accounted for 57% of intentional overdoses and 29% of accidental overdoses.
Sharp Rise in Drug Overdose Deaths in Seniors – Medscape – Mar 30, 2023 — https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/990297?src=rss
Pharma
FDA Approves First Over-the-Counter Naloxone Nasal Spray (Scary News or What?)
Drug overdose persists as a major public health issue in the United States, with more than 101,750 reported fatal overdoses occurring in the 12-month period ending in October 2022, primarily driven by synthetic opioids like illicit fentanyl.
FDA Approves First Over-the-Counter Naloxone Nasal Spray — https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-over-counter-naloxone-nasal-spray
Can’t Get Adderall? (plus a bonus Scary Chart)
This shortage is complicated, and has several causes. Teva Pharmaceuticals, for instance, which is the largest producer, had problems with its factory. And yet, Teva today has Adderall to sell, as do many other producers, but the shortage persists. What is going on? I suspect that we aren’t hearing about one part of the problem. Monopolization. Indeed, monopolies often leads to shortages, which we’ve seen with baby formula, hospital medicine, ammunition, and military equipment. And they are a part of the problem here.
The Monopolies Behind the Adderall Shortage — https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-monopolies-behind-the-adderall?publication_id=11524&post_id=110279315&isFreemail=true
The opioid graphic will make a lot more sense when the read the entire article.
Treatment Resistant Geriatric Depression
Outbreak Linked to Eyedrops
An alarming outbreak of extensively drug-resistant bacteria linked to eye drops has now sickened 68 people across 16 states, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 16 people have been hospitalized, eight have lost vision, and four have had their eyeballs surgically removed (enucleation). One person has died, which was reported earlier.
The VIM-GES-CRPA outbreak strain is rare and has never been seen in the US before. Health officials think it was brought into the country in contaminated eye drops manufactured by Global Pharma, a Chennai, India-based manufacturer. The products were sold under the brand names EzriCare Artificial Tears and Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Eye Ointment, which were available nationwide via Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers.
68 now sickened, 4 lose eyeballs in outbreak linked to eyedrops — https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/more-people-lose-eyeballs-in-outbreak-linked-to-eye-drops/
Yikes!
Semaglutide for Weight Loss
Statin or Supplements?
So, which is most effective? Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic set out to answer this question by comparing statins to supplements in a clinical trial. They tracked the outcomes of 190 adults, ages 40 to 75. Some participants were given a 5 mg daily dose of rosuvastatin, a statin that is sold under the brand name Crestor for 28 days. Others were given supplements, including fish oil, cinnamon, garlic, turmeric, plant sterols or red yeast rice for the same period.
“What we found was that rosuvastatin lowered LDL cholesterol by almost 38% and that was vastly superior to placebo and any of the six supplements studied in the trial,” study author Luke Laffin, M.D. of the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute told NPR. He says this level of reduction is enough to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Statins vs. supplements: New study finds one is ‘vastly superior’ to cut cholesterol – https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/11/06/1134094540/statins-vs-supplements-new-study-finds-one-is-vastly-superior-to-cut-cholesterol
Sometimes diet and exercise alone are not enough to keep cholesterol in check. I currently take a low dose statin 10 mg daily. My test results from 09.27.22: cholesterol 197, HDL 71, LDL 102, triglycerides 69.
Oh, and continuing the theme of full disclosure the thing on my leg Image Challenge – November 2022 was MUD.
I’ll Have the Metformin and Liraglutide Please
After an average of four years of follow-up, the study found that participants taking metformin plus liraglutide or insulin glargine achieved and maintained their target blood levels for the longest time compared to sitagliptin or glimepiride. This translated into approximately six months more time with blood glucose levels in the target range compared with sitagliptin, which was the least effective in maintaining target levels. Treatment effects did not differ based on age, sex, race, or ethnicity.
However, none of the combinations overwhelmingly outperformed the others.
Two popular diabetes drugs outperformed others in large clinical trial — https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/two-popular-diabetes-drugs-outperformed-others-large-clinical-trial
BUT if you can Stay as Thin as You Can as Long as You Can maybe, just maybe you won’t develop DM2.
Omicron booster shots are coming—with lots of questions – Updated 9/2/22
The new shots target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants that most people are catching now. This double-barreled vaccine is called a bivalent vaccine. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/08/31/1120241293/fda-authorizes-first-revamp-of-covid-vaccines-to-target-omicron
For the BA.4/BA.5 boosters, the companies have submitted animal data. They have not released those data publicly, although at the June FDA meeting, Pfizer presented preliminary findings in eight mice given BA.4/BA.5 vaccines as their third dose. Compared with the mice that received the original vaccine as a booster, the animals showed an increased response to all Omicron variants tested: BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5.
Omicron booster shots are coming—with lots of questions — https://www.science.org/content/article/omicron-booster-shots-are-coming-lots-questions
Update 9/2/22
Some answers to commonly asked questions can be found in the Stat article.
On Thursday evening, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky signed off on the recommendation made earlier in the day by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, that the newly formulated vaccines be used.
Your questions on the new Covid vaccine boosters answered — https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/01/your-questions-on-the-new-covid-vaccine-boosters-answered/
What do we know about Covid-19 vaccines in under 5s?
How researchers and public health officials perceive the risk-benefit ratio of rolling out vaccines to under 5s varies around the world and depends on the impact covid-19 has had on that country. Sweden has had just a handful of fatalities in those aged under 18,6 and vaccines are still not available to children aged 5-11 years. But in Brazil the virus has killed an average of two children under the age of 5 each day7—a rate which equates to around one in every five deaths among under 5s worldwide. Understandably, doctors are keen to boost protection levels, fearful of the impact that future variants might have.
BMJ 2022;378:o1892 — https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o1892 (Published 23 August 2022)
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