Category: Drugs
Measles cases surge worldwide, infecting 10.3 million people in 2023
An estimated 107,500 people, mostly children younger than 5 years of age, died due to measles in 2023.
Scientists Fear What’s Next for Public Health if RFK Jr. Is Allowed To ‘Go Wild’
Should Kennedy win Senate confirmation, his critics say a radical antiestablishment medical movement with roots in past centuries would take power, threatening the achievements of a science-based public health order painstakingly built since World War II.
New study suggests weight loss drugs like Ozempic could help with knee pain. Here’s why there may be a link
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has suggested semaglutide can improve knee pain in people with obesity and osteoarthritis. So what did this study find, and how could semaglutide and osteoarthritis pain be linked?
Bird flu detected in pigs – here’s why virologists are concerned
We don’t yet know if the pig was actually infected or if it had just snuffled up some contaminated material from the birds. At the moment, this particular outbreak doesn’t seem to have spread into any other pigs.
CDC Recommends Second Dose of 2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccine for People 65 Years and Older and for People Who are Moderately or Severely Immunocompromised
The recommendation acknowledges the increased risk of severe disease from COVID-19 in older adults and those who are immunocompromised, along with the currently available data on vaccine effectiveness and year-round circulation of COVID-19.
Health News Headlins
Weight-loss drugs for stroke prevention – Harris’ “At-home Medicare” proposal – Infant deaths have risen after Dobbs – Pink Cocaine
Do IUDs cause breast cancer? Here’s what the evidence says
For every 10,000 women, this study suggests we might see an extra 14 cases of breast cancer after up to five years of use, 29 cases after 5–10 years use, and 71 cases after 10–15 years use. In “absolute” terms – as a proportion of all the IUD users – all of these risk increases are comfortably under 1%.
Buyer beware: Off-brand Ozempic, Zepbound and other weight loss products carry undisclosed risks for consumers
The dietary supplement market has sought to cash in on the GLP-1 demand with pills, teas, extracts and all manner of other products that claim to produce similar effects as the brand names at a much lower price.
Fentanyl 101
As little as 2 mg of fentanyl (which can fit on the tip of a pencil) can be enough to kill the average American. People can also unknowingly consume fentanyl when it is mixed into or sold as other drugs, including heroin, cocaine, or counterfeit pills.
Jaw Problems Linked to Bone-Modifying Drugs Not as Rare as Once Thought
Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) can cause parts of the jawbone to breakdown and die.
Poppy Seed Brew Triggers Morphine Overdose, Drawing Attention of Lawmakers
After eating lemon poppy seed bread or an everything bagel, mothers reportedly have been separated from newborns because the women failed drug tests.
Poppy seeds come from the plant that produces opium and from which narcotics such as morphine and codeine are derived. During harvesting and processing, the seeds can become coated with the opium fluid.
Health News Headlines
Marburg virus outbreak – Time to get flu and COVID-19 shots – Fake meds online pose overdose risk, CDC – School vaccination rates fall – Long-term deaths from hurricanes
Delirium: this common and frightening syndrome looks like dementia, but comes on much faster
Delirium is a common complication of hospitalization can have a direct impact on patients’ illness and mortality rates. It is therefore extremely important to prevent it, or, failing that, to establish an early diagnosis in order to treat it correctly.
Florida’s New Covid Booster Guidance Is Straight-Up Misinformation
In what has become a pattern of spreading vaccine misinformation, the Florida health department is telling older Floridians and others at highest risk from covid-19 to avoid most booster shots, saying they are potentially dangerous.
Clinicians and scientists denounced the message as politically fueled scaremongering that also weakens efforts to protect against diseases like measles and whooping cough.
With TV Drug Ads, What You See Is Not Necessarily What You Get
One study found that, among top-selling drugs, those with the lowest levels of added benefit tended to spend more on advertising to patients than doctors.