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A New Way to Make Ketamine’s Antidepressant Effects Last Longer Is On The Horizon

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  A New Way to Make Ketamine’s Antidepressant Effects Last Longer Is On The Horizon For the millions of people living with major depressive disorder (MDD), standard treatments often fall short. About one in ten Americans deals with MDD at any given time, and up to a fifth will experience it at some point. The usual antidepressants don’t work for roughly 30 percent of patients, leaving a massive gap in care. Ketamine has been a rare bright spot. Given at low doses, it can lift depression within hours, even for people who haven’t responded to anything else. The catch? Its effects fade quickly, so patients need regular infusions. That means more trips to the clinic, a higher risk of side effects like dissociation, and the looming possibility of addiction or relapse if treatments stop. Now, a research team at Vanderbilt University may have found a way to stretch out ketamine’s benefits. In experiments led by neuroscientists Lisa Monteggia and Ege Kavalali, they figured out how to push ...
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A Novel Painkiller That Avoids Opioid Risks

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  A Novel Painkiller That Avoids Opioid Risks Researchers at Duke University have developed a painkiller that could shake up how we treat pain, without the dangers tied to opioids. The experimental drug, known as SBI-810, takes a more precise route than traditional pain meds. Instead of blitzing the nervous system like opioids, SBI-810 targets a specific neurotensin receptor 1 (NTSR1) receptor found on sensory nerves and the spinal cord. Here’s why that’s exciting: In mouse studies, SBI-810 delivered intense pain relief after surgery, bone fractures, and nerve injuries. It did the job without making the mice sleepy or causing constipation, two classic opioid problems. Opioids, for all their power, come with a hefty price: addiction, tolerance, and a risk of deadly overdose. SBI-810 avoids the euphoric “high” that makes opioids so addictive by activating only the pain-relief side of the receptor. Even more interesting, pairing SBI-810 with opioids allowed for lower opioid doses, mak...
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.Want To Live Longer? Stay Sociable, Study Says

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  Want To Live Longer? Stay Sociable, Study Says A new study says seniors who stay socially engaged are much more likely to live longer. Social engagement among seniors is associated with a lower risk of death when compared to seniors who are loners, according to findings published May 21 in the  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society . Researchers said such social engagement includes interacting with others, participating in sports or hobby groups, and doing charity work. “Staying socially active is more than a lifestyle choice. It is closely linked to healthier aging and longevity,” lead researcher  Dr. Ashraf Abugroun , an assistant professor at the University of California - San Francisco, said in a news release. For the study, researchers tracked nearly 2,300 Americans 60 and older participating in an ongoing health and retirement study. The participants all came from the 2016 survey wave. Participants completed questionnaires tracking their lifestyles and social...
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FDA Withdraws Approval for Off-Brand Ozempic and Other GLP-1 Drugs—Patients in a Rush

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  FDA Withdraws Approval for Off-Brand Ozempic and Other GLP-1 Drugs If you’ve been relying on cheaper, off-brand versions of Ozempic, Mounjaro, or similar drugs to manage your weight or diabetes, the clock just ran out. As of this week, the FDA’s deadline has kicked in, making it illegal for compounding pharmacies to produce or sell unapproved versions of these popular GLP-1 medications. The background here: The FDA says the shortage of these drugs—semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tripeptide (Mounjaro, Zepbound)—is over. Since manufacturers like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly can now keep up with demand, the agency is closing the loophole that let smaller pharmacies whip up their own versions. The grace period for compounded tirzepatide ended back in March. Thursday was the last day for compounded semaglutide. This is more than an inconvenience for many patients—it’s a crisis. Olympia Pharmaceuticals, for example, was supplying over 70,000 people every week, according to its CFO Josh...
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Vitamin D Supplements May Slow Biological Aging, Study Finds

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  Vitamin D Supplements May Slow Biological Aging, Study Finds A recent randomized controlled trial suggests that vitamin D supplements can help protect against biological aging by slowing the shortening of telomeres. Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, and their gradual shortening is associated with increased risk of age-related diseases. The findings, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, come from a sub-study of the larger VITAL trial, which was co-led by researchers at Mass General Brigham and the Medical College of Georgia. According to the report, vitamin D supplementation helped preserve telomere length in participants over a multi-year period. “VITAL is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to demonstrate that vitamin D supplements can protect telomeres and help maintain their length,” said Dr. JoAnn Manson, co-author and principal investigator of VITAL. Dr. Manson also noted that previous VITAL findings showed vitamin...
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Spicing Up Meals May Help Reduce Calorie Intake, Penn State Study Finds

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  Spicing Up Meals May Help Reduce Calorie Intake, Penn State Study Finds Adding a bit of heat to your meals could help you eat less, according to new research from Penn State. The study, led by scientists at the university’s Sensory Evaluation Center, looked at how increasing “oral burn”—the sensation of spiciness from ingredients like chili pepper—affects how much people eat during a meal. The research team discovered that slightly upping the spiciness of a dish led participants to eat more slowly and consume fewer calories overall, without making the meal less enjoyable. Their findings are available online and will appear in the October Food Quality and Preference issue. “We know that slowing down while eating tends to help people eat less,” said Paige Cunningham, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in nutritional sciences at Penn State. “We wondered if making food a little spicier—not so much that it’s unpleasant, but enough to notice—would have the same effe...
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Sciatica: Causes and Treatments

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 Sciatica: Causes and Treatments Sciatica refers to pain following the sciatic nerve's route—a large nerve that runs from your lower back through your hips and buttocks and down each leg. This pain often appears when something irritates or puts pressure on your lower spine's nerve roots. Common culprits include a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or other spinal problems. People with sciatica often describe the pain as sharp, burning, or shooting, and it might come with numbness or muscle weakness in the affected leg. Most of the time, doctors start treating sciatica with simple, non-surgical methods. These can include physical therapy, over-the-counter pain relievers like NSAIDs, and encouragement to stay active instead of spending too much time in bed. Research shows that no single conservative treatment stands out as the best, but the good news is that most people start to feel better within a few weeks without surgery. Surgery is rarely the first choice. It’s usually only co...
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