Contraception App Claims It’s 99 Percent Effective, But Questions About How To Even Test That Rate Remain Unanswered
The app gives users a window of about 11 to 13 days during which they should use a condom or another birth control method to prevent pregnancy. Although a new study shows that it can be effective if used correctly, that data assumes the people who don't respond aren't pregnant, which is an underlying obstacle to proving efficacy on apps like these. In other public health news: the microbiome, broken heart syndrome, depression treatments, pre-term births, fish oil, medical marijuana and heart health.
Stat:
The App Dot Bills Itself As Contraception, Raising Questions About Efficacy
A new fertility tracking app, Dot, is billing itself as form of contraception — and touting the results of a new efficacy study that shows the app may be up to 99 percent effective as a form of birth control. With statistics like that, Dot — part of a surge in fertility and contraception apps — would appear to be one of the most effective birth control tools available. But there’s also significant debate over how to measure the effectiveness of these tools, as well as questions about which apps should be available in the first place. (Sheridan, 3/18)
Stat:
Investors Have Been Snubbing The Microbiome. That May Be Changing
After a high-profile clinical failure in 2016, investor interest in the much-hyped field of microbiome science chilled almost instantly. Now, however, the small but growing industry is starting to rebound. Several key companies in the field, which focuses on manipulating microbes that are or ought to be in a person’s body, expect to report Phase 2 data by the end of this year, including the Somerville, Mass.-based Finch Therapeutics and a privately held French microbiome biotech, MaaT. Even bigger players in the field, Rebiotix and Seres Therapeutics, are currently running pivotal studies — at least one of which should be fully enrolled by the middle of next year. (Sheridan, 3/19)
The New York Times:
Broken Heart Syndrome Is Not All In The Head
Poets and politicians have long known that hearts and minds are linked. Now neuroscientists and cardiologists have shown again, in a study published this month in The European Heart Journal, that the connection is more than metaphorical. It turns out that those afflicted by a rare, serious condition known as “broken-heart syndrome” have brains that work differently from those of healthy people, suggesting that what happens in the head can hurt the heart. The condition, known medically as Takotsubo syndrome, usually follows the experience of extreme stress, such as that felt after the loss of a loved one. (Reynolds, 3/19)
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
For Those With Treatment-Resistant Depression, Ketamine Offers Hope
According to studies, 50 to 80 percent of patients with treatment-resistant depression get relief from their symptoms with ketamine infusions, and no one knows exactly why. At Actify Neurotherapies, which has a blossoming number of treatment centers around the country, including ones in Bryn Mawr and Princeton, the response rate has been an average of 70 percent, according to the founding psychiatrist and chief medical officer, Steve Levine. Now the FDA has approved esketamine, a nasal spray and a derivative of ketamine, which will go under the brand name Spravato, developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. (Harris Bond, 3/19)
The Wall Street Journal:
New Doubt On Treatment To Prevent Preterm Birth
For more than a decade, the recommended treatment for most pregnant women who previously had given birth prematurely was a weekly injection of a synthetic progestin hormone. AMAG Pharmaceuticals , which sells such a treatment, recently announced the results of a new study: It wasn’t effective. On March 8, the company said a long-term clinical trial revealed no difference in the preterm birth rates of 1,700 pregnant women who took either their treatment, named Makena, or a placebo. The trial also showed no increased risk of complications. (Reddy, 3/18)
CNN:
New Study Suggests Fish Oil Derivative May Benefit Heart Health
New numbers suggest that a purified fish oil derivative, a prescription drug called Vascepa, is more effective at preventing cardiovascular events than previously thought. The drug lowered the rate of these events in high-risk patients -- including strokes, heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular causes -- by 30% overall versus placebo, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. (Nedelman, 3/18)
Miami Herald:
African Americans Miss Out On Medical Marijuana Push
Minorities have been largely absent from the push for medical cannabis across the South. Following the lead of Arkansas and Florida, white male conservative lawmakers are spearheading legalization drives in Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. (Blau, 3/18)
CNN:
Sugary Drinks Linked To Higher Risk Of Premature Death, Especially For Women, Study Says
Frequent consumption of sugary drinks such as sodas, sports drinks and juice is linked to an increased risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease and, to a lesser extent, from cancer, according to new research. Compared with women who had sugary beverages less than once per month, those who had more than two servings a day -- defined as a standard glass, bottle or can -- had a 63% increased risk of premature death, according to a study published Monday in the journal Circulation. Men who did the same had a 29% increase in risk. (Bracho-Sanchez, 3/18)
