Following Yet Another Alzheimer’s Drug Disappointment, Patients Discuss Having ‘Rug Pulled Out From Underneath Us,’ But Vow To Renew Fight
Stat talked to patients and their families, many of whom found out the hard way last week when news broke that the anticipated drug was not effective at slowing or preventing neurodegenerative decline. Hopes were high for the trials because there's nothing else in the pipeline. Public health also focuses on grim prison conditions, DNA tests, new depression treatment, diet and asthma, blood cancer research, FDA food safety concerns, brain-healthy diets, gut health, widespread burnout and hearing loss.
Stat:
How Patients In Alzheimer's Trials Are Coping With Treatment's Failure
When Biogen and its partner Eisai announced that they were stopping two phase 3 trials of the Alzheimer’s treatment aducanumab because the drug did not appear to be working, it shattered the faith that a truly effective therapy — one that could decelerate the descent that came with the disease — was finally in reach. It ignited reckonings both for Massachusetts-based Biogen and for the underlying scientific theory of Alzheimer’s on which aducanumab was constructed. (Joseph, 4/1)
The New York Times:
Inside America’s Black Box: A Rare Look At The Violence Of Incarceration
The contraband is scary enough: Homemade knives with grips whittled to fit particular hands. Homemade machetes. And homemade armor, with books and magazines for padding. Then there is the blood: In puddles. In toilets. Scrawled on the wall in desperate messages. Bloody scalps, bloody footprints, blood streaming down a cheek like tears. (Dewan, 3/30)
The Washington Post:
DNA Testing Is Being Used To Help Prescribe Antidepressants.
Grit alone got Linda Greene through her husband’s muscular dystrophy, her daughter’s traumatic brain injury, and her own mysterious illness that lasted for three years and left her vomiting daily before doctors identified the cause. But eventually, after too many days sitting at her desk at work crying, she went to see her doctor for help. He prescribed an antidepressant and referred her to a psychiatrist. When the first medication didn’t help, the psychiatrist tried another — and another and another — hoping to find one that made her feel better. Instead, Greene felt like a zombie and sometimes she hallucinated and couldn’t sleep. In the worst moment, she found herself contemplating suicide. (Marcus, 3/31)
NPR:
Deep Brain Stimulation For Depression, Mood Disorders Could Be Ethically Fraught
Our thoughts and fears, movements and sensations all arise from the electrical blips of billions of neurons in our brain. Streams of electricity flow through neural circuits to govern these actions of the brain and body, and some scientists think that many neurological and psychiatric disorders may result from dysfunctional circuits. As this understanding has grown, some scientists have asked whether we could locate these faulty circuits, reach deep into the brain and nudge the flow to a more functional state, treating the underlying neurobiological cause of ailments like tremors or depression. (Spiegel and Lambert, 3/29)
NPR:
Eating More Fish Might Mitigate Pollution's Effects On Asthma
It's long been known that air pollution influences the risk — and severity — of asthma. Now, there's emerging evidence that diet can play a role, too. A new study finds that higher consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, found in oily fish such as salmon, sardines and lake trout, and in some plant sources such as walnuts and flaxseed, is linked to reduced asthma symptoms in city kids who are exposed to fairly high levels of indoor air pollution. (Aubrey, 3/30)
The Associated Press:
Immune System Therapy Shows Wider Promise Against Cancer
A treatment that helps the immune system fight deadly blood cancers is showing early signs of promise against some solid tumors, giving hope that this approach might be extended to more common cancers in the future. The treatment, called CAR-T therapy, involves genetically modifying some of a patient's own cells to help them recognize and attack cancer. Richard Carlstrand of Long Key, Florida, had it more than a year ago for mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs. (3/31)
The Associated Press:
Emails Show FDA Worry After Romaine Outbreaks
After repeated food poisoning outbreaks tied to romaine lettuce, a U.S. food safety official shared his concerns in an internal email, saying the produce industry's water testing "failed in an epic and tragic way." How the industry tests water to grow leafy greens is "unacceptable" and needs to change, James Gorny, a senior adviser for produce safety at the Food and Drug Administration, wrote to agency leaders. (3/29)
The New York Times:
Brain Booster In A Bottle? Don’t Bother
Attention all consumers seeking to protect brain health: You can save hundreds of dollars a year and enhance the health of your brain and body by ignoring the myriad unproven claims for anti-dementia supplements and instead focusing on a lifestyle long linked to better mental and physical well-being. How many of these purported brain boosters have you already tried — Ginkgo biloba, coenzyme Q10, huperzine A, caprylic acid and coconut oil, coral calcium, among others? The Alzheimer’s Association says that, with the possible exception of omega-3 fatty acids, all that were properly tested thus far have been found wanting. (Brody, 4/1)
Stat:
Microbiome Companies Look Beyond The Gut For New Therapies
As more pivotal clinical trials for microbiome-based therapies begin, some people are already asking where these drugs might go next. One set of experts speaking at MassBio’s annual meeting on Thursday thought they had the answer — actually, two answers. The relationship between microbes and cancer-fighting drugs will likely be the area of microbiome science that sees the most progress over the next five years, they speculated — which they hope will lead both to new treatments and diagnostic tools. (Sheridan, 3/29)
The Washington Post:
Burnout Caused By Chronic Stress Is Widespread
A common ailment is going around, and you probably know someone plagued by it. Caused in part by social media, the 24-hour news cycle and the pressure to check work email outside of office hours, it could hit you, too — especially if you don’t know how to nip it in the bud. Burnout is everywhere. (Rough, 3/30)
The Washington Post:
Why Many Shy Away From Hearing Aids And Over-The-Counter Devices
Jen Durgin’s dad once ordered a pair of $20 hearing aids through the mail but gave up on the devices when they did not work well without getting them adjusted by an audiologist. Durgin, who has two deaf children, tried to persuade her dad to see an audiologist for testing and fitting, but to no avail. “I think he just views hearing loss as a normal part of aging,” said Durgin about her 77-year-old father, who lives in New England. “For someone who never went to the doctor as a child and almost never as an adult, he just doesn’t view it as necessary.” (Neumann, 3/30)
