Walnuts Linked to Improved Attention, Psychological Maturity in Teens

By Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW   Walnuts have been associated with better cognitive development and psychological maturation in teens, new research shows. Adolescents who consumed walnuts for at least 100 days showed improved sustained attention and fluid intelligence as well as a reduction in symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with matched controls who did not consume the nuts. However, there were no statistically significant changes between the groups in other parameters, such as working memory and executive function. Clinicians should advise adolescents “to eat a handful of walnuts three times a week for the rest of their lives. They may have a healthier brain with better cognitive function,” senior investigator Jordi Julvez, PhD, group leader at the Institute of Health Research Pere Virgili and associated researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, told Medscape Medical News. The study was published online April 6 in Lancet Discovery Science (eClinicalMedicine). Rich Source of Omega-3s Adolescence ...

• Source: drugdu
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• April 26, 2023

OTC Narcan will cost ‘less than $50’, company says

The maker of the first opioid treatment drug to be sold OTC has announced a pricing plan weeks after an FDA approval for Narcan. Emergent Biosolutions, maker of the opioid overdose reversing nasal spray Narcan, intends to price the treatment at less than $50 for a kit of two 4mg doses for over-the-counter use (OTC) the company said in a statement. The company has said its goal is to have an out-of-pocket retail price that is in line with its publick interest pricing strategy. Public interest groups including government agencies, harm reduction groups, and emergency responders pay less than $50 out of pocket for one carton of the spray, according to Emergent. Additionally, its pricing for both public interest groups and retailers going forward would be less than the current Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) price of $125. While justifying the price, the Emergent statement said the company needs to “foster a sustainable ...

• Source: drugdu
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• April 25, 2023

BullFrog AI , Sage Group partner to develop oncology assets

Digital technology company BullFrog AI and Sage Group have entered into a strategic partnership to develop oncology assets. This partnership will focus on exploring joint venture (JV) opportunities for advancing a Phase II ready asset and the preclinical prodrug asset of BullFrog AI.  The Phase II ready asset targets glioblastoma, which is an aggressive form of brain cancer.  Through the collaboration, BullFrog AI will gain access to Sage Group’s capital resources, clinical and regulatory expertise, as well as contacts network, including innovators and large pharma.  BullFrog AI founder and CEO Vin Singh said: “Glioblastoma is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with a five-year survival rate of less than seven percent.  “With the Sage Group’s support, we look forward to identifying the right partner to help us advance clinical development of our oncology programs globally in an effort to bring a revolutionary new treatment option to glioblastoma patients.” Recently, ...

• Source: drugdu
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• April 25, 2023

Proper nutrition could boost recovery from traumatic brain injury

In the first few days after a traumatic brain injury (TBI), food is often an afterthought as clinicians focus on minimizing the damage to the brain. However, a new study suggests that getting enough calories can help boost the brain’s healing process, making nutrition an important consideration for improving TBI care. Researchers will present their work this week at the American Physiology Summit, the flagship annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS), in Long Beach, California.   “This evidence highlights the importance of ensuring proper nutrition for TBI patients during recovery. Specifically, formulations containing fuels that are preferred by the brain, such as lactate, should be prioritized during the acute and chronic phases of recovery from TBI.” Casey C. Curl, Doctoral Candidate, Exercise Physiology Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley   When a person comes to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury, many patients go for several days without ...

• Source: drugdu
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• April 25, 2023

Drugmakers take sides in Amgen, Regeneron fight over antibody patents

Christopher Newman Editor “This is a showdown about whether the most valuable patents in the entirety of the patent system are valid,” one law expert said. The nearly decade-long patent feud between Amgen and rivals Sanofi and Regeneron has divided the biopharmaceutical industry, with drugmakers taking different sides in a U.S. Supreme Court case that could have far-reaching effects.  At issue are patents for powerful cholesterol-lowering medicines known as PCSK9 inhibitors. Regeneron and Sanofi brought the first, Praluent, to market in 2015. Amgen followed one month later with a similar medicine, called Repatha. The drugs work by boosting liver cells’ ability to hoover up LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol.   Amgen has long claimed Sanofi and Regeneron infringed on patents it secured for Praluent. The fight has slowly winded its way through the U.S. legal system to reach the Supreme Court. There, judges could disrupt the $160 billion-per-year market for antibodies by deciding how broadly ...

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• April 25, 2023

A new report released by Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) reveals that women are looking to be better informed about sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The survey, conducted with cooperation from the Harris Poll, found that 77% of women feel they are knowledgeable about vaginal diseases such as yeast infections, yet only 60% know about diagnosis and treatment options available for STIs. The medtech company is responsible for testing kits BD Vaginal Panel and the BD CTGCTV2 assay, which screen for vaginitis and the three most common nonviral STIs in women who are symptomatic. The survey of 1,000 U.S. women over 18 years old revealed that almost half of them saw a healthcare provider for a routine gynecological exam within the past year or more. Another 40% of women said they’d had gynecological care within the past 12 months. Of the women who see healthcare providers for gynecological care, 82% felt ...

• Source: drugdu
• 124
• April 25, 2023

Too much insulin can be as dangerous as too little

Just over a century has passed since the discovery of insulin, a time period during which the therapeutic powers of the hormone have broadened and refined. Insulin is an essential treatment for type 1 diabetes and often for type 2 diabetes, as well. Roughly 8.4 million Americans use insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association. One hundred years of research have greatly advanced medical and biochemical understanding of how insulin works and what happens when it is lacking, but the reverse, how potentially fatal insulin hyper-responsiveness is prevented, has remained a persistent mystery. In a new study, published in the April 20, 2023 online edition of Cell Metabolism, a team of scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues elsewhere, describe a key player in the defense mechanism that safeguards us against excessive insulin in the body. “Although insulin is one of the most essential hormones, ...

• Source: drugdu
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• April 25, 2023

How alcohol consumption contributes to chronic pain

Chronic alcohol consumption may make people more sensitive to pain through two different molecular mechanisms—one driven by alcohol intake and one by alcohol withdrawal. That is one new conclusion by scientists at Scripps Research on the complex links between alcohol and pain.   The research, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology on April 12, 2023, also suggests potential new drug targets for treating alcohol-associated chronic pain and hypersensitivity.   “There is an urgent need to better understand the two-way street between chronic pain and alcohol dependence,” says senior author Marisa Roberto, Ph.D., the Schimmel Family Chair of Molecular Medicine, and a professor of neuroscience at Scripps Research. “Pain is both a widespread symptom in patients suffering from alcohol dependence, as well as a reason why people are driven to drink again.”   Alcohol use disorder (AUD), which encompasses the conditions commonly called alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence and alcohol addiction, ...

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• April 25, 2023

Apellis’ immune system drug hits a setback in ALS

Jacob Bell Senior Reporter In the latest setback for ALS research, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, a Massachusetts-based drug company, has discontinued a portion of a key clinical trial testing one of its medicines as a treatment for the nerve-destroying disease. The “MERIDIAN” trial began in the fall of 2020, ultimately enrolling around 250 participants who were given either a placebo or Apellis’ medicine, known as pegcetacoplan, over a two-year period. Following that period, participants could join a so-called “open-label extension” study, in which everyone would have access to the drug. But Apellis has chosen to stop that latter study, based on feedback from an external group of advisers who reviewed the data available and concluded further treatment with the drug was unwarranted. Analysts at the investment bank Mizuho Securities were the first to report this development. According to the analyst Graig Suvannavejh, Apellis announced the study discontinuation through a “company communication” that clarified that the ...

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• April 25, 2023

New injectable cell therapy could resolve osteoarthritis

Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) scientists have created a promising injectable cell therapy to treat osteoarthritis that both reduces inflammation and also regenerates articular cartilage. Recently identified by the Food and Drug Administration as a public health crisis, osteoarthritis affects more than 520 million people worldwide who deal with pain and inflammation. Osteoarthritis is typically induced by mechanical or traumatic stress in the joint, leading to damaged cartilage that cannot be repaired naturally. “Without better understanding of what drives the initiation and progression of osteoarthritis, effective treatment has been limited,” said lead author Johanna Bolander of WFIRM. “Initially, we studied what goes wrong in osteoarthritic joints, compared these processes to functional environments, and used this information to develop an immunotherapy cell treatment.” Osteoarthritis is a disease of the joint system. The joint includes a synovial membrane—a connective tissue that lines the inner surface of the joint. The membrane functions to protect the joint ...

• Source: drugdu
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• April 25, 2023