It’s still early science — studies in mice and in human cells — but researchers are on the trail of an effective new treatment for inflammatory skin conditions such as rosacea. Skin cells called mast cells are key players in the inflammation and itchiness that can plague folks with these skin ailments. However, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh report they’ve spotted a compound called SYM2081 that can quiet down these overactive cells. “I’m really excited about the clinical possibilities of this research,” said senior study author Dr. Daniel Kaplan, a professor of dermatology and immunology at the university. “Currently, there aren’t a lot of good therapies that target mast cells, so we think that our approach could potentially have huge benefits in many skin conditions, including rosacea, eczema, urticaria [hives] and mastocytosis [a rare genetic disorder that causes the body to produce too many mast cells].” His team published its findings Dec. 11 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Anyone with hay fever or other allergies has heard of histamines; cellular compounds that can trigger or signal the misery of inflammation. According to Kaplan’s team, mast cells contain “granules” loaded with histamines (and other pro-inflammatory agents). When these granules tear open, that can trigger a cascade of inflammatory immune responses such as those seen in rosacea or eczema. Granule rupture is beneficial when the…  read on >  read on >

People with diabetes who are taking GLP-1 meds such as Ozempic or Mounjaro may be getting an added bonus: Reductions in their odds for a dangerous blood clot, new research finds. The study found that folks with diabetes who were using the drugs lowered their odds for a form of clot called venous thromboembolism (VTE) by 20%, compared to people taking another type of diabetes drug. “From a public health perspective, given how prevalent these [GLP-1] drugs are, there is potential to see if the overall burden of VTE might be reduced at a national or population level,” said study lead author Dr. Rushad Patell. “VTE risk seems to continuously go up; maybe this will bring the curve down.”  His team presented its findings Sunday in San Diego at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. As the researchers explained, VTEs are common and dangerous clots that form in veins. The two best known forms of VTEs are pulmonary embolisms, where clots travel to the lungs, and deep vein thromboses (DVTs), where clots often form in the legs. Any VTE can lead to hospitalization and death if left untreated. Could the blockbuster class of new GLP-1 diabetes medications help ward off VTEs?…  read on >  read on >

Inebriated e-scooter and e-bike users, many of them teens, are increasingly showing up in the nation’s emergency rooms, new research shows. Overall, rates of injuries from these “micromobility” devices have tripled in recent years — from close to 23,000 in 2019 to nearly 66,000 by 2022, the new study found. Alcohol use was a factor in many of the injuries, and rates of use were highest among teens and college-age males, reported a team from North Dakota State University, in Fargo. Driving while intoxicated is a crime even when the vehicle is an e-scooter, so “there is a need to enforce the law against the use of alcohol and substance use among these adolescents,” especially, said researchers led by Akshaya Bhagavathula. He’s an associate professor of public health at the university. Bhagavathula’s team published its findings Dec. 9 in the journal Injury Prevention. Especially during and after the pandemic, the popularity of e-scooters and e-bikes soared as a means of transport. However, accidents can happen on these small two-wheeled vehicles. The Fargo team looked at federal data for 2019 through 2022 for these types of injuries treated at ERs in over 100 hospitals nationwide. During that time, a total of 4,020 injuries linked to micromobility devices were recorded at the hospitals — 3,700 linked to e-scooters and 320 tied to e-bike use. Extrapolated to the U.S.…  read on >  read on >

The advent of GLP-1 weight-loss medications such as Wegovy and Zepbound has spurred debate as to whether the drugs’ cost should be covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers. Late last month, the Biden administration proposed that the drugs be covered by Medicare and Medicaid, a move that would have to be approved by the incoming Trump administration. Now, data suggests that dramatic weight loss could save Americans big bucks in health care spending. The study found that a 25% drop in weight among obese people could save an average of up to $5,442 per person annually. That’s a level of weight loss often achieved by GLP-1 users, the study authors noted. In trials, “more than one-third of participating adults with overweight or obesity who used the [GLP-1] product lost 20% or more of their body weight,” noted a team led by Kenneth Thorpe, professor of health policy at Emory University in Atlanta. “Improving access to new weight-loss medications, along with existing evidence-based behavior change and weight-loss interventions, should help reduce health care spending associated with obesity in the United States,” they wrote. The findings were published Dec. 5 in the journal JAMA Network Open. As Thorpe’s team noted, by 2020 an estimated 42% of Americans were obese and another 31% were overweight — meaning that nearly three-quarters of all adults are not at a…  read on >  read on >

Hockey players’ chances of developing concussion-related brain injury increase with every year they spend on the ice, a new study finds. The odds of having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) increase among hockey players 34% for each year played, researchers reported Dec. 4 in JAMA Network Open. Results show 18 out of 19 National Hockey League players had CTE, a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated concussions, researchers found. However, CTE wasn’t found in a single hockey player who spent fewer than six years competing, researchers report. “Ice hockey players with longer careers not only were more likely to have CTE, but they also had more severe disease,” said researcher Dr. Jesse Mez, co-director of clinical research at the Boston University CTE Center. “We hope this data will help inspire changes to make the game safer as well as help former ice hockey players impacted by CTE get the care they need,” Mez added in a university news release. These results make ice hockey the third major sport, after American football and rugby, to show a dose-response relationship between years of play and the risk of developing CTE, the researchers noted. For the study, they studied the donated brains of 77 deceased male ice hockey players. They also tracked each player’s career, to see how their amateur or professional play might have affected their brain health.…  read on >  read on >

Zepbound, the new GLP-1 weight-loss drug from Eli Lilly & Co., has outperformed its main competitor, Wegovy, in a clinical trial funded by Lilly. “Given the increased interest around obesity medications, we conducted this study to help health care providers and patients make informed decisions about treatment choice,” Dr. Leonard Glass, senior vice president of global medical affairs at Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, said in an Eli Lilly news release announcing the trial results on Wednesday. “We are thrilled that today’s findings showed the superior weight loss of Zepbound, which helped patients achieve 47% more relative weight loss compared to Wegovy.” In the study, 751 obese and overweight adults across the United States were randomized to get one of the two highest doses of either Zepbound or Wegovy.  What did researchers discover? Patients who got weekly injections of Zepbound lost an average of 20.2% (50.3 pounds) of their body weight after 72 weeks, compared with an average of 13.7% body weight loss (33.1 pounds) for those on Wegovy. While this is the first randomized clinical trial comparing the two rival drugs, the findings haven’t yet been peer-reviewed, the company noted. Earlier research had shown Zepbound outperforms Wegovy for weight loss, but that research relied on existing data. Still, experts say both drugs deliver impressive results. Dr. Susan Spratt, an endocrinologist and senior medical director for the Population Health Management…  read on >  read on >

People who smoke and vape are less able to break free of their nicotine addiction than folks who only have one of those habits, a new review concludes. Instead, these “dual users” are more likely to eventually drop vaping and continue smoking tobacco, results show. The findings point to the insidious pull of nicotine and undermine arguments that vaping can help people quit smoking, researchers said. “While it may have been argued that heavy smokers might benefit from dual use by reducing their daily cigarette consumption, the high nicotine content of vapes adds to the risk of continued nicotine addiction,” said investigator Josef Hamoud, a research assistant with the University Medical Center Gottingen in Germany. For the study, published Dec. 3 in the journal Open Research, his team analyzed data from 16 previous studies of vaping and smoking. The studies included more than 9,300 people, including more than 2,400 dual users. “Given the extensive marketing of vapes as healthier alternatives to conventional smoking, they have gained popularity among people trying to quit smoking,” Hamoud said in a journal news release. “Some people are using them in addition to their conventional cigarettes, classifying them as dual users.” But just 24% of dual users quit nicotine completely within two years, compared with 25% of people who only smoke and 35% of people who only vape, researchers found.…  read on >  read on >