Patricia Soucie

A veto on flavored liquids utilized in e-cigs devices has been extended by the health officials of New York state. Recently the Public Health and Health Planning Council of the state health department voted to re-sanction its emergency ban on flavored e-liquids. The reauthorization is enforced for another 90 Days and prohibits the retailing of all flavored e-liquids, except menthol and tobacco. Nevertheless, the veto is not in effect at present owing to the pending court case.

Jill Montag, the Health department spokesperson, stated the vaping outbreak among young individuals is a big worry for health officials. He said, “The distressing youth e-cigarette usage figures represent themselves. The Department of Health is dedicated as ever before to practice a bar on vaping products and flavored e-cigarettes that are propelling this rise in usage and increasing the odds of young individuals developing enduring nicotine addictions.”

As of Dec 10, in the US, around 2,409 cases of hospitalization owing to lung injury associated with were reported, as per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The reports of vaping injuries have been accounted in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands. Also, 52 verified demises in 26 states and the District of Columbia were reported by the CDC.

Likewise, the state House health panel’s chairwoman stated she wants Georgia to throw flavored vaping liquids from shops and increase the buying age to 21 to assist in keeping the smoking product beyond the reach of kids. Sharon Cooper, the House Health and Human Services Chairwoman, and a Marietta Republican stated she deems the General Assembly will follow laws to reduce on underage usage of the e-cigarettes. She said, “If you are actually worried about young individuals not becoming addicted, why shouldn’t we pursue and make this tobacco product similar to cigarettes?”

According to a new study, the use of aspirin thrice or more times per week is linked to a decline in all-cause, any cancer, CRC (colorectal cancer), and gastrointestinal cancer deaths among older adults. Holli A. Loomans-Kropp from the NCI (National Cancer Institute), Maryland, along with colleagues analyzed the connection of aspirin use with all-cause, any cancer, CRC, and gastrointestinal mortality amongst 146,152 people (average age: 66.3 Years) who were monitored for a median of 12.5 Years. The study was published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The researchers discovered that aspirin use once to thrice per month was associated with a reduced peril for all-cause and cancer deaths in comparison with no use (hazard ratio: 0.84 and 0.87, respectively). The decreased perils for mortality of all causes, any cancer, CRC, and gastrointestinal cancer were seen with aspirin use thrice or more times a week (hazard ratios, 0.81, 0.85, 0.71, and 0.75, respectively). On classification by BMI (body mass index), aspirin use thrice or more times every week associated with a decreased peril for all-cause and any cancer deaths amongst those having a BMI of 20–24 kg/m² (hazard ratio: 0.82 and 0.86, correspondingly) and with decreased peril for all-cause, any cancer, CRC, and gastrointestinal cancer death with a BMI of 25–29.9 kg/m² (hazard ratio: 0.82, 0.86, 0.66, and 0.72, respectively). The authors stated, “Future studies should further analyze the connection of BMI with the efficiency of aspirin as a cancer-protective agent to acclimatize to the changing obesity trends globally.”

On a related note, recently a study showed that low-dose aspirin does not reduce mortality from prostate cancer. The study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Charlotte Skriver, from the DCRC (Danish Cancer Society Research Center), Copenhagen, and colleagues utilized a countrywide data registry to evaluate the link amid postdiagnosis use of low-dose aspirin and prostate cancer mortality. Researchers observed a link between postdiagnosis low-dose aspirin use and prostate cancer-specific deaths & other-cause mortality. The prostate cancer deaths were slightly decreased with postdiagnosis exposure to low-dose aspirin stages of 5 Years and 7.5 Years.

According to new findings from the study, kids who do not eat peanuts in their first year of life are quite likely to develop an allergy to peanut at 3 Years. The CHILD Cohort study used data from more than 2,600 Canadian kids and revealed that children who did not eat peanuts in their first 12 months of life were almost four times to have a clinical allergy for peanut at 3 Years in correlation to infants who ate peanut before their first birthday. The study was issued in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

Dr. Elinor Simons, Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba, said, “Some of the most famous studies focusing on the timings of peanut introduction have studied children who were at the greatest peril of developing a peanut allergy. The findings are important as the CHILD Cohort study is done on the general population and most of the kids are not at the higher menace of peanut allergy. Even when we expelled high-risk kids, untimely peanut introduction was linked with lesser jeopardy of peanut allergy at 3 Years. This showed that lower-risk kids might also gain from early introduction of peanut.”

On a similar note, recently a study showed that immunotherapy for peanut allergy presents protection but not a cure. Scientists from KCL (King’s College London) discovered that a possible treatment for peanut allergy offers some level of protection but does not treat an allergic patient and this can explain why allergic responses are still seen during treatment. The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The researchers examined samples of patients who experience peanut allergy by POIT (peanut oral immunotherapy) and discovered that it does not stop them from being allergic instead it just suppressed the reaction.

There are many toddlers who have been found to be born or infected with HIV every year. There are around 80,000 children as per the health officials’ data who are infected with HIV. Many of the kids lose their lives or are left untreated due to the difficulty in administering drugs. The toddlers find swallowing of the pills or weird tasting syrups very difficult. Thus, the researchers from Cipla have thought of making medication tastier for the kids so that they consume it without any tantrums. The company has introduced a new anti-HIV drug, Quadrimune, which are strawberry-flavored granules that are much easier to swallow. The drug is also available in the form of capsules and the parents can make it consumable for the kids by sprinkling its contents on soft foods or drinks.

The medicine is a combination of 4 suggested antiretroviral drugs and it does not even require refrigeration. The drug can prove beneficial in countries like Africa where refrigeration and pricey drugs are the biggest issues. The warm temperatures and electricity shortages have made treatment and drug durability in those countries all the more difficult. The drug is expected to cost less than $1 per day for a 20–30 Pounds child and 50 cents/day for younger children. The cost might still be high for certain families. The easy-to-swallow design is definitely going to help save more lives. The FDA is investigating Quadrimune and the drug is likely to be approved by 2020. Though the drug is not that important for the US wherein the cases of HIV are less but its distribution after the approval is going to widen. This cure for HIV can help halt the spread of the virus.

Likewise, Professor Jerome Estaquier headed the international team from Universite Laval’s Faculty of Medicine and the CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval Research Center has found the location where HIV hides during antiretroviral treatment. The virus has been found to hide in the lymph nodes in the gut and spleen. It is the place from where the virus relaunches itself after the completion of the treatment. The two types of cells belonging to the CD4 T lymphocytes family is found to serve as reservoirs replication sites for the virus. The understanding of the viruses’ escape tactics can help improve treatments.