How many procedures require an opioid prescription?
Two new studies, published in Pediatrics and JAMA Network Open, reveal that there’s just a few surgeries that account for a large chunk of opioid prescriptions. For kids up to age 11, nearly 60 percent of the prescriptions are from three procedures. Older age groups also have a similar number of surgeries taking up a big portion of the drug use. Researchers say we should use this data to focus safe prescribing efforts on these procedures. (University of Michigan)
The color of your skin could affect how well medications work.
Scientists believe that we’ve been underestimating how melanin changes the efficacy of drugs. A new paper, published in the journal Human Genomics, reveals that this skin pigment can act as a sponge for certain medications. And since many drug development practices still focus on testing in white populations, we don’t have a good idea of how safe these compounds are for people of color. (UC Riverside)
Can venom help save lives?
Researchers have discovered a compound within deadly snail venom that may help create better drugs for diabetes treatments. The toxin mimics a human hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Scientists discovered that the venom is better at targeting these levels than the current synthetic medications available. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications. (University of Utah)
Why some people are more likely to have daughters.
It all comes down to genetics, according to new research in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. The probability of having a boy or girl isn’t 50-50, like so many of us believe. In fact, there are a couple genetic variations that influence sex, making some parents more likely to have one gender over the other. (University of Michigan)
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