#5. WEEKLY TOP TEN
Novel MS therapeutic, AI detects early breast cancer, low-cal sweetener linked to clotting... These stories and more in today's deep dive.
I’m Paul Ciurysek, MD, and this is MedSpresso: An independent, subscriber-supported newsletter summarizing the latest news, studies, and research from the fast-changing world of healthcare.
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What a week! Some big things are on the horizon, and I’m excited to share them with you today.
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THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN:
Novel drug shows promise for multiple sclerosis
AI tool predicts breast cancer up to 5 years earlier
High-intensity interval training for stroke recovery
Long-term mental health effects of COVID-19
Personalized text messaging reduces adolescent vaping
Maternal cannabis use and pregnancy outcomes
Political party affiliation impacted pandemic survival
Stable HbA1c lowers dementia risk in diabetics
Low-calorie sweetener may raise blood clotting risk
Reliable biomarkers to identify long COVID
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Current MS treatments focus primarily on managing symptoms, not repairing disease-induced damage. A novel therapeutic called PIPE-307 could change everything. By targeting the M1 receptor on oligodendrocyte precursor cells, it enables them to mature into myelin-producing cells capable of repairing damaged nervous system tissue. If approved, this drug's effects on MS treatment could be profound. It has passed initial safety trials in humans, paving the way for further clinical testing to evaluate its effectiveness in treating MS.
READ MORE: National MS Society | PNAS
A new AI model, AsymMirai, has been developed to predict breast cancer risk up to five years in advance with high accuracy. It assesses risk by focusing on differences between the left and right breast tissue, improving prediction accuracy and making its decision-making process understandable to its users. Tested on over 210,000 mammograms from more than 81,000 patients, it demonstrated robust performance in predicting 1- to 5-year cancer risk. The model could enhance early detection, reduce unnecessary tests, and save healthcare costs.
READ MORE: Breastcancer.org | ClinicalTrials.gov | The Lancet Oncology
A recent study from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, found that stroke survivors who engaged in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) experienced more significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness than those performing moderate-intensity, sustained exercise. The HIIT group’s cardiorespiratory fitness doubled compared to the moderate-intensity group and was maintained eight weeks post-intervention—the moderate-intensity group saw fitness levels decline. This study suggests that high-intensity interval training may be a better alternative to moderate-intensity exercise during the post-stroke recovery process.
READ MORE: AHA Journals | Heart.org
The UK’s PHOSP-COVID study followed 475 participants hospitalized with COVID-19 and assessed them 2–3 years after discharge. The study found that 74.5% of participants experienced at least mild depression, 53.5% had anxiety, and 62.3% reported fatigue. Severe symptoms were also common, with 22.4% experiencing severe depression and 24.6% reporting severe fatigue. Interestingly, health status at six and twelve months post-infection more significantly impacted outcomes than acute illness severity. These findings highlight the need for further research into understanding the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on cognitive and mental health. It also stresses the importance of developing effective strategies for long-term management.
READ MORE: The Lancet Psychiatry | NHS
Conducted as a randomized clinical trial with 1,503 participants between thirteen and seventeen years of age, the study found that automated text message intervention significantly increased self-reported vaping cessation rates compared to a control group. The intervention group received automated text messages encouraging them along the journey; the control group did not. At the 7-month follow-up, 37.8% of the intervention group reported abstinence from e-cigarettes, compared to 28.0% in the control group. The relative risk of quitting was 1.35 times higher in the intervention group, indicating a substantial effect of the text messaging program on vaping cessation.
A study analyzing data from 316,722 pregnancies between 2011-2019 found that prenatal cannabis use was associated with an increased risk of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational weight gain outside of guidelines, and placental abruption. Conversely, it was associated with a reduced risk of gestational diabetes (though researchers noted that excessive weight gain risk would cancel out this potential benefit). These findings support the notion that cannabis use during pregnancy should be avoided.
A recent article published in JAMA Internal Medicine examined the association between political party affiliation and excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study analyzed 538,159 deaths in individuals aged 25 and older in Florida and Ohio from March 2020 to December 2021. It found that excess mortality was significantly higher among Republican voters compared to Democratic voters after COVID-19 vaccines became widely available. These differences were more pronounced in counties with lower vaccination rates, suggesting that vaccination attitudes and uptake may have influenced the pandemic's impact on mortality rates.
Analyzing data from 374,021 veterans, researchers found that greater HbA1c stability within individualized target ranges was associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Conversely, more time spent with HbA1c levels below target ranges increased dementia risk. These findings suggest that maintaining HbA1c stability can reduce ADRD risk and emphasize the importance of personalized glycemic management in older adults with diabetes.
READ MORE: JAHA
A Cleveland Clinic study aimed to assess the safety of erythritol, a sugar alcohol used as a low-calorie sugar alternative. A small group of twenty healthy volunteers ingested either 30g of erythritol or 30g of glucose. Participants who consumed erythritol saw a rise in blood erythritol levels by more than 1,000 times, correlating with an increased risk of clotting. This effect, however, was not observed in participants who consumed glucose. The findings raise concerns about the safety of erythritol, especially for individuals at risk for cardiovascular events. Further research is needed to assess the long-term safety of erythritol and other sugar substitutes.
READ MORE: Cleveland Clinic
A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine analyzed data from over 10,000 participants and found no significant clinical biomarkers to reliably identify post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC)—aka long COVID. While minor differences in platelet counts and HbA1c levels were noted between those with and without prior infection, these were not clinically meaningful. These findings stress the need for continued research into PASC to identify more specific biomarkers and develop targeted interventions. Future studies should explore molecular and genetic markers that may provide deeper insights into the condition.
READ MORE: Annals of Internal Medicine | NIH
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