>> The Flare That Didn’t Happen
>> Transplanted Pig Heart Behaved Differently
>> Extending the Antidepressant Effect
The Med & Mic™ 10.31.22
MED NEWS blog post from Dr. Maria ON Speaking, LLC
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The AFM Mystery
This fall, doctors were bracing for a surge of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a polio-like illness triggered by an enterovirus. The disease had shown an every-other-year pattern. It did not occur in 2020 when kids were masked and out of school. Its expected return did not happen this year, even though enterovirus activity was high. Only 27 cases have been reported this year, which looks more like an off-year, rather than a peak year. Scientists are considering whether other co-infecting viruses or repeat enterovirus infections play a role in AFM, a phenomenon known as antibody dependent enhancement, which is seen more with dengue. (Source: STAT News, H. Branswell, 10.31.22)
Lessons from Xenotransplantation
An analysis of the pig heart transplanted into a human earlier this year showed its electrical activity traveled more slowly through the organ than it would have in either a pig or human. The slower electrical activity can cause irregular heart beats and may require a pacemaker. Researchers reviewed the heart rhythm tracings of the recipient and found certain segments of each heartbeat were prolonged. The researchers hypothesize that the lack of native nerve input or the anti-rejection medications may have contributed. This unexpected outcome is a lesson for the field of xenotransplantation, which aims to extend the supply of transplantable organs by looking to non-human sources. (Source: Interesting Engineering, R. Brahambhatt, 10.31.22)
Mileage from Smileage
For people taking the anesthetic ketamine as an antidepressant, those who played computer games featuring smiling faces and positive messages remained depression-free up to three months after the infusion of the medication. Among the 154 people in the study, those in the group receiving only the drug became depressed again within one to two weeks. Other antidepressants taken by mouth can take weeks to work, whereas ketamine works immediately. However, the effect tends to fade, so researchers were looking for a way to extend its effect. (Source: NPR, J. Hamilton, 10.31.22)
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