science
Needles are out, squid jets are in
IBRAHIM CHALHOUB/AFP via Getty Images
Figuring out the best way to deliver drugs to patients involves weighing tradeoffs. Methods like IVs are great at getting a medication into someone’s blood stream, but require both time and a trained clinician. Pills and other oral methods are easier to use, but don’t always work as well. Now a group of bioengineers hopes to shake up the cast of drug delivery options with a device that draws inspiration from squids, octopuses, and other sea creatures.
The blueberry-sized device can be swallowed to deliver orally drugs that would normally have to be injected through a needle. It then uses jets, modeled after the organs that squids and other cephalopods use to propel themselves through the water and to release ink, to eject drugs into the tissue lining the digestive tract. It’s an innovative idea for the simple goal of making it easier for patients to receive medication. STAT’s Anil Oza has more on the device and the results so far.
reproductive health
Study shows: Endometriosis tied to earlier deaths
A growing body of evidence has shown that endometriosis (where tissue like that from the inside of the uterus grows on its outside) and uterine fibroids are linked to an increased risk of long-term chronic disease. A study published yesterday in The BMJ provides evidence for a more extreme potential link: Among more than 110,000 cisgender women, endometriosis was associated with a 31% higher risk of death before age 70, primarily driven by gynecological cancers. Uterine fibroids were also associated with higher risk of death specifically from gynecological cancers.
Researchers analyzed data from nurses who participated in a survey study that ran from 1989- 2019. Participants were between the ages of 25 and 42 at the beginning of the study, and every couple years reported diagnoses of endometriosis or uterine fibroids. The authors noted that most participants were white, but believed that the large population and long-term results were still useful.
across the pond
U.K. says cheerio to disposable vapes
The U.K. is moving to ban disposable vapes starting next summer, STAT’s Drew Joseph reports from London. It’s part of a broader policy push that will prevent anyone who is currently age 15 or younger from ever being able to buy tobacco products, with the aim of creating what the government has dubbed a “smoke-free U.K.”
The phaseout is stronger action than anything we’ve seen here in the U.S., where thousands of vapes are widely available even though the vast majority are technically illegal, not having received the regulatory authorization that any e-cigarettes for purchase are meant to have. It’s an example of how the two countries have diverged in their approaches to e-cigarettes — and their views of the threats and potential benefits that accompany the products. Read more from Drew.
