US CDC panel broadly recommends flu shots free from thimerosal
The panel voted five-to-one in favor of the recommendation, while one member abstained from voting, following a presentation by an anti-vaccine advocate that made the case that thimerosal is a neurotoxin.
The panel recommended that pregnant women and children aged 6 months or younger also receive thimerosal-free shots.
The CDC has previously said there is no evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal used in vaccines, except for minor reactions such as redness and swelling at the injection site.
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The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘Mount Everest air' could hold key to reversing Parkinson's symptoms, study finds
A low- oxygen environment similar to the air around Mount Everest 's base camp could be key to tackling and even reversing Parkinson's disease, a new study suggests. The research, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, shows that faulty cellular processes in the brain cause a build-up of excess oxygen molecules, leading to Parkinson's symptoms. The excess oxygen appears to drive the breakdown of cells in the brain, suggesting that limiting oxygen intake could help slow or reverse symptoms, say researchers from Harvard Medical School. Parkinson's patients experience a progressive loss of neurons in the brain, leading to tremors and slowed movements, with the disease affecting over 10 million people worldwide. Neurons affected by Parkinson's also tend to accumulate toxic protein clumps called Lewy bodies, with some research suggesting that these clumps interfere with the function of mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, . Anecdotal case studies have shown that people with Parkinson's seem to fare better at high altitudes. 'Based on this evidence, we became very interested in the effect of hypoxia on Parkinson's disease,' said study author Fumito Ichinose. 'We first saw that low oxygen could alleviate brain-related symptoms in some rare diseases where mitochondria are affected, such as Leigh syndrome and Friedreich's ataxia... That raised the question: Could the same be true in more common neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's?' said Vamsi Mootha, another author of the study. In the research, scientists induced Parkinson's-like conditions in mice by injecting them with clumps of the α-synuclein proteins that seed the formation of Lewy bodies. They then split the mice into two groups – one breathing normal air with 21 per cent oxygen, and the other continuously housed in chambers with 11 per cent oxygen, comparable to living at an altitude of about 4,800 metres (16,000 ft). Researchers found that just three months after receiving the α-synuclein protein injections, mice breathing normal air had high levels of Lewy bodies, dead neurons, and severe movement problems. On the other hand, the mice kept in low-oxygen conditions didn't lose any neurons and showed no movement problems, despite developing Lewy bodies. The results show that while hypoxia couldn't stop the formation of Lewy bodies, it was protecting neurons from the damaging effects of these protein clumps. Researchers hope the findings could serve as a new way to interpret and treat Parkinson's without targeting α-synuclein or Lewy bodies. Scientists also found that the low-oxygen treatment still worked even when hypoxia was introduced six weeks after the injection, when symptoms were already appearing. After six weeks, the mice's motor skills rebounded, their anxiety-like behaviours faded, and the loss of neurons in the brain stopped, researchers found. When scientists analysed the brain cells of the mice, they discovered that mice with Parkinson's symptoms had much higher levels of oxygen in some parts of the brain than control mice and those that had breathed low-oxygen air. They suspect the excess oxygen likely resulted from mitochondrial dysfunction. With the damaged cell powerhouses unable to use oxygen efficiently, oxygen was building up to damaging levels, researchers say. 'Too much oxygen in the brain turns out to be toxic. By reducing the overall oxygen supply, we're cutting off the fuel for that damage,' Dr Mootha said. Scientists are working on 'hypoxia in a pill' drugs which mimic the effects of low oxygen to treat disorders stemming from mitochondrial dysfunction. But while the results are encouraging, researchers caution that more research is needed before the findings can be directly used to treat Parkinson's in humans. 'It may not be a treatment for all types of it's a powerful concept – one that might shift how we think about treating some of these diseases,' Dr Mootha said.
The Guardian
43 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Action needed on plastic additives linked to sperm decline, experts warn
Action must be taken to curb the use of plastic additives linked to plummeting sperm counts, a leading reproductive scientist has warned, as splits over chemical regulation contributed to the collapse of a crucial treaty on plastic pollution. Across the world, sperm counts have been declining at a rate of about 1% a year for the past 50 years, and human fertility has been diminishing at a similar rate, studies have shown. Increasing levels of obesity, sedentary lifestyles and ageing populations have all been held up as possible causes. But according to Dr Shanna Swan, professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, environmental factors play the most significant role. Swan said the decline was 'largely, but not entirely due to toxins in the environment that have the ability to interfere with steroid hormones'. In 2017, Swan and her colleagues published a meta-analysis showing a decline in sperm counts of almost 60% among men in North America, Europe and Australia between 1973 and 2011. In 2023, they repeated the research, extending the study to 2018 and including previously unavailable data from Africa, Asia and South America, and made even more shocking findings. 'We separated the countries into western and non-western for analytic purposes, and in both we found a significant decline,' Swan said. 'And the other thing that we found, which was at least as alarming, was that if you looked at all of the studies going back to 1973 you see a 1% per year decline. But if you look at studies published after 2000, you see an over 2% decline. 'So the rate of decline had increased, and had increased significantly in recent years.' Swan's warning comes amid rising alarm at the impact of chemical toxicity on human and environmental health. Two weeks ago, a report published by Deep Science Ventures, a business focused on environmental solutions, which was reviewed by Swan, warned that chemical pollution was 'a threat … of a similar order as climate change', but received far less attention. The decline in sperm rates since about 1950 stands in an inverse relationship to the explosion in the use of plastics. Swan points out that there are now well-established links between common additives to plastics and falling sperm counts. 'Phthalates are chemicals that are put into plastic to give it flexibility and make it soft and flexible,' Swan said. 'So anytime you pick up a soft water bottle or tubing, like medical tubing, or a food container that's soft, you're going to be touching phthalates. 'Then, on the other side, the evil twin of phthalates are the bisphenols. While phthalates make plastic soft and flexible, bisphenols make it hard and inflexible. And phthalates lower testosterone and the bisphenols increase oestrogen.' The effects of these and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals were particularly profound on foetuses and embryos developing in the womb, Swan said. She had previously carried out research into the effects of phthalates on unborn male babies, finding that exposure at a critical point in gestation could lead to subtle deformities in sexual development. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion The adverse effects of phthalates in the womb, known as 'phthalate syndrome', included smaller penises, a shorter distance between the genitals and anus, and – once children reached sexual maturity – lowered sperm counts, Swan said. 'We showed the link between the exposure and fertility,' she said. 'And when you see that total sperm count going down worldwide, what I believe is you're seeing an important effect of early exposure to these chemicals.' Swan would not be drawn into commenting on the talks, which were under way as she spoke, in Geneva for a comprehensive treaty to end the plastic pollution crisis. But she said action needed to be taken on the use of plastic additives, with an urgent need for safer replacements. 'In the meantime, yes people can be careful,' she said. 'They can reuse materials. They should try to look at what they use in their takeout containers and carry little glass bottles around to get their drinks. It's very important. But it's not solving a bigger problem, which is how do we make these things that we have become dependent on in a safer way?' Signs of a solution are not promising. Last week, after nearly two weeks of talks, negotiators left Geneva on Friday having failed to reach an agreement, after oil- and gas-producing nations objected to calls for limits to production and curbs on chemicals. Almost 100 nations had signed a declaration calling for a 'legally binding obligation to phase out those most harmful plastic products and chemicals of concern'. But both texts drafted by Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the chair of the negotiating committee, omitted any reference to controls on chemicals.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Diabetes drug Ozempic will cost half-price for US patients paying cash
American diabetes patients will now be able to buy the wildly popular weight-loss drug Ozempic for half its usual price — as long as they pay out of pocket. Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said on Monday that it would make the drug available through its direct pharmacy service for $499 per month, compared to a list price of just under $1,000 per month. The drug is available as an obesity medication under the alternate brand name Wegovy but will now be sold to patients with diabetes prescriptions as well. Scientifically known as semaglutide, Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists have rapidly transformed weight loss and diabetes treatment across the world, while at one point boosting Novo Nordisk's profits enough to raise the entire GDP of Denmark. It comes after President Donald Trump specifically called out GLP-1 agonists for being more expensive in the U.S. than in other countries, claiming he would "slash the cost of prescription drugs" by as much as 80 percent. He also accused European nations of "unfairly shifting the cost burden onto American patients" by using the bargaining power of their large single-payer healthcare services to force U.S. pharma companies to accept lower prices. Big Pharma has been responsive, with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla recently admitting that he and other firms are discussing ways to make their drugs available more cheaply. Sales of Ozempic surged by 500 to 600 percent in the U.K. after its competitor Mounjaro announced that prices would more than triple starting on September 1. But Trump's tariffs could also raise the price of U.S. drugs that are manufactured abroad unless pharma companies or foreign governments can agree some exemption. Novo Nordisk launched its NovaCare pharmacy in March, offering Wegovy for $499 to patients willing to skip insurance and forego any reimbursement. More recently the president upgraded his promise on drug prices to say he would cut them by up to "1,500 percent", which is mathematically impossible without going into negative numbers. In Ozempic's case, reducing the list price by 1,500 percent would result in Novo Nordisk paying American patients around $14,000 for a month's supply of the drug — which is unlikely.
