No-Needle Vaccination Against Many Avian/Human Flu Types

And other items from this week’s health news:

Intranasal spray provides broad protection

The flu isn’t fun, and kills many people very year. Needles, meanwhile, are often viewed as a necessary evil when it comes to protection against such. However, this newly-developed intranasal spray vaccinates against a wide variety of flu strains (including the bird flu strains currently rife in some parts of the US).

Most flu vaccines only target a few strains and (as you’re probably very aware) must be updated every year, as viruses mutate. They also don’t usually protect well against flu viruses that come from animals, like bird flu. The World Health Organization has called for better, more universal flu vaccines, and this research does just that.

The team used two methods:

• One method added a human gene to the flu virus, helping the immune system recognize and destroy infected cells more easily.
• The other method changed parts of the virus’s genetic code to make it weaker in humans but still easy to produce using current vaccine technology.

Both approaches showed strong results in trials, offering protection against multiple types of flu.

Read in full: Needle-free, live-attenuated influenza vaccines with broad protection against human and avian virus subtypes

Related: Flu vaccines are now available for 2025. What’s on offer and which one should I get?

How pets help in old age

It’s probably not news to you that pets can be a remedy against feelings of loneliness, but there’s more to it than that: daily routines like feeding, walking, and playing with a pet can bring structure to the day, reduce stress, and boost physical activity.

Pets also help a lot of older adults connect with their communities, simply because walking a dog or visiting a pet-friendly place often leads to casual conversations and new friendships, which can otherwise sometimes be thin on the ground.

However, owning a pet inevitably comes with some challenges, so it’s worth bearing them in mind up front. Some people may struggle with caring for pets that need a lot of exercise, or have health issues of their own, for example. It’s therefore especially important to choose a pet that fits your lifestyle and what you’re able to deal with on a daily basis—if indeed a pet is the right option for you at all (it’s not for everyone!).

Read in full: How pets enrich the lives of the elderly

Related: How To Beat Loneliness & Isolation

Beyond statins: a cholesterol-lowering pill that helps reduce heart disease risk

Heart disease is a leading killer in the US, and stroke is also rising up the “most fatal” list in recent years. Many opt to treat high cholesterol levels (which can contribute to hypertension, and thus cardiovascular disease, and thus also vascular dementia and stroke) with statins, but statins have their side effects too, many of which are very serious, and for some people, they may not even be that effective.

So, it might be worth knowing about a new contender: Obicetrapib.

This new drug was tested in a large (n=2,530) clinical trial and was shown to significantly reduce two major causes of heart disease: LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and lipoprotein(a), also called: Lp(a).

The study participants were people with heart disease or inherited high cholesterol, and after 12 weeks, those taking Obicetrapib had lowered their LDL cholesterol by over 30%, and Lp(a) by about the same amount. This is important because many people cannot reach safe cholesterol levels with current medications, and there are no widely approved treatments for lowering Lp(a) yet.

Read in full: Cholesterol pill helps those at high risk of heart attack and stroke: Study

Related: Lower Cholesterol, Without Statins

Take care!