alcohol
How drinking habits affected mortality among older people
Older adults who drink more are at greater risk of dying than those who only drink occasionally, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. People whose drinking was categorized by the study as high-risk (based on grams consumed per day) showed higher all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality. But even low-risk drinking was associated with higher mortality when people were also dealing with health-related or socioeconomic risk factors.
The findings are based on U.K. Biobank data from over 135,000 people over 60 who drink. A preference for wine and only drinking during meal times were found to be associated with less of an increased mortality risk, but the authors write that more research is needed to determine if those choices are simply reflective of healthier lifestyles or other factors.
(Related: Earlier this summer, STAT's Isa Cueto and Emory Parker wrote a great breakdown of drinking habits in the U.S. and how they affect our health.)
infectious disease
Is raw milk cheese safe to consume, given the ongoing outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in dairy cows?
The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture hoped to get an answer to that question in a new round of testing of commercial dairy products that included butter, ice cream, pasteurized and unpasteurized cheeses purchased in multiple states. Of the 167 items purchased, 23 were raw milk cheeses bought in Idaho, Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina, and Texas.
But a newly posted preprint (a yet to be published study) reports that the agencies still cannot give a definitive answer, because none of the raw milk cheeses purchased tested positive for the virus. It has been assumed that some of the processes involved in making raw milk cheeses would likely kill the virus. For instance, under FDA rules, raw milk cheeses that are sold across state lines must be aged for a minimum of 60 days. "Because there was no evidence of virus in the cheese, we can't draw any conclusions on whether the current requirements of 60 days of aging are sufficient to inactivate viable virus," the FDA and USDA authors said, adding more research needs to be done. Evidence of virus was found in some of the cheeses made with pasteurized milk, but additional testing showed it was inactivated virus.
— Helen Branswell
pharma
ICYMI: Three MDMA papers retracted over data integrity concerns
Over the weekend, we learned that the journal Psychopharmacology was retracting three papers about MDMA-assisted psychotherapy — just days after the FDA's rejection of the closely watched PTSD treatment.
The retractions were due to "protocol violations amounting to unethical conduct," particularly during a Phase 2 trial at the study site in Canada, Psychopharmacology said. This site is where an unlicensed therapist was accused of sexual assault in civil court by a trial participant.
Read more in STAT+ from Meghana Keshavan.
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