drug development
Biotech eyes a new class of narcolepsy drugs
Molly Ferguson for STAT
Several major biotech players are racing to develop a new class of narcolepsy drugs known as orexin receptor agonists, with potentially major ramifications not only for treating sleep disorders but also for a broader class of conditions that lead people to experience fatigue during the day, like Alzheimer's and depression.
Companies working on new narcolepsy treatments include Alkermes, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, and Takeda, my colleague Elaine Chen writes in a new story for STAT. In some cases, those companies' executives have drawn parallels to the development of GLP-1s, in which medications studied for a narrow group end up having potential to improve the lives of a far broader population.
And while some have urged caution, other doctors see these medications as a potential turning point for narcolepsy. "It's not that often in medicine in general that you can talk about a new therapy being truly transformative," said Thomas Scammel, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School who consults for Takeda. Read more here.
immigration
ICE refusing medical care for disabled detainees, advocacy group says
People with disabilities are being "treated like dogs" at Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing centers, according to a recent report by Disability Rights California. The quote came from a detainee, who shouted the phrase in Spanish at a DRC official who was conducting a monitoring visit at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center north of Los Angeles. When DRC investigated the facility in 2019, it found grim conditions for people with disabilities.
The recent report said that one person with diabetes needed to take his medication twice per day — but only received it twice over the 10 days he had been detained. Another person sought help for panic attacks he was having from past traumatic events, but had not been evaluated despite residing in the detention center for over three weeks. Other detainees reported insufficient access to critical medications. ICE did not respond to STAT's request for comment on the report.
This is not the only recent claim that ICE has struggled to meet the needs of disabled detainees. In the spring, ICE officials reportedly refused crucial asthma medications to Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University Ph.D. student. — O. Rose Broderick
diabetes
Just move: For people with diabetes, even a little activity every week is tied to better health
People with diabetes who were just a little physically active in their leisure time reduced their risk of dying from any cause — and from cardiovascular disease in particular — compared to people who weren't active at all, according to a new Annals of Internal Medicine study that followed more than 51,000 people for 21 years. That benefit showed up for people who met the American Diabetes Association's recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week over at least three days, but it was also apparent for "weekend warriors" who hit 150 minutes in just two days, matching research in people without diabetes. "Insufficiently active" types whose activity fell short of the 150 minutes per week also fared better than those who did no exercise.
Overall mortality was 21% lower for weekend warriors, 17% lower for regularly active people, and 10% lower for modestly active people compared to inactive people. For cardiovascular deaths, the rate was lower by 33% for weekend warriors, 19% for regulars, and 2% for less active people. A caveat: Diabetes and activity were self-reported.
"This should be reassuring given the elevated premature mortality risk, distinct physiology, and low physical activity adherence among adults with diabetes," the authors write. — Elizabeth Cooney
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