Dr. Kevin Most of Northwestern Medicine drops by The Steve Cochran Show for his weekly roundup of medical news to help you live a happier, healthier life. This week, he talks about FDA finally approving the second omicron booster for people over the age of 65, early signs of Parkinson’s, and Narcan vending machines becoming more common.
Narcan vending machines – becoming more common
- 2,000 overdose deaths in Cook County in 2022, to put this in perspective there were 3,700 overdose deaths in Illinois, in all of 2021
- Historically Narcan was used in Emergency Rooms for potential overdoses, in 2010 this drug was given to police officers to use as first responders
- Narcan is a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and save lives
- Narcan was made available without a prescription in 2021, you could buy from the pharmacist
- Narcan recently was approved for OTC status, meaning you would no longer need to talk to a pharmacist to purchase.
- Chicago recently placed a Narcan vending Machine on CTA Red Line Stop at 95th street
- This is not novel as Narcan is available in vending machines across the country including Las Vegas, New York, Detroit, West Virginia and many other sites
- Many college campuses have Narcan Vending machines on campus.
- The vast majority are free vend machines, requiring no money
- Included with the prescription is information on quitting and support groups
The second Omicron Booster has finally been approved
- We discussed in the past how the UK and Canada had approved a second shot of the Omicron booster.
- This was based on the premise that the immunity wanes after 4-6 months since the last booster.
- Many received their first booster in the late fall and have been waiting for this recommendation
- FDA announced last Monday that a bivalent Omicron booster 2nd shot is now approved for those over the age of 65 and at least 4 months after your first booster
- It is also approved for immunocompromised 2 months after their initial bivalent booster
- FDA shows the immunity does wane, as shown by many studies, but this booster restores it
- The bivalent more accurate vaccine has now replaced the original vaccine
- For those who are completely unvaccinated a single shot of the Bivalent vaccine is now recommended, rater than the multiple doses of the original vaccine
- FDA will meet again in June to decide on next vaccine recommendations
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month- New test for early diagnosis from Michael J Fox Foundation
“Make the most of the advantage you get from being underestimated” This comment is from Michael J Fox, when asked about “his celebrity charity”
Celebrities with Parkinson’s
- Muhammad Ali
- Alan Alda
- Neil Diamond
- George Bush
- Rev Jesse Jackson
- Every 6 minutes a new patient will be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, 8.5 million people have Parkinson’s
- First identified by Dr James Parkinson’s in 1817- for years you were diagnosed by physical exam and then rated 1-5
- We now have MRI tests that can support the diagnosis, but again the diagnosis is made after symptoms have started
- Parkinson’s is a neuro degenerative disease that impacts a specific part of the brain
- Symptoms develop slowly over years and diagnosis is not made often until much later in the illness
- Common symptoms include tremor, slow movement, stiff limbs, gait and balance problems
- Unfortunately individuals with Parkinson’s may also have depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and blood pressure issues
- We still do not know the cause, although there appears to be a genetic portion as well as some environmental causes
- We currently have no cure, but we have treatments including exercise, medications, brain stimulators
- Dopamine based drugs are the first line as individuals with PD have low levels of Dopamine, meds either increase dopamine or make it more efficient
- Unfortunately by the time individuals have motor symptoms, it is late in the disease and 60-80% of the specific neurons have been damaged.
- Big push now is to find a test that can identify this disease earlier, find it years before any symptoms and perhaps we can slow it.
- Last week, research out of the Michael J Fox Foundation have identified a protein in spinal fluid of people with PD as well as those with a high risk of developing PD
- This study showed the “Parkinson’s Protein” ( alpha Syn -SAA) this is the first time they have identified this in a live PD patient.
- This abnormal protein was present in 93% of those tested who had PD, for reference point very few tests for neurologic illness are over 90%
- Also important was the False Positive rate was under 5%, meaning an individual who had a positive result in fact does not have the illness
- This test will identify patients well before they have any symptoms
- Knowing this is present, may lead to earlier diagnosis, it may also increase targeted treatment options, including more effective drugs
- Next steps are to see if this can lead to a less invasive way to test like a blood test or nasal swab
- As has been said before, you can build a high speed train but without tracks for it, you only have a high speed train, where is this headed next? The tracks are being laid
Early signs of Parkinson’s
- Tremor in finger, thumb or hand. This is often a tremor while at rest
- Small Handwriting, are the letters smaller, are the words crowded together
- Loss of smell
- Trouble sleeping- do you thrash around in bed
- Trouble walking- have you noticed your arms don’t swing like they used to
- Stiffness or pain in the shoulder, hips
- Soft low voice, have people told you there has been a change in your voice
- Have you been told you have a serious or depressed look on your face even when not in a bad mood
- Dizziness or fainting- low blood pressure can be linked to Parkinson’s
- Do your feet feel stuck to the floor, does the stiffness not resolve after moving.
