Weekly Health Digest: Dementia Care, Marijuana Risks, Opioid Alternative

These Settings Aren’t Real. But for Dementia Patients, What Is?

By Paula Span, New York Times

Different approaches and techniques have been tried to provide adequate care to patients with dementia. “Therapeutic lying” seemed to be one of the most common techniques, which deflects giving honest answers to patients’ questions to prevent strong emotional reactions. Other techniques have also been tried, such as robotic pets and baby dolls. 

A new approach to dementia care is now available: creating whole environments, either at assisted living facilities or in bigger places like warehouses. At RiverSpring Residences in the Bronx, they built two immersive environments, a nursery and a store, inside the facility. They wanted to bring back some degree of normalcy to the residents’ lives. In 2018, the Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers created the Town Square adult day program inside a warehouse in Chula Vista, California, emulating a small-town Main Street of the 1950s.

Experts fear that these environments might only be available to those who can afford them. It is also too early to say that these can provide real clinical benefits or substantially improve quality of life. Nonetheless, this is another step forward in the continued search for different methods to improve the quality of life of the elderly living with dementia.

— by Alexa Morales

More frequent marijuana use may damage important memory skill

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN

A new study has found that working memory may be damaged by more frequent use of marijuana. Lead author Joshua Gowin, assistant professor of radiology at University of Colorado’s Anschutz School of Medicine, warns of the dangers of a damaged working memory. 

Working memory is the short term retention of memory, such as remembering what you saw while checking your blind spot, or what your boss says in a conversation. “Losing your working memory means that retaining that information might require more effort and be more challenging,” Gowin said to CNN.

Some scholars say the new study cannot be seen as proof of cannabis harming the brain. It may, however, provide scientific evidence for why heavy users report having poor memory.

From 2012 to 2015, over 1,000 users underwent brain scans and cognitive tests. Researchers found statistically significant evidence that cannabis use reduces brain activity in areas responsible for memory. Over 60 percent of heavy lifetime cannabis users and those who tested positive for recent cannabis use showed reduced working memory. Chronic cannabis use, over 1,000 times in one’s life, seemed most important in working memory decline, even if the individual has stopped using. 

There is still much unknown about the effects of cannabis on working memory. Some confounding factors were accounted for, like alcohol use, which did not explain working memory decline, but others, like ADHD and the method of THC delivery, still need to be looked at. 

— by Justine Borgia

F.D.A. Approves Drug to Treat Pain Without Opioid Effects

By Gina Kolata, New York Times

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new medication to treat pain caused by injury or surgery. Suzetrigine, manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, works solely on nerves outside the brain,  blocking pain signals. As a result, the drug cannot enter the brain and cannot become addictive like opioids.

Opioids are a class of drugs derived from poppies. These drugs target receptors in the brain to induce morphine-like effects, such as pain relief. Unfortunately, this class of drugs is also highly addictive and is the leading cause of drug overdose in the United States.

Studies have found that Suzetrigine is highly specific, blocking a specific sodium channel known as Nav1.8. Currently, it has been shown to help patients with diabetic neuropathy and acute pain. Larger studies are in progress to address groups of patients dealing with damaged and pinched spinal nerves, a form of chronic pain.

Vertex’s new drug is listed at $15.50 per pill, and the recommended dosage is two pills each day, accumulating to $217 each week. While this drug may be costly to the average American, it could provide a silver lining to the 52 million adults suffering with chronic pain. 

— by Merom Arthur

Items summarized by: Alexa Morales, Justine Borgia, Merom Arthur