Business Report: McDonald’s spinoff CosMc’s coming soon? McDonald’s appears ready to open a spinoff chain named CosMc’s. Plus, the Maple Leafs are putting a new corporate logo on their helmets, and yet another Disney movie opens to disappointing returns. Richard Southern reports.
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Tuesday after Thanksgiving is known as Giving Tuesday, a time when people are encouraged to donate to a non-profit. One way to show generosity without spending any money is by donating blood. [RELATED: Southwest Virginia organizations participating in Giving Tuesday] Donating blood takes less than an hour and you can save up to three lives with just one donation, according to The American Red Cross. “What an amazing way to give to our fellow neighbors and community by a chance to save their lives. People who need blood need it for a very particular reason, and need it most often for life-saving measures,” said Blue Ridge Red Cross Executive Director, Michelle Dowdy. To find a blood drive near you visit The American Red Cross’ website. Once there, type in a zip code to find a location near you and schedule an appointment. Find Southwest Virginia organizations participating in Giving Tuesday here.
GLP-1 agonists such as semaglutide and liraglutide can help patients with type 2 diabetes improve their blood sugar levels, lose weight and even improve their overall cardiovascular health. But these drugs are often taken as daily or weekly injections, meaning there is an inherent risk that adherence will suffer as time goes on. This could make the therapies less effective and cause patients to grow frustrated. According to a new study published in Cell Reports Medicine, however, those patients could potentially be taking GLP-1 agonists much less frequently in the future.[1] A team of specialists out of Stanford University have developed a new injectable hydrogel drug delivery system that helps medications slowly dissipate over time as opposed to hitting the patient all at once. This means a drug such as semaglutide could potentially be injected just once every four months and still have the same clinical impact it would have being injected weekly. “Adherence is one of the biggest challenges in type 2 diabetes management,” senior author Eric Appel, PhD, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford, said in a prepared statement. “Needing only three shots a year would make it much easier for people with diabetes or obesity to stick with their drug regimens.” Appel et al. tested their new hydrogel on laboratory rats, finding significant success. Testing the new drug delivery system on pigs is the team’s next step, and then they hope they can start planning human trials. “At the very least, we have laid a pathway for the prolonged release of therapeutic GLP-1–based anti-diabetic and anti-obesity treatments that could have beneficial impact on type 2 diabetes management and, perhaps, other conditions as well,” Appel said in the same statement.
Cabell County in West Virginia has launched a pioneering pilot program that allows injured patients involved in traumatic incidents such as car accidents, shootings, and stabbings to receive blood on the scene of the incident. The program aims to save more lives by providing blood to patients within minutes rather than waiting until they are transported to the hospital. This initiative is the first of its kind in West Virginia, with Cabell County EMS being one of only 116 agencies in the U.S. that have the capability to administer blood prior to hospitalization.
SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) – The Tuesday after Thanksgiving has been named ‘GivingTuesday’ to remind the nation to give back to local nonprofits. For this year’s day of generosity, The Texoma Regional Blood Center is asking for the gift of life, blood. Office supervisor, Tiara Jones, said supply is currently low, especially for A-negative and B-negative blood types. Jones added that blood and platelet donations can be lifesaving for those in need. “Our platelet donors, those help with the clotting factors, especially for cancer patients,” Jones said, “And the blood actually helps improve that red blood cell count so that they can continue to live a normal life.” Jones said donating is free and easy, taking under 30 minutes for blood and around an hour for platelets. Donors will complete a questionnaire to assess their medical status before donating. They will also need to bring their ID or driver’s license. The center is located at 3911 Texoma Pkwy, Sherman, TX. While ‘GivingTuesday’ occurs just once a year, giving back can be helpful year-round. Copyright 2023 KXII. All rights reserved.
Sure, DREDGE is an awesome Lovecraftian fishing game (which recently had a new DLC launch), but what if you want something darker? Dillo Interactive looks to answer that with their own horror-centric fishing game next month with My Little Blood Cult. Launching into Early Access on December 14th on Steam, My Little Blood Cult trades in your trawler for a fishing rod, a sturdy chair, and a vial of blood. Your objective in My Little Blood Cult is simple: become the most powerful cult known to man. How do you do it? Capture demons, monsters, and everything in between by dropping a line into the bowels of the abyss, baited with the blood of your followers, and reel one in. You can increase your odds of pulling in something truly terrifying by upgrading your equipment, finding oddities, and fusing together powerful new lures using alchemy. As you progress, you’ll unlock themed worlds and alters to collect monsters and demons inspired by history, legend, and pop culture. Dillo Interactive plans on keeping My Little Blood Cult in Early Access for about a year to add more demons and features. Some of the planned features include new rooms with expanded demon harvesting, blood letting & summoning mechanics and weekly/monthly event systems. That’s on top of the expanded demon roster and grimoires that players can collect. For Early Access, the game will feature 4 core grimoires and around 58 demons.
quitting smoking broken cigarette: © mbruxelle – stock.adobe.com Patients who quit smoking cut their risks of heart, cancer and lung death over time. A new study aimed to measure the decrease in cause-specific mortality among former smokers, based on years since quitting. Examining data from 438,015 American adults, researchers Blake Thomson, DPhil, and Farhad Islami, MD, PhD, analyzed characteristics 11,860 cardiovascular deaths, 10,935 cancer deaths, and 2,060 respiratory deaths over 5 million per-years of follow-up. Within 10 years of quitting, ex-smokers avoided an estimated 64% of cardiovascular mortality, 53% of cancer mortality, and 57% of respiratory mortality associated with current smoking, said the research letter, “Association of Smoking Cessation and Cardiovascular, Cancer, and Respiratory Mortality,” published in JAMA Internal Medicine. More time off tobacco led to more health benefits. “After 30 or more years of smoking cessation … former smokers avoided an estimated 100%, 93%, and 97% of the excess cardiovascular, cancer, and respiratory mortality associated with continued smoking, respectively,” the study said. Once smokers stop, the researchers noted there is conflicting evidence about whether increased risk to heart health decreases over 10 to 20 years, or decades later. Cardiovascular disease risk may remain elevated approximately 20 years after quitting, according to previous studies. Even so, “the hazards of smoking and benefits of quitting may be underestimated,” and over time, ex-smokers may have started again, while some current smokers quit, the study said. “These findings emphasize that with sustained cessation, cause-specific mortality rates among former smokers may eventually approximate those of never smokers,” the study said. The data came from the National Health Interview Survey from 1997 followed up through the end of 2019, via linkage to the National Death Index.
Passengers on a cruise ship were urged to donate blood after a teenager fell from a balcony to a deck below. The unidentified 16-year-old was taken to a nearby hospital, where they later died. “We are saddened to learn of the passing of a guest and our hearts go out to the family. Out of respect for them, we won’t provide any further comment,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement. The incident took place Saturday on the Allure of the Seas cruise ship, which left Friday for a trip to the Bahamas, according to WKMG. The ship is based out of Port Canaveral in Florida and often steams to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean. Reports indicate the teenager fell, but it’s unclear whether it was an accident or not. The identity of the teen was not released.
Positive topline data were announced from a phase 4 study evaluating the effect of Qsymia (phentermine and topiramate extended-release capsules) on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (ABPM). Qsymia is approved as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in: adults with an initial body mass index (BMI) of at least 30kg/m2 (obese), or at least 27kg/m2 (overweight) in the presence of at least 1 weight related comorbidity (eg, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or dyslipidemia). It is also indicated for pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with BMI in the 95th percentile or greater standardized for age and sex. The double-blind study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05215418) included 565 overweight/obese adults who were randomly assigned 1:1:1 to receive either Qsymia (titrated to phentermine 15mg/topiramate 92mg), placebo, or phentermine 30mg once daily for 8 weeks. The primary endpoint was the change from baseline to week 8 in mean systolic blood pressure as measured by 24-hour ABPM. Findings demonstrated that treatment with Qsymia was associated with reductions in systolic blood pressure when compared with placebo or phentermine. “A challenge for patients and clinicians is that anti-obesity medications have variable effects on blood pressure; this is a clinically relevant consideration given that high blood pressure is a major cardiovascular disease risk factor,” said Dr Harold Bays, Medical Director and President of the Louisville Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Research Center, and a principal investigator for this trial. “This data supports that beyond beneficial effects of reducing body weight, Qsymia also favorably affects blood pressure – a common and important health metric.” Related Content Full study results are expected to be published or presented in a peer-reviewed forum, according to Vivus. Qsymia is a Schedule IV controlled substance. The product is supplied as an extended-release capsule containing phentermine/topiramate in the following strengths: 3.75mg/23mg, 7.5mg/46mg, 11.25mg/69mg, and 15mg/92mg. References: New clinical data demonstrate that Qsymia®, the leading once-daily oral weight-management medication, reduces blood pressure. News release. Vivus LLC. November 28, 2023. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/11/28/2787056/0/en/New-Clinical-Data-Demonstrate-that-QSYMIA-the-Leading-Once-Daily-Oral-Weight-Management-Medication-Reduces-Blood-Pressure.html.
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