Medications

Long associated with youthful weightlifters and athletes, creatine supplements are increasingly being used by older adults to maintain muscle and even improve cognition.

As the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak continues, scientists are working to better understand the virus’s threat to human health. The virus has been found in dairy cows’ milk and has infected farm workers, prompting scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to study potential treatments.

Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors are an important treatment option for people with chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Since their approval, the indications for these medical drugs have steadily increased, but recently safety concerns have also been raised.

Why do medications that are supposed to help patients with chronic inflammatory diseases sometimes lead to blood clots?

Terpenes from the Cannabis sativa plant may be a viable medication for fibromyalgia and post-surgical pain relief, according to University of Arizona Health Sciences research published in Pharmacological Reports.

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps presents a substantial clinical burden, affecting nasal airflow, olfactory function, and quality of life. Epithelial barrier dysfunction and type 2 inflammatory responses drive disease progression. Treatments such as intranasal glucocorticoids and sinus surgery provide limited long-term relief and fail to address the underlying inflammatory mechanisms.

The herb rosemary has long been linked with memory. “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance,” says Ophelia in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” So it is fitting that researchers would study a compound found in rosemary and sage—carnosic acid—for its impact on Alzheimer’s disease. In the disease, which is the leading cause of dementia and the sixth-leading cause of death in the US, inflammation is one component that often leads to cognitive decline.

While randomized comparative trials are needed, a relatively new treatment option for upper urinary tract cancers shows promise for lowering long-term recurrence in many patients with low-grade disease, according to a multicenter study led by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Can a drug that’s used to treat malaria be repurposed to fight cancer? Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have secured a patent for the anti-malarial drug pyronaridine to do just that. Pyronaridine has been used to treat the mosquito-borne infectious disease for over 30 years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has removed one hurdle faced by patients with schizophrenia when filling prescriptions for the antipsychotic medication clozapine.