Medical Bulletin 07/September/2023

Here are the top medical news of the day:

Psilocybin significantly helpful in treating Major Depressive Disorder

Recent clinical trial published in JAMA Network suggests that Psilocybin treatment was associated with a clinically significant sustained reduction in depressive symptoms and functional disability, without serious adverse events.

The researchers conducted a randomized, multi-blinded design that compared a single dose of psilocybin with an active placebo comparator (niacin), with outcome assessments conducted by blinded centralized raters to examine the timing of onset of action, durability of benefit, and safety profile of psilocybin over a 6-week period.

Reference: Raison CL, Sanacora G, Woolley J, et al. Single-Dose Psilocybin Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. Published online August 31, 2023. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2023.14530

Low-dose aspirin associated with a 15% lower risk of developing diabetes in elderly

New research to be presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Hamburg, Germany shows that use of low dose (100mg daily) aspirin among older adults aged 65 years and older is associated with a 15% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The authors say the results show that anti-inflammatory agents such as aspirin warrant further study in the prevention of diabetes.

This study investigated the randomised treatment effect of low-dose aspirin on incident diabetes and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels among older adults. The authors did a follow-up study of the ASPREE trial - a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of aspirin, the principal results of which were published in NEJM in 2018. The original study showed that aspirin conferred a 38% increased risk of major hemorrhage in older adults without any reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Reference: DIABETOLOGIA

Meeting: Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)

Analysing the benefits of Low-Carb Diets for People With Diabetes

Carbohydrate restriction can exert a significant and important reduction on levels of cardiometabolic risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes, a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials has shown. Levels of most cardiometabolic outcomes decreased linearly with the decrease in carbohydrate intake.

The research team aimed to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to investigate the dose-dependent effects of carbohydrate restriction on glycemic control and levels of traditional cardiometabolic risk factors in adults with existing type 2 diabetes.

Reference: Ahmad Jayedi, Sheida Zeraattalab-Motlagh, Bahareh Jabbarzadeh, Yasaman Hosseini, Aliyu Tijen Jibril, Hossein Shahinfar, Amin Mirrafiei, Fatemeh Hosseini, Sakineh Shab-Bidar, Dose-dependent effect of carbohydrate restriction for type 2 diabetes management: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 116, Issue 1,2022, Pages 40-56, ISSN 0002-9165, (https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac066)