Medical Bulletin 16/December/2022

The results of recent clinical trial, now published in Annals of Internal Medicine, suggest that the antiviral drug nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (Paxlovid) can offer a substantial benefit even to vaccinated patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in the outpatient setting, and can contribute to ongoing efforts to reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations during a projected winter surge.

The antiviral drug was granted Emergency Use Authorization for treating COVID-19 in December 2021. In clinical trials, the antiviral was associated with an 88% reduction in hospitalization or death among high-risk, unvaccinated individuals with COVID-19.

Reference:

Dryden-Peterson, S et al. "Nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir for early COVID-19 in a large US health system" Annals of Internal Medicine DOI: 10.7326/M22-2141

Study finds, light therapy to relieve fatigue syndrome in Multiple Sclerosis

In a recent scientific study, a research group led by Stefan Seidel from the Department of Neurology at MedUni Vienna and AKH Vienna identified light therapy as a promising non-drug treatment option: patients included in the study showed a measurable improvement after just 14 days of use. The study results were recently published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal -Experimental, Translational and Clinical.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is almost always accompanied by fatigue, a massive tiredness that is described by the vast majority of patients as the most distressing symptom.

Reference:

Bright light therapy as a non-pharmacological treatment option for multiple sclerosis-related fatigue: A randomised sham-controlled trial,Multiple Sclerosis Journal - Experimental Translational and Clinical, DOI: 10.1177/20552173221133262

Treatment-resistant depression patients at higher risk of death

Depression is the leading cause of functional disability the world over. The most common treatments are antidepressants or psychotherapy. Many sufferers need care for months or years, but a significant share of patients never recover despite two well-implemented treatment attempts. They have what is commonly called treatment resistant depression.   

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Centre for Psychiatric Research have now examined the effects of treatment resistant depression in Region Stockholm at both an individual and societal level, something that has not been studied to the same extent previously.  

Reference:

"Treatment resistant depression: epidemiology, consequences, and associations ‐ a population‐wide study," Johan Lundberg, Thomas Cars, Sven-Åke Lööv, Jonas Söderling, Johan Sundström, Jari Tiihonen, Amy Leval, Anna Gannedahl, Carl Björkholm, Mikael Själin, Clara Hellner, JAMA Psychiatry, online 14 of December 2022, doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.3860