CLINICAL NEWS
A Spaceflight Oddity
Research from the University of Arizona and the NASA-Johnson
Space Center gives people another reason to stay local: Prolonged
spaceflight compromises astronauts’ immune systems.
When researchers compared changes in natural killer
(NK) cell activity between the 8 crewmembers who
completed a 6-month mission to the International
Space Station and controls who remained on Earth,
astronauts’ NK-cell cytotoxic
activity was reduced by 50%.
“Cancer is a big risk to astronauts during very prolonged spaceflight
missions because of the exposure to radiation,” lead author
Richard Simpson, PhD, said. “The next question would be, how do
we mitigate these effects? How do we prevent the immune system
from declining during space travel?”
Source: Bigley AB, Agha NH, Baker FL, et al. NK-cell function is impaired during long-
duration spaceflight. J Appl Physiol. 2018 November 1. [Epub ahead of print]
Hospitals Coming up Short
In a survey from the American Hospital Association, respondents said
that shortages for many critical medications are disrupting patient
care and straining hospitals’ budgets.
Vitamin D-Minus
Vitamin D has been touted as a
“super supplement,” with claims that
it prevents or improves a wide variety
of chronic conditions, but a new study
finds that vitamin D’s effects on
preventing cancer and heart disease
have been overhyped.
More than 25,000 participants were
randomized to receive either vitamin
D 2,000 IU/day or placebo. After 5.3
years of follow-up, researchers found
that vitamin D supplementation was
not associated with either:
• Lower risk of cancer:
6.1% vs. 6.3% (p=0.47)
• Lower risk of cardiovascular
events: 3.1% vs. 3.2% (p=0.69)
Source: Manson JE, Cook NR, Lee IM, et al. Vitamin D supplements and prevention of cancer and cardiovascular
disease. N Engl J Med. 2019;380:33-44.
ASHClinicalNews.org
Of 4,262 hospitals surveyed:
79 % 78 %
said it was “extremely
challenging” to obtain
drugs in short supply said drug shortages
resulted in
increased spending
Hospitals also noted that drug shortages create additional staff burden
and costs, with one respondent reporting that staff spent 16 extra hours
per week managing inventory.
Source: American Hospital Association, “Recent Trends in Hospital Drug Spending and Manufac-
turer Shortages,” January 15, 2019.
ASH Clinical News
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