On this Postcall Wednesday, we’d like to share the spotlight with the 9th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly!

Officially Feb. 11, the UN observes the equal access and participation of women in STEM fields. 🔬👩🏻‍🔬 This year, the Assembly is meeting Feb 8-9.

❓Trivia Question❓: Who was the first woman to fly in space? (Answer at the bottom of today’s issue!)

Now on to this week’s stories!

• The X Factor in Autoimmune Diseases

• Things your attending might pimp you on

  • Keeping up with the K…MMR vaccines

  • Semaglutide and suicidal ideation

  • Global cancer trends going up

• 23andOops

• Quick Bites

• Postcall Picks

• 🕹️ Game ⛳️

• ❓Trivia Question❓

🫀 Taking the Pulse: Normally, we tell you what’s happening in the economy here. But we hear you — you want us to keep it short and sweet (& news about healthcare, science, and tech tickles your fancy a bit more). If you still want to hear about what’s happening in the economy and your money, let us know:

The X Factor in Autoimmune Diseases💃

What happened: Stanford researchers cracked why women are more prone to autoimmune diseases. Women pack two X chromosomes, while men rock one X and one Y. The X chromosome is loaded with genes, far more than the smaller-sized Y chromosome. To avoid a genetic overload, every female cell smartly mutes one of its X chromosomes—an insurance policy known as “X-chromosome inactivation.”

This process amps the risk of autoimmune disorders, thanks to a gene called Xist (pronounced "exist"). Xist takes charge in muting proteins on the extra X chromosome. But it can, in some cases, kickstart a robust immune response, roping in proteins linked to autoimmune disorders.

Why it’s interesting: Women dominate 80% of autoimmune disease cases, dealing with heavyweights like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Navigating these conditions is tough due to limited treatments, demanding lifelong care. Women in particular struggle with chronic pain. Estrogen's sway on pain perception and response to painkillers leads to "sex differences in how women experience pain.” But as Postcall covered, we’re making strides in health equity.

Hold up: Understanding Xist’s role doesn't clarify how men develop these diseases or why certain autoimmune conditions (e.g Type 1 diabetes) skew towards males. Dr. Howard Chang says this reflects autoimmunity's multifactorial nature. There’s no single cause or exclusive path, and not all autoimmune diseases show a strong female bias. 

Bottom line: This finding could lead to more accurate diagnostics and, potentially, interventions to disrupt the autoimmune process for men and women alike. Further research is needed to fully understand how Xist RNA influences the immune system and the feasibility of new therapeutic approaches based on these insights. 

Things your attending might pimp you on 🙋🏽‍♀️👨‍⚕️ 

1. Keeping up with the K…MMR vaccines

A resurgence of measles in Europe has driven cases up 40-fold since 2022, in part explained by vaccine hesitancy amplified by the lingering effects of the pandemic. Experts caution that Canada may have an outbreak on their hands in the future. A 95% MMR vaccination rate is needed for herd immunity — which Canada has not reached — highlighting the importance of catching up on children’s immunizations.

2. Semaglutide and suicidal ideation

Wegovy will be coming to Canada in the spring of 2024 amidst concerns over its association with suicidal ideation. For context, weight-loss drugs and even bariatric surgery have been linked with depression. However, a recent retrospective cohort study with over 200,000 patients has found that semaglutide is not associated with suicidal ideation (SI). In patients with overweight or obesity, semaglutide compared with non-GLP1R agonists was associated with lower risk for incident (HR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.200.32–0.600.36) and recurrent (HR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.32–0.60) SI consistent across sex, age and ethnicity stratification. 

3. Global cancer trends going up

Alright, it’s unlikely that your attending will pimp you on this. But on the off-chance they will: Buckingham palace confirmed that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. This comes in the wake of a WHO report suggesting troubling cancer trends around the world, revealing that there has been a staggering 50% increase in new cancer cases and an 18% rise in cancer-related deaths worldwide between 2012 and 2022. By 2050, it is estimated that new cancer cases will surge by 77% with lower-income countries bearing a disproportionately heavier burden. 

🧬 23andOops

What happened? Popular ancestry company 23andMe admit it took them 5 months to notice they were being hacked.

Why it’s interesting: The hacking began in April 2023, and it wasn’t until early Oct. when a third party source posted stolen data on an unofficial 23andMe subreddit that the company finally took notice. By then, it was too late — hackers had access to around 14,000 customers accounts. They’d stolen ancestry and genetic data of 6.9 million users thanks to 23andMe’s DNA Relative’s features.

The stolen data includes names, birth years, relationship statuses, the percentage of DNA shared with relatives, ancestry reports, and self-reported locations. 

23andMe updated its terms of service two days before they notified customers of the breach. Users weren’t allowed to file class action lawsuits, but instead could go through arbitration. Critics say arbitration favours the corporations, often hiding how terms and services mean that customers have given up their constitutional right to file a lawsuit. Data breach lawyers say 23andMe’s policy is “a desperate attempt to protect 23andMe from its customers.” 23andMe have blamed customers, saying it’s their fault for  allegedly “reusing passwords from other sites.”

Bottom line: Finger pointing isn’t going to change that almost 7 million people have had their data stolen and exposed. Although using the same password for multiple accounts can be dangerous, 23andMe should’ve noticed password recycling and implemented a safeguard to protect their info.  

🍔 Quick Bites

1: ⚠️ The Liberal government is officially delaying the expansion of MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) for mental illness until 2027. According to Health Minister Mark Holland and Justice Minister Arif Virani, the provincial and territorial systems just aren’t ready.

2: 🩻 A Winnipeg physician is ponying up hundreds of thousands of dollars of her own money to incentivize family physicians from the UK to join her practice. Given our publicly-funded health care system, she’s disappointed in the government for not helping to recruit doctors to keep her practice open.

3: 🦷 As of last week, Canadians aged 72 and older are eligible to sign up for the national dental care plan — but the registration and billing processes are still not clear to dentists, hygienists, and denturists. More than 400k seniors have already signed up.

4: ⚧ There has been backlash after the Alberta government announced policy to pull back on gender-affirming care last week. The pediatrics section of the Alberta Medical Association has condemned these changes, saying, "The mental health of these children and youth will be markedly worse when denied care.” OTOH, supporters say the new policies are reasonable given the risks, and are calling for the debate to remain grounded.

5: 🎙️ The 66th Annual Grammy Awards happened this past weekend, and here’s a quick preview of some winners.

*if you’re also confused about the difference between these, click here for a quick explainer from Vox.

Postcall Picks ✅ 

🚗 Buy: Tesla drops the price of the Model Y by $4K. That means you could pay as little as $42K CAD after provincial rebates.

🥧 Eat: Atlas Obscura published its 50 Places to Eat and Drink Before You Die.

👀 Watch: You’ve seen the Apple Vision Pro. You’ve heard of the Cybertruck. But have you seen how ridiculous it would be to try to use both… at the same time?

🕹️ Game ⛳️

Take another swig of coffee if you need it 🙃

First question: Red cell casts are pathognomonic for what?

Last week’s average time: 4:49.

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❓Trivia Question❓

Valentina Tereshkova, on June 16, 1963, when she orbited Earth as part of the Vostok 6 mission.

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