It’s Wednesday, which means Postcall is dancing into your day like Jeff Goldblum at Mardi Gras! 🕺🏻💃🏾

It happens to be Mr. Goldblum’s birthday week, so we’re taking a moment to honour everyone’s favourite fictional mathematician, Dr. Ian Malcolm! 🦕 

Jeff Goldblum’s character in Jurassic Park was an expert in Chaos Theory, the branch of math that examines how small changes can lead to very different, unpredictable outcomes in complex systems. Like the weather! Or genetically engineered dinosaurs that spontaneously start to breed! 🦖 (Spoiler alert for a 30-year-old movie 😬) What we’re saying is… life, uh… finds a way. 🤷‍♀️

On to the headlines!

• What patients might say this week 🙊 

  ^{“Should I turn these expired Covid tests into earrings, or…?”}

• Taking a bite out of rabies 🦇🦝

  ^{A potential cure could be on the horizon.}

• Postcall’s Picks ✅

  ^{What we’re eating, buying, & watching.}

• Play: this week’s Postcall med-themed crossword puzzle ! ⛳️

  ^{Not saying it’s painful, but maybe have some ibuprofen handy.}

Driving these numbers: The market has stopped a multi-week slide (on the back of some solid earnings reports). But wait — markets are awaiting some volatility resulting from the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

What patients might say this week 🙊 

1. “Will Ozempic keep my chronic kidney disease from progressing?”

The FLOW trial was studying semaglutide (1 mg) vs. placebo on the progression of renal impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Novo Nordisk has just cut the trial short — it turns out that semaglutide is showing promising results. Keep your eyes peeled for when the official results drop.

2. “What should I do with my expired Covid test?”

Experts say: you might still be able to use them. Check the expiration date, then check the manufacturing date. The tests should be good for at least two years post-manufacturing date.

3. “Should I stop using chemical hair straighteners?”

The FDA is considering banning chemical straighteners containing formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals like methylene and glycol. This would affect chemical relaxers and pressing products, which have been linked to breast and ovarian cancers via molecules called endocrine disruptors.

4. “Are drones handling my labs?”

For the first time ever, blood tests and urine cultures will be carried by drones between Milton District and Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospitals. The drone, called the Canary RPA, will hopefully deliver critical lab values faster and safer.

Taking a bite out of rabies 🦇🦨

What do foxes, skunks, and bats have in common? They’re furry. They’re primarily nocturnal. Oh — and they’re the most common rabies carriers in Canada.

What happened: Researchers have found a potential cure for advanced rabies. They injected lab mice with a monoclonal antibody (F11) derived from the Australian bat Iyssavirus, a close relative of the rabies virus. Guess what? The mice survived! Now the next big move is crafting a human-friendly version of F11 for clinical trials.

Why it’s interesting: To senior researcher Professor Brain Schaefer, F11 marks a breakthrough as the first practical rabies therapy. Previous treatments failed due to their inability to breach the blood-brain barrier. However, F11 seems to coax the immune system into producing tiny immune cells that can penetrate this barrier, targeting and obliterating rabies. While F11-injected mice still retain low levels of rabies, those levels don’t increase, and symptoms don’t immediately return.

In Canada, the fear of contracting rabies from wild animals is real. While human rabies infection is exceptionally rare here, our US neighbours face a worrying trend. Depending on your vet’s vaccine, your pet needs a rabies shot every 1 to 3 years. However, more pet owners are delaying or refusing vaccines, echoing unfounded COVID-19 fears. Dr. Maggie Brown-Bury, a Newfoundland relief vet, warns that Canada might see a similar rise in vaccine hesitancy, potentially leading to the resurgence of preventable diseases like rabies.

Bottom line: The death rates of rabies in Canada might be reassuringly low, but globally, rabies claim around 60,000 people every year, mostly in developing countries without immediate prevention measures. According to Dr. William Schaffner, monoclonal antibodies like F11 show promise. Also, they can be efficiently produced for easy distribution. We’re raising a toast to a future where rabies’ infamous 100% fatality rate might nosedive! 🥂

🍔 Quick Bites

1: 🏘️ Mortgage defaults and forced home sales are starting to climb in Toronto. Since July, power of sales (when a homeowner has missed payments, forcing the lender to sell the property) have increased by around 10% a month. A growing number of investors and homeowners who bought at the height of the pandemic are defaulting on mortgage payments due to high interest rates.

2: 🧧 The Canadian Senate is considering Universal Basic Income — or rather, studying a bill that would introduce a UBI framework. The policy would guarantee access to livable income for everyone over 17. Also, “participation in education, training or the labour market” wouldn’t be required, and there’d be no funding cuts to other social services. If the bill passes both the Senate and House of Commons, a public report would be made a year after the study begins.

3: 🤕 On top of the horrific human toll, the conflict between Israel and Hamas that broke out this past week has the potential to disrupt the world economy — and even tip it into recession if more countries are drawn in. President Joe Biden’s top security advisor Jake Sullivan said the US had privately warned Iran to stay out of the conflict, but Iran doesn’t intend to sit idly by.

Postcall Picks ✅ 

🧑‍🍳 Eat: Chopped sandwiches are among TikTok’s hottest autumn food trends. What is it? “Videos show a bunch of fillings being chopped finely on a board — ham, cheese, vegetables, eggs, gherkins — then smushed into a Subway-style baguette, squished and cleft neatly in twain to reveal a colourful mosaic filling.” We’re in. Here’s what else is on #foodtok.

@gulasgrub

Chopped Sandwich, ensuing the perfect bite, every bite! #sandwich #sandwiches #sandwichtiktok #sandwichrecipe #choppedsandwich #choppedcheese #fyp

💳️ Buy: Trying to get in those last few miles before the rainy season hits? Ciele is having a 60% off sale from their Archives.

👀 Watch: This redditor posted a video of their neighbours’ cat risking it all for some scritches.

👂️ Listen (better): Having trouble hearing dialogue on your TV? Here’s what you can do to fix it!

🕹️ Game ⛳️

Easy as a Sunday morning… after a gruelling night shift! 😈

First question: What is a mainstay of treatment for alcohol withdrawal?

Soooo…. how’d you do? 😇

Here are the results of last week’s puzzle:

• Fastest time: 0:47

• Second fastest: 1:23

Here at Postcall, we believe that sharing is caring. Show you care by sharing this puzzle… and see if anyone you know can beat your time 😇

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