Prazosin prevent post-traumatic headache

Persistent posttraumatic headaches are the most common long-term consequence of mild traumatic brain causing substantial distress and disability at home and work. Although these headaches usually resemble migraine headaches symptomatically, they often fail to respond to the prevention treatments useful for migraines. The FDA approved prazosin to treat hypertension in 1976. An earlier study by members of the research group suggested that prazosin could reduce the frequency and severity of headaches caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI).To test this effect, the researchers conducted a pilot study with 48 Veterans and service members with headaches caused by mild TBI, also known as a concussion. Participants took gradually increasing doses of prazosin for five weeks before receiving the maximum dose for 12 weeks. The study showed that the drug was well-tolerated, and researchers reported that morning drowsiness was the only adverse effect. Before the trial began, study participants had an average of 18 headache days each month. By the end of the 12-week period, those taking prazosin only had headaches for an average of six days a month. Participants receiving a placebo reported some reduction in headaches, but still had headaches about 12 days a month. Significantly more participants in the prazosin group had at least 50% fewer headaches during the 12 weeks of taking a full dose of medication. Participants taking prazosin also saw significant decreases in how much headaches impacted their quality of life. By the end of the trial, those taking prazosin reported that headaches had "some impact" on their daily ability to function, while participants given a placebo continued to report "severe impact" of headaches. This study is the only clinical trial of an oral medication to demonstrate efficacy for posttraumatic headache because prazosin is widely used to treat PTSD trauma nightmares and sleep disruption, Prazosin now offers an evidence-based approach to alleviate the suffering of Veterans and service members who have struggled for years with frequent posttraumatic headaches.

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Quality sleep promotes to depression and anxiety

The researchers said that chronic stress is a major risk factor for a number of mental health disorders, including depression and pathological anxiety, but high-quality sleep and coping strategies such as the ability to reframe a situation to see the positive side can help to prevent poor mental health when faced with negative or stressful experiences. The research studied data from over 600 participants during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 an extended stressful period of time. They aimed to test the theory that coping strategies supported positive mental health outcomes, which could be strengthened by high-quality sleep. This is the first study to investigate the ways in which positive coping strategies and sleep quality influence depression and anxiety when experiencing a real-world chronic stressor. Better sleep quality was associated with fewer symptoms of both depression and anxiety during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings highlight the importance of targeting both positive coping strategies and sleep quality when enduring periods of chronic stress. The team analyzed data in Daily Sleep and Well-being Survey where participants regularly self-reported their sleep quality and mental well-being during the pandemic. They also completed a baseline demographic survey to obtain information such as their age, gender and ethnicity. As well as collecting information on participants' sleep and mental well-being, the surveys also collected a wealth of additional information such as participants' alcohol consumption, their quarantine status and physical activity levels. Long time since high-quality sleep is associated with better healthwell-beingbeing outcomes, but wanted to know whether this would change if sleep and coping strategies were put under intense and prolonged periods of stress, as it was for so many during the pandemic. Sleep plays a hugely important role in the management of chronic stress and can sustain well-being over a long period of time, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.

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 Revealing the biology of insulin production

The discovery of insulin has saved the lives of millions of people with diabetes worldwide, but little is known about the first step of insulin synthesis. Researchers have uncovered part of this mystery. Examining messenger RNAs involved in the production of insulin in fruit flies, they found that a chemical tag on the mRNA is crucial to translating the insulin mRNA into the protein insulin. The alteration of this chemical tag can affect how much insulin is produced. An organism carries DNA, its genes in each cell of its bodies. Genes are blocks of information that get transcribed into proteins via another molecule called messenger RNAs. These mRNAs are photocopies of DNA leaving the original DNA untouched that ferry this protein information into the cytoplasm of cells, where protein is synthesized. The mRNAs are decorated with small molecules called "tags." These tags can modify how RNAs function and how proteins are produced. Studying insulin production in humans or mammals is difficult. In humans, the pancreas is situated behind the liver. It doesn't regenerate well, and it can't be sampled in live subjects. But in flies, their insulin cells are actually in their brains, function like neurons, and are physically accessible to researchers. In fruit flies, the researchers looked at a tag called RNA N-6 adenosine methylation, or m6A.To study the m6A tag, the researchers first identified the RNAs that have the tag. Then they labeled insulin cells with a fluorescent molecule, and used confocal microscopy to visualize how much insulin is produced by the insulin cell. They did in two conditions: first, they knocked out the m6A enzyme, responsible for decorating the mRNA with m6A tags, in insulin cells. Second, they removed the m6A tags by using CRISPR, a technology used to edit DNA. In both cases, the flies' ability to produce insulin was greatly reduced. Researcher found that this photocopy of the DNA for insulin, this mRNA, had a specific tag that, when it is present, a ton of the insulin hormone is made But without the signal, flies had much less insulin and developed hallmarks of diabetes. Low levels of chemical tags have been observed in people with Type 2 diabetes.

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Products of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

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