Have you gotten a flu shot yet? If not, you may want take advantage of incentives.
Fresco y Más and Winn-Dixie are offering a vaccine incentive of $20 in free groceries to encourage customers to prepare for respiratory illness season. To receive $20 in free groceries, customers must get either the flu shot or the updated COVID-19 vaccine. (The stores are carrying the COVID-19 booster only for people 12 and older). Customers can visit any Fresco y Más or Winn-Dixie in-store pharmacy or make a vaccination appointment online.
CVS is offering a $5 off a $20 purchase when you get a flu shot and advertises that vaccines are free with most insurances. Along with the $5 coupon, getting a shot allows you to enter the CVS® #FluShotFlex Sweepstakes for a chance to win a sports experience or other prizes. If you get a COVID-19 vaccine, too, you are qualified for a second sweepstakes entry. You can schedule an appointment online.
Walgreens is offering a $10 coupon with a store purchase if you get a flu shot The deal is good through the end of the year.
Publix used to offer $10 to people who got the flu shot there, but that is no longer the case.
Free Alzheimer’s screenings
As part of National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month this November, the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America is reminding everyone to get a memory screening. The association offers free memory screenings via videoconference every weekday through its National Memory Screening Program, with no minimum age or insurance prerequisites. A memory screening can reveal whether someone should see a physician for a full evaluation. Donna de Levante Raphael, director of AFA’s National Memory Screening Program said there are ways to combat cognitive decline, which is why it’s better to know earlier if you have memory issues. You can request a screening at www.alzfdn.org or by calling 866-232-8484.
UF researchers find possible treatment for recurring kidney stones
Between 30% and 50% of people develop another kidney stone after their first one. But two University of Florida Health researchers think they found a possible solution. They used data from published studies to show good results from repurposing some medications for kidney stone disease that people are taking for other health reasons. Those medications include the cholesterol-reducing statin atorvastatin and a pair of drugs used to treat high blood pressure (losartin and lisinopril).
Dr. Benjamin Canales, a professor in UF College of Medicine’s department of urology, said statins used to lower cholesterol are potential antioxidants that can decrease kidney inflammation.
The therapies traditionally used to reduce stone formation — diet, medication and fluid — aim to reduce the concentration of minerals such as calcium and oxalate in the urine. Canales sees value in also targeting where kidney stones form, which is the urinary tract. “If you can change these conditions deep within the kidneys, you may be able to prevent a stone from ever starting,” he said.
Florida’s hot, humid weather leads to more sweating and less urinating, driving up the concentration of ions in urine that cause kidney stones
The UF researchers said using medications for kidney stones that are intended for high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and other conditions would require clinical trials and federal regulators’ approval. Considering the increasing prevalence of kidney stones — and the sometimes debilitating pain they bring — Canales said, “it’s an intriguing, worthy pursuit.”
New proton therapy cancer treatment in Boca Raton
Baptist Health’s Eugene M.& Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute in Boca Raton has broken ground on a new center for proton therapy. Proton therapy is a type of radiation that uses high-powered energy to treat cancer and some noncancerous tumors. It offers more precise delivery of radiation, less effects to nearby organs, and a better quality of life post-treatment. The new center in Boca Raton is set to open in 2026.
John McCall / Sun Sentinel
A group of men, who suffer from sickle cell disease, talk about living with the disease in Fort Lauderdale at a 2019 forum. (John McCall/ South Florida Sun Sentinel file)
New health findings for Multiple Sclerosis, Sickle Cell and Diabetes
In the last few weeks, health findings and innovations have emerged that offer hope to Floridians suffering from diseases.
Multiple Sclerosis: Doctors had been uncertain what triggers a body with Multiple Sclerosis to turn on itself. But now Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers say evidence shows the disease of the central nervous system likely is triggered by a common infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. In a study published in the journal Science, Harvard researchers used data from US military recruits monitored over a 20-year period to study the correlation. Their results found Epstein-Barr is not the only risk factor for Multiple Sclerosis but may be the leading cause of the condition.
If you’ve had EBV, you may have a higher risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis than someone who hasn’t, and it could take as long as five years for the onset, the research found. Not everyone who has had EBV is aware they have it because for some people Epstein-Barr can cause infectious mononucleosis, while for others, it can feel like a brief cold- or flu-like illness.
Dr. Claire S. Riley, assistant professor of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center and clinical director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center, told Health this study provides the most convincing evidence researchers have seen that Epstein-Barr could trigger MS.
Moderna has begun enrolling people in a clinical trial for an Epsten-Barr vaccine. While an EBV vaccine may help prevent MS in the future, researchers caution that it likely would not help people who already live with the disease.
Sickle Cell: Two new treatments for sickle cell disease may be approved by the end of the year. This offers hope to people who suffer from the inherited and painful blood disorder that affects mostly Black Americans. A bone marrow transplant is already a treatment option for the painful condition, but it requires patients to have a matching donor. The new genetic treatments would repair the patient’s own cells, so a donor match isn’t necessary.
One of the treatments is a gene-editing therapy called exa-cel. It would change specific parts of a patient’s DNA to treat the blood disorder. The Food and Drug Administration has asked for more information on the long-term effects. The other treatment by Bluebird Bio works differently and aims to treat the underlying genetic cause of the disease.
The FDA is expected to rule on the treatment from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics by Dec. 8 and the one from Bluebird Bio by Dec. 20.
Diabetes: On Nov. 3, the FDA cleared a new device for people with type 1 diabetes. Control-IQ Technology is a software-only device can be used with continuous glucose monitors and controller-enabled insulin pumps. Anyone 2 years and older is eligible to use the device that automatically increase, decrease, and suspend delivery of basal insulin based on monitor readings. The manufacturer plans to study its use in children 2 to 5 years old to collect additional information on its performance.
What’s Hot in Healthcare is a monthly feature. Send ideas or information to health reporter Cindy Goodman at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.