Microplastics are Now in your Arteries 😱

Welcome to the Dose.

Science so digestible, you can almost taste it.

Our writers at the Dose were a little tired of the stale science articles on the internet. So much so, that we decided to do something about it.

Science is exciting, electric and interesting. Unfortunately, we humans don’t know how to communicate it that way.

The Dose keeps you up-to-date on important news, insights and stock tips, all in a simple, casual and digestible format.

Here’s what we’ve got for you this week:

🧐 What to Watch For This Week 

💉 Dementia in the family? This Jab Has Been Shown to Delay it

😱 Yes, There are now Microplastics in your Arteries

MARKETS
What to Watch For This Week 🧐 

1) Are the Tides Finally Turning? 🌊 

Healthcare and the rest of the S&P 500 have taken a hit in recent years but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Healthcare S&P is up 10% on last year, much of that contributing to the rise in popularity of GLP-1 Inhibitors. 

For those of you who have been sitting under a rock, GLP-1 inhibitors were initially developed for diabetes but another purpose was quickly identified - satiety.

This wonder drug is helping obese individuals lose 1 kg a month.

Investors are bullish about recent developments of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro.

GLP-1 inhibitors are essentially Gen Z’s statins.

Couple these new developments with an aging population and a society scared of a future COVID, and it becomes clear why investors are doubling down on Healthcare and moving money away from shiny tech stocks.

2) These Healthcare Stock Are On a Bull Run 🐮 

While it’s fair to say this market hasn’t been anything to boast about, the below Healthcare stocks are on a 52-week high. To the moon baby! 🚀 

Add these to your watchlist for a chance to see a massive breakthrough in the next few months:

• Fortis Healthcare

• Deepak Nitrite

• Alembic Pharmaceuticals

• Pfizer

• Natco Pharma

• Suven Pharmaceuticals

• Crompton Greaves Consumer Elec

• Piramal Pharma

• Vinati Organics

3) HUGE Q2 Earnings Announcements this week

It’s that time again folks. The big dogs of the S&P 500 are set to announce their Q2 earnings over the next few weeks. Healthcare companies such as Stryker, GE Healthcare, Moderna and Biogen are set to give us a glimpse of what they’ve been up to.

STUDY
Dementia in the Family? This Jab Has Been Shown To Delay It

You wouldn’t wish a dementia diagnosis on your worst enemy.

For many, the first signs are subtle: misplaced keys, forgotten names or missed appointments.

But as dementia progresses, it steals memories, erodes concentration and strips away the ability to perform even the simplest day-to-day tasks. It's a devastating disease that leaves no aspect of life untouched.

Meet Sarah. 

At 65, she’s a retired teacher who spends her days gardening and spoiling her grandchildren. When her mother was diagnosed with dementia a decade ago, Sarah watched helplessly as the vibrant woman she knew faded away. The fear that she might face the same fate has always lingered at the back of her mind.

But there’s hope.

Recent research published in the Journal of Nature Medicine has revealed a potential ally in the fight against dementia: the Shingrix vaccine.

Sarah, like many others, received the shingles jab as part of her routine healthcare. What she didn’t know was that this simple injection could also be a shield against dementia.

The Study

In a groundbreaking study, researchers compared 100,000 people who received the new shingles jab to a group of similar size who received an older vaccine. The results were promising. On average, those who had the new jab enjoyed an extra 164 days free from a diagnosis of dementia over six years.

While researchers are still investigating the link between dementia and the shingles vaccine, these results offer a potential path in the fight against the devastating disease.

For Sarah, and millions like her, these extra days are more than just numbers. They represent more time to create memories, more time to enjoy life and more time to be with loved ones.

Read the full study here

THE WEEKLY DOSE

• AstraZeneca closed down all manufacturing business in Sweden, putting an end to 52 years in the region

• In a study comparing tiragolumab and Roche’s checkpoint inhibitor Tecentriq or Merck & Co.’s Keytruda and chemotherapy, the Keytruda group came out on top after the first Interim Analysis. Roche has now stopped the study and has to return to the drawing board.

• Radiopharmaceutical company Pentixapharm bought Glycotype’s target discovery unit over the weekend.

• AbbVie drops $250 million in cash for inflammatory disease-focused Celsius Therapeutics.

STUDY
Yes, There are now Microplastics in your Arteries 😱

As if we didn’t have enough plastic in our lives already, now it’s made its way into our bodies 😬 

Microplastics were shown to lead to a greater risk of heart attacks and stroke in a new study.

A team of researchers in Italy decided to dive into the plastic problem by examining 257 patients with arterial disease. They were looking for microplastics and nanoplastics in artery plaques—those nasty buildups of fatty substances, cholesterol, and other stuff that clog up your arteries.

The results? More than half of the patients had artery plaques contaminated with tiny plastic particles. Even scarier, people with these plastic-tainted plaques were about four times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke compared to those without the plastic bits.

Now, the researchers aren’t saying plastic is definitely the cause. Other factors like diet and air pollution might also play a role. But with plastic production on the rise, it's super important to figure out if and how these particles are messing with our health.

We think it’s about time to rethink those single use plastics…