Health News Roundup

Each month, the Observer brings you a roundup of some recent health news.

A new tool to reduce migraines

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first digital therapeutic tool designed to help prevent migraines in adults. Called CT-132, the mobile smartphone app uses a person’s unique behavioral, lifestyle, and biological data to provide information that could help ward off migraine.

The app produces a 12-week program that uses proven behavioral methods to target areas of the brain associated with migraine. The idea is to strengthen the brain’s “neurolimbic circuitry,” through such techniques as cognitive behavioral therapy to reduce the brain’s hypersensitivity to things like light, noise and stress — thus decreasing the frequency of migraines, according to the manufacturer, Click Therapeutics.

The device is designed to be used alongside other therapeutics, such as medications. It is not intended as a replacement for other treatments.

About 37 million Americans experience migraines. People with chronic migraines experience 14 or more days a month with symptoms. Migraines cause many people to miss work or school or activities associated with daily living.

The FDA approval was based on a study of 568 patients with episodic migraine. The study found patients treated with CT-132 for 12 weeks had a decrease in the number of migraines per month and had improved quality-of-life scores compared to people who did not use the app. Participants using CT-132 experienced, on average, about three fewer migraine days per month, compared to 0.9 days for people who didn’t use the device.

CT-132 is available by prescription only and is meant to be used under the guidance of a health care provider.

The approval adds to the growth of digital health devices. Consumers already have apps to improve mental health, exercise adherence, diet and fertility tracking.

Older Americans want obesity drugs

More than half of older adults who meet the criteria for obesity say they are interested in trying one of the newer, highly successful anti-obesity drugs, such as the GLP-1 agonist medications like Wegovy and Zepbound.

A study published recently in the journal JAMA Network Open also found 83% of older adults surveyed for the study agreed strongly or somewhat that health insurance should cover weight management medications.

Current law prevents Medicare from covering medications to treat obesity, and most private plans don’t cover the most effective newer weight management drugs because of cost. Medicare currently covers a drug that is also used for weight management but only in people with diabetes or a history of heart attack or stroke.

However, late last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a rule to allow Medicare to cover anti-obesity medications.

“As our nation contends with the impacts of the obesity epidemic on older Americans, and the costs of both obesity-related conditions and the medications that can treat obesity, data like these can inform the discussion over coverage and access,” said Dr. Lauren Oshman, an obesity specialist and the lead author of the study, from U-M Medical School.

Access to weight loss medications is becoming a hot-button issue. While the proposed Medicare rule might expand access for seniors, the federal government recently closed a loophole that gave Americans access to less-expensive compounded versions of the GLP-1 medications.

In the Michigan survey, researchers found 35% of all poll respondents said they’re somewhat or very interested in using a weight management medication, including 31% of those age 65 and older.

Immunotherapy cancer drugs work just as well in older patients

Immunotherapy has revolutionized some types of cancer treatments. A new study offers reassurance that the medications work just as well in people age 65 and older as they do in younger patients.

The study is important because immunotherapy drugs work by prompting the body’s natural immune system to function better to fight cancer. However, the strength of the immune system tends to wane in old age.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine looked at that issue in a study of 100 patients treated with a type of immunotherapy drug called a checkpoint inhibitor. About half of the patients were 65 and older. The study examined immune cells and proteins in the blood that demonstrate immune system activity. They found both the younger and older patients benefited equally from immunotherapy.

The efficacy of immunotherapy in older patients is important because most new solid tumor cancer diagnoses are in people 65 and older, and older patients tend to have worse outcomes compared to younger patients. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Mediterranean diet reduces breast cancer risk

About 1 in 8 American women receive a breast cancer diagnosis at some point in their lives. A new study offers hints at how to reduce the risk by adhering to a Mediterranean diet.

Iranian researchers used medical databases to look at the association between diet and breast cancer risk. Overall, 31 studies were included in the analysis. The study found a significant association between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and lower breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Postmenopausal women who regularly consumed a Mediterranean diet had a 13% lower risk of breast cancer compared to postmenopausal women who consumed other types of diets. The analysis showed no association between breast cancer risk and the Mediterranean diet among premenopausal women.

A Mediterranean diet is described as high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, legumes, nuts, seeds and seafood. The diet emphasizes a moderate intake of eggs, dairy and poultry and limits intake of red meat, processed foods and sugary drinks.

The study, published in the journal Health Science Reports, suggests there are several possible reasons why the Mediterranean diet lowers risk. These include the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of foods in the diet as well as the impact of those foods on female hormones.