Pharmacist Jamie

🧠 Can vaccines protect your brain?

Growing observational research links several vaccines — especially the shingles vaccine — to a lower risk of dementia. The strongest studies use “natural experiments” (like Wales’s age based eligibility cutoff and the 2017 Zostavax→Shingrix switch) to get closer to causal evidence than typical observational data.

But here’s the important caveat: these are still observational studies. Even well designed natural experiments can’t fully rule out confounding, and they don’t prove that vaccination causes lower dementia risk. They show a strong, reproducible association — which is genuinely exciting — but “associated with” isn’t the same as “proven to prevent.”

Bottom line: get vaccinated for the reasons vaccines are already recommended (shingles, postherpetic neuralgia, etc.). A possible dementia risk benefit is a promising bonus, not yet a standalone reason to vaccinate.

It’s squid mating season! 🦑 I found this squid egg mop washed ashore, and the video is another I found in the water at low tide attached to a rock in the South Shore of Boston.

Squid don’t guard their eggs. Once laid, the parents die off (semelparity), and the capsules are left to develop on their own, anchored to sand, rock, or other egg mops nearby. The gelatinous casing protects the embryos from bacteria and predators while still letting oxygen through. If you look closely at the picture, you can see hundreds of miniature squid with eyes!! 👀 Storms and strong currents can tear a spawning bed loose and wash clusters like this one onto the beach. 🌊

Depending on species and water temperature, embryos develop for a few weeks to a couple months inside the capsule. When they’re ready, hatchlings emerge as fully formed miniature squid, called paralarvae, just millimeters long. They hatch already swimming, jetting, and hunting tiny plankton, and from day one they’re on their own.

This one had washed ashore, so I gently carried it back into the water. Embryos need to stay submerged to keep developing — once stranded on dry sand they’ll dehydrate and die pretty quickly. If you find one out of the water, the kindest thing to do is return it to the sea (no need to touch the delicate finger tips more than necessary, just cup it and carry it back).

**This was a great moment to talk to my kids about gentle hands & being respectful to all animals. Lately, I’ve watched kids fling jellyfish down rock slides & toss them in the air — not out of cruelty, but they do need guidance & education. The ocean is home to all of this, not a toy box. A simple rule helps: look, don’t grab; and if something’s stranded, ask an adult before touching it. Curiosity is wonderful — it’s how kids become the next generation of people who care about this stuff. We just want to point it in a direction that keeps the animals (and little hands) safe.

The irony. 🙄

Back to basics 💊 Sometimes the simplest habits make the biggest difference in how well your meds actually work.

A few reminders:
✔️ Store meds away from heat/humidity (not the bathroom or hot car!)
✔️ Full glass of water, every time
✔️ Same time daily builds consistency
✔️ Missed dose? Ask your pharmacist

A CDC study on the 2025–2026 updated COVID-19 vaccine was paused before publication in MMWR but was later published after independent peer review in JAMA Network Open.

The study found that receiving the updated vaccine was associated with additional protection beyond existing immunity, including about a 50% lower risk of COVID-19-related emergency/urgent care visits and a 55% lower risk of hospitalization.

Science advances through open evaluation of evidence. Publishing research—even when it’s debated—allows clinicians, researchers, and the public to assess the data and build trust through transparency.

Anticholinergic medications aren’t inherently “bad” — many are effective, appropriate treatments. But cumulative exposure over time, especially in older adults, is linked to higher dementia risk in observational studies (association, not proven causation). If you’re an older adult or on multiple meds, it’s worth a medication review.

Did you know some medications can make your skin more sensitive to the sun? ☀️

Phototoxic reactions are the most common and happen when a medication absorbs UV light, leading to direct skin damage that looks like an exaggerated sunburn.

Photoallergic reactions are less common and occur when UV light triggers an immune response, causing an itchy, eczema-like rash.

The good news? You usually don’t need to stop your medication. Sunscreen, protective clothing, and limiting intense sun exposure can help reduce your risk.

💬 Have you ever experienced a medication related sun reaction?

— Di Bartolomeo L, et al. Drug-Induced Photosensitivity: Clinical Types of Phototoxicity and Photoallergy and Pathogenetic Mechanisms. Front Allergy. 2022.
— Hofmann GA, et al. Drug-induced photosensitivity: culprit drugs, potential mechanisms and clinical consequences. Drug Saf. 2021.
— Kowalska J, et al. Drug-Induced Photosensitivity—From Light and Chemistry to Biological Reactions and Clinical Symptoms. Int J Mol Sci. 2021.
— U.S. FDA: The Sun and Your Medicine⁠ (patient guidance on medications associated with photosensitivity)

Vaccine myths are everywhere right now - and they’re not harmless. Misinformation has real consequences for public health. So let’s talk about some common vaccine myths! 💉

HHS now has a Lyme disease website that links patients directly to ILADS providers. Here’s why scientists and infectious disease experts are concerned.

ILADS promotes “chronic Lyme disease” and prolonged antibiotic treatment, approaches that diverge from IDSA guidelines and are based on what ILADS itself rates as low to very low quality evidence.

This matters because:
→ Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) is real, but persistent symptoms aren’t evidence of ongoing active infection
→ Long term antibiotics carry real risks: C. diff, antibiotic resistance, IV line complications
→ Some “Lyme-literate” providers have faced serious legal and professional consequences
→ Government endorsement signals credibility — and credibility should require strong evidence

Patients with chronic symptoms deserve compassion AND evidence based care.