Trending News Today: Repurposed Generic Vaccine Reduces Blood Sugar Levels in Type 1 Diabetes

A new study has found that an older generic vaccine may help lower the blood sugar level of patients with type 1 diabetes, Kaiser Health News reported. According to the article, the vaccine, BCG, is used to prevent tuberculosis but may be able to be repurposed to decrease the need for insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes. In the study, the blood sugar levels of patients with type 1 diabetes who were followed for 8 years dropped by more than 10% three years after injection with the vaccine and were sustained for 5 more years, the article reported.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved Oklahoma’s Medicaid program for a first-in-the-nation drug pricing experiment, the Associated Press reported. According to the article, in the “value-based purchasing” program, the state and the pharmaceutical company would agree to set a payment if its medication works as advertised, but only a fraction of that if the drug is not as effective as promised. Although the companies are not required to participate, several have shown interest and discussions are underway with 3 of them, the article reported.

A new study has found that women today are more likely to become depressed while pregnant than women of previous generations, Reuters reported. According to the article, the study authors compared 2390 women who gave birth in the early 1990s to 180 women of the next generation. Among the older generation, 17% had high scores of depression screening tests compared with 25% of the current generation, the article reported.