OMH CAPSULE l Migraine Drugs May Be Effective In Aiding Weight Loss

Only My Health brings you a quick round-up of all the latest health news that you need to know.

Migraine Drugs May Be Effective In Aiding Weight Loss: Study

According to a new study, a commonly prescribed class of migraine drugs called Triptans can be used in treating obesity. 

For the new study, the researchers tested six prescription triptans in obese mice that were fed a high-fat diet for seven weeks. It was found that a daily dose of triptan led animals to eat less food and lose weight over the course of a month.

The study also suspects that patients would not have noticed the longer-term impacts of triptans on appetite and weight since it's generally prescribed for short-term use during migraines.

Triptans work by targeting a receptor called serotonin 1B receptor. This receptor was not previously well studied in the context of appetite and weight loss.

New Tools Developed To Detect Covid Variants In Wastewater Developed

Scientists in the US have developed new tools that can identify SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in wastewater up to 14 days before traditional clinical testing.

The study was published in the journal Nature and it states that the algorithm which is named Freyja can also identify new variants of concern up to 14 days before traditional clinical testing.

To quote Professor Kristian Andersen of Scripps Research, In a lot of places, standard clinical surveillance for new variants of concern is not only slow but extremely cost-prohibitive. But with this new tool, you can take one wastewater sample and basically profile the whole city."

The researchers noted that analysing wastewater is a cheaper, faster, and more accurate way for public health officials to detect rising cases.

However, until now, most wastewater analysis methods lumped all SARS-CoV-2 viruses together as one.

Playing Video Games Enhances Brain Activity: Study

According to a study by Georgia State University, frequent video game players have superior sensorimotor decision-making skills and enhanced activity in key regions of the brain as compared to non-players.

For the study, researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging or FMRI which helped them discover that gaming could be a useful tool for training in perceptual decision-making.

The research involved 47 college-age participants, with 28 categorised as regular video game players and 19 as non-players.

Analysis of the resulting brain scans found that the differences were correlated with enhanced activity in certain parts of the brain, and there was no trade-off between speed and accuracy of response – the video game players were better on both measures.

These results indicate that video game playing potentially enhances several of the subprocesses for sensation, perception, and mapping to action to improve decision-making skills.