Pittsburg, PA
Discovering added benefits from some medications
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Discovering that something was invented for one purpose has unexpected benefits for a different use can be a nice surprise. Like the adhesive now used on Post-it notes was originally developed to be used on planes.
It’s especially fortunate when it’s a drug designed to treat something, and it also happens to have a larger benefit.
There have been drugs in the past meant for high blood pressure that turned out to help with ADHD and an Alzheimer’s drug that helps with OCD. Now comes confirmation a weight loss drug can lower the risk of cardiac events.
Fighting weight is a battle waged on many fronts, and it becomes especially earnest after a cardiac event.
“The key takeaway is that for those who have had who have cardiovascular disease and have overweight and obesity, this may be an important new therapy to be added to the regimen,” according to Dr. Michael Lincoff of Cleveland Clinic.
Cleveland Clinic study author Dr. Michael Lincoff says treating the heart was not the original purpose of semaglutide, the core of Wegovy, a high-dose version of the diabetes drug Ozempic, but when given to obese cardiac patients without diabetes, new results were discovered.
“Over the three-and-a-half-year period, we found that semaglutide reduces the risk of cardiovascular events by about 20%. So, highly significant.”
Allegheny Health Network’s head of cardiovascular medicine couldn’t agree more.
“Whether it’s due to the weight loss or due to the medication, that’s a little bit uncertain, but this is proof that we can actually reduce cardiovascular outcomes in this very high-risk population,” said Dr. Akshay Khandelwal.
Dr. Khandelwal says discovering a drug has multiple benefits is nothing new.
“That’s been happening ever since the time of aspirin if not before, so that should not come as any surprise,” he added.
But this comes on the heels of the FDA approving a new version of the diabetes drug Mounjaro, called Zepbound, to be used for weight loss.
“Obesity is the mother of all diseases and can cause heart diseases, diabetes and increased risk of cancers, so on and so forth,” said Dr. George Eid of AHN.
Dr. Eid, the chair of AHN’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, says the drugs are not a stand-alone solution.
“You have to use different angles. Medication [is] one, surgery [is] one, lifestyle [is] one, prevention is one, especially in our kids.”
While the doctors are all borderline excited by the latest twists with the diabetes drugs helping elsewhere, they reemphasize that last point: it’s only one element that can help extend your life.
Should someone hearing this say, ‘I’m going to call my doctor and get this stuff’?
Yes, call your doctor. That’s where the conversation begins.
Here’s a number for you. The study shows if you give 66 at-risk people Wegovy, at least one of them will be saved from a serious heart event or even death.
Pittsburg, PA
New safety measures could protect children from falling out of windows in Allegheny County
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – New safety measures could soon protect children from falling out of windows in Allegheny County. It’s one of many proposed safety improvements to the county’s housing regulations.
“It’s a good thing. We’re bringing our housing regs up to the 21st century,” said Patrick Catena, president of Allegheny County Council.
The county council will hear the proposal next week.
Fall prevention devices for the windows of housing in Allegheny County are just one of the safety regulations now up for consideration. And it’s just a coincidence about a week or so after two small children fell from a window.
It’s something Tyler Jefferson will never unsee as the father of those two children who fell.
“It’s tough. It’s tough that we messaged them, and they didn’t do anything until they fell out the window,” Jefferson said.
Quin and Elody fell out of their third-story apartment building’s window onto the concrete window well below and miraculously survived.
New proposed housing regulations in Allegheny County could mandate window fall prevention devices.
“Trying to help the health department for the health department to be able to help them, so I think it’s a good thing all around,” Catena said.
A copy of the new proposed regulations includes guards on stairs, landings, and balconies 30 inches above the floor below, deadbolts for all entrance doors, required lighting for stairways and hallways, stricter requirements for carbon monoxide detectors, and fall prevention devices installed in all windows more than 72 inches off the ground below.
“It’ll come before county council, and county council will obviously act on it, and I expect a positive recommendation from the county council for it to pass,” Catena said.
Housing advocate David Vatz sees a lot of good in it.
“Yeah. Pro-Housing Pittsburgh is broadly in favor of improved health and safety regulations to protect tenants,” Vatz said. “I think one of the things about Allegheny County and Pittsburgh in general is that we have some of the oldest housing stock in the country, and this can often result in substandard conditions for tenants.”
Vatz believes common-sense protections are needed, and calls on policymakers “to make it easier to build new housing in the county.”
“Since we have such old housing stock and don’t build a lot of new housing, there’s nothing that puts pressure on landlords to maintain their sub-standard units and provide the best quality to their tenants.”
These housing safety regulations will be discussed next week at the county council meeting, and if approved, they could go into effect as early as October of this year.
Pittsburg, PA
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Pittsburg, PA
Steelers, Saint Vincent College looking for training camp employees
LATROBE (KDKA) – The weather is getting warmer, the sun is shining a little longer, and that can only mean one thing – Steelers Training Camp is just a couple of months away.
Next week, a hiring event is set to take place at the Fred M. Rogers Center on Saint Vincent College’s campus from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on May 8 for those interested in working at Steelers Training Camp.
All of the positions are part-time and temporary.
Steelers Training Camp dates have not yet been solidified but it is expected to go from mid-July through August and shift times as well as responsibilities will be discussed during the interviews.
All applicants must be 18, complete a background check, and have reliable transportation to and from Saint Vincent College.
Once hired, employees will be required to work rain or shine and wear a uniform that includes a Steelers Training Camp shirt which will be provided, khakis or black pants, and flat closed-toe shoes.
For more information, potential employees can email this address.
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