As wintertime draws in , thethreat of flu tower large . But getting a preventative shot might not be the best line of defense any more — because new research suggest asmall dose of crystal meth might be effective , too .
https://gizmodo.com/human-mutation-is-what-makes-the-flu-deadly-5896377
researcher , from the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan and the University of Regensburg in Germany , have been work together to investigate how methamphetamine interact with different viral infections . Meth is a wide abuse drug and there ’s a wealthiness of evidence which suggests continuing use can dramatically increase the peril of picking up computer virus , because it stamp down the immune reception of the body .
The researchers estimate the same would be on-key for influenza but , like all good scientist , they had to prove their surmisal — so they set to testing it out . First , they took human lung cells and nurtured them in the lab , before exposing some of them to cystal meth . They then exposed the cells to theH1N1 grippe virus .
What they observedsurprised them . rather of increase the rate of development and bed covering of the virus , meth seems to cut susceptibility to flu . The termination arepublished in PLoS One .
It ’s worth steer out some major caveat here , of trend . First , this is an experiment execute using just one tenor of influenza — we have no mind if meth would be protective against other type in he same way . Second , and perhaps most crucial , this in an entirely lab - based examination : the experiments were performed in a Petri dishes of cells , not on actual patient or fauna models . And if you ’re looking for a third caveat , well , just watch Breaking Bad .
The fact remains , though , that the counter - intuitive finding is an interesting one . It certainly evoke that crank users may , weirdly , be at a lower risk of contracting influenza than the rest of us . But more interestingly , it could be that intensify similar to meth could be used as effective anti - influenza treatments . Just do n’t self - prescribe yet , please . [ PLoS One ]
ikon byJames Thew / Shutterstock
HealthInfluenzaMedicineScience
Daily Newsletter
Get the in force technical school , science , and cultivation news in your inbox daily .
tidings from the future , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
