1: Sniffles Today, Eczema Tomorrow?

A cohort study of 630 children from Denmark and the US looked at associations between early-life infections and the development of atopic dermatitis (AD) later in childhood. Children who had more episodes of infection, especially respiratory infections, were at higher risk of developing AD between ages 0 and 10. The association persisted regardless of systemic antibiotic treatments, suggesting that infection itself may contribute to AD development in childhood.

2: When Curative Surgery Gets Left on the Table

A cohort study of nearly 44K patients diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) through lab work found that 51% already had end-organ damage at the time of diagnosis. PHPT-associated end-organ damage, including osteoporosis, chronic kidney disease, and atraumatic fractures, developed in 16% of patients during follow-up. Despite these numbers, less than 20% of patients with end-organ damage underwent parathyroidectomy. These findings highlight an opportunity to improve PHPT management by optimizing the use of parathyroidectomy to mitigate morbidity.

3: What Immigrant Families Want Us to Study

A survey of 500 immigrant participants across 32 countries, including caregivers, children, and clinicians, found that their top research priorities for their children included addressing health care access, the health effects of migration, and family involvement in care. Other important topics included discrimination and racism and the social determinants of health. These findings could provide a roadmap for future research to improve health equity for pediatric immigrants.

Drug Shortages ⚠️

Proctofoam-HC

Gabapentin

Newly Approved Drugs ✨

Keytruda (pembrolizumab): Expanded indication for the treatment of adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who are ineligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy, used in combination with enfortumab vedotin as neoadjuvant treatment and continued after radical cystectomy as adjuvant treatment.

Sometimes, the thing that goes bump in the night is still asleep.

What happened: A recent study followed a man in his 40s who had experienced sleep terrors for 2 years, often nearly every night. His episodes involved violent behaviour, including one in which he tried to strangle his bed partner.

Why it matters: Sleep terrors are NREM parasomnias that cause sudden arousals from deep, slow-wave sleep, along with intense fear, autonomic symptoms, complex movement, and amnesia. They affect only about 2.2% of adults and are often linked to stress, alcohol use, or sleep deprivation.

None of those common triggers applied here. A psychiatric evaluation found no anxiety, mood, or other psychiatric disorder, substance use, or recent psychosocial stress. Researchers did detect mild obstructive sleep apnea without symptoms, but no clear cause for the episodes.

The patient spent 2 nights in a sleep lab. Nothing happened the first night. On the second, during N3 sleep, his heart and respiratory rates rose before he briefly screamed, sat up, and tried to leave the bed.

He was diagnosed with idiopathic sleep terror and prescribed 0.5 mg of clonazepam at night, alongside sleep hygiene, stress management, a safer sleep environment, and avoiding possible sleep disruptors. Four weeks later, his episodes had dropped from nearly every night to once a week. Because the medication caused drowsiness, the dose was reduced to 0.25 mg. By 8 weeks, the terrors had stopped. At 12 weeks, he stopped the medication and remained asymptomatic.

But: This was a single-patient case report, not a treatment trial. It can’t tell us whether clonazepam or early intervention will work broadly. What it does show is why violent nighttime behaviour needs a careful workup to rule out other parasomnias, epileptic events, and contributing conditions. BMJ also cautions against using case reports alone to guide treatment.

Bottom line: These terrors are rare. But when we’re not talking daytime grogginess but a person’s, or their bedmate’s, safety, they’re nothing to sleep on. Careful evaluation is needed not only for diagnosis but also for furthering the science — more cases, more sleep labs, and more electrodes — so we can put the dangers of this disorder to rest.

1: 💉 The Superior Court of Québec just gave the term “research purposes” meaning again. Health Canada just announced it secured a permanent injunction against Canlab Research, banning the Québec-based company from selling or advertising unauthorized injectable peptides in Canada — which, according to Health Canada, haven't been assessed for safety, efficacy, or quality. Potential risks include contaminants and incorrect dosing, as well as liver or kidney damage, blood clots, mood swings, and tumour growth. Canlab doesn't exactly have a great record of compliance, with Health Canada taking enforcement action against the company since Dec. 2023. Hopefully the court order sticks — and they don't just move their shady peptide business elsewhere.

2: 💦 Health Canada has finally agreed to get out of sperm donors’ bedrooms. After a 3.5-year constitutional challenge, it’s dropping sexual-behaviour questions that disproportionately excluded gay and bisexual men. The plaintiff had previously donated and successfully helped a couple conceive a daughter, but after coming out and becoming sexually active with men, the same system deemed him “unsuitable” as a donor. The rules had shifted from an outright ban to a 3-month abstinence requirement, and later to gender-neutral questions that still screened many out. Health Canada’s keeping the infectious-disease testing and 6-month quarantine. They’re just adding — in the words of Egale Canada’s director of legal — “the humanity of queer people.”

3: 💊 Canada's biggest grocer is finding the profits of generic GLP-1s to be… not so generic. Loblaw says pharmacy sales were its strongest-performing category last quarter, as the first generic semaglutide injections began rolling out across Canada. Executives say they're already seeing the impact of GLP-1s going generic, with sales up 40% year-to-date and lower prices being offset by higher prescription volumes. Meanwhile, inflation is apparently changing shopping carts too, with shoppers increasingly swapping fresh vegetables for frozen ones.

4: 🪽 DoorDash is sewing on wings after becoming the 8th commercial drone carrier and 1st major food-delivery platform to earn FAA approval. The ordering company is already in the US drone business — though it’s generous to call operating selectively in Dallas–Fort Worth, TX, and Charlotte, NC “the US drone business.” But their new FAA Part 135 certification means they can now fly independently, unlike Uber Eats and Walmart, which rely on partnerships. DoorDash Air’s goal: target the distances most disliked by humans, i.e. mid-range trips, which apparently take 25% longer to fulfil. Already looking up hungry? Canadian aviation regulations became a little more future-friendly last year by easing drone restrictions. But unless Trump follows through with annexation, your airborne poutine still needs Transport Canada clearance, too.

🏕️ Save: with the Canada Strong Pass and get free Parks admission and 25% off camping until September 7. Under 25-ers get free or half-price museum admission, too. If you're a child — keep up those reading skills, plus get some free VIA Rail if you’re with an adult. Now, go enjoy some national treasures.

🦞 Visit: Oscar, Dalhousie’s one-in-50-million, half-blue, half-orange lobster, at the Beaty Centre for Marine Biodiversity in Halifax. Since his colouring is genetic, it comes back with every new shell. When was the last time you saw a genetic chimera?

❤️ Give: 450 mL of yourself, give or take. Canadian Blood Services is urgently seeking donors after its supply fell nearly 20% since June, with weekly bookings running 1,500–2,500 below what hospitals need. You won't even miss it.

🎧 Listen: to the podcast episode Peptides Are Everywhere on The Journal. From social media wellness trends to an online grey market promising anti-aging and quick muscle gains, restricted injectable peptides are having a wild moment.

🍝 Make: this shrimp pesto pasta. Fresh basil pesto, sweet sautéed shrimp, and crisp-tender asparagus tossed with spaghetti in under 25 minutes. It’s vibrant, weeknight-fast, and feels like summer in a bowl.

First clue: Derek Shepherd actor, to a friend

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