It's a fake mate

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Rapper Rick Ross and watch retailer Nico Leonard argued on social media over Rick Ross’s insane green, emerald AP. Nico claims the $41 million watch owned by Rick Ross is a fake as there is only one in the world and he knows the owner. “I thought you had to be an example for the youth etcetera, Rick” chimed Nico. Rick Ross followed up with his own video calling Nico fat and showed off his multiple cars. Nico followed up with a counter video of him drinking champagne in the back seat of a chauffeured car listening to Rick Ross’s music.

In this week’s email:

• Elevance to buy Kroger’s specialty pharmacy.

  o Specialty pharmacies play a crucial role in providing costly medications for complex and chronic conditions.

• Google built an AI model tailored to personal health, for Fitbit and Pixel devices.

• Food plays a crucial role in revolutionizing obesity care.

• Healthy, Unhealthy, and Kinda OK Healthy Snack Choices.

• Understanding Seizures: Strategies for Managing This Neurological Condition.

• Walgreens shut down two distribution centers and laid off 646 employees.

  o As it continues to cut costs, Walgreens Boots Alliance will now close two distribution centers in Florida and Connecticut, laying off hundreds of workers in the process. The Deerfield, Ill.-based retail and pharmacy giant is closing a center in Orlando, Fla., and another in Dayville, Conn. Some 646 workers will lose their jobs as a result.

Elevance to buy Kroger’s specialty pharmacy.

Pharmacy benefit giants are reinforcing their focus on specialty drugs as a steady revenue stream, even with the rise of new pharmacy startups entering the market.

Specialty pharmacies play a crucial role in providing costly medications for complex and chronic conditions. Despite serving less than 2% of the U.S. population, specialty drugs contribute to 50% of the country's total pharmacy expenditure, making them a significant revenue stream for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). These drugs often yield substantial profits per prescription, amounting to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

In addition to dispensing medications, specialty pharmacies offer comprehensive services such as managing side effects and delivering personalized care. This integrated approach makes it challenging for new players to disrupt this segment of the pharmacy supply chain, especially as traditional PBMs face client losses to more transparent competitors.

For instance, CVS Caremark, a major PBM, experienced a significant client departure when Blue Shield of California opted for multiple vendors for pharmacy services, except for specialty business, which remained with Caremark due to the complexities involved in switching vendors in this area.

Considering this landscape, Kroger's specialty business could be a valuable asset for CarelonRx, Elevance's PBM arm that has been expanding its specialty offerings. Elevance's strategic moves include acquiring BioPlus and Paragon Healthcare, both prominent players in the specialty pharmacy and infusion services sectors.

CarelonRx has contributed significantly to Elevance's revenue growth, reaching $33.8 billion last year with a robust operating margin of 5.8%. Meanwhile, Kroger is streamlining its operations, aiming to finalize a $25 billion merger with Albertsons, although the Federal Trade Commission has raised concerns about potential anticompetitive effects and has taken legal action to block the merger.

Google built AI model tailored to personal health, for Fitbit and Pixel devices.

Having successfully developed a generative AI model focused on medical applications for healthcare providers, Google is now expanding its efforts into consumer health initiatives.

Google’s new large language model will be focused on health and fitness tips, marking a significant step in its broader efforts to advance AI algorithms and tools in the healthcare sector. This project, named the "Personal Health Large Language Model," is a collaboration between Google Research and Fitbit, a subsidiary of Google.

Through this initiative, Google aims to provide personalized advice leveraging data collected from Fitbit and Pixel devices. The algorithm is being refined to deliver tailored guidance based on individual user data. Utilizing cutting-edge AI chatbot technology, the new Fitbit health coaches will employ a language-based interface to communicate "actionable" messages and support to users.

Food plays a crucial role in revolutionizing obesity care.

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Integrating culinary medicine and food is medicine (FIM) interventions into obesity medicine through digital behavior change platforms opens doors for comprehensive obesity treatment. This blend can transform and improve current interventions, making them more inclusive and addressing systemic disparities related to nutrition insecurity.

Obesity represents a chronic, intricate neuroendocrine disorder shaped by genetic, environmental, behavioral, and metabolic elements. Its management demands a nuanced, comprehensive approach post-remission, given its inflammatory and metabolic effects linked to heightened risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and multiple cancers. Projections suggest nearly half of US adults will face these challenges by 2050. Racial and ethnic minorities face a disproportionate burden due to factors like unhealthy food environments, systemic racism, leading to gaps in care and heightened stress from limited access to obesity treatments.

Healthy Snack Choices

Understanding Seizures: Strategies for Managing This Neurological Condition

The brain functions through electrical impulses carried by neurons. Seizures occur when there is a disruption in this electric circuit, leading to issues like loss of body control, confusion, and tremors.

Seizures are neurological disorders that can range from mild to severe, impacting the body's regular functions due to electrical disturbances in the brain. These disturbances can be sudden and unpredictable, potentially leading to epilepsy if they occur frequently and recurrently. The duration of seizures can vary, with some lasting a few seconds to minutes, indicating an emergency.

Symptoms of seizures include headaches, loss of consciousness, cognitive or emotional changes like fear or anxiety, visual alterations, confusion, staring spells, and jerking movements. Pre-symptoms such as an urge to bite the tongue, falling, weakness, and mood changes may also occur before a seizure.

Seizures are classified into focal and generalized types based on their occurrence duration and symptoms. Focal seizures target specific brain areas, leading to manageable symptoms with impaired or without impaired awareness. Generalized seizures affect multiple brain areas and include absence, tonic, atonic, clonic, myoclonic, and tonic-clonic seizures, each presenting distinct symptoms.

Treatment for seizures depends on their severity and type, often involving medication, nerve stimulation, or surgery. Lifestyle factors like proper sleep and a healthy diet can help prevent seizures, with underlying causes in adults including sleep deprivation, alcohol abuse, fever, or chronic brain conditions, while children may experience seizures due to irregular sleep patterns or fever.

Other news:

1. President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order this week, directing federal agencies to intensify research efforts focused on women's health. This initiative spans various priorities across departments, including studying women's midlife health issues and exploring the potential of AI to bring about significant advancements in healthcare.

 2. A recent analysis suggests that intermittent fasting, a diet involving alternating periods of fasting and non-fasting, may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease-related death.

 3. Sales for the first over-the-counter birth control pill approved in the U.S. started on Monday. The product, Opill, is available for purchase online on Amazon and Opill, according to Perrigo, the manufacturer of the pill. Walgreens and Walmart will also sell the pill online once they have it in stock. Orders will be processed within 24 to 48 hours and typically delivered in three to five business days.

 4. Orlando Health To Build $160M Children’s Pavilion In Orlando, Florida. Scheduled for an opening in 2026, the six-story facility spanning 189,000 square feet will offer over 30 pediatric specialties, such as adolescent gynecology, audiology, cardiology, and rheumatology.

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