Health: 1)Meet neffy: Health Canada approves epinephrine nasal spray for anaphylaxis; 2) Menopause products are having a hot minute. But doctors urge women to be wary of the marketing surge

1)Meet Neffy: Health Canada approves epinephrine nasal spray for anaphylaxis

Courtsey Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Nicole Thompson, April 16, 2026

Health Canada has approved the first needle-free epinephrine treatment for severe allergic reactions: a nasal spray called neffy.

ALK Canada, which purchased the rights to distribute the drug, says the two-milligram treatment could be on the market as soon as this summer.

The drug was approved for adults and pediatric patients who weigh at least 30 kilograms, which is roughly 66 pounds. A one-milligram dose has been approved in the United States for kids between 15 and 30 kilograms, but not in Canada.

As it stands, epinephrine auto-injectors — a single-use pre-filled device known by the brand name EpiPen — are the only emergency treatment option available for allergic reactions.

“That’s what the game changer is here: short of a needle and syringe or an epinephrine auto-injector, there really hasn’t been any other way to get epinephrine into you in the event of an emergency,” said Dr. Mariam Hanna, an allergist and immunologist who teaches at McMaster University.

“It’s a big deal to us to have something that’s available that’s a different format, that’s needle-free.”

She said neffy has other benefits as well, including that it’s shelf-stable for longer than the EpiPen and able to withstand a broader range of temperatures.

It’s also smaller than the EpiPen, so people may be more likely to carry it with them. Hanna said that’s one barrier to people using the auto-injector, in addition to hesitancy about whether their allergic reaction is really severe enough to warrant a shot and a potential hospital visit.

“Signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis can vary from one person to the other. So it looks different on each person, and that can produce a challenge in recognizing … it,” she said.

The most concerning symptoms involve the airway, she said, including coughing, wheezing, trouble breathing, chest tightness and difficulty swallowing. But other signs include a drop in blood pressure, light-headedness and a rash or swelling.

She said some people also feel nauseated, generally unwell or what the literature refers to as “a sense of impending doom.”

Anaphylaxis is often linked to food allergies, venom allergies such as bee stings and allergies to medication.

“Allergic reactions, if we take a step back, occur because of an error in our immune system. And our immune systems continue to change and evolve through the different stages in our life,” Hanna said.

“So it’s actually not uncommon to develop new onset allergies after previously not having issues.”

She said a growing number of people are also reporting severe allergies, so having multiple options for emergency treatment is key.

“This is where it’s important that, as we see this condition happening more and more frequently that we have these kinds of devices quickly accessible, available.”

To that end, she said, she doesn’t think this spells the end of the EpiPen, which has been the only thing on the market in Canada for several years.

“When they go on backorder there’s no alternative, there’s no backup,” she said. “We struggle, we get stuff from the States, we panic. And we’ve done this annually. There’s back orders all the time. So having another device available, be it needle-based or needle-free, it’s options for families.”

2) Menopause products are having a hot minute. But doctors urge women to be wary of the marketing surge

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Jamie Stengle, April 11, 2026

Women suffering through the hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes and sleep problems that can come with menopause — all while looking in the mirror and noticing signs of aging — are being bombarded with products.

More open conversations about menopause and the period leading up to it — called perimenopause — are happening at the same time that marketing has been supercharged by social media. Women are being confronted by lotions and serums and light masks that promise to rejuvenate their faces and necks, dietary supplements claiming to do everything from boost moods to ease hot flashes and gadgets promising to help with symptoms.

“The marketing has gotten very, very aggressive. It’s pervasive,” said Dr. Nanette Santoro, an OB-GYN professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz.

Santoro and other physicians say that before spending lots of money on products that make big promises, it’s important for women to talk to their doctors about what has actually been proven to help — and what could be harmful.

“It really pays to be very, very, very skeptical,” Santoro said.

A flood of marketing

As menstruation winds down, women’s levels of estrogen and progesterone drop. In some women, the symptoms can include hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes, vaginal dryness and sleep problems.

Dr. Angela Angel, an OB-GYN with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, said that in the past, doctors would ask women around the age of 50 during their yearly exam if they were noticing any symptoms. But now, she said, patients are making separate appointments and initiating the conversations.

And at those appointments, she said, many patients tell her they’ve already tried something. “They’re coming to see me because it’s not effective or because it’s caused some other side effect,” Angel said.

Her hospital has recently started a menopause support group led by doctors and, at the request of participants, an upcoming session will focus on helping women navigate through the marketing onslaught.

Products aimed at women in that stage of life include everything from bracelets and rings claiming to help ease hot flashes to cooling blankets and bedding.

Santoro said her advice to patients is to “balance what you’re going to spend over whether this might help you.”

“If it’s a bracelet that’s going to cost you $20, it’s not a big expenditure. It might provide some improvement,” Santoro said. “Things that are not well tested might still work but if you want something that works — come back, I’m not going anywhere and I’ll give you evidence based treatment.”

Santoro said dietary supplements have not been proven in multiple, well-done studies to alleviate hot flashes, but many are low cost with a low potential for harm. She said if a patient wants to try something they see online, it’s important to at least tell their doctor so they can be monitored while taking it — or warned off.

Doctors note that most of the time over-the-counter products like dietary supplements, shampoos or skin care that are advertised for menopausal women aren’t different from regular products for that purpose ingredient-wise.

And some products could have side effects.

Advice from doctors

Dr. Monica Christmas, director of the menopause program at the University of Chicago Medicine, said there’s not one symptom everyone gets. Some women get few or none, she said, while others are extremely impacted by a variety of symptoms. What’s most important, she said, is seeking medical help.

Doctors say that hormone therapy prescribed by a doctor can help with symptoms, as can prescriptions for nonhormonal medication. Some women are advised to avoid hormone therapy because they have had certain medical issues.

“Not everybody needs hormone therapy, not everyone is a candidate for hormone therapy, not everybody should be on hormone therapy,” Angel said.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet can help a lot, doctors say. That can help with weight loss, which is associated with reducing hot flashes and night sweats.

And Santoro notes that avoiding alcohol is a good step for someone with hot flashes since it can make them worse.

“Many of the symptoms actually get better over time, so sometimes it really is just a matter of lifestyle modifications and self-care and getting through this most tumultuous time frame,” Christmas said.

For Brandi McGruder, a 49-year-old school librarian from Dallas, it clicked that she was in perimenopause last year when she went out to dinner for her birthday. When she and her friends entered the steakhouse, she was freezing cold. About 20 minutes later, she was burning up.

She said she made an appointment with her doctor, who prescribed an estrogen patch, which helped. McGruder said she’s seen the advertisements for products aimed at women her age, but her first stop was her doctor.

McGruder said that while she doesn’t like the way the symptoms have driven home that she’s getting older, she’s also embracing this time in her life. Her advice: “Laugh. It’s OK. Reach out to others experiencing what you are going through, don’t take it so serious.”

Concerns about skin

There are changes with skin that come both with time as one ages, and during menopause as skin gets less thick because of a loss of collagen and some of the hyaluronic acid that supports skin, said Dr. Melissa Mauskar, a dermatologist and associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Mauskar said using a prescribed retinoid or an over-the-counter retinol can help. Both assist with the production of collagen and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

She said good over-the-counter moisturizers can be found at drugstores. Her advice is to look for ones with ceramides, which help keep skin hydrated.

“But you don’t want to have anything that has too many additive ingredients — just because it’s natural and a botanical does not mean it’s better,” Mauskar said. “A lot of those actually are contact allergens that can make people more sensitive.”

Ingestible collagen is among the products being marketed to women, but she warns that studies are mixed and ingesting it “doesn’t mean that it’s going to make its way to your skin and plump up your face” — even though products claim it will. Light masks, she said, won’t hurt and some studies show they could help, but they won’t make a difference overnight. She said seeing any improvements from them would likely take daily use for many years.

She said sun damage is one of the biggest reasons patients have more wrinkles, so consistent use of sunscreen is a must for all ages.

“I think there’s a lot of new fancy things coming out and targeted to perimenopause, menopause patients,” Mauskar said, “but sometimes the tried and true things that we at least have the science for I think still are my kind of gold standard for my patients.”