Dr. House
Dr. House
Friday, May 31, 2019
Study Links Heartburn Drugs to Stomach Cancer and Fatal Heart and Kidney Disease
More than 15 million Americans have prescriptions for PPIs. Further, many millions more purchase the drugs over the counter and take them without being under a doctor's care and often indefinitely.
The researchers also found that such risk increases with the duration of PPI use, even when the drugs are taken at low doses.
The study is published online May 30 in the journal The BMJ.
"Taking PPIs over many months or years is not safe, and now we have a clearer picture of the health conditions associated with long-term PPI use," said senior author Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at the School of Medicine. He has led several studies associating PPIs to chronic kidney disease and an increased risk of death.
Other researchers independently have linked PPIs to adverse health problems such as dementia, bone fractures, heart disease and pneumonia, among others.
PPIs -- sold under brand names such as Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium and Protonix -- bring relief by reducing gastric acid. PPIs are among the most commonly used classes of drugs in the U.S.
For the study, researchers sifted through de-identified medical records in a database maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Examining medical data acquired from July 2002 to June 2004, the researchers identified 157,625 people -- mostly Caucasian men ages 65 and older -- who had been newly prescribed PPIs, and 56,842 people who had been newly prescribed another class of acid-suppression drugs known as H2 blockers. They followed the patients -- 214,467 in total -- for up to 10 years.
The researchers found a 17 percent increased risk of death in the PPI group compared with the H2 blocker group. They calculated 45 excess deaths attributable to long-term PPI use per 1,000 people. Death rates for PPIs were 387 per 1,000 people, and death rates for H2 blockers were 342 per 1,000.
"Given the millions of people who take PPIs regularly, this translates into thousan https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/study-links-heartburn-drugs-to-stomach-cancer-and-fatal-heart-and-kidney-disease-320064?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=73226030&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_QLFTzUREhbRgAK9efPHsAY8KZR2IqPa_SPPV-CFgw9v3c9ct1F4Wi2T9ATzwH4PE4RNo8rPLPBA4lBvxgPo-DufjbvA&_hsmi=73226030
Lifetime of Benefits for Breastfed Babies
Mothers can transfer lifelong protection against infection to their infants by breastfeeding, says a new study by an international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Previously it was thought that immunity against illness is passed from mothers to infants only during the time they are breastfed, this protection ending when breastfeeding stops. It was also thought that this immunity was transferred by a mother’s proteins such as antibodies that are used by the immune system to neutralise bacteria and viruses.
However, research by scientists published today in Science Advances has found that the transfer of immunity can be long-term, beyond the period of breastfeeding. The study also showed that this protection is driven by the transfer of immune cells and is completely independent of antibodies. https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/lifetime-of-benefits-for-breastfed-babies-320054?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=73226030&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_QLFTzUREhbRgAK9efPHsAY8KZR2IqPa_SPPV-CFgw9v3c9ct1F4Wi2T9ATzwH4PE4RNo8rPLPBA4lBvxgPo-DufjbvA&_hsmi=73226030
Friday, May 24, 2019
Anxiety Might Be Alleviated by Regulating Gut Bacteria
Of the 21 studies, 14 had chosen probiotics as interventions to regulate intestinal microbiota (IRIFs), and seven chose non-probiotic ways, such as adjusting daily diets.
Probiotics are living organisms found naturally in some foods that are also known as “good” or “friendly” bacteria because they fight against harmful bacteria and prevent them from settling in the gut.
The researchers found that probiotic supplements in seven studies within their analysis contained only one kind of probiotic, two studies used a product that contained two kinds of probiotics, and the supplements used in the other five studies included at least three kinds.
Overall, 11 of the 21 studies showed a positive effect on anxiety symptoms by regulating intestinal microbiota, meaning that more than half (52%) of the studies showed this approach to be effective, although some studies that had used this approach did not find it worked.
Of the 14 studies that had used probiotics as the intervention, more than a third (36%) found them to be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms, while six of the remaining seven studies that had used non-probiotics as interventions found those to be effective - a 86% rate of effectiveness.
Some studies had used both the IRIF (interventions to regulate intestinal microbiota) approach and treatment as usual.
In the five studies that used treatment as usual and IRIF as interventions, only studies that had conducted non-probiotic ways got positive results, that showed a reduction in anxiety symptoms.
Non-probiotic interventions were also more effective in the studies that used IRIF alone.
In those studies only using IRIF, 80% were effective when using non-probiotic interventions, while only 45% were found to be effective when using probiotic ways.
The authors say one reason that non-probiotic interventions were significantly more effective than probiotic interventions was possible due to the fact that changing diet (a diverse energy source) could have more of an impact on gut bacteria growth than introducing specific types of bacteria in a probiotic supplement. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/anxiety-might-be-alleviated-by-regulating-gut-bacteria-319717?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72989644&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9Sj6bOco-JeLfbaIplWkfLf-7kdQjEmwNPuB_taOUOJ4cP8NDzD_9BDKUybxUv51CKjinSF_I9cNBgrwngwY4bGgipqQ&_hsmi=72989644
Research Indicates Postmenopausal Women Can Reduce Frequency Of Hot Flashes With Resistance Training
“Resistance training is already recommended for all women always, but now we can see it may be effective also for hot flashes around menopause,” Dr. Emilia Berin of Linkoping University in Sweden, who led the study, told Reuters Health.
Hormone therapy is the most effective treatment for hot flashes and night sweats, which plague most women during menopause, Berin’s team writes in the journal Maturitas. Some studies suggest that exercise may help quell hot flashes as well, but others have found no effect, they note.
not sure mechanism doing it. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-menopause-hot-flashes/weight-training-may-help-reduce-hot-flashes-idUSKCN1ST1WX
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Lilly Begins Selling Half-Price Version Of Insulin
reports Eli Lilly revealed Wednesday it is “selling its own generic version of Humalog U-100 under the chemical name insulin lispro.” The “half-price version...will cost $137.35 per vial, or $265.20 for a package of five KwikPens, an easier-to-inject option.” The company “said the biggest savings will go to patients who are uninsured, have high-deductible health insurance or have Medicare Part D plans.” https://apnews.com/f311f61e42684838bb5fd52a4b486215
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Why Not Catching Enough Zzz’s Is Bad for Your Heart
In another recent study, DeSouza's group found that adult men who sleep 6 hours per night have dysfunctional endothelial cells - the cells that line blood vessels - and their arteries don't dilate and constrict as well as those who get sufficient sleep. They found that people with insufficient sleep had 40 to 60 percent lower circulating levels of miR-125A, miR-126, and miR-146a, (previously shown to suppress inflammatory proteins) than those who slept enough.
"Why 7 or 8 hours seems to be the magic number is unclear," said DeSouza. "However, it is plausible that people need at least 7 hours of sleep per night to maintain levels of important physiological regulators, such as microRNAs." https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/why-not-catching-enough-zzzs-is-bad-for-your-heart-319652?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72928395&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8nKKE5bHqM1dwun6_Ikz_ifDrp3Itbod0MpQ_Jn0kVLsBLGwAm3yIajOuzddaLWy85zH5674gDEQUZhqsXtForGY6IBQ&_hsmi=72928395
Fecal Transplant to Treat Obesity and Diabetes?
The study's primary outcomes were the procedure's safety and its effects on glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is associated with the satiety reflex and associated with weight gain and loss.
While the procedure appeared relatively safe (no adverse events worse than grade 1), no increase in the area under the curve for GLP-1 in either group at 12 weeks compared to baseline. And no change in mean body weight was seen.
But participants' microbiota did change with FMT, with the microbial makeup of their stools becoming more similar to that of the donor. Allegretti and colleagues also noticed alterations in patients' bile acid profiles.So much of digestion occurs in the small intestine, and what we are giving these patients is essentially the bacteria that is in the large intestine," Zarrinpar said. "Can we better select what is being transplanted?" https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/ddw/79957
Cardiorespiratory Fitness Appears Not To Offset Links Between Adiposity, Certain Inflammatory Biomarkers In Older Women Who Are Physically Active
Cardiorespiratory fitness does not offset the links between adiposity and certain inflammatory biomarkers in older women who are physically active,” research indicated. The findings of the 114-woman study were published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The results emphasize the need for reducing abdominal adipose tissue in older adults, regardless of cardiorespiratory fitness.
The study included older community-dwelling women aged 65 to 70 years who were free from heart disease and diabetes (n = 114). Women were required to be engaged in 150 min/wk of moderate to vigorous physical activity to be eligible for inclusion. Researchers used a standardized submaximal test with a cycle ergometer to assess cardiorespiratory fitness. They categorized participants into high or low adiposity-related metabolic risk groups based on measures of body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and total fat mass. They also analyzed inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers including high sensitivity C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-18, adiponectin, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and macrophage inflammatory protein alpha.
The results indicated that participants in the high-risk metabolic group had significantly elevated C-reactive protein levels, lower adiponectin levels, and higher inflammatory scores compared with participants in the low-risk group, regardless of adiposity measures (P <.05). https://www.endocrinologyadvisor.com/home/topics/obesity/cardiorespiratory-fitness-does-not-offset-inflammatory-risks-of-adiposity/
About Two-Thirds Of Men Who Chronically Use Opioids May Have Low Testosterone Levels,
“About two-thirds of men who chronically use opioids have low testosterone levels,” researchers concluded “based on a literature search of more than 50 randomized and observational studies that examined endocrine function in patients on chronic opioid therapy.” The findings were presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting and published online in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. https://www.mdedge.com/endocrinology/article/201403/mens-health/chronic-opioid-use-linked-low-testosterone-levels
Monday, May 20, 2019
Hospitals Now Prescribing Healthy Food To Deal With Causes Of Diabetes, Other Illnesses
In a nearly 1,400-word piece, the Washington Post (5/17, Nirappil) reported that local governments and hospitals throughout the nation “have been writing and filling prescriptions for healthy food in an attempt to address the root causes of diabetes, hypertension and other costly illnesses.” Included in the federal farm bill that was enacted last year was “more than $4 million in grants for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute to governments that run prescription produce programs, but the money has not yet been distributed.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/food-as-medicine-doctors-are-prescribing-broccoli-alongside-beta-blockers/2019/05/17/45cec832-70e0-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.902b424b5ffb
FDA Warns About Home-Built Diabetes Management Devices
reported that in the wake of an accidental insulin overdose involving a home-built artificial pancreas system, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about the use of similar devices. The agency warned that despite individual components generally being “approved by the FDA, they haven’t been tested or cleared for use together.” The article explains that a large group of people with diabetes have been using “hacked-together, do-it-yourself systems to control their disease” that are “meant to require little effort by the patient” after initial set-up. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-17/patient-hurt-by-do-it-yourself-pancreas-prompting-fda-warning?srnd=premium
Friday, May 17, 2019
Fainting Gene” Is Identified for the First Time
We have learned that a part of chromosome 2 increases the risk of fainting. This means that there is a genetic risk variant that predisposes to fainting. In addition, we are the first to show that fainting is genetically determined by linking an increased risk of fainting with an exact position in the genome,' says Associate Professor Morten Salling Olesen from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and the Laboratory for Molecular Cardiology, Rigshospitalet. https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/fainting-gene-is-identified-for-the-first-time-319480?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72782743&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-912KthN3rPzBgrLFmPENdVllZ47xE3Kd7YZy-9VqSMyuS3mZuCMJCOY5eWW-KgkNcdthm3D4bPFdyCqzxYPlSgXoA1Ng&_hsmi=72782743
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
US Births In 2018 Hit Lowest Level In 32 Years, CDC Data Indicate
reports the number of children born in America in 2018 was the lowest in 32 years, data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate. NCHS statistician and demographer Brady Hamilton said births by older moms are becoming more frequent and births by younger moms are becoming less frequent.
The AP (5/15, Johnson) reports that “the nation’s birth rates last year reached record lows for women in their teens and 20s.” The “report, released Wednesday and based on more than 99% of U.S. birth records, found 3.788 million births last year.” According to the data, 2018 was “the fourth year the number of births has fallen” and “the lowest since 1986,” which was “a surprise to some experts given the improving economy.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-births-fall-to-lowest-rates-since-1980s-11557892860
Analysis Shows Patient Safety At Nation’s Lowest-Rated Hospitals Has Gotten Worse
reports new research released Wednesday from the nonprofit Leapfrog group, which grades hospitals based on safety and quality, found “patients’ risk of dying from medical mistakes, deadly infections and safety lapses [has] gotten much worse at the lowest ranked U.S. hospitals.” The analysis is “based on data gleaned from about 2,600 U.S. hospitals since 2016.” Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder said, “These are the avoidable deaths – the deaths that are accidental or the result of a mistake made in the hospital.” Hospitals that scored poorly “have claimed that the rankings are skewed because they treat sicker patients, whereas higher-graded hospitals have a healthier, more affluent clientele and are therefore less likely to have complications.” However, Leapfrog “counters that some of their measurements, such as hospital infections, are risk adjusted to reflect sickness levels of patients.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/05/15/patient-safety-d-and-f-hospitals-have-twice-death-risk-error/1183705001/
Flu Virus’ Best Friend: Low Humidity
While experts know that cold temperatures and low humidity promote transmission of the flu virus, less is understood about the effect of decreased humidity on the immune system’s defenses against flu infection.
The researchers found that low humidity hindered the immune response of the animals in three ways. It prevented cilia, which are hair-like structures in airways cells, from removing viral particles and mucus. It also reduced the ability of airway cells to repair damage caused by the virus in the lungs. The third mechanism involved interferons, or signaling proteins released by virus-infected cells to alert neighboring cells to the viral threat. In the low-humidity environment, this innate immune defense system failed.
The study offers insight into why the flu is more prevalent when the air is dry. “It’s well known that where humidity drops, a spike in flu incidence and mortality occurs. If our findings in mice hold up in humans, our study provides a possible mechanism underlying this seasonal nature of flu disease,” said Iwasaki.
While the researchers emphasized that humidity is not the only factor in flu outbreaks, it is an important one that should be considered during the winter season. Increasing water vapor in the air with humidifiers at home, school, work, and even hospital environments is a potential strategy to reduce flu symptoms and speed recovery, they said.
https://www.technologynetworks.com/diagnostics/news/flu-virus-best-friend-low-humidity-319397?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72698449&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8xZ6jWJ34-OkbspIVALCYnTEXD-QE-n-ABPRoKfHto3XMRBHfJG6n136jNQ2hu7rbJCbS7kXIBrCKeeWt15vJMPibh2A&_hsmi=72698449
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
EPA Will Not Renew Support For Children’s Health Studies
reports, “Grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has provided half of” the funding for Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health’s and other center’s research on the health effects of chemicals and pollutants in children, are set to expire in July. The EPA “has decided that it will not renew its support for the facilities.” Meanwhile, “the programme’s other government sponsor, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) says that it cannot replace the funding that the EPA has historically provided.” https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01491-1
Body Adapts, Quickly Bounces Back From An Occasional Day Of Gluttony, Study Indicates
The diets were high in carbohydrates -- about 55% -- with 30% fat and 15% protein. During the overeating portion of the study, the diet included chocolate, meal replacement drinks and potato chips to add about 1,000 calories a day to the diet.
Short-term overeating did increase visceral fat slightly -- that's fat that surrounds the body's organs and is considered unhealthier. But there wasn't a significant increase in overall weight and fat mass, the researchers said.
Fasting levels of blood sugar and production of insulin didn't change in response to the short-term overeating, the study found.
"The body copes with short periods of overeating with additional carbohydrates and makes adjustments by shifting metabolism towards utilizing these excess carbohydrates," Wadley explained.
Chronic overeating, however, did increase total body fat and visceral body fat. It also produced higher levels of blood sugar and insulin response after eating. It didn't alter fasting glucose levels, however. https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/overeating-health-news-771/body-adapts-recovers-from-occasional-pigging-out-study-finds-746058.html
Monday, May 13, 2019
Bacteria Invade Deep Into Bladder Wall in UTIs
The investigation demonstrates that several species of bacteria can work their way inside the human bladder’s surface area, called the urothelium, in RUTI patients. Bacterial diversity, antibiotic resistance, and the adaptive immune response all play important roles in this disease, the study suggests.
“Our findings represent a step in understanding RUTIs in postmenopausal women,” said Dr. Orth, also an Investigator of the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute who holds the Earl A. Forsythe Chair in Biomedical Science and is a W.W. Caruth, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research at UTSW. “We will need to use methods other than antibiotics to treat this disease, as now we observe diverse types of bacteria in the bladder wall of these patients.”
Since the advent of antibiotics in the 1950s, patients and physicians have relied on antibiotics for UTI treatment. https://www.technologynetworks.com/diagnostics/news/bacteria-invade-deep-into-bladder-wall-in-utis-319282?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72600921&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8ngtfqEL7SnsKKchYXawRGLMRFpjPmkLZ1Gsq6js-wu1tDeEH3x_xh_cX0vKMeI-_YNU3dd8an3y-mGEPvS2mzlmjicg&_hsmi=72600921
Insulin Resistance Measured With Surrogate Marker HbA1c Strongly Associated With Fibromyalgia,
reported, “Insulin resistance measured with the surrogate marker hemoglobin (Hb)A1c was strongly associated with fibromyalgia,” researchers concluded. In the study involving “23 patients with fibromyalgia, levels of HbA1c were significantly higher than in two independent groups of controls, being 0.59 units higher than for participants in the Framingham Offspring Study (P<0.001), and 0.39 units higher than for individuals in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset (P=0.0002),” investigators concluded. The findings were published online in PLoS One. https://www.medpagetoday.com/rheumatology/fibromyalgia/79763
Friday, May 10, 2019
Hunger Hormone" May Mediate a Detrimental Effect of Chronic Stress on Fertility
The study suggests high levels of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates appetite and is also released during stress, could be harmful to some aspects of reproductive function.
RMIT researchers found that by blocking the ghrelin receptor in female mice, they were able to reduce the negative effect of chronic stress on a key aspect of ovarian function. https://www.technologynetworks.com/diagnostics/news/hunger-hormone-may-mediate-a-detrimental-effect-of-chronic-stress-on-fertility-319222?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72550098&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9LqrPGmoyi55MjNYHffn01RukBjmUH1ctai3yzBbihxqCZMRC31Ox4f7O-f1yV9HkSTebFh55NWRlbah3nKP2zu9qLDg&_hsmi=72550098
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Breastfeeding For At Least Six Months May Be Protective Against Childhood Obesity,
“Children who were never breastfed as infants are 22% more likely to have obesity in childhood when compared with children who were breastfed for six months,” researchers concluded after analyzing data from the World Health Organization. The findings were presented at the European Congress on Obesity. https://www.healio.com/endocrinology/obesity/news/online/%7B07ac301c-8c07-412c-b1ef-678e3ffaa594%7D/breastfeeding-at-least-6-months-protects-against-childhood-obesity
Serotonin Precursor May Help Alleviate Gut Problems in Depression
For people with depression, gastrointestinal distress is a common additional burden, and a new study suggests that for some, the two conditions arise from the same glitch in neuron chemistry--low serotonin.
The study, conducted in mice, shows that a shortage of serotonin in the neurons of the gut can cause constipation, just as a serotonin shortage in the brain can lead to depression.
The study also found that a treatment that raises serotonin in the gut and the brain may alleviate both conditions. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/serotonin-drug-may-help-alleviate-gut-problems-in-depression-319111?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72467004&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9vmKykg9O608D2LwBilkhq-S27hsPWhsWrZB_DbqeR3THb1XfzzGEkpLV80ucxsL4VRfXR0sbcZqsnE5BSsZTncCDOGQ&_hsmi=72467005
DNase Eye Drops for Treating Severe Dry Eye – Promising Clinical Trial Results
n dry eye disease, several things happen," Jain explained. "There is an increase in the number of white blood cells called neutrophils that gather on the surface of the eye. Neutrophils release DNA which forms webs on the cornea called neutrophil extracellular traps, which cause inflammation of the ocular surface and attract additional neutrophils in a vicious cycle."
Normally, enzymes present in tears chop up and clear DNA and other debris on the cornea, but in patients with dry eye disease, there is not enough DNase to clear the material.
In the randomized, placebo-controlled phase I/II clinical trial, Jain and colleagues enrolled 47 participants with severe dry eye disease. About half the participants had a diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome and 17% had graft-versus-host disease -- both of which are associated with significant deficits in tear production. Forty-one participants completed the trial.
Participants were given eye drops containing either DNase or a placebo formulation and instructed to administer one drop of the solution to each eye four times per day for eight weeks. The researchers evaluated patients' symptoms through questionnaires and measured the degree of corneal damage and amount of DNA webs and other pro-inflammatory material on the surface of the eye before and for the duration of the study.
The researchers found that participants in the DNase group had a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in corneal damage at eight weeks compared with the placebo group. Questionnaire scores related to symptoms also reflected significant improvement among patients in the DNase group compared with placebo, who also had reduced amounts of corneal DNA webs and other material on the surface of the eye.
"The data from this early clinical trial suggests that DNase eye drops may be safe and effective for treating severe dry eye, and we look forward to conducting larger random https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/dnase-eye-drops-for-treating-severe-dry-eye-promising-clinical-trial-results-319109?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72467004&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9vmKykg9O608D2LwBilkhq-S27hsPWhsWrZB_DbqeR3THb1XfzzGEkpLV80ucxsL4VRfXR0sbcZqsnE5BSsZTncCDOGQ&_hsmi=72467005
Train Your Brain to Eat Less Sugar
https://www.technologynetworks.com/cancer-research/news/train-your-brain-to-eat-less-sugar-319099?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72467004&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9vmKykg9O608D2LwBilkhq-S27hsPWhsWrZB_DbqeR3THb1XfzzGEkpLV80ucxsL4VRfXR0sbcZqsnE5BSsZTncCDOGQ&_hsmi=72467005
In the game, players move as quickly as possible through a grocery store with the goal of putting the correct food (healthy foods) in a grocery cart, while refraining from choosing the incorrect foods (their preferred sweet). Points were awarded for correct items placed in carts.
For over half of the participants, who showed higher preferences toward sweets, playing the game helped them lose as much as 3.1 percent of their body weight over eight weeks. Participants also indicated that they found the daily training satisfactory, that it became part of their daily routine and that they wished to continue the trainings if they were available.
"The study's findings offer qualified support for the use of a computerized cognitive training to facilitate weight loss," said Forman.
The study also randomized whether participants received a highly gamified (enhanced graphics and sounds) or a less-gamified versions of the training. While the difference between the level of gamification did not matter, overall, to whether participants reduced sugar consumption and lost weight, they did find that the few men in the study reacted better to the highly gamified version than the women in the study. The WELL Center is now conducting a new trial with the highly gamified version of this training specifically for men and is actively recruiting participants.
This article has been republished from materials provided by Drexel University. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Researchers Debate Usefulness Of Genetic Testing For Obesity.
reports that “scientists who recently announced an experimental genetic test that can help predict obesity got immediate pushback from other researchers, who wonder whether it is really useful.” The reason for “this back-and-forth is, at its core, a question of when it’s worth diving deep into DNA databanks when there’s no obvious way to put that information into use.” Human behavior and an “obesity-promoting environment have led to a surge in this condition over the past few decades,” but “genetics also plays an important role.” https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/06/719558715/how-useful-would-a-genetic-test-for-obesity-risk-be
Friday, May 3, 2019
Contraceptive Pill Protects Against Pregnancy – and Knee Injuries?
https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/oral-contraceptives-may-help-protect-women-against-serious-knee-injuries-318957?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72331395&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--et68-ZYvEXer9SF_VVBBm7s5Z4tHWlQOVpBSOzifRWuOeZJWMfrKyJUUHWH5-5U32ezij9Tk_rQhBjkIXXa6NT_aXpw&_hsmi=72331396
It's likely that oral contraceptives help maintain lower and more consistent levels of estrogen and progesterone, which may lead to periodic increase in laxity and subsequent risk of tear (instead of Periodic acl weakness)", says Dr Steven DeFroda from Brown University, Rhode Island, USA who led the research.
Cutting Down Inflammatory Molecule Leads to Fat Rats
Rats and mice were offered a high-calorie palatable food - a mix of fat and sugar, in addition to their regular low-calorie diet - like many humans, rodents choose to overeat when presented with calorie dense foods.
"What we found was that the rats and mice that became obese, had reduced IL-6, but only in one brain region, called Lateral Parabrachial Nucleus (lPBN)", says Devesh Mishra, postdoctoral fellow leading the study.
"To understand whether this reduction of IL-6 is a good or bad thing for the metabolic health of the rodents, we viro-genetically reduced IL-6 levels very selectively in the lPBN; this led to increased body weight and body fat, even in rodents fed a healthy diet".
Therefore, the researchers conclude that the reduced levels of lPBN IL-6 in obesity are problematic, and likely contribute to metabolic dysfunction and weight gain.
Since body weight is a result of how much we eat i.e. energy intake and how much energy we use i.e. energy expenditure, weight gain can follow dysfunction of either one of these branches of energy balance.
What makes local parabrachial nucleus-produced IL-6 extra important, the study found, is that it affects both branches simultaneously: it decreases food intake and increases energy expenditure, the latter by increasing brown fat activity, so body's energy is utilized for heat generation or fat burning. Hence reduced levels of lPBN IL-6 disrupt the entire energy balance equation.
These findings may be relevant not only for mice but also men, since an earlier study from University of Gothenburg, revealed that blood serum IL-6 levels in obese and overweight men are increased, yet brain IL-6 levels, measured in cerebrospinal fluid, are reduced.
There is one unsolved piece of the puzzle in these new findings - researchers found that the obesity-associated reduction in IL-6 was only present in males. Female rats and mice had normal IL-6 levels. The Sahlgrenska team is now investigating why females are protected from the obesity-associated IL-6-driven dysfunction. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/cutting-down-inflammatory-molecule-leads-to-fat-rats-318961?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72331395&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--et68-ZYvEXer9SF_VVBBm7s5Z4tHWlQOVpBSOzifRWuOeZJWMfrKyJUUHWH5-5U32ezij9Tk_rQhBjkIXXa6NT_aXpw&_hsmi=72331396
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
New Warnings for Common Sleep Meds FDA worries that current labels weren't emphatic enough about dangerous side effects
Since current label warnings on sleep medications such as zolpidem (Ambien) and eszopiclone (Lunesta) don't seem to have prevented "sleep driving" and other dangerous effects, the FDA said it will now put a black box around those warnings.
Currently, warnings about so-called complex behaviors associated with these medications are buried in section 5.4 of the single-spaced, small-print drug label. Such behaviors include driving, preparing foods, having sex, and making phone calls while not fully awake.
The agency's new safety announcement noted that these can have serious and even fatal consequences. It listed nearly 20 fatal incidents involving falls, motor vehicle crashes, guns, and drowning. One homicide while under the influence was reported to the FDA. Most of the approximately 70 serious incidents occurred in patients using zolpidem. Relatively few were among those taking eszopiclone or zaleplon (Sonata), but "these data are consistent with the higher number of zolpidem prescriptions dispensed" compared with the other drugs. https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/sleepdisorders/79545?xid=nl_mpt_morningbreak2019-05-01&eun=g721819d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBreak_050119&utm_term=NL_Daily_Morn_Break_Active
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