Category Archives: disease

disease, Health

It is interesting that body fat distribution linked to higher risk of aggressive prostate cancer

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Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) Credit: Wikipedia

In the first prospective study of directly measured body fat distribution and prostate cancer risk, investigators unearthed that higher levels of abdominal and thigh fat are associated with an increased danger of aggressive prostate cancer. Published early online in a peer-reviewed journal associated with the American Cancer Society, the findings can result in a significantly better knowledge of the partnership between obesity and prostate cancer and supply new insights for treatment.

Previous research reports have shown that obesity is related to a heightened chance of advanced prostate cancer and a poorer prognosis after diagnosis. Also, emerging evidence shows that the precise distribution of fat in the torso may be an essential factor.

To offer high-quality evidence, Barbra Dickerman, Ph.D., associated with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, along with her colleagues analyzed body fat distribution using the gold-standard way of measuring computed tomography imaging and assessed the possibility of being identified as having, and dying from, prostate cancer among 1,832 Icelandic men who were followed for up to 13 years.

Throughout the study, 172 men developed prostate cancer, and 31 died from the disease. The accumulation of fat in specific areas—such as visceral fat (deep in the abdomen, surrounding the organs) and thigh subcutaneous fat (just under the skin)—was associated aided by the threat of advanced and fatal prostate cancer. High body mass index (BMI) and high waist circumference were also connected with higher risks of advanced and fatal prostate cancer.

Interestingly, when looking separately at men with a high BMI versus low BMI, we discovered that the association between visceral fat and advanced and fatal prostate cancer was stronger among men with a lower BMI. The precision of these estimates was limited in this subgroup analysis, but this might be an intriguing signal for future research.

Additional studies are needed to investigate the role of fat distribution when looking at the development and progression of prostate cancer and exactly how alterations in fat stores as time passes may affect patients’ health. Ultimately, identifying the patterns of fat distribution, which are from the highest risk of clinically significant prostate cancer might help to elucidate the mechanisms linking obesity with aggressive disease and target men for intervention strategies.

An accompanying editorial notes that lifestyle interventions—such as diet and exercise—that target fat loss may also reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Reference
Body fat distribution linked to higher risk of aggressive …. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-06-body-fat-linked-higher-aggressive.html

Can Fat Thighs Give You Cancer? Study Finds Link Certain …. https://uevf.org/cancer/fat-thighs-give-cancer-study-finds-link-kinds-obesity-aggressive-prostate-cancer-68666028

Diet, disease, Health

It is interesting that Vitamin D supplement does not prevent type 2 diabetes in adults at high risk, study finds

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Taking a daily vitamin D supplement will not prevent type 2 diabetes in adults at high risk, according to results from research funded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), an element of the National Institutes of Health. The Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes (D2d) study enrolled 2,423 adults and was conducted at 22 sites throughout the united states of America. These findings were published June 7 into the New England Journal of Medicine and presented during the 79th Scientific Sessions regarding the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco bay area.

2d may be the most extensive study to directly examine if daily vitamin D supplementation assists in maintaining people at high risk for type 2 diabetes from developing the illness. The analysis included adults aged 30 or older and assigned participants randomly to either take 4,000 International Units (IU) for the D3 (cholecalciferol) kind of vitamin D or a placebo pill daily. All study participants had their vitamin D levels measured at the beginning of the study. During those times, about 80% of participants had vitamin D levels considered sufficient by U.S. nutritional standards.

“Observational studies have reported an association between lower levels of vitamin D and increased risk for type 2 diabetes,” said Myrlene Staten, M.D., D2d project scientist at NIDDK. “Additionally, smaller studies discovered that vitamin D could improve the function of beta cells, which produce insulin. However, whether vitamin D supplementation might help prevent or delay type 2, diabetes had not been known.”

The analysis screened participants every three to half a year for an average of 2.5 years to ascertain if diabetes had developed. Researchers then compared how many people in all the two study groups which had progressed to type 2 diabetes. At the end of the analysis, 293 away from 1211 participants (24.2%) in the vitamin D group developed diabetes in comparison to 323 out of 1212 (26.7%) into the placebo group – a difference that failed to reach statistical significance. The study was made to detect a risk decrease by 25% or even more.

D2d enrolled a different number of participants with a variety of physical characteristics, including sex, age, and body mass index, as well as racial and ethnic diversity. This representation helps ensure that the analysis findings could be widely applicable to people at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

As well as the study’s size, certainly one of its major strengths could be the diversity of their participants, which enabled us to examine the effect of vitamin D across a sizable number of people. When the study ended, we found no meaningful difference between the two groups, no matter age, sex, race, or ethnicity.

Reference
NIH-funded trial finds vitamin D does not prevent type 2 …. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-funded-trial-finds-vitamin-d-does-not-prevent-type-2-diabetes-people-high-risk

disease, Health

Do you know in milestone trial, experimental drug delays type 1 diabetes?

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Marking the culmination of a 33-year odyssey, scientists today report a milestone in type 1 diabetes: the first occasion the illness happens to be markedly delayed in young adults at high risk. Presenting in the American Diabetes Association meeting in San Francisco and publishing simultaneously when looking at the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that two weeks of an experimental intravenous drug held off disease by on average about e of years.

The mainstay of type 1 diabetes treatment is insulin, discovered 97 years ago. These results open an innovative new chapter, says Jeffrey Bluestone, an immunologist at the University of California, San Francisco bay area, and the first research team. “On the only hand,” the outcome is “pretty exciting,” Bluestone says. “On one other hand, now the actual time and effort begin.” Which will mean considering just how to move this treatment forward and probing whom it is most very likely to help?

The clinical trial began eight years back and included 76 people, the youngest of whom were 8 yrs. old plus the oldest within their 40s. Nearly three-quarters were 18 and under. Each had an incredibly high danger of type 1 diabetes. In this autoimmune disease, the body attacks cells within the pancreas, which make insulin, which helps keep blood glucose levels under control. Because of the time diabetes is diagnosed, a lot of these insulin-producing cells, called beta cells, have left.

Reference
In milestone trial, experimental drug delays type 1 …. https://ehealthynews.com/2019/06/10/in-milestone-trial-experimental-drug-delays-type-1-diabetes-science-magazine/

Diet, disease, Health, Healthy eating

It is amazing that scientists dream of a personalized diet based on Genetics

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No single food regimen works well with everyone. New research is one of comprehensive effort yet to understand why.

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A decade ago, spurred by the success of the Human Genome Project and the affordability of genetic sequencing, scientists started to explore the promise of “nutrigenomics.” Could personalized nutrition, informed by understanding of an individual’s DNA, assist in preventing and even
treat diet-related diseases?

The outcome of early studies from Harvard, Stanford and elsewhere were compelling: Genetic differences did actually predispose individuals to lose different levels of weight on different sorts of diets. A multimillion-dollar industry soon sprang up, premised on marketing DNA-based diets. But subsequent studies have failed to demonstrate any statistically significant difference between fat reduction between overweight individuals who “eat suitable for their genotype” and the ones that do not.

In fact, the result of genes on obesity has been hard to tease out; various studies put the figure at anywhere from 35 to 85 percent. Nutritionists have traditionally observed that no body weight-loss strategy works well with everyone, and that individuals show striking differences in their responses to different diets.

Reference
Diet for One? Scientists Stalk the Dream of Personalized …. https://monohealthy.com/diet-for-one-scientists-stalk-the-dream-of-personalized-nutrition-the-new-york-times/

Diet, disease, Health, Healthy eating

Chicken vs. Red Meat

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A new study mentioned that the prevalent belief that white meat, such as chicken, is healthier for cholesterol levels compared to red meat, such as beef, pork, or lamb.

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A new study suggests that eating poultry is just as bad for our cholesterol levels as eating red meat.

A new review breaks some bad update for meat eaters, as scholars discover that white meat is at this moment as detrimental to cholesterol as red meat.

The paper counters the extensive belief that white meat is further beneficial than red. This belief depends on a range of observational findings that have discovered a connection concerning red meat intake and a advanced danger of cardiovascular disease.

Reference

When it comes to cholesterol, is chicken as bad as red meat?. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/when-it-comes-cholesterol-chicken-bad-red-meat-n1013376

Diet, disease, Health

Blood pressure drugs may help reduce dementia risk

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A massive innovative analysis has discovered a connection concerning choosing many classes of blood pressure-lowering medications and a minor risk of dementia amongst senior adults, adding to the conversation about the relationship concerning cognitive deterioration and high blood pressure.

People who take blood pressure-lowering medication may have a lower risk of dementia.

Dementia is an umbrella term for numerous neurodegenerative disorders, the most extensive of which is Alzheimer’s disease.

The critical trait of dementia is progressive cognitive deterioration, in which a person encounters memory loss and degeneration in their reasoning and decision-making capabilities.

Scientists are still ambiguous as to what causes dementia, but in an attempt to progress prevention stratagems, they have been examining the possible danger causes that may be a factor to the progress of this condition.

Various current studies have connected hypertension with an advanced risk of dementia. For example, a paper that appeared in the journal Neurology last year found that hypertension is coupled to a higher risk of suffering brain lesions, which are, in turn, attached to dementia.

Reference

May | 2019 | My CMS | Page 40. https://www.medicationjunction.com/2019/05/page/40/



disease, Health

It is amazing how drugs make headway against lung, breast, and prostate cancers

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Newer drugs are substantially improving and enhancing the chances of survival for some individuals with hard-to-treat forms of lung, breast, and prostate cancer, doctors, reported at the world’s largest cancer conference.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Immunotherapy drugs such as Keytruda have transformed the various treating types of cancerous tumors, but they’re still relatively new and don’t help most patients. The most extensive study yet of Keytruda in patients with advanced lung cancer discovered that 23 percent of those who got the drug as an element of their initial therapy survived at least five years, whereas 16 percent of those who tried other treatments first did. The risk of this rises with age, but about 48,000 cases each in the U.S. are in women under age 50 years. About 70 percent are “hormone-positive, HER2-negative” — that is, cancer’s growth is fueled by estrogen or progesterone and not by the gene that the drug Herceptin targets.

In research of 672 women with such cancers that had spread or been very advanced, adding the Novartis drug Kisqali to the usual hormone blockers as initial therapy helped more than hormone treatment alone.

After 3½ years, 70 percent of females on Kisqali were alive, compared to 46 percent for the remainder. Side effects were more typical with Kisqali.

This is the very first time any treatment has boosted survival beyond what hormone blockers do for such patients.

The choices keep expanding for men with prostate cancer that has spread beyond the gland. Standard therapy is drugs that block the male hormone testosterone, which helps these cancers grow, plus chemotherapy or even a newer drug called Zytiga.

Now, two other drugs have proved to extend survival whenever used like chemo or Zytiga in guys who were getting natural hormone therapy and still being helped by it.

One study tested Xtandi, sold by Pfizer and Astellas Pharma Inc., in 1,125 guys, half of whom also were chemo that is getting. After three years, 80 % of those offered Xtandi plus standard treatments were alive, contrasted to 72 percent of men given the other treatments alone. The other research involved 1,052 guys who got hormone treatment with or minus the Janssen drug Erleada. After two years, success was 82 percent among those on Erleada and 74 percent those types of who wasn’t.

Men now have a range of four drugs that provide comparable benefits, with no studies yet have compared them against one another, said Dr. Ethan Basch, a prostate specialist at the University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center who may have no financial ties to any drugmakers.

However, chemo can cause numbness and tingling in the tactile arms and feet and may even maybe not be suitable for men with diabetes who already are at higher risk because of this problem. Zytiga must be studied having a steroid; Xtandi and Erleada can cause fainting and falling.

Chemo has more side effects, but it costs much less and requires only four to six intravenous treatments. One other three medications are pills that cost more than $10,000 a month and tend to be taken indefinitely.

Reference
Drugs make headway against lung, breast, prostate cancers …. https://www.everyday-scoop.com/drugs-make-headway-against-lung-breast-prostate-cancers-the-associated-press/

Diet, disease, Health

Did you know about the DNA diet?

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The majority of individuals have this fundamental knowledge regarding genetics: one inherit genes from one’s parents, and ones or her DNA combines to produce ones distinctive hereditary makeup. Though, this could consist of additional apparent characteristics such as eye coloration and height but additionally more specific traits that may include several genes, such as the risk of health problems such as all forms of diabetes, heart disease, carrying excess fat and cancer, as well as all factors involving the metabolic process. However, the Human Genome Project — international 13-year cooperation that mapped out all of the family genes in human beings — found roughly 50,000 variations (variations in the specific DNA code) in the genetic code that could make a massive difference in how the human body operates. In short, what numerous men and women may not understand is that there is an immense relationship between one’s surroundings and one’s family genes, and ones eating habits is one of the most fundamental and potentially modifiable elements of ones setting.

Reference

The DNA diet: How knowing your genes can help you fit into …. https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/24/health/dna-diet-genes-weight-loss-food-jampolis/index.html

disease, Health

People need access to all options in HIV testing

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Usage of HIV testing is a fundamental human right that may only be met with an international commitment to eliminate the obstacles that reduce the risk of people from testing for HIV. Those hindrances consist of reducing HIV-related preconception and discrimination, making sure privacy in HIV testing and treatment services and implementing an optimum mixture of HIV testing techniques to attain the populations most in need, amongst others.

However, in most regions, more recent testing technologies are nevertheless not widely available. Among countries that documented all about available HIV testing modalities to UNAIDS in 2018, just 32 countries permitted lay providers to execute HIV testing, 14 offered HIV self-testing, and 18 offered home-based HIV testing. Helped partner notification was more common, with 54 out of 140 reporting countries reporting that taught service providers can be provided to assist newly identified people in revealing their HIV status to partners.

Reference
HIV testing: people need access to all options | EATG. http://www.eatg.org/news/hiv-testing-people-need-access-to-all-options/

Diet, disease, Fitness, Health, Healthy eating

Top Food Allergens and Hidden Sources

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While many are working with pesky seasonal allergies due to the fact, Earth begins to bloom this spring; individuals are dealing with a more severe as a type of allergy: food allergies. May is Food Allergy Awareness Month, and awareness is type in this disease. If you or someone you love is affected with food allergies, you likely know the fear and frustration that will take place.

A food allergy is a severe and life-threatening medical problem that affects 32 million Americans. However, every three minutes, someone is sent to the emergency room because of a food allergy reaction. This is often especially fearful for parents of young children, considering that one in 13 children has an allergy to some food. Only a few foods necessarily cause anaphylactic reactions. Nevertheless, they still need to be avoided. The tricky part is that not all the food allergens are easily spotted. It is necessary for your needs and your child to be a food label detective.

Top Food Allergens and Hidden Sources

*Please note this list is certainly not all-encompassing. Check with your allergist or dietitian for those who have questions regarding specific allergens.

Milk: Cow’s milk protein allergy is considered the most common allergen in infancy and childhood. Foods to prevent: milk and all sorts of milk products (yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream), butter, casein, whey, milk powder, custard, and chocolate. Pay particular focus on processed grains, which could contain a milk derivative.

Soy: Soybeans are an associate of the legume family, but it does not mean you are automatically allergic to other legumes. Foods to prevent: soybeans, soy milk, tofu, edamame, miso, and soy protein pay particular focus on granola bars and foods that will have added soy.

Egg: Egg whites are the part of the egg that contains the protein that causes the allergen. However, since it is impossible to separate the white as well as the yolk with no cross-contamination, you have to avoid eggs altogether. Foods in order to avoid: eggs, of course, but also albumin, mayonnaise, and meringue. Egg substitutes, ice cream, and lots of baked goods contain eggs.

Wheat: Wheat allergy differs from the others from celiac disease. With a wheat allergy, it is possible to still eat other grains such as barley, corn, rye, oats, rice, and quinoa. Foods in order to avoid: flour, couscous, farro, bread crumbs, bulgur, seitan, semolina, and food starch.

Peanuts: Peanuts would be the most unfortunate allergy for children. Even a tiny bit of exposure could cause an anaphylactic reaction; therefore, children should be cautious never about consuming any product, which even has a trace level of peanuts. Peanuts may be used in lots of food products, so it is essential to read through the ingredients list for many foods when your child has a peanut allergy.

Tree nuts: Yes, tree nuts will vary from peanuts. Peanuts are legumes (just like soy), while tree nuts are nuts. You may be allergic to peanuts, but not tree nuts, and the other way around. The list includes almonds, cashews, walnuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts, macadamia nuts, pralines, and pistachios – plus any nut butters or other foods containing these nuts.

Shellfish: Shellfish in most forms (shrimp, crabmeat, mussels, scallops, etc.) should be avoided, along with any foods containing the products. Often, people with shellfish allergies cannot even be in identical vicinity while the shellfish or they will react.

Food Allergies vs. Food Intolerances
Food allergies involve your immunity system and will be life-threatening. Food intolerances, on the other hand, are a lot less severe and involve your system not digesting or tolerating a portion of food well. While intolerances could be extremely uncomfortable and could affect the standard of living, they will not cause life-threatening reactions. That is why one will probably choose not ever to consume the offending food, but he or she does not need certainly to avoid it by any means. An example is a cow’s milk protein allergy versus lactose intolerance. A CMPA is a reaction towards the protein in dairy, as the intolerance is a reaction to the sugar naturally occurring in milk. Kids with a CMPA cannot be confronted with any milk in any form, whereas individuals with lactose intolerance might not be in a position to drink regular milk but can drink lactose-free milk or eat cheese in small quantities. The worst this may cause is GI distress, whereas people that have a milk allergy could severely react.

Can a Child Outgrow His or Her Allergy? Possibly. There are some allergies, such as peanut, tree nut, and shellfish allergies, are typically lifelong. Some children will grow out of their milk allergy by the early toddler years. Egg, wheat, and soy allergies begin in childhood, also can potentially be outgrown. However, there is no guarantee that a kid will outgrow his / her allergies, as well as this time around allergies, is not cured. If you were to think your son or daughter might have outgrown their allergy. One should always check with your allergist before trying any foods.

Concerns for Children
Having one food allergy is difficult in itself, but the majority of kids suffer from multiple food allergies. In the event, the child has more than one, and sometimes even every one of the top eight food allergens, it is essential to find appropriate food substitutions, so they receive all of their nutrition. Very often, kids with food allergies have difficulty consuming enough calories. Make use of your allergist or registered dietitian to ensure your son or daughter is meeting each of his or her needs for growth and development. Often an oral supplement is necessary, and there are allergy-free supplement options that may be discussed together with your medical care provider.

References

Silent Signs You Could Be Eating Too Much Protein | Reader …. https://www.rd.com/health/diet-weight-loss/too-much-protein/


Top Food Allergens and Hidden Sources | For Better | US News. https://health.usnews.com/health-care/for-better/articles/top-food-allergens-and-hidden-sources


Food intolerances | Article about Food intolerances by The …. https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Food+intolerances

Health & Fit: Top Food Allergens and Hidden Sources …. https://pressfrom.info/us/lifestyle/health-fitness/-280747-top-food-allergens-and-hidden-sources.html