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Researchers identify potential new stroke treatment targets

Researchers identify potential new stroke treatment targets

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When blood flow to a portion of the brain is stopped or reduced by a hemorrhage or obstruction, a stroke results. Although some stroke survivors recover completely, many still struggle with long-term repercussions and are at increased risk of having another stroke.

Brain damage following a stroke is thought to be a result of changes in small blood arteries that exist in addition to the blockage.

In the injured small blood arteries in the brain, a recent study identified multiple changes in gene activity that may serve as targets for pharmacological therapy to enhance stroke recovery.

An artery in the brain becomes clogged or bursts, resulting in a stroke. Beyond the blockage or bleeding, the brain cells are starved of oxygen and nutrients and suffer damage or degeneration. Researchers have been looking for strategies to lessen damage after a stroke and hasten recovery.

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine have now discovered alterations in gene activity in small blood arteries after a stroke. The results imply that these alterations could be targeted with current or upcoming medications to lessen brain damage or enhance stroke recovery.

The research was released in PNAS. Weill Cornell Medicine assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and the lead author, Dr. Teresa Sanchez, told:

“By providing a knowledge platform of the molecular alterations in the cerebral microvasculature, our study has improved our understanding of the pathophysiology of stroke. This is critical to developing novel therapeutic strategies for this devastating condition.”

Stroke symptoms

The majority of strokes are ischemic strokes, in which a blood clot obstructs a blood vessel leading to the brain. This prevents nutrition and oxygen from reaching brain cells.

Immediate signs could be:

  • bewilderment and difficulty speaking
  • Headache, maybe accompanied by dizziness or nausea
  • numbness or a lack of movement in certain body areas, especially on one side
  • vision issues
  • Walking difficulties, a loss of coordination, and vertigo.

It’s crucial to get therapy and a diagnosis right away to reduce long-term damage. Many stroke victims, however, continue to experience physical and psychological after effects.

Over 795,000 people experience a stroke each year in the United States. Also, the condition is one of the main causes of long-term disability. This is according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Long-term damage from a stroke

Despite the fact that only 10% of stroke survivors experience a near-complete recovery, survivors frequently experience a variety of symptoms, such as:

  • weakness or paralysis on one side of the body.
  • thinking, memory, and speaking issues.
  • difficulty swallowing and chewing.
  • issues controlling one’s bowels and bladder.
  • Depression.

Inflammation and long-term alterations in the brain’s small blood arteries, result in constrained blood flow to brain cells and leaking over the blood-brain barrier. They are the root of many of these symptoms.

In a recent study, gene activity in mouse cerebral microvasculature after a stroke was observed to vary. Similar modifications were found in stroke patients from people as well.

Gene activity changes following a stroke

The researchers discovered 541 genes whose activity was altered similarly in mice and people after stroke, and they also discovered many clusters of genes with various roles.

According to Dr. Teresa Sanchez, “Our work has also clarified the shared transcript alterations between human and mouse stroke and identified common changes in pathways associated with vascular/endothelial dysfunction, sphingolipid metabolism, and signalling.“

They discovered genes linked to vascular disease, general inflammation, brain inflammation, and the specific form of vascular malfunction. This results in leaky cerebral microvessels. The blood-brain barrier, which controls the flow of chemicals between the blood and brain cells, is weakened as a result of these leaky arteries.

The activity of molecules that regulate the blood-brain barrier was shown to vary after stroke, according to the researchers.

Dr. Sanchez stated that a stroke causes “robust changes in the genes regulating the blood-brain barrier and endothelial activation, i.e. upregulation of genes causing blood-brain barrier leakage and downregulation of genes protecting the blood-brain barrier.“

Additionally, they found that after a stroke, there was a disruption in the activity of genes that regulate sphingolipid levels, which are fat molecules involved in a broad variety of biological activities, including inflammation.

Potential therapeutic routes

Some of these molecular alterations, according to the researchers, might make for fresh medication therapy targets. They draw attention to the elevated sphingolipid concentrations in the cerebral microvasculature and hypothesize that sphingolipid targeting may be therapeutic after stroke.

We questioned Dr. Sanchez on the possibility of using medicines to either prevent these changes or undo the harm already done.

“Since endothelial dysfunction is a major contributor to stroke and, concurrently, stroke-induced cerebral ischemia causes additional injury to the endothelium, which further compromises cerebral blood flow and exacerbates brain injury,” she said.

According to Dr. Allder, the discoveries could influence research into other neurological conditions:

“I can see how it might make post-stroke treatments more accessible, but I also see how it might open up new treatment options for dementia and post-brain injuries, particularly repetitive brain injuries.”

More research is required

Therefore, the results may possibly suggest novel therapeutic avenues, but Dr. Iyer emphasised the need for more study:

The key drawback of this research is that human genome and transcriptome models aren’t usually transferable from mouse models. However, this study reveals a hitherto unrecognised cellular signalling route that is unquestionably ready for further study.

Preclinical research is currently being conducted by Dr. Sanchez and her team to see whether it would be advantageous for stroke patients to reverse some of the specific microvascular abnormalities that were observed in their study. They are doing this by employing candidate medications or genetic techniques.

REFERENCES:

For Stroke medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?cPath=77_99

Possible link between migraine and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Possible link between migraine and carpal tunnel syndrome.

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Researchers looked into the prevalence of migraine headaches in patients who have nerve decompression surgery.

They discovered that people who have surgery to decompress a nerve at particular points on their bodies may be up to 70% more likely to get migraines than others who have the procedure elsewhere.

To determine whether nerve decompression can treat migraines, more research is required.

There may be pain and a loss of function when the nerves in the hands and arms contract around muscles and soft tissues. Between 5% and roughly 9% of the population are affected by various types of nerve compression in these places.

Surgery is frequently used to treat the illness and might result in full or partial symptom relief.

The muscles, blood arteries, and bone in the vicinity of the head’s surrounding nerves can also compress those nerves. Improvement or alleviation from migraine and headaches may result by decompressing these nerves.

What is Carpal tunnel syndrome?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by compression of the median nerve. On the hand’s palm side, the carpal tunnel is a small opening encircled by bones and ligaments. Numbness, tingling, and weakness in the hand and arm are signs of median nerve compression.

Carpal tunnel syndrome can be caused by repetitive hand motions, health issues, and wrist morphology.

The tingling and numbness are typically reduced with appropriate care, and wrist and hand function is recovered.

Symptoms

The following list of signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome includes:

Feeling tingly or numb. Numbness and tingling in the fingers or hand may be apparent. Normal afflicted fingers include the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers, but not the little finger. In certain fingers, you might experience something like to an electric jolt.

The wrist may feel the sensation before it moves up the arm. These symptoms may awaken you from sleep and frequently happen while you are holding the phone, newspaper, or steering wheel.

To try to alleviate their symptoms, many people “shake out” their hands. Over time, the numb sensation could persist continuously.

Weakness. You can feel weak in your hands and drop things. This can be because the thumb’s pinching muscles, which are similarly regulated by the median nerve, are weak or because the hand is numb.

Migraine and carpal tunnel syndrome

When the nerve that travels from the forearm to the palm of the hand is squeezed at the wrist, carpal tunnel syndrome develops.

In comparison to 16% of those without carpal tunnel syndrome, 34% of those with the condition get migraines, according to a cross-sectional study with 25,880 participants. It might be more effective to screen patients for the disorders if it is known whether nerve compression around the head is related to nerve compression in the hands and arms.

Researchers looked at how frequently people who had nerve decompression surgery for the hands and arms were diagnosed with migraines.

According to their findings, people who have particular types of nerve compression are more prone to suffer from migraine headaches. Not a part of the study, Dr. Chantel Strachan is an internist at ColumbiaDoctors and an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Centre in New York. She said.

“I wouldn’t jump to advise carpal tunnel release in every migraine patient. The choice to proceed with surgical treatment for nerve compression is specific to the patient and should be carefully considered with the patient’s medical care team.

Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery published the findings.

Most likely to experience migraine

Data from 9,558 patients who underwent nerve decompression surgery of the hands and arms between 2009 and 2019 were analysed for the study.

Participants were also evaluated by the researchers for the presence of migraine.

Of the subjects, the median nerve was decompressed in about 71% of cases. Surgery is done on the wrist to release pressure on the nerve, which lessens carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms.

A decompression of the ulnar nerve was done on about 14% of subjects. That is an elbow nerve decompression. 6.5% of patients underwent decompression procedures at various body locations.

In the end, the researchers discovered that people with multiple nerve decompression and median nerve decompression were respectively 30% and 70% more likely to experience migraines than people with ulnar nerve decompression.

Nerve compression and migraine

Dr. Sean Ormond, a specialist in anesthesiology and interventional pain management, did a study to learn more about the potential connection between nerve decompression and migraine.

He mentioned that there are a number of possibilities, but that the causes of nerve compression in the arms and hands and migraine are not entirely known.

“Both upper extremity nerve compression syndromes and migraine may share common risk factors, such as obesity, sedentary lifestyle, poor posture, or repetitive stress injuries,” stated Dr. Ormond.

The affected area may experience inflammation as a result of nerve compression. It is also recognised that inflammation contributes to the pathophysiology of migraines. The presence of inflammation in one place of the body may cause inflammation to spread throughout the body, potentially aggravating migraines, the doctor added.

Ormond observed that although further research is need to establish this, some people may be more prone to higher nerve compression and migraine due to a hereditary tendency.

According to Dr. Strachan, migraine sufferers may become more sensitive to pain due to nerve damage.

Limitations of the migraine study

Dr. Strachan pointed out that because the study was retrospective in nature, the results suggest association rather than causality.

She stated that different providers and their subspecialties, such as primary care, neurology, and pain, may have utilised different criteria to diagnose migraine.

The association between migraine and pain from nerve compression may be the consequence of other variables, as the researchers stated in their report that there is a general overlap across chronic pain disorders.

REFERENCES:

For Migraine disease medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?therapy=17

Analyze the links between BMI, obesity & cognitive ability.

Analyze the links between BMI, obesity & cognitive ability.

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According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were more than 650 million obese adults in the world as of 2016. Obesity has been linked in the past to an increased risk of cognitive deterioration.

Evidence from University College London researchers challenges the idea that fat and cognitive capacity are causally related.

Around the world, more than 1.9 billion adults were obese in 2016, with more than 650 million of those adults suffering from obesity, a disease in which a person’s weight is over normal ranges and may lead to various health issues.

According to current estimates, 167 million adults and children will be overweight or obese by 2025. A multitude of disorders, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer, have been linked to obesity in previous studies, including these.

Furthermore, previous research has connected obesity to a higher risk of cognitive deterioration.

The causal relationship between obesity and cognitive performance has now been called into question by University College London academics. They contend that common family variables have tainted the research linking cognitive aptitude and BMI.

Obesity

If a person’s present weight is excessive for their height, they are considered obese. The body mass index (BMI) is the most popular metric for determining a person’s level of obesity.

This tool determines if an adult is obese or not based on their height and current weight:

  • BMI less than 18.5 indicates underweight.
  • Suitable BMI range: 18.5-24.9
  • BMI of 25 to 29.9 indicates obesity
  • obesity: a BMI of 30 or above

Children and teenagers need a different BMI calculator, which considers height, age, and gender to evaluate obesity because they are still developing.

The BMI measurement is not without problems, though. It is unable to distinguish between muscle and fat when weighing someone. Additionally, it disregards a person’s race, overall body composition, or bone density.

Cognitive function and obesity

Lead author of this study and senior research fellow at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at University College London in the U.K., Dr. Liam Wright, Ph.D., states that there are several reasons why the research team decided to investigate the causal relationship between cognitive capacity and obesity:

“Over the past forty years, there has been a significant rise in the prevalence of obesity, but BMI hasn’t increased uniformly throughout the population. Therefore, it is crucial to understand why some people are more predisposed to obesity than others.

Additionally, there is a substantial body of research in the field of cognitive epidemiology that demonstrates a connection between cognitive function and practically every measure of health and health behaviour, including obesity.

Unfortunately, the majority of the cognitive epidemiology literature employs observational research designs that may be biassed and fail to show causal effects, according to Dr. Wright. “There are some compelling theoretical arguments for why cognitive ability might have a causal effect on health, but regrettably, these arguments are based on observational research designs,” she said. Because a sibling design could take into account some of the variables that can skew relationships found in previous research, we felt it was crucial to investigate for a relationship between cognitive capacity and BMI.

Examining siblings to reduce bias

Dr. Wright and his research group evaluated data from four distinct young population cohort studies carried out in the United States that included 12,250 siblings from 5,602 homes. Each participant’s data were tracked from youth to age 62.

The scientists were able to take into consideration unobserved characteristics associated with family background by analysing the relationship between cognitive capacity and BMI among families.

“Sibling designs account for factors that are shared between siblings by design,” Dr. Wright said. They don’t require the measurement of these factors, which is both a benefit and a drawback because it is difficult to determine which common factors actually contribute.

With this qualification, he continued, “There are four main factors that we thought might be significant: genetics (siblings share 50% of DNA), parental socioeconomic class (wealth, location, etc.), parenting styles (particularly regarding dietary choices), and parental cognitive ability (cognitive ability could operate indirectly!). “Once more, we didn’t directly examine these.”

According to Dr. Wright, they predicted that these variables would make general population studies more biassed and lead to weaker relationships than in earlier studies, which is exactly what they found.

However, he cautioned, “remember that sibling designs have their own flaws, including the ability for siblings to influence one another, for example, by modelling one another’s behaviour. This may imply that our findings are also skewed, albeit downwardly and smaller than the actual causal effect.

Association between BMI and cognitive ability

When the researchers evaluated the data from study participants who were not related, they discovered that, after accounting for family socioeconomic status, the change in teenage cognitive capacity from the 25th to the 75th percentile was associated with an estimated 0.61 kg/m drop in BMI.

And when the researchers analyzed the information from siblings, they discovered that the change in BMI from the 25th to the 75th percentile of teenage cognitive ability was only correlated with a 0.06 kg/m drop in cognitive capacity.

The relationship between cognitive capacity and BMI was less pronounced when siblings were compared than when the entire population was, according to Dr. Wright, but he was not surprised by this given the overall characteristics he mentioned.

However, he noted, “I was shocked at how little of an association there was when comparing siblings. As said, there are strong arguments to support the idea that cognitive ability has an impact on health and health-related decision-making“.

“Two possibilities for this small association are that one, our results were biassed towards finding smaller associations (e.g., by siblings influencing each other), and two, reflective decision-making isn’t as important in determining BMI as other factors like satiety, etc.,” Dr. Wright continued. Both of these are hypothetical.

Unproven causality

As a parent and a neurologist, Dr. Segil claimed that he has never observed a connection between obesity or a healthy weight and cognitive aptitude in people.obese

The purpose of this study, according to Dr. Segil, “is to argue that people with higher cognitive abilities, who have a higher socioeconomic position, have made healthier decisions.” Additionally, it’s possible that people’s cognitive function increases as their BMI decreases when they make healthier decisions.

He continued, “I do not believe that there is any evidence linking obesity to cognitive function. And I believe that their research’s use of siblings or other family members who are in a similar social economic situation to real-life situations such as brothers or sisters or siblings is realistic.”

After reading this study, Dr. Segil stated that he would be curious to know whether maternal or paternal obesity had a greater impact on adolescent cognitive development.

As a result of reading this, they claimed that adolescent cognition is linked to a lower adult BMI, he continued. So I’m keen to know if stronger adolescent cognitive abilities are related to the maternal and paternal BMI. Does having a thin or fat parent, using the same dataset, alter their children’s cognitive ability?I was shocked, though, by how little of an association there was when comparing siblings. As mentioned, there are strong arguments to support the idea that cognitive ability has an impact on one’s health and decision-making in relation to their health.

RFERENCES:

For Cognitive disease medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?cPath=77_478

Can hormones predict the possibility of weight loss?

Can hormones predict the possibility of weight loss?

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In addition to being one of the world’s greatest killers, obesity is linked to several medical disorders. The majority of people who do succeed in losing excess weight do so only to gain it back, which frequently frustrates attempts to shed excess weight through lifestyle changes.

Understanding the complicated function that hormones play in this process may aid in the creation of effective long-term treatments for obesity.

Now that higher levels of the hormone neurotensin have been connected to greater weight loss maintenance in obese individuals, this information provides another hint as to how to rebound weight gain might be controlled.

It has long been understood that while many people who struggle with overweight or obese can lose excess weight through lifestyle changes like diet and exercise, it can be difficult for many of them to keep it off.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) views obesity as an epidemic since it causes more than 4 million deaths annually. Many of these fatalities are thought to be preventable with weight loss. For instance, it has been demonstrated that a weight loss of 5–7% can halt or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Sadly, up to 80% of people who lose weight through diet and exercise gain back every bit of the weight they previously did. In the past, this weight increase has been attributed to a lack of self-control or a failure to follow weight maintenance plans.

A higher level of the hormone neurotensin may be associated with a superior capacity to maintain weight loss in obese people who have recently lost weight, according to the most recent research, which gives a fresh explanation.

Do we regain weight after weight loss?

The assumption that the body would return to a predetermined weight despite weight loss or growth has been proposed as one theory to explain why people experience rebound weight gain.

Bariatric surgeon Dr. Mir Ali of Orange Coast Medical Centre in Fountain Valley, California, who also serves as the center’s medical director, explained:

According to the set point theory, there is a weight that your body prefers to maintain at all times (within 5 to 10 pounds). This set point can be influenced by a variety of factors, including age, heredity, sex, health issues, and degree of activity. But it’s unclear what mechanisms might be at work in this observation.

The importance of hormones in hunger regulation has just recently come to light, despite the WHO reporting a rise in the number of persons with obesity starting in the 1970s. Only in 1999 was ghrelin, a hormone that promotes the desire to eat, separated and identified. Its ability to control hunger, fat storage, and energy regulation is now well documented. It also has interactions with other hormones like insulin which are important in regulating energy and storing fat.

Researchers have postulated that the fact that ghrelin levels tend to increase after weight reduction brought on by diet and exercise may be the cause of “rebound weight gain.” Contrarily, after bariatric surgery, which has a lower rate of rebound weight gain than diet and exercise-based therapies, levels of this hormone drop.

Less than 20 years ago, in 2004, researchers found that ghrelin and leptin, a hormone that controls satiety and long-term energy balance, interact. Since then, it has been shown that obese individuals have leptin resistance, which makes them less susceptible to its appetite-suppressing benefits.

looking into the neurotensin hormone

Recently, the focus has shifted to a different hormone termed neurotensin and its potential contribution to weight gain following weight reduction. The brain and intestines both generate this hormone. Previous studies have demonstrated that neurotensin levels rise following bariatric surgery, much like other hormones that control hunger and energy expenditure.

According to Dr. Gina Leinninger, an associate professor of physiology at Michigan State University who studies how the body manages its energy and how it affects obesity in people.

The possibility that neurotensin could modify body weight has drawn increasing attention. We were aware from earlier studies that neurotensin could cause animal models to eat less and move around more, two behaviors that might help them lose weight.

Higher neurotensin levels following meals may be associated with an individual’s likelihood of maintaining weight loss, according to a group of Danish researchers. In mice and obese adults, they also demonstrated a drop in neurotensin levels following weight loss.

Effects of neurotensin on preserving weight loss

8 obese mice were kept on a regular diet as controls, while 9 obese mice were placed on a calorie-restricted diet for 8 days. After the animals were put to sleep, the scientists collected samples from the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and proximal colon to examine the levels of neurotensin expressed in those regions.

The goal of the calorie-restricted diet for mice was to promote weight loss that was comparable to what was shown in the 8-week human research.

The amounts of neurotensin in the jejunum region of the small intestine were much lower in the mice whose access to food was restricted, the researchers discovered.

The next step was to examine how a group of 42 obese patients responded to an extremely low-calorie diet plan of roughly 800 calories per day for eight weeks. Following this regimen, participants lost 12.3 kg on average. Participants underwent testing to see how their leptin, insulin, ghrelin, and neurotensin levels changed in the three hours following a meal after these 8 weeks.

For a further 52 weeks, researchers gave this group of participants instructions to eat a diet with a calorie restriction (600 fewer calories than their daily requirements).

Researchers examined data for a subcohort of participants from both groups—those who had lost over 3% weight during the maintenance period and those who had gained at least 5% of their initial weight loss—in order to examine the effect of hormones on weight loss maintenance.

After the initial 8-week weight loss phase, they discovered that those who had initially displayed a higher level of neurotensin in the three hours following a meal were more likely to have continued to lose weight during the maintenance phase.

What does this indicate for the management of obesity?

The Metabolism research is the first to link variations in circulating neurotensin to better/more sustained weight loss results in humans, and it suggests that (in the future), manipulating the neurotensin system might be helpful to support and/or optimise weight reduction. Dr. Leinninger acknowledged that there is still much to learn before that objective can be met.

In her own research, Dr. Leinninger examined the areas of the brain that neurotensin affects and if these areas are involved in the management of energy and obesity. That will be the focus of the following research steps.

How neurotensin can regulate weight and, more particularly, where in the body it acts, are the next great unanswered mysteries. We have some promising results in my lab’s investigation into how and where in the brain neurotensin can affect body weight, she said.

REFERENCES:

For Weight loss medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?therapy=20

Can Bariatric surgery treat people with obesity & diabetes?

Can Bariatric surgery treat people with obesity & diabetes?

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Diabetes is a chronic disease that can cause nerve damage among other long-term problems. One method of weight loss is bariatric surgery, which may be necessary for some obese people.

According to a recent study, bariatric surgery may benefit those who have type 2 diabetes by reducing peripheral neuropathy. To assist patients in maintaining a healthy body weight, doctors employ a range of strategies. Bariatric surgery may be advantageous for those who are obese.

To fully comprehend the advantages of bariatric surgery, researchers are still working. How bariatric surgery might affect particular diabetic problems is one topic of investigation.

An investigation of the effects of bariatric surgery on diabetic complications in obese patients was recently published in Diabetologia.

Researchers saw stabilisation of retinopathy and cardiac autonomic neuropathy as well as improved peripheral neuropathy.

long-term impact of diabetes

Diabetes is a persistent disease. It has to do with how well the body can use glucose (sugar) for energy and the hormone insulin.

Diabetes has a number of long-term problems that might develop if it is not well managed. For instance, peripheral neuropathy, which is nerve damage that affects the feet, legs, arms, and hands, is one problem.

Another is retinopathy, which eventually harms the eyes and impairs vision. The nerves that govern the heart are also damaged in cardiac autonomic neuropathy. These damage areas may result in poor health and a lower quality of life.

Dr. Denise Pate, a board-certified medical professional and Medical Director at Medical Offices of Manhattan who was not engaged in the current study, provided additional details regarding the harm peripheral neuropathy causes:

Peripheral nerves are responsible for detecting sensations of touch, pain, and warmth. When these nerves are harmed by high blood sugar levels, the body is no longer able to perceive these stimuli. This can cause discomfort and, even worse, put a diabetic at danger of failing to notice minor damage to their extremities. These minor wounds carry the risk of skin and bone infection and, ultimately, amputation.

Bariatric surgery is recommended?

Obesity is a condition that some type 2 diabetics may also have. Some surgical treatments may be suggested by doctors as a result of these contributing variables.

There are several different bariatric surgery choices, and they can help in maintaining weight loss. For those who have had trouble reducing weight through other methods including diet and exercise, these solutions might be helpful.

Without participating in the study, Dr. Mir Ali, a bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Centre at Orange Coast Medical Centre in Fountain Valley, California, told that “the indications for bariatric surgery currently accepted by most insurance carriers is a BMI greater than 40 or 35 with additional comorbid conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, or sleep apnea.”

“The goal with surgery, which has been demonstrated in many studies, is to resolve or improve comorbid conditions, increase life expectancy, and improve the quality of life,” he continued.

Bariatric surgery benefits for diabetes

This prospective cohort study examined the effects of bariatric surgery on metabolic risk variables and the reduction of diabetic complications. The components of the analysed metabolic risk factors included weight, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.

79 patients who underwent bariatric surgery and finished the 2-year follow-up were included in the study. All subjects had obesity of class 2 or 3.

The data revealed a decrease in peripheral neuropathy after two years. Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy and retinopathy remained constant. Additionally, participants’ quality of life and pain levels improved, according to researchers.

The majority of the metabolic risk indicators, including weight loss, showed improvement. They also discovered a link between improvement in retinopathy and improvement in fasting glucose levels.

Benefits of weight-loss surgery

In the 18 to 24 months following surgery, the majority of patients lose 50 to 80% of the extra weight. But following surgery, the impacts on blood sugar start happening right away (within days). Patients who have this procedure can decrease or stop taking their diabetes medications.

Particularly helpful at managing diabetes is Roux-en-Y surgery. After surgery, about 33% of these patients do not require diabetes medication. 85% of patients are medication-free within two years of surgery. Their diabetes is no longer an issue.

People with a kind of diabetes that does not require medication and those with diabetes for less than five years have a higher likelihood of experiencing complete remission from the disease.

The dangers of weight loss surgery

The following are possible risks linked to these procedures:

  • Anaesthesia doesn’t work well.
  • surgery-related harm to neighbouring organs.
  • Bleeding.
  • production of blood clots.
  • Infection.
  • The tissue that surrounds and supports the internal organs in the abdomen experiences peritoneal inflammation, or peritonitis.

Additional dangers comprise:

  • the intestines are blocked.
  • development of kidney and gallstones.
  • Anastomotic stenosis is the medical term for narrowing of the stomach-to-intestine opening.
  • Early and late dumping syndromes include nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting after eating.
  • Malnutrition.

limitations of the study and further research

There were certain restrictions on the study. First of all, there were not enough volunteers and there was no control group. Additionally, some of the patients who underwent bariatric surgery made it challenging for the researchers to follow up with them.

The fact that they were then constrained by the follow-up period shows the need for research that focus more on the immediate impacts and have even longer follow-up periods. There is a need for future studies with a wider range of participants because more than 98% of the participants were non-Hispanic and more than 73% were women.

The results of the study do not prove a causal connection between the variables they looked at. Further research into this topic may shed more light on the subject because researchers only employed particular assessments of peripheral neuropathy.

When reviewing the study’s findings, D.R. Pate issued the following warnings: The type of bariatric surgery was also not thoroughly analysed in that of the 79 patients, 71 received sleeve gastrectomy and 8 got gastric bypass surgery. We may conclude that weight loss in general, and not necessarily the method through which the weight loss occurred, was crucial to the outcomes as the type of technique was not further evaluated for the outcome.

Dr. Callaghan stated that he and his associates “We are currently conducting a study to see which treatment for peripheral neuropathy, exercise, bariatric surgery, or both, helps the most.”

He explained, “This is a randomised trial that will offer even more reliable information on the effects of exercise and bariatric surgery on peripheral neuropathy.”

REFERENCES:

For Diabetes medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?therapy=13

Could eating on a time schedule affect my fertility?

Could eating on a time schedule affect my fertility?

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An increasingly well-liked weight-control strategy is time-restricted eating. This entails eating all of your meals and snacks during that time and fasting outside of it.

Evidence suggests that it may also reduce the risk of metabolic illnesses like diabetes. Some people find that it aids them in losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight.

An unfavorable effect of time-restricted eating on zebrafish fertility was discovered in a recent study. More study is required to find out similar occurrences in humans.

A type of intermittent fasting called time-restricted eating (TRE) emphasizes meal timing rather than calorie intake. It entails sticking to a rigid schedule of eating all of your meals and snacks — often between six and twelve hours each day. And only consuming water and calorie-free beverages outside of that window.

When following a TRE plan, a participant will select the eating window that best fits their lifestyle. By limiting their eating window, many people discover that they tend to eat less. This may make it an easy way to manage their weight. In recent years, the practice has grown in acceptance.

According to studies, TRE has various advantages. People with obesity who followed a 10-hour eating 14-hour fasting schedule for 8 weeks experienced clinically significant weight loss. Also, improvements in fasting blood glucose levels were observed. When obese women followed an 8:16 fasting schedule for three months, similar weight loss was observed.

Results haven’t always been favorable, either. According to a meta-analysis of 43 trials, calorie restriction was the best weight loss strategy, while intermittent fasting had a smaller impact.

TRE was found to have deleterious impacts on the quality of sperm and eggs in zebrafish. These effects persisted even when normal feeding was resumed.

Little impact on physical growth

For the study, the researchers employed zebrafish (Danio rerio), a little tropical fish that shares more than 70% of its genome with people. Zebrafish are tiny, thrive in big shoals in tanks, and reproduce quickly, making them a popular choice for research.

All of the fish had been fed an unrestricted diet before the experiment and were sexually mature. They were then randomly split into two groups by the researchers. One kept up the unrestricted diet, while the other went on a fast. The entire fish was added back to the diet after 15 days, according to the researchers.

The researchers measured the tail fin to determine somatic (body) growth during the 15-day experimental phase and after the animals were allowed to resume unrestricted feeding. They also evaluated reproductive performance, including the quality of the eggs and sperm produced.

The study’s authors discovered no distinction in somatic growth between the fish that had been fed normally and those that had been starved. Female fish, however, exhibited quicker fin growth than male fish after the fasting fish were put back on their regular diet.

Decline in egg and sperm quality

Females that were fasting had fewer offspring overall than those who were eating normally during the fast. However, the distinctions between fed and fasting fish vanished once they started re-feeding.

The quality of the offspring did differ before and after fasting, according to the researchers. Females produced fewer, but higher-quality children when fasting. The number of progeny increased once the fasting females resumed feeding, but their survival rate decreased.

Similarly, there was a decline in the quality of male sperm both during the fast and when feeding resumed.

Thus, fasting appeared to have a deleterious impact on gamete quality in both sexes, and the effects persisted even when normal food was resumed. According to the researchers, when food was scarce, fish focused more of their energy on maintaining their bodies and surviving rather than reproducing.

Similar effect on people?

UEA’s School of Biological Sciences professor and study’s corresponding author, Alexei Maklakov, stated: “Time-restricted fasting is a well-liked fitness and health trend that people follow to get in shape and lose weight,”

Prof. Alexei Maklakov stated, “But the way organisms adapt to food scarcity can affect the quality of eggs and sperm, and such effects could possibly persist after the end of the fasting period.”

Few research on the effects of TRE on fertility and reproduction have been conducted thus far, and the majority of these have involved rodents. The few human investigations, the majority of which had modest sample sizes, created more questions than they did answers.

Studies on humans

An extremely limited window (4-6 hours) for eating was discovered in a recent study to result in lower DHEA levels in obese women. DHEA is a steroid hormone that is crucial for the production of both estrogen and testosterone. Although this study was modest, experts emphasized the necessity for comparative studies in adults who are of a healthy weight.

Although the authors highlighted that there was little data in this area, another evaluation of papers revealed that intermittent fasting may lower androgen indicators in both men and women. This effect might help women with the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), but it could also have negative effects on men, like a loss of muscular mass.

The University of Illinois at Chicago’s Dr. Krista Varady, a professor of nutrition who was not involved in the study, has written extensively about TRE, She uttered:

Overall, I don’t believe that humans can benefit from these zebrafish research findings. According to findings from TRE studies conducted on humans, fasting has almost no negative effects on either a woman’s or a man’s reproductive hormones.

More study is required

Even though this study was done on fish, the authors claim that the results demonstrate how crucial it is to take into account how fasting may affect human fertility.

The study’s corresponding author, Dr. Edward Ivimey-Cook of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia, said:

These findings emphasise how crucial it is to take into account not just how fasting affects body maintenance but also how it affects egg and sperm production.

He continued, “More research is needed to determine how long it takes for sperm and egg quality to get back to normal following the fasting period“.

Every year, hundreds of TRE articles in humans are published. I believe that rather than worrying about what is occurring in other non-mammalian species, we should concentrate on human discoveries. Humans and fish have radically different reproductive processes, making them quite different creatures. If this study had been conducted on people, it would have had a considerably greater impact.

REFERENCES:

For Fertility medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?therapy=50

Higher risk of heart failure: Urban vs Rural area.

Higher risk of heart failure: Urban vs Rural area.

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According to an observational study, American people who live in rural locations are 19% more likely overall to get heart failure than those who reside in metropolitan areas.

American black men who live in rural areas are 34% more likely than their urban counterparts to experience heart failure. Compared to Black women in rural regions, Black women in urban areas had an 18% higher risk.

Also, compared to white women living in urban settings, white women in rural regions had a 22% higher risk of heart failure.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately 46 million Americans, or 14% of the population, resided in rural regions in 2020.

In the 1980s, the number of deaths per 100,000 people in rural and urban areas was roughly similar, but by 2016, there were 135 more deaths per 100,000 people in rural areas than in urban ones, according to a 2019 study.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, people who live in rural areas have a higher risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, accidental injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than people who live in urban areas.

As per a sizable observational study conducted by scientists at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health, and the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Tennessee, Americans who live in rural areas are 19% more likely overall to develop heart failure than those who live in urban areas.

Researchers acknowledged that this study is the first to examine the relationship between rural American life and heart failure cases that are newly diagnosed.

Study of heart failure in rural vs. urban areas

More than 2,700 persons in 12 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) provided data that was collected over a 13-year period.

The information was obtained from The Southern Community Cohort Study, a National Cancer Institute-funded long-term health study of persons in the Southeast of the United States.

“At the end of the study period, the researchers found that living in rural America was associated with an increased risk of heart failure among both women and Black men, even after adjustment for other cardiovascular risk factors and socioeconomic status,” a news release for the study stated.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), provided the majority of the funding for the study. The research results, which were developed in association with Nashville, Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, were released in JAMA Cardiology.

Conduction of Rural heart disease study

The Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS) included 27,115 persons who were the subject of the study.

Participants from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia were among the first to be enrolled in the study by its researchers, which got underway in 2002.

Approximately 86% of those people were chosen from community health centers that offer medical care to underserved groups.

A little over 20% of the SCCS participants who were chosen for the study were residents of rural areas. This study only included participants who identified as Black or non-Hispanic White because, as the researchers explain in their publication, there were insufficient numbers of participants from other racial and ethnic groups.

Approximately 69% of the chosen individuals were Black. Participants’ ages ranged from 24 to 54. Only those participants were chosen for the trial who did not initially report having heart failure.

According to research, participants from rural areas had somewhat higher body mass indices and rates of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hyperlipidemia than those from urban areas.

Both stroke and depression rates were lower among rural inhabitants than among their urban counterparts. Diet and exercise habits were comparable between the two populations. In addition to being more likely to be married and have less formal schooling, individuals from rural areas were also less likely to now smoke.

Greatest risk is for Rural Black men

Participants experienced 7,542 occurrences of heart failure between the study’s beginning and a median 13-year follow-up.

When the heart is unable to adequately pump blood throughout the body, heart failure results. Shortness of breath when performing daily tasks or difficulty breathing while lying down are symptoms.

1,865 of the heart failure incidents involved rural individuals, whereas 5,677 were city dwellers.

After accounting for variables like age, sex, and race as well as cardiovascular risk factors, health behaviors, and socioeconomic factors in their analysis, the researchers concluded that adults who live in rural areas have an overall higher risk of developing heart failure than their counterparts in urban areas of 19%.

Black men from rural areas had the highest risk of heart failure. Compared to their urban counterparts, this group had a 34% higher chance of developing heart failure.

Women were likewise more vulnerable. Rural Black and White women had an 18% and 22% higher risk of heart failure than women who lived in metropolitan areas.

“We addressed, as much as we could, things that we thought could be playing a role in our observation,” Roger stated. We anticipated that we would discover such a difference, but we did not anticipate the size of the difference we discovered.

Racial and gender biases play?

The fact that Black men and women had a higher chance of developing heart failure in rural locations wasn’t surprising to Keisha Ray, an assistant professor of bioethics and medical humanities at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston in Texas.

“It is consistent with what health disparities scholars have consistently maintained—discrimination like racism and sexism touches all parts of Black people’s and women’s lives,” she said. “Racism also affects people’s access to the resources they need for good heart health, such as access to wholesome foods, leisure activities, adequate housing and income, and access to preventive healthcare.”

Because of chauvinism, health professionals frequently fail to take women seriously, Ray continued.

She stated that “women are frequently not believed when they complain of illness or their poor health is downplayed and dismissed.” This might delay the delivery of care that could save their lives.

REFERENCES:

For Heart failure medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?cPath=77_99

Birth Control Can Be Effective With Lower Dosage Of Hormone

Birth Control Can Be Effective With Lower Dosage Of Hormone

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In an attempt to discover whether hormone levels may be decreased while still maintaining the effectiveness of contraceptives in delaying ovulation, researchers recently examined hormone levels in contraceptive devices.

Scientists from the University of the Philippines Diliman utilised computer modelling to calculate how much the hormone dosage may be decreased.

Their findings demonstrated that they could cut the hormone content of estrogen-only contraceptives by up to 92% while still preventing ovulation. Using hormonal contraceptives is a common way to avoid getting pregnant.

Though occasionally they can have negative consequences, this prompted a team of researchers in the Philippines to investigate whether it was possible to decrease the hormone dosage and timing of contraceptive pills while maintaining their effectiveness.

Their research, which was published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, reveals that it is possible to significantly lower the hormone levels in both progesterone-only and estrogen-only contraceptives while still preventing ovulation.

Hormonal contraceptives working

Medical professionals frequently recommend hormonal contraceptives to female patients who want to avoid getting pregnant. In the United States, 10.3% of women use long-acting reversible contraceptives, while 12.6% of females between the ages of 15 and 49 use oral contraceptives, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In order to prevent conception, hormonal contraceptive methods use artificial hormones like progesterone and oestrogen.

They may halt ovulation or thin the uterine lining to prevent an implanted egg from attaching, among other possible mechanisms of action.

Several hormonal contraceptive methods include pills, which can be progestin-only or a combination of hormones, arm implants (Nexplanon), contraceptive patches (Xulane), and intrauterine devices (IUDs) (Mirena or Skyla).

In addition to prescription contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, doctors occasionally do so to aid patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in reducing the size of cysts and thereby lessening pain or in the treatment of endometriosis to aid in controlling pain and excessive bleeding.

The following negative effects of hormonal contraceptives can range from minor to severe:

The risk of deep vein thromboembolism, or leg blood clots, is also raised in people who smoke while using hormonal contraceptives.

Some milder side effects might fade disappear, but people should talk to their healthcare professionals about side effects to figure out the best course of action.

Reduction in hormone levels

The computer simulations demonstrated that ovulation can be prevented by adjusting the hormone amount.

Researchers discovered that it is possible to concentrate on changing the dose during specific times of the cycle and still have the contraceptives be effective, in addition to the fact that the models showed that hormones may be reduced.

The dosage for estrogen-only contraceptives was cut by 92% by the researchers while maintaining efficacy. They decreased the dose by 43% while maintaining the contraceptive effects of progesterone-only contraceptives.

When it comes to the time of hormone delivery, the authors state “that it is most effective to deliver the oestrogen contraceptive in the mid-follicular phase.”

Brenda Gavina, a PhD researcher at the University of the Philippines Diliman, discussed the study and went into more detail about its findings. She explained:

Theoretically, our mathematical model with the simplification assumptions revealed that as little as 10% of the total exogenous oestrogen dose in continual administration might provide contraception as long as this dosage is precisely scheduled, which was startling.

Benefits of lowering the dosage of hormones

Estradiol and progestin are often the main ingredients in oral contraceptives.

“Lowering the estradiol dose can increase breakthrough bleeding, efficacy in obese women, but decrease the risk of blood clotting,” stated Dr. Monte Swarup, FACOG, a board-certified OB/GYN and the creator of HPV HUB. “Estradiol increases proteins through its metabolism in the liver, including clotting proteins.”

Lowering the hormone dosage to the smallest effective level has various advantages.

According to Dr. Pamela Berens, professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, “this reduces potential risks for both complications and side effects.

Blood clots (both deep venous clots in the legs, for example, and clots that affect the lung, such as pulmonary embolism), for example, are some major side effects of greater hormonal doses used in contraception.

Rare problems like heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and stroke are other dangers associated with blood clots. The risks of these uncommon but serious consequences are also decreased by reducing the hormone dosage.

Lower hormone levels also lessen the risk of more frequent side symptoms such nauseousness, breast tenderness, bloating, and irritability. According to Berens, the hormone doses in widely used birth control have decreased over time while maintaining their efficacy.

Timing the hormones matters

The study’s model also shown how crucial hormone timing is throughout the cycle.

It was particularly surprising, according to Gavina, that theoretically, our mathematical model (with the simplifying assumptions) demonstrated that as little as 10% of the total exogenous estrogen dose administered continuously could achieve contraception, provided that this dosage is administered at the exact right time (the timing was also demonstrated in our optimization result).

It’s crucial to keep in mind, though, that “the results of this study are not directly transferable to actual patients, but the principles proposed in our study could be easily translated,” as Gavina noted. We anticipate that these findings will help clinicians choose the best contraceptive dosage and regimen in order to use medications as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Additionally, timing the hormones aids in reducing bleeding. In perimenopause hormone replacement treatment, synchronising the hormones with the cycles reduces breakthrough or irregular bleeding, according to Swarup.

What do reproductive health experts think?

The study is not yet ready for clinical use, experts stressed, despite the fact that the findings suggest that altering the hormone dose in contraceptives is feasible while preserving efficacy.

The co-founder and CEO of Pandia Health in Sunnyvale, California, Dr Sophia Yen, a clinical associate professor at Stanford Medical School, who was not involved in the present study, said, “It’s important to realise that this [study finding] is theoretical and was not tested in humans.”

Dr. Yen added that “[the hormone level reduction] most likely won’t be so great for those with higher BMIs because of the greater volume of distribution for the drugs.”

The study’s results were also discussed by Dr. Sandra Hurtado, an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston who was not involved in its creation.

Dr. Hurtado made clear that the mathematical model used in the study needs to “undergo testing in an animal model and in humans to be able to test its safety and efficacy.”

She did recognise the study’s promise, though. Dr. Hurtado said, “It would be perfect if there was a mechanism to test and record the hormone levels in each individual and be able to give that person the dose at the right moment.

She added that carrying out this research further and creating tools like an automated insulin delivery system would be beneficial. “At this time, those are expensive and not justified for contraceptive use, but hopefully, it can be developed in the near future with continued advancements in technology and falling prices of electronics.”

REFERENCES:

For Birth control medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?cPath=24

Dementia risk may increase with frequent colds and flu.

Dementia risk may increase with frequent colds and flu.

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According to studies done on humans, a greater lifetime exposure to microbial illnesses is linked to a slower decline in cognitive function as people age.

By intermittently giving mice the inflammation-causing bacterial toxin lipopolysaccharide, a recent animal study examined the effect of inflammation brought on by recurrent microbial infections on cognitive function.

The study discovered that early middle-aged mice with mild-to-moderate inflammation brought on by repeated lipopolysaccharide treatment had deficiencies in memory and learning.

These results in ageing mice imply that mild-to-moderate illness brought on by microbial infections may require more vigorous therapy than the existing standard of care, particularly in populations susceptible to cognitive impairment, such as the elderly.

The standard medical advise for those with mild to moderate infections is to obtain enough rest and drink more fluids. It’s interesting to note that a recent study in the journal Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity claims that repeated inflammation brought on by giving a bacterial toxin to middle-aged rats led to cognitive deficiencies. Along with these cognitive deficiencies, the hippocampus, a part of the brain important for learning and memory, experienced changes in the plasticity of its neurons.

Elderly people are more prone to microbial infections, which could exacerbate the decline in cognitive function in elderly people and result in dementia or moderate cognitive impairment.

The results of this study point to the possibility that older persons may require more intensive therapies in order to avoid these illnesses’ long-term consequences on cognitive function. It is crucial to remember that since this study used a mouse model, it is unknown whether the conclusions apply to people as well.

Brain aging contributed by inflammation

As a result of the biological changes brought on by brain ageing, a loss in several cognitive capacities is shown during the course of normal ageing. Similar to this, cognitive impairment seen in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease is connected to pathological brain ageing.

According to studies, several variables, including inflammation brought on by microbial infections, may accelerate the aging of the brain. For instance, higher lifetime exposure to infectious agents is linked to worse cognitive function and a faster decline in cognitive function in older people.

Additionally, research using animal models has demonstrated that inflammation brought on by microbial exposure might affect cognitive function. Animals are injected with the toxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is found in the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria, to study the effects of inflammation brought on by microbial infections.

These investigations on animals have demonstrated that LPS injection can elevate cytokine levels in the brain, a family of inflammatory proteins, and result in abnormalities in cognitive function. Additionally, as people age, these negative effects of LPS become more obvious.

The majority of these studies have looked at how LPS affects brain and cognitive function when it is given continuously or in single doses. According to these research, even a single dose of LPS-induced inflammation can alter the brain permanently.

However, little study has been done on the effects of lifetime exposure to microbial illnesses on alterations in the brain and cognitive function. In genetically modified mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, there is some indication that repeated injection of LPS can raise the risk of cognitive impairment.

EFfects of LPS-induced inflammation

In the current investigation, mice were given escalating dosages of LPS every 15 days for 2.5 months. Repeated injection of the same amount of LPS causes tolerance to develop, which includes the absence of an inflammatory reaction, according to prior studies.

The researchers worked around this problem by gradually increasing the LPS dose over the course of the five injections. The mice experienced mild illness after each LPS treatment, but they recovered within 15 days.

Two weeks after giving the last dosage of lipopolysaccharide, the researchers then tested the animals’ behaviour to see how well they could think. At 5–6 weeks after the last injection, the researchers also put the animals to death to look at how inflammation brought on by lipopolysaccharide affected the brain.

Saline-treated mice made comprised the control group. The mice were 10 months old when the study began, which corresponds to the transition from late adulthood to middle age.

The scientists discovered that mice given LPS injections displayed cognitive abnormalities in learning and memory retention of information acquired the day before.

Researchers observed alterations in the hippocampus in mice who received LPS injections on a sporadic basis. In Alzheimer’s disease, the hippocampus, which is important for memory and learning, exhibits the illness’s initial signs of degradation.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene expression was upregulated in the hippocampus of LPS-treated mice as one of these modifications. This is in line with other research that found higher IL-6 levels following LPS treatment in cognition-related brain areas.

Additionally, the researchers discovered that giving LPS affected neuronal plasticity but not baseline signal transmission. Particularly, the LPS-treated animals displayed reduced long-term potentiation (LTP) between neurons in the hippocampus.

Linking flu frequency to dementia risk

Dr. Elizabeth Engler-Chiurazzi, a behavioral neuroscientist at Tulane University and co-author of the study, said the conclusions have significant ramifications for human brain health and disease.

“At the moment, staying in bed, getting lots of rest, drinking soup, and allowing your body to do its work of eradicating the infection is the standard of care for the common cold or the flu virus. According to my knowledge, this advice is offered to the entire population and is given regardless of the likelihood that dementia will develop in the future.

Dr. Elizabeth Engler-Chiurazzi stated, “Our results may be the first in a series of studies that could indicate that treatment for the common cold or other sources of intermittent infection among patients at high risk for cognitive decline/dementia may need to be more aggressive than the standard recommendations of rest and fluids.”

According to these findings, a history of more “flu-like” episodes may be a risk factor for cognitive problems in later life. According to Dr. Engler-Chiurazzi, some research conducted in people have started to investigate this connection. The results are consistent with our mouse observations.

It’s too soon to say for sure.

Dr. Engler-Chiurazzi issued a warning, noting that it’s possible that these findings won’t apply to people.

Although there are significant species differences in how these systems react, the immune system composition of mice and people is similar, according to the researcher. However, more research is required to determine how well these findings are replicated in human populations.

The mechanisms behind the cognitive losses following repeated LPS treatment will also be looked at by the authors.

Dr. Engler-Chiurazzi stated, “An immediate next step for our group is to repeat these studies and determine the extent to which common brain consequences seen in dementia, such as a leaky blood-brain barrier or activation of brain immune cells (microglia), are observed after repeated intermittent exposure to sickness-like inflammation in the body.”

Dr. Engler-Chiurazzi also mentioned that they have not looked at how viral infections affect cognitive function but are now doing so using an animal model.

REFERENES:

For Dementia medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?cPath=77_478

Men & women have different drivers leading to weight gain.

Men & women have different drivers leading to weight gain.

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According to recent studies, men’s and women’s brains are affected by obesity in distinct ways, possibly necessitating sex-specific treatment methods.

This study investigated differences between males and females with high BMI compared to individuals with a normal BMI by analyzing various types of brain scans in combination with other clinical information. While some brain imaging studies have shown how obesity impacts eating behaviors.

Men and women with high BMI showed differences in particular brain regions, the researchers discovered, suggesting that treating each patient according to sex may be essential in the fight against obesity.

The researchers assert that when investigating obesity, it’s crucial to take gender variations between men and women into account.

To discover sex-specific processes in the brain that cause obesity, the study, which was published in the journal Brain Communications, analyzed data from MRI scans, clinical characteristics, and medical histories. It concluded that men and women experience obesity for various reasons.

Previous studies using brain imaging have demonstrated how obesity impacts eating behaviors; however, few studies have examined various forms of brain imaging to determine how obesity differs in males and girls.

Brain changes related to BMI

The study comprised 105 men and women with a lower BMI and 78 men and women with a high body mass index (BMI) that classified them as overweight or obese.

A measurement of body fat based on height and weight is called BMI. Having a higher BMI does not necessarily mean having more body fat.

Participants answered questions about their personality features, gastrointestinal symptoms, food addiction, childhood trauma, sensitivity to common symptoms including headaches and dizziness, anxiety and depression symptoms, and other topics.

Additionally, they received three MRIs to evaluate the connections between various brain regions as well as the anatomy and function of the brain. The findings demonstrated that high BMI in both men and women was related to distinct alterations in brain connectivity.

According to researchers, this included “changes in many regions of the brain that respond to food or food-associated cues,” which were linked to traumatic early life experiences. 

In addition, they discovered that in contrast to men with high BMI, women with high BMI exhibited connection abnormalities linked to higher anxiety and weaker resilience.

Other abnormalities in connectivity found in women with high BMI raise the possibility that women may struggle to link emotions to goal-directed action planning. According to them, women may experience more “emotional overeating” as a result than men.

Additionally, certain brain alterations raise the possibility that high BMI women are more sensitive to the look, smell, and flavor of too processed foods.

Kinds of brain scans

To learn more about how obesity presents differently in the brains of men and women, the researchers used multimodal brain imaging (structure, connectivity, and function) using a data-driven methodology.

Data from 183 subjects, including 78 with high BMI and 105 with normal BMI, were examined for the study.

The researchers gathered information on mood, early life events, and eating patterns using a variety of brain scans and surveys.

They tested their ability to distinguish between participants with high BMI and those with normal BMI, as well as between males and females with high BMI, by utilizing a technique called DIABLO to analyze this data.

Differences between men and women for weight gain

Gupta and her colleagues discovered in a previous study that emotional and compulsive eating appears to have a higher impact on the onset of obesity in women.

Contrarily, men’s eating habits are typically more influenced by their knowledge of gut feelings and visceral reactions, such as those brought on by abdominal discomfort.

According to Gupta in the release, these findings “may be important to focus on emotional regulation techniques and vulnerability factors in designing treatment plans for females with high BMI.”

She and her coworkers warn that this study merely identifies correlations between BMI, clinical markers like anxiety and depression, and alterations in the brain.

To find out whether brain alterations cause an increase in BMI or whether being overweight or obese has unique effects on the brain, more studies, including longitudinal studies, will be required.

This study, according to Dr. Mir Ali, a bariatric surgeon at Orange Coast Medical Centre in Fountain Valley, California, and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Centre, demonstrates that weight loss is more involved than just what you eat and how much exercise you get.

“Hormones, emotions, metabolism, genetics, and many other factors play a role,” said Ali, who was not involved in the new study. Furthermore, “this study shows that there is a significant difference between men and women, in terms of emotions and eating.”

Continual hunger and overeating

Dr. Gupta observed that changes in emotion-related brain areas in obese women were associated with higher levels of compulsive eating. In contrast, gut and visceral sensations linked to abdominal discomfort and hunger were correlated with brain areas involved in eating behavior and obesity in men.

The article is intriguing for two reasons, according to Dr. Florencia Halperin, chief medical officer at Form, a business that offers medical treatment for metabolic disorders linked to obesity.

First, although the causes are unknown, there are gender disparities in obesity.

Second, obesity has biological roots, and knowing how obese individuals’ brains differ from those of non-obese people may aid in both diagnosis and therapy.

This study implies that we may be able to distinguish between individuals with obesity and those with a healthy BMI using MRI-based imaging tests. The present study, however, has certain drawbacks. Dr. Florencia Halperin explained that because the study was cross-sectional (comparing one group to another group), causality could not be established in any way.

According to Dr. Sarah-Nicole Bostan, director of Behaviour Change Strategy at Signos, the study is “compelling as it bows to the age-old therapeutic question of “what works, for whom, and under what conditions.”

The findings of this article hint towards a more holistic, personalized approach to weight loss that takes into account lifestyle factors, emotional management strategies, and potentially vulnerable characteristics like early puberty, said Kelsey Costa, a registered dietitian nutritionist at MIDSS.

Second, details on the majority of the significant male obesity factors were lacking. Even though this knowledge is crucial, there are still unanswered issues regarding the factors that affect male obesity the most, she continued.

Ways to prevent obesity

According to Ali, whether people are candidates for obesity treatments like a gastric sleeve or gastric bypass surgery relies on criteria outside their sex, like their BMI and other medical issues.

But in his experience, males are more likely than women to succeed with surgical obesity therapies.

According to studies by Gupta and her colleagues, men’s eating behavior may be influenced by gut feelings. According to Ali, “surgery primarily affects the visceral sensation,” such as the feeling of fullness after eating.

Surgery alone may not be as helpful for patients who are emotional eaters because, he explained, “their body may be telling them that they are full, but their emotions are telling them to continue eating.”

However, Ali said that patients’ experiences can vary significantly, with some women recovering well from surgery for years while others might have a weight increase soon after.

Weight loss treatment

Other forms of obesity therapies may be more significantly impacted by the latest study’s findings. Research has already examined how emotional control affects weight loss in both older women and teenagers.

Customizing obesity therapies, however, is not a novel concept. With their patients, doctors already perform such actions, however they consider a variety of other aspects as well as biological sex.

Dr. Ilan Shapiro, chief health correspondent and medical affairs officer at AltaMed Health Services in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the new study, stated, for instance, “It is important to acknowledge each patient’s metabolic system and the social determinants of health.”

“When we address age, gender, mental health, and chronic diseases, it helps us to achieve the best interventional outcome,” he said.

He added that in addition to these aspects, doctors also consider the patient’s nutrition, exercise routines, sleeping patterns, stress levels, and coping mechanisms, and mental health.

There isn’t currently a proven technique for sex-based obesity therapies, according to Shapiro, but “hopefully, in the future, we’ll have more research to create an intervention template for patients.”

A person’s culture or community is another important element that, in his opinion, should be taken into account while developing obesity interventions.

Shapiro cited the example of community health professionals, known as promotors or promotes in Spanish, who can assist Hispanic populations in adopting appropriate weight management practices.

He stated, “As doctors, our goal is to assist patients in establishing healthier and happier lifestyles. Therefore, having medical professionals who are aware of cultural differences will benefit patients’ efforts to lose weight.

REFERENCES:

For Weight loss medications that have been suggested by doctors worldwide are available here https://mygenericpharmacy.com/index.php?therapy=20