Author: SupremeCmdr

Diet Until Proven Otherwise

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According to a study published in BMC Medicine, men who ate the most plant-based foods had a 22 percent reduced risk of colon cancer, compared with those who ate the least. Eating a plant-based diet increases consumption of fiber and antioxidants associated with cancer prevention, while simultaneously avoiding the compounds in animal products linked to cancer risk. It has long been known that people who avoid meat are at reduced risk.

The power of nutrition in cancer prevention — https://www.kevinmd.com/2024/02/the-power-of-nutrition-in-cancer-prevention.html

Also schedule that colonoscopy you’ve been putting off.

Anorexia

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Anorexia has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness. People with anorexia are 18 times as likely to die from suicide as their peers. Fewer than half of those with anorexia make a full recovery.

Opinion: Anorexia Should Never Be Considered a Terminal Illness — https://undark.org/2024/02/08/opinion-anorexia-terminal-illness/

It May Look Like I’m Not Doing Anything But I’m Actually in Default Mode

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The default mode was one of the first brain networks characterized by science. It consists of a handful of brain regions, including a few at the front of the brain, like the dorsal and ventral medial prefrontal cortices, and others scattered throughout the organ, like the posterior cingulate cortex, the precuneus and the angular gyrus. These regions are associated with memory, experience replay, prediction, action consideration, reward/punishment and information integration…

According to research, the effects of the default mode network include mind wandering, remembering past experiences, thinking about others’ mental states, envisioning the future and processing language. While this may seem like a grab bag of unrelated aspects of cognition, Vinod Menon, the director of the Stanford Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, recently theorized that all of these functions may be helpful in constructing an internal narrative. In his view, the default mode network helps you think about who you are in relation to others, recall your past experiences and then wrap up all of that into a coherent self-narrative.

What Your Brain Is Doing When You’re Not Doing Anything — https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-your-brain-is-doing-when-youre-not-doing-anything-20240205

Great article.

Complications? What Complications? (just another GLP-1 receptor agonist post)

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Adverse events are common in those using GLP-1 agonists, but the vast majority of these are minor. GI adverse effects are most common (20-70% of patients). Greater rate of GI effects with higher doses.

  • Most common problems: nausea (overall most common), vomiting, and diarrhea. Others included abdominal pain, dyspepsia, and constipation.
  • Symptoms are typically more severe within the first four weeks of therapy or with sudden escalation of therapy and tend to decrease over time.
  • Thought to be due to reduced gastric emptying and activation of centers involved in appetite regulation and nausea.
  • Severe diarrhea and vomiting may lead to volume loss, dehydration, and hypotension (not common).
  • There is an association with pancreatitis. GLP-1 agonists may stimulate pancreatic islet beta cells and exocrine duct cells leading to overgrowth and smaller duct size, which increase the pancreatic weight and risk of ductal occlusion.
    • Retrospective study published in 2022 of 81,752 adverse events associated with GLP-1 agonist therapy found an increased risk of pancreatitis, particularly with liraglutide (ROR 32.67; 95% CI 29.44-36.25). 2023 observational study found increased risk of pancreatitis (adjusted HR of 9.09, 95% CI 1.25-66).
  • Other GI issues include gallbladder and biliary tract disease (usually after 26 weeks of therapy and included cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, cholangitis), elevated LFTs, hepatitis, liver injury.
emDOCs Podcast – Episode 94: GLP-1 Agonist Complications — https://www.emdocs.net/?s=glp-1

But I Lost 25 pounds!

New Wonder Drug! Treat Diabetes, Obesity AND Addiction – (yup another GLP-1 receptor agonist post)

Why People Stop Using Drugs Like Ozempic – Wired (yet another GLP-1 receptor agonist post)

What the Scientists Who Pioneered Weight-Loss Drugs Want You to Know – Wired Magazine

Undiagnosed Cirrhosis and Hepatic Encephalopathy in Dementia

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The findings of this cohort study suggest that, in a national veterans cohort of patients with dementia, 5% to 10% of the patients have laboratory values suggestive of possible undiagnosed cirrhosis that could implicate HE as a contributor to overall cognitive impairment. Patients in this study with possibly undiagnosed cirrhosis were more likely to be of races other than White, Hispanic, and urban-dwelling, and more likely to have AUD and viral hepatitis. These percentages of affected patients were corroborated with medical records review of 2 separate validation cohorts. In conclusion, FIB-4 should be considered as a screening tool to detect cirrhosis and potential HE in older veterans with dementia. Those with high scores (eg, >2.67) should be considered for further evaluation and treatment.

Undiagnosed Cirrhosis and Hepatic Encephalopathy in a National Cohort of Veterans With Dementia — JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(1):e2353965. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.53965 — https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2814346

Aerobic + Resistance (do both)

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Conclusions: In adults with overweight or obesity, aerobic exercise alone or combined resistance plus aerobic exercise, but not resistance exercise alone, improved composite CVD risk profile compared with the control.

Aerobic, resistance, or combined exercise training and cardiovascular risk profile in overweight or obese adults: the CardioRACE trial – European Heart Journal https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad827

Effects of 1-year resistance, aerobic, or combined exercise training on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profile: the CardioRACE trial. Aerobic exercise alone or combined aerobic plus resistance exercise, but not resistance exercise alone, improved CVD risk profile (composite Z-score) compared with no-exercise control (Z-score values below 0 indicate favourable changes in CVD risk factors). BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; CVD, cardiovascular disease; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; SBP, systolic blood pressure.

Scary Charts – 01.19.24

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Counsellor Hilarie Cash, the co-founder of reSTART Life, a residential treatment center for tech addiction, told The Epoch Times that screen use is classified as problematic when it starts eating into time necessary for normal human functioning…

Ms. Cash, whose program to treat people struggling with addiction to internet pornography and video games began in the 1990s, has observed a worrying trend. While her earlier clients also experienced major upheaval due to their screen addictions, they had sufficient life skills. In contrast, many of her clients today lack necessary life skills, such as knowing how to cook, maintain personal hygiene, hold down a conversation, make meaningful relationships, keep a job, etc. These people are more challenging to treat.

The Silent Epidemic Eating Away Americans’ Minds — https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/the-silent-epidemic-eating-away-americans-minds-5560857

I see this every day. People cannot drive a car responsibly, process a restaurant meal order correctly, make the correct change when presented with cash not credit, and cannot tell you what time it is unless the clock has a digital readout.

We. Are. Doomed.

Cannabis and Arrhythmia Risk, Stroke and Race, Why Weight Loss Drugs Stop Working

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Within 180 days, 42 medical cannabis users and 107 control participants developed arrhythmia, most commonly atrial fibrillation/flutter. Medical cannabis users had a slightly elevated risk for new-onset arrhythmia compared with nonusers (180-day absolute risk, 0.8% vs 0.4%). The 180-day risk ratio with cannabis use was 2.07 (95% CI, 1.34-2.80), and the 1-year risk ratio was 1.36 (95% CI, 1.00-1.73). Adults with cancer or cardiometabolic disease had the highest risk for arrhythmia with cannabis use (180-day absolute risk difference, 1.1% and 0.8%).

Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain Tied to Arrhythmia Risk – Medscape – January 12, 2024 — https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/medical-cannabis-chronic-pain-tied-arrhythmia-risk

The overall incidence of stroke and ischemic stroke (IS) decreased among both White and Black people over the past two decades, results of an updated analysis of stroke trends in a representative US population showed.

However, the study showed persistent racial disparities, with incident stroke rates 50%-80% higher in Black people than in their White counterparts. Incident stroke also occurred at an earlier age in Black patients than in White patients (mean age, 62 years vs 71 years, respectively).

The findings were published online on January 10, 2024, in Neurology.

New Data on Stroke Incidence Rates by Race – Medscape – January 12, 2024 — https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/new-data-stroke-incidence-rates-race

And my favorite Saturday morning medical update…

But studies also have shown that once people stop taking these drugs — either by choice, because of shortage, or lack of access — they regain most, if not all, the weight they lost. Arguably more frustrating is the fact that those who continue on the drug eventually reach a plateau, at which point, the body seemingly stubbornly refuses to lose more weight. Essentially, it stabilizes at its set point, said Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, MBA, an obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Every study of weight loss drugs done over the past 40 years or so shows a plateau, Stanford told Medscape Medical News. “If you look at the phentermine/topiramate studies, there’s a plateau. If you look at the bupropion/naltrexone studies, there’s a plateau. Or if we look at bariatric surgery, there’s a plateau. And it’s the same for the newer GLP-1 drugs.”

The reason? “It really depends on where the body gets to,” Stanford said. “The body knows what it needs to do to maintain itself, and the brain knows where it’s supposed to be. And when you lose weight and reach what you feel is a lower set point, the body resists.”When the body goes below its set point, the hunger hormone ghrelin, which is housed in the brain, gets reactivated and gradually starts to reemerge, she explained. GLP-1, which is housed in the distal portion of the small intestine and in the colon, also starts to reemerge over time.

Why Do GLP-1 Drugs Stop Working, and What to Do About It? – Medscape – January 12, 2024 — https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/why-do-glp-1-drugs-stop-working-and-what-do-about-it

That’s it for this Saturday. Time to go to the Y and read a book later.