Visit Your Doctor if You Notice These Signs

Your digestive system consists of your esophagus, stomach, colon, pancreas and liver. Consequently, it's no wonder that symptoms of GI problems occur. But when they do show up in ways that you don't expect, you might not realize that a visit to the gastroenterologist is in order. If you experience any one of these symptoms, be sure to book that appointment:

 

1. You've got a lump in your throat

If you are having trouble swallowing food, get it checked - especially if the feeling gets more intense over time. In some cases, even water can become hard to swallow. And when pain with drinking water occurs it can be a sign of a serious GI problem. Your doctor will likely also want to know if your swallowing problems come with a side of coughing, hoarseness, hiccups, or feeling full after just a few bites of food. These could indicate esophageal cancer.

2. Your gas clears the room

While flatulence is normal - the average person passes almost 2 liters of gas each day - if it's paired with unpleasant side effects, this is a cause of concern. Be on the look out for abdominal discomfort, change in bowel habits or unexplained weight loss. Unusually foul-smelling gas could be a signal that a parasite called giardia is infecting your intestines. 

3. Your pants are suddenly too tight

If you're have a harder time zipping your jeans than you did a few days ago, it may be due to bloating - a common problem that can be a result of overeating or swallowing too much air. But if sudden bloating occurs for no obvious reason and is accompanied by symptoms like pain or blood in the stool, it is best speak to a GI doctor. It could be due to a dairy digestion problem, or it could indicate gastroesophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gallstones, constipation or celiac disease. 

 

4. Your pants are suddenly too loose

Unexplained weight loss can be a symptom of many health problems. Seeing to your digestive system is a great place to start. The first things to exclude are cancers of the colon, pancreas and stomach. Other reasons you might be dropping pounds could include conditions like celiac disease or Crohn's disease, which interfere with your body's ability to absorb nutrients. 

5. Your stool looks black

With regards to the rectum, bleeding is never normal. Bright red bleeding you see on toilet paper may be from hemorrhoids - swollen blood vessels on your bottom that can itch or hurt. While hemorrhoids can be managed, if bleeding is ongoing or not linked to this, it is essential that you see a GI doctor. 

 6. You've stopped pumping iron in your blood

Iron helps red blood cells deliver oxygen to the body's tissues. When you're running low on your iron, your whole body will feel it. You may feel very tired, experience headaches, have yellowish skin, brittle nails, hair loss and general overall weakness. Your iron levels can be checked with a simple blood test. Though if you turn out to be anemic, you may need to see your GI specialist. Iron deficiency caused by anemia, can be due to chronic, unseen blood loss in the GI tract from things like colon cancer, stomach cancer, ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease or superficial blood vessels called angiodysplasia. 

 this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.
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Statins may not help lung cancer patients

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins when used alongside  chemotherapy treatments may have no effect on the outcome for patients with lung cancer, a study has found.

 Statins work by lowering cholesterol levels in patients and are usually prescribed by doctors to help prevent heart attacks or strokes. 

According to previous studies, statins have claimed a role in preventing cancer development, or prolonging the survival of patients with several common cancers, including lung cancer.  

“It’s becoming increasingly common for patients with increased cholesterol to take statins and many cancer patients will be or have been prescribed these drugs entirely separately from their cancer treatment,” said Michael Seckl, Professor at Imperial College London. 
 However, the new study showed that the drugs do not, in fact, benefit lung cancer patients at all. 

Although there were no adverse effects from taking statins, there were no advantages either, the researchers said.chemotherapy

“There’s no reason for people to stop taking statins to manage their cholesterol, but it’s extremely unlikely, for patients with small cell lung cancer, that taking statins will make any difference to their cancer treatment outcome,” Seckl added. 

For the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the team measured the effects of a statin called pravastatin, in patients with small cell lung cancer — a particularly aggressive form of lung cancer where new treatments are desperately needed. 

The study included 846 patients from 91 hospitals in the Britain. Patients were randomly selected to receive either the statin or a placebo alongside their usual chemotherapy treatment and monitored over two years. 

“Our results match those of other randomised trials examining different types of cancer, and they have also shown no benefit to using statins in cancer treatment. Collectively, this evidence seems quite persuasive,” explained Allan Hackshaw, Professor and Deputy Director of the British charity Cancer Research UK. 

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7 Stomach Germs You Need to Avoid

One form of infection comes from a group of bacteria that are found in a variety of food and animal feces. It is therefore important to understand what these germs are and what they do, and most of all - how to avoid them!

1. E. Coli
The E. Coli germ lives in the colon of people and animals such as cows, sheep and goats. The bacteria is not usually harmful, in fact it is required for the routine activities of the digestive system. However, there is usually cause for concern when coming into contact with feces, as a risk of infection may arise. The bacteria usually travels through uncooked meat, polluted water and unpasteurized dairy products.

 

Symptoms of infection from E Coli include severe diarrhea, stomach aches and vomiting which can last between 5 to 10 days. Moreover, E Coli bacteria may cause urinary infections, with women being especially susceptible. 
Although the vast majority of E Coli bacteria aren't deadly, there are strands which can cause blood in diarrhea, kidney malfunction and even death.
To avoid infection, be sure to properly cook your meat, wash fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eating or cooking them, and avoid drinking unpasteurized milk and juice. Make sure to clean your hands well after going to the rest room, and thoroughly clean kitchenware and work surfaces that came in contact with uncooked meat.

2. Campylobacter
Campylobacter jejuni is a species of bacteria commonly found in animal feces. It is one of the most common causes of human gastroenteritis in the world. Food poisoning caused by Campylobacter species can be severely debilitating, but is rarely life-threatening.
C. jejuni is commonly associated with poultry, and it naturally colonizes the digestive tract of many bird species. One study found that 30% of European starlings in farm settings in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, were carriers of C. jejuni. This bacteria is also common in cattle.
Avoid contaminated drinking water and unpasteurized milk. Contaminated food is a major source of infections too. Incorrectly prepared meat and poultry are the primary source of the bacteria. A serious infection is caused by eating food contaminated with the bacteria. The disease primarily affects pregnant women, newborns, adults with weakened immune systems, and the elderly.

 

3. Listeria
Listeria germs are found in soil and in water, and so can appear on raw foods such as fruit and vegetables, raw meat and fish, as well as unpasteurized dairy products. Unlike other bacteria, this species can also grow and spread in the relatively low temperatures found in a fridge.
Most Listeria bacteria are handled by the immune system before they can cause infection, but some 'get away' and cause listeriosis. 
Symptoms of listeriosis include fever, shivers, headaches and vomiting. People at high risk of a listeria infection are pregnant women and their fetuses, adults over 50 and people who have a weak immune system.
Listeriosis may not affect a lot of people - research suggests that every year it affects about 1,600 people globally. However, out of those 1600, 260 die.
To avoid infection, rinse vegetables and fruit well before eating, and clean any spills in the kitchen, especially from raw meat.

 

4. Vibrio
Vibrio Parahaemolyticus germs live in salt water, and are often found in uncooked seafood. They may cause food poisoning which will cause watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, fever and shivers. Severe cases will cause blood and mucus to appear in the feces.
People who eat fish and uncooked seafood may be infected within 24 hours, with the symptoms lasting 3-5 days. Severe infections are rare, but people with a weak immune system are at high risk.
These infections can usually be avoided by thoroughly cooking fish and seafood.

5. Toxoplasma
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), millions of people around the world carry the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. However, only a few of us suffer from any symptoms, due to a robust immune system. That said, there are people who develop toxoplasmosis and may develop a severe infection. 
The symptoms, like those of the flu, might be weakness, fever, muscle pain and enlarged lymph nodes. People at risk include pregnant women and those with a weak immune system. The parasite can cause severe diseases which may harm the brain, eyes, liver and lungs.
The toxoplasma gondii bacteria is found in a large variety of animals, but it can only breed in the stomach of a cat. Cats usually catch the parasite by eating raw meat, unwashed vegetables or contact with other cat feces which contain the eggs of the parasite.
To prevent infection, the CDC recommends cooking your food safely and avoiding low heats. Be sure to wash your hands while handling raw food, and to avoid unclean water and cat feces. 

6. Salmonella
Salmonella is a group of bacteria usually found in uncooked poultry, eggs, beef and sometimes unwashed fruit and vegetables. Touching food or animals that have been in contact with the bacteria might cause inflammation in your digestive system. This inflammation is called salmonellosis and its symptoms include fever, diarrhea, stomach pain and headaches which can last between 4 to 7 days.
Most people heal without treatment, but for the elderly, babies and people with chronic diseases, Salmonellosis can spread in the blood, with deadly results.
To avoid infection, avoid eating uncooked eggs, meat and poultry not fully cooked, and keep your raw meat separate from cooked meat. Also wash everything that comes into contact with uncooked foods.

7. Norovirus
This virus can harm the stomach and bowels, and is often called 'stomach flu'. The bacteria are usually found in contaminated food or beverages, but can also be spread by touching surfaces or other people carrying it.
The virus can cause an inflammation in the bowels (gastritis). The symptoms include fatigue, headaches, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea and fever that tend to last a few days. Most people overcome the disease, but it's important to drink enough fluids to replace what you lost.
To avoid infection, always clean your hands with soap after handling foods, and disinfect work surfaces in the kitchen and restroom. 
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Stiff Person Syndrome

If you’ve never heard of stiff person syndrome, you’re far from alone. The neurological disorder — characterized by progressively stiffening muscles and intermittent, painful spasms — affects about one in 1 million people, according to an estimate cited by the Nation Organization for Rare Disorders.

One of them is Kenai resident Holly Ward, who is organizing a gathering today to raise awareness of those like her who suffer from medical problems few know of, which few doctors have experience treating or diagnosing, few researchers dedicate themselves to studying, and few insurance companies are eager to pay for.

The National Organization for Rare Disorders promotes Rare Disease Day every year on the last day of February. Ward, diagnosed recently with stiff person syndrome, will host the local event from 12 p.m to 4 p.m at Kenai Sports and Family Chiropractic, where she will give out information, hold raffles, and accept donations for a local rare-disease advocacy group she plans to form.

Ward’s experience as a rare-disease sufferer began on April 23, 2016, when she left her work early because of pain in her arm. The sudden, intense pain drove her to the Central Peninsula Hospital’s emergency room.

“They sent me to my doctor’s office, and I started having spasms just out of the blue,” Ward said. “No one could figure out what was going on. We thought I had MS (multiple sclerosis) or ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). We kept doing a bunch of tests, because I couldn’t walk for two weeks. Normal things people will try to do are giving you muscle relaxers, but it wasn’t working. We had to do a lot of research and digging around to figure out what was going on. … It was months of MRIs and CAT scans and I had x-rays done, a blood test. A lot of the symptoms I had, we found MS had a lot of the symptoms, but I was lacking the lesions in my brain — there were significant differences.”

Chiropractor Dr. Joe Keith of Kenai Sports and Family Chiropractic is a friend of Ward’s, who had treated her previously. He and Dr. Lynn Carlson of the Kenai Medicenter referred her to neurological specialists in Anchorage. Keith said most interpreted Ward’s pain as a stress-related issue before one, Dr. David Roberts of the Alaska Neurology Center (whom Keith said had encountered stiff person syndrome before), diagnosed her condition.

“We did a couple of tests, and he said ‘you’re going to want to look this up — it looks like you have stiff person syndrome,’” Ward said. “At the time I had my own ideas of what I could possibly have and didn’t really look into stiff person syndrome right away. It took me like a week, and then I was like ‘this is everything I have.’”

Though some researchers believe stiff person syndrome is an autoimmune disorder — in which a body’s immune system attacks healthy tissue — its exact causes are unknown. In Ward’s case, there was at least one definite complication: she was pregnant. This made her a rare case of a rare disease, ruling out some treatment options and requiring adjustments to others.

A few weeks ago, a doctor at the Kenai Medicenter gave Ward the first round of a new treatment — transfusions of treated blood plasma — that she hopes will put stiff person syndrome into remission. The Kenai Medicenter hasn’t performed these treatments before, she said, and modifications to deal with her pregnancy make them even more unusual. Ward’s insurance company considers the treatments experimental. Because of this, her insurance has approved payment for only one of the three transfusions Ward’s doctor believes she needs. Ward said she is working with the insurance company to get the others approved.

Keith said insurance issues are one example of how many medical establishments may be ill-equipped to deal with rare disease.
“Insurance companies are nowhere near being prepared to deal with rare diseases,” Keith said. “Hospitals, depending on where they are — especially down south and in more specialized areas — they can have much better portals for patients exhibiting rare diseases. As far as the basic family practice, not every practice is set up to deal with these people. And hopefully that’s where they’ll realize something is off and send them to a specialist.”

Keith said Ward’s experience being diagnosed with a rare disease was not normal. Rare-diseases sufferers more usually spend years being misdiagnosed. A 2010 survey by the United Kingdom-based charity Rare Disease UK found that 20 percent of the 600 rare-disease victims it surveyed had been studied for five years or more before getting a correct diagnosis.

The rarity of rare diseases makes them difficult to deal with in any systematic way, Keith said.

“When it comes down to it, it’s each and every doctor’s responsibility when they have a patient come through the door with rare symptoms to have a specialist to send them to, or at least to have a realm in the medical field to shuffle them into so they get the right diagnosis,” Keith said. “Especially at the family practice level. But there’s no real systematic way where you can filter them through and spit them out in the area where they have their diagnosis. It’s going to have to come to down to having each and every doctor knowing how to identify these conditions.”

Ward plans to use the funds raised at Tuesday’s event to establish a rare-disease advocacy group of her own. Among her plans are a website with information about stiff person syndrome, highlighting opportunities for patient funding. One target of her awareness-raising campaign, she said, is doctors.

“I’m hoping in Alaska there’s a community out there in the medical field who are willing to step out of their normal days and be like ‘hey, let’s do something to help these people — what can we do to be more ready clinically and medically for them?’” Ward said. 

“Because more than half the time people go to the hospital for their rare diseases and disorders, and they don’t know how to serve them so they can live a healthy life.”

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WHO publishes list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to speed up drug research

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published its first-ever list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens”, a catalogue of 12 bacteria families that pose a great threat to human health.

The list was drawn up in a bid to guide and promote research and development (R&D) of new antibiotics, as part of WHO’s efforts to address growing resistance among bacteria to medicines currently in use. It highlights the threat of gram-negative bacteria that have inculcated the ability to resist treatment, and are capable of passing on genetic material that allows other microbes to become drug-resistant as well. Consequently, ailments such as urinary tract infections – which were eminently treatable until a few years ago – have now become life-threatening.

“This list is a new tool to ensure that R&D responds to urgent public health needs,” says Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO’s assistant director-general for health systems and innovation. “Antibiotic resistance is growing, and we are fast running out of treatment options. If we leave it to market forces, the new antibiotics we urgently need won’t be developed in time.”

The WHO list is divided into three categories: critical, high and medium priority. The most critical group includes multidrug resistant bacteria that target hospitals, nursing homes and patients dependent on life-preserving devices such as ventilators and blood catheters. They include Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas and various Enterobacteriaceae (such as Klebsiella, E coli, Serratia and Proteus). They can cause deadly infections such as bloodstream infections and pneumonia. These bacteria have become resistant to a large number of antibiotics, including carbapenems and third-generation cephalosporins – the best available option for treating multi-drug resistant bacteria.

The second and third tiers in the list – the high and medium priority categories – contain other increasingly drug-resistant bacteria that cause more common diseases such as gonorrhoea and food poisoning due to salmonella.

The matter will come up at a meeting of G20 health experts in Berlin this week. “We need effective antibiotics for our health systems. We have to take joint action today for a healthier tomorrow. Therefore, we will discuss and bring the G20’s attention to the fight against antimicrobial resistance. WHO’s first global priority pathogen list is an important new tool to secure and guide R&D related to new antibiotics,” says Mr Hermann Gröhe, federal minister of health, Germany.

The list is intended to spur governments to put in place policies that incentivise basic science and advanced R&D by both publicly funded agencies and private sector entities investing in new antibiotic discovery. It will provide guidance to new R&D initiatives such as the WHO/Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership, which is engaging in the not-for-profit development of new antibiotics.

Tuberculosis, which has become increasingly resistant to traditional treatment in recent years, was not included in the list because it is targeted by other dedicated programmes. Other bacteria that were not included, such as streptococcus A and B and chlamydia, have low levels of resistance to existing treatments and do not currently pose a significant public health threat.

The list was developed in collaboration with the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Tübingen, Germany, using a multi-criteria decision analysis technique vetted by a group of international experts. The criteria for selecting pathogens on the list were: How deadly their infections are; whether their treatment requires long hospital stays; how frequent is their resistance to existing antibiotics; how easily they spread from animal to animal, animals to humans, and from person to person; whether they can be prevented (e.g. through good hygiene and vaccination); how many treatment options remain; and whether new antibiotics to treat them are already in the R&D pipeline.

“New antibiotics targeting this priority list of pathogens will help reduce deaths due to resistant infections across the world,” says Prof Evelina Tacconelli, head of the infectious diseases division at the University of Tübingen and a major contributor to the list. “Waiting any longer will cause further public health problems and dramatically impact patient care.”

While more R&D is vital, it’s not enough to curb bacterial resistance to drugs. To address the issue, the authorities must ensure better prevention of infections and appropriate use of existing antibiotics in humans and animals – besides rational application of new drugs developed in the future.

India has been doing its bit to combat the problem too. “The threat of anti-microbial resistance is very real, and we always knew it was coming. This is why we have been working to combat the threat for a while now. A national action plan to tackle it is underway, and should be out anytime,” said a senior researcher at the National Centre for Disease Control.

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Vitamin in milk could prevent pain caused by chemotherapy

 A vitamin found in milk may be useful for treating or preventing nerve pain caused by chemotherapy drugs, says a study.

For the study, the researchers tested the effect of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a form of vitamin B3, in female rats that were treated with paclitaxel, a chemotherapy commonly used to treat breast and ovarian cancer.

Although chemotherapies have improved cancer survival rates, many of these drugs also cause debilitating side effects that decrease the quality of life of patients and survivors.

In particular, many anti-cancer drugs cause chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) — nerve damage and pain.

“Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy can both hinder continuation of treatment and persist long after treatment has ended, severely affecting the quality of life of cancer patients,” said study first author Marta Hamity from University of Iowa in the US.

“Our findings support the idea that NR could potentially be used to prevent or mitigate CIPN in cancer patients, resulting in a meaningful improvement in their quality of life and the ability to sustain better and longer treatment,” Hamity said.

The findings, published in the journal Pain, lay the groundwork for testing whether this nutritional supplement can reduce nerve pain in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Nicotinamide riboside boosts levels of an important cell metabolite called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+).

Previous animal studies have shown that increasing NAD+ levels with NR can protect against many types of nerve damage.

The new study found that the NR supplement increased levels of NAD+ in the rats’ blood by about 50 per cent.

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Hypothyroidism can lead to miscarriage, bleeding

A new study says that hypothyroidism can strike pregnant women early and can also lead to miscarriage and bleeding.
 
It can lead to other complications as well such as low birth weight, respiratory distress syndrome and partum bleeding.

As per a report published in Deccan chronicle, the study, which was conducted in a tertiary healthcare centre in Hyderabad, had enrolled 900 pregnant mothers and tests revealed that in 3 per cent of the women thyroid testing was not done in the first trimester.

The report further says that, in the first trimester, foetus is dependent on maternal supply of thyroid hormone and untreated hypothyroidism can increase the risk of neuropsychological disorders.

Children born to untreated hypothyroid women had a low IQ than those born to normal women or women who were on thyroxine supplements.

Hypothyroidism can be controlled by taking thyroid supplements which are recommended according to the T3, T4 and thyroid stimulating hormone levels in the body.

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Skipping breakfast can be really harmful for your health

You might have heard a lot of times that you must eat before leaving home in morning. Well breakfast is the most important meal of the day and skipping this meal can be really harmful for your health.
These are the things that might happen to your body if you do not take it seriously to consider breakfast an important meal of your whole day:

Diabetes: Yes this is right if you skip your breakfast, you are at a high risk of developing diabetes, and especially women. A study has found that women who skip breakfast are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than women who take their breakfast regularly.

Heart disease: A study has found that not consuming breakfast was associated with hypertension, insulin resistance and high elevated sugar levels.

Migraine: The reason behind this is that when meals are skipped, they can lead to migraine as it creates a major dip blood sugar levels that could compensate for the low glucose levels. And not having breakfast can also lead to high blood pressure levels, triggering migraines and headaches.

Hair loss: breakfast promotes the growth of hair follicle. A diet that is lacking protein can affect the levels of protein could affect the levels of keratin, decreasing hair growth and thus causing hair loss.

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SOME FOODS MAY HELP IMPROVE SLEEP, RELIEVE STRESS

There is good news for those suffering from stress-related sleep issues. Prebiotics – dietary fibres found naturally in foods like artichokes, raw garlic and onions – may help improve sleep and buffer the physiological impacts of stress, a first-of-its-kind study suggests.

Prebiotics are the lesser-known gut-health promoters which serve as food for good bacteria inside the gut.

“We found that dietary prebiotics can improve non-REM sleep, as well as REM sleep after a stressful event,” said Robert Thompson, a PhD researcher at University of Colorado Boulder in the US.

Prebiotics are dietary fibres found naturally in foods like artichokes, raw garlic, leeks and onions.

When beneficial bacteria digest prebiotic fibre, they not only multiply, improving overall gut health, but they also release metabolic byproducts.

Foods rich in prebiotics like artichokes may help improve sleep and buffer the physiological impacts of stress. 

Researchers fed three-week-old male rats a diet of either standard chow or chow that included prebiotics. They then monitored the rats’ body temperature, gut bacteria and sleep-wake cycles using electroencephalogram (EEG), or brain activity testing over time.

Findings revealed that the rats on the prebiotic diet spent more time in non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, which is restful and restorative, than those on the non-prebiotic diet.

“Given that sufficient NREM sleep and proper nutrition can impact brain development and function and that sleep problems are common in early life, it is possible that a diet rich in prebiotics started in early life could help improve sleep, support the gut microbiota and promote optimal brain/psychological health,” the researchers said.

After being exposed to a stressor, the rats on the prebiotic diet also spent more time in rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep.

REM sleep is believed to be critical for promoting recovery from stress, with research showing that those who get more REM sleep post-trauma are less likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Stress has previously been shown to reduce healthy diversity of gut bacteria leading to a temporary flattening of natural fluctuations in body temperature.

However, rats on the prebiotic diet were buffered from these impacts, maintaining a healthy and diverse gut microbiota and normal temperature fluctuations even after stress exposure.

“It’s far too early to recommend prebiotic supplements as a sleep aid. More studies are in the works to examine what role prebiotics can play in promoting sleep, or buffering stress in people,” Fleshner added.

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 

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A fasting diet may help to reverse diabetes

A type of fasting diet may reprogramme pancreas cells, promote the growth of new insulin-producing pancreatic cells and reduce symptoms of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, a study has showed.

In the study, led by researchers from the University of Southern California, mice were placed on fasting mimicking diet (FMD) for four days each week which showed remarkable reversal of diabetes.

The mice regained healthy insulin production, reduced insulin resistance and demonstrated more stable levels of blood glucose -- even in the later stages of the disease, the researchers said in the paper published in the journal Cell.

The genes normally active in the developing pancreas of embryonic/foetal mice are reactivated in diabetic adult mice when cycling FMD with normal diets.

This increases production of the protein neurogenin-3 (Ngn3) and, as a result, promotes the creation of new, healthy insulin-producing beta cells.

Researchers also examined pancreatic cell cultures from human donors and found that, in cells from Type 1 diabetes patients, nutrients mimicking fasting also increased expression of the Ngn3 protein and insulin production.

"These findings warrant a larger FDA trial on the use of the Fasting Mimicking Diet to treat diabetes patients," said Valter Longo from the University of Southern California. 

"People with diabetes could one day be treated with an FDA-approved Fasting Mimicking Diet for a few days each month, eat a normal diet for the rest of the month, and see positive results in their ability to control their blood sugar by producing normal levels of insulin and improving insulin function," Longo added.


 this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.
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What do Your Eyes Say About Your Health?

It is said that the eyes are the windows of the soul. While the origins of this saying may not be known, what is certain is that the eyes do tell us a great deal about our health. Below are eight vital signs to be on the lookout for:

 

 

1. Permanent sty

A sty can cause pain and irritation. This usually occurs due to a blocked sebaceous gland which generally tends to go away within a few days. But if it persists, it may cause some serious issues. If a sty pops up often or persists for a long time, it can be a symptom of sebaceous gland carcinoma. Be sure to visit a doctor. 

2. Eyebrow loss Eyebrow loss can occur for many reasons including age, stress or nutrient deficiency. Though it only affects 0.1% of the population, alopecia areate, or spot baldness may be a possible reason. Hypothyroidism, however, is a more likely cause. It occurs due to an acute shortage of thyroid hormones, which in extreme cases, can cause hair loss. If your hair is thinning, visit your doctor and have them check the state of your thyroid gland.

3. Blurred vision

Spending many hours on computers may cause your vision to become blurred, or your eyes to burn. In fact, vision problems are nowadays often associated with long screen-time use, and has been termed as 'digital eye strain' or 'dry eye syndrome'. If you recognize these symptoms, discuss with your doctor. 

4. Blind spots While it may be frightening to notice a blind spot in your vision, this often points at a migraine with aura, especially if your blurry vision is accompanied by sparkling dots or wavy lines. If migraines become persistent, contact your doctor to decipher the problem. 

 5. Bulging eyes

If you constantly feel some sort of expansion in your eyes it could indicate a symptom of thyroid (or Graves) eye disease. This means that your thyroid is overactive. Difficulty closing the eyes could be one of the symptoms that may cause your eyes to bulge. As it occurs in 30% of cases, contact your doctor if you notice such symptoms. 

6. Yellow whites Yellow whites tend to appear in both adults and newborns with undeveloped liver function. It may also be connected with the state of a gallbladder or bile ducts. If you notice that the white part of your eye has turned yellow, visit your doctor to decipher the problem.

7. Cloudy vision

If you suffer from diabetes, you need to pay special attention to your health and vision is a key thing to keep tabs on. Diabetic retinopathy - a state caused by damage to blood vessels in the photosensitive retina tissue. It may be the reason for your 'cloudy' vision. Contact a specialist if you notice such a symptom. 

8. Impaired vision Any change in vision requires an instant response. If you notice that your vision has suddenly become impaired, clouded or disappeared for a moment seek medical help immediately as this could indicate a stroke. 

 this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.
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