New Study Finds Way to Diagnose Endometriosis Without Surgery

"Drug seekers" and "pill poppers" are some phrases that have been used to describe women seeking medical help from the suffering brought on by a chronic condition often mistakenly chalked up to "period pain." One study found a new way to diagnose endometriosis without the agony and costs of invasive surgery.

Endometriosis is an inflammatory condition when tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside onto other organs. Over 11% of women between the ages of 15 to 44 may have this disorder, according to the Office on Women's Health.

Patients can experience a variety of symptoms, such as menstrual cramps, pain during sex, digestive problems, spotting, and infertility. The cause is unknown but could be linked to genetic factors or immune system disorders.

"Initially, painful periods, not normal -- that's a stigma that still exists that women are just going to suffer. No, pain is not ever normal, so let's get rid of that," 36-year-old April Summerford told NBC New York.

Many times during visits to the doctor, she was told she was normal and powered through the pain. In her experience, one doctor avoided her endometriosis diagnosis simply by remembering the line, “I don’t want it to be endo because I can’t help you.”

Over 1,800 women nationwide participated in this study, including Fresno, Calif. native Summerford, who has been battling infertility and the disease since she first started her menstrual cycle as a teen.

Approximately, 30% to 50% of endometriosis patients may experience infertility, based on the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

"The severity does not correlate with disease symptoms, so you can have very severe disease with very mild symptoms. And then there are some people who do not have symptoms at all, and they learn about their diagnosis in an infertility workup or even in a C-section," Dr. Christine Metz told NBC New York.

Dr. Metz is one of the lead scientists at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research who worked on this study. She is also the co-director of Research OutSmarts Endometriosis (ROSE), which first launched this project in 2017.

The team studied menstrual effluent as a way to non-invasively diagnose the condition and identified cells in the blood that could differentiate between healthy and sick patients.

"We really pioneered studying menstrual effluent in the setting of any condition. It was not well studied prior to us jumping in, and it was really only studied for regenerative medicine purposes because there are stem cells as the endometrium regrows every single month," said Dr. Metz.

These findings are one step further toward acquiring tolerable treatments and shortening the delay between symptoms and diagnosis.

"The only treatment that has been developed in the last 12 years is also hormone-based just like all the other treatments developed thus far, and none of them treat the disease. They treat pain," added Dr. Metz.

March marks Women's History Month and Endometriosis Awareness Month. The team is recruiting the next phase of participants.

 

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Overspill of fat shown to cause Type 2 diabetes

Researchers have been able to observe people developing type 2 diabetes- and confirmed that fat over-spills from the liver into the pancreas, triggering the chronic condition.

We saw that when a person accumulates too much fat, which should be stored under the skin, then it has to go elsewhere in the body. The amount that can be stored under the skin varies from person to person, indicating a ' personal fat threshold' above which fat can cause mischief, said the lead author of the study.

The study involved a group of people, who previously had type 2 diabetes but had lost weight and successfully reversed the condition as part of the DiRECT trial.

Although the majority remained non-diabetic for the rest of the 2 year study, however, a small group went on to regain weight and re-developed type 2 diabetes.

When fat cannot be safely stored under the skin, it is then stored inside the liver, and over-spills to the rest of the body including the pancreas. This ' clogs up' the pancreas, switching off the genes which direct how insulin should effectively be produced and this causes type 2 diabetes, he said.

According to the researchers, this study confirms that type 2 diabetes is caused by excess fat actually within both the liver and pancreas, and especially that this process is reversible.

This new study builds on previous research showing exactly why type 2 diabetes can be reversed back to normal glucose control.

Those studies led to the large DiRECT trial which showed that primary care staff can achieve remission of type 2 diabetes by using a low calorie diet with support to maintain the weight loss.

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http://www.millenniumpost.in/features/overspill-of-fat-shown-to-cause-type-2-diabetes-392291

Healthy diet may slow development of memory problems

A heart-healthy diet and aerobic exercise may slow development of memory problems, a new study suggests. Cognitive impairment without dementia (CIND), or mild cognitive impairment, is a condition that affects your memory and may put you at risk for Alzheimer's disease and dementia, the researchers said.

For the study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers from the Duke University examined two potential ways to slow the development of CIND based on what we know about preventing heart disease.

The research team had a theory: That the healthy lifestyle behaviours that slow the development of heart disease could reduce heart disease risk and also slow cognitive decline in older adults with CIND.

These behaviours include regular exercise and a heart-healthy diet, such as the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet.

In order to investigate their theory, the researchers designed a study titled "Exercise and NutritionaL Interventions for coGnitive and Cardiovascular HealTh EnhaNcement" (or ENLIGHTEN for short).

The goal of the study was to examine the effects of aerobic exercise and the DASH diet on cognitive functioning in older adults with CIND. The study examined 160 adults 55-years-old or older.

The study participants were older adults who didn't exercise and had memory problems, difficulty thinking, and making decisions. They also had at least one additional risk factor for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or other chronic conditions.

Participants took a number of tests to measure their heart disease risk factors and cognitive ability.

Researchers also assessed participants' dietary habits and ability to perform daily activities.

The participants were then randomly assigned to one of four groups: a group doing aerobic exercise alone, a group following the DASH diet alone, a group doing aerobic exercise and following the DASH diet combined, or a group receiving standard health education.

At the conclusion of the six-month intervention and assessment, participants were free to engage in whatever activity and dietary habits they desired, with no restrictions.

The results of the research team's study showed that exercise improved the participants' ability to think, remember, and make decisions compared to non-exercisers, and that combining exercise with the DASH diet improved the ability to think, remember, and make decisions, compared to people who didn't exercise or follow the diet.

The researchers concluded that their findings are promising proof that improved ability to think, remember, and make decisions can last one year after completing a six-month exercise intervention. They suggested that further studies would be needed to learn more.

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Bladder pill can damage retina.

A team of doctors in the US has found that a drug widely prescribed for a bladder condition for decades globally, now appears to be toxic to the retina.

After an initial report last year that Elmiron ( pentosan polysulfate sodium) may be associated with retinal damage,  3 ophthalmologists conducted a review of patients in US..

They found that about 1/4 of patients with significant exposure to Elmiron showed definite signs of eye damage.

This medication toxicity could masquerade as other known retinal conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration or pattern dystrophy.

It's unfortunate. You've a patient with a chronic condition like interstitial cystitis, for which there is no cure and no effective treatment.

They get put on these medications because it's thought to have few side effects and few risks, and no one think about it again. And year after year, the number of pills, they're taking goes up and up, said a researcher.

Interstitial cystitis causes chronic pain in the bladder and pelvis area.

Elmiron is the only FDA approved pill to treat it and is being prescribed in India too for years.
As a mainstay of treatment for decades, hundreds of thousands of people have likely been exposed to the drug.

Last year, a doctor reported from US, that 6 patients who had been taking Elmiron for about 15 years had developed unusual changes in their macula, the central part of the retina responsible for delivering clear, crisp, central vision.

The researchers raised a warning flag that long-term use of Elmiron may damage the retina.

Some ophthalmologists heeded to that warning and looked at their database of patients.

They found 140 patients, who had taken an average of 5,000 pills each over the course of 15 years.
Of those 140 patients, 91 agreed to come in for an exam.

The doctors took detailed images of the back of their eyes.

22 of the 91 patients showed clear signs of drug toxicity.

The rate of toxicity rose with the amount of drug consumed, from 11% of those taking 500-1000gms to 42 % of those taking 1,500 gm or more.

Because it's unclear how much medication is too much. The Dr. recommended patients who show no signs of toxicity be screened for retina damage at least once a year.

For those who do show some signs of damage, he recommended that they speak with their urologists about discontinuing the medication.

If identified early, the damage may be mitigated by stopping the medication, the doctors said.
 
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A team of Indian-origin doctors in the US has found that a drug widely prescribed for a bladder cond...

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