Common diabetes drug metformin could cause thyroid and heart problems, experts warn

A drug widely prescribed to those with diabetes could cause thyroid, heart and a host of other health problems, a study has warned.

Metformin is commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes. It lowers blood sugar levels by reducing glucose production in the liver.  

But new research, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found the drug is linked to having an underactive thyroid.

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The drug metformin - widely prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes - could cause heart disease and a host of other health problems, scientists have warned

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2765338/Diabetes-drug-metformin-cause-heart-disease-thyroid-problems-experts-warn.html#ixzz3FkU1IssE
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An apple a day could keep obesity away: Granny Smiths promote friendly bacteria helping us feel fuller for longer

An apple a day could keep obesity away: Granny Smiths promote friendly bacteria helping us feel fuller for longer

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Granny Smith apples were found to contain high levels of a compound that promotes good bacteria in the gut, helping people feel fuller for longer 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, goes the saying.

But a new study has found more specifically, that a Granny Smith a day could be the key to preventing obesity.

The bright green, crisp variety helps people feel full, inhibiting the urge to eat.

They were found to promote friendly bacteria, which invokes the feeling of being full. 

The study, published in the journal Food Chemistry, revealed that the non digestible compounds in the fruit, which include fibre and polyphenols, do not get broken down by stomach acid.

When they reach the colon they are fermented by bacteria in the colon which helps friendly bacteria in the gut to grow. 

Scientists at Washington State University tested several different varieties of apple on mice, to see which caused the most growth of friendly bacteria.

Granny Smiths worked better than Golden Delicious, Gala, Braeburn and other popular varieties, they discovered. 

The variety, known for its slightly tart flavour, had a particularly high fibre content and compounds like polyphenols which do not break down when eaten, they reported. 

The team analysed mouse droppings after feeding the animals, some of which were obese, different types of fruit.

They discovered the balance of bacteria in the colon of obese people is often 'disturbed' in a way that can disrupt the metabolism and make people feel hungry.

It was revealed that the faeces of overweight mice that had eaten Granny Smith apples had changed and become similar to that of slim mice.

The discovery could lead to future treatments for weight problems.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2774895/An-apple-day-obesity-away-Granny-Smiths-prevent-diabetes-illnesses-linked-overweight.html#ixzz3FkTeJRJ9
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Think antioxidants will make you live longer? Think again:

We all want to stay as healthy and young-looking as possible, which is why millions of us dutifully take antioxidant supplements such as vitamins C, E and beta-carotene, as well as splashing out on costly antioxidant 'superfoods' such as blueberries.

For years we've swallowed the line from scientists that antioxidants could slow the rate at which our cells - and therefore our bodies - age.  

The theory is that antioxidants reduce the 'oxidising' damage caused by free radicals - corrosive molecules produced by our bodies as we process oxygen, and which we also breathe in from polluted air and smoking.

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For years we've swallowed the line from scientists that antioxidants could slow the rate at which our cells

It is thought that when these free radicals attack proteins and lipids (fats in the cells), it breaks down the cell membrane and damages the DNA inside. This in turn may cause cancerous mutations, as well as making the cells age more rapidly. Free-radical damage to brain cells is also believed to cause the sort of drops in cognitive functioning associated with ageing.

In Britain, we spend £175 million a year on antioxidant supplements - but a new study suggests we might be wasting our money. Not only do free radicals not cause ageing, say researchers at McGill University in Canada, but taking antioxidant pills may actually make our bodies age faster- making them a short cut to an early grave. So what is going on?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2639929/Think-antioxidants-make-live-longer-Think-We-spend-millions-researchers-say-supplements-make-bodies-age-FASTER.html#ixzz330mYymsQ
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Latest Health Links

Is ibuprofen making us sick? Research suggests it may cause gut conditions such as coeliac disease

A National Institutes of Health study revealed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can cause intestinal inflammation and can increase the permeability of the intestines.

NIBBLED to death: Researchers find parasitic diarrhea-causing amoeba kills human cells 'like a piranha'

Virginia researcher found Entamoeba histolytica,(pictured), which causes a potentially fatal diarrhea common in the developing world, infects by nibbling human cells until they die.

People with sleep apnoea are 340% more likely to die of cancer, study suggests

Researchers at the University of Sydney Nursing School found people with the sleep condition are also two and a half times more likely to develop the disease.

Wasabi Fights Highly Lethal Pancreatic Cancer ALERT: It’s Here – CDC Confirms MERS Virus Infection on U.S. Soil

The end of heart disease?

Scientists have discovered a way to block the formation of excess cholesterol that leads to heart disease.

Working with mice and rabbits, Johns Hopkins scientists successfully prevented the development of atherosclerosis, the main cause of heart attacks and strokes and the number-one cause of death among humans.

The condition develops when fat builds inside blood vessels over time and renders them stiff, narrowed and hardened, greatly reducing their ability to feed oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle and the brain.

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Working with mice and rabbits, Johns Hopkins scientists successfully prevented the development of atherosclerosis, the main cause of heart attacks and strokes and the number-one cause of death among humans.

HOW THEY DID IT

Mice used in the experiments were genetically engineered to lack a protein essential in the breakdown of fats and thus were predisposed to atherosclerosis. 

The researchers fed the animals a high-fat diet over the course of several months, but also gave a third of the animals a low-dose of D-PDMP. 

They gave a double dose of the same inhibitor to another third and placebo to the rest.

These effects were observed in animals on a daily D-PDMP treatment even though they ate a diet made up of 20 percent triglycerides - the human equivalent of eating a greasy burger for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Researchers identified and halted the action of a single molecular culprit responsible for a range of biological glitches that affect the body’s ability to properly use, transport and purge itself of cholesterol — the fatty substance that accumulates inside vessels and fuels heart disease.

 

The offender, the researchers say, is a fat-and-sugar molecule called glycosphingolipid, or GSL, which resides in the membranes of all cells, and is mostly known for regulating cell growth. 

Results of the experiments, the scientists say, reveal that this very same molecule also regulates the way the body handles cholesterol.

The Johns Hopkins team used an existing man-made compound called D-PDMP to block the synthesis of the GSL molecule, and by doing so, prevented the development of heart disease in mice and rabbits fed a high-fat, cholesterol-laden diet.

 

The findings, in the journal Circulation, reveal that D-PDMP appears to work by interfering with genetic pathways that regulate fat metabolism on several fronts - from the way cells derive and absorb cholesterol from food, to the way cholesterol is transported to tissues and organs and is then broken down by the liver and excreted from the body.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2611405/The-end-heart-disease-Groundbreaking-experiment-stops-buildup-cholestereol-inside-blood-vessels.html#ixzz30kzX9K4L
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Scientists invent portable fertility test enabling men to test the quality of their sperm from their own homes

A portable fertility test enabling men to test the quality of their sperm from the privacy of their own homes has been invented by scientists.

Researchers in the US say their easy-to-use kit could be available to consumers as early as next year, meaning men focussed on their fertility issues would no longer have to endure frequent trips to the doctor to test their sperm.

Greg Sommer and Ulrich Schaff, who founded a startup company to develop their device, say the tests can give a result within minutes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2614350/Scientists-invent-portable-fertility-test-enabling-men-test-quality-sperm-homes.html#ixzz30kyL6rtK

More women dying in childbirth in the U.S. than almost anywhere else

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are endless controversies in the U.S. about contraception, rape and abortion, with politicians and activists of every stripe chiming in endlessly. But there's not much discussion of women dying in childbirth.

Maybe there should be. 

A new study released by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and published in the latest issue of The Lancet  finds that there are only eight countries in the world where maternal mortality rates have risen since 2003, including Afghanistan, countries in Africa and Central America – and the United States.

In 2013, 18.5 mothers in the U.S. died for every 100,000 live births, compared to 7 deaths per 100,000 in Saudi Arabia, 8.2 in Canada and 6.1 in the United Kingdom.

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New laser to make stretch marks vanish with minimal pain and downtime

A new laser therapy that bores microscopic holes in the skin is being touted as a way to erase stretch marks on the stomach, thighs and breasts, with minimal pain and downtime. 

The Icon system is the first treatment for the common form of scarring to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

All scars are notoriously difficult to treat, yet exceedingly common; most people have at least one.

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The laser treatment bores microscopic holes in the skin and being touted as a way to erase stretch marks on stomach, thighs and breasts

And stretch marks are estimated to affect up to 90 per cent of women during pregnancy.

Icon has a fractional laser that uses heat to create microscopic channels deep within the skin, while leaving the surface almost untouched.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2603348/New-laser-make-stretch-marks-vanish-minimal-pain-downtime.html#ixzz2yo5OjgDa
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A Better Prostate Cancer Test Is Here

Until recently, the PSA test for prostate cancer had been a routine part of every middle age man’s physical. But it has fallen out of favor as doctors realized the PSA was leading many men to have needless and painful prostate biopsies and unnecessary cancer treatments.

In fact, major medical groups have stopped recommending routine PSA testing for most men.

But now a better prostate cancer test has become available to help address the problem.

It’s called the 4Kscore Test.

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Headline/4Kscore-opko-prostate-cancer/2014/03/31/id/562676#ixzz2yo4j8ZXm
Alert: What Is Your Risk for a Heart Attack? Find Out Now

How aspirin could boost fertility:

National Institutes of Health logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Taking aspirin could increase a woman’s fertility, new research suggests.

U.S. scientists found low doses of the drug could improve the chances of conception and of having a live birth.

But, contrary to popular belief, they discovered taking the drug does not prevent miscarriage.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health say many doctors prescribe low doses of aspirin to women who have had a miscarriage or stillbirth and who want to conceive again.

However, they say the effectiveness of this treatment had not been proven.

So, they randomly assigned more than 1,000 women with a history of pregnancy loss either a low dose of aspirin daily or a placebo.

They then followed them for six months while they tried to conceive.

The researchers found there was no difference in the pregnancy loss rates between the two groups.

But, they did find that women who had experience a single, recent pregnancy loss had an increased rate of pregnancy and live birth while taking a daily aspirin tablet.

These women were classed as those who had lost a baby before four and a half months gestation within the past year.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2595960/How-aspirin-boost-fertility-Drug-improves-blood-flow-womb-making-pregnancy-likely.html#ixzz2yo4MNbJj
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