Health

Experts want to redefine obesity to improve the health of millions of people in the world

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A report prepared by experts from all over the world warns that the risk of diagnosing too many people is running, and that a “more precise” and “nuanced” definition is needed on this term. Doctors should take into account the general health of patients with excess fat, instead of limiting their body mass index (BMI), says the report. Those who suffer from chronic diseases caused by their weight should be diagnosed with “clinical obesity”, but those who do not have health problems should be diagnosed “preclinical obesity.” It is estimated that more than one billion people suffer from obesity worldwide, so there is a great demand for thinning medications. The report, published in the magazine The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinologyhas the support of more than 50 medical experts from around the world. New look “Obesity is a spectrum,” says Francesco Rubino, professor at King’s College in London and president of the group that carried out the investigation. “Some suffer from it and manage to lead a normal life, function normally.” “Others cannot walk or breathe well, or go in a wheelchair and have serious health problems.” Getty Images: There is a difference between people with excess weight who can do physical activity and lead a healthy life and those that do not, the report says. The report urges to “reformulate” the concept of obesity to distinguish between patients with a disease and those who remain healthy, but run the risk of diseases in the future. Currently, in many countries, obesity is defined as having an BMI greater than 30, a measure that estimates body fat based on height and weight. Access to medicines to lose weight as Wegovy and Mounjaro is usually restricted to patients in this category. However, according to the report, the BMI does not reveal anything about the patient’s general health, and does not distinguish between muscle and body fat or take into account the most dangerous fat around the waist and organs. The experts advocate a new model that takes into account the signs of obesity that affect the organs of the body – such as heart disease, dyspnea, type 2 diabetes or joint pain – and its detrimental impact on everyday life. This indicates that obesity has become a clinical disease and needs pharmacological treatment. Getty Images: access to medicines to lose weight like Wegovy and Mounjaro is usually restricted to patients with a high BMI. However, people with “preclinical obesity”, instead of drugs and surgery, should be offered tips to lose weight, advice and monitoring to reduce the possibilities of health problems. A treatment may also be necessary. “Unnecessary treatment” “Obesity is a health risk; The difference is that for some it is also a disease, ”said Professor Rubino. The expert added that it was sensible to redefine it to know the level of risk in a wide population, instead of the current “blurred image of obesity.” According to the report, the quotation-sturars or direct measurement of fat, together with a detailed medical history, can offer a much clearer image than the BMI. Getty images: BMI is not an index that gives us information about the person’s health, says the report. Louise Bour, an expert in child obesity of the University of Sydney who collaborated in the preparation of the report, affirms that the new approach will allow obese adults and children to “receive more appropriate attention”, while reducing the number of overdiagnostics and unnecessary treatments. At a time when drugs are prescribed on a large scale that reduce body weight by up to 20%, the report states that this “rethinking” of obesity “is so much more relevant” since “improves the accuracy of the diagnosis.” “LIMITED FINANCING” The Royal College of Physicians of London states that the report feels solid bases “to treat obesity with the same medical rigor and compassion as other chronic diseases.” Distinguish between preclinical and clinical obesity would be “a vital step” and “empower Many fear that the pressure on health budgets will translate into less money for “preobesos” patients. Jim Mann, co -director of the Edgar Center for Research on Diabetes and Obesity, in Otago, New Zealand, said that it was likely to emphasize “in the needs of those who are defined as clinically obese” and that the limited financing “most likely” is allocate to them. BBC: Click here To read more BBC News World Stories. Subscribe here To our new newsletter to receive every Friday a selection of our best content of the week. You can also follow us in YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok, X, Facebook And in our new WhatsApp channelwhere you will find last minute news and our best content. And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and act. (tagstotranslate) Causes of obesity

The atlas of side effects (positive and negative) of Ozempic discovered | Health and well-being

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All medications have side effects, just take a look at any leaflet to see this. But there are not many cases in which these amount to the main effect. This is what happened a few years ago with GLP-1 agonists, medications used for decades to treat type 2 diabetes that began to demonstrate weight-loss effects. After several reformulations, new commercial brands, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, became an effective way to end obesity. But science is proving that there are many other side effects that could become major ones. GLP-1 is a molecular Swiss army knife, a kind of all-purpose drug. They affect our bodies in ways we still don’t fully understand. But today we are closer to listing. A team of scientists from the University of Washington School of Medicine has published the first detailed atlas of the side effects of these drugs. They have found benefits for cognitive and behavioral health, while revealing an increased risk of developing pancreatitis and kidney conditions. “Until now we had seen anecdotes and reports here and there. “Some people saying that it can affect this or that,” explained its main author, the clinical epidemiologist, in the presentation of the study. Ziyad Al-Aly, from the John J. Cochran Veterans Hospital. “But no one, no one had thoroughly investigated the effectiveness and risks of GLP-1 and all the ways it can affect health.” The study was published this Monday in the journal Nature Medicineshowcase of the best world science. More information “We did an analysis that comprehensively mapped the associations between GLP-1 and 175 potential health effects,” Al-Aly notes. The benefits, beyond weight loss, included a lower risk of substance use disorders and a reduction in suicidal ideation, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorders. They also observed a reduction in cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. And finally, a reduction in the risk of clotting disorders, including stroke. “We found that these drugs have a wide range of beneficial effects, but all this does not come without risks,” warns the expert. The study confirms that, in some cases, they can cause gastrointestinal problems, such as nausea and vomiting. This is quite common and has already been documented in some patients. An increased risk of gastroparesis or stomach paralysis in rare cases and an increased risk of low blood pressure have also been seen. The analysis also notes that the drug may increase the risk of sleep problems and headaches, kidney stones, and drug-induced kidney inflammation. For these reasons, the authors recommend that, when evaluating this treatment, it should always be done under medical supervision and after an individualized analysis. “It is an observational study, although it has a large database and has been carried out for a long time,” he explains. Christopher Moralesan endocrinologist at the Virgen Macarena University Hospital in Seville, who was not involved in the study. The study does not demonstrate, therefore, that the medication is the cause of the listed effects. But these are consistent enough (risk reduction between 10 and 20%) and the database large enough (almost two million patients over three years) to think there is a direct relationship. “With Big Data you can scrape these results in very large databases and this is positive. But we must remember that here we can only verify association, not causality.” The objective of this research, in the words of its own authors, was not to analyze a specific effect and demonstrate causality, but to build an atlas of the association of risks and benefits of this relatively new medicine. “It’s like when Christopher Columbus arrived in America, and he thought about mapping it to get his bearings,” explains Al-Aly. “This is what we are doing, drawing a landscape of benefits and risks.” This opens the door to the possibility that in the future, after many reformulations and research, we can talk about an Ozempic for dementia, alcoholism or Alzheimer’s. There is still a long way to go, but this study has drawn a first map to locate the path. And there are many companies willing to embark on this adventure. There is currently a scientific and commercial race to find the next revolutionary use of GLP-1 agonists. Everyone has in mind the case of Novo Nordisk, the Danish laboratory that presented Ozempic in 2018, and which today has a stock market capitalization of 382,000 million dollars, which makes it the largest company in Europe. This has enormous business and economic implications, but from the scientific world, the question is different. How does an anti-diabetes drug have so many and varied effects? “Medicines don’t work surgically. They are designed to do one thing, but the reality is that this is almost never the case,” reflects Al-Aly. “Biology is complex and multiple, and if you touch one thing you will create a network of various effects.” GLP-1 acts on the intestine, but also on the brain, affecting areas that are involved in impulse control and reward signaling. This would explain why they help mitigate addiction problems. These medications would also affect the blood vessels, and in doing so have a potential effect on the heart. There is research that suggests that they also reduce inflammation, including that of the brain, which could explain their protective effect against neurodegenerative diseases. “But there is also another simpler theory that can explain all these positive health effects,” explains Al-Aly. Obesity is considered a disease in itself, but also the gateway to many others. It is the fifth risk factor for death in the world and every year 2.8 million adults die as a result of this condition. “When we treat obesity, it is normal that this affects other diseases, since it is the mother of them all,” summarizes Al-Aly. The expert has not yet decided, with the available scientific evidence, on which of these two theories has more force. The first would mean that we are talking about a miracle drug with multiple uses. The second would be less profitable for companies, would fill … Read more

Tell me what bacteria live in your intestine and I will tell you who your friends are | Health and well-being

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Mencius, a Chinese philosopher, wrote a handful of centuries ago that “friendship is one mind in two bodies.” Modern science could add another element: friendship is also a microbiota in two bodies. A study has found that the more people interact, the more similar the composition of the microorganisms living in their intestines becomes, even if they do not live in the same household. The investigation, recently published in the magazine Naturealso ensures that an individual’s microbiome is determined not only by their closest social contacts, but also by the connections of these contacts. That is, the friends of your friends. To know the details of this investigation you have to take a trip to the western heart of the Honduran jungle. It was in this Caribbean country where scientists from Yale University worked for ten years until they recruited a group of 1,787 adults, spread across 18 isolated villages, to donate a sample of their feces. All participants had a traditional diet and practically did not consume antibiotics or other medications. Nicholas Christakis, lead author of the study, explains that they were “very lucky that the participants were helpful and engaged.” The scientists needed to be able to trace each of the volunteers’ contacts with certainty, something that would have been much more complicated to do in cities like Madrid or Barcelona. The towns of Honduras, in this case, were perfect. More information Before continuing to advance with the results of this research, it is worth explaining what the microbiota is and why it is important. Francisco Guarner, director of the Digestive System Research Unit at the Vall d’Hebron General Hospital in Barcelona, ​​has a definition: “It is the bacteria communityviruses and fungi that colonize the digestive tract. We could think of it as another organ of the human body, a set of biological capacities that help the survival of an individual.” Although this organ It lives within us, it functions under its own rules and hierarchies. It is organized in its own way and it is not easy to manipulate it. “It is essential for the digestion of food. It provides us with many enzymes and metabolic pathways that humans do not have,” adds the expert. Thanks to the microbiota we can, for example, digest fiber. They are also essential for the development of a balanced immune system. For decades, science has explored the composition of the microbiota to understand how it is generated in each person. Mireia Vallés Colomer, director of the Microbiome Research Group at Pompeu Fabra University, details that vertical transmission had been, until now, the most likely explanation. “We receive these microorganisms, in large part, from our mothers, through childbirth and breastfeeding. We also share bacteria that our grandmother passed to our mother,” he details. However, the new study ventures that the microbiota changes throughout life, and that those largely responsible for these changes are our social contacts. A horizontal transmission. “We were very surprised by the reach of microbes that networks of people share. In fact, we can predict who your friends are based on how similar the microbes in your stool are to theirs,” says Christakis. Data suggests that people living in the same house share up to 14% of the microbial strains in their intestines. While those who do not live together, but usually spend time together, share 10%. The research has also been able to determine that individuals who live in the same town, but who do not usually interact too frequently, share only 4%. There is, the authors say, a chain of transmission because friends of friends share more strains than would be expected by mere chance. The transmission method There is a question that continues to swirl around this research and that is to understand how strains are transmitted bacteria from one microbiota to the other. “We do not have a conclusive answer about how this transmission occurs,” says Vallés. And he adds: “What is hypothesized is that what reaches the intestine has to pass through the mouth. “Many bacteria in the microbiome don’t tolerate direct contact with oxygen for very long, so close contact is needed, but we don’t know exactly what that looks like.” Guarner, however, details that “the fecal-oral route “It seems to be the most important transmission vector.” That is to say, although we clean ourselves and more or less control our hygiene, in some previous studies it has been detected that the bacteria that are typically found in the intestine also appear on the hands. This is how they then reach the mouth. Some of the bacteria manage to survive this journey from the intestine because they travel in the form of spores, similar to those of fungi. “With this transmission mechanism it does not have to be extremely direct contact, it can be through a towel or clothing,” details Guarner. There is no need to be alarmed. This transfer of microorganisms It is what, in some way, keeps us alive. So much so, that new lines of research on the relationship between microbiota and health suggest that a healthy and fit community of microorganisms has an impact on several aspects of our well-being. Some researchers are trying to establish a direct relationship between the microbiota and non-communicable diseasessuch as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and even depression. Guarner explains: “This is still a bit speculative, but normally what happens is that these types of diseases are associated with a poor microbiome.” Vallés contributes that “it has been observed that people with the so-called ‘modern diseases’ suffer an alteration in the composition of their microbiome.” But it is not that there is a particular bacteria responsible for these diseases, but rather it is the loss of diversity in general that worsens the state of health. In this case, the research opens the door to continue analyzing whether these non-communicable diseases, in fact, do have a transmissibility factor. And if an entire community of people has a weakened microbiota, these diseases could proliferate more easily … Read more

Johann Hari, journalist: “The idea that obesity is a sin is deeply rooted in our culture” | Health and well-being

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A couple of days after starting to take Ozempicsays the journalist and writer Johann Hari (Glasgow, 46 years old), he woke up with a strange sensation, unknown to him: he was not hungry. He got out of bed and went out to have breakfast at the bar, the usual breakfast, a chicken sandwich with mayonnaise. He took a couple of bites and couldn’t finish it. It was full. The medicine, belonging to that generation of drugs that have revolutionized The fight against obesity by imitating the effect of a hormone (GLP-1) that tells us when we are full, was restoring a lost perception: that of satiety. Hari tells this and other anecdotes about his experience with these medications in his new book Lose weight at any price. How Ozempic and other drugs are going to revolutionize our diet and our physical and mental health (Península), which reaches bookstores today. In these pages, the journalist, who has been overweight since he was young, embarks on a journey, accompanied by obesity experts and scientists who have participated in the development of the new drugs, for the benefits and risks of these treatments, the uncertainties that surround them and the uncertain scenarios that open in the field of health and beyond it. The journalist attends EL PAÍS by videoconference from London. More information Ask. He has spoken to many scientists. What has impressed you the most about what they have told you? Answer. Which obesity it really does you. Since I was seven years old I knew that being overweight is not good for your health, but I was surprised by the evidence of how serious it is. If you are obese, you are much more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, dementia and cancer. If you are obese by the time you are 18, you are 70% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. And diabetes is the leading preventable cause of blindness in the UK and limb amputation in the US. Q. He assures that these anti-obesity drugs are destined to be the defining medicine of our time, like birth control pills or Prozac at other times in the last century, for example. Why do you say it? R. Because obesity is the biggest cause of death in the Western world. And now we have a medicine that, if you take it, reverses it and puts an end to it. It’s amazing. So all of us who are overweight or obese have a choice, but we have to compare the risks of remaining obese with the risks of these medications and think about it a lot. (These drugs) They are going to have enormous effects. Q. How can they change our lives and our culture? R. The change is enormous. Jefferies Financial, which is a financial consulting firm, made a report for American airlines saying that they may have to spend much less money on jet fuel, because it costs more money to fly with heavier people and that is going to be a much smaller population. Also in Los Angeles there has been an increase in demand for jewelers to change and adjust wedding rings because people have lost so much weight that the rings no longer fit on their fingers. Approximately 20% of Americans have already tried these medications. This is huge. This is an astonishing scientific advance that will profoundly change society for better and worse. “The foods we eat are undermining our ability to feel full” Q. Regarding this negative part, he exposes some issues that the consumption of these medications entails, such as the risk of losing the culture of body positive or what would happen if people with eating disorders access these drugs that help them lose weight. Have you found answers to these questions? R. The invention of these drugs is like the discovery of fire. Fire is a great tool if I use it to heat my house, but it is terrible if I use it to burn my house down. And in the same way, when something as powerful as this is discovered, it will have great positive effects and great negative effects. If you are overweight or obese and start taking these medications, for example, you are 20% less likely to have a heart attack or stroke in the next 18 months. But you also mentioned something that worries me a lot: when you take these medications, you eat much less; and that’s good if you’re obese like me, but people with an eating disorderanorexia for example, if you are thin and start taking these medications, you can kill yourself with them. Therefore, one of the things we must do is regulate these medications very strictly. Q. The book also delves into what makes ultra-processed foods so addictive. Do they cause a kind of short circuit in our brain systems? R. If you look at a photograph of a beach in Spain in 1979, the year I was born, everyone is very thin and you wonder: where are the obese people? So, obesity was very low. Modern humans have been around for 300,000 years, but obesity was extremely rare. And basically, during my lifetime, it exploded. What happened? We know the answer: Obesity skyrockets everywhere people make a change, when they go from eating mostly fresh foods they prepared that day to eating primarily processed and ultra-processed foodsThat is, food is made up of chemicals in factories in a process that is not even called cooking, it is called making food. This new type of food affects us in very different ways. The foods we eat are undermining our ability to feel full and what these new medications do is restore the feeling of satiety. Q. And what about the industry’s responsibility in this context? R. Need regulate the food industry to prevent children from being exposed to these foods that make them sick and undermine their ability to feel full. I’m talking about a long-term solution and we … Read more

Patric Gagne, psychologist: “The antisocial traits of politicians are confused with strength and people are attracted to it” | Health and well-being

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“I’m not bad, it’s just that they have drawn me like that.” The ex-therapist Patrick Gagne (Los Angeles, USA, 49 years old) paraphrases Jessica Rabbit—a cartoon character from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Robert Zemeckis, 1988)—when recounting his criminal activities, such as stealing Ringo Starr’s glasses, breaking into homes or taking other people’s cars for night getaways. This UCLA student and doctor in clinical psychology recognizes that she does not feel like others, it is difficult for her to empathize and she must make an effort to tell the truth. If feelings were colors, Gagne would only have the basic ones, such as sadness or joy, but not the complex ones, such as regret, guilt, jealousy, nor love in its conventional form, although she is married to the love of her life and has two children. With his memories, Sociopath (Planet)seeks to promote empathy towards those who suffer from psychopathic and antisocial disorders, although it warns that the term that gives it its title is outdated and is confused with antisocial personality disorder. In the US, it is associated with serial killers, while in Spain “psychopath” is more used. According to the writer and journalist Álex Grijelmo, “sociopath” carries in English the idea of ​​“misfit”, a nuance that does not exist in Spanish. But as some psychologists understand, labels only indicate one direction and the essential thing is to understand the person as a whole. The interview takes place by videoconference on January 20, just after the return to the Oval Office of a president with characteristics similar to those described in the book. Ask. How do you define sociopath? Answer. Sociopathy, psychopathy, and antisocial personality disorder (ASD) are related, but different. The term sociopath, which is no longer used clinically, is now included within psychopathy, which is divided into primary (biologically determined, lacking social emotions such as guilt and empathy) and secondary (caused by the environment, capable of learning social emotions). Sociopathy is associated with secondary psychopathy. APD is a broader diagnosis that can encompass both sociopathy and psychopathy, although not all people with APD are sociopaths or psychopaths. Q. It is so complex that diagnoses can vary depending on the therapist. R. The challenge lies in the etiquette. Words like “psychopath” and “sociopath” are highly stigmatized. I heard one therapist suggest reclassifying sociopathy as “low affect disorder” to reduce stigma and better address the behaviors. A common misunderstanding is that sociopaths and psychopaths cannot feel, but we experience basic emotions, such as happiness and fear. The challenge lies in social emotions, such as love, empathy and compassion, which are learned, not intrinsic. Q. What did your doctoral studies teach you about the connection between sociopathy and anxiety? R. Primary psychopaths cannot experience social emotions or anxiety, while secondary psychopaths or sociopaths do feel anxiety. Treating anxiety can help sociopaths learn social emotions. In my case, the anxiety came from fear of rejection due to my lack of emotion. As a child, I hid my true self to fit in, but once I accepted that I didn’t need to be like everyone else, the anxiety disappeared. Although I still feel apathy, I no longer force emotions, and it is important to be surrounded by empathetic people. As a therapist, I learned that understanding others, even just intellectually, is key. Humanity is diverse, and mutual understanding benefits everyone, regardless of emotional capacity. Q. As if having full access to emotions could magically solve everything… R. Look, from my perspective it doesn’t sound that great (laughs). Q. So does treating anxiety to address sociopathy offer hope? R. Absolutely, I wrote my book to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Sociopathy exists on a spectrum, with most cases being mild to moderate. Focusing only on the extremes ignores these milder forms, which could escalate to more severe cases. It’s like only recognizing stage 4 cancer, ignoring stages 1, 2 and 3; Something similar happens with psychopathy. In our society emotions are often heightened; I encourage more acceptance and less anger.” Q. His difficulties in feeling emotions have not implied lacking a moral code, like when he chose “not to hurt anyone.” R. Correct. I am often asked what stops me from murdering someone if I feel no guilt or remorse, and my answer is: I hurt people all I want, but that amount is zero. It seems crazy to me that people believe that guilt and shame are necessary to prevent harm or crime, implying that human beings would always want to harm without these emotions. It is a self-destructive argument. Q. Is there hypocrisy in a society where people without diagnoses of mental disorders do not have to justify their bad actions? R. People with psychopathic and antisocial disorders are criticized for lacking empathy, but most neurotypical people deny it to them. Empathy is often learned through parenting, and a child who struggles in this regard usually doesn’t get much of it either. It is hypocritical to expect psychopaths to show empathy when it is not extended to them. Q. He says feeling accepted is liberating, but accepting those who don’t follow social norms is rare. R. Historically, those who are different are not easily accepted. My emotional difficulties don’t mean my feelings don’t matter. Psychopathy, sociopathy, and APD are often labeled as aggressive disorders, but we should focus on behavior, not emotions. I challenge the idea that children who lack social emotions like guilt are “bad.” They should learn to experience these emotions in a way that works for them, which could prevent destructive coping mechanisms. “Antisocial or narcissistic personalities thrive in professions where emotion can be an obstacle, such as politics.” Q. Unwanted loneliness has been his greatest suffering, but despite the difficulty in making friends, he managed to do so. How did he get it? R. When I accepted my differences and acted authentically, I found people who accepted me for who I am. This is true for anyone: self-acceptance leads to finding … Read more

Global study reaffirms health damage caused by sugary drinks

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According to a study, 2.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease worldwide could be linked to consumption of soda, energy drinks, and other sugar-sweetened beverages in 2020. This is what an international research group reports in the magazine Nature Medicine. Sugary drinks: not suitable for quenching thirst A glass of Cola (250 ml) contains almost 27 grams of sugar: this is equivalent to almost 9 sugar cubes. Energy drinks, fruit drinks, and other soft drinks can also be sugar bombs. However, according to the study, more and more people are turning to these drinks, especially in Latin America and Africa. It is known that sugar-sweetened drinks are not good for your health. The German Nutrition Society writes that these are not suitable as thirst-quenching drinks: “They contain a lot of sugar (approximately 80-100 g per liter) and therefore provide a lot of calories.” The research group led by Laura Lara-Castor at Tufts University in the US has now calculated the health consequences of consuming sugary drinks in relation to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Lots of advertising in low and middle income countries To do this, the team analyzed data from the Global Dietary Database: this database contains estimates on the consumption of sugary drinks based on nutritional surveys, as well as data on obesity and diabetes rates. The scientists used figures from the years 1990 to 2020 and combined data sets from 184 countries to calculate the probability of a connection between both factors. According to this, in 2020, 2.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease worldwide were attributable to sugary drinks. This would represent one in 10 new cases of type 2 diabetes and one in 30 new cases of cardiovascular disease. The study found the highest proportion in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. As for individual countries, Colombia, Mexico and South Africa were particularly affected. According to the study, the more countries develop and incomes increase, the more accessible and desirable sugary drinks become. More thirst for sweet drinks For Germany, the study shows only a slight increase in diabetes deaths per million inhabitants between 1990 and 2020 attributable to the consumption of sugary drinks, compared to other countries. Regarding deaths from cardiovascular diseases, a decrease is even observed, as in the US and Great Britain. According to the researchers’ data, almost 650 milliliters – or two large glasses – of these drinks were consumed weekly in Germany in 2020. This places Germany in the middle of the list of the 30 most populous countries among those studied. However, figures from the Economic Association of Non-Alcoholic Beverages (wafg) for 2023 suggest that soft drink consumption has increased again in the country. Demand for a “soda tax” As the authors themselves write, although their estimates are based on the best available data and educated guesses, they cannot provide evidence of cause and effect. Additionally, data for some countries is incomplete. The research team also emphasizes that sugary drinks are digested quickly and raise blood sugar levels without having nutritional value. Regular consumption leads to weight gain, insulin resistance and various metabolic problems related to type 2 diabetes and heart disease, two of the most common causes of death in the world. Scientists demand, among other things, health campaigns, stricter rules for advertising such drinks and tax measures. A “soft drinks tax” already exists in many countries, including Great Britain since 2018: this applies at the threshold of five grams of sugar per 100 milliliters. Manufacturers must then pay 18 pence (21 cents) per liter, and for 8 grams of sugar or more per 100 milliliters, 24 pence (28 cents) per liter applies. Since then, not only has consumption decreased, but manufacturers have also reduced the sugar content. Also in Germany, consumer advocates and health experts regularly demand such a tax, although so far without success. FEW (dpa, Nature Medicine) Keep reading: * More affordable insulin in New York starting in 2025 * How much fruit can a person with diabetes eat? * 3 Harvard recommendations for diabetics who want to lose weight

Protect your eyesight with Lutein: The vitamin that fights eye diseases

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Although his name may sound unknown to many, Lutein is a natural yellowish pigment that belongs to the carotenoid family.. This compound, recognized for its powerful antioxidant action, plays a crucial role in our body, especially in protection and care of eye health. lutein acts as a natural light filterprotecting ocular tissues from damage caused by sun exposure. This pigment is mainly concentrated in the macula, a central part of the retina responsible for detailed vision. Thanks to its ability to block ultraviolet rays and high-energy blue light, Lutein helps preserve visual health and prevent damage to the retina. Natural sources of Lutein Lutein is found in a variety of foods, especially brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Among the richest sources are: Spinach kale Broccoli Pumpkin Carrots Eggs (particularly the yolk) Corn Including these foods in a balanced diet can increase lutein levels in the body and enhance its benefits. Recommended dosage and supplementation For those looking to supplement their diet, Experts suggest a daily dose of lutein ranging between 10 mg and 20 mg. It is important to consume it together with a meal that contains healthy fats, such as olive oil or nuts, to improve its absorption. However, supplementation should be done under the supervision of a doctor, as the ideal dosage may vary depending on health status and individual needs. Eye health benefits According to the specialized health portal Tua Saúde, lutein offers a wide range of benefits, among which are prevention of cataracts and macular degenerationso it helps reduce the risk of these age-related conditions. In addition, can improve night visioncontributing to a better adjustment of vision in low light conditions. This vitamin also reduces oxidative stressprotecting eye cells from damage caused by free radicals and, finally, delays the progression of eye diseaseshelping to slow the progression of various conditions that affect visual health. Lutein has been established as an essential element for eye health, especially in a time where exposure to screens and blue light is constant. Whether through a diet rich in carotenoids or through supplements, this powerful antioxidant can make a big difference in quality of life and visual health. Beyond eye health In addition to its effects on vision, lutein may also have additional benefits for overall health. Studies suggest that its antioxidant action may contribute to protection against cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer. Keep reading:

Why what we understand as “normal” development in children could be wrong

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Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Due to the immense variety of components that affect the growth of a human being, it is very difficult to define something as “normal.” Item information Author, Samuel Forbes and Prerna Aneja Author’s title, The Conversation* January 14, 2025 For parents, caregivers and teachers, it is often tempting to base our understanding of a child’s development on what we believe is “normal.” We often do it without thinking, when we describe a child as “doing well” in one subject and “falling behind” in another. Whenever we make this kind of comparison, we have some kind of mental reference point in our heads: for example, a toddler should be able to climb furniture at age 2. Increasingly, child development researchers argue that the same is true in their field, the study of how behaviors and skills such as language develop. Many of the studies that claim to investigate child development, whether implicitly or explicitly, claim that their findings are universal. There may be many reasons for this. Sometimes there is a temptation to exaggerate conclusions, sometimes it can be the way readers or the media interpret the findings. The result is that what has been found in a group of children is then taken as the standard, the criterion against which future research is compared. Academic biases Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Most of the existing academic research on child development comes from Western countries. Most research on child development comes from wealthier Western countries, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and France. Chances are, if you’ve heard of childhood development milestones, they occurred in one of these countries. This is because it can be difficult to conduct basic research on child development in developing countries, as colleagues and reviewers will ask or demand comparisons with Western populations to put findings from these regions in context. Of course, without realizing it, these colleagues and reviewers have established Western children as the norm. Complex environments Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Most academic studies on child development have been carried out in developed countries, and do not take into account development in other cultures. But is it fair to make these comparisons? One of the complicated aspects of child development research is that it occurs in a cultural and social context from which it cannot be separated. But this context is often confusing. Differences in physical environment, parenting styles, location, climate, etc. interact to shape children’s growth. In addition to these differences, there are also individual variations. These can be, for example, curiosity, shyness and neurodiversity, which can frame the way a child shapes their own learning environment. Take the field of childhood motor development: the study of how children learn to move. Many parents in particular may be familiar with charts showing when they can expect their child to sit, crawl, stand and run. The existence of these graphs makes it seem quite universal, and a child’s motor development is often judged in this way. This makes sense. Early research was concerned with finding out what was normal, and it makes sense to try to support children who might be at risk of falling behind. The time and order investigated then gave rise to the norms and scales that we still use today. Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Studies have standardized the stages of development, without taking into account that the environment affects each individual differently. Is something like the timing of motor development universal? It’s easy to imagine it could be. When there are no physical or cognitive barriers, we all learn to sit and stand, so at first glance it seems fair to say that it could be. But it turns out that the context in which children develop plays a very important role even in something as seemingly universal as this. In countries and cultures where babies routinely receive firm massages from their caregivers, such as in Jamaica, motor development accelerates. It is clear that a norm developed in one culture may not translate well to another. Beyond the rules Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Many times, research has no way to incorporate key information such as the social and cultural context of the children it studies. Clearly, the problems highlighted above are not unique to motor development. In areas such as language development or social development, the cultural component is even more pressing. There is simply no way to understand these elements of child development without also understanding the context in which they take place. Each child develops within a context and, no matter how normal our own culture may seem to us, There is no objective, context-independent standard with which we can compare other children.. That is, we should accept the disorder. If we think of normal child development as something that just happens, researchers miss understanding the dynamics of development itself. But worse, educators and caregivers may not realize that development is something we can act on, and they miss the opportunity to create change. Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Each child develops uniquely, and it is through that understanding that better results are achieved. An important part of viewing child development as intertwined with culture is that it not only means collecting data from other cultures, but involving local communities and research perspectives. Understanding communities means listening to them, empowering them and giving them space to have a voice. Moving beyond a Western-centric understanding of child development will not only benefit researchers and lead to more accurate science, but will hopefully benefit everyone who works with children around the world. *This article was published on The Conversation and reproduced here under the creative commons license. Beam click here to read the original version. Samuel Forbes is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Durham and Prerna Aneja is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of East Anglia. Subscribe here to our new newsletter to receive a selection … Read more

Patient dies due to hospital error asking the wrong family about disconnecting life support

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This sounds like a nightmare, but it really happened. In summer 2021, David Wellsa 69-year-old man, arrived at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington, after an accident in which He choked on a piece of meat and fell unconscious.. What happened next is something that even in the worst horror movie you couldn’t imagine. It turns out that, due to an identification errorWells was mistaken for his roommate, Michael Beehler. The hospital contacted Beehler’s sister, Debbie Danielson, and asked if she wanted to turn off life support for who she believed was her brother, since he was supposedly with “brain death”. Without thinking too much, Debbie made the difficult decision to authorize the disconnectionbelieving he was ending his brother’s life. Debbie then organized the funeral, wrote the obituary and mourned the loss of what she thought was her loved one. But on August 14, an unexpected call shocked her. His brother Michael was alive. He receives a call from his “dead brother” “I told him, ‘You can’t be alive. You’re dead!’”Debbie remembered, completely surprised. From there, everything was chaos. The medical examiner confirmed that the body presumed dead was not Beehler’s, but Wells’. But that’s not all, since the worst of all is that Wells’s son, Shawn, did not find out about the mix-up until 2023, when the story was revealed in the media. “I have no words to describe how poorly they handled this. “I can never take that decision back,” Shawn said, devastated. And even though his father David Wells they had detected him brain deaththe family was not consulted to disconnect him, although the hospital thought so, but the call was made to the family of Michael Beehler. The incident was so serious that the Washington Department of Health investigated what happened. The hospital had not implemented a proper process to verify patient identities, resulting in this fatal error. Affected family sues Although no sanctions were imposed, the hospital said it took steps to improve its identification procedures. But the Wells family, along with Beehler and Danielsondecided to sue the hospital and other entities involved, including ambulance and funeral homedue to negligence and emotional distress. They are seeking justice for the terrible mess that changed their lives forever. For its part, the PeaceHealth hospital issued a statement in which it defended its care and explained that everything happened during the difficult days of the COVID-19 pandemicwhen hospitals were under enormous pressure. Despite this, the affected family cannot help but feel that such a serious mistake should never have happened. Keep reading:

The experts who want to redefine obesity to improve the health of millions of people around the world

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Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Experts say that people with excess body fat can still be active and healthy. Item information Author, Philippa Roxby Author’s title, BBC News, Health Correspondent January 16, 2025 A report prepared by experts from around the world warns that there is a risk of diagnosing too many people with obesity, and that a “more precise” and “nuanced” definition of this term is needed. Doctors should take into account the overall health of patients with excess fat, rather than simply measuring their body mass index (BMI), the report says. Those who suffer from chronic diseases caused by their weight should be diagnosed with “clinical obesity,” but those without health problems should be diagnosed with “preclinical obesity.” It is estimated that more than one billion people suffer from obesity worldwide, so there is a great demand for weight loss medications. The report, published in the magazine The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinologyis supported by more than 50 medical experts from around the world. New look “Obesity is a spectrum,” says Francesco Rubino, a professor at King’s College London and president of the group that carried out the research. “Some suffer from it and manage to lead a normal life, function normally.” “Others cannot walk or breathe well, or are in a wheelchair and have serious health problems.” Image source, Getty Images photo caption, There is a difference between overweight people who can be physically active and lead healthy lives and those who cannot, the report says. The report calls for “reframing” the concept of obesity to distinguish between patients with a disease and those who remain healthy but are at risk of disease in the future. Currently, in many countries, obesity is defined as having a BMI greater than 30, a measure that estimates body fat based on height and weight. Access to weight loss medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro is usually restricted to patients in this category. However, according to the report, BMI reveals nothing about a patient’s overall health, and does not distinguish between muscle and body fat or take into account the more dangerous fat around the waist and organs. Experts advocate a new model that takes into account the signs of obesity that affect the body’s organs – such as heart disease, dyspnea, type 2 diabetes or joint pain – and its detrimental impact on daily life. This indicates that obesity has become a clinical disease and needs pharmacological treatment. Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Access to weight loss medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro is often restricted to patients with a high BMI. However, people with “preclinical obesity”, instead of drugs and surgery, should be offered weight loss advice, counseling and follow-up to reduce the chances of health problems developing. Treatment may also be necessary. “Unnecessary treatment” “Obesity is a health risk; the difference is that for some it is also a disease,” Professor Rubino said. The expert added that it was sensible to redefine it to know the level of risk in a broad population, instead of the current “blurred image of obesity.” According to the report, waist-to-height ratio or direct measurement of fat, along with a detailed medical history, can provide a much clearer picture than BMI. Image source, Getty Images photo caption, BMI is not an index that gives us information about a person’s health status, the report says. Louise Baur, a childhood obesity expert at the University of Sydney who helped produce the report, says the new approach will allow obese adults and children to “receive more appropriate care”, while reducing the number of overdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. At a time when drugs that reduce body weight by up to 20% are being prescribed on a large scale, the report states that this “rethinking” of obesity “is all the more relevant” as it “improves the accuracy of diagnosis.” “Limited funding” The Royal College of Physicians of London says the report lays a solid foundation “for treating obesity with the same medical rigor and compassion as other chronic diseases.” Distinguishing between preclinical and clinical obesity would be “a vital step” and would “highlight the need to identify and intervene early,” while providing appropriate care to patients whose health was already severely affected, the college said. Many fear that pressure on healthcare budgets will mean less money for “pre-obese” patients. Jim Mann, co-director of the Edgar Center for Diabetes and Obesity Research in Otago, New Zealand, said there was likely to be an emphasis “on the needs of those defined as clinically obese” and that limited funding was “very likely” to be intended for them. Subscribe here to our new newsletter to receive a selection of our best content of the week every Friday. And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate them.

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