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Add one more issue to the growing list of harms from opioid abuse: Long-term use may lead to hormone deficiencies that affect a man’s health. Researchers reviewed the latest medical evidence and found that about two-thirds of men using opioids for more than six months develop hypogonadism, which is insufficient testosterone production. The review also found that about one in every five long-term opioid users also winds up suffering from low levels of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is best known as a stress hormone because of its role in the “fight-or-flight response,” but it also helps regulate the body’s metabolism. Men with hypogonadism might suffer symptoms such as muscle weakness and a lowered sex drive, said lead researcher Amir Zamanipoor Najafabadi. He is a medical student at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “This information can be used to maybe discourage people who are using opioids to get into a euphoric state, because it happens at the expense of their sexual function,” Najafabadi said. People with low levels of cortisol might experience fatigue, mood swings, muscle loss and weight loss, he added. Misuse of and addiction to opioids — which include prescription painkillers (such as OxyContin), heroin and synthetic opioids (such as fentanyl) — has led to an epidemic in the United States, with 47,000 overdose deaths reported in 2017, according to U.S. government… read on >

Toned biceps not only give your upper body a sleek look, but they’re also vital for improving the upper body strength needed for daily living. The Single Biceps Curl is a simple classic and the perfect first exercise for strength training these muscles. You can start with a light weight and add more over time as you get stronger. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Your palms face inward, with the weight touching the outsides of your thighs. Start with the right arm. Rotate your wrist so that palm faces up, and then slowly lift the weight until it reaches your right shoulder. Maintain control — don’t jerk the weight. Slowly lower to starting position. As soon as the weight touches your thigh, repeat the curl with your left arm. Continue to alternate sides. Do 10 to 15 reps on each side for one complete set. Build from one to three sets before increasing the weight. As you progress, you can challenge yourself by curling both arms at the same time using either a pair of dumbbells or a single weight bar held in both hands. The variation called Concentration Curls focuses on one arm at a time. Sit on a bench, legs apart, feet flat on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand, palm facing… read on >

Fresh vegetables are nutrient-rich diet mainstays and can be inexpensive when bought in season. Simple selection tips will enable you to choose the best produce to turn into delectable meals and, just as important, to store your vegetables to maximize flavor and “shelf life.” Tips for Picking Produce Broccoli should be emerald green with a head of tight florets and a moist stalk. The stalk shouldn’t look shriveled or dried out. Store in the fridge in a closed produce bag. Carrots should be firm and bright orange with no green tinges or soft brown spots. If the tops are attached, they should be bright green and bushy (use them to add flavor to soups). Store in a closed produce bag in the fridge. Eggplant should feel firm and somewhat heavy in your hand. Its skin should be free of blemishes and have glossy deep purple shine. Refrigerate in a closed produce bag. Onions should be firm to the touch with no soft areas. They should have tightly closed, papery skin with no mold or dusty dark spots. Store on a cool, dark spot, such as a deep kitchen drawer. Spinach should have deep green leaves without creases or dark spots. Refrigerate in a closed produce bag lined with paper towel. Tomatoes should be slightly soft to the touch with the stems on, if possible, and… read on >

She thought red yeast supplements would be a natural way to lower her cholesterol. What could be easier? Instead, the 64-year-old woman landed in the hospital with acute liver damage that her doctors say was likely caused by taking the over-the-counter product. “Many people are cautious to use [prescription] medications because of potential side effects, and rightly so,” but natural supplements are not necessarily safer, explained lead researcher Lize Loubser, from Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. “Make sure you do your research before using them, and realize that often taking a supplement means taking an unknown dose of the active component,” Loubser said. Red yeast rice supplements are made by mixing fermented steamed rice with food fungus. It’s commonly used as an alternative to statins to lower high cholesterol. “Statins and red yeast rice contain the exact same chemical [monacolin k], which is responsible for reducing cholesterol,” Loubser said. But this chemical can also potentially cause liver damage, she added. “Whether monacolin k is derived synthetically, in the case of statins, or naturally, in the case of red yeast rice, does not matter,” Loubser said. “The difference is that statins come in known doses of monacolin k, whereas in red yeast rice, monacolin k concentration is not measured or regulated, and can vary widely.” In this case, the woman was hospitalized with symptoms of… read on >

The healthiest community in the United States is Douglas County in Colorado, according to the 2019 rankings just released by U.S. News & World Report. The others in the top five healthiest communities are Los Alamos County in New Mexico; the city of Falls Church and Loudoun County, both in Virginia; and Broomfield County in Colorado, according to the magazine. For the rankings in the second annual report, nearly 3,000 communities across the United States were evaluated on 81 health-related measures in 10 categories, including education, environment, population health and infrastructure. Douglas County, a suburb of Denver, was among the top in at least four of the 81 measures, including physical activity, educational attainment and median household income. Six other communities in Colorado were in the top 20: Broomfield County (ranked number 5), Chaffee County (11), Routt County (14), San Miguel County (17), Pitkin County (19) and Boulder County (20). In all seven Colorado counties, nearly all adults exercise and only about a quarter missed their annual wellness checkup. Across all of its counties, Colorado also has the highest average score in the country in the environment category, which includes measures of natural amenities and air and water quality. Iowa has the strongest presence in the rankings overall, with 62 counties among the top 500. Average community scores put Iowa among the top 10 states… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Biking is a great way to stay in shape, save gas and reduce pollution. But the estimated 80 million cyclists sharing the road with vehicles often face a host of hazards, says the National Safety Council. To stay safe, the NSC recommends: Become familiar with traffic laws. Ride single-file in the direction of traffic. Use hand signals when turning. Never hitch onto cars. Wear bright clothing. Equip your bike with reflectors.

People transitioning female to male face issues around future fertility. But new research suggests children in the future are a real possibility for these transgender men. Now, research shows that transgender men can remain fertile after even one year of testosterone treatment. It’s common for transgender men — those who were born female but who identify as male — to undergo testosterone therapy as a gender-affirming treatment. But some may later want children through their own pregnancy or via surrogate, the Israeli researchers explained. “Because the long-term effects of testosterone therapy on fertility are unknown, the current recommendation is to stop testosterone at least three months before fertility treatments,” said lead investigator Dr. Yona Greenman. She heads the Transgender Health Center at Tel Aviv-Sourasky Medical Center. The study included 52 transgender men, aged 17 to 40, who received testosterone therapy over 12 months. They had the expected increase in testosterone blood levels and decrease in estrogen, but their levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) remained in the normal range for fertility. AMH levels are used to appraise remaining eggs in the ovaries. Average levels in study participants decreased only slightly, suggesting their ovarian function was well-preserved, according to Greenman. Participants also showed no changes in the thickness of their uterine lining. A thick lining is crucial for embryo implantation and a successful pregnancy. The findings are… read on >

For people who carry too much weight and suffer from migraines, dropping some pounds might help ease their pain, new research shows. “When people lose weight, the number of days per month with migraine decreases, as does pain severity and headache attack duration,” said lead researcher Dr. Claudio Pagano. He is associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Padova in Italy. Pagano’s team looked at data from 10 different studies that included 473 migraine patients in total. The analysis showed that weight loss was associated with large declines in migraine frequency, duration, pain and disability. The benefits were similar whether reductions in weight were achieved through weight-loss surgery or changes in diet and exercise, and were similar in kids and adults. How overweight you were to begin with didn’t seem to matter, however. Improvements in migraine were not tied to either the original level of obesity or the overall amount of weight loss, Pagano’s group reported. The findings were to be presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, in New Orleans. The bottom line is that “if you suffer from migraine headaches and are obese, losing weight will ameliorate the quality of your family and social life, as well as your work and school productivity. Your overall quality of life will greatly improve,” Pagano said. “Weight loss in adults and children with… read on >

Maybe you rush around with work and activities during the day, then settle in for a large, relaxing meal in the evening. But new research says the later in the day you eat, the more weight you’re likely to pack on. That’s the takeaway from a week-long study involving 31 overweight and obese patients, mostly women. “We evaluated meal and sleep timing in patients with overweight/obesity at the beginning of a weight loss trial, before participants started the intervention,” said lead author Dr. Adnin Zaman, an endocrinology fellow at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Her team found that “eating later into the day was associated with a higher body mass index (BMI) and greater body fat.” BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. For the study, participants were enrolled in a weight-loss trial comparing daily calorie limits to time-restricted feeding. In other words, once the trial launched, they could only eat during certain hours of the day. Ninety percent of the participants were women. Their average age was 36. A week before the study, they were outfitted with electronic devices to monitor their activity and sleep. They also were asked to snap cellphone photos of everything they ate. The photos were time-stamped using an app called MealLogger. Zaman and colleagues did not define which hours would amount to… read on >

Fathers-to-be who expose their pregnant partners to secondhand smoke put their babies at risk of heart defects, researchers warn. For the new study, investigators in China reviewed 125 studies that included a total of nearly 9 million prospective parents and more than 137,000 babies with congenital heart defects. All types of parental smoking were linked to an increased risk of these birth defects, the analysis found. Compared to no smoking exposure, the increased risk was 124 percent for women exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant, 74 percent for men smoking, and 25 percent for women smoking. “Fathers are a large source of secondhand smoke for pregnant women, which appears to be even more harmful to unborn children than women smoking themselves,” said study author Jiabi Qin of Central South University in Changsha, China. “Fathers-to-be should quit smoking,” Qin said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology. The overall risk with all types of parental smoking was greater when the analysis was restricted to Asian groups, the study authors noted. Women’s exposure to secondhand smoke was dangerous throughout pregnancy — and even before, according to the report. While those who smoked before getting pregnant had no added risk, those who smoked during pregnancy were more apt to give birth to a child with a heart defect. Specifically, smoking while pregnant was associated with… read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Opioid Overuse Can Lower Hormones to Harmful Levels

Tone Your Upper Arms With These Effective Bicep Curls

How to Pick the Best Produce at the Farmers’ Market

For One Woman, Popular Red Yeast Supplement Brought on Liver Damage

Do You Live in One of America’s ‘Healthiest Communities’?

Health Tip: Biking Safely

Science Finds a Way for Transgender Males to Maintain Fertility

Fewer Excess Pounds May Mean Fewer Migraines

Want to Stay Trim? Don’t Eat in the Evening, Study Finds

Smoking Around Expectant Moms Can Harm Babies’ Hearts