So, you have managed to shed 30 pounds with the help of one of the new blockbuster GLP-1 drugs, but as the holidays near you worry about how to handle gatherings where decadent food will be served in abundance. Luckily, one expert from Baylor College of Medicine has tips on how to enjoy holiday fare while on these medications, without overdoing it. GLP-1 medications, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound, curb appetite and slow the digestion of food, so consuming large portions on these drugs can make you sick and worsens the nausea that is associated with them. What to do? Stick with small portions. “You lose the benefit of weight loss if you do not watch your diet,” said Dr. Mandeep Bajaj, a professor of medicine – endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Baylor. “In addition, if you are taking GLP-1 receptor agonists for treatment of diabetes, overindulging will worsen your diabetes control, and you will lose the benefit of the therapy.”  Those who take GLP-1s should not stop taking them during the holidays, to avoid regaining the weight already lost. Tips to stay on track with your medication this holiday season include: Consume whole foods and a nutrient-dense diet made up of minimally processed food: eat vegetables, lean proteins, fiber and whole grains Eat smaller portions: more than half your plate should consist of lean meat…  read on >  read on >

A daily dose of vitamin B3 reduced inflammation in the lungs of patients with COPD, Danish researchers report.  “This is significant, because inflammation can lead to reduced lung function in these patients,” said researcher Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, of the University of Copenhagen. Patients with COPD — the full name of which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — are more likely to get pneumonia, influenza and other serious respiratory infections, which can be fatal. The new study included 40 participants with COPD and a control group of 20 healthy volunteers. They received either 2 grams a day of nicotinamide riboside — a member of the vitamin B3 family — or a placebo. After six weeks, researchers saw a 53% drop in a marker of inflammation known as interleukin 8, or IL 8. After 12 more weeks of vitamin therapy, the effect increased by 63%. “In other words,” the researchers said in a university news release, “The group treated with vitamin B3 experienced reduced lung inflammation during the study.” More study will be needed to confirm the findings and determine the long-term effect of nicotinamid riboside in treating COPD, Scheibye-Knudsen said. During the study, the team also observed that COPD patients have lower blood levels of a chemical called NAD, which appears to play a role in the aging process.  NAD levels rose with vitamin B3 treatment and…  read on >  read on >

America’s kitchen trash bins are receiving more unwanted food as appetites falter among people taking GLP-1 weight-loss meds, a new study shows. GLP-1s like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound all work by making food less desirable, and it’s showing up in more food wasted at dinner tables, said a team led by Brian Roe, of Ohio State University. The study surveyed 505 new GLP-1 users. It found 25% agreeing that they had wasted more food since taking the drugs, compared to 61% who disagreed.  There was some good news, however: Food wastage appears to decline as people adjust to their GLP-1 medication. “The fact that food waste appears to decrease as patients acclimate to the medication suggests there may be a fairly simple remedy — advising patients new to these medications about the possibility of discarding food as their diets change, which could reduce food waste and lower their spending,” said Roe, a professor in the department of agricultural, environmental and development economics. According to the researchers, 6% of all U.S. adults were taking a GLP-1 medications as of spring of 2024. The medicines act on a hormone in the small intestine to help lower blood sugar, slow stomach emptying and signal fullness in the brain. In this study, almost 70% of respondents were taking semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy) and nearly a quarter were taking…  read on >  read on >

A drug used to help patients lose weight and manage diabetes may also help those with heart failure, an international clinical trial shows. The test of tirzepatide, brand named Zepbound, included 731 patients with diastolic heart failure and obesity who were followed for two years. “This class of drugs continue to show benefits far beyond weight loss,” said researcher Dr. Christopher Kramer, chief of cardiovascular medicine at UVA Health. “This drug will become an important part of the armamentarium for patients with obesity-related heart failure and preserved heart function.” In nearly half of heart failure cases, the left ventricle of the heart becomes stiff and can no longer pump blood properly. Doctors call this diastolic heart failure or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Obesity is a major cause of heart failure, so Kramer’s team wondered if the weight-loss drug tirzepatide could help. The new trial — published in four journals and reported Saturday at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago — showed that tirzepatide offered big benefits for managing heart failure.  Patients saw improvements in how far they could walk in six minutes and big decreases in a biological marker used to measure inflammation and predict risk of serious heart events, the study found. During the two-year follow-up, 56 participants who received a placebo died or saw their heart failure get worse, compared to…  read on >  read on >

A sprain on the soccer field. A tumble to the floor at home. Kids get injured, but as a parent, when’s the right time to bring them to a doctor or ER? Pediatric sports medicine and orthopedic physician Dr. Bianca Edison, of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, offers up guidance for worried moms and dads. First of all, she said, don’t assume that childhood injuries are seldom severe: Edison pointed to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, showing that nearly half (45%) of playground injuries involve fractures, dislocations, concussions and other harms serious enough to need urgent medical attention. She broke down child injuries into four types: head injuries, mouth/tooth injuries, fractures and eye injuries. Head injuries A knock to the noggin isn’t an uncommon event for rambunctious kids. But certain symptoms may signal that more than a hug is needed to help your child. “They include severe crankiness above and beyond what the child normally displays, multiple vomiting episodes, slurred speech, different pupil sizes and a sudden change in the way the child walks,” according to Edison. “These symptoms are of significant concern and need immediate medical attention.” There are certain metrics that can also help, especially when it comes to head injuries linked to falls. If the child is less than 2 years old and falls more than 3 feet, or is…  read on >  read on >

Cases of the autoimmune skin condition eczema appear to rise in areas most plagued by air pollution, new research shows. Since data has long shown that rates of eczema — clinically known as atopic dermatitis — increase along with industrialization, dirty air might be a connecting link, according to the team from Yale University. “Showing that individuals in the United States who are exposed to particulate matter [in air] are more likely to have eczema deepens our understanding of the important health implications of ambient air pollution,” wrote researchers led by Yale School of Medicine investigator Gloria Chen. Her team published its findings Nov. 13 in the journal PLOS ONE. According to the National Eczema Association, over 31 million Americans have the skin disorder, “a group of inflammatory skin conditions that cause itchiness, dry skin, rashes, scaly patches, blisters and skin infections.” The exact causes of eczema aren’t clear, but it’s thought to originate in an an overactive immune system that responds to certain environmental triggers. Could air pollution be one of those triggers? To find out, the Yale team looked at data on almost 287,000 Americans, about 12,700 of who (4.4%) had an eczema diagnosis. They compared local eczema rates against levels of air pollution in zip codes across the United States. Chen’s team focused especially on what’s known as “fine particulate matter” — microscopic bits…  read on >  read on >

Dementia strikes all races, but new research suggests thinking declines in poor seniors are often overlooked. Among a group of more than 200 low-income patients who were treated at community health centers, 3 of 4 had undiagnosed cognitive issues, researchers reported recently in the journal JAMA Network Open. Of those, 62% had mild cognitive impairment, which is a precursor to dementia, while 12% had full-blown undiagnosed dementia, results showed. Only 25% of the patients evaluated had no evidence of any cognitive decline, researchers found. “Unrecognized cognitive impairment and dementia present a serious challenge in the U.S. and worldwide, affecting patients, families and the health care system,” said lead researcher Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha, an associate professor of family and preventive medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. “Delayed diagnosis often means patients are identified at later stages, when symptoms are more severe and care is more complex,” Kulshreshtha added in an Emory news release. “It also leads to missed opportunities for early treatment that could slow disease progression.” For the study, researchers looked at seniors treated at federally qualified health centers, which are nonprofits serving low-income communities in the United States. About 30 million people receive care at these centers, and most have family incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level. Researchers assessed a group of 204 seniors who go to one of…  read on >  read on >