A major cause of obesity may be hiding in your gut
By doximity.com
One day, you might be able to eat microbes — yes, microbes — to help you lose weight.
That might sound like a headline you’d see in a health magazine from hell the future, but it’s a very real prediction — based on the many strange discoveries that scientists are now making about your microbes.
Your body is full of microorganisms, or bacteria, that make up what’s called your microbiome — the vast, invisible community of microbes found in your body, most of them in your intestines.
And while you can’t see these microbes, they dominate your body. Turns out, you actually have more microbes in your body than human cells — the average person has around 30 trillion human cells — and 40 trillion microbes. All together, they weigh around three pounds, or about as much as your brain.
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Panel recommends new, better shingles shot over old version
Mike Stobbe, Associated Press
NEW YORK — A federal panel has recommended that older people already vaccinated for shingles get a new, better shot.
The advisory group said the recently-approved vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline works better at preventing shingles and may last longer than the one that’s been sold in the U.S. since 2006.
Shingles, a painful condition that causes blisters, occurs when the chickenpox virus resurfaces decades later, often when people are in their 60s or older. About 1 in 3 U.S. residents will get it during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At a meeting in Atlanta, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said doctors should first opt for Glaxo’s two-dose Shingrix, which uses a new ingredient to boost its effectiveness. It was approved in the U.S. last week, and the committee recommended it for adults 50 and older.
Shingrix has been shown to be 90 percent effective and last at least four years in company-sponsored studies.
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New ACC/AHA High Blood Pressure Guidelines Lower Definition of Hypertension
ACC News Story
High blood pressure should be treated earlier with lifestyle changes and in some patients with medication – at 130/80 mm Hg rather than 140/90 – based on new ACC and American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for the detection, prevention, management and treatment of high blood pressure.
The new guidelines – the first comprehensive set since 2003 – lower the definition of high blood pressure to account for complications that can occur at lower numbers and to allow for earlier intervention. The new definition will result in nearly half of the U.S. adult population (46 percent) having high blood pressure, with the greatest impact expected among younger people. Additionally, the prevalence of high blood pressure is expected to triple among men under age 45, and double among women under 45, the guideline authors note. However, only a small increase is expected in the number of adults requiring antihypertensive medication.
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