My 10-Year Journey After Kidney Transplant

  My 10-Year Journey After Kidney Transplant: The Hidden Secret of Staying Healthy I have successfully completed ten years of my journey after a kidney transplant, and I am grateful to say that I am living comfortably without major complications. I do not suffer from blood pressure problems, diabetes, or kidney function issues at present. Many people ask what the hidden secret behind this stable and healthy life is. The truth is simple but powerful: consistent discipline, strict adherence to medical advice, and a balanced lifestyle. There is no magic — only regular habits followed sincerely every day. The first and most important secret is that I take my medicines exactly as prescribed by my doctor. I never skip a dose, never delay it, and never adjust it on my own. Medication after a kidney transplant is not optional — it is life-supporting. These medicines protect the transplanted kidney and maintain balance in the body. I follow the timetable strictly. Even when I travel or feel...

Metformin weight loss




 Metformin for weight loss - Bing News


  Our goal was to determine whether metformin treatment leads to weight loss and amelioration of obesity-related comorbidities in insulin-resistant obese children.  Conclusion - Metformin has...


  Sometimes, lower doses of metformin (a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes) can be used to help reduce insulin resistance and improve your ability to lose weight.


  The beneficial effects of metformin on weight loss are less pronounced in non-obese people, but may be less emphasized during diabetes education.  In fact,...


  Participants assigned to receive the lifestyle intervention experienced greater weight loss and increased recreational physical activity than those assigned to receive metformin or placebo.


  In addition, compared with similar drugs, metformin not only has the effect of lowering blood sugar, but also may have the effect of weight loss and treatment of hyperinsulinemia, and can ...


  In addition, compared with similar drugs, metformin not only has the effect of lowering blood sugar, but also may have the effect of weight loss and treatment


  GLP-1, SGLT2 combination therapy provides maximum weight loss in women with PCOS


  



  Disclosure: Elkind-Hirsch reports grant support from AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, and Ortho Diagnostics, serves on the advisory boards of AstraZeneca and Novo Nordisk, and serves as an advisor to EMD Serono and Lilly.  Please refer to the study for relevant financial disclosures of all 


  

  back to hilio


  Combination therapy with a GLP-1 receptor agonist and SGLT2 inhibitor may provide better weight loss than monotherapy in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and obesity, according to study data.


  In a 24-week, randomized, single-blind study, participants were assigned to receive 2 mg weekly of the GLP-1 receptor agonist exenatide (Bydureon, AstraZeneca) and 10 mg daily of the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin  Dual therapy with net (Farxiga, AstraZeneca) than taking either drug alone or receiving dapagliflozin and metformin extended-release (Xigduo XL, AstraZeneca) or phentermine/topiramate extended-release (Qsymia, Vivus)  ) were heavier.


  Dual therapy with exenatide and dapagliflozin was associated with greater weight loss in women with PCOS compared with dapagliflozin alone or dapagliflozin with metformin.  Data from Elkind-Hirsch KE et al.  Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.  2021; doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgab408.


  "The greater improvement in participants with exenatide plus dapagliflozin may be attributable in part to their distinct and potentially complementary mechanisms of action, and confirms other research suggesting that combining the two drugs may be better than using each alone.  This drug produces a stronger beneficial effect," Karen Elkind-Hirsch, MS, PhD, HCLD, director of research sciences at the Women's Hospital Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told Healio.  "These findings, combined with the convenience of once-daily oral administration and once-weekly injection, support the use of these drugs in the prediabetic population."


 


  Karen Elkind-Hirsch


  Elkind-Hirsch and colleagues recruited 119 premenopausal women, ages 18 to 45, with obesity and PCOS, and no diabetes, for the study.  Participants were randomly assigned to one of five treatments: exenatide alone, dapagliflozin alone, dual therapy with exenatide and dapagliflozin, and combination therapy with dapagliflozin and metformin  , or the diet drug phentermine/topiramate extended-release.  Clinical, anthropometric, and biochemical assessments were performed at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks.


  The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.


  Combination therapy produces greater weight loss


  Fasting blood glucose, mean blood glucose, insulin sensitivity, and insulin secretion improved in all treatment groups at 24 weeks.  Compared with the dapagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and metformin, and phentermine/topiramate extended-release groups, participants who received the combination of exenatide and dapagliflozin had greater mean blood sugar reductions (P < .03  ).  Patients receiving exenatide or exenatide and dapagliflozin had greater increases in insulin secretion compared with the other three treatment groups (P < .04).


  Absolute weight and BMI decreased at 24 weeks in all 5 treatment groups, but the exenatide and dapagliflozin groups lost more weight than those receiving dapagliflozin alone or dapagliflozin and metformin (  P = .005).  Patients who received exenatide and dapagliflozin lost an average of 6.9% body weight, those who received phentermine/topiramate extended-release lost an average of 8% body weight, and those who received dapagliflozin alone lost an average of 6.9% body weight  Losing 1.5%, participants receiving dapagliflozin and metformin lost an average of 1.7% body weight (P < .001).


  "Moderate weight loss is known to reduce the risk of future diabetes in people with prediabetes," Elkind-Hirsch said.  “Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that modest weight loss contributed to improved insulin sensitivity in all groups. Although phentermine/topiramate extended-release resulted in consistently significant changes in BMI and waist circumference, compared with oral glucose tolerance testing, only  Senatide and dapagliflozin and exenatide alone resulted in significant improvements in insulin secretion and mean blood glucose. This finding confirms the beneficial effects of GLP-1 agonists on beta cell function in obese prediabetic individuals."


  Long-term study required


  Cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride-to-high-density lipoprotein ratios did not differ between the two groups.  Triglycerides were lower at 24 weeks in the exenatide and dapagliflozin groups compared with phentermine/topiramate extended-release (P < .05).  At 24 weeks, systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased for all treatments.  No serious adverse events were reported during the trial.


  The findings are encouraging, but more research is needed to better determine the long-term safety and efficacy of GLP-1 receptor agonists in women with PCOS, Elkind-Hirsch said.


  "Future studies should be designed to take into account the large number of women with this disorder and the relatively young age of this population," Elkind-Hirsch said.


  For more information:


  Karen Elkind-Hirsch, MSc, PhD, HCLD, can be reached at karen.elkind-hirsch@womans.org.


  Add subject to email alert


  Receive emails when new articles are published


  Please provide your email address to receive emails when new articles are published.  Subscription We were unable to process your request.  Please try again later.  If you continue to experience this issue, please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.


  back to hilio


  


  Top Endocrinology: ADA Guidelines Update, 


  


  The American Diabetes Association recently released the 2022 Standards of Care, which include recommendations for screening and first-line treatment.  Here are the top stories in endocrinology last week.


  Another headline was a voluntary safety recall of metformin products.  Viona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has withdrawn 33 lots of metformin hydrochloride tablets due to the presence of N-nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA.


  Source: Adobe Stock


  Read these and more endocrinology top stories below:


  First-Line Treatment, Diabetes Screening Update in ADA 2022 Standard of Care Changes


  Changes to the American Diabetes Association's 2022 standard of care include recommendations for first-line treatment and comorbidities, adult diabetes screening, and gestational diabetes testing.  read more.


  Voluntary Safety Recall of Contaminated Metformin Products


  Viona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is voluntarily recalling 33 lots of metformin hydrochloride extended-release tablets, USP 750 mg, due to the presence of NDMA, according to a company statement.  read more.


  Facts About Diabetes and the COVID-19 Vaccination


  Susan Weiner, MS, RDN, CDCES, FADCES, discusses the impact of COVID-19 infection and vaccination on people with diabetes with Stephen W. Ponder, MD, FAAP, CDCCES.  read more.


  Thyroid hormone abnormalities during pregnancy linked to behavioral problems in boys


  Abnormal thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of behavioral problems in preschool boys, but not girls, according to research data published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.  read more.


  Weight loss with bariatric surgery reduces risk of COVID-19 complications


  The data showed that substantial weight loss after bariatric surgery was associated with improved COVID-19 outcomes, including a 49% lower risk of hospitalization and a 60% lower risk of developing severe disease, compared with a non-surgical control group.  read more.


  

  

  


  03


  Can ordinary diabetes pills slow the aging process?


  


  Millions of Britons are already taking drugs that may slow ageing to treat other conditions (Credit: Getty)


  Scientists believe this, and, far from sketchy herbal supplements or vitamin pills, these are real medicines that can delay or prevent the decline we experience as we age.  They may join us sooner than you think.  Although most of us think aging is inevitable, researchers have been trying for years to find different ways to slow or even reverse aging.


  We now have dozens of ways to alter the aging process in the lab, from diet to drugs to gene therapy to make everything from flies to fish to mice younger.  But can we do this in humans?


  The good news is that scientists are increasingly convinced that there may be ways to slow human aging.  One of the most promising results of this study is that we may not even need to develop new drugs to achieve this: existing drugs may be able to slow aging -- meaning we may only need a few years to benefit.


  A major contender is the diabetes treatment metformin, one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world.  Millions of Britons are already embracing it.  It's commonly used to treat high blood sugar levels caused by diabetes, but a 2014 study suggested its effects could be much broader.


  Medical records from 180,000 NHS patients were analysed to see how metformin stacks up against other diabetes medicines, as well as a 'control' group of people who did not have diabetes and therefore did not take the medicine.


  The breakthrough finding was that people with diabetes who took metformin actually lived longer than non-diabetic controls who didn't take the drug -- even more surprisingly, patients without diabetes tended to be underweight and had other conditions such as heart disease.  )less.


  Other research suggests that metformin may also reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and dementia.  So should we all accept it?


  While the evidence is compelling, it may be worth waiting for the results of an appropriate trial of metformin as an antiaging drug that is about to begin in the United States.


  The TAME trial -- short for Metformin Targeted Aging -- will provide 1,500 volunteers aged 60-80 with the drug, while another 1,500 will receive placebo tablets.  The patient will then be observed for several years.


  If people taking the real drug are less likely to develop cancer, heart disease, dementia, etc. than people taking the fake drug, we can know for sure that metformin slows aging, as we suspected.


  One of the challenges of getting regulatory approval of antiaging drugs is that the drugs are often required to treat a specific disease -- and aging isn't currently considered a disease.


  Another exciting aspect of the TAME trial, however, is that the scientists involved worked closely with the US drug regulatory agency, the FDA, in designing the trial.


  This means that even if metformin proved to be ineffective, they created a pathway for these drugs to be approved in the future.


  And many more are waiting for metformin to follow suit.


  Another contender began its journey in the unusual location of tropical Easter Island, deep in the Pacific Ocean, home to the famous megalithic moai.


  Soil samples taken from the island - known as Rapa Nui in Polynesian - were found to contain bacteria with antifungal properties.  The drug isolated from these bacteria was named rapamycin after its discovery.


  


  View image of Metformin is one of many everyday drugs scientists are working on (Credit: Credit: Francis Dean/Corbis/Getty)


  Further research found that it also suppresses our immune system, which is counterproductive in antifungal drugs because it weakens our body's defenses against infection.


  Rapamycin eventually found its place as a drug to help stop transplant patients' immune systems from rejecting their new organs -- but research since then has suggested it may have more important applications as an anti-aging drug.


  It turns out that rapamycin mimics a process called "diet restriction," where we fed animals less and found they lived longer.


  It's not just the kind of diet you're likely to continue to lose weight, but a lifetime of calorie reduction, carefully balanced to ensure the animal gets all the nutrients it needs.


  On such a diet, the mice lived more than 50 percent longer than their siblings who were allowed to eat what they liked.


  When the scientists noticed that rapamycin caused similar biological effects to dietary restriction, they were keen to test it -- they found that it extended the lifespan of mice by 10 percent.


  Even better, the results hold for older mice, and are biologically equivalent to humans in their 60s—meaning, if it does work in humans, we could find out in time to even make those of us not spring  ​​Chicken people benefit.


  Counterintuitively, while high doses of rapamycin suppress the immune system, small doses appear to rejuvenate the immune system, possibly through the drug's anti-aging effects.


  Trials using a related drug have shown that it can improve responses to the flu vaccine in older adults and reduce their risk of subsequent infection.


  It has also been proposed to be trialled as a preventive pill to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on UK care homes.


  Hopefully some of these anti-aging drugs will be available in time for the next pandemic: We've all seen how much additional risk older people face if they contract the virus, so if we can all have biologically younger immune systems, it's even better  good.


  However, a finding from anti-aging science can be shocking: Vitamin supplements are mostly ineffective at extending our lifespans.


  The rationale behind many vitamin pills is that they act as "antioxidants", scavenging so-called "free radicals" that damage the DNA and proteins that make up the interior of our cells and have been considered key villains for decades.  in the aging process.


  However, recent research has disproved this theory, and the largest and most reliable study of vitamin pills has found that they have little effect on our longevity.


  When scientists conducted a comprehensive study of more than 300,000 people who took supplements, they found that vitamins A and C and selenium had no effect on lifespan, while vitamins E and beta-carotene actually slightly increased the risk of death.


  So unless your doctor tells you to take specific vitamins because you're deficient, it may be worth reconsidering any supplements you're taking, as they're likely to reduce your bank balance more than prolong your life.


  Thankfully, however, there are many other drugs under investigation with potential antiaging properties.


  


  How to live longer (Image: EXPRESS.CO.UK)


  A compound called spermidine, which is present in many foods, including mushrooms and cheddar cheese, is another way that may mimic dietary restriction.  Scientists are also working on drug combinations.


  A chemotherapy drug called dasatinib and a supplement called quercetin have been found to remove senescent cells from our bodies and make mice live longer and healthier.


  Metformin plus a mixture of two hormones improved immune function in older men and lowered their biological age.


  This series of different approaches suggests that antiaging drugs are not science fiction pipe dreams or strange flukes seen only in lab mice, but that they may soon be around us.  With so many potential anti-aging drugs in development, it's a truly exciting time to be alive.


  This is also a very important time to understand the science of aging, because in just a few years, we may all be able to get the pills that will make us live and be healthy a little longer.


  Ageless: The New Science of Agelessness by Andrew Steele (Bloomsbury, £9.99) is out now.


  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Top 5 Physical Benefits of Yoga

Love hard

7 Yoga Poses for Stress Relief Revealed by Modern Research 😌