Your flu shot fear
Each time you encounter the intense inflammation that can accompany the flu, you release chemicals that damage blood vessels and may raise the risk of inflammatory-rooted diseases like heart disease later in life.
Your unpredictable schedule
One of our biggest stressors is not finances or marriage but the lack of a regular routine. Even simply eating lunch an hour later than usual can spike levels of the stress hormone cortisol and disrupt your body’s ideal state. Try to eat, sleep, and exercise at the same time every day, 365 days a year.
Your fruit and veggie selections
By the time produce travels from its source to store shelves, it has lost many of its disease-fighting compounds. Buy fresh veggies locally or when in season. If not, stick to frozen, which is prepared at peak ripeness to lock in nutrients.
Your gym workout
Even if you exercise vigorously, spending the rest of your day sitting could affect cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure.
Your heels
You know that stilettos aren’t comfy, but the pain they cause is also a sign of inflammation linked to chronic disease. While Dr. Agus doesn’t say that heels trigger heart attacks, he does believe that sticking to comfortable shoes can protect your body from inflammation’s long-term damage.
Your nail biting
Nail biting is more than just a bad tendency; it can also wreak havoc on your health. In a small Turkish study, 76 percent of nail-biters tested positive for diarrhea- and vomit-causing bacteria like Escherichia coli, compared to just 26.5 percent of non-biters.
Your ‘sad desk lunch’
Your office is a breeding ground for bacteria—and unfortunately, your keyboard is one of the germiest spots. In fact, a 2013 study discovered that in just one day, more than 50 percent of surfaces and employees can become infected with a virus. Eating lunch outside (or at least away from your desk!) can reduce how much bacteria you are exposed to on a daily basis.
Your smoking habit
If the cancer risk alone wasn’t a good enough reason to quit this vice, here’s one more: Smoking can decrease your immune function, making you more likely to catch the flu, cold, or pneumonia.
Your unwashed bed sheets
Bad news: Dust mites love your warm, dark bed as much as you do. While they are relatively harmless by themselves, their droppings and discarded body fragments can trigger asthma and allergic reactions, according to the Daily Mail.
Your lack of sleep
While we should be sleeping for seven to nine hours every night, only half of Americans reach that goal. But skimping on your shut-eye can do more than just decrease your energy levels. Not sleeping enough can also leave you vulnerable to illnesses, because your cells can’t fully recharge while you snooze.
Gas Tank Locator
How many times have you pulled into a gas station in a rental car and been hit by the sudden realization that you have no idea which side the gas tank is on? Guessing wrong is more than annoying—you either have to execute a fancy maneuver or try to pull the hose all the way around to the other side of the car.
Even if you’ve logged many years behind the wheel, driving cars that were yours, borrowed, or rented, as well as (the worst) rented moving trucks, you may be blown away to learn that there’s a tiny arrow next to most gas gauges that shows which side it’s on. The feature has been standard on new cars for almost a decade, according to Country Living
Road Condition Indicators
Gas cap location isn’t the only cool thing you’ll find if you keep an eye on the dashboard of a new car. The next time you’re driving in winter, you may notice an odd dashboard light that looks like a road with a snowflake on it.
It’s meant as a warning that the temperature outside is low enough for roads to freeze, according to mycardoeswhat.org, a website created by the National Safety Council and the University of Iowa.
Anti-Lock Brakes
You probably know you have an anti-lock braking system (ABS), particularly if you ever drove a car without it—Mercedes started selling cars with ABS in 1978, and most other manufacturers got on board in the 1990s. That’s why, if you took driver’s ed in the 1980s or early 1990s, you may have learned to pump the brakes quickly if you needed to stop fast.
If you just stomped on the non-ABS brake suddenly, the car’s wheels would lock up and you could slide without being able to maintain any control. ABS pumps the brakes for you, a lot faster and with the help of sensors that can tell which wheels need to be freed momentarily so they can regain traction. ABS is necessary for stability control, so all cars sold in the United States are now equipped with it.
Computer Driving Assistance
Newer and more high-end cars can now help you with many of aspects of driving. Optional safety features include parking assistance (which will do the parallel parking for you), downhill assist (which automatically keeps your car from accelerating too much as you descend), and sensors that can detect bikes, pedestrians, and other hazards.
Storage
companies like to squeeze little extra spaces in wherever they can, and some are super-useful if you know they’re there. Recent Toyota Highlanders have a great shelf in the middle of the dashboard that’s perfectly placed to hold cell phones and sunglasses.
The Dodge Journey has a compartment under the passenger seat, as well as two cubbies under the floor behind the front row—they’re removable bins, so if you fill them with sodas and ice or use them to transport dirty shoes, you can pull them out to clean them later. The Land Rover Discovery has a storage area for hiding valuables behind a climate control panel.
Hooks
The big space in the back of an SUV often feels like a free-for-all—groceries, sports gear, and that bag of old clothes you keep meaning to donate seem to roll around with every turn you make. Did you ever notice little plastic hooks back there, a couple of feet above the floor? Those actually have a purpose—you’re meant to hang shopping bag handles from them so the bag full of eggs doesn’t topple over. Some cars have them behind the front seats as well. Nissan even has one in the front passenger seat that the company calls a curry hook because it can be used to keep your takeout bags upright. Plus, most cars have hooks above the rear doors—you can hang your coat or dry-cleaning up there to avoid wrinkles.
Grab Handle
Above each car door, you’ll usually find a handle. You’ve probably always assumed that the purpose of those is to give you something to hold while your brother/grandma/driver’s ed student takes corners a little faster than you prefer. But these handles are actually very useful to someone with limited mobility trying to get in or out of the car, according to cars.com—a wheelchair user or anyone lacking leg strength can hold on for stability while maneuvering into a comfortable position
Conversation Mirror
Lots of mini-vans and some crossover SUVs have a small convex mirror mounted overhead that lets the driver keep an eye on the goings-on in the backseats. It often pulls down from a compartment mounted near the rearview mirror, and it will help you keep tabs on your kids, dogs, and whatever else is along for the ride without having to take your eyes off the road for an extended period.
Enhanced Soundproofing
Listening to some good music in your car? Modern soundproofing makes it a lot easier to hear all the subtleties of an orchestral piece, as well as the not-so-subtle whining from your kids in the backseat. According to the New York Times, makers are not just adding extra layers of insulation around engine and suspension mounts—some are also adding active noise cancellation, like the type you can get in headphones. The Buick Enclave Avenir SUV uses the company’s QuietTuning technology, which means the doors are triple-sealed, the windows have special glass, and the sound system creates waves that counteract the sound waves coming from the engine and road noise, according to wardsauto.com.
Drowsiness Detector
According to the New York Times, sleepy drivers caused more than 800 accidents in 2015. Even with enhanced safety measures like stability control and collision sensors, a driver who is dozing off behind the wheel is a hazard.
Makers including Audi, Mercedes, and Volvo are solving the problem with detection systems that monitor how well you’re staying in your lane, along with how long you’ve been driving—a coffee cup icon will pop up on your dash if the car thinks it’s time for a break.
But manufacturers are also working on sensors that monitor a driver’s heart rate and breathing, and even track your posture and eye movements, so it can warn you well before you’re drifting off to sleep (and off the road).
Adaptive Cruise Control
If you want a little taste of what self-driving cars will be like, engage your adaptive cruise control. Unlike old-fashioned cruise control, which lets you lock in a steady speed without having to keep your foot on the gas pedal, new systems use lasers, radar, and/or cameras to adjust your driving speed so it matches the car in front of you, according to Consumer Reports. The publication reports that 75 percent of owners who used adaptive cruise control were satisfied with it.
Myth 1: The flu is just a bad cold
While some people may use the words cold and flu interchangeably, they are in fact very different. Flu is a much more serious illness than the common cold.
“People need to understand that the flu is serious and can turn deadly,” Dr. Melissa Stockwell, associate professor of pediatrics and population and family health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told CBS News. “The CDC just released data that last flu season 80,000 Americans died from flu.”
Myth 2: You can get the flu from the flu shot
Some people put off or refuse to get vaccinated against the flu because they fear they will get the flu from the shot. This is simply not possible, experts explain.
“The flu vaccine is not a live virus,” Taege said. “You cannot become infected from the vaccine itself.”
Myth 3: I got a flu shot last year so I don’t need to get another one
The CDC recommends everyone age 6 months and older get vaccinated against the flu every year. Getting a flu vaccine one year does not make you immune to the following year’s flu virus.
An annual flu vaccine is needed for two reasons. The first is because the human body’s immune response from vaccination declines over time so a yearly vaccine is needed for optimal protection.
Second, since different strains of the flu circulate each year and are constantly changing, the formulation of the flu shot is reviewed and updated each year to keep up with changing flu viruses.
Pediatricians recommend flu shots for kids Myth 4: Loading up on vitamins can ward off colds and flu
When some people feel a cold coming on, they immediately load up on vitamin C to “nip it in the bud.” Unfortunately, there is no scientific proof that vitamins can help prevent a cold or flu.
“Maintaining rest, hydration, good nutrition all along is important,” Taege said, “but flooding yourself with vitamins at the time you think you’re having an onset of an illness, is not going to prevent it to the best of our knowledge.”
There is some research to support taking oral zinc tablets to help shorten the length of a cold.
Myth 5: Exercising while sick helps you “sweat out” the germs
Despite assertions that it’s possible to “sweat out” cold or flu germs, that notion is just “simply false,” Taege said.
“Exercising yourself to the point of fatigue with significant exertion while you’re ill is not a good idea. It’s not going to make it go away more quickly,” he said. “What you need to do is be sure that you’re staying hydrated and resting.”
Myth 6: You can still get the flu even if you got the flu shot, so there’s no point in getting vaccinated
Yes, it is still possible to become sick with the flu even if you’ve gotten a flu shot. However, that’s no reason to skip the vaccine — experts say some protection is better than none.
The flu vaccine is formulated each year to match the strains of the virus that health officials believe are most likely to circulate in the months ahead.
Myth 7: Going out in the cold weather without a coat will give you the flu
While illnesses from colds and flu are more common in the winter, the chilly temperature actually has nothing to do with whether or not you get sick.
“Being out in the cold really has no direct influence,” Taege said. “There has to be some exposure to the virus. So if you haven’t been in contact with someone who’s sick or with the virus itself, going outside without a proper jacket and hat on in 10 degrees F will make you cold, but it’s not going to give you influenza.” Myth 8: I’m young and healthy so I don’t need to bother getting the flu shot
The flu can strike anyone at any age and lead to severe illness. While complications are more common in very young children, the very old, and in people with compromised immune systems, healthy young people can still be affected.
In addition to getting the flu shot, the CDC recommends the following steps to avoid illness this cold and flu season:
-Wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water. If soap isn’t available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. -Try to avoid close contact with sick people. -If you are sick, limit contact with others as much as possible. If you have the flu, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone, except to get medical care or for other necessities. -Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth as germs spread this way. -Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and then throw the tissue away. -Disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
But studies suggest that simple lifestyle changes, such as following a healthy eating, could prevent 30–50% of all cancers. Growing evidence points to certain dietary habits increasing or decreasing cancer risk.
What’s more, nutrition is thought to play an important role in treating and coping with cancer.
Let’s cover what you need to know about the link between food and cancer.
Higher consumption of foods rich in sugar and refined carbs, as well as processed and overcooked meat, can increase your risk of cancer. In addition, higher dairy consumption has been linked to prostate cancer.
Being overweight or obese is one of the biggest risk factors for several types of cancer. Achieving a healthy weight can help protect against cancer development.
No single food can protect against cancer. However, eating with a eating plan full of diverse whole foods, such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, spices, healthy fats, fresh fish and high-quality dairy, may reduce cancer risk.
People on plant-based eating plans, such as vegetarians and vegans, may have a reduced risk of cancer. This is likely due to a high intake of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, as well as a low intake of processed foods.
Optimal nutrition can enhance quality of life and treatment in people with cancer and help prevent malnutrition. A healthy, balanced eating with sufficient protein and calories is best.
Early research suggests that a ketogenic eating may reduce cancerous tumor growth and improve quality of life without serious adverse side effects. However, more research is needed.
Though there are no miracle superfoods that can prevent cancer, some evidence suggests that dietary habits can offer protection. A eating plan high in whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats and lean protein may prevent cancer.
Conversely, processed meats, refined carbs, salt and alcohol may increase your risk. Though no eating plan has been proven to cure cancer, plant-based and keto diets may lower your risk or benefit treatment.
All evidence & citations are from US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health
Prediabetes is a warning sign that you are at risk for getting type 2 diabetes. It means that your blood sugar is higher than it should be, but not high enough to be diabetes. Prediabetes is also called impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose. Most people who get type 2 diabetes have prediabetes first.
What causes prediabetes?
The food you eat turns into sugar, which your body uses for energy. Normally, an organ called the pancreas makes insulin, which allows the sugar in your blood to get into your body’s cells. But when your body can’t use insulin the right way, the sugar doesn’t move into cells. It stays in your blood instead. This is called insulin resistance. The buildup of sugar in the blood causes prediabetes.
People who are overweight, aren’t physically active, and have a family history of diabetes are more likely to get prediabetes. Women who have had gestational diabetes are also more likely to get prediabetes.
What are the symptoms?
Most people with prediabetes don’t have any symptoms. But if you have prediabetes, you need to watch for signs of diabetes, such as:
• Feeling very thirsty.
• Urinating more often than usual.
• Feeling very hungry.
• Having blurred vision.
• Losing weight without trying.
How is prediabetes diagnosed?
A blood test can tell if you have prediabetes. You have prediabetes if:
• The results of your hemoglobin A1c test are 5.7% to 6.4%.
• The results of your fasting blood glucose test are between 100 and 125 milligrams per deciliter.
• The results of your oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) are 140 to 199 mg/dL (2 hours after the beginning of the test).
How is it treated?
The key to treating prediabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes is getting your blood sugar levels back to a normal range. You can do this by making some lifestyle changes.
• Watch your weight. If you are overweight, losing just a small amount of weight may help. Reducing fat around your waist is particularly important.
• Make healthy food choices. Limit the amount of unhealthy fat you eat, such as saturated fat and trans fat. Try to cut calories and limit sweets.
• Be active. You can do moderate activity, vigorous activity, or both. Bit by bit, increase the amount you do every day. You may want to swim, bike, or do other activities. Walking is an easy way to get exercise.
Making these changes may help delay or prevent diabetes. You may also avoid or delay some of the serious problems that you can get when you have diabetes, such as heart attack, stroke, and heart, eye, nerve, and kidney disease.
You may need to take a diabetes medicine called metformin. It reduces the amount of sugar made by the liver in people who are insulin-resistant.
1.Caffeine blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter in your brain, which causes a stimulant effect. This improves energy levels, mood and various aspects of brain function.
2. Several studies show that caffeine can increase fat burning and boost your metabolic rate.
3. Caffeine can increase adrenaline levels and release fatty acids from your fat tissues. It also leads to significant improvements in physical performance.
4.Coffee contains several important nutrients, including riboflavin, pantothenic acid, manganese, potassium, magnesium and niacin.
5. Several observational studies show that coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a serious condition that affects millions of people worldwide.
Cancer Chemotherapy: Treating Disease with Chemicals
Understanding what chemotherapy does to the body will help you understand why detox is critical. Chemotherapy prevents all cells, malignant and normal, from further proliferating. This means that the healthy cells in the body are destroyed, leading to adverse chemotherapy side effects such as loss of hair, nausea, reduced immunity, male and female sterility, and mouth sores.
More serious and life threatening effects may include renal and liver failure, heart disease, and blood clots. According to the American Cancer Society, it is a combination of these damaging consequences to the body which often leads to the occurrence of a secondary cancer.
Whatever the dose of chemotherapy drugs may be, any dose is too high. Chemo drugs create a broad array of health problems. Unfortunately, the modern treatment for each symptom is another dose of drugs − each with more side effects to be treated. Take a look at a few drugs, their side effects, and the treatments prescribed:
Nitrogen Mustard: The injection site is most susceptible to pain and areas of blood clotting due to this metal-binding chemo compound.
Cis-platinum: Known to cause nausea and vomiting starting two hours following treatment. Cis platinum also hinders urination, compromising the removal of toxins. This drug leads to renal (kidney) toxicity.
Doxorubicin: This chemo agent leads to heart damage including cardiomyopathy (diseased heart) and is a primary trigger for hair loss.
Methotrexate: Known to cause serious, life-threatening side effects such as damage to the lungs, liver, and kidneys. Methotrexate can lower blood cell counts, decreasing the ability to fight infections and interferes with normal blood clotting.
Acyclovir: Prescribed to treat herpes, which is common in patients receiving cytotoxic therapies for cancer. This drug can trigger nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and decreased urination, which may interfere with the effective removal of toxins. In rare cases acyclovir can cause life-threatening damage to the kidneys, resulting in renal failure.
Vincristine: Common effects are bone marrow suppression, gastrointestinal disorder, and neurotoxicity and can lead to renal failure. Infections which typically arise from loss of white blood cells are treated with antibiotics.
Bleomycin: Significantly associated with toxic accumulation in the lungs. Pulmonary toxicity can be life-threatening and progress to lung fibrosis, making it difficult for the lungs to work properly.
Phenothiazines: Relieves symptoms of nausea and vomiting, but causes drowsiness, restlessness, and involuntary movement. These symptoms are then treated with drugs like Benadryl and Cogentin, an anti-tremor medication used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Metoclopramide: Blocks the centers of the brain known as the medulla oblongata to treat nausea. This drug is given to help relieve GI contracts and improve blockage of chemicals from intestines. This drug can cause irreversible movement disorders.
Corticosteroids: Synthetic steroids which causes an imbalance in hormones and leads to drowsiness. Generally taken before the start of chemotherapy.
Nabilone: Prescribed for GI complications. Leads to disorientation, low blood pressure, and drowsiness. These symptoms are treated with repetitive rounds of multiple drugs causing mood swings, muscle weakness, easy bruising, and much more.
A side effect is an unwanted issue that is caused by a medicine. Some diabetes medication unfortunately includes common side effects such as nausea or an upset stomach.
Your doctor will be able to advise you about specific side effects and the best ways possible to avoid them.
No diabetic patients should suffer under the influence of side effects, and you should contact your doctor immediately if side effects are causing you pain.
Often in the case of diabetes drugs such as Metformin, side effects will only be temporary.
Potential side effects of common diabetes drugs*
Sulfonylureas: low blood sugar, upset stomach, skin rash or itching, weight gain
Biguanides/Metformin: sickness with alcohol, kidney complications, upset stomach, tiredness or dizziness, metal taste
Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors: gas, bloating and diarrhea
Thiazolidinedione’s: weight gain, risk of liver disease, anemia risk, swelling of legs or ankles,
Meglitinides: weight gain, low blood sugar
Side effect lists may be incomplete, please check with your doctor for more information about diabetes drug side effect
What are the side effects of the non-insulin diabetes medications?
Many people with type 2 diabetes will take a combination of medications to help control their diabetes. With combination therapy, there is increased risk for low blood sugar.
The sulfonylureas may cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), skin rash or itching, sensitivity to sunlight, upset stomach, and weight gain.
The meglitinides may cause hypoglycemia and weight gain.
People taking biguanides may develop lactic acidosis, a rare but severe side effect. Excessive alcohol intake while on metformin can contribute to development of lactic acidosis. Other side effects include metallic taste in the mouth and diarrhea.
Thiazolidinedione’s can increase risk of heart failure and should not be used in patients with symptoms of heart failure. Liver enzymes should be checked regularly with use. Other side effects include weight gain, fatigue, swelling of the legs or ankles, increased risk for fractures in female patients. Avandia may have a potential increased risk for heart attack.
Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors may cause gastrointestinal problems (nausea, gas, bloating), although they are usually fleeting.
The DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin (Januvia) may cause serious allergic reactions, sore throat, upper respiratory infection, and headache.
Pramlintide (with insulin) may cause gastrointestinal problems (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, anorexia), slight weight loss, headache, fatigue, dizziness, coughing, sore throat, and skin reactions at the injection site.
Side effects of exenatide may include slight weight loss, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
What are the warnings and precautions for non-insulin diabetes medications?
Diabetes medications can have interactions with other medications or supplements being used. Use of more than one diabetes medication can increase the risk for hypoglycemia. Beta-blocker medications can mask the symptoms of hypoglycemia.
Sulfonylureas may increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Prolonged exercise and alcohol intake increase the risk for hypoglycemia. Patients undergoing surgery or who have had recent trauma, stress, or infection may need to switch from a sulfonylurea to insulin to manage blood sugar levels. People with kidney or liver disease need to take precaution.
Because meglitinides may cause hypoglycemia, they should be taken right before meals to minimize the possibility of hypoglycemia. If a meal is to be skipped, the dose of the medication should also be skipped.
Thiazolidinedione’s may cause or exacerbate heart failure. Trouble breathing, rapid weight gain and fluid retention may indicate the onset of heart failure.
Avandia may potentially increase the risk of heart attack.
Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors should not be used in people with intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease or intestinal obstruction. People with kidney dysfunction may not be able to these medications.
Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors should be taken with the first bite of each meal.
Patients with kidney disease may require dosage adjustment if they are using a DPP-4 inhibitor.
People with a history of liver disease, heavy drinking, or kidney disease may not be able to take biguanides. Inform medical personnel of biguanide use prior to any radiological tests which require injection of dye.
Severe hypersensitivity reactions have occurred during use of sitagliptin.
Pramlintide is only appropriate for certain people with diabetes who use insulin and are having problems maintaining their blood sugar levels. Because of the potential for severe hypoglycemia with the use of pramlintide is with insulin, adjustments to insulin dosage and more frequent glucose monitoring may be necessary. Insulin and pramlintide should not be mixed in the same syringe.
Exenatide may increase the risk of severe even fatal pancreatitis.
Byetta should not be used in people with type 1 diabetes or to treat diabetic ketoacidosis.
Patients with severe kidney disease or gastrointestinal disease should not use exenatide.
Hypersensitivity reactions may occur following treatment with exenatide due to formation of antibodies.
DEMENTIA
Aricept, or Donepezil in its generic form, is a drug given to help with Alzheimer’s Disease and mild cognitive impairment. This post from Natural News discusses why it could have the exact opposite effect in some patients.
Donepezil is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Since mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or the phase between normal age-related brain decline and dementia, displays similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s, many physicians also prescribe this drug off-label to patients with MCI.
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Nursing, however, are urging doctors to stop prescribing Donepezil, also sold under the brand name Aricept, to people with MCI without first giving them a genetic test.
The scientists found that for individuals who carry a specific genetic variation of the butyryl cholinesterase (B.Ch.E.) gene, this drug may accelerate cognitive decline instead of stopping it.
The study, led by Sophie Socolow, an associate professor at the UCLA School of Nursing, was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease earlier this year. The co-authors included Ziaohui Li, Lucia Chen, Kent Taylor, and Jerome Rotter, who are all researchers connected to the UCLA. For their study, the team received funding from the National Institute on Aging.
Though donepezil was previously tested as a possible treatment for MCI in a federally funded study (the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study), it was never approved by the FDA. Nonetheless, many doctors prescribe it off-label to their patients, putting patients at greater risk of mental decline.
For this study, the UCLA scientists analyzed the data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study, which took place in 2005. To reach their conclusion, the team looked for a possible association between the B.Ch.E.-K gene variation and changes in brain health, reanalyzing the data from the 2005 study.
During the trial, researchers used two tests to measure cognitive impairment, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes.
Socolow and her colleagues discovered that patients with the K-variant of the B.Ch.E. gene who took donepezil showed greater changes in their scores on both tests and had more rapid cognitive decline than those who received a placebo.
Previously, the BCHE gene has been identified as one of the few Alzheimer’s disease susceptibility genes with distinct pharmacogenomic properties, meaning drug activity and reactions to a certain drug can vary with the patient’s genes.
“Genetic heterogeneity in amnestic mild cognitively impaired (aMCI) subjects could lead to variations in progression rates and response to cholinomimetic agents.
Together with the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE-?4) gene, butyryl cholinesterase (BCHE) has become recently one of the few Alzheimer’s disease (AD) susceptibility genes with distinct pharmacogenomic properties,” the UCLA researchers pointed out.
The use of pharmacogenomic testing has the potential to improve the safety and effectiveness of many drug therapies.
Unfortunately, most physicians lack knowledge about the topic of pharmacogenomics and are not prepared to implement it in a clinical setting, a 2014 survey of primary care physicians, cardiologists, and psychiatrists reported.
Since doctors are increasingly prescribing this drug to people with MCI, the researchers hope that their study reinforces the importance of discussing the benefits and risks of every treatment option with their patients.
“These results clearly emphasize the necessity of monitoring potential pharmacogenomic effects in this population of subjects, and suggest enrichment strategies for secondary prevention trials involving prodromal AD [Alzheimer’s disease] subjects,” the UCLA research team concluded.
Statin side effects: Weigh the benefits and risks
Statin side effects can be uncomfortable, making it seem like the risks outweigh the benefits of these powerful cholesterol-lowering medications.
By Mayo Clinic Staff
Doctors often prescribe statins for people with high cholesterol to lower their total cholesterol and reduce their risk of a heart attack or stroke. While statins are highly effective, they have been linked to muscle pain, digestive problems and mental fuzziness in some people and may rarely cause liver damage.
Statins include atorvastatin (Lipitor), flu vastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Altoprev), pita vastatin (Livalo), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor).
Having too much cholesterol in your blood increases your risk of heart attacks and strokes. Statins block a substance your liver needs to make cholesterol. This causes your liver to remove cholesterol from your blood.
If you think you’re experiencing side effects from statins, don’t just stop taking the pills. Talk to your doctor to see if a change of dosage or even a different type of medication might be helpful.
What are statin side effects?
Muscle pain and damage
One of the most common complaints of people taking statins is muscle pain. You may feel this pain as a soreness, tiredness or weakness in your muscles. The pain can be a mild discomfort, or it can be severe enough to make your daily activities difficult.
Oddly enough, most randomized controlled studies of statins indicate that people taking statins develop muscle pain at the same rate as people taking placebo. But up to 29 percent of the people who start taking statins report muscle pain and many discontinue statins because of it. Many of these people do well when they are switched to a different variety of statin.
Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-my-OL-ih-sis). Rhabdomyolysis can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure and death. The risk of very serious side effects is extremely low, and calculated in a few cases per million of patients taking statins. Rhabdomyolysis can occur when you take statins in combination with certain drugs or if you take a high dose of statins.
Liver damage
Occasionally, statin use could cause an increase in the level of enzymes that signal liver inflammation. If the increase is only mild, you can continue to take the drug. Rarely, if the increase is severe, you may need to try a different statin.
Although liver problems are rare, your doctor may order a liver enzyme test before or shortly after you begin to take a statin. You shouldn’t need any additional liver enzyme tests unless you begin to have signs or symptoms of trouble with your liver.
Contact your doctor immediately if you have unusual fatigue or weakness, loss of appetite, pain in your upper abdomen, dark-colored urine, or yellowing of your skin or eyes.
Increased blood sugar or type 2 diabetes
It’s possible your blood sugar (blood glucose) level may increase when you take a statin, which may lead to developing type 2 diabetes. The risk is small but important enough that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning on statin labels regarding blood glucose levels and diabetes.
Statins prevent heart attacks in patients with diabetes, so the relevance of the mild increase in sugar values with statins observed in some patients is unclear. The benefit of taking statins likely outweighs the small risk to have the blood sugar level go up. Talk to your doctor if you have concerns.
Neurological side effects
The FDA warns on statin labels that some people have developed memory loss or confusion while taking statins. These side effects reverse once you stop taking the medication. There is limited evidence to prove a cause-effect, but talk to your doctor if you experience memory loss or confusion while taking statins. There has also been evidence that statins may help with brain function — in patients with dementia, for example. This is still being studied. Don’t stop taking your statin medication before talking to your doctor.
Who’s at risk of developing statin side effects?
Not everyone who takes a statin will have side effects, but some people may be at a greater risk than are others. Risk factors include:
Taking multiple medications to lower your cholesterol
Being female
Having a smaller body frame
Being age 65 or older
Having kidney or liver disease
Drinking too much alcohol
Drugs and food that interact with statins
Grapefruit juice contains a chemical that can interfere with the enzymes that break down (metabolize) the statins in your digestive system. While you won’t need to eliminate grapefruit entirely from your diet, ask your doctor about how much grapefruit you can have.
Some drugs that may interact with statins and increase your risk of side effects include:
Amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacer one), a medication for irregular heart rhythms
Gemfibrozil (Lopid), another variety of cholesterol drug
Protease inhibitors, such as saquinavir (Invirase) and ritonavir (Novar)
Some antibiotic and antifungal medications, such as clarithromycin (Biaxin) and itraconazole (Onmel, Sporanox)
Some immunosuppressant medications, such as cyclosporine (Gengraf, NE oral, Sand immune)
There are many drugs that may interact with statins, so be sure your doctor is aware of all the medicines you take when being prescribed with statins.
Common side effects of prescription sleeping pills such as Lunesta, Sonata, Ambien, Rozerem, and Halcion may include:
Burning or tingling in the hands, arms, feet, or legs
Changes in appetite
Constipation
Diarrhea
Difficulty keeping balance
Dizziness
Daytime drowsiness
Dry mouth or throat
Gas
Headache
Heartburn
Impairment the next day
Mental slowing or problems with attention or memory
Stomach pain or tenderness
Uncontrollable shaking of a part of the body
Unusual dreams
Weakness
It’s important to be aware of possible sleeping pill side effects so you can stop the drug and call your doctor immediately to avoid a more serious health problem.
Are There More Complex Sleeping Pill Side Effects?
Some sleeping pills have potentially harmful side effects, including parasomnias. Parasomnias are movements, behaviors and actions over which you have no control, like sleepwalking. During a parasomnia, you are asleep and unaware of what is happening.
Parasomnias with sleeping pills are complex sleep behaviors and may include sleep eating, making phone calls, or having sex while in a sleep state. Sleep driving, which is driving while not fully awake, is another serious sleeping pill side effect. Though rare, parasomnias are difficult to detect once the medication takes effect.
Product labels for sedative-hypnotic medicines include language about the potential risks of taking a sleeping pill. Because complex sleep behaviors are more likely to occur if you increase the dosage of a sleeping pill, take only what your doctor prescribes — no more.
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