World of Medicine

New Culprit Behind Tummy Trouble

A slower passage of food through the large intestine seems to increase the amount of harmful metabolites produced along the way, according to research from the Technical University of Denmark. This may raise the risk of problems such as colorectal cancer and chronic renal disease. The signs that your food’s transit time could be sluggish include infrequent bowel movements and abdominal pain. Eating a fibre-rich diet, drinking lots of water and exercising are all ways of speeding it up.

The Limits of Caffeine

When 48 subjects limited their sleep to five hours a night for five nights, a safe amount of caffeine (200 mg, roughly equivalent to two cups of brewed coffee, five colas or one energy drink) improved alertness on the first two days. However, it made no difference compared with a placebo on the remaining three. Rather than relying on caffeine to compensate for lost shut-eye, repaying your sleep debt is the best way to restore health and function.

Caution to Daily Pill Takers

People with conditions requiring a regular pill routine sometimes experience adverse effects when they first try using a pill organiser, found a study from the University of East Anglia in England. The probable cause: if they had been forgetting to take their pills before using the organiser, they may not have been getting expected health results, so their doctors may have increased the amount prescribed. Once they consume their medications properly, they may end up with too much medicine in their systems, leading to incidents such as falls or low blood glucose levels.