Options exist to outflank side effects

In one “Saturday Night Live” skit, Kristin Wiig plays a woman in a Chantix commercial. As in any real drug commercial, the narrator comes on listing possible side effects: “If you notice symptoms such as rashes, fever, droopy lip, jazz hands, Robert De Niro face or Incredible Hulk strength, call the police right away.”

The list of side effects jammed in at the end of real drug commercials often seems staggering, but a new review in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism looked at 1.6 million people with Type 2 diabetes and found that a third of prescriptions for metformin, the first-line drug used to manage diabetes, are never filled. Researchers think the drug’s side effects, like gut problems or having to take one or more pills daily, discourages folks from taking it.

If you’re skipping your prescribed diabetes med(s) or know someone who is, work with your doc or talk to them about doing so.

Find a treatment routine to stick with. There are lots of options, more every year.

Taking your prescribed diabetes medication is crucial to help prevent complications like eye, nerve, heart and kidney disease, and AMPUTATIONS!

Only breastfeeding or formula for six months: Why is it so hard?

Breastfeeding moms have been harassed for feeding an infant in museums, on planes or trains and in shops and restaurants.

Such disapproval of public breastfeeding makes it easy to understand why so few women continue exclusively breastfeeding an infant for the first six months as recommended by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In fact, only 51 percent of moms are breastfeeding at all by the time their baby is 6 monthsold.

New data gathered from 2009-2014 find that only

32.5 percent of babies in the U.S. were introduced to complementary foods (including cow’s milk, juice, sugar water, baby food, water) at 6 months, when it’s recommended. Around 16 percent got such food before 4 months; almost 39 percent at 4 to 5 months.

To make it possible for you to continue feeding your baby only breastmilk or formula for the first six months:

Develop strategies for pumping: Employers are required to provide space to do so.

After a few months, consider using formula to complement breast milk when heading into potentially difficult situations.

Ask your doctor when it’s time to add complementary foods.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare.com.