If you have swings in your blood pressure, get with a new med
Researchers recently found that if your high blood pressure fluctuates between doctor visits, you and your cardiovascular system are in big trouble. The cause of those fluctuations might be related to the antihypertensive meds you are taking.
Alpha blockers and alpha-2 agonists are associated with an increased risk of variations in HBP readings, say the researchers, and those variations correspond to an increased risk of mortality. The researchers concluded: “Blood pressure medications that produce more consistent blood pressure [show] better mortality outcome … Those medications include ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers and thiazide diuretics.”
If you have HBP, ask your doctor about doing a multi-day monitoring test to determine how variable your readings are. If they are not steady, talk about finding a treatment that will maintain even control of your blood pressure. It could save your life.
New guidelines for women contending with unwanted hair
In 1865, as a 1-year-old, Annie Jones Elliot was put in P.T. Barnum’s sideshow as the new “Infant Esau.” (“Esau” in Hebrew means “hairy.”) By 5, The Bearded Girl had sideburns and a mustache, and was launched on her lifelong career as The Bearded Woman.
Annie was unusually hairy, but 7 percent of women contend with some degree of hirsutism, or abnormal hair growth. Three-quarters of cases are associated with polycystic ovary syndrome, triggered by excessive levels of androgen hormones like testosterone. Some medications for seizures, blood pressure and low blood sugar also can cause hirsutism. In addition, hypertrichosis, or excess hair, can result from thyroid dysfunction, anorexia and porphyria (a blood disorder).
The Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for managing these conditions have been updated:
1. Get an accurate diagnosis.
Have blood tests to check levels of male sex hormones. You want to know if unwanted hair growth is because of
PCOS, adrenal hyperplasia, thyroid dysfunction, Cushing syndrome or androgen-secreting tumors.
2. Select safe treatments.
The first-line treatment for women with hirsutism is oral contraceptives. Topical agents, such as eflornithine, also may be used. Photoepilation (intense pulsed light therapy) works on brown/ auburn/black hair. However, women of color may need to use a long wavelength, long pulse duration light source to avoid complications. Women of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent are at risk of pigment changes, blistering or scarring. Evidence for the effectiveness of electrolysis and laser therapy is limited, but these may work for white or blond hair.
Best diet to control Type 2 diabetes Question:
I’m looking for some tips on how to best shape my diet to control my Type 2 diabetes. I know about the glycemic index and try to stay away from sweets, but what else can I do? — Fern G., Madison, Wisconsin
Answer: What you eat has a huge influence on all aspects of your health (food is medicine). But if you have Type 2 diabetes, there are some new findings that will superpower your ability to control elevated glucose levels.
All the action takes place in your digestive system, where fermenting complex carbs meet gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids.
Researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey found, during a sixyear study, that eating lots and lots of diverse, fiberrich foods significantly improves glucose control, increases weight loss and improves blood lipid (cholesterol and triglyceride) levels. What’s not to love?
Various types of gut bacteria thrive on a diet of fiber, and that allows them to produce plenty of SCFAs. SCFAs are essential for healthy cells in the gut lining. Ever hear of leaky gut?
Well, nurturing SCFAproducing gut bacteria could protect you from that. They also reduce inflammation and help control appetite. Plus, byproducts of SCFA-producing bacteria, butyrate and acetate, produce a mildly acidic gut environment that reduces potentially harmful gut bacteria and increases insulin production. If you aren’t feeding the bacteria that produce SCFAs, you’re vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes.
Diverse fiber that promotes production of SCFAs comes from eating:
■ Resistant starches in 100 percent whole-grain cereals, barley, brown rice, beans, lentils, green bananas, cooked and cooled potatoes or pasta.
■ Pectin from apples, apricots, blackberries, carrots and oranges.
■ Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and inulin from Jerusalem artichokes, onions, leeks, asparagus and 100 percent whole wheat and rye.
■ Arabinoxylan in oats and all bran.
So, if you want to see your A1C improve, the researchers suggest a diet that relies on these gutsy foods.