Shedding new weight gain is heart smart
A new study shows the longer you’re overweight, the more damage you do to your cardiovascular and metabolic health — increasing your risk of metabolic dysfunction and diabetes.
The study, published in Plos One, looked at the body mass index, blood pressure and the cholesterol and glycated hemoglobin (blood sugar) levels of 20,746 participants from age 10 to 40. Researchers found that folks who were obese for five or fewer years had an A1C (blood glucose) level that was just 5 percent higher than folks with no years of obesity. But those who had been obese for 20 to 30 years had a level that was 20 percent higher — putting them at a far greater risk of diabetes and associated complications, from heart woes and stroke to depression and dementia.
So if you’ve gained weight during the pandemic or typically gain weight in the wintertime, make a commitment to shed a pound a week. You can do that by eliminating 500 calories a day from your diet and getting 10,000 steps a day or the equivalent, plus at least two days a week of strength training. You’ll reduce your weight and reduce damage to your heart, brain and endocrine system.
Prostate cancer detection
Seventeen years ago, Robert De Niro was treated for prostate cancer. Warren Buffet is eight years out. Diagnosed in early stages, these guys beat cancer. But not everyone is so fortunate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revealed that the number of men diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer (advanced cancer that’s spread and is harder to treat successfully) has jumped from 4 percent to 8 percent of all cases.
That’s why a newly Food and Drug Administration-approved imaging agent called Ga-68 PSMA-11 that can detect hard-to-spot prostate cancer lesions far earlier than before is being called a game changer. This PET scan imaging agent binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen on cancer cells, allowing doctors to locate potentially curable prostate cancer that has high-risk characteristics.
The American Cancer Society suggests men age 50 and older at average risk for prostate cancer who have a PSA of less than 2.5 ng/ml get retested every two years. Higher than 2.5 ng/ml? Test annually. If a PSA test indicates potential trouble, then this new scanning technique can more accurately ID who needs immediate intervention.
So don’t avoid your doc.