October 27, 2026 3 min watch Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio NASHVILLE — In this Healio video, Elliot Tapper, MD, FAASLD, discusses a presentation from the ACG Annual Meeting about popular supplements that are promoted on TikTok as treatments for MASH. “Come from a place of empathy, understanding that [both you and the patient] share the same goals. You want them to be healthy and happy, and you don’t want them to feel shame or to be less forthright with information about what they’re taking,” Tapper, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, told Healio. “And where you don’t know the answer, it’s okay to see how things play out in a time-limited trial with monitoring of liver enzymes and the like.” Published by: Sources/Disclosures Source: Barritt SA. TikTok Hepatitis: Popular supplements for MASH and their effects on the liver. Presented at: the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct. 9-14, 2026; Nashville. Disclosures: Tapper reports no relevant financial disclosures. Ask a clinical question and tap into Healio AI’s knowledge base. PubMed, enrolling/recruiting trials, guidelines Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news Healio’s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data Learn more Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Source link
Medicaid expansion failed to lower IBD mortality
October 27, 2026 2 min read Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Key takeaways: Medicaid expansion did not markedly lower IBD mortality, despite a smaller increase in expansion states. Improved specialist access and biologic drug availability may be needed to reduce IBD mortality. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Medicaid expansion did not appear to reduce inflammatory bowel disease-specific mortality over a 26-year period, according to a presenter at ACG Annual Scientific Meeting. However, researchers noted these findings should not minimize the benefits Medicaid coverage provides patients with IBD. “What stood out to me was the importance of interpreting that result within the outcome we measured,” Daniyal Raza, MD, assistant professor of medicine at LSU Health Shreveport, told Healio. “Mortality is a consequential endpoint, but it captures only one part of living with IBD. Our study does not tell us whether patients experienced better symptom control, fewer hospitalizations, more consistent treatment or improved quality of life. “A null mortality finding is not a comprehensive verdict on the value of insurance coverage,” he added. Raza and colleagues conducted a retrospective, state-level difference-in-differences (DiD) analysis to determine whether Medicaid expansion was linked to change in IBD-related mortality over time. They used CDC death certificate data attributed to Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis and included all ages in the analysis. “The question grew out of a practical concern: Patients with IBD need sustained access to care, but obtaining insurance does not necessarily end the difficulties they face getting treatment,” Raza said. “Prior authorization denials, appeals and delays in starting medications can remain obstacles.” Analysis included 21 states, which were grouped by those that expanded Medicaid coverage by January 2016 (n = 14) and those that had not through 2024 (n = 7). The researchers compared mean age-adjusted IBD mortality per 100,000 deaths between the two groups prior to expansion (1999-2013) and after expansion (2017-2024), excluding years 2014 to 2016 to allow for stabilization in Medicaid enrollment and use. Results showed states that expanded Medicaid coverage had a smaller increase in IBD mortality compared with states that did not expand coverage (relative change, +1% vs. +4.9%), but the difference was not statistically significant (DiD = 0.005; 95% CI, –0.022 to 0.031). A secondary analysis of individuals aged 15 to 64 years, using data pooled from 2007 to 2013 and from 2018 to 2024, also showed a smaller increase in IBD mortality in expansion states (+1.2% vs. +17.5%), which did not reach statistical significance. The researchers acknowledged study limitations, including use of state-level data rather than patient-level data, and differences in pre-expansion trends. “Our study did not demonstrate a mortality difference associated with Medicaid expansion, but it should not be interpreted as evidence that coverage is unimportant,” Raza told Healio. “For GI practices, the practical focus remains identifying where care gets interrupted: an authorization awaiting approval, an unaffordable prescription or difficulty arranging follow-up. “The question I would bring back to clinic is: Once a patient has coverage, what is still preventing them from receiving effective care?” he added. For more information: Daniyal Raza, MD, can be reached at daniyal.raza@lsuhs.edu. Published by: Sources/Disclosures Source: Raza D, et al. Medicaid expansion and IBD mortality: A state-level difference-in-differences analysis, 1999-2024. Presented at: ACG Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct. 12-14, 2026; Nashville, Tenn. (hybrid meeting). Disclosures: Raza reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures. Ask a clinical question and tap into Healio AI’s knowledge base. PubMed, enrolling/recruiting trials, guidelines Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news Healio’s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data Learn more Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Source link
Factores de riesgo de enfermedades cardiacas que podrías no conocer
ESTADÍSTICAS: En lo que se refiere a mujeres de 20 años o más, casi la mitad viven con enfermedades cardiovasculares y algunas no lo saben. ¿Cuáles son los factores de riesgo menos conocidos de enfermedades cardiovasculares (ECV)? o Estrés crónico puede causar inflamación, lo que puede contribuir con hipertensión y menores niveles de colesterol LAD “bueno”. o Tu cuerpo se repara en la noche y déficits de sueño pueden incrementar el riesgo de ECV y accidentes cerebrovasculares. o Interrupciones del sueño por apnea del sueño pueden causar hipertensión, grasa abdominal y latidos irregulares. o Bacterias GI útiles descomponen ciertos alimentos pero demasiadas bacterias “malas” en tu microbioma intestinal podrían causar que hayan más productos derivados perjudiciales para el colesterol y para los vasos sanguíneos. o Personas que reportaron aislamiento social y soledad tuvieron un riesgo 29% mayor de acontecimientos cardiacos y un riesgo 32% mayor de accidentes cerebrovasculares. o La glándula tiroidea juega un papel clave en la salud cardiaca y vascular. Personas con disfunción tiroidea pueden tener más ECV, incluyendo fibrilación auricular y niveles altos de colesterol. o Complicaciones cardiovasculares relacionadas con el embarazo, tales como nacimientos prematuros, preeclampsia e hipertensión durante el embarazo, ocurren en 1 de cada 7 mujeres, lo cual puede incrementar el riesgo de accidentes cerebrovasculares y de insuficiencia cardiaca después del embarazo. o La menstruación usualmente empieza entre los 10 y 15 años. Para mujeres que no se encuentran en ese rango, el riesgo de ECV aumenta. o Menopausia temprana: Asimismo, si dejaste de tener períodos menstruales temprano debido a algo como una remoción quirúrgica de los ovarios, la salud cardiaca puede verse afectada. Las mujeres que empiezan con la menopausia antes de los 40 años tienen un riesgo 40% mayor de cardiopatías coronarias. o Tratamientos oncológicos: Tratamientos vitales tales como quimioterapias y radioterapias pueden tener efectos colaterales negativos, denominados cardiotoxicidad, los cuales pueden persistir después de tratamientos oncológicos. o La salud oral: No se sabe concluyentemente si hay una conexión directa entre la salud oral y cardiaca, pero hay una correlación entre personas con enfermedades periodontales y cardiopatías coronarias e hipertensión, posiblemente debido a inflamación o a bacterias nocivas en las encías que llegan a los vasos sanguíneos. La población a la que perteneces puede predecir tu riesgo de ECV – Las tasas de hipertensión varían por raza. En un análisis, el 59% de adultos de raza negra tenían hipertensión, esa tasa era menos del 45% para adultos hispanos, de raza blanca y asiáticos. – Personas desempleadas tienen un riesgo 84% mayor de acontecimientos cardíacos peligrosos y casi 3 veces más riesgo de muerte en comparación con personas que tienen empleo. – Personas con bajos ingresos con hipertensión tienen un mayor riesgo de mortalidad que otras personas con hipertensión. ¿Qué puedes hacer? 1. Pide a tu profesional clínico que se hagan pruebas referenciales para conocer el funcionamiento de tu corazón. Si las pruebas descubren un problema, te podrían prescribir medicamentos, cambios de tu estilo de vida u otro tipo de intervenciones. 2. Si tienes cáncer, haz que un cardiooncólogo forme parte de tu equipo de especialistas para que puedas seguir recibiendo tu tratamiento mientras proteges tu corazón.3. Programa consultas dentales en forma regular y cepilla y limpia tus dientes con hilo dental en forma regular. 4. Identifica lo que puedes cambiar y lo que no. Haz cosas pequeñas todos los días que sean beneficiosas para tu corazón. Reúnete con amigos para caminar y come algo saludable después de eso. Este recurso educativo se preparó con el apoyo de Merck. Source link
Walking 3,000 Steps a Day May Slow Alzheimer’s-Related Decline
Around 3,000 steps a day, roughly half an hour of moderate-paced walking, was associated with slower Alzheimer’s-related brain changes in a Harvard study of older adults with elevated amyloid, an early brain sign of the disease. If 10,000 steps feels like one more thing you’re supposed to squeeze into an already full day, that’s encouraging news. In an article published by The Conversation on Oct. 19, 2026, Eef Hogervorst, a professor of biological psychology at Loughborough University, explains the Harvard findings and points to a larger UK study that also linked fewer daily steps to lower dementia risk. Related story 10 Best Protein Shakes for Women, According to Editors and Experts What Did the Harvard Study Find? The paper, “Physical activity as a modifiable risk factor in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease,” was published November 3, 2025, in Nature Medicine. Researchers followed 296 Harvard Aging Brain Study participants ages 50 to 90 who had no memory or thinking impairment at enrollment. Participants wore pedometers for a week and completed annual assessments of their thinking and everyday functioning for up to 14 years. PET brain scans, repeated in some participants, tracked amyloid-beta and tau — two proteins that build up in Alzheimer’s disease. Among people with elevated amyloid, those taking 3,001–5,000 daily steps showed slower tau buildup and slower cognitive decline than inactive participants. Higher activity was also linked to slower declines in everyday functioning. In the moderate and highest activity groups, researchers estimated roughly half as much cognitive decline over nine years as in inactive participants. The team included senior author Dr. Jasmeer Chhatwal, a Mass General Brigham neurologist, and lead author Dr. Wai-Ying Wendy Yau, a cognitive neurologist. Why Does 3,000 Steps Matter? You don’t have to make 10,000 steps your starting goal. The Harvard findings were encouraging at much lower activity levels, though 3,000 isn’t a magic number. The first category above “inactive” covered 3,001–5,000 daily steps. “3,000 steps is not a proven ‘minimum dose’ for preventing tau accumulation,” Dr. Jay Luthar, a Harvard Medical School instructor and founder of Lutanen Health, tells SheKnows. For context, researchers used about 2,800 and 8,700 daily steps to represent lower and higher activity levels in their models. Around 3,000 steps is roughly half an hour of moderate-paced walking. Hogervorst also highlights a larger 2022 UK study that followed 78,430 people for seven years using wrist-worn activity trackers. Around 3,800 daily steps were associated with 25% lower dementia risk, rising to about 50% at 9,800 steps. “Lifestyle changes may slow the emergence of cognitive symptoms if we act early,” senior author Dr. Jasmeer Chhatwal, a Mass General Brigham neurologist, said in the study release. Where Was the Step-Count Sweet Spot? You may not need to keep chasing a higher number. The association leveled off at 5,001–7,500 daily steps. For people with elevated amyloid, the researchers’ estimates suggested: Walking 3,001–5,000 steps a day was linked to reaching a measure of cognitive impairment about three years later than in inactive participants. At 5,001–7,500 steps a day, that estimated difference grew to about seven years. Above 7,500 daily steps, results were similar rather than continuing to improve. These were estimates from the researchers’ models, not guaranteed extra years without symptoms. People who took fewer steps also had faster declines in memory, thinking, and everyday functioning. Among those who walked more, the slower tau buildup helped explain why their thinking skills held up better. “We were able to clarify that the association with cognitive decline was not explained by differences in amyloid accumulation,” first author Dr. Wai-Ying Wendy Yau, a cognitive neurologist, told Newsweek. The distinction is that activity was linked to slower tau buildup, not reduced amyloid accumulation. The study was relatively small, participants were mostly white and highly educated, and researchers couldn’t account for every health or lifestyle difference. Early Alzheimer’s changes may also make people less active, so the relationship could partly work in the other direction. How Can You Make More Steps Doable? Start by seeing where you are now. Use your phone or a pedometer to track your usual steps for a few days. If you spend much of the day sitting, work gradually toward around 3,000 daily steps, with 5,000–7,500 as a possible longer-term goal. You don’t have to get them all in one walk — the study measured total daily steps. Luthar suggests five minutes after breakfast and another five after lunch, then building from there. “Consistency over months and years is more valuable than an ambitious target that someone abandons after a week,” he tells SheKnows. When you can, take your walk outside or invite someone to join you. Hogervorst notes that daylight and social connection may also benefit sleep, mood, and brain health, and there are plenty more ways to reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s and dementia — start here. The encouraging takeaway is that a little walking may go a long way. Around 3,000 daily steps (roughly half an hour at a moderate pace) showed promise, and the strongest association leveled off at 5,001–7,500. A half-hour walk could be a manageable starting point — and those steps don’t all have to happen at once. Source link
Preguntas que deberías hacer a tu profesional clínico sobre la enfermedad de Alzheimer
Incluso si sospechas que podrías tener la enfermedad de Alzheimer, escuchar el diagnóstico podría ser difícil. Sin embargo, todavía puedes controlar ciertos aspectos de tu atención sabiendo lo más posible. Esto implica hacer incluso más preguntas, las cuales podrían ser, entre otras: ¿Quién me tratará? ¿Qué cambios podría anticipar en el futuro? ¿Hay algún tratamiento que podría ser útil para retrasar el progreso de la enfermedad? ¿Soy elegible para los tratamientos? ¿Hay algún tratamiento para mis síntomas? ¿Hay algún ensayo clínico para el cual podría ser elegible? ¿Debería implementar algún cambio de mi estilo de vida, tal como dieta y ejercicio, que fomente mi salud general y posiblemente también sea útil para retrasar el progreso de la enfermedad? ¿Qué recursos hay para mí y para las personas que me cuidan? ¿Qué decisiones debería tomar ahora, tales como instrucciones previas o poderes notariales? ¿Puedo seguir conduciendo sin peligro? ¿Qué tipo de asistencia podría necesitar si quiero seguir viviendo en mi hogar? ¿Cuáles son los siguientes pasos que debería tomar? Podría ser difícil para algunas personas recibir atención para la demencia debido a su costo, la situación de su seguro, barreras lingüísticas y su ubicación geográfica. Si tienes algún obstáculo, pregunta a tu profesional clínico si hay sistemas de asistencia para ti, tales como servicios de bajo costo, opciones de transporte, servicios de intérpretes o programas de asistencia locales. Si vives sola y no tienes familiares o amigos que puedan ayudar a cuidarte, es particularmente importante que preguntes qué tipos de recursos hay y cómo obtener acceso a ellos. Esto podría incluir un trabajador social o un coordinador de atención médica para empezar. Podrías ser elegible para servicios comunitarios, tales como los que puedes encontrar en Eldercare Locator, parte de la Administración para la Vida Comunitaria del HHS [Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos]. La línea de asistencia, que funciona las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana, de Alzheimer’s Association (1-800-272-3900) también podría ser útil. Source link
Questions to Ask About Complicated UTI Symptoms
When learning about cUTIs, you might come across words and terms you don’t know. Here is a list of some of the more common ones you might encounter: Antibiotic: Medication that kills bacteria to stop them from growing; used to treat bacterial infections Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): When germs such as bacteria or fungi change (mutate), they may resist drugs that used to kill them or keep them from multiplying. This is called AMR. Bacteria: Very small (single-cell) organisms, invisible to the naked eye Bladder: The hollow, spherical organ that holds urine until you pee Bloodstream infection: Infection in the blood Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI): A UTI related to having or using a urinary catheter is called a CAUTI Complicated urinary tract infection (cUTI): A UTI with symptoms that suggest that it has spread beyond the bladder, including fever and pyelonephritis (kidney infection) Cystitis: Inflammation of the bladder, often caused by a bladder infection Dysuria: Discomfort, pain or burning when peeing Flank pain: Pain in the side of the body between your ribs and hip Hematuria: Red blood cells (blood) in your urine Lower urinary tract: The part of the urinary tract that includes your bladder and urethra (the tube that carries urine out of your body) Pyelonephritis: A kidney infection Recurrent UTI: UTIs that happen two or more times within six months or three times in a year. Recurrent UTIs aren’t necessarily cUTIs. Also called chronic UTIs. Sepsis: The body’s extreme reaction to an infection; a life-threatening emergency Systemic symptoms: These are symptoms that affect more than one part of your body beyond your bladder. These include fever, chills, low blood pressure or feeling very unwell. Upper urinary tract: This part of the urinary tract includes your kidneys and the ureters (tubes that bring urine from your kidney to the bladder) Urinalysis: A test that examines urine for different substances, including blood and the presence of bacteria. It can’t tell what type of bacteria is present, however. Urinary catheter: A thin, flexible rubber or plastic tube inserted through your urethra to the bladder that allows urine to drain Urinary frequency: Needing to pee more often than usual (more than seven times in a 24-hour period) Urinary incontinence: Accidental or unintentional release of urine, loss of bladder control Urinary retention: The inability to empty your bladder completely Urinary urgency: The very strong, sudden need to pee Urine culture: A urine test that identifies bacteria and other germs in the urine. If bacteria are found, testing can show what types of antibiotics are most likely to work. Source link
Facts About Rheumatoid Arthritis – HealthyWomen
While treatments such as medications and surgery help manage RA symptoms, there are things you can do at home as well. Low-impact physical activity like walking or swimming helps to increase or maintain muscle strength around joints. Doing repetitive movements like deep bending at the knees can cause joint injuries, so avoid them as much as possible. An anti-inflammatory diet (similar to the Mediterranean diet) might help reduce inflammation in joints and lower the risk of heart disease for people with RA. This includes unprocessed foods, fruits and vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids, whole grains, and reduced sugar. Maintain a healthy weight, which can decrease inflammation and pain, and if you smoke, try to quit. While you may not be able to fully prevent RA, you can take steps to reduce the risk. By beginning treatment right away, you can decrease the long-term damage to joints and help control swelling and pain. Source link
Q&A: To lessen legal risk, ‘do good medicine and document what you do’
October 26, 2026 1 min watch Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Key takeaways: Thorough documentation should reflect clinicians’ clinical reasoning, including diagnoses considered and ruled out. Clinicians should also understand the difference between decision-making capacity and consent. LAS VEGAS — Physicians can mitigate their legal risk by documenting their clinical reasoning and staying informed about emerging medical-legal issues, a speaker at OMED said. Medical legal “is always a great topic for people to learn more” about, John R. Casey, DO, MA, FACOEP-D, director of medical education at OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, told Healio. Physicians can mitigate their legal risk by documenting their clinical reasoning and staying informed about emerging medical-legal issues, a speaker at OMED said. Image: Adobe Stock “It’s not meant to be scary. Some people think it’s a bit dry, but I think it’s interesting if you look at it with the same lens that you look at quality review,” Casey said. “If you think about it from the fact that we all do medicine, we’re always going to interact with the legal system. So, it’s important to know what’s changing in the medical legal world.” Healio spoke with Casey about strategies that can lessen the risk for legal action, how AI factors into medical-legal issues and more. Healio: What are the emerging and important areas of legal risk that clinicians should be aware of? Casey: Most physicians are aware of basic legal risk as the legal landscape, much like medicine, is slow to evolve. I think the areas that they need to focus on are good differentials, considering all factors for the patient and documentation that explains their decision-making. There’s a commonly held misconception that if you miss some kind of unicorn diagnosis out there, that you’re practicing bad medicine. That’s not what the data supports. The data really supports that it’s when something is not that rare of a diagnosis, but you didn’t consider it, or you did but you didn’t document very well. That’s what really gets people into legal trouble. Healio: How does emerging AI factor into the legal landscape? Casey: One of the newer areas that people have concerns about — and it’s an underdeveloped area because, again, the legal system moves very slowly — are AI scribes and recording, the use of technology for health system alerts and this technology in electronic medical records. The thing we need to think about in medicine is AI is designed to be a tool to help patients, and they do that by helping the physician do a better job. When you use the AI that’s available to you for the right thing, making sure that the physician is ultimately the person with oversight, that really is the safest way to protect yourself. You can get a lot more done a lot safer with having AI rather than without. John R. Casey, DO, MA, FACOEP-D, held a talk at OMED about how physicians can mitigate legal risks. Healio: Are there any medical-legal principles you feel need better education and implementation? Casey: One of the biggest areas — and it’s interesting because it goes right to the root of something that we do in medicine all the time — is the difference between capacity and the ability to consent to things, and I think capacity in general is one of those ideas that seems easy to grasp, but it’s not really the same as competence, and that can really cause problems for people. You have the right in this country to make a poor decision, as long as you’re informed about the circumstances around that and are choosing to do that. Sometimes we forget that capacity can fluctuate. Someone can have capacity in certain domains, but not in others, and I think that unless you do a lot of work on this or have had recent education on it, some of the thoughts on it since your time in medical school or training have probably changed a bit, and it’s a topic worth revisiting. Healio: Do you have any basic tips for mitigating legal risk? Casey: The easiest way to mitigate risk is to do good medicine and document what you do. In your medical record, make sure that it’s clear what you thought things were and weren’t, what you considered and what you didn’t. A lot of times we just leave it to assume that everyone would know that’s something we would do, and unless you either ordered a test or documented that you thought about it, it really never makes its way in, and years down the road, you often would have a hard time justifying what you did or didn’t look for, particularly because when you’re playing the game with the final result, it’s a lot easier to question rulings on the play. For more information: John Casey, DO, MA, FACOEP-D, can be reached at primarycare@healio.com. Sources/Disclosures Source: Casey J. Medical legal you need to know. Presented at OMED; Oct. 22-25, 2026; Las Vegas. Disclosures: Casey reports no relevant financial disclosures. Ask a clinical question and tap into Healio AI’s knowledge base. PubMed, enrolling/recruiting trials, guidelines Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news Healio’s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data Learn more Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your
Breast Cancer Changed the Life I Imagined at 29. But It Was Still Mine to Build.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Twenty-nine was to be the first year of the rest of my life. I was active and healthy, an avid runner with a well-established career in healthcare. Newly engaged, Ryan and I were searching for our forever home and imagining what our future family may look like. One child? How about two? Yes, two! I’d always wondered what being a mom would be like. In no time, our venue was booked and our lives were on course to merge in the most perfect way. But all of that would come to a halt in January 2016 when I returned to the comfort of my living room couch from an outdoor cold-weather run, just a normal part of a normal day. I crossed my arms to warm up, almost as though I was hugging myself. Almost immediately, I felt something in my left breast that wasn’t there before, something that did not belong. Something … alarming. It was firm and nearly the size of a golf ball, not painful but strangely immovable. Recognizing this to be outside of what I knew to be normal for my body, I contacted my primary care physician’s office the next day, and I would find myself sitting nervously in her office the following morning. “Mindy, I’m concerned,” my PCP said quietly. She looked at me with compassion and paused. She’d been my trusted physician since high school, and I took her words seriously. “Just tell me what we need to do,” I said. She referred me to the breast clinic where I’d eventually receive the diagnostic imaging and biopsy that would confirm our worst fears: stage 2 breast cancer, with involvement of one lymph node. My prayers quickly shifted and I found myself hoping with everything I had that it wouldn’t spread before I could begin treatment. 2016 (Photo/Courtesy Mindy Miller) Over a decade before being of age to qualify for a routine screening mammogram, I found myself learning everything I could about what it meant to have breast cancer. I was the healthiest person — I knew until I wasn’t. As odd as it may sound, my first worries were not for my mortality but instead for my joy. After the initial shock and tears, I vowed that I wouldn’t let cancer steal my joy, nor Ryan’s. And instead of cancelling the dinner reservations we had hoped would be in celebration of good news, we made the decision to dress up and show up — the very same day that we received the news. While we were seated next to each other in the dimly lit Italian restaurant that evening, we revealed not only our fears and worries but also our hopes for how we might be able to move together through this ominous, overwhelming chapter of the unknown. Tears fell here and there, yet somehow, we found ways to smile and even laugh between them. My treatment plan included IV chemotherapy, a mastectomy, radiation, several breast reconstruction surgeries, and a total of nearly six years spent in medically induced menopause. You see, my body’s natural estrogen production was working against me. It was feeding the cancer, and that meant our chances of becoming parents were delayed. We didn’t lose hope, though. I chose to have only one breast removed in case I could still breastfeed someday. Not long after chemotherapy and my mastectomy, I would be declared cancer-free, and Ryan and I would marry just over a year later. We built our home in 2017, and in 2018, we began creating our farm, a place that would eventually become such a meaningful part of the life we were building together. Mindy and Ryan on their wedding day. (Photo/Courtesy Artefact Image Co., 2016) On paper, life looked much as we’d hoped. At the same time, I was lovingly watching my friends begin their families. One baby, then two. Sometimes three. I happily embraced their tiny human snuggles and I took joy in celebrating alongside them at their cutely themed birthday parties. What a gift it was to still be included in those special events even when I didn’t have similar milestones, myself. Even when I couldn’t relate. Instead, I was doing everything I could to manage the side effects of the medications I was receiving to keep my ovaries suppressed and my body in menopause — the hot flashes, extreme fatigue, difficulty sleeping, body aches, weight gain, and thinning hair and bones, with few effective ways to manage them. So, I leaned into gratitude for these options in recurrence risk reduction and I did the best I could to endure the years that would lead up to the day I’d complete my treatment course. The most triumphant milestone! However, even though my menstrual cycle soon returned and my oncologist gave us his blessing to begin our efforts with family planning, that positive pregnancy test never came. Even though we eventually received medical clearance to try, I think we had always carried a quiet feeling that having children might not be in the cards for us. While that did become our reality, we were already in the process of creating something beautiful: our life together. We leaned into a radical acceptance of sorts, a belief that if it was meant to be, it would be, and if it wasn’t, that was okay, too. Because a family doesn’t always have to be made up of the two-legged type. Mindy and one of her lambs. (Photo/Courtesy Mindy Miller, 2020) Our farm became a different kind of labor, a labor of love and a source of great meaning to us. What began as a hobby grew into something much bigger, giving us so many precious little friends to nurture. Today, we’re fortunate to call ourselves parents to numerous sheep, an alpaca, a llama, three miniature cows, three farm cats and one indoor dog. So many cold nights in the barn watching our sheep give birth to their lambs! How beautiful it
What a Seven-Day Fasting Study Found After Day Three
A seven-day fasting study is making the rounds again, but before you rethink breakfast, there’s some context worth knowing. ScienceDaily ran the story again on October 5, 2026, after publishing coverage on May 17. Both cover research first released in Nature Metabolism on March 1, 2024. The small study followed 12 healthy volunteers through a closely monitored, seven-day water-only fast. Researchers found that participants started using more stored fat within the first few days. Around day three, they also detected more widespread changes in blood proteins linked to organs throughout the body. Here’s what researchers found during that week, and why the timing matters. Related story Don’t Let Anyone Tell You Diet Soda Is Slowing Down Your Weight Loss Journey What Did the Seven-Day Fasting Study Measure? Researchers from Queen Mary University of London’s Precision Healthcare University Research Institute (PHURI) and the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences monitored five women and seven men daily. Participants drank water but ate nothing for seven whole days. The paper, “Systemic proteome adaptions to 7-day complete caloric restriction in humans,” looked at how the body responded. Unlike intermittent fasting, which usually limits when you eat, this study involved seven days with no food at all. What Happens During the First Three Days of Fasting? Within the first two to three days, participants began relying more on stored fat for energy instead of glucose, or sugar. Researchers also measured roughly 3,000 proteins in their blood before, daily during, and after the fast. This approach, called proteomics, let them follow changes that wouldn’t show up on a scale. “For the first time, we’re able to see what’s happening on a molecular level across the body when we fast,” Claudia Langenberg, director of Queen Mary’s Institute, said in a press release. Burning stored fat was an early response to going without food. After about three days, researchers also detected changes in blood proteins linked to all major organs. What Changed After Three Days of Fasting? About one-third of the proteins measured changed significantly during the fast, with a similar overall pattern across participants. Researchers grouped the changes into nine response patterns based on when protein levels rose or fell. “Our results provide evidence for the health benefits of fasting beyond weight loss, but these were only visible after three days of total caloric restriction,” Langenberg said in the press release. The study measured molecular changes and predicted their possible effects. It didn’t show that participants became healthier after three days. What Did Researchers Find Beyond Weight Loss? Participants lost an average of about 12.6 pounds, including both fat and lean mass. Three days after they started eating again, most of the lost lean mass had returned. Their body fat was still below its starting level. Some findings couldn’t be explained by weight loss alone. Researchers saw changes in proteins in the extracellular matrix, the material that surrounds and supports cells. One example was tenascin-R, a brain-specific protein involved in the support structure around nerve cells. The team used genetic data from large population studies to predict how some of these changes might affect health. The results pointed to both potential benefits and risks, giving researchers specific leads to investigate next. The longer-term hope is to develop treatments that reproduce some of fasting’s effects without requiring people to stop eating for days. Co-lead researcher Maik Pietzner said this could be especially useful for patients whose poor health makes fasting unsuitable. The team also hopes to find alternatives for people unable to follow fasting-mimicking diets, such as ketogenic diets. These findings have not established an FDA-approved treatment. For now, the clearest finding is the timing. These 12 closely monitored volunteers began using more stored fat within two to three days. Around 72 hours, blood tests also showed a coordinated response involving major organs throughout the body. The next step is to find out what those changes mean for health and whether any benefits can be achieved without a prolonged fast. Source link
