Most of Americans' Calories Come From Ultra-Processed Foods: CDC
Some 55 percent of total calories taken in by Americans 1 year of age and older came from ultra-processed foods, a category that includes burgers, sweet baked goods, savory snacks, pizza, and soda, the CDC said in a brief.
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New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
What is Hashimoto's? Grey's Anatomy's Camilla Luddington's disease explained
'Grey's Anatomy' star Camilla Luddington revealed this week that she's battled an autoimmune disease. The actress, 41, said on the 'Call It What It Is' podcast that she'd been feeling constantly 'slothy' and 'tired' — but figured at first that it was just her age or even hormonal changes. 'I thought, I have two kids, I'm in my 40s. This is what 'the 40s' is. I have jobs to do, maybe I'm perimenopause,' she said. Advertisement 'It got to the point where, by 11 a.m., I felt like I had to chug Benadryl, and I needed to nap. It didn't matter how much sleep I'd gotten the night before. There was no pushing through the day.' 4 'Grey's Anatomy' star Camilla Luddington revealed her Hashimoto's diagnosis this week. Richard Cartwright But after getting blood work done, she was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease. What is Hashimoto's? Hashimoto's is a chronic autoimmune disorder that can cause hypothyroidism or an underactive thyroid. The condition is characterized by the immune system's creation of antibodies that attack thyroid cells as if they were bacteria, viruses, or some other foreign threat. Advertisement The thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped organ in the front of your neck, produces hormones that regulate metabolism, support growth, and promote brain development, among other vital functions. The primary function of the thyroid is metabolic regulation. In patients with Hashimoto's disease the thyroid doesn't produce enough thyroid hormone for the body, slowing the metabolism and leading to a slew of symptoms. Named for Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto, the physician who identified the condition in 1912, Hashimoto's disease is also known as Hashimoto thyroiditis, Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, and Lymphocytic thyroiditis. Advertisement Hashimoto's is a common condition, affecting 5 in 100 Americans. Hashimoto's can develop in any sex at any age, but women are 10 times more likely to be diagnosed than men. Diagnosis typically occurs between the ages of 30 and 50. People with existing autoimmune conditions like Addison's disease, Celiac disease, Lupus, Pernicious anemia, Rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome and Type 1 diabetes are more likely to develop Hashimoto's. 4 She'd initially dismissed her fatigue as normal for being a mom in her 40s. FilmMagic Advertisement What causes Hashimoto's disease? In patients with Hashimoto's, the immune system erroneously enlists disease-fighting agents that damage healthy cells. The exact cause of Hashimoto's is unclear, but experts believe the onset of the disease may be related to genetic factors or environmental triggers like stress, infection, and radiation exposure. Hashimoto's symptoms Patients with Hashimoto's disease may not have any symptoms at first. As Hashimoto's progresses, the thyroid gland may swell and enlarge, a condition known as a goiter. This is often the first sign of the disease. The symptoms of Hashimoto's progress slowly over the course of several years. Eventually, the decline in thyroid hormone production can result in the following symptoms: Fatigue Weight gain Increased sensitivity to cold Dry skin Enlarged tongue Constipation Muscle weakness Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness Joint pain and stiffness Irregular or excessive menstrual bleeding Depression Problems with cognition Swelling of the thyroid (goiter) A puffy face Brittle nails Hair loss 4 As Hashimoto's progresses, the thyroid gland may swell and enlarge, a condition known as a goiter. Orawan – How is Hashimoto's diagnosed? Advertisement Hashimoto's is tentatively diagnosed by symptoms and a physical exam and confirmed through a series of blood tests, including a Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) test, a Free thyroxine (T4) test, and/or an Antithyroid antibody test. In some cases, providers may recommend a thyroid ultrasound to assess the size and quality of the gland and deduce if thyroid growths are present. How is Hashimoto's treated? Not all patients with Hashimoto's will develop hypothyroidism. In these cases, healthcare providers monitor thyroid levels but eschew treatment. When/if Hashimoto's leads to hypothyroidism, the gold standard in treatment is the medication levothyroxine, a synthetic form of the hormone T4 produced by the thyroid. Advertisement 4 Luddington revealed that she's been prescribed Levothyroxine and is now 'on the road to recovery.' Getty Images for MPTF NextGen Luddington revealed that she's been prescribed Levothyroxine and is now 'on the road to recovery.' 'I do feel a lot better. My energy's a lot better,' she said, adding, 'It's going to be a journey.' If hypothyroidism goes untreated, it can lead to serious health issues, including pregnancy complications, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, depression, and in some cases, myxedema coma, a rare condition in which the body's functions slow to the point of being fatal Is there a cure for Hashimoto's? Advertisement There is no known cure for Hashimoto's, but medication like Levothyroxine, eating well, exercising, adequate sleep, and stress management can support the immune system. Famous people with Hashimoto's In addition to Luddington, other famous people who have been open about their Hashimoto's diagnosis include supermodel Gigi Hadid, who has previously shared how the disease has affected her body. Zoe Saldana, Kelly Clarkson and Oprah Winfrey have also spoken out about having the condition.
The Onion
2 hours ago
- The Onion
RFK Jr. Recommends Eating Good Cancer To Kill The Bad Cancer
WASHINGTON—Suggesting an unorthodox alternative to standard oncological treatments, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued recommendations Friday that encourage Americans to eat what he described as good cancer to kill the bad cancer already in their bodies. 'They cancel each other out,' Kennedy told reporters as he demonstrated how he uses a Microplane to grate tumors he forages from medical waste bins, incorporating their positive carcinogenic effects into his meals. 'Instead of flooding your system with nasty chemicals that big pharmaceutical companies manufacture in foreign labs, you can incorporate organic good cancer into your system to naturally crowd out and eliminate the harmful bad cancer cells. We've known about this for generations, but lobbyist groups like the American Cancer Society have misled people about the proven health benefits of good cancer in order to line their pockets. It's all about balance: Too much good cancer will act like a bad cancer, but not enough good cancer in your diet will cause the bad cancer to run amok.' As he blended a raw tumor into a Nutribullet smoothie, Kennedy argued that it was best to consume the good cancer raw to avoid cooking off its healthy cancer properties.
Medscape
2 hours ago
- Medscape
ADHD: Not a Diagnosis but a Warning Label
The title of a recent article in The New York Times asks, 'Have We Been Thinking About A.D.H.D. All Wrong?' How would you answer this question? My response would be a robust 'You're darn right we have!' I am a member of a shrinking cohort of primary care pediatricians who practiced before the phenomenon of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appeared on the landscape. I have always been troubled by how the handful of hyperactive grade schoolers I was seeing in the 1970s could mushroom into something that prompted the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to report last year more than 11% of American children had been diagnosed with ADHD. I don't include myself in the 'we' to whom the writer refers. I have never been able to imagine that a seismic genetic shift could explain the sudden emergence of a new disease that lacks solid diagnostic criteria or a biophysical marker. Radiation from solar flares and chemicals leached from the nonstick surfaces on our pots and pans just don't seem to be likely answers. William Wilkoff, MD The New York Times article comes the closest to encapsulating an explanation I have constructed over the past 50 years of observing the ADHD phenomenon unfold. Clearly, something has changed. But it has eluded those looking for some biophysical cause. Although stimulant medications have been associated with observable changes in behavior in some situations, these have usually been temporary. The effectiveness of the medications has never seemed to warrant the millions of stimulant pills that are prescribed to children and young adults every year in this country. Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, a neuroscience and psychiatry researcher at King's College London, was quoted in the article as saying, 'We have a clinical definition of A.D.H.D. that is increasingly unanchored from what we are finding in our science.' He goes on to say that clinicians can't objectively measure and define a natural category of individuals with ADHD. His observation makes one wonder how much of the ADHD research has been valid. Some of the new thinking about ADHD comes from a re-examination of the landmark MTA study, which demonstrated that the effects of the medication were statistically significant at 14 months. However, they had lost their significance at 36 months. Even more interesting is the more recent observation that 40% of the control group in that study who did not qualify for an ADHD label in 1999 were later diagnosed with ADHD in adolescence, suggesting that something extrinsic had changed over time. Other studies referred to in the New York Times article have shown that although stimulant medication improved behavior and the speed of work, there was no demonstrable improvement in learning. Margaret Sibley, PhD, clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in an attempt to explain the later diagnosis of ADHD in the MTA control group, says that what changed for these children was their environment. The world of an adolescent is much different from that of an 8- or 9-year-old, and is often more turbulent. Joel Nigg, PhD, a clinical psychologist at Oregon Health & Science University, says that for a large percentage of individuals diagnosed with ADHD, 'there is nothing neurobiologically notable about them. Instead, their symptoms are situational or conditional.' What are those conditions that can trigger behavior commonly associated with the ADHD label? Instead of a condition or group of conditions, it is probably better to consider situations in which there is 'a misalignment between a child's biological makeup and the environment in which they are trying to function' says Sonugo-Barke. Take, for example, the kindergarten student who didn't attend preschool and who has just turned 5 at the start of the school year. Or the 13-year-old hands-on learner who did 'okay' in grade school but now finds himself thrust into the college track in high school with a heavy emphasis on reading and classroom lectures. Or a 30-something who has found himself in a job in which he is struggling to keep up with his supervisor's demands. This view of ADHD symptoms, not as a single condition but as an expression of a mismatch between a person's capabilities (both physical and emotional) and their environment, includes the assumption that the population is made up of individuals with a wide range of vulnerabilities. Some are more easily tipped into demonstrating ADHD-like symptoms at times of stress, whereas others are more resistant. At one end of this spectrum is a small group of children who were born with a neurochemical makeup that makes them highly likely to exhibit ADHD symptoms. Individuals with fetal alcohol syndrome are probably the best example of a group that may have an identifiable biomarker. Although it is likely that research will identify a mechanism to explain the ADHD-like symptoms in this very small subset, it is much less likely that a similar mechanism or structure will explain the spectrum of vulnerabilities in the general population in the short term. However, if and when a biomarker is discovered in the general population, we must be careful about the chicken-and-egg situation. Was the environment-individual mismatch a result of altered structure or chemistry, or did the stress associated with the mismatch trigger the observed change? Finally, let's consider what may be the most common example of a mismatch between the individual's biological makeup and their environment: sleep deprivation. When people are made sleep-deficient, they exhibit symptoms often linked with ADHD, such as slower reaction times, attention difficulties, mood changes, and irritability, to name just a few. It has been my observation over five decades of observing children and adults that very often sleep deprivation is a major, if not the most potent, contributor to what others have labeled as ADHD. Then it is not surprising that a stimulant medication in an individual who is sleep deprived will cause a dramatic, although not long-lasting, improvement. One of the most common complaints voiced by persons labeled as having ADHD is that they find school or their job boring. Individuals with boring jobs, such as truck driving or assembly line work dominated by repetitive tasks, can be more productive when they are given a stimulant. If we are looking for a change in the environment that has occurred over the past three quarters of a century to explain the ADHD phenomenon, we need look no further than the well-documented observation that individuals of all ages are getting significantly less sleep. The reasons are too numerous to document in this short column, but the popularity of television and personal electronic devices are obvious examples. Yes, we must look at our educational system to make sure we are creating learning environments in which children who have a variety of skills and vulnerabilities can thrive. Yes, that school environment should be stimulating without being distracting and provide an abundance of physical activity. But we must remember to make sure that families are taught to identify when their child is overtired and how to take appropriate measures to ensure they arrive at school well rested. View ADHD not as a diagnosis but rather a collection of observations of a patient's behavior that should serve as a warning label. This doesn't mean we should completely rule out stimulants as a therapeutic option. However, medication should be considered a temporary step while more definitive steps are being taken to narrow the discrepancy between children's own resources and the environment in which they find themselves.
