Key takeaways: Thyroid hormone medications include levothyroxine (Synthroid, Levoxyl, Tirosint), liothyronine (Cytomel), and desiccated thyroid (Armour Thyroid). They restore your body’s thyroid hormone levels when they’re lower than they should be. Levothyroxine is often considered the best medication for hypothyroidism.You should take all thyroid hormone medications on an empty stomach, at least 4 hours before...
Month: <span>December 2023</span>
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Why does alcohol make my poo go weird?
by Vincent Ho, The Conversation Credit: CC0 Public DomainAs we enter the festive season it’s a good time to think about what all those celebratory alcoholic drinks can do to your gut. Alcohol can interfere with the time it takes for food to go through your gut (also known as the “transit time”). In particular, it...
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Arthritic hands: What works (and doesn’t) to ease the pain?
by Denise Mann Millions of people who live with the pain and stiffness of arthritis in their hands get steroid or hyaluronic acid injections directly into their finger joints in the hopes of feeling better. Now, a new review shows that even though these injections are widely recommended in treatment guidelines, they don’t really work....
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‘Financial ruin is baked into the system’: Readers on the costs of long-term care
by Jordan Rau and Reed Abelson, KFF Health News Credit: RDNE Stock project from PexelsThousands of readers reacted to the articles in the “Dying Broke” series about the financial burden of long-term care in the United States. They offered their assessments for the government and market failures that have drained the lifetime savings of so...
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Researchers find that regret is rarer than believed among patients who undergo gender affirming surgery
by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public DomainIn a Viewpoint article published in JAMA Surgery, three Johns Hopkins researchers urge the medical community to dismiss a widely held, but scientifically unsupported belief that many people who are transgender and gender diverse (TGD), and undergo gender affirming surgery (GAS), later regret their decision to...
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ChatGPT provides accurate nutritional information, research finds
by Lori Solomon ChatGPT can be a useful and convenient tool for people who want to know nutritional information of specific food items, according to a research letter published online Dec. 27 in JAMA Network Open. Yen Nhi Hoang, from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, and colleagues investigated the reliability of artificial intelligence (AI) in...
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New form of immunotherapy under investigation for cancer that resists conventional T cell therapies
by Delthia Ricks , Medical Xpress Axial CT image with i.v. contrast. Macrocystic adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head. Credit: public domainMedical investigators are theorizing that a combination of two treatments that activate myeloid cells may effectively treat a recalcitrant form of pancreatic cancer that thwarts conventional immunotherapy. Mobilizing the immune system to destroy cancers has...
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Researchers find risk of miscarriage increases with benzodiazepine use in pregnancy
by Elana Gotkine After accounting for measurable confounders, the risk for miscarriage is increased in association with benzodiazepine use during pregnancy, according to a study published online Dec. 27 in JAMA Psychiatry. Lin-Chieh Meng, from the National Taiwan University in Taipei, and colleagues quantified the risk for miscarriage associated with benzodiazepine use during pregnancy in...
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AI scope hunts down colon polyps, aiding less experienced doctors
By Paul McClure Researchers found that colonoscopy assisted by AI improved the detection of polyps by inexperienced doctorsCUHK/CU Medicine Researchers have found that inexperienced doctors performing AI-assisted colonoscopies significantly improved their detection of polyps. Using AI with this diagnostic tool could lower the chances of missing these potential precursors to colorectal cancer. The addition of AI...
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Keto diet’s gut changes may protect against epileptic seizures
By Paul McClure Researchers have found that keto-induced changes in gut microbial makeup may be beneficial for epileptics Depositphotos A new UCLA study has found how a keto diet induces changes in the gut microbiome that could protect treatment-resistant epileptic children against seizures. The discovery could lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches. Evidence suggests...