UNDERSTANDING INSULIN RESISTANCE - When the body blocks insulin from doing its job - The bodies of many people with diabetes are fighting a quiet war against the essential hormone insulin. This conflict is called insulin resistance, and while it's a hallmark of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, it can also affect those with type 1. Just why a person fails to respond properly to insulin is something of a mystery. In people who have neither diabetes nor insulin resistance, eating a typical meal will cause blood glucose levels to rise, triggering the pancreas to produce insulin. The hormone travels through the body and induces fat and muscle cells to absorb excess glucose from the blood for use as energy. As the cells take up glucose, blood glucose levels fall and flatten out to a normal range. Insulin also signals the liver — the body's glucose repository — to hold on to its glucose stores for later use. However, people with insulin resistance, also known as impaired insulin sensitivity, have built up a tolerance to insulin, making the hormone less effective. As a result, more insulin is needed to persuade fat and muscle cells to take up glucose and the liver to continue to store it. In response to the body's insulin resistance, the pancreas deploys greater amounts of the hormone to keep cells energized and blood glucose levels under control. (This is why people with type 2 diabetes tend to have elevated levels of circulating insulin.) The ability of the pancreas to increase insulin production means that insulin resistance alone won't have any symptoms at first. Over time, though, insulin resistance tends to get worse, and the pancreatic beta cells that make insulin can wear out.

..............................................................................................................................................................

Understanding Insulin Resistance

When the body blocks insulin from doing its job

By Erika Gebel, PhD

The bodies of many people with diabetes are fighting a quiet war against the essential hormone insulin.

This conflict is called insulin resistance, and while it's a hallmark of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, it can also affect those with type 1.

Just why a person fails to respond properly to insulin is something of a mystery.

But there are ways to make the body more receptive to insulin, which can help prevent or ameliorate diabetes.

Building Up Resistance

In people who have neither diabetes nor insulin resistance, eating a typical meal will cause blood glucose levels to rise, triggering the pancreas to produce insulin.

The hormone travels through the body and induces fat and muscle cells to absorb excess glucose from the blood for use as energy.

As the cells take up glucose, blood glucose levels fall and flatten out to a normal range.

Insulin also signals the liver — the body's glucose repository — to hold on to its glucose stores for later use.

However, people with insulin resistance, also known as impaired insulin sensitivity, have built up a tolerance to insulin, making the hormone less effective.

As a result, more insulin is needed to persuade fat and muscle cells to take up glucose and the liver to continue to store it.

In response to the body's insulin resistance, the pancreas deploys greater amounts of the hormone to keep cells energized and blood glucose levels under control. (This is why people with type 2 diabetes tend to have elevated levels of circulating insulin.)

The ability of the pancreas to increase insulin production means that insulin resistance alone won't have any symptoms at first.

Over time, though, insulin resistance tends to get worse, and the pancreatic beta cells that make insulin can wear out.

Eventually, the pancreas no longer produces enough insulin to overcome the cells' resistance. The result is higher blood glucose levels (prediabetes) and, ultimately, type 2 diabetes.

Insulin has other roles in the body besides regulating glucose metabolism, and the health effects of insulin resistance are thought to go beyond diabetes.

For example, some research has shown that insulin resistance, independent of diabetes, is associated with heart disease.

Behind the Battle

Scientists are beginning to get a better understanding of how insulin resistance develops.

For starters, several genes have been identified that make a person more or less likely to develop the condition.

It's also known that older people are more prone to insulin resistance.

Lifestyle can play a role, too; being sedentary, overweight, or obese increases the risk for insulin resistance.

Why? It's not clear, but some researchers theorize that extra fat tissue may cause inflammation, physiological stress, or other changes in the cells that contribute to insulin resistance.

There may even be some undiscovered factor produced by fat tissue, perhaps a hormone, that signals the body to become insulin resistant.

Doctors don't usually test for insulin resistance as a part of standard care.

In clinical research, however, scientists may look specifically at measures of insulin resistance, often in an effort to study potential treatments for insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.

They typically administer a large amount of insulin to a subject while at the same time delivering glucose to the blood to keep levels from dipping too low.

The less glucose needed to maintain normal blood glucose levels, the greater the insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance comes in degrees, with important health implications for people with diabetes.

The more insulin resistant a person with type 2 is, the harder it will be to manage the disease because more medication is needed to get enough insulin in the body to achieve target blood glucose levels.

Insulin resistance isn't a cause of type 1 diabetes, but people with type 1 who are insulin resistant will need higher insulin doses to keep their blood glucose under control than those who are more sensitive to insulin.

As with type 2, people with type 1 may be genetically predisposed to become insulin resistant. 

Or they may develop resistance due to overweight. 

Some research indicates that insulin resistance is a factor in cardiovascular disease and other complications in people with type 1.

Counterattack

While it may not be possible to defeat insulin resistance entirely, there are ways to make the body cells more receptive to insulin.

Getting active is probably the best way; exercise can dramatically reduce insulin resistance, in both the short and long terms.

In addition to making the body more sensitive to insulin and building muscle that can absorb blood glucose, physical activity opens up an alternate gateway for glucose to enter muscle cells without insulin acting as an intermediary.

This reduces the cells' dependence on insulin for energy.

This mechanism doesn't reduce insulin resistance itself, but it can help people who are insulin resistant improve their blood glucose control.

Weight loss can also cut down on insulin resistance. 

No one diet has been proved to be the most effective.

Some evidence suggests, though, that eating foods that are low in fat and high in carbohydrates can worsen insulin resistance.

Research has also shown that people who undergo weight-loss surgery are likely to become significantly more sensitive to insulin.

No medications are specifically approved to treat insulin resistance.

Yet diabetes medications like metformin and thiazolidinediones, or TZDs, are insulin sensitizers that lower blood glucose, at least in part, by reducing insulin resistance.

While fighting an invisible foe may seem daunting, there are effective tactics to combat insulin resistance.

Losing weight, exercising more, or taking an insulin-sensitizing medication may get the body to bend once again to insulin's will, bringing about good blood glucose control and better health.

The Diabetes Forecast brand provides accurate, timely, and friendly information about all aspects of living with diabetes or prediabetes, including food, fitness, weight loss, medications, research, and well-being for the entire family. Hope and inspiration, including real-life stories and reader-submitted content are other key ingredients in the editorial mix. Diabetes Forecast content address the broad spectrum of people living with diabetes— from those newly diagnosed with diabetes to people who have been living with the condition for decades.
In 2013, Diabetes Forecast magazine was awarded the Best Publication Redesign Gold award from the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors. Diabetes Forecast is also included in the National Diabetes Education Program’s Diabetes HealthSense website.

http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2011/jun/understanding-insulin-resistance.html

DÉJÀ VU IN HINDSIGHT - Why we believe in false premonitions - Researchers already know that déjà vu — the feeling that we have already had a particular experience before and are now reliving it — can come with a false sense of premonition. But is it also linked with a sense of postdiction — the feeling that our false premonition was, in fact, correct? Have you ever turned a corner into a street that you had never been on before and had a nagging feeling that some time, you had turned that same corner into that same street? If so, you have experienced what is known as “déjà vu.” If, following such an experience, you have also thought that you knew what would come next — say, that a black cat was about to cross your path in a hurry — then you have experienced a false premonition, which is often associated with déjà vu. Déjà vu and its associated phenomena have interested cognitive scientist Anne Cleary. Cleary and a fellow researcher, focused on the sense of false premonition that tends to accompany déjà vu and concluded that this likely happens because of the programming of our brains. Humans amass and store memories for predictive purposes — when we face a situation, we access previous similar experiences so that we can predict the likely outcomes automatically and thus make the best choices. With a phenomenon such as déjà vu, our brains become “tricked” into thinking that they can rely on previous experience to predict what will come up next.

...................................................................................................................................................

Déjà vu in hindsight

Why we believe in false premonitions

Written by Maria Cohut, Ph.D.

Fact checked by Isabel Godfrey

 

Researchers already know that déjà vu — the feeling that we have already had a particular experience before and are now reliving it — can come with a false sense of premonition.

But is it also linked with a sense of postdiction — the feeling that our false premonition was, in fact, correct?

New research shows how déjà vu influences aspects of our recollection.

Have you ever turned a corner into a street that you had never been on before and had a nagging feeling that some time, perhaps in a different life, you had turned that same corner into that same street?

If so, you have experienced what is known as “déjà vu.”

If, following such an experience, you have also thought that you knew what would come next — say, that a black cat was about to cross your path in a hurry — then you have experienced a false premonition, which is often associated with déjà vu.

Déjà vu and its associated phenomena have interested cognitive scientist Anne Cleary, from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, for many years.

In a previous study that Medical News Today covered, Cleary and a fellow researcher, Alexander Claxton, focused on the sense of false premonition that tends to accompany déjà vu and concluded that this likely happens because of the programming of our brains.

Humans, Cleary and Claxton explained, amass and store memories for predictive purposes — when we face a situation, we access previous similar experiences so that we can predict the likely outcomes automatically and thus make the best choices.

With a phenomenon such as déjà vu, our brains become “tricked” into thinking that they can rely on previous experience to predict what will come up next.

However, this is merely a false impression.

Now, Cleary and colleagues from Colorado State University are reporting their findings regarding another phenomenon relating to déjà vu: postdiction.

False familiarity tricks the brain

When a person experiences postdiction, they are “filling in” memory gaps with newer information, but they remain under the mistaken impression that this information was already part of the original memory.

So far, it has been unclear whether déjà vu has as strong an association with postdiction as it does with false premonitions.

However, in the new study paper that they published in the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Cleary and colleagues now report that it is and explain why this may be so.

“If this is an illusion — just a feeling — why do people so strongly believe they actually predicted what unfolded next? I wondered if there was an explanation in some sort of cognitive illusion,” says Cleary.

To find out, the researchers tasked study participants with the exploration of a virtual reality scene and then asked them whether they were experiencing déjà vu.

After this, the participants returned to the virtual scene, which randomly turned to the left or right.

At this point, the researchers asked the participants whether the event had unfolded as they had expected.

Finally, in another experiment, a second cohort of participants went through the same series of actions, with the additional task of rating how familiar the scene was to them both before and after the turn took place.

The researchers found that when participants experienced déjà vu and also reported a strong sense that they could predict what would happen next, this situation was strongly associated with the phenomenon of postdiction.

These participants were convinced, in hindsight, that they had correctly predicted the direction of the turn in the scene.

However, as the turns occurred at random, the researchers explain, they would have been pretty much impossible to foresee.

Cleary and colleagues argue that this mistaken belief in the accuracy of a false prediction is likely to be due to the intense sense of familiarity that the déjà vu sensation provides.

“If the entire scene feels familiar as it unfolds, that might trick our brains into thinking we got it right after all. Because it felt so familiar as you were going through it, it felt like you knew all along how it was going to go, even if that could not have been the case.” Anne Cleary

In the future, Cleary is planning to put her findings to good use in a clinical context.

She says that she will be joining forces with neuroscientists from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, to conduct a study focusing on individuals who have injuries of the medial temporal lobe of the brain.

The researcher explains that people with such injuries often experience seizures that recurring experiences of déjà vu accompany.

The forthcoming study may offer a glimpse into the underlying biological mechanisms at play in this phenomenon.

Maria Cohut, Ph.D.

Maria is an insatiably curious soul, particularly fascinated by the mysterious workings of the human brain, medical history, and our relationship with our own bodies, both during and after life. Before joining Medical News Today, Maria worked as a teacher, academic ambassador, and a freelance writer and copy editor. Recently, she finished a Ph.D. in English at the University of Warwick in the U.K. In her spare time, she learns Japanese, occasionally practices taxidermy, and spreads her infectious love of invertebrates.

Medical News Today, part of Healthline Media UK, is one of the fastest growing health information sites in the United States. Every month, more than 70 million people come to Medical News Today for our in-depth health content and the latest news in medical research. Consider us your intellectual peer. We unravel the complexities of health information and make it easy to understand.

We take a deep dive into medical research of the past and present, and we break it down to give you the clear-cut facts. Ultimately, we want you to be confident in making informed health decisions for yourself and your loved ones. Using peer reviewed studies and reputable sources, our knowledgeable and curious editors and writers create more than 250 pieces of content every month.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326953.php#1

WHY PROSTATE CANCER SPREADS - Prostate cancer starts when cells in the prostate gland grow out of control. Those cells can spread to other parts of the body and affect healthy tissue. When prostate cancer is discovered early, treatment usually works. Most men are able to live cancer-free for many years. But sometimes, treatment doesn't work and prostate cancer can slowly grow. This can happen after surgery (called a radical prostatectomy) or radiation therapy. Sometimes called a chemical recurrence, it's when the cancer survives inside the prostate or reappears and spreads to other tissues and organs. The cancer is usually microscopic and grows very slowly. You and your doctor will work together to keep an eye on the cancer as it grows. You may come up with a new treatment plan. Because prostate cancer cells usually grow very slowly, some men might not need treatment right away. Your doctor might suggest something called active surveillance. That means instead of having surgery or radiation right away, you and your doctor will track your cancer for a while to see if it gets more serious. You'll have regular tests, like PSA levels, and possibly biopsies and MRI. And if your cancer gets more aggressive, you and your doctor will figure out the next steps. This plan is usually for men who don't have symptoms and whose cancer grow slowly. It's also an option when surgery or radiation could be harmful.

............................................................................................................................................................

Why Prostate Cancer Spreads

WebMD Medical Reference

Reviewed by Nazia Q Bandukwala, DO 

Prostate cancer starts when cells in the prostate gland grow out of control. Those cells can spread to other parts of the body and affect healthy tissue.

This can happen for several reasons.

Early Treatment Failure

When prostate cancer is discovered early, treatment usually works. Most men are able to live cancer-free for many years.

But sometimes, treatment doesn't work and prostate cancer can slowly grow.  This can happen after surgery (called a radical prostatectomy) or radiation therapy.

Sometimes called a chemical recurrence, it's when the cancer survives inside the prostate or reappears and spreads to other tissues and organs.

The cancer is usually microscopic and grows very slowly.

You and your doctor will work together to keep an eye on the cancer as it grows. You may come up with a new treatment plan.

Active Surveillance

Because prostate cancer cells usually grow very slowly, some men might not need treatment right away.

Your doctor might suggest something called active surveillance. That means instead of having surgery or radiation right away, you and your doctor will track your cancer for a while to see if it gets more serious.

You'll have regular tests, like PSA levels, and possibly biopsies and MRI. And if your cancer gets more aggressive, you and your doctor will figure out the next steps.

This plan is usually for men who don't have symptoms and whose cancer is expected to grow slowly. It's also an option when surgery or radiation could be harmful.

Watchful Waiting

Another potential plan is watchful waiting. Like active surveillance, this avoids surgery and radiation, and you and your doctor watch the progress of your cancer.

But with watchful waiting, you don't have regular testing.

Most often, this is the best option for people who don't want or can't have other cancer treatments, or those who have another serious medical condition.

The risk with this approach is that the cancer might grow and spread between checkups. If it does, this could limit which treatment you could take and if your cancer can be cured.

Treatment Issues

When you're diagnosed with cancer, as with any medical issue, it's important that you follow your treatment plan.

That can mean scheduling regular checkups or, if radiation therapy is part of your treatment, being sure to go to all scheduled radiation visits.

If you miss some of them, you may have a greater chance that your cancer will spread.

In one study, for example, men who missed two or more sessions during their treatment had a greater chance that their cancer would come back.

That was even though they eventually finished their course of radiation.

Late Diagnosis

Experts disagree on whether all men should get tested for prostate cancer and at what age screenings and the discussions about them should take place.

Exams such as a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test can help find cancer early. But there are questions about if the benefits of screening tests always outweigh the risks.

Some groups suggest that men at a normal risk for prostate cancer should have prostate screening tests when they turn 50.

Some men might want to get tests earlier if they have risk factors that make them more likely to get prostate cancer.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says that testing may be right for some men ages 55 to 69.

They recommend that men talk to their doctor to discuss the potential risks and benefits of being tested.

The American Cancer Society recommends starting screenings at age 50, possibly earlier for men at a high risk.

But first, men should discuss the pros and cons of the PSA test with their doctor to decide if it's right for them.

The American Urological Association says men ages 55 to 69 should talk to their doctor about the benefits and risks of a PSA test. The group also says:

·      PSA screening in men under age 40 is not recommended.

·      Routine screening in men between ages 40 and 54 at average risk is not recommended.

·      To reduce the harms of screening, a routine screening interval of 2 years or more may be preferred over annual screening in men who have decided on screening after a discussion with their doctor. As compared to annual screening, it is expected that screening intervals of 2 years preserve the majority of the benefits and reduce over-diagnosis and false positives.

·      Routine PSA screening is not recommended for most men over 70 or any man with less than a 10- to 15-year life expectancy.

·      There are some men ages 70 and older who are in excellent health who may benefit from prostate cancer screening.

Early prostate cancer usually has no symptoms. You may go to see the doctor when you have trouble urinating or pain in your hips and back.

That's when prostate cancer may be discovered.

After that, your doctor may find out that your cancer has already spread beyond your prostate. If that's possible, you may be asked to take a test like a:

·       Bone scan

·       MRI

·       Ultrasound

·       CT scan

·       PET scan

Knowing if your cancer has spread will help your doctor work with you to choose your best treatment.

WebMD Medical Reference

Reviewed by Nazia Q Bandukwala, DO 

Nazia Bandukwala, DO, graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in microbiology from the University of Georgia. She earned her medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her internship and residency in urology at Detroit Medical Center. And as she completed her fellowship in female pelvic medicine, urologic reconstruction, and urodynamics in Miami, she published articles on urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. She also was a clinical instructor in the urology department at Michigan State University.

Bandukwala enjoys serving the community -- she received the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons Humanitarian Scholarship. She is also an active member in the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction; Society of Women in Urology; American Urological Association; Society of International Urology; and American Osteopathic Association.

https://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/prostate-18/prostate-cancer-spreads

PEOPLE ARE DYING FOR THE PERFECT SELFIE - Men and women across the globe are taking extreme risks to get the perfect selfie — and paying the ultimate price with their life. According to a new study from researchers associated with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, at least 259 people have made the ultimate sacrifice for the perfect photo. That's how many selfie-related deaths occurred between October 2011 and November 2017, anyway. The study, published in the July/August 2018 edition of the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, analyzed news reports of the deaths, which lead author Agam Bansal called "a major public health problem" in a Washington Post article. The findings were illuminating, and more than a little disturbing: The leading cause of selfie death was drowning, followed by transportation-related accidents (like posing in front of an oncoming train) and falling. The mean age of victims was 22.94 years old. While American selfie deaths have been widely reported in the States, India ranks as the country with the highest number (150), followed by Russia (16), the U.S. (14) and Pakistan (11). most of the deaths were males — about 72.5 percent — the remaining were females. And while "risky behavior" caused more deaths and incidents than "non-risky behavior," females were less likely to die due to risky behavior than non-risky behavior. However, male deaths were almost three times more likely to be because of risky circumstances. According to some mental health professionals, selfie addiction is a real mental illness.

Men and women across the globe are taking extreme risks to get the perfect selfie — and paying the ultimate price with their life. 

..................................................................................................................................................................

People Are Dying for the Perfect Selfie

BY MICHELLE KONSTANTINOVSKY

Witnesses in Panama City, Panama, were horrified on Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, when 44-year-old Sandra Manuela Da Costa Macedo plunged to her death from the 27th floor of the Luxor Tower after she was spotted — and videoed — by nearby construction workers while taking selfies from her balcony railing.

The construction workers, who were concerned for Da Costa Macedo's safety, were shouting at her to get down just seconds before she fell.

Unfortunately, stories like Da Costa Macedo's are becoming more common.

According to a new study from researchers associated with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, at least 259 people have made the ultimate sacrifice for the perfect photo.

That's how many selfie-related deaths occurred between October 2011 and November 2017, anyway.

The study, published in the July/August 2018 edition of the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, analyzed news reports of the deaths, which lead author Agam Bansal called "a major public health problem" in a Washington Post article.

The findings were illuminating, and more than a little disturbing: The leading cause of selfie death was drowning, followed by transportation-related accidents (like posing in front of an oncoming train) and falling.

The mean age of victims was 22.94 years old.

"What worries me the most is that it is a preventable cause of death," Bansal told the Washington Post.

"... Just because you want a perfect selfie because you want a lot of likes, shares on Facebook, Twitter or other social media, I don't think this is worth compromising a life for such a thing."

While American selfie deaths have been widely reported in the States, India ranks as the country with the highest number (150), followed by Russia (16), the U.S. (14) and Pakistan (11).

According to the analysis, most of the deaths were males — about 72.5 percent — the remaining were females.

And while "risky behavior" caused more deaths and incidents than "non-risky behavior," females were less likely to die due to risky behavior than non-risky behavior.

However, male deaths were almost three times more likely to be because of risky circumstances.

Researchers considered incidents "risky behavior" when it was "quite evident that the person took risk to click a selfie and lost her life."

Scaling a slippery cliff edge to snap a selfie, for example, would be considered risky, while getting hit by an unexpected wave in calm waters would not.

Though the study only analyzed news reports up to November 2017, the number of selfie deaths doesn't appear to be dwindling.

Several stories have been widely reported, including one of a man in India who was mauled to death after trying to snap a selfie with an injured bear, and another of an 18-year-old hiker who fell more than 800 feet (243 meters) from a Yosemite National Park cliff.

While the news remains grim, the researchers have a recommendation they believe could help prevent future deaths: "'No selfie zones'" areas should be declared across tourist areas especially places such as water bodies, mountain peaks and over tall buildings to decrease the incidence of selfie-related deaths," the study concluded.

That concept is already catching on in some places: Russia launched a "Safe Selfie" campaign three years ago, and Mumbai declared 16 "no selfie zones" in 2016.

The best way to stay safe? Practice common sense and remember no amount of likes is worth tragic consequences.

So the moral of the story is to save your selfies for celeb encounters and avoid documenting scary scenarios — and maybe consider skipping the risky stuff altogether and just pass the time trying out weird face filters at home instead.

NOW THAT'S SERIOUS

According to some mental health professionals, selfie addiction is a real mental illness. 

One study suggests that chronic selfie-takers "have an uncontrollable urge to point their phone at their face and post the selfies on social media more than six times per day."

Michelle Konstantinovsky is a San Francisco-based journalist who's written on everything from the Beagle Brigade and border walls to cricket farms and TV scheduling for HowStuffWorks. She earned her master's degree from U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and she's written on health and wellness topics for outlets including Cosmopolitan, O: The Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue and more. Michelle loves music, manatees and terrible teen movies from the early 2000s.

https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/behavior/people-are-dying-for-perfect-selfie.htm