News from the World of Medicine: Weightlifting for Better Skin, A New Treatment for Heart Disease and more

A New Treatment for Heart Disease

Since the 1950s, medical scientists have understood that high cholesterol can contribute to coronary artery disease (CAD) by clogging the arteries with plaque. More recently, researchers have learnt that chronic inflammation in the arteries can play a role in restricting blood flow, too. Now, two large multi-national clinical trials have shown that colchicine, a drug that’s already used to treat other inflammatory conditions, such as gout, is also useful for preventing heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death in people with CAD. When added to standard treatments such as statins, it reduced the risk of these complications by as much as 31 per cent. The FDA recently approved low-dose colchicine for this purpose, making it the first medication that tackles cardiovascular disease by specifically targeting inflammation. 

A Few Steps Go a Long Way

The more you walk each day, the greater the health benefits. If there is an upper limit to this general rule, it hasn’t been determined yet—but the minimum number of steps needed to start making a difference might be lower than previously thought. A Polish- and American-led review of 17 previous studies found that as few as 2,500 steps per day could reduce, by 16 per cent or more, the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to walking less. When it comes to prolonging lives, the senior researcher said in a press release, even modest lifestyle changes can be surprisingly powerful.

Sharing Food With Gut Microbes

When it comes to gaining, losing or maintaining body weight, not all calories are equal, suggests an experiment published in Nature Communications. It involved a small group of young adults who tried two very different diets for 22 days each. Both diets involved eating the same amount of calories, but one was rich in fibre while the other was full of processed foods, such as white bread and sugary snacks.

On average, participants absorbed 116 fewer calories per day while on the high-fibre diet—without feeling hungrier. How? The upper gastrointestinal tract absorbs highly processed foods quickly, whereas whole foods take longer to digest and often manage to get through to the colon. This is where most of our gut microbiota are, so healthier foods provide calories to the microbes to feed on, rather than being absorbed by the body.

Defibrillators Save Lives

If you witness someone suffering a cardiac arrest in public, it’s always worth trying to find an automated external defibrillator (AED), even if an ambulance isn’t far off. In a recent analysis of Danish data, defibrillation improved cardiac-arrest victims’ chances of survival. (If paramedics were on the scene in less than two minutes, it made no significant difference.) Many public spaces, such as community centres, fitness facilities and airports, are legally required to have public access to AEDs. But they aren’t mandatory in all workplaces and buildings. In those cases, a large group of neighbours or co-workers might split the cost (starting from Rs 50,000 going up to Rs 2 lakh) to purchase one.

You Can’t Reverse Sleep Deprivation

With help from people who volunteered to stay up overnight, scientists from the University of Pittsburgh and Michigan State University have tested two popular ways of compensating for sleep deprivation: caffeine and napping. By comparing performance on cognitive tests by subjects who slept and those who stayed up all night, the investigators saw that sleeplessness had taken a toll on their ability to stay focused on a task and to follow a complex set of directions. Consuming the equivalent of two coffees’ worth of caffeine improved the former but not the latter. Taking a 30- or 60-minute snooze didn’t fully restore their brain function, either. In the end, these strategies might help you feel better and get through the day, but neither of them will have you performing at your best.

Lifting Weights Rejuvenates Skin

Strength-training workouts aren’t typically included in skin-care regimes, but maybe they should be, according to a small Japanese trial published in Scientific Reports. The authors asked middle-aged sedentary women to start exercising twice a week for 30 minutes. Half of them did an aerobic workout on a stationary bike while the other half lifted weights. By the end of 16 weeks, the researchers recorded improvements to both groups’ skin elasticity, but in the weightlifting group, the skin also got measurably thicker. Both elasticity and thickness tend to decrease with age, contributing to sagging and wrinkles. 

Why would exercise help to counteract skin ageing? According to the researchers, it’s possibly because of its influence on gene expression, hormones and inflammation.

The Price of Precarious Work

Globally, an estimated two billion people are trying to support themselves through ‘precarious’ employment, meaning work with low pay, poor job security and few protections for their well-being and workplace rights.Precarious employment, including part-time, on-call, seasonal or contractual work, can be an ongoing source of high stress, which might be one of the reasons that a Swedish study found that switching into and staying in ‘standard’ employment lowered the 12-year risk of dying by 30 per cent, compared to staying in a less predictable job situation. Of course, landing a secure job is easier said than done. To create more of these positions, experts recommend strengthening unions and improving labour laws.

Bathtime Alert

Grandma was right: Be sure to wash between your toes, behind your ears and in your belly button. Much like the intestines, the skin is home to millions of bacteria, most of which are harmless or even beneficial to their human hosts. A diverse microbiome helps keep each strain of bacteria in check, and new research suggests that your bathing habits could help maintain a healthy balance of skin microbes.

In an experiment conducted by university students in Washington, D.C., body regions that tend to get overlooked at bath time had lower biodiversity and thus probably a less healthy microbial ecosystem, compared to other areas such as the forearms and calves. This suggests that certain bacteria—including those with the potential to take over the microbiome and contribute to issues like acne or eczema—may be more affected by washing than others.

Body Temperature: Not One-Size-Fits-All

While 37°C has long been considered the benchmark for a normal, healthy body temperature, mounting research suggests that this number shouldn’t be used as a standard. In a new study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed the temperatures of 6,18,306 people and found the average temperature was 36.6°C—but it varied with age, sex, height and weight. Other variables affecting a person’s temperature include the time of day (temperatures tend to be coolest in the early morning), menstrual cycles and physical activity. When you’re checking for a fever, consider using a more personalized approach based on your own usual range of temperatures.

Comparing Treatments For Hand Arthritis

New research suggests that the current treatment guidelines for people who have osteoarthritis in their hands may need to be updated. After analyzing the results of 65 previous trials, Danish researchers concluded that glucocorticoids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) help with the pain when taken orally. However, several other treatments that are currently recommended by rheumatological associations, including hyaluronate and glucocorticoid injections that go straight into the affected finger joints, didn’t give more relief than placebos overall. Meanwhile, topical NSAID creams showed promise, but their effectiveness remains uncertain for now.