The more vitamins, the better?

Due to the reduced exposure to sunlight and decreased outdoor activities during winter, the risk of vitamin D deficiency in the human body is heightened. Many individuals opt to take daily vitamin supplements. How should one go about supplementing vitamins, and is more always better?

vitamins
vitamins

Vitamins are essential nutrients that cannot be synthesized by the human body and must be obtained through dietary sources. They are broadly categorized into lipophilic vitamins (such as A, D, E, K) and water-soluble vitamins (like C and B vitamins).

Is there a benefit to taking more vitamins? Wang Chen, deputy director of the Clinical Nutrition Department at Peking University Third Hospital, warns against the misconception of “Duo Yichen.”

Wang Chen explains that an excess of certain lipophilic vitamins can lead to acute or chronic poisoning. Prolonged intake of vitamins A and D, for instance, may result in liver discomfort, fatigue, bone pain, and mental disorders. Excessive vitamin D supplementation can lead to elevated blood calcium levels and even organ calcification.

On the other hand, water-soluble vitamins can dissolve in water, and excessive intake typically prompts the body to self-adjust without causing poisoning. However, Wang Chen cautions that some water-soluble vitamin supplements may still cause physical discomfort. For instance, an overdose of vitamin C can lead to diarrhea, and exceeding 500 mg/day increases the risk of kidney stone formation.

Experts advise prioritizing vitamin intake through a balanced daily diet. If dietary requirements cannot be met, supplementation is recommended under the guidance of a nutritionist.

Preserving vitamins in food is crucial. For instance, vitamin B1, found in coarse grains, yeast, and eggs, is prone to significant loss during food processing. It is suggested not to over-cleanse rice during washing, as this helps retain more B vitamins, especially B1 and B2.

The cooking method for vegetables also impacts vitamin content. Washing vegetables before cutting reduces vitamin loss. Extended cooking times contribute to diminished vitamin levels; thus, quick cooking methods are preferable over prolonged stewing. After cooking, consuming the food promptly is advised, as prolonged storage may lead to increased vitamin loss.

Does painkiller stop the pain?

Ibuprofen, during the COVID-19 pandemic, has become a fever-reducing analgesic for many.

It is generally used to reduce fever and relieve pain caused by a variety of conditions, such as headaches, toothaches, dysmenorrhea, muscle aches or arthritis.

But its effect is likely to “vary from person to person”. A 2020 article published in Scientific Reports looked at the effects of ibuprofen on the liver of mice and found that ibuprofen affected males and females differently.

Not only that, some existing studies have shown that the drug has a stronger analgesic effect on men than women. According to a study in the journal Brian, dorsal root ganglion neurons that produce persistent pain are different between men and women.

However, many painkillers are only created on the basis of clinical trials in male animals, which may explain why some painkillers are less effective against persistent pain in women.

There may be gender differences in the course and effect of medication

Physiological differences in pain are just one of many differences between men and women. At present, there are many cases showing that men and women may differ in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of specific drugs. For example, women who ingest the same amount of the psychoactive drug diazepam have a larger distribution volume of the drug in their bodies. Clozapine, also a psychoactive drug, binds to plasma proteins at a significantly higher rate in women than in men. Not only that, but aspirin, as we know it, is cleared from women’s bodies at a much higher rate than men’s.

And, for some medications, women are at much higher risk of experiencing adverse effects.

A 2001 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 80 percent of drugs removed from the market between 1997 and 2000 posed greater health risks to women. For example, the antihistamine terphenadine (Seldane) and the gastrointestinal drug Propulsid are both more likely to cause potentially fatal heart arrhythmias in women than men.

Some cardiovascular drugs may also have gender differences, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Pharmacology and Drug Therapy Working Group published a position paper on gender differences in cardiovascular drugs in 2015, mentioned that some cardiovascular drugs have gender differences in the impact of adverse events, women are more likely to have serious adverse events. For example, women using diuretics and other cardiovascular drugs are more likely to develop drug-induced tip torsion ventricular tachycardia and skin diseases. And bleeding complications are more common in women.

However, despite the differences in drug pharmacokinetics between men and women, there are currently no sex-specific dosing recommendations for most drugs. We climbed on the platform of Syringa Medicine Assistant to retrieve 13 drug instructions that mentioned gender differences between men and women in the study, a total of 1,188. None of the instructions made recommendations based on gender.

In this regard, Tang Zhijia, a young associate researcher at the School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, explained, “Women are more sensitive to some adverse drug reactions. But the problem is that if the dose is reduced, the efficacy will not be achieved, although the adverse effects will be reduced. We usually look at the drug’s efficacy as the main indicator, after all, medicine has to be effective.”

“The influence of sex on drug selection should be considered more often than the influence of sex on drug dosage.” Tang Zhijia said that in their current clinical studies, it was found that SGLT-2 inhibitors, which are now more popular hypoglycemic drugs, have urinary tract infections in some women after use.

“The reason for this is related to female biology, because women have a shorter urethra and are inherently more prone to urinary tract infections than men.” Tang Zhijia said.

So can gender differences be taken into account when developing drugs?

Women are not miniature men. A new study in mice, published in Nature Communications in 2022, confirmed multiple sex differences in traits. “Ignoring these differences in some cases, such as measurements of blood cells, bones, and organs, can lead to significant loss of population variation in specific traits: up to 32 percent in women and 46 percent in men.” This complexity means that we need to consider gender differences in drug dosage on a case-by-case basis.” “They wrote.

It would be ideal, of course, to collect data on sex differences at the beginning of drug development, even before human drug trials begin. But Tang Zhijia said, “From the clinical practice, there is no condition to do this thing.” Our primary concern is usually liver and kidney function.”

At this stage, it is more based on clinical experience to adjust the drug regimen for drugs with gender differences.

Women, in the medical field

For a long time, in drug experiments and biological experiments, men are generally dominant, and women are less likely to participate in clinical trials.

Part of the reason is that researchers worry about women’s menstrual cycles, hormonal fluctuations, and so on affecting the final outcome of clinical trials. In addition, pregnant women are often excluded from trials for ethical and safety reasons.

In 1985, the United States released the Public Health Services Report on Women’s Health, which noted that a historical lack of research on women’s health has undermined the quality of health information available to women and the health services they receive.

Then, in 1993, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued guidelines requiring that clinical studies of drugs intended for both sexes include equal numbers of male and female subjects. It wasn’t until 2016 that China explicitly included women in a Bioequivalency (BE) trial for the first time. BE test is an important part of consistency evaluation and application and registration of generic drugs, mainly used to evaluate the quality of generic drugs.

So what happens to women in clinical trials now that these regulations have been proposed?

Not only in experiments, but also in academic circles, there are differences between men and women.

On July 2, 2021, The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a paper analyzing 5,554 medical papers published in top medical journals between 2015 and 2018, It is found that there is a big gap between female authors and male authors in the amount of papers published and the amount of application.

The lack of female researchers will affect the research on women’s health to some extent. Women have unique and different life experiences than men, so they need to be involved if basic research and medical inventions are to be developed for them.

Pregnant woman, is facing a drug dilemma

The lack of research on women’s health issues can undermine the quality of health information available to women and the quality of health services. The problem is even worse for women who need medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Acetaminophen is considered one of the safest antipyretic drugs for pregnant women. Its pregnancy drug classification is class B, which is a safe level of medication. And acetaminophen, sold under the Tylenol brand name, has a special place in the pharmaceutical industry. Millions of people regularly use Tylenol to cope with illness.

But is it really safe for pregnant women? What does the instruction manual say?

Currently, multiple studies have linked acetaminophen to ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the United States, a lawsuit is being filed against Johnson & Johnson and various stores selling generic acetaminophen products, alleging that the drug sellers failed to warn that use of the drug during pregnancy could cause autism.

But due to research limitations, there is currently no strong evidence that acetaminophen use during pregnancy causes autism or ADHD in children. Some experts believe that acetaminophen has some effect on pregnancy and should only be used when necessary and in consultation with a doctor.

But if acetaminophen is avoided during pregnancy to treat fever or pain, it may also have negative effects on pregnant women.

Health problems during pregnancy remain a concern, in part because pregnant women have been excluded from drug clinical trials. Drug trials are likely to be harmful to pregnant women and their fetuses. But the lack of data on the safety and effectiveness of drugs for pregnant women also hurts them. At present, in some drug trials, pregnant women have also begun to be tested. But for ethical reasons, pregnant women are still excluded from most trials.

We still don’t have a definitive answer on how to deal with risks during pregnancy. Tang Zhijia said that the current drug policy for pregnant women is to try to keep the dosage as low as possible and do not use the drug. “Because there are quite a few drugs whose effects on the fetus are unclear. There is a lack of clinical trials to show whether it has any effect on the fetus.”

In the future, think more

It’s not just pregnant women, there are many groups of people who are ignored by most medical experiments, such as children and the elderly. Due to the lack of clinical studies, their medication is more dependent on the individual experience of the doctor, and much is still unknown about the possible effects of the drug on them.

We hope that in the future, in the development and research of drugs, all populations will be fully considered. It is important to provide safe medication for different groups of people, so that everyone knows how to use drugs properly.

What are the proper principles for the use of painkillers in order to maximize their effectiveness?

What are the proper principles for the use of painkillers in order to maximize their effectiveness?

  1. No pain can not immediately stop the medicine; 2. Take painkillers regularly.

The maintenance time of painkillers is different due to the difference in the metabolism of drugs in the body, and regular medication can ensure that the blood concentration has been maintained in the effective range to ensure that the pain can be continuously relieved. If you wait for pain to occur before taking medication, patients will not only have to endure unnecessary pain, but also lead to drug resistance.

Is dependence on painkillers a physical dependence?

There is a certain dependence on painkillers accessible to conventional patients, but this dependence is often physical dependence, and addiction is not the same. It is not recommended that patients choose a certain painkiller for long-term use, because it may cause gastrointestinal burden, liver and kidney toxicity.

Vitamin C is helpful to improve immunity, the more supplement the better?

Myth:

Vitamin C is helpful in boosting immunity, and the more you take, the better.

The TRUTH:

Although vitamin C supplementation is helpful to improve immunity, it is not always better to take more supplements. Studies have shown that 200 mg of vitamin C per day is very safe and can prevent non-communicable chronic diseases.

Although long-term intake of 1000 mg/day of vitamin C has not been found adverse effects, but there are studies found that when vitamin C intake of more than 2000 mg/day can cause osmotic diarrhea, more than 3000 mg/day will appear diarrhea and gastrointestinal disorders, but also increase the risk of kidney stones.

Therefore, taking too much vitamin C can cause harm to the body, and the maximum tolerable intake of the human body is 2000 mg per day. For us, there is no need to supplement vitamin C too much, eat enough of the recommended amount of 100 mg/day.

Synthetic vitamin C

Can replace natural vitamin C?

Myth:

Synthetic vitamin C can replace natural vitamin C.

The TRUTH:

Natural vitamin C is a naturally occurring vitamin C component in food, and synthetic vitamin C is a vitamin C artificially prepared by chemical synthesis and other methods. The structure of these two types of vitamin C is exactly the same, and the source is ascorbic acid, so from the point of view of supplementing vitamin C, either of the two can be chosen.

But the difference is that natural foods not only contain vitamin C, but also contain bioactive substances, such as carotenoids, alkaloids, anthocyanins, sulfur compounds, and vitamin E. These bioactive substances not only have the ability of anti-oxidation and scavenging free radicals themselves, but also can cooperate with vitamin C to enhance the biological activity of vitamin C. For example, anthocyanins can prevent vitamin C oxidation, protect vitamin C, the synergistic effect of the two, DPPH free radical clearance rate is more than twice the use of vitamin C alone; Vitamin E also works synergistically with vitamin C to boost antioxidant capacity.

Therefore, compared with synthetic vitamin C, relying on food to supplement natural vitamin C can also antioxidant and remove free radicals, can reduce the risk of chronic diseases, but also has anti-inflammatory effect, improve the absorption rate and bioavailability of vitamin C, and better improve immunity. Synthetic vitamin C cannot completely replace natural vitamin C.

Do fruits contain more vitamin C than vegetables?

Myth:

Fruits contain more vitamin C than vegetables.

The TRUTH:

When it comes to foods containing vitamin C, some of the public’s first thoughts are fresh fruits such as oranges, strawberries and kiwis. So the vitamin content of fruit must be more than vegetables? In fact, the vitamin C content of vegetables is the same as that of fruits, and there are high and low points, and some vegetables have more vitamin C content than fruits.

Vegetables —

Bell pepper, color pepper: they are rich in vitamin C, of which the vitamin C content of bell pepper and color pepper is as high as 130 mg /100 grams, 104 mg /100 grams, that is to say, as long as eating 100 grams of bell pepper or color pepper can meet the vitamin C needs of an ordinary adult 130% and 104%. And both of these can be eaten raw, sweet taste, better nutrition retention, to avoid the loss of vitamin C in the cooking process.

Chinese cabbage: The vitamin C content of Chinese cabbage is still good in green leafy vegetables, 64 mg /100 grams, try to choose low temperature cooking, such as quick fire stir-fry, small cabbage soup, or boiling water blanch directly cold, so as to retain more vitamin C.

Kale: This vegetable is nice to look at, mostly found in flower beds, and has a vitamin C content of 63 mg /100 g. It is also rich in beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body and is good for eye health.

Cherry Tomatoes: Its vitamin C content is 33 mg /100 grams, 2.4 times that of large tomatoes, eating about 15 cherry tomatoes can almost meet the average adult’s daily vitamin C needs 66%. And it’s super easy to eat, one mouthful after you wash it!

The fruit —

Winter jujube: vitamin C content is quite considerable, 243 mg /100 grams, this amount, even if only eat two or three winter jujube, can meet the daily vitamin C needs. However, winter dates are high in calories, if you want to lose weight, don’t eat too much.

Kiwi fruit: The sour and sweet taste of kiwi fruit vitamin C content is excellent, 62mg/100g. Although it is not as good as winter jujube, eating 1 to 2 a day can almost meet the needs of vitamin C for a day, and the price is not expensive.

Strawberries: The vitamin C content of strawberries is as high as 47 mg /100 grams, the VC content is close to twice that of grapes, and strawberries are low-calorie, low-GI fruits, which are suitable for small partners who need to lose weight and control sugar.

Orange: Vitamin C content is 53.2 mg /100 grams, eating 1 to 2 fresh oranges can meet the daily vitamin C needs of the general population, but oranges are also rich in beta-carotene, eating too much will become minions, but it is not harmful to health, as long as you stop ingestion for a few days to recover.

It can be seen from the above that the vitamin C content of sweet pepper, color pepper, cabbage and kale in vegetables is higher than that of kiwi, strawberry, orange and other fruits under the same weight. The public can expand the range of ingredients in choosing supplements, pay attention to nutrition, and scientifically understand more nutritious ingredients.

Can cocoa lose weight?

As the summer solstice approaches, the temperature gradually rises. Many people want to lose weight as soon as possible in the “meat” season, and the topic of fitness has become quite hot online recently.

Some bloggers’ homemade “weight loss drinks” have become popular on many Chinese social platforms. “Two spoons of raw cocoa powder + half a bottle of oolong tea + milk, this bottle of homemade low-calorie milk tea praised” “Raw cocoa powder + Oolong tea, let me lose several pounds in a month, but also very convenient”… The number of clicks and likes of such content is quite high.

It is not difficult to find that cocoa powder occupies the “C position” of these diet drink formulas. So, what is cocoa powder? Does it really have weight loss benefits? The reporter interviewed relevant experts with these questions.

Cocoa powder is the product of processed cocoa beans

“Cocoa powder is what’s left after the cocoa butter is extracted from the cocoa liquid.” Kexin food and health information exchange Center science and technology communication Department director Ruan Guangfeng said.

The reporter learned that cocoa powder is the product of cocoa bean processing. People take the cocoa beans from the fruit of the cocoa tree, the cocoa beans are cleaned, screened, roasted, shelled, and then through post-processing to obtain cocoa liquid. Cocoa liquid is an important ingredient in the production of chocolate.

After further pressing, the oil is separated from the cocoa liquid, forming two raw materials: one is the raw material of chocolate, cocoa butter, which is a natural cooking oil with a faint chocolate flavor; The other is the residue of the cocoa liquid after degreasing – cocoa powder, which is known as cocoa powder after being crushed.

Figuratively speaking, cocoa powder is like the soybean meal obtained after the crushing process of soybeans. “It is used in food processing simply because it has the distinctive aroma of cocoa.” Mr. Nguyen explained.

In the national standard full text disclosure system, the recommended national standards queried by the reporter show that cocoa powder can be divided into natural cocoa powder and alkalized cocoa powder according to the alkalization process.

Natural cocoa powder is brown-yellow or light brown, more difficult to dissolve in liquid, and taste bitter, generally not directly used in the production of liquid products. The alkalized cocoa powder is brown-red or brown-black, which is obtained after the addition of edible alkali during the processing of cocoa beans, tastes slightly better than natural cocoa powder, and can be dissolved in water.

There is no direct weight loss effect of any food

On social platforms, many people recommend cocoa powder because it “can lose weight.” So, does eating cocoa really have this magic effect?

“The key to weight loss is your energy budget.” Ruan Guangfeng said that reasonable control of intake and consumption of calories, so that the daily consumption of calories greater than the intake of calories, in order to achieve weight loss.

Reporters on an online shopping platform to “cocoa powder” as a keyword search, and randomly open a product interface, found that the nutrition table indicated that the brand of cocoa powder per 100 grams of calories 1623 kilojoules (about 387 kcal), accounting for about 19% of the daily needs of the human body; Running at a moderate speed for an hour burns about 250 kcal; The recognized “weight loss food” – broccoli, contains about 36 kcal per 100 grams. Cocoa powder is not low in calories, but why do many people still say it has a good weight loss effect?

Liang Tingting, a dietitian in charge of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, said in an interview that if cocoa powder is used as a meal replacement (that is, do not eat other foods) to eat, for some people, it may indeed have a weight loss effect, but this effect is not necessarily brought by cocoa powder. If people do not eat in the short term, the intake of calories will be reduced, even if they do not eat cocoa powder, they can achieve the purpose of weight loss.

“Eating cocoa powder is actually not a direct weight loss, any food has no direct weight loss effect.” Mr. Ruan concluded.

The reporter also observed that some people claim that cocoa powder is “rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals, and has an appetite suppressive effect.” But is it really the case?

“It is true that cocoa is rich in antioxidants, but the claim that it is’ rich in minerals, vitamins and can suppress appetite ‘has not been verified by the authorities.” Mr Ruan said.

Liang said that suppressing appetite may not be the effect of cocoa powder. In the case of insufficient energy intake, the human body’s appetite will be suppressed in the short term. In addition, the stronger satiety brought by cocoa powder will also make people eat less to a certain extent. She said that if the cocoa powder is used as meal replacement powder in the short term, it can indeed achieve certain weight loss purposes, but if it is eaten in the long term, it is not good for health.

So, how to eat the right, eat good cocoa powder?

First of all, cocoa powder cannot be used exclusively as a meal replacement. In the production of meal replacement, pay attention to the balance of nutrition. The human body needs to take in several major types of nutrients every day to include, coarse and fine grains to match, and according to the different amount of exercise, but also to take in a certain amount of carbohydrates; Unsaturated fatty acids, high-quality protein, fresh vegetables and fruits should also be guaranteed. If cocoa powder is consumed alone, the body may lack nutrients such as protein and unsaturated fatty acids. Secondly, for people who want to lose weight, because cocoa powder contains a lot of dietary fiber, it is suitable to eat half an hour before meals to enhance the sense of fullness. However, it is also important to note that cocoa powder is high in calories, so do not eat too much at once.

Why is my rheumatoid arthritis getting worse?

Rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that wreaks havoc on the joints, not only affects the patient’s body, but also can have a bad effect on the mental state.

Many people think that it is no less harmful than cancer, so rheumatoid arthritis is also called “immortal cancer”. Although rheumatoid arthritis does not directly affect the patient’s life, it can cause joint deformities that seriously affect the quality of life.

In clinical practice, we also see that many patients in the early stage of the disease is not serious, but for various reasons, the condition gradually worsened, and the joint stiffness deformity quickly appeared, which is a pity.

So what are the causes of rheumatoid arthritis worsening?

  1. The age of onset is small and the number of swollen joints is large

Current research has found that the earlier the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the more swollen and painful the number of joints involved, the more stubborn the condition.

The process of rheumatoid arthritis disease development is the process of joint ankylosis deformity, for young patients, rheumatoid arthritis disease course is long, the damage to the joint time is correspondingly longer, the condition is more complex. If the number of swollen joints is larger, the degree of inflammation caused is also heavier, which can also aggravate the progression of the disease.

  1. Rheumatoid factor and anti-CCP antibody titers are particularly high

Current studies have found that patients with high titers of rheumatoid factors and anti-CCP antibodies have complex rheumatoid arthritis conditions, and joint damage caused by bone erosion is more obvious, and it is easy to be accompanied by multi-system damage such as lung interstitial disease.

  1. High ESR and C-reactive protein, accompanied by systemic symptoms such as fever

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are disease activity indicators of rheumatoid arthritis, and the higher the level of the two, the more serious the inflammation degree and the more complex the disease. At this time, it is also more likely to be combined with fever, fatigue, weight loss and other systemic symptoms.

  1. Low dose hormone therapy is not effective

Hormones are still an important drug in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. For rheumatoid arthritis patients with poor effects of conventional slow action anti-rheumatic drugs, the addition of small doses of hormones can mostly rapidly reduce inflammation in the short term, prevent joint deformation or important organ function damage. However, if the effect of small doses of hormones is not good, or long-term need for large doses of hormones to maintain the efficacy of rheumatoid arthritis patients, more than suggest that their disease is complex and stubborn.

  1. Stop taking the drug by yourself and do not follow the doctor’s advice

In fact, the most common cause of deterioration of rheumatoid arthritis is that patients stop taking drugs on their own and do not follow medical advice. Many patients fear the adverse reactions of drugs, or worry about lifelong medication, stop taking drugs on their own, do not follow medical advice, and even look around for so-called “miracle drugs”, “secret recipes”, “folk remedies”, resulting in rheumatoid arthritis in the disease activity period for a long time, miss the best treatment period, resulting in deterioration of the disease, irreversible damage to the joints, it is a pity.

It can be seen that there are many reasons for the deterioration of rheumatoid arthritis, including the causes of the disease itself and the patient’s own reasons.

Under the current level of medical conditions, as long as the systematic standard treatment can be adhered to, even if there are many adverse factors, the condition of rheumatoid arthritis can be controlled in a better degree, but the premise must be to comply with the treatment plan formulated by the rheumatologist and follow the doctor’s advice.

Tilpotide, the strongest weight-loss drug, has a unique activity to stimulate insulin secretion

Tirzepatide is a diabetes treatment developed by Eli Lilly and Company. It is a dual agonist of glucose-dependent insulin-stimulating polypeptide (GIP) receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor. Activating the GLP-1 receptor reduces hunger and thus diet and caloric intake, while activating the GIP receptor reduces diet and caloric intake and increases energy expenditure. Tilpotide is being fast-tracked for approval as a new weight loss treatment and is expected to be available by the end of the year.

A previous Phase 3 clinical trial showed that participants in the 15mg dose group lost an average of up to 22.5% (24 kg) of body weight after a 72-week treatment with tilpotide. It is the first investigational drug to achieve an average weight loss of more than 20% in a Phase 3 clinical trial, and it is the best drug to date for weight loss.

On June 5, 2023, researchers from Duke University, the German Diabetes Research Center, and Eli Lilly collaborated to publish a paper in the journal Nature Metabolism entitled: The incretin co-agonist tirzepatide requires GIPR for hormone secretion from human islets.

The study is the first to use human donor cells to demonstrate that tilpotide is indeed a dual GIP receptor and GLP-1 receptor agonist, and not just a so-called super GLP-1 receptor agonist. The study also demonstrated that Tipotide’s activation of the GIP receptor is integral to its stimulation of insulin secretion.

Corresponding author Jonathan Campbell, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine, said that understanding the multiple targeted mechanisms of action of tilpotide opens up a whole new world for the development of better drugs for weight loss and diabetes.

Targeting the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor to treat diabetes has a long history, and for people with type 2 diabetes, GLP-1-based drugs can restore insulin production and thus lower blood sugar. In addition, the drug can increase the feeling of fullness and reduce appetite, which can help with weight loss. This makes GLP-1-based drugs very attractive in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. One intuitive feeling is that Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist developed by Novo Nordisk, will have sales of more than $10 billion in 2022.

Tirzepatide is a dual agonist of glucose-dependent insulin-stimulating polypeptide (GIP) receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor. It can increase satiety, reduce appetite, and increase energy consumption, resulting in better weight loss.

However, the GIP receptor has long been unpromising as a therapeutic target for metabolic diseases, and it has even been suggested to block the receptor rather than activate it. Some in the industry have speculated that telpotide’s activation of the GIP receptor may not be important, or that it may be acting as a “super” GLP-1 receptor agonist to exert a better therapeutic effect.

So is this really the case?

In this latest paper, the research team found that in mice, tilpotide does stimulate insulin secretion primarily by activating the GLP-1 receptor, but this is actually due to the low level of GIP receptor expression in mice.

In human islet cells, GIP receptors are essential for insulin secretion when stimulated with tilpotide. They also found that tilpotide stimulated the islets to secrete another hormone, glucagon. GIP stimulates glucagon secretion, while GLP-1 inhibits glucagon secretion. The discovery that tilpotide stimulates glucagon secretion provides further evidence that the drug has important activity on GIP receptors.

This study shows that tilpotide is a true dual receptor agonist and not just a super GLP-1 receptor agonist, which also validates the great potential of using single molecules with multiple receptor activity as drugs for the treatment of metabolic diseases.

Here are five signs that your immunity may be in trouble

Immunity is an important physiological function of human body. Once it is damaged, various diseases can take advantage of it.

Many people think about what to eat to improve their immune system after they are sick, but it is the daily accumulation of immunity.

How is immunity lost?

  1. Lost in unhealthy eating

High-salt diets: Can harm the immune system and weaken the antibacterial response.

Sweet tooth: can affect the bactericidal ability of white blood cells.

Always forget to drink water: Drinking water can help the body flush out toxins, and not drinking enough can affect immunity.

  1. You lose it in the middle of the night

Enhancing immunity is one of the important functions of sleep. Immune factors of sleeping body are formed during sleep.

Staying up late for a long time can lead to weakened immunity, fatigue, low energy, and unexpected colds and allergies.

Sleep deprivation severely affects the function of the immune system’s T cells and prevents B cells from producing antibodies. Compared with normal sleep, people who slept only four hours a night had 50 percent fewer humoral immunity-dependent B-cell antibodies.

Sleep deprivation not only leads to decreased immune function, but also increases the chance of opportunistic infections.

A good, healthy sleep is a guarantee of improved immune function, which helps fight viral infections.

  1. Lost in a state of agitation

Negative emotions will cause a series of physical changes, and may also cause cancer. Adverse psychological factors and negative emotions will lead to weakened immune surveillance.

The decline of immunity causes endocrine disorders, so that tumor cells have a chance to get rid of inhibition, so that the probability of tumor occurrence increases exponentially.

Depression and other negative emotions lead to reduced lymphocyte function, low immunity, prone to cancer.

Especially in women, emotions have a greater impact on immunity and endocrine function, leading to abnormal menstruation, easy to catch a cold, prone to thyroid nodules, breast hyperplasia, uterine fibroids and other diseases.

  1. It’s lost in sitting

Sitting for too long can lead to an overall decline in fitness, with research finding that sitting for too long increases the risk of bowel cancer by around 44 per cent!

Sitting for long periods of time can affect blood circulation, which in turn leads to a slower movement of the intestines and a longer period of time for toxic metabolites to move down and out of the body, which can increase the risk of enteritis and even bowel cancer over the years.

Sedentary people are more likely to have abdominal obesity. If a large amount of fat is deposited in the liver, it will slowly evolve into fatty liver, which will not only affect the detoxification function of the liver, but also further increase the risk of liver fibrosis and liver cancer.

At the same time easy to cause the body immunity decline, increase the risk of a variety of diseases.

Good changes in immune function can occur within minutes of starting exercise, although the duration is relatively short.

Regular exercise for 20 to 40 minutes a day can fully mobilize human immunity, and can maintain a good immune state for a long time.

  1. Lost with age

After entering old age, the body’s immune system gradually ages. Especially with diabetes, chronic bronchitis and other chronic diseases, easy to be invaded by pathogens, reduce immunity.

There are five manifestations

The problem of immunity should be emphasized

When you show the following symptoms, perhaps you should pay attention to the problem of immunity, such a long-term will not only make people prone to disease, but also may aggravate some diseases.

  1. Wound recovery is slow and easy to inflammation

After an accidental scratch, the average person’s immune system responds quickly, encouraging blood clotting and white blood cells to gather to fight off germs outside the body, preventing inflammation.

But people with poor immunity may have slow wound healing, two or three days without scab, and inflammation, ulceration and other performance.

  1. You sweat for no apparent reason

People who sweat more, no matter what the weather, may also be less immune than others. And this kind of person may also be easy to sweat when sleeping, always sleep not steadfast.

This inexplicable sweating situation, most also related to poor immunity.

  1. Prone to diarrhea and gastrointestinal discomfort

The intestinal mucosa is also a line of defense for the immune system. When immunity is weak, it is likely to give the bacteria a chance to enter the body.

For example, in the same case of eating out, the food may not be very sanitary. Some people will be fine after eating, but some people will vomit and diarrhea, which also indicates that the immunity may be weak.

  1. You get sick frequently and have repeated illness

Frequent colds, fevers, and sore throats, and may not recover on and off for a long time after falling ill, can also indicate that their immunity may be poor.

  1. Low energy and feeling tired all the time

A weak immune system can also cause chronic fatigue problems.

Some people are easy to feel weak, tired, a little activity has no strength. This is also a sign of weak immunity.

How to improve their immune function?

  1. Eat a healthy 3 meals a day

If you want to protect your immunity, you have to eat three meals, not just one a day.

  1. Aim for 4 major food groups every day

Including grain tubers, that is, food; Vegetables and fruits; High quality protein foods; Finally, there are oils.

  1. Aim to eat at least 12 foods a day

Eat at least 12 of these four groups of foods every day to reach a level of nutrients that can help improve your immune system.

  1. Eat at least 25 foods a week

That is to say, you eat at least 25 kinds of food a week, it is a high probability that the nutrition is relatively balanced, can enhance the resistance of a diet.

Staple food: Eat 150~500 grams of staple food throughout the day.

Of course, this refers to fine grain or coarse grain, rice, white flour and so on, together with a part of the grain potato, such as sweet potato, yam, taro, potatoes and so on, is what we call food.

Vegetables and fruits: not only supplement adequate vitamins and intake of dietary fiber we want.

High quality protein foods: that is, meat, eggs, milk, soy products, which meat to eat at least 100~150 grams, eggs to eat 1 ~ 2, milk to drink 1 ~ 2 bags, and eat a little tofu, constitute a high quality protein combination to enhance the constitution, enhance resistance.

Grease: Finally, there should be a little grease to do protection, 2~3 spoons of oil every day.

If you follow these four suggestions, you will be able to meet the nutritional needs of three meals a day, and enhance resistance to the universal principle, whether it is the elderly, adults, children, are basically applicable.

Of course, different people may have different characteristics, and we can make adjustments based on the basic principles.

  1. These nutrients help boost our immunity

Good protein. In addition to proteins found in foods, there are a variety of other proteins that have been condensed into preparations.

Vitamin trace elements. Well-known vitamins such as A, C, D, E and B vitamins are known to fight oxidation.

In addition to iron and zinc, are able to help us improve resistance.

A variety of proteins in the body synthesis of human antibodies, need is these vitamins, trace elements as a coenzyme, as a catalyst to help synthesis.

With the help of these nutrients, our immunity will be improved.

What are polypeptides?

Peptides are compounds that are composed of amino acids and connected by peptide bonds. Usually, peptides are compounds composed of three or more amino acids that promote metabolism and regulate physiological functions. 1. Boost metabolism: Peptides help boost your body’s metabolism. The body helps maintain the balance of its internal environment by secreting active peptides. The human endocrine system contains active peptides, such as thyroxine and insulin, which help regulate the body’s metabolic function. 2. Regulate physiological functions: food proteins can be absorbed and used by the human body only when they are decomposed into amino acids and peptides in the body to promote growth and development, bone development and immune function. In addition, the nervous system and digestive system also contain substances containing peptides. Peptides are used in medicine to diagnose diseases and treat certain infectious diseases.

What is AIDS

What is AIDS

AIDS is an infectious disease caused by the destruction of the human immune function of the AIDS virus, the virus into the human body gradually make people lose the ability to resist various diseases, and eventually lead to the death of patients due to various infections or tumors.

At present, there is no cure for AIDS drugs and vaccines.

People infected with HIV take an average of five to 10 years to develop the disease (the incubation period). Before the onset of HIV carriers, after the onset of AIDS patients. Both HIV carriers and AIDS patients can pass the virus on to others.

In particular, people infected with HIV may not feel anything during the incubation period, and others cannot tell from the appearance. The diagnosis can only be confirmed through blood tests. At present, 90% of people infected with HIV worldwide do not know they have been infected. Therefore, the incubation period is a very dangerous time for HIV transmission.

AIDS through what way to spread

HIV exists in the infected person’s blood, semen, vaginal fluid, milk and wound exudate this several liquids, there are mainly three ways of transmission:

1, sexual transmission: This is the world’s most important way of HIV transmission, the more sexual partners, the greater the chance of HIV infection.

2, blood transmission: sharing needles and needles with others to take drugs, is currently the most important behavior of HIV infection. In addition, HIV can also be transmitted by injecting blood or blood products contaminated with HIV, or by using HIV-infected needles, razors and other items that puncture the body.

3, mother-to-child transmission: infected with HIV women, through pregnancy, birth process and feeding may also be HIV to the fetus or baby.

Daily contact can spread AIDS

We already know how AIDS is transmitted, so we know that it is completely possible to avoid HIV infection in our daily lives.

1, general social activities will not spread HIV, such as: handshaking, hugging, ritual kissing; Eating and drinking together and sharing bowls, chopsticks and cups; Access to public facilities such as toilets, swimming pools, public baths, telephones, buses; Living, shopping, using money, working and studying together.

2, coughing, sneezing, tears, sweating, urination will not spread HIV, because saliva, tears, sweat and urine do not contain HIV.

3, mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches and other insects will not spread the AIDS virus.

How to prevent AIDS

1, safe sex, avoid HIV infection through sex;

  1. No prostitution or whoring, only a fixed and loyal sexual partner;

3, if there are multiple sexual partners, then each sexual intercourse is the correct use of qualified condoms (condoms) can greatly reduce the risk of HIV infection;

4, women have the right to ask men to use condoms, because women in sexual intercourse during the risk of HIV infection is significantly higher than men;

5, pay attention to blood safety, avoid blood infection with HIV;

  1. Don’t take drugs;
  2. Do not sell blood illegally;
  3. Do not share needles and tubes with others; Disposable needles and syringes should be used when injection is necessary, or strictly sterilized needles and syringes should be used;
  4. Do not share with other people items that may puncture the skin, such as toothbrushes, tattoos, eyebrow needles, acupuncture needles, razors, etc.

Attention: venereal disease patients are more susceptible to HIV infection than those without venereal disease, so got venereal disease should be timely to the regular hospital diagnosis and treatment, do not delay.

What to do if you get AIDS

Suspect that they are infected with HIV, should be as early as possible [and mobilize their sexual contacts or public needle Bei) to regular medical institutions to do HIV antibody examination and consultation.

After being diagnosed, HIV-infected people should:

  1. Go to the hospital for regular examination and accept the guidance of medical staff
  2. Keep an optimistic mood;

3, resolutely change the past dangerous behavior;

  1. Ensure adequate nutrition and adequate rest;
  2. Avoid infection and skin damage;
  3. Give up smoking and drinking and lead a regular life;

This will greatly delay the onset of AIDS.