For The San Diego Union-Tribune
Fiber optics
Sure, you can try to lose weight using a trendy drug like Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro, assuming you can afford it. (The reported cost is at least a few hundred dollars per month — for the rest of your life.)
Or there’s a cheaper, natural way: Eat more fiber.
But maybe not just any fiber. Researchers at the University of Arizona fed rats diets rich in five different, plant-based fibers: pectin, beta-glucan, wheat dextrin, starch and cellulose. They found that only the beta-glucan diet resulted in rats losing body weight and fat, plus improved blood sugar homeostasis.
Beta-glucan is found in many foods, including oats, barley, mushrooms and yeasts.
Of course, what makes a skinnier rat isn’t necessarily the same for humans. Researchers plan further studies to further refine their findings, and perhaps develop enhanced fibers that might enhance a lighter you.
Get me that. Stat!
More than 20 percent of American adults (50 million-plus) experience some sort of mental illness every year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and 5 percent encounter a more serious mental health concern every year.
Anxiety is the most commonly reported mental illness among U.S. adults, with nearly 1 in 5 (19.1 percent) affected. Major depressive episodes impacts 8.3 percent of adults. Less commonly reported are illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Fewer than 1 percent of Americans have schizophrenia.
Doc talk
Petechiae — pinpoint-size red or purple spots that appear in clusters on the skin, caused by bleeding under the skin
Mania of the week
Ecdemomania — a compulsion to go outside or wander
Observation
“Self-care is giving the world the best of you instead of what’s left of you.”
— American writer and mental health advocate Katie Reed
Medical history
This week in 2004, thimerosal-containing influenza vaccines were banned from use in California. The governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was reacting more to public advocacy groups than the weight of medical opinion. Thimerosal, containing an ethyl-mercury compound, had been used in vaccines in microgram quantities to prevent life-threatening bacterial contamination.
A 2004 report by the Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine stated that the benefits of vaccination were proven and the hypothesis of susceptible populations was speculative. After considering available medical studies from several countries, the report rejected any connection between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. Subsequent studies have confirmed that assessment.
Self-exam
Riddle: Two halves make a whole comprised of three. It’s the seat of power.
Answer: Your butt, which is bifurcated and composed of three muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. These muscles power hip and thigh movement, and maintain an upright erect posture. The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body and among the strongest, though the tongue and masseter muscle in the jaw are often considered stronger.
Medical myths
The color of your mucus is not a clear indicator of a nasal infection. Studies have shown that green or yellow mucus is slightly more common in certain bacterial infections, but it’s not a sure sign that you have an infection or require antibiotics. A sinus infection, for example, can produce transparent mucus.
Green or yellow mucus caused by an infection is visible evidence of dead white blood cells having done their job fighting the virus and now being flushed from the body. Red or pink mucus indicates the presence of red blood cells, maybe from blowing one’s nose too much or too hard. Brown or orange mucus can contain old, dried blood or be the result of inhaling something brown, like dirt or cigarette smoke. Black mucus can be the result of inhaling something darker, but it might also be a symptom of a fungal infection.
Curtain calls
On Oct. 25, 1920, 27-year-old Alexander of Greece died of sepsis after being bitten by a palace steward’s pet Barbary macaque in his garden. Alexander had been trying to break up a fight between his German shepherd and another monkey.
LaFee is vice president of communications for the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute.
