Former supermodel and actor Milind Soman is also known for a lot of athletic achievement. His long-standing relationship with marathons and fitness goals aren’t unknown to anyone. He has been seemingly constantly uplifting the bar to fitness and promoting a healthy lifestyle both in his personal life and on his social media platforms. His resilience, sheer determination and commitment towards a healthier lifestyle has inspired millions across the nation. Whether it’s going for a run in minus degrees or opting for a full-fledged marathon on a hot summer day, even at 54 Milind Soman is an inspiration in every shape and form. Here are a few tips from the athlete and supermodel himself to stay fit and achieve your fitness goals :

Wake early and start your day with nuts :

The actor has always been vocal about his love for an early waking up culture and then his affection towards nuts. He recommends every one of his followers to religiously intake a handful of nuts every day. For the marathon man, almonds have been the choicest form of nuts. A great source of all essential nutrients like protein, vitamin E, they are everything you need to get closer to your health goals. Also nuts are rich in energy and hence what better way to kick start your day?

Train your mind to embrace positivity and be fit :

The marathon man, Milind believes that we are never too old to learn something and appreciate the beauty. He took up. endurance running at the age of 38 and hasn’t stopped ever since. He emphasizes strongly on the fact that no amount of physical fitness is perfect without mental fitness. Resort to yoga, meditation and everything in between. The goal is to find peace, balance and everything in between while you slowly reach your body goals. Making your mind stronger and balancing your health is all it should be centred around.

Conscious lifestyle choices are everything: 

Dedicate few hours a day to yourself while you work on yourself. Opt to take the stairs instead of the lift. Opt for having a tasty salad instead of the plate of pancakes. Whatever you choose, choose wisely as these small choices are what shall determine the result of your motivated time to enhance yourself.

The post 5 tips to a healthy lifestyle by the all time fitness freak Milind Soman. appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States.

Melanoma accounts for just 1% of skin cancer cases, but it causes the majority of deaths from this type of disease.

There are an estimated 96,480 new melanoma diagnoses each year in the United States, and according to the authors of a recent study, the rates of malignant melanoma are rising faster than those of any other cancer.

In the U.S. there were 8,650 deaths due to melanoma in 2009 — and despite improved treatments and better 5-year survival rates, there were around 10,130 deaths from this cause in 2016.

Although scientists have identified risk factors associated with melanoma, such as fair skin, family history, and sun exposure, it is not clear why incidence rates are rising.

Because obesity is a risk factor for certain cancers, some researchers have asked whether it might also raise melanoma risk. However, to date, studies have failed to find a clear-cut association.

Revisiting old data

A Swedish study from 2009 found that women with obesity who undergo bariatric surgery have a reduced risk of cancer. When the results were published, there was not enough data to assess whether weight loss surgery impacted skin cancer risk, specifically.

However, researchers have continued to follow the participants in the original study, now for an average of 18.1 years. A team recently revisited the dataset in an effort to “investigate the association between bariatric surgery and skin cancer, including melanoma.”

In total, the new analysis included data from 2,007 individuals with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery and 2,040 matched control participants who had obesity but who only received conventional treatment, such as lifestyle advice, at their primary healthcare centers. The scientists recently published their findings in the journal JAMA Dermatology.

Individuals in the bariatric surgery group, at the 15-year follow-up, had lost an average of 47.6 pounds (21.6 kilograms). Those in the control group had remained at a relatively constant weight, with an average loss or gain that never exceeded 6.6 pounds (3 kilograms).

Stay in the know. Get our free daily newsletter

Expect in-depth, science-backed toplines of our best stories every day. Tap in and keep your curiosity satisfied.

Overall, 23 individuals in the surgery group had developed malignant skin cancer — squamous cell carcinoma or malignant melanoma. In the control group, 45 individuals had developed this type of disease.

The researchers found that the largest difference between the two groups concerned malignant melanoma. In the control group, there were 29 cases of the disease, while in the surgery group, there were just 12 cases. This equates to a 57% reduction in malignant melanoma risk.

Why does obesity increase risk?

Scientists will need to carry out more research to understand the mechanisms that underpin the relationship between obesity and skin cancer. However, the authors outline several factors that could be involved.

One theory concerns inflammation; they explain that “Obesity leads to chronic systemic inflammation, which could provide a permissive environment for tumor growth.”

Lifestyle factors, such as changes to diet following surgery, might also help explain this link.

Similarly, obesity is associated with a sedentary lifestyle — itself linked with increased cancer incidence and mortality. Following bariatric surgery, individuals may increase their levels of physical activity, thereby reducing cancer risk.

The current study has a number of strengths, including the long follow-up duration and the use of matched controls. However, there are also certain limitations; for instance, the scientists did not use randomization.

In an ideal world, it is best to assign participants to the control or experimental groups randomly. For this study, it was not possible, primarily because when the study began in the 1980s, the mortality rate for weight loss surgery was relatively high, so randomization would have been unethical.

It is also worth noting that, although the melanoma rates between the two groups were significantly different, the overall number of cases was small — in total, there were just 41 cases of melanoma. Scientists will need to continue this line of investigation to gather more evidence. For now, the authors conclude:

“These findings suggest that melanoma incidence is significantly reduced in patients with obesity after bariatric surgery and may lead to a better understanding of melanoma and preventable risk factors.”

The post Weight loss surgery reduces skin cancer risk appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

“We all know that if we consume too much beer, cake, pizza and cheeseburgers and all the other things that make life frankly worth living, we will add pounds to our bodies because we have taken in too many calories,” says Bill Bryson in his new book, The Body: A Guide for Occupants.The author, who is neither doctor nor scientist, writes for the layperson.

It’s apt that he talks of the knowledge we now have of what will make us overweight or obese. Obesity itself was declared a disease in 2013; fat a noun that refers to a food group, never a person. A decade ago, In Defense of Foodcame out, and over the years, we had internalised author Michael Pollan’s guideline to “eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” We also got more involved in what we consumed, not leaving it just up to our doctors and dietitians to dictate to us.

Power to the people

Celiac disease or even gluten sensitivity has caused people years of suffering with anything from bloating and diarrhoea to breathing difficulty. People suffering from this and various other auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, asthma, and allergies that do not have cures in allopathic medicine, have found relief from diet changes.

The post A decade in diets: how people, industry and practitioners shaped food choices over the past ten years appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Washington D.C. [USA]: Overworked office going people who spend longer than usual hours at the workplace are more susceptible to the onset of hypertension, a study reveals. A considerable proportion of such individuals may also suffer a hidden form of hypertension, also known as masked hypertension, which as the name suggests may go undetected in clinical settings.

High blood pressure affects nearly half of Americans aged 18 and older and is a primary factor in more than 82,000 deaths per year. Approximately 15-30 percent of U.S. adults have a type of condition called masked hypertension, meaning their high blood pressure readings are normal during health care visits but elevated when measured elsewhere.

The new study, conducted by a Canadian research team, enlisted more than 3,500 white-collar employees at three public institutions in Quebec. These institutions generally provide insurance services to the general population.

Compared with colleagues who worked fewer than 35 hours a week, working 49 or more hours each week was linked to a 70 per cent greater likelihood of having masked hypertension and a 66 per cent greater likelihood of having sustained hypertension- elevated blood pressure readings in and out of a clinical setting.

The people working between 41 and 48 hours each week were linked to a 54 per cent greater likelihood of having masked hypertension and a 42 per cent greater likelihood of having sustained hypertension.

The findings accounted for variables such as job strain, age, sex, education level, occupation, smoking status, body mass index, and other health factors.According to lead author Xavier Trudel, Ph.D., assistant professor in the social and preventive medicine department at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, “Both masked and sustained high blood pressure are linked to higher cardiovascular disease risk.”

“The observed associations accounted for job strain, a work stressor defined as a combination of high work demands and low decision-making authority. However, other related stressors might have an impact,” Trudel said.

The authors noted several strengths of the study, including its many volunteers, accounting for multiple factors that can impact blood pressure, repeated testing over several years, the use of wearable monitors instead of relying on workers’ reports of their blood pressure readings; and the use of the same monitors for all blood pressure measurements.

“People should be aware that long work hours might affect their heart health, and if they’re working long hours, they should ask their doctors about checking their blood pressure over time with a wearable monitor,” Trudel said. (ANI)

The post Spending long hours in office increases chances of regular, hidden hypertension, says study appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Sarah Floud, Ph.D., of the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, is the lead author of the study.

As Floud and her colleagues explain in their paper, some previous studies have found an association between a low body mass index (BMI) and the likelihood of receiving a diagnosis of dementia within the next 5–10 years.

Other studies that lasted a decade or less have also linked poor diet and lack of exercise with the incidence of dementia.

However, all of the above may be the result of reverse causality, meaning that they may be consequences, rather than causes, of dementia. This situation could well be possible, explain the authors, because dementia typically affects cognition a decade before the person formally receives a diagnosis.

During this preclinical stage, the condition can slowly but gradually affect behavior, impair mental and physical activity, reduce the intake of food and calories, and cause weight loss.

Furthermore, explain the authors, some recent meta-analyses have pointed out that although in the short term, a low BMI may be associated with dementia as a result of reverse causality, over a longer period, obesity is positively associated with dementia.

Either way, prospective studies over longer periods are necessary to settle the matter of how BMI connects to dementia risk. Floud and her team set out to do exactly this.

Their findings appear in the journal Neurology.

Studying diet, inactivity, BMI, and dementia

The team examined 1,136,846 women in the U.K. They had an average age of 56 years and were free of dementia at the start of the study, between 1996 and 2001.

The women gave information about their height, weight, calorie intake, and physical activity, and the researchers clinically followed them until 2017 through the National Health Service records. These records also noted any hospital admissions for dementia. 

Stay in the know. Get our free daily newsletter

Expect in-depth, science-backed toplines of our best stories every day. Tap in and keep your curiosity satisfied.

For their study, the scientists considered a BMI of 20–24.9 as “desirable,” 25–29.9 as overweight, and 30 and over as obese. They classified women who exercised less than once a week as inactive and those who exercised at least once weekly as active.

Using Cox regression models, the team calculated the links between BMI and dementia incidence over the follow-up period, adjusting for age, height, education, smoking, alcohol intake, use of menopausal hormones, residential area, and area deprivation.

Midlife obesity linked with 21% higher risk

Over the study period, 89% of the participants had no mention of dementia in their health records. At 15 years after the start of the study, 18,695 women had received a dementia diagnosis.

Women who had obesity at the beginning of the study were 21% more likely to develop dementia than women who had a “desirable” BMI.

More specifically, 2.2% of the women with obesity went on to develop dementia in the long term, compared with 1.7% of those with a healthy BMI.

Although the findings revealed that low calorie intake and a lack of physical activity had a link with higher dementia risk in the first decade of the study, these associations gradually faded after that period, and neither calorie intake nor inactivity had a significant association with dementia risk.

Floud comments on the findings, saying, “Some previous studies have suggested poor diet or a lack of exercise may increase a person’s risk of dementia.”

“However, our study found these factors are not linked to the long-term risk of dementia. […] The short-term links between dementia, inactivity, and low calorie intake are likely to be the result of the earliest signs of the disease, before symptoms start to show,” she emphasizes.

The study is limited by the fact that it only involved women, which means that the findings may not apply to men.

The authors of a linked editorial also mention “the absence of time-dependent dynamic analyses of BMI […], crude measurement of dietary habits, and residual confounding” as study limitations.

The post Dementia: Obesity, but not diet or inactivity, raises risk appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Obesity rates have been rising in the United States for several decades, a trend that has public health officials concerned given the serious health risks associated with the condition. 

About 93.3 million people in the United States are obese – nearly 40% of the adult population – according to a 2018 study.

Obesity is considered a major risk factor for various conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and cancer. Almost 365,000 deaths each year can be attributed to obesity, according to Harvard Health. 

To calculate it, you can simply input your height and weight into an online BMI calculator like this one. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30 and over is considered obese. Anything beneath 18.5 is viewed as underweight. 

Waist circumference is another way to determine your risk for obesity and its related health issues. For women, a waist size larger than 35 inches is of concern. For men, it’s a waist larger than 40 inches. 

Even losing few pounds can improve cardiovascular health, according to the American Heart Association. Not only can the body circulate blood in a more efficient manner, but it can also manage fluid levels better.

Additionally, losing weight can help people who are obese better manage high blood pressure as well as high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Obesity also increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. 

Still, BMI only can tell us so much about our health. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, it “may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build” or it “may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle.”

Dr. Robert H. Shmerling, of Harvard Health, cautions that BMI is not a measure of patient’s total health. There are people with a high BMI who are healthy and people with a normal BMI who are not, he says. Still, Shmerling finds it a useful tool because a high BMI is linked to increased risk for various health conditions.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also does not consider BMI a diagnostic tool for disease risk. It recommends making time for regular health evaluations from a trained healthcare provider.

The post How to measure your body mass index – and what it means for your health appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Obesity is one of the most common health conditions among populations around the globe.

In the United States, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that this metabolic condition affected 93.3 millionTrusted Source adults in 2015–2016.

This health issue concerns doctors, in part, because it can predispose individuals to developing other conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of cancer.

But the risks of developing additional health problems are different for women, compared with men, according to a new study from the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.

Moreover, the study suggests that obesity may increase the risk for more — and more diverse — health conditions than doctors had previously realized.

The researchers published a summary of their findings in PLOS Genetics this month.

“It is increasingly evident that obesity negatively impacts human health, and the prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide. Both overall obesity and fat distribution […] have been linked to cardiometabolic diseases and death in observational studies,” the authors note in the introduction to their study paper.

“However,” they add, “sex-specific relationships are largely unexplored, as is the role that obesity traits play in the leading causes of death beyond these cardiometabolic diseases.”

Women face higher diabetes risk

For the current research, first author Dr. Jenny Censin and colleagues analyzed genetic information and three different measures of obesity in a cohort of 228,466 women and 195,041 men.

The measures of obesity were: body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio, and waist-hip ratio adjusted for BMI. The investigators were able to access these data via the UK Biobank.

Through this analysis, Dr. Censin and the team found that obesity can increase a person’s risk of a range of health conditions. These include coronary artery disease, stroke, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic liver disease, kidney failure, and lung cancer.

Moreover, they found some differences in risk when comparing data from men and women with obesity. As it turns out, women with obesity face a higher risk of type 2 diabetes than men with obesity.

Men, on the other hand, have a higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease, compared with women who have obesity.

“This study shows just how harmful carrying excess weight can be to human health, and that women and men may experience different diseases as a result,” says Dr. Censin.

These findings, the team notes, add to the evidence that preventing and treating obesity is a crucial step in preventing the emergence of other health conditions.

“Given the compelling evidence of harm that arises as a consequence of obesity across a broad range of diseases that result in death, our findings highlight the critical need for public health measures to stem the tide of obesity.”

Going forward, the evidence that obesity likely contributes to such a wide range of health conditions could reshape public health strategies aimed at prevention, the investigators note.

The post Women and men at risk of different obesity-related conditions appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Fans of TV presenter and fitness guru Davina McCall will know she’s a huge advocate of self-love – a quick scroll through her Instagram feed will give you enough positive mantras and empowering selfies to get you through even the toughest of days. True to form, 51-year-old Davina has been spreading the message of loving yourself at every age in our new issue.

Speaking about ageing on her Good Housekeeping cover shoot, Davina shared that she’s totally embraced the process.

Davina McCall

“I feel better about it now than I ever have. You get to a point where you realise you can’t do anything about it, so why worry?” she said.

“My boobs are going down, my bum is going down and admittedly, I went through a stage where every time I looked in the mirror I’d think ‘What would I look like if I had something done?’ But I’ve decided that changing and ageing is okay.”

Davina McCall
RACHELL SMITH/ GH
While she’s only at the start of her 50s, Davina revealed she’s loving the decade so far.

“My 50s are a banger of a decade! Every age has a different set of hurdles to get over, but I’ve calmed down a bit and I’m feeling a lot more at peace with myself,” she said.

“It’s a kind of self-acceptance, warts and all. We talk about that a lot in recovery. Once you stop trying to be perfect, it’s such a relief,” she added.

Davina McCall
RACHELL SMITH/ GH
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Entering a new decade of life isn’t all Davina’s had to get to grips with of late, in 2017 she announced her split from husband of 17 years Matthew Robertson.

The mum of three spoke to us about solo parenting and getting used to her ‘new normal’.

“Matthew is quite hands on, so I have support from him. We share the school runs in the morning, which is really nice. I won’t deny it feels quite full on when I’m on my own though.

“Now that Tilly’s nearly 16, I can go out and leave her and Chester at home for the evening, which has made quite a difference. I’m finding my new normal,” she said.

The post Davina McCall on ageing and why her 50s are a “banger of a decade” appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Home > Company news > Allergan: AbbVie’s expensive facelift
Allergan: AbbVie’s expensive facelift
By: Dr Matthew Partridge
27/06/2019
Woman getting botox injection in her face. © iStockphotos
Botox is facing stiff competition
Pharma giant AbbVie is buying Botox maker Allergan for $63bn. That’s a huge sum given the target’s uncertain prospects. Matthew Partridge reports.

Yet another “pharmaceutical behemoth” looks set to emerge, says Chris Isidore on CNN. AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) has announced that it will buy Allergan (NYSE: AGN) for $63bn. The latter’s shares jumped nearly 30% on the news. Takeover activity in the sector has intensified recently, with Pfizer announcing an $1bn takeover of Array a few days ago.Earlier this year, Bristol-Myers Squibb offered $74bn for Celgene, though that deal has yet to be approved.

There is strategic logic to the deal, says The Wall Street Journal. Buying Allergan would allow AbbVie to dominate the $8bn-plus market for Botox and other beauty drugs, along with several “popular eye treatments”. Along with “some overlap in treatments for brain, women’s health, stomach and other disorders”, the combination “would take AbbVie into the new realm of frown-line smoothing, eyelash lengthening and double-chin removal”. What’s more, Allergan’s nearly $16bn in yearly revenue “would also give AbbVie another source of cash to hunt for a new generation of products”.

Propping up the pipeline
This“blockbuster transaction” is driven primarily by AbbVie’s desperate need to find some way to replenish its product pipelines, say Arah Massoudi and Eric Platt in the Financial Times. AbbVie’s Humira, the world’s top treatment for inflammatory diseases, is set to face competition from generic versions as the drug goes off patent in America. Even before striking the deal for Allergan, AbbVie had splashed out $21bn on biopharma group Pharmacyclics in 2015 “in a bid to bolster its drug pipeline”; it also bought Stemcentrx for around $10bn.

If AbbVie assumes that buying Allergan will help it improve its pipeline, it should think again, says Max Nisen on Bloomberg. Allergan is notorious for its “ageing products, questionable deals, and research failures”, which have prompted Allergan’s own investors to call “for a breakup of the company or a change in management”. For instance, despite Botox’s “impressive brand recognition and a solid grip on the market”, its long-term potential is uncertain owing to new drugs from competing firms, which aim to tackle both wrinkles and migraines (the other medical use for Botox).

Not only does Allergan fail to provide more than “a temporary facelift” but the 45% premium to the current price makes it “excessively expensive”, says Robert Cyran for Breaking Views.

Even if the deal delivers the projected annual savings of $2bn, this still doesn’t justify the $20bn cost of the transaction, not to mention the “hefty” $60bn in assumed and newly raised debt. Given the fact that Big Pharma “has a miserable track record delivering value from large deals”, it’s no surprise that the announcement of the deal has wiped $15bn off AbbVie’s market value.

The post Allergan: AbbVie’s expensive facelift appeared first on MyMedicPlus.