All the News That’s Fit: Tackling prediabetes, testing high-speed pills and busting brain myths

For The Union-Tribune

Finding your exercise sweet spot

Prediabetes is a condition where blood-sugar levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as full-fledged diabetes. It’s estimated that 1 in 3 American adults has prediabetes. In the short term (3 to 5 years), 25 percent of people with prediabetes will develop Type 2 diabetes. The lifetime risk is 50 to 70 percent.

It’s possible to reverse prediabetes through lifestyle changes, such as incorporating a healthy diet (whole, unprocessed foods, fiber, lean protein, limited sugars and refined carbs), weight loss and exercise.

For that last item, a recent study found that 20 percent of participants with prediabetes who exercised 150 minutes per week reversed their condition, preventing progression to Type 2 diabetes.

Health experts recommended at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (or a combination) each week, adding in some muscle-strengthening activities.

Moderate activities include brisk walking, cycling or swimming; vigorous are jogging, running or high-intensity interval training.

Exploding pill

For folks who require insulin or use a GLP-1 weight loss drug like Ozempic or Wegovy, treatment involves daily or weekly injections. The medicines cannot be taken orally because they do not survive the rigors of the gastrointestinal tract.

Scientists at Georgia Tech have designed a new capsule that uses a small pressurized “explosion” to shoot medicine past physical barriers in the small intestine and into the bloodstream.

The capsules rely on the bubbling reaction of water and sodium bicarbonate to build pressure inside the capsule after it is swallowed. Eventually the pressure overwhelms a small weak spot in the pill’s gelatin exterior, resulting in a jet of drug particles.

In experiments, the high velocity of the “explosion” swept away the mucus that lines the intestine much like a burst of air might shove water aside, according to researchers. The drug is deposited next to epithelial cells that can transfer it to the bloodstream. Because the drug particles are moving fast, protein-eating enzymes don’t have a chance to break them down.

Body of knowledge

Mucus gets a bad rap because, well, it’s mucousy and sort of gross. But mucus serves many healthful roles, primarily as a medium for catching and removing harmful particles and pathogens from the body. The average person produces between 1 and 1.5 quarts of mucus daily, primarily from glands in the nose, throat, sinuses and lungs. Most of the mucus is swallowed unnoticed.

Get me that. Stat!

DEHP, a chemical compound used in plastics, may be a contributing factor to more than 356,000 heart-related deaths worldwide since 2018, according to new research. DEHP, which appears to inflame arteries, is used in food packaging and medical gear.

The findings aren’t surprising. DEHP is a phthalate, a group of chemicals already linked to harming human health, particularly the endocrine system, the network of glands that produce and release hormones.

Mark your calendar

August is awareness month for children’s eye health, gastroparesis (when food doesn’t move normally from stomach through intestines), breastfeeding, psoriasis and immunizations. You remember what immunizations are, right?

Doc talk

Fasciculation — a feeling of sudden flutter under the skin from a small bundle of muscle fibers spontaneously contracting

Phobia of the week

Bibliophobia — fear of reading (consider this remedial treatment)

Observation

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting and less scary.”

— Television host Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers (1928-2003)

Sum body

Six myths about your brain.

1. Your brain is uniformly gray. It’s actually many shades of gray, plus white, black, red and pink.

2. Listening to classical music, i.e., the “Mozart Effect, will make you smarter. It won’t, but you might appear more cultured.

3. Your brain gets “wrinklier” with new knowledge. Those gyri and sulci are created in the womb and, by 40 weeks, your brain is as wrinkled as it’s going to get.

4. Subliminal messages work. There’s little empirical evidence, and none that they will force someone to do something against their will.

5. Brain damage is permanent. Not necessarily. It depends on the nature and severity. Concussions are brain damage, but the brain can repair itself.

6. Alcohol kills brain cells. Not directly, but unhealthy consumption can impair how they work and communicate with other cells.

LaFee is vice president of communications for the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute.