On the roof of a UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) lab, at Chilton’s Harwell Science Campus in Oxfordshire, a new chapter in artificial intelligence (AI) and pollen monitoring is unfolding. In this blog post we’ll explore how our team of Toxicologists are working to better understand and monitor what we’re breathing in and how this may impact our health.
Mammograms are the gold standard for breast cancer detection starting around age 40.
Breast density can raise breast cancer risk and make it more difficult to detect cancer. Still, many people are unaware of this important risk factor, even if they regularly receive mammograms.
On September 10, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule that will require breast density to be included in mammography reports. This amendment to the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) states that all mammogram facilities should include information about breast density in all patient mammography reports and results letters.
“Breast density not only has to do with intrinsic risk but the ability to detect cancer on a mammogram,” Richard Reitherman, MD, PhD, board certified radiologist and medical director of breast imaging at MemorialCare Breast Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, told Healthline.
“Because the normal stromal tissue is white and cancer is white, the denser the breast, the more difficult it is to detect the cancer. This is termed ”masking,” Reitherman explained.
According to the National Cancer Institute, breast density is extremely common. Around half of all females ages 40 and older who receive mammograms are found to have dense breasts. If that includes you, here’s what you need to know.
Reitherman explained there are two primary components in breast tissue:
Breast density refers to the amount of fibroglandular tissue in the female breast compared to fatty tissue. When there is more fibroglandular tissue, there is more breast density.
“Breast density characterizes the relative amounts of fat, glandular, and stromal tissue in a mammogram,” Reitherman explained.
When a mammogram demonstrates that 50% or more of breast volume is white, there is breast density. If the white components are less than 50%, the breasts are considered non-dense, Reitherman said.
The FDA’s new Federal Breast Density Requirements for mammography reports classify breast density into one of four categories:
“The levels of density are characterized based on the composition of fat and dense breast tissue, Kecia Gaither, MD, MPH, double board certified OB/GYN and maternal fetal medicine specialist and director of Perinatal Services/Maternal Fetal Medicine at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln in the Bronx, told Healthline.
“Heterogeneous dense [means] that most of the breast tissue is dense, but some areas are fatty. Extremely dense [means] most of the tissue is dense, with little fatty tissue,” Gaither explained.
Gaither said various factors may contribute to dense breast tissue, such as:
People with more breast density have more fibroglandular tissue in their breasts, which raises their breast cancer risk.
“The glandular tissue this is where breast cancer initially develops,” Reitherman said.
“There is a complex interaction between the glandular and stromal tissue which regulates this initial tumor development and its ability to spread. The higher the proportion of stromal tissue, which is white on the mammogram, relative to fat which is black, the higher the risk of breast cancer,” he explained.
Reitherman noted the link between breast density and breast cancer risk is an actively pursued area of research that has “yielded many complex biochemical insights.”
These insights include the structural proteins, enzymes, and genetic components of breast density and how they may play a role in breast cancer development.
If your mammography report indicates you have dense breast tissue, you may require further diagnostics, especially if you have other risk factors for breast cancer, such as a family history.
Additional tests to screen for breast cancer to improve the “masking” effect that breast density can have on mammography results may include:
“MRI is by far and away the most sensitive imaging technique to detect breast cancer in women with dense breasts,” Reitherman said. “Ultrasound has been also proven to improve detection of breast cancers in women with dense breasts.”
Of course, these tests may come with additional costs.
“It is clear that out-of-pocket expenses serve as a definite deterrent for patients to access these additional screening modalities,” Reitherman noted.
“However, if a woman has a lifetime risk that is 20% or greater, most insurance companies will cover annual breast MRI in addition to mammography,” he said.
There are currently no clinical guidelines to reduce breast density and no clear evidence that reducing breast density will reduce cancer risk.
Still, some studies have shown that certain factors may help decrease breast density, such as:
But breast density isn’t the only factor influencing breast cancer risk.
“Breast cancer risk appears to be a multifactorial paradigm predicated on an interplay of multiple factors inclusive of Genetics, environment, diet,” Gaither said.
If you have dense breasts, there are steps you can take to help lower your risk of developing breast cancer.
“Breast cancer is one of the most lifestyle-responsive cancers. From a preventive standpoint, it is estimated that one-third of all breast cancers could be prevented,” said Ora Karp Gordon, MD, board certified medical geneticist, Regional Medical Director of Clinical Genetics and Genomics for Providence Southern California, and Professor of Genetics at Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA.
Gordon and Gaither recommended the following:
“Decisions on the use of and duration of hormone replacement therapy should always be individualized based on a woman’s risk for breast cancer and her quality of life and clinical symptoms, rather than a ‘prescribe for all’ approach that was common years ago,” Gordon noted.
Mammography results will now include breast density as part of assessing a person’s breast cancer risk.
Having dense breasts can make it difficult to detect signs of breast cancer and is also considered a risk factor.
Dietary and lifestyle modifications help lower a person’s risk of developing breast cancer.
Following the death of her son, a mom is warning others about the “blackout challenge” (also known as the “choking challenge”), a dangerous viral TikTok trend.
In an editorial for Huffpost, Joann Bogard describes the tragedy of losing her son Mason in 2019. Like other kids his age, he’d shown an interest in social media “challenges.” Challenge videos encourage social media users to copy an activity from social media and then perform it themselves, posting the video for all to see. Many can be relatively innocuous, but some are far more dangerous.
The “blackout challenge,” which encourages individuals to asphyxiate themselves to the point of losing consciousness, falls into the latter. It is extremely dangerous. Mason lost his life after attempting the challenge and accidentally choking himself to death. Now Bogard is helping other parents to become better educated about social media and online trends.
“What worries me most today is that what happened to Mason and our family can happen to anyone — and has happened to others. Families are desperately seeking answers on how to protect their children online,” she wrote for Huffpost.
The “blackout challenge,” or “choking challenge,” is an online challenge proliferated through social media apps such as TikTok that encourages viewers to asphyxiate themselves until they lose consciousness. The loss of consciousness is believed to be associated with a “high” or feeling of euphoria. Challenge videos may be particularly appealing to teens and adolescents.
Unlike other dangerous trends that have come and gone over the years, such as the Tide pod challenge, variations of challenges related to asphyxiation tend to crop up every couple of years.
“This is a trend that seems to come of age with each progressive generation,” said Mary Beth Howard, MD, MSC, a Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
“It’s very dangerous to begin with, and the other issue at hand is that we have social media and these very powerful algorithms that are propagating these very dangerous behaviors,” she said.
Benjamin Morse, BA, a Visiting Lecturer in New Media and social media expert at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told Healthline, “These trends take off, and they accelerate at such a speed that something tragic can happen before a parent is even aware of what their kids are watching.”
Asphyxiation is extremely dangerous and can quickly lead to brain damage and death. There is also the added risk that an individual may take part in the “blackout challenge” by themself, without any form of supervision, greatly increasing the danger.
“When you deprive the brain of oxygen and you go unconscious, that’s it, you’re not able to stop the event,” said Marla Levine, MD, an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Director of Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“You have a brief period of time where you can then reestablish blood supply or oxygen to your brain to prevent cerebral death,” she said.
Asphyxiation leads to a condition known as cerebral hypoxia, literally depriving the brain of oxygen.
The brain can be deprived of oxygen with as little as 4.4 pounds of pressure and can cause loss of consciousness in just ten seconds. When hypoxia begins, permanent brain damage can occur within just four minutes. Brain death can occur within five minutes of hypoxia.
“We’re not talking about a long period of time here,” said Levine.
There are also no hard rules for how asphyxiation may affect one individual to the next.
“Everyone’s response to these challenges is variable. So someone could pass out within seconds, someone may take closer to a minute,” said Howard. That variability makes the challenge even more dangerous since an individual may lose consciousness much faster than they anticipate.
Other dangers from asphyxiation include:
If an individual is asphyxiating and has lost consciousness, immediately contact emergency services such as 911.
Speaking to a child about social media and dangerous online challenges may not be easy, but prevention should be a top priority for all parents.
How parents, companies, and lawmakers monitor and regulate social media can be a thorny issue. While some advocate for greater responsibility and censorship from social media companies themselves, Morse recommends a more pragmatic approach.
“Waiting for the platforms to do the work is not going to happen,” he said.
Instead, he recommends parents actively engage with the platforms and apps that their children are using and set appropriate boundaries.
“If your kids are on TikTok, you need to be on TikTok. I know that’s not a fun answer for parents, but you need to understand what your kids are doing,” he told Healthline.
“It’s so incredibly important that parents are vigilant in having conversations with their children and vigilant about what they’re consuming in social media,” said Levine.
A dangerous social media trend known as the “choking challenge,” which encourages viewers to asphyxiate themselves until they lose consciousness, has resulted in at least one death.
Asphyxiation can result in brain damage and death in as little as four minutes.
Parents are encouraged to have open and informed conversations with their children about social media to help set safe boundaries.
According to a study published online on August 30, 2024, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, people using 2.4-milligram semaglutide were less likely to have severe cases of COVID-19 when using this drug.
They were also less likely to die from any cause, cardiovascular or otherwise.
The study authors further noted that the reduced rate of non-cardiovascular deaths was mainly due to fewer people dying from infections.
Semaglutide is available under the brand names Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss.
However, while Wegovy is available in the 2.4-milligram dose, Ozempic tops out at 2 milligrams.
The authors state that people with overweight and obesity are at greater risk for dying, both from cardiovascular disease and other causes.
Their goal was to see if semaglutide might help prevent these deaths, looking at both cardiovascular deaths and deaths from other causes, including deaths from COVID-19.
The researchers randomly selected over 17,000 individuals to participate.
Participants were ages 45 and up with a body mass index (BMI) that established them as living with either overweight or obesity.
The study participants also had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease but not diabetes.
Over a period of 3.3 years, these people received weekly injections of either semaglutide or a placebo.
During this time, any deaths that occurred were recorded based on the cause of death.
They found that 833 people died during the course of the study, with 58% of these being related to cardiovascular disease, while the remainder were due to other causes.
After analyzing the data, the researchers reached the conclusion that there were fewer deaths from any cause in the group that was treated with semaglutide.
Another salient finding was that, while semaglutide did not reduce the rates of COVID-19, those who contracted the virus had fewer adverse events related to the disease.
Dr. Ramit Singh Sambyal, a General Physician associated with ClinicSpots who was not involved in the study, said that GLP-1 receptor agonists, like semaglutide, were originally designed to treat diabetes.
However, they can improve overall metabolic health by making it easier for people to lose weight, he said.
“When we think about this in the context of COVID-19, there’s a fascinating link: obesity is a known risk factor for severe outcomes from the virus,” Sambyal explained. “So, anything that helps reduce obesity-related issues might also lower the risks if you get infected.”
Sambyal went on to explain that obesity isn’t just about added weight.
“[I]t also put a lot of stress on the body, including chronic inflammation, which makes it harder for your immune system to fight off infections like COVID-19,” he said.
Losing weight with semaglutide allows your body to function better, said Sambyal.
“Blood pressure drops, blood sugar becomes easier to control, and inflammation decreases,” he said. “This makes you healthier overall and less vulnerable to severe complications if you contract COVID-19.”
Sambyal additionally emphasized that drugs like semaglutide do not appear to have any direct effect on the COVID-19 virus, although ongoing research is investigating whether GLP-1 drugs could impact it.
“So, while they can make you healthier and possibly less likely to suffer severe outcomes, they’re not a miracle cure for COVID-19,” he concluded.
Dr. Michael Lahey, a physician with My Weight Loss Partner, added to Sambyal’s thoughts by noting that while drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy can aid with treating obesity and obesity-related diseases, they do not free you from taking precautions against COVID-19.
“These drugs are intended for controlling certain illnesses and must be regarded only as useful adjuncts to a particular disease control program,” he explained.
If you have obesity or accompanying diseases that put you at higher risk for COVID-19 complications — such as cancer, chronic kidney, liver, lung, or heart disease; diabetes; or a compromised immune system — you still need to follow measures such as vaccination, physical distancing, and masking to protect yourself, according to Lahey.
“These medications, when taken, truly lower the risk of severe COVID-19, but they do not eliminate the need for every preventive measure,” he stated.
Sambyal added that it’s important to think of these drugs as “a piece of a bigger puzzle.”
“Yes, they can help reduce your risk by improving your overall health, but they don’t prevent the virus from infecting you,” he said.
Vaccines help train your immune system to fight off the virus. Taking additional precautions can help keep you from getting the virus in the first place, said Sambyal.
A new study has found that people using semaglutide experienced less severe cases of COVID-19.
Additionally, they were less likely to die from any cause during the study.
Experts say this is because weight loss makes you healthier overall, reducing your risk for COVID-19 complications.
Even if you are using drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy, you still need to take precautions against COVID-19 — such as vaccinations, physical distancing, and masking — to reduce your risk.
The battle to get good sleep seems constant. So much so that many Americans turn to social media for advice on the latest sleep trends.
According to a 2024 survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), 37% of Americans have tried at least one of this year’s trending sleep practices, with 55% of Gen Z survey respondents leading the way.
“I try not to discourage people from feeling active and empowered through the use of online resources to find community, ideas for solutions, and better understanding of their lived experience,” Dr. Anne Marie Morse, Geisinger sleep medicine physician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told Healthline.
“Unfortunately, like with a dress, makeup, or your name, it may look glorious on someone else, but it may not fit just right on you.”
Sleep experts break down the implications of top sleep hacks trending on social media.
“Bed rotting” refers to staying in bed for extended periods of time to boost rest, often to the point of neglecting responsibilities and social interactions, with the hopes of improving restoration. According to the AASM survey, this has been adopted by nearly a quarter (24%) of Gen Z.
“While spending time in bed can be beneficial for rest and recovery, too much time spent in bed can have negative effects on mental and physical health,” said Morse.
While she encourages the occasional relaxation and restoration efforts, she said protracted periods of time spent lying in bed for any other reason than sleep or sex may jeopardize the health of your sleep, and with that, your medical and mental health could be at risk too.
Sound like an overreaction? Morse said it’s not.
“Your mind can be conditioned to associate things that aren’t meant to be together. So, if you retreat to your bed to ‘rot’ away your anxiety, bad day, recent breakup, or other daily challenge, lying in bed can start to make you revisit these negative emotions and lead to difficulties falling and staying asleep,” she said.
Spending a lot of awake time in bed makes people associate the bed with being awake, “making the bed less of a ‘protected’ place for good quality sleep,” Jade Wu, PhD, sleep medicine psychologist and Sleep Advisor at Mattress Firm, told Healthline.
In extreme cases, and for those who may have other medical risk factors, prolonged inactivity from lying in bed can lead to issues like muscle atrophy, decreased cardiovascular fitness, and increased risk of obesity, added Morse.
Sedentariness generally doesn’t make people feel better and can have a negative impact on mood, sleep, and metabolic health, said Wu.
“Sometimes when we’ve been over-doing it, it can help to give ourselves a chance to rest, though generally, I would reserve that for situations where you’ve truly been doing intensive exercise, working overtime, or going through something extraordinarily taxing,” she said. “I wouldn’t make a general habit of it just for the sake of avoiding starting the day.”
Try this instead: if you’re overwhelmed with work or life, rather than staying in bed for prolonged periods of time to refresh, Wu suggested finding a quiet change of scene in nature, practicing mindful meditation or yoga, or reading a book.
Nearly 9% of survey respondents have tried drinking magnesium to help with sleep. The “sleepy girl mocktail” trending on social media is made of a half-cup of pure tart cherry juice, a tablespoon of magnesium powder, and sparkling water.
Drinking magnesium or taking magnesium supplements is generally safe when done within recommended guidelines, said Morse. Magnesium is a mineral that is important for multiple body functions, especially neurologic functioning, which affects sleep.
However, research on the impact of magnesium supplements on sleep has not yielded consistent results, but some data shows higher dosing may improve sleep quality.
“The limitations of the research are typically related to the type of magnesium studied and small groups of participants, which raises questions on the ability to apply this information,” said Morse.
For instance, a 2023 systematic literature review made a connection to magnesium status and sleep quality in observational studies and a small study from 2012 reported that people who took a daily dose of 500 mg of magnesium for eight weeks indicated that they had fewer subjective insomnia symptoms than people who received the placebo.
However, large-scale randomized control trials have not shown a specific correlation between supplementing with magnesium and improvements in sleep quality.
Morse said that if you’re going to try magnesium to enhance sleep, take note that magnesium formulations are used medically for stomach issues like constipation, indigestion, and heartburn and can cause loose stools or diarrhea.
Try this instead: Talk with your doctor about magnesium before trying it or about other supplements or medications that may be more effective and tailored to your sleep issues.
Of those who took the AASM survey, 9% said they tested the effectiveness of sleeping in 90-minute increments.
The idea of sleeping in 90-minute increments is based on the concept of the sleep cycle, which lasts about 90 to 120 minutes for adults and 50-to-60-minute cycles during early childhood.
Each night, the brain goes through multiple sleep cycles, each lasting 90 to 120 minutes, and the cycles consist of different stages of sleep: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM (NREM) sleep, explained Morse.
“Unfortunately, the idea misses out on the fact that each cycle can vary,” said Morse. “While the 90-minute increment idea can be attractive to some who are trying to get a better handle on achieving their best night’s sleep, it will likely miss the mark. When you prioritize a full night of restful sleep, you’re more likely to feel refreshed and energized, regardless of whether you wake up at the end of a specific cycle.”
For those trying to take a daytime nap, Wu said to aim for around 30 minutes and avoid going over one hour because longer naps can negatively impact nighttime sleep. Also, there is evidence linking longer napping to higher risks for heart disease in the long run.
“If you are sleeping at night, there is no reason to purposefully interrupt sleep at the 90-minute mark,” said Wu.
Extraordinary circumstances are an exception, like a soldier on a mission, an ultramarathoner who is running for 24-plus hours, or someone experiencing jet lag.
“Then it’s okay to nap for any amount of time that is needed to catch up on sleep that the body needs, including a 90-minute nap if that’s what’s feasible,” said Wu. “But there is nothing special about 90-minute cycles that warrants trying to sleep in these increments.”
Try this instead: Instead of sleeping in 90-minute increments, Morse recommended focusing on getting into a regular sleep schedule and shooting for seven to nine hours of sleep a night, which is likely to bring a higher return on investment.
While there are many attractive sleep “hacks” on social media, they are enticing because they don’t require a lot of effort. “But if good sleep health were as simple as taking a supplement or staying in bed all day, we wouldn’t have so many millions of people with sleep problems in the U.S.,” said Wu.
If you’re at a loss for ways to get better quality sleep, consider the following strategies:
Brian May, guitarist for the legendary rock group Queen, revealed this week that he experienced a “minor stroke.”
In a video posted on his personal Instagram account, May explained that the incident required medical attention and briefly left him unable to use his left arm. Fortunately, the rocker is back in good health and, importantly, playing guitar again.
“Good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days and I say this because it was in some doubt,” he said in the video.
“All of a sudden, out of the blue, I didn’t have any control over this arm,” May recounted.
The incident is an important reminder that strokes can vary drastically in severity and presentation of symptoms. But don’t let the term “minor stroke” mislead you: strokes are a serious medical issue. Even minor strokes, if left untreated, can lead to serious health outcomes and death.
Here’s what you need to know.
A stroke refers to when areas of the brain are not receiving blood flow, which can result in damage to brain tissue. A minor stroke is a non-scientific term that a doctor may use to describe the general severity of a stroke. However, the term doesn’t make specific reference to the type (ischemic or hemorrhagic) or etiology (cause) of the stroke.
“There’s no specific definition of minor stroke. A minor stroke for one person might be much more significant for somebody else. Presumably, the way it’s being used here is that it’s a stroke that hasn’t led to significant or lasting neurologic deficits,” Neil Schwartz, MD, PhD, a Clinical Professor of Neurology at Stanford Medicine, told Healthline.
A minor stroke shouldn’t be confused with a transient ischemic attack (TIA), which is often described as a “ministroke” or “warning stroke.” A TIA causes stroke-like symptoms, such as limb weakness and drooping face, but resolves on its own without damage to the brain. It is called a “warning stroke” because it may be an early sign of a stroke.
“The difference between a TIA and a minor stroke is that with a TIA, the symptoms go away, and the person recovers before there’s any actual injury to the brain. In other words, the lack of blood flow that is contributing to the problem resolves before there’s any permanent damage to the brain,” Mitchell Elkind, MD, MS, the Chief Clinical Science Officer of the American Heart Association, told Healthline.
“A minor stroke, conversely, is when there may actually be a permanent injury to a small part of the brain, leaving a little scar, but the person’s brain reorganizes, and they’re able to recover from it very quickly,” added Elkind.
Both TIA and stroke are serious medical conditions. A TIA may resolve on its own, but because it manifests with similar symptoms to a stroke, there is no way of knowing the severity without seeking medical attention.
A minor stroke may also become a major one without treatment. So, if you are experiencing symptoms of a stroke, always seek aid.
Brian May’s experience of a sudden lack of control over his left arm is one of the classic symptoms of a stroke.
“We often just see one side of the body or the other affected,” said Schwartz. “We typically see a loss of function, such as weakness or numbness, and facial droop. Those are kind of the classic stroke symptoms,” he added.
The hallmark stroke warning signs can be identified through the acronym FAST:
Other symptoms of stroke include:
Elkind points out that, unlike a heart attack, individuals experiencing a stroke may not experience any pain.
“Strokes often don’t cause any pain. So, people sometimes get misled because they think of a heart attack and think they should have pain. The brain doesn’t have any sensation itself, so it doesn’t feel pain, it just stops functioning,” he said.
What a doctor prescribes for a patient following a stroke will differ based on the severity of the stroke, as well as other health and lifestyle factors.
Brian May says that his doctors “grounded” him, advising him to stay off of airplanes, avoid driving, and keep his heart rate down. However, this advice isn’t generalizable to everyone who has experienced a stroke. Instead, patients should work with their doctors to develop a personalized recovery plan.
Following a stroke, a doctor will order a diagnostic workup, likely including a brain MRI, to determine the cause and extent of the stroke. Depending on the findings, they may prescribe drugs, such as anticoagulants.
A patient’s specific lifestyle and health factors are also key to recovery. During recovery, a doctor will want to address stroke comorbidities such as diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure.
Patients may also need to modify lifestyle factors, including diet, exercise, and smoking following a stroke.
“Depending on what the doctors think the specific cause is, they may make specific recommendations about rest, additional testing, or even surgery to the neck,” said Elkind.
Brian May, the guitarist for legendary rock group Queen, recently experienced what his doctors described as a “minor stroke.”
During the incident, May lost the ability to use his left hand. He now appears to be in good health and has regained the use of his hand.
The severity of a stroke may vary from person to person, but individuals are always urged to know the signs of a stroke and to seek medical attention.
While drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound can help people lose significant weight, individuals who stop using the medications often regain many of the pounds they shed. It’s a phenomenon commonly referred to as Ozempic rebound.
In fact, one clinical trial extension from 2022 indicated that people who ceased 2.4 mg weekly doses of semaglutide (Wegovy) regained about two-thirds of their weight within one year.
One reason people often quickly regain weight is that extreme hunger and food noise blunted by the GLP-1 drugs can return and, in many cases, feel more intense.
“GLP-1 medications suppress the appetite,” says Dr. Mir Ali, a board certified bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center. “However, when stopped, the appetite returns and there is likely some dysregulation in the appetite hormones, so the appetite can come back even stronger.”
While these medications are designed for long-term use, access, costs, and side effects may not make that possible for everyone.
However, health experts who specialize in treating obesity say that the following seven tips can help people manage extreme hunger after they stop taking GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and maintain the weight they’ve lost.
Balance is important.
“The plate method divides your plate into three categories,” says Dr. Michael L. Glickman, a triple board certified family and obesity medicine physician who founded Revolution Medicine.
Glickman says these categories are:
Some products — and even your own body – can serve as a portion guide.
“There is dinnerware available that can help regulate portions,” Ali says. “Your hands are also a rough guide to portions.”
What fits in the palm of your hand is often an approximate portion size, Ali says.
Ali says you can ask for half of a portion or box half of a meal before eating when dining out.
A 2015 review indicated that foods high in fiber and protein were satisfying.
Dr. Christopher McGowan, who is triple board certified in internal medicine, obesity medicine, and gastroenterology, says these foods should be a priority, especially after ceasing the use of a GLP-1 drug.
“GLP-1 medications work by curbing appetite through the brain and slowing stomach emptying, leading to prolonged fullness,” says McGowan, who is also the co-founder of True You Weight Loss. “After stopping a GLP-1 medication, the stomach will rapidly return to its baseline emptying rate, meaning you will feel less satisfied after meals. This sudden feeling of rapid emptying and reduced satiety can be counteracted by focusing on satiating, slow-to-digest foods.”
Additionally, Glickman notes that fiber can help regulate blood sugar, helping to suppress appetite and keep insulin levels in check.
McGowan suggests foods like:
The quality of food also matters.
“Avoid foods high in sugar and carbohydrates that cause spikes in insulin,” Glickman says. “Elevated insulin thwarts weight loss and can cause a ‘crash,’ prompting the search for more food high in sugar and carbs.”
Processed foods often have longer shelf lives, fewer storage requirements, and are generally more convenient.
Glickman says having nourishing, satisfying foods, like ready-to-eat fruits and veggies, within reach can counteract the desire to opt for highly processed, sugary foods when you’re hungry.
“Keep the fridge stocked with well-rounded meals — investing, at times, in premade meals through a delivery service,” Glickman says. “Ideally, this helps reduce grazing/snacking in between meals and on the aforementioned processed foods.”
A 2017 study suggested that people who engaged in meal planning had improved diet variety and quality and body weight.
Making time for meals — and eating with intention — might also help with satisfaction.
“Eat mindfully with awareness and intention,” Ali says. “Savor the texture, smell, and taste of food. This may allow your body to be satisfied with less food.”
Mindful eating also slows down the process of food consumption, which could be to a person’s benefit.
“Often, people continue to eat beyond when they are full because they have not allowed enough time for the receptors in the stomach to signal the brain that it is full,” Ali says. “Eating slowly gives time to sense your stomach is full.”
Diet and exercise are two lifestyle pillars of weight management. The two might be intertwined, too.
“Exercise sends natural signals that may counteract extreme hunger,” Ali says. “The goal with exercise is being consistent.”
Ali recommends shooting for 30 minutes of physical activity daily, five days a week. That puts people at 150 minutes per week.
The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week. McGowan agrees that exercise is essential and adds that resistance training is also beneficial, which the AHA suggests doing at least twice weekly.
Research from 2023 indicated that people who exercised regularly had better appetite sensitivity, which could assist with long-term caloric intake.
A 2022 animal study that involved putting mice on treadmills suggested that strenuous exercise could reduce hunger, at least for a couple of hours post-workout.
While lifestyle modifications and self-help might assist people in managing extreme hunger, you might need or want more support.
“Working with a professional, registered dietitian, including weight monitoring, can be critical,” says Dr. Seth Kipnis, the medical director of bariatric and robotic surgery at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
Additionally, Kipnis notes that the National Institutes of Health website has a wealth of information related to weight management people might find useful. He also notes that it’s important to keep in touch with your medical team to rule out any other underlying conditions that might be contributing to extreme hunger (and following treatment plans for any conditions you have).
When people stop taking GLP-1 medications like Wegovy, Ozempic, and Zepbound, they often experience feelings of extreme hunger, which can be challenging to manage and can contribute to weight gain.
However, health experts say there are strategies that can help reduce extreme hunger and maintain weight after quitting a GLP-1 drug.
These include regular exercise, portion control, and eating in a slow, intentional manner.
On April Fool’s Day 2012, then 31-year-old Talisa King hit rock bottom with symptoms she had been experiencing for a few years.
While working the night shift at a youth detention center, she suddenly could not move the entire left side of her body.
“I immediately notified my co-worker who was working with me, and we were able to call medical, and of course, the first thing they thought is that I was having a stroke,” King told Healthline.
However, when she went to the emergency room, doctors determined she was not experiencing a stroke. Because her condition was complicated, she stayed in the hospital for six weeks undergoing various tests that ruled out neurological conditions and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
“I was released to physical therapy and to do occupational therapy and to go to a series of neurologists who basically diagnosed me with something different every week and flooded my system with medicine because they were treating me for different conditions I didn’t have,” said King.
She finally met with a rheumatologist who diagnosed her with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, a subtype of RA that is not detected in typical blood tests used to diagnose the condition.
“It can be difficult to determine the type of arthritis by the description of the pain, and many forms of arthritis have similar symptoms,” Dr. Diane Horowitz, director of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Center at Northwell Health, told Healthline.
After a year-and-a-half of having difficulty tying her shoes, cutting her food, and walking on her own, King was relieved to receive an official diagnosis.
She is one of the nearly 1.5 million Americans who live with RA.
King’s doctor started her on aggressive treatment to control inflammation. However, she still had to go through various forms of treatment, including taking NSAIDs and biologics, before finding one that brought her relief.
“[Keep] in mind that any damage that is done by rheumatoid arthritis is permanent once it becomes any level of erosion, so you have to figure I had lost a year-and-a-half to almost two years of having issues with swelling and erosion on different pieces and parts of my body,” King said.
Managing pain is a constant challenge too.
“One common misunderstanding is that the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of inflammatory arthritis is solely due to joint damage or very active disease,” Dr. M. Elaine Husni, vice chair of the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases and director of the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Center at Cleveland Clinic, told Healthline.
She said that in addition to joint damage, RA pain can come from soft tissue injury around the joint, such as tendinitis or bursitis, or mechanical wear and tear from cartilage loss, known as osteoarthritis (OA).
“You may need additional treatment for soft tissue condition or OA to your RA treatment to best manage pain,” said Husni.
RA pain may also come from central sensitization, where pain can stem from abnormal processing of pain pathways from the brain.
“So there may not be any actual joint damage but still joint pain. This could be chronic pain or fibromyalgia,” Husni said.
To add to the complications of managing RA pain, arthritis pain is variable, fluctuating with disease activity, stress levels, and even weather changes.
“The complexity of pain in RA includes both nociceptive and neuropathic components, making it a multifaceted experience that requires comprehensive management beyond just treating joint inflammation in some cases,” said Husni.
This is also the case for King.
While most people begin experiencing pain at the onset of the RA, she didn’t have pain initially but graduated into pain over time.
“Once the pain kicked in, it was definitely there,” she said.
She journals to keep track of which parts of her body are in pain and also writes down the foods she eats.
“In your mind, you’re having a rough day, but over time, you may realize you feel that way when you eat a lot of gluten,” said King. “Triggers are something to really keep track of.”
Pain from rheumatoid arthritis can be intermittent and can occur at any time.
“This can be very unsettling for people and can add an element of unpredictability to their life,” said Horowitz.
King manages her pain day by day and sometimes hour by hour.
“At this moment, I’m doing okay, but in an hour, I could get up or lay down and be in a different space,” she said.
RA and other forms of inflammatory arthritis are often considered “invisible diseases” because the debilitating pain and fatigue that people experience may not be apparent to others, including healthcare providers.
“When the manifestations of a disease are not overtly apparent, it can be difficult for others to understand the pain a patient may feel,” said Horowitz.
The invisibility can lead to underestimation of the severity of the disease, delays in diagnosis, and inadequate pain management.
“Patients may face skepticism about the legitimacy of their pain, especially when there is a lack of visible joint deformity or radiographic evidence in the early stages of the disease,” Husni said. “Moreover, societal stigma associated with chronic pain conditions can lead to patients feeling dismissed or misunderstood, further complicating their journey to receive appropriate care.”
King has experienced this firsthand and noted that hospitals may treat people with RA like they are drug-seeking, excessively trying to fill medications.
“You have to be diligent and advocate for what you think you need…if you feel like your level [of pain] is higher than what they’re giving you [medication for], let them know what worked for you in the past…but if you are not careful, some doctors will consider it med seeking,” she said.
When King was first diagnosed with RA, she reached out to the Arthritis Foundation for support and asked for guidance on how to become a resource to others in her community.
“I never want anybody to go through the things I went through when I was initially diagnosed,” said King. “Not having resources in the area, not having peers who I could connect with or people who I could talk to who understood what the condition was, and the ins and outs of it.”
After becoming trained by the Foundation, she became chair of the Buffalo Walk to Cure Arthritis, an event that she started in 2018. She also speaks at the Foundation’s Pathway Conference, leads webinars, and is the facilitator of the African American Connect Group.
She recently took part in a Foundation initiative that invited people living with arthritis to share words or mantras that inspire their lives. (King chose “grace.”) The words were made into bracelets that the Arthritis Foundation will distribute to more than 50 markets in the U.S. and give out free of charge throughout September in cities like Atlanta, New York City, Phoenix, and D.C.
“Whatever I can do to continue to share the message because it’s a form of therapy for me as well, just knowing my story can help somebody else who is having a rough time and doesn’t know how to get started with navigating their condition,” said King.
With kids getting back into the classroom, now is a good time for parents to familiarise themselves with some of the common illnesses that could disrupt children’s studies or even cause more serious illness during the colder months. This blog …
With kids getting back into the classroom, now is a good time for parents to familiarise themselves with some of the common illnesses that could disrupt children’s studies or even cause more serious illness during the colder months. This blog …
