Diet plays a very important role when it comes to your health. There are many people who have to adhere to strict diets because of certain conditions they have. While the basic understanding that we need all kinds of foods to fulfill our body’s needs, sometimes these foods can also cause harm to your body. For example, lactose intolerant people cannot eat or consume any kind of dairy product as their bodies do not have the necessary compounds, known as lactose, to break down dairy foods. Similarly, there are many foods that may be ok for others to consume, but not for people who have digestive issues like IBS. But this new clinical trial may be able to help us know what food we can eat based on our blood test! The blood test, called inFoods IBS, looks for a special type of antibody in the blood. Antibodies are like tiny soldiers that our bodies make to fight off things that could make us sick.

IBS is a very common problem, affecting a large number of people. Many people know that what they eat can make their IBS symptoms worse, but it's often hard to figure out exactly which foods are the culprits. This is because everyone is different, and what triggers one person might not trigger another. Doctors hear from patients all the time, asking for help in determining which foods are causing their problems. So, finding a reliable way to pinpoint those foods is important. This test is attempting to provide that reliability.

How Does This Blood Test Work?

Basically, the test is looking for an antibody called IgG. When the gut reacts badly to a food, it makes more of this IgG antibody. The test checks for reactions to 18 common foods, like wheat, milk, and certain fruits. If the test finds high levels of the IgG antibody for a certain food, it means that food is likely causing problems. Therefore, the patient should try to remove that food from their diet.

Many people with IBS struggle to find relief from their stomach pain and discomfort. This new study looked at whether a special blood test could help. The idea was to see if the test could tell people which foods were making their IBS worse. The results were encouraging. When people changed their diets based on what the blood test showed, about 60% of them felt less stomach pain. This is better than the 42% who felt better when they just tried a general diet change. This shows that the blood test might be a useful tool for people with IBS to get real relief.

How Does This Personalized Nutrition Approach Work?

Many doctors suggest that people with IBS try elimination diets, where they cut out certain foods to see if their symptoms improve. However, these diets can be very hard to follow, because they often require people to cut out a lot of different foods. Doctors are always looking for ways to give patients care that's tailored to their specific needs. In the case of IBS, that means figuring out exactly which foods each person should avoid.

This blood test is a step in that direction. Experts are calling it a move towards "precision nutrition." This means that instead of giving everyone the same diet advice, doctors could use the blood test to create a personalized plan for each patient. While more research is needed, this test brings hope that doctors will soon be able to give much more precise dietary recommendations to those people that suffer from IBS. While this test is yet to be approved by FDA, it could be a world of comfort and ease for people who suffer with IBS.

With different careers come different work expectations. Some jobs have routine day shifts with regular working hours, popularly known as the ‘9-5’. While other jobs require round-the-clock service. However, did you know what shifts you chose to do have an effect on your health as well?

Ranking the best to worst shifts, Dr Sudhir Kumar, a Hyderabad-based neurologist, recently made a post on his social media platform. He explained that the way you schedule your work shifts can have a major impact on your long-term health. The ideal work schedule is one that matches your body's natural clock. Below is a ranking of three common shift types, based on their effects on your health.

Day Shifts: The Healthiest Option

Why Day Shifts are Best for Your Body

Working during the day perfectly matches your circadian rhythm, or internal clock. Your body is naturally built to be awake when it's light and rest when it's dark, allowing vital processes like hormone production and cell repair to function efficiently and keep your system stable.

Benefits of a Stable Schedule

Day shifts allow for quality, full sleep, which is crucial for long-term health. Workers face a lower risk of serious issues like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. This stable routine also lowers the risk of depression, anxiety, and certain cancers, making it the healthiest choice.

Fixed Night Shifts: Acceptable but Not Ideal

Partial Adaptation to Night Work

If night work is unavoidable, a consistent fixed night shift is superior to a constantly changing schedule. The benefit is that the body can establish a slightly more consistent sleep routine over time, allowing for a better partial adjustment to the reversed daytime sleep schedule than an erratic one.

Significant Remaining Health Risks

However, stable night shifts still cause chronic misalignment with the natural day-night cycle. This leads to higher long-term risks of metabolic disorders, insulin resistance, and mood problems. Additionally, it disrupts social and family life, contributing to ongoing sleep deprivation and substantial health risks.

Rotating Shifts: The Worst for Health

Maximum Disruption to the Body Clock

Constantly changing shifts are the most harmful because the internal clock cannot adapt to the varying schedule. This causes the maximum possible circadian rhythm disruption, confusing the body about when it should be awake, resting, or performing essential processes.

Increased Risk of Serious Illness

This chaotic schedule is linked to severe sleep issues and unhealthy fluctuations in stress hormones. This increases the risk of serious illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mood disorders. Rapid shifts, like moving from night to morning duty, dangerously increase fatigue, raising the risk of accidents.

Final Ranking for Long-Term Health

At the end of the post Dr Kumar reiterated that the best to worst working hours for your body.

• Day Shift (Best)
• Fixed Night Shifts (Moderate Risk)
• Rotating Shifts (Worst Risk)

While there are ways to manage your health around your working hours, it is important to make sure you give your body as much stability as possible. Make sure you speak to a healthcare professional and build a routine that will help your body maintain its level of functioning while also keeping your health in check.

Have you or someone around you experienced nightly leg cramps that disrupt their sleep? While you may think of it as harmless, it is more dangerous than you realize. Warning people about the same, in a recent video on social media, Dr. Rema Malik Board-Certified Vascular Surgeon in Houston, reveals that this persistent, painful nighttime leg cramps are often a distress signal from your blood vessels, not just a simple mineral imbalance.

The doctor explains that this is not just a simple case of ‘charley horse’, which are muscle cramps that occur in the body, often legs. It is a phenomenon where the muscles in the body go through a spasm, meaning it contracts without your control and does not relax. While these may be the cause behind your leg cramps at night, there could be more to it than you realize.

What Causes Night Leg Cramps?

The most common reason for nighttime cramping is Venous Insufficiency. This condition occurs when the tiny one-way valves inside the leg veins weaken or become damaged. After spending hours sitting or standing throughout the day, these faulty valves allow blood to flow backward and pool in the lower legs due to gravity.

At night, this buildup of stagnant blood and fluid, which is full of metabolic waste products, irritates the local nerves and muscles. This irritation then triggers the intense, involuntary muscle contractions known as cramps, and it is also often associated with that uncomfortable, crawling sensation known as "restless legs."

Why Are Night Leg Cramps Dangerous?

A more serious cause of these cramps is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), particularly in its advanced stages, which is sometimes referred to as "rest pain." PAD develops when the arteries supplying blood to the legs become narrow or blocked by plaque buildup (atherosclerosis).

When the leg muscles are not receiving enough oxygen-rich blood—a state called ischemia—they begin to signal distress. If the blockage is severe, the muscles can be starved of oxygen even when the body is completely at rest, leading to crippling pain that serves as a critical, limb-threatening warning sign that requires urgent medical investigation.

Why You Should Not Ignore Random Aches And Pains

It is important to understand that persistent nighttime leg cramps should not be dismissed as simply a "normal part of aging."

While the risk of vascular issues like Venous Insufficiency increases after age 40 and PAD after age 50, the pain is a clear message from the body that something is structurally wrong with the blood vessels.

Ignoring this persistent pain can lead to serious health complications down the line. Therefore, if these cramps are a regular occurrence, seeking a consultation with a specialist, like a vascular surgeon, is necessary to correctly diagnose the underlying cause and begin appropriate treatment.

When Should You Get Your Muscle Cramps Checked?

According to MedlinePlus, most muscle cramps are harmless and disappear quickly, usually within a few minutes. However, you should call your doctor or healthcare provider if your cramps become severe or happen frequently. It's also important to seek medical attention if the cramps don't improve after stretching or drinking enough water, last a long time, or if they occur along with other concerning symptoms such as swelling, redness, a warm feeling in the area, or if you also experience muscle weakness.

A major new study published in the Lancet has found that record numbers of people around the world now have reduced kidney function, a condition known as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). This makes CKD one of the most critical public health issues facing the world today.

The number of people struggling with CKD has more than doubled since 1990, jumping from 378 million to a staggering 788 million in 2023. This huge increase is primarily happening because the world's population is both growing and getting older, and CKD is more common in older age.

As a result, CKD is now one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide for the very first time. Approximately 1.5 million people died directly from the condition in 2023. This rapid growth shows just how quickly this disease is spreading and affecting lives globally.

How Does Kidney Affect Other Organ Health?

The study revealed that CKD is dangerous not just because it causes kidney failure, but because it also has a deadly connection to your heart.

Impaired kidney function puts stress on the cardiovascular system and is a key risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, contributing to about 12 percent of all heart disease deaths globally.

Furthermore, the condition severely impacts quality of life, ranking as the 12th leading cause of disability by limiting what people can do. The research also clearly pointed out the three biggest lifestyle and health factors that cause CKD: High Blood Sugar (usually from diabetes), High Blood Pressure, and High Body Mass Index (which is a measure of obesity).

What Are Some Early Signs of Poor Kidney Health?

To ensure you get timely help, it is important to know what some early signs of kidney disease are, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

Less Energy or Trouble Concentrating

A buildup of toxins and waste in your blood, caused by poor kidney function, can make you feel very tired, weak, and may lead to difficulty focusing on tasks or thinking clearly.

Trouble Sleeping

Toxins that are not properly filtered out of the blood by the kidneys can remain in your system, making it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night.

Dry and Itchy Skin

When the kidneys can no longer keep the right balance of minerals and nutrients in the blood, it can lead to mineral and bone disease, causing persistent dry and itchy skin.

Urinating More Frequently

A need to urinate more often than usual, especially late at night, can signal damaged kidney filters, which increases the urge to go. This needs medical checking.

Blood in Urine

Healthy kidneys keep blood cells in the body, but damaged filters allow blood to leak into the urine. This may also indicate an infection or kidney stones.

Foamy Urine

Excessive bubbles or foam in your urine that look like beaten eggs and require multiple flushes to disappear can mean there is a large amount of protein (albumin) leaking into your urine.

Persistent Puffiness Around Eyes

Puffiness, especially around the eyes, is often a sign that your kidneys are damaged and leaking large amounts of protein into the urine instead of keeping it in your body.

Swollen Ankles and Feet

Decreased kidney function can cause your body to hold onto sodium (salt). This excess fluid retention then leads to noticeable swelling in your feet and ankles.

Poor Appetite

A general but important sign, a reduced appetite or feeling of sickness can be caused by the buildup of waste products and toxins in the body due to reduced kidney filtering ability.

Muscle Cramping

Impaired kidney function can lead to an imbalance of essential electrolytes, such as low calcium or poorly controlled phosphorus, which often contributes to painful muscle cramping.

Why Do We Need Early Intervention for Kidney Diseases?

The most hopeful finding is that most people with CKD are still in the early stages of the condition.

This is important because early detection and swift treatment can often prevent the disease from progressing to the point where dialysis or a transplant is needed, which are both dramatic and expensive interventions.

Doctors are urging for more urine testing to catch CKD before symptoms even appear. New medications have also become available in recent years that can slow down the disease and protect the heart.

Ultimately, the report strongly argues that since CKD is currently "underdiagnosed and undertreated," a massive, focused effort is needed globally to make sure patients can afford and access treatment as soon as they are diagnosed.