Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a serious condition that highlights the intricate connection between the gut, live, and brain. This develops when toxins, especially ammonia, accumulate in the body due to liver malfunction. It is defined as a spectrum of neuropsychiatric abnormalities. As per the American Liver Foundation, 70% of individuals with cirrhosis may develop symptoms of HE. The gut microbiome is a diverse community of microbes living in the digestive system. It plays a vital role in maintaining overall health. But when the balance is disrupted, certain microbes can overproduce ammonia and it could convert into urea, which is excrete through urine.

So when does the problem occur? The real problem arise when the liver is damaged due to cirrhosis. It is a chronic liver disease that occurs when healthy live tissue is replaced by scar tissue. Under such condition, the liver struggles to remove excess ammonia and it allows it to circulate in the bloodstream and reach the brain. This also creates a cascade of symptoms, which also leads to confusion, disorientation, mood swings, hallucinations, and personality changes.

What Causes HE?

It exists at the intersection of gut, liver, and brain, also referred to as the gut-liver-brain axis. When the liver fails to act as the primary detoxifier of the bodies and fails to remove the toxins from gut it can lead to a "leaky gut". This happens when bacteria and toxins pass through the intestinal lining and trigger inflammation. This then impacts the blood brain barrier (BBB), which is designed to protect the brain from harmful substances. As a result, cognitive and behavioral impairments occur.

READ: The Connection Between Your Diet And Your Digestive Health

How Can It Be Treated?

Traditionally, there were antibiotics which were in use to treat HE, which targeted ammonia, producing microbes in the gut. However, as and when the studies have improved, less invasive approach involved probiotics.

So does it mean what lives in your gut could fix this? This might be true. Probiotics by restoring balance in the gut microbiome promotes the growth of microbes that produce less ammonia. However, here too, there are chances of relapses.

But the answer is still in your gut!

A new treatment involves fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), which transplants gut microbes from a healthy donor into the patient. Though it is not the most conventional method, it has shown success in treating recurrent HE.

Also Read: Fecal Treatment Can Treat Cancer: Know Everything About It

What happens in FMT is that it allows beneficial bacteria to establish dominance in the gut. It also reduces ammonia production and restores balance.

FMT works by introducing anti-inflammatory microbes such as Bifidobacteria, Lachnospira, and Ruminococcus into the patient’s gut. These microbes produce butyrate, a compound that nourishes the gut lining and reduces inflammation. They also help displace harmful ammonia-producing microbes, breaking the cycle of toxin buildup and inflammation.

The results too are while positive, but could be dramatic as the patients who were previously impaired by HE also experienced rapid improvements in cognitive function and mood.

We have all heard the phrase ‘your eyes are the window to your soul’, while souls may be a stretch, your eyes can reveal a lot about your health, especially your heart health. The primary function of our eyes is to see, so people often wonder why they must go through eye checkups for their heart health.

According to UChicago Medicine, when our blood vessels aren't working right, it can show up in our eyes, especially in the retina. The retina is like a screen inside our eye that shows how our blood is moving. If there's a problem, our eye doctor can see changes that we can't see ourselves. This means that an eye checkup can sometimes find heart problems before they get serious, because our eyes give clues about our overall health.

During an eye exam, doctors look at both the outside and inside of your eyes. They use a special tool to check things like your pupils, the lens, the retina, and the optic nerve. By doing this, they can spot signs of various health issues.

What All Can An Eye Exam Tell?

During the eye exam, your doctor will use tools like ophthalmoscope to take a better look at things like your pupil reflex, lens of your eyes, the optic nerve and the retina. Here are some conditions your eyes can reveal,

Hypertension

High blood pressure can damage the blood vessels in your eyes, leading to problems like bleeding, blurry vision, and even vision loss. Ophthalmologists can see signs of high blood pressure in your eyes, sometimes even before you know you have it. They look at the size of your eye's blood vessels; if they're not the right size, it can be a warning sign. Often, people don't know they have high blood pressure until their eye doctor finds these signs.

Diabetes

Eye exams can also reveal blocked arteries. If doctors see small clumps in your eye's blood vessels, it could mean there's a problem with the arteries that carry blood to your head or heart. Diabetes is another condition that can be spotted through eye exams. High blood sugar can damage the small blood vessels in your eyes, leading to vision problems. Catching diabetes early through an eye exam can help prevent serious complications.

Other Health Issues

Eye exams can also uncover other health problems like arthritis. Inflammatory diseases can cause eye inflammation, leading to pain, redness, and vision loss. Even dry eyes can sometimes be linked to these conditions.

Can Eye Diseases Mean Heart Troubles?

If your Ophthalmologist notices marks left by the dead cells in your eyes known as RIPLs, which are Retinal Ischemic Perivascular Lesions. According to Journal of American Heart Association these are tiny marks on the back of the eye, caused by a lack of blood, can tell us if someone might have heart problems due to poor blood flow.

Sometimes, these marks mean you had an eye stroke, which happens when blood flow to your eye is blocked. If you have many marks, it might mean you have heart problems like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. However, not all marks mean you had an eye stroke. This is why one must make sure to get regular eye check-ups.

In the recent years there have been questions about the potential of ivermectin which is used to treat cancer. These questions have surged, so have the misinformation. This was originally used as an anti-parasitic drug and it gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, with claims that it could treat the virus. However, these claims have been debunked by many different scientific studies. The US Food and Drug Administration also notes that no clinical trial data found ivermectin to be effective against COVID-19 in humans. Now, a new wave of discussions suggest that the drug could treat cancer. How true is that? Let's find out.

What Ivermectin Is Actually Approved For?

Ivermectin is a well-established medication that is highly effective—against parasite. It was developed to treat topical parasitic infections and has been widely used for conditions like river blindness and scabies. The drug's significance is treating these diseases was so profound that researchers who studied it won the Nobel Prize in 2015.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ivermectin tablets for treating specific parasitic infections in humans. It is also available as a lotion to treat lice and as a cream for rosacea. Additionally, veterinarians also use it to prevent and treat parasitic diseases in animals. however, none of these uses include cancer treatments.

The Misinformation Around Ivermectin

Even though there has been a lack of scientific evidence, ivermectin gained popularity as a cancer cure. The influential platforms are to be blamed. There is also a podcast episode which features a well-known actor, Mel Gibson who suggested that the drug helped people recover from Stage 4 cancer. The podcast was called "The Joe Rogan Experience". The episode received millions of views and thus lead to a spike in interest and misinformation surrounding ivermectin's potential benefits.

What added more to the controversy is that lawmakers in multiple states have proposed and even passed legislation that has made it easier to obtain ivermectin without a prescription. While this could seem like a step to expand and extend treatment options, medical experts have pointed that this could lead to misuse of an unproven drug to treat serious conditions like cancer.

What The Science Says About Ivermectin and Cancer?

As of now, there is no solid evidence that ivermectin can cure or even treat cancer in humans. There are some laboratory studies that suggest that ivermectin could kill certain cancer cells under specific condition. This was led by Dr Peter P Lee, the chair of the department of immuno-oncology at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope in Duarte, Calif. However, these findings are preliminary and do not indicate that the drug is effective in real-world cancer treatment.

There are studies in human cells that also suggest that ivermectin could trigger immune response that could be beneficial in fighting cancer. Research in mice has shown that while ivermectin does not shrink tumors, it could be combined with existing cancer immunotherapy. Scientists are also trying to explore whether it is at all effective for cancer treatments. However, all these studies are still at their early stages.

Are There Any Risks In Using Ivermectin For Cancer?

Neurological issues: High doses can lead to blurred vision, confusion, and even seizures.

Drug interactions: Ivermectin may interfere with the way the body processes other medications, such as blood thinners, potentially leading to dangerous side effects.

Toxicity risks: Overuse can cause toxicity, leading to central nervous system damage, coma, or even death.

Delaying proven treatments: Perhaps the most dangerous risk is that some patients may forgo or delay effective cancer treatments in favor of an unproven drug, allowing the disease to progress unchecked.

Cardiovascular diseases is the number one reason for death among women and men according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Statistics show that about 44% women are living with heart diseases and it is responsible for the death of 1 in 5 women.

There are many risk factors for heart diseases like high blood pressure, which often goes undiagnosed for women. While studies have shown that women are more likely to live longer, even with diseases, a recent report shared how women are also more likely to have cardiovascular diseases than men.

According to the study published in the American College of Cardiology, even though women often try to live healthier, if they have issues like bad food habits or high blood pressure, their risk of heart disease goes up much more than it does for men. This is a big deal because, as CDC notes, heart disease is the number one killer for everyone in the United States, and we need to understand why women are affected more.

How Heart Diseases Go Undiagnosed In Women

Often doctors don't pay as much attention to the heart risks women face. The European Society of Cardiology reveals, that the gender gap disparity for chest pains is more apparent in women than men. Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed or late diagnosed. Historically, women have been told that they have a higher pain threshold when that is not true, studies like the 2024 issue of The Journal of Pain. They explain that women are more likely to report pain and have a lesser pain threshold than men. However the lack of proper studies and understanding about women's health makes proper diagnosis of women's health difficult. Doctors might not realize how much things like diet or stress can hurt a woman's heart. Also, women might not get as much advice on how to change their habits to be healthier. Historically, medicine has ignored, or under-studied issues faced by women or how their bodies may react to treatments.

Doctors say we need to look at each person's risks differently, because what works for one person might not work for another. We need to stop thinking that everyone's heart risks are the same and start giving women the special care they need.

Researchers looked at a lot of people in Canada, over 175,000 of them, to see how different things affect their heart health. They checked what people ate, how well they slept, if they exercised, and if they smoked. They also looked at blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure. All these things can make heart disease more likely. The researchers followed these people for years to see who got heart problems like heart attacks or strokes, and who died from heart disease. This helped them figure out how much each risk factor matters.

How Healthcare For Women Needs To Improve

Experts are emphasizing on how doctors must give women personalized advice about their heart health, because what helps one woman might not help another. We need to look at each woman's risks and give them the right care. Although this often goes unnoticed, studies have shown how estrogen has a protective effect on the heart. According to British Heart Foundation, when estrogen levels fall, your arteries build up fat causing them to be narrower and increasing your risk of heart diseases.

Living A Healthy Life

Even though bad habits can be really hard on women's hearts, good habits can really help. Eating healthy foods, moving your body, and keeping your blood pressure in check can make a big difference. Doctors need to talk to women about these things and help them make healthy choices. We need to focus on helping women build good habits, because they can protect their hearts a lot.