Medical Bulletin 14/February/2024

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Salt substitutes aid in preserving healthy blood pressure levels in older individuals

According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, substituting regular salt with a salt substitute can decrease hypertension rates in older adults without raising the risk of low blood pressure episodes. Users of salt substitutes experienced a 40% lower incidence of hypertension compared to those using regular salt.

Hypertension is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality, according to the World Health Organization. It affects over 1.4 billion adults and results in 10.8 million deaths per year worldwide. One of the most effective ways to reduce hypertension risk is to reduce sodium intake.

“Adults frequently fall into the trap of consuming excess salt through easily accessible and budget-friendly processed foods,” said Yangfeng Wu, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and Executive Director of Peking University Clinical Research Institute in Beijing, China. “It's crucial to recognize the impact of our dietary choices on heart health and increase the public’s awareness of lower-sodium options."

Reference: https://www.acc.org/About-ACC/Press-Releases/2024/02/12/18/57/Salt-Substitutes-Help-to-Maintain-Healthy-Blood-Pressure-in-Older-Adults

Small pancreas size linked to faster progression to stage 3 Type 1 diabetes, finds study

A multicenter, longitudinal study has discovered that a small pancreas size predicts a faster progression to stage 3 Type 1 diabetes (T1D), the point at which clinical diagnosis occurs.

Published in the American Diabetes Association’s journal Diabetes Care, the study demonstrates that pancreas size is an early marker of risk for T1D progression and that pancreas imaging can have a benefit in tracking disease development and recruitment for preventive and therapeutic trials.

Reference: DOI: 10.2337/dc23-1681

Resistance exercise training offers benefits in treating anxiety and depression

A new study conducted by the researchers from University of Limerick in Ireland and at Iowa State University, demonstrated the effectiveness of resistance exercise training in alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The research, published in the Trends in Molecular Medicine journal, highlights the potential of resistance exercise training as an accessible alternative therapy for improving anxiety and depressive symptoms and enhancing other vital aspects of health.

Reference: Matthew P. Herring, Jacob D. Meyer. Resistance exercise for anxiety and depression: efficacy and plausible mechanisms. Trends in Molecular Medicine, 2024; DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2023.11.016