Should I worry about a tick bite?

A

 tick is a small eight-legged bug in the same family as spiders. Ticks suck blood to complete their lifecycle and regularly bite humans. Some transmit diseases although most are harmless.

Ticks can bite anywhere on the body. They are often attracted to moist areas, such as the groin or underarms.

They are common in many parts of the world, including the United States.

This article explores how to recognize when a tick bite is becoming dangerous and when to see a doctor.

Tickborne diseases

Not all tick bites cause illness and most are harmless. However, some types of ticks can transmit certain diseases.

Treatment for many of these diseases involves taking a prescribed course of antibiotics.

Tick-borne diseases include the following:

Lyme disease

Share on PinterestTick bites might lead to a range of diseases but are often harmless.

Lyme disease can occur when a tick bite transmits a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi.

In the U.S., Lyme disease is most often transmitted by the black-legged tick. Black-legged ticks, or deer ticks, are mainly found in the north-eastern and upper-Midwestern part of the U.S.

Usually, the tick must be attached to the skin for 36 to 48 hours to pass on the disease. Symptoms may start occurring about 3 to 7 days from the time of infection.

Lyme disease symptoms might include:

• a headache
• fever
• joint and muscle aches
• a rash at the site of the bite that may start to resemble a bull's-eye as it enlarges, commonly occurs.

Complications may occur if a person does not receive treatment while Lyme disease is in its early stage. Late-term symptoms can develop weeks or months after the initial bite.

These can include:

• arthritis
• nerve pain
• short-term memory problems

Rocky Mountain spotted fever

The American dog tick spreads Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) to humans. These ticks are active east of the Rocky Mountains and on the Pacific.

Symptoms include:

• a high fever
• a rash
• vomiting
• muscle pain

RMSF can lead to fatal blood vessel and organ damage if a person does not receive quick treatment.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), people who receive treatment within 5 days of symptoms starting have fewer complications than those who get treated later.

What's to know about Rocky Mountain spotted fever?

Click here to learn all about Rocky Mountain spotted fever, the deadliest tick-borne disease.

Read now

Colorado tick fever

A bite from the Rocky Mountain wood tick can cause Colorado tick fever.

This tick is most common in the high-altitude western states at elevations. It is especially common in Colorado.

Symptoms usually take a few days to develop after the bite and may include:

• a fever that comes and goes
• body aches
• tiredness

Some people also develop vomiting, stomach pain, and a skin rash.

There is no specific treatment for Colorado tick fever. People can treat fever and muscle aches with over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers. Most people only develop mild symptoms and recover in 1 to 2 weeks.

Tularemia

A bacterium called Francisella tularensis spreads a rare disease called tularemia.

The lone star tick, wood tick, and dog tick can transmit the infection. There are reports of tularemia in most states, but it is most common in the south-central part of the U.S.

There are different forms of tularemia depending on how the bacteria enters the body. Ulceroglandular is the form of the disease that can be transmitted through a tick bite. Symptoms may include a skin ulcer at the site of the bite, fever, and swollen glands.

Treatment usually includes taking antibiotics for several weeks.

Symptoms

Ticks vary in size and can be red, brown, or black.

Small ticks may measure around 1 to 2 millimeters (mm), which is about the size of a pinhead. Larger ticks tend to be about 3 to 5 mm. Ticks become larger as they consume more blood, and they may grow to about the size of a marble.

A tick bite does not always cause symptoms. When they do, the following may develop:

• a raised bump at the point of the bite
• redness
• itching
• a burning sensation in the area of the bite

The main way to tell the difference between a tick bite and bites from other bugs is that when a tick bites a human, it often stays attached to the skin for several days.

Most people notice a tick bite when they find the tick still attached.

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Risk factors

Various types of ticks bite humans. In the U.S., ticks tend to be more common in the Midwest and on both coasts.

Ticks live in trees, grass, and shrubs. They are more active in April through September, as they typically prefer warmer months. Anyone who spends time outdoors, especially in wooded or grassy areas, is at risk for a tick bite.

The risk for developing a tick-borne illness depends where a person lives in the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 96 percent of people with Lyme disease caught it in one of 14 states, mostly in the eastern or upper Midwestern states.

When to see a doctor

A tick bite is often harmless, but knowing when to see a doctor could prevent a potentially fatal tick-borne disease.

Seek medical assistance if you cannot remove all of the tick. The longer a tick stays attached, the greater the risk becomes that a disease will develop.

Seek treatment if flu-like symptoms or rashes develop after a tick bite. Rapid treatment greatly improves the chance of a full recovery.

A doctor should also assess any rash that develops at the site of the bite. Although a small bump may be normal, a larger rash, especially with a distinctive bull's-eye pattern, may be a sign of Lyme disease.

Tick removal

It is important to remove ticks from the skin as soon as possible. Use a fine-tipped tweezer.

Grasp the tick as close to the surface of the skin as possible. While applying even pressure, pull upward away from the skin. Avoid bending the tick.

After removing the tick, people should make sure they have successfully removed the mouthpart of the tick. If the mouthpart remains in the skin, take steps to remove it.

Wash the skin with soap and water after removal.

Prevention

Share on PinterestDEET spray can help prevent tick bites.

Ticks are common all over the U.S., which can make completely avoiding them difficult. Fortunately, preventing tick bites does not mean avoiding the outdoors.

The following measures can help reduce the chances of a tick bite:

• wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants and tucking them into socks when outdoors in wooded areas
• applying insect repellant containing 20 percent DEET to both skin and clothing
• wearing enclosed shoes when outdoors
• tying up long hair when in wooded or grassy areas
• checking for ticks after being outdoors
• showering as soon as possible after being outdoors in case a tick is attached to the skin
• considering wearing light-colored clothing when hiking or hunting, as these make it easier to spot a tick crawling on them

Click here for an excellent range of DEET products available for purchase online.

Takeaway

Ticks are parasites that are most common in Midwestern and coastal U.S. states.

Most tick bites are not harmful. However, some can cause a range of diseases, including Lyme disease, Colorado tick fever, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Some of these conditions might result in extreme complications.

Treatment for many of these infections involves antibiotic medication and OTC pain relief. Tick bites can be tricky to prevent, but insect repellent and clean clothing can help.

Source: MedicalNewsToday

Why are scientists painting stripes on cows?

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 recent paper describes how a group of scientists painted zebra stripes on cows. The authors conclude that this unusual method might help protect livestock from biting flies and, consequently, help reduce the use of pesticides.

Share on PinterestCould a zebra's stripes make a cow's life better?

Why do zebras have stripes? Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories inform us that the stripes developed because the zebra stood in the "slippery-slidy shadows" of trees. Scientists, however, have other ideas.

They have not firmly established why the zebra is adorned with such an elaborate and impressive design, but theories include thermoregulation, confusing predators, communicating with other zebras, and camouflage.

Although there is little evidence to support these explanations, one theory does have some experimental backing — some scientists believe that the black and white stripes of a zebra protect it from biting insects.

As just one example, a 2019 study found that horses wearing coats with striped patterns attracted fewer flies than both horses without any covering and horses wearing materials without stripes.

With growing support, it now seems reasonable that a zebra's stripes function as an insect repellant. This fact, of course, is interesting in its own right, but can this information be useful, too?

Using stripes as protection

Biting flies are a serious concern for livestock owners because they affect cattle's behavior and can lead to economic losses. The presence of biting flies reduces feeding and bedding down time, which can affect the animals' development.

Also, when biting flies are present, cattle tend to bunch together to reduce the risk of sustaining bites. This bunching behavior increases heat stress and the risk of injury. Additionally, it can reduce weight gain and negatively affect milk production.

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Some researchers estimate that biting insects in the United States cost the dairy and beef industry more than $2 billion each year.

If a zebra's stripes can help it minimize fly attacks, could similar stripes also help cattle? A group of researchers recently set out to explore this question, and they published their results in the journal PLOS ONE.

Testing the stripes

To investigate, the scientists enlisted the help of six pregnant Japanese Black cows. They painted each cow in one of three ways: black and white stripes to resemble a zebra, only black stripes, or no paint at all (the control group).

As Japanese Black cows are naturally black, the animals with the painted black stripes did not appear much different than normal. However, this intervention was to ensure that any repelling of flies was not due to the smell of paint.

The researchers then observed the cows, counting their fly-repelling behaviors. These included beating the ears, throwing the head, and stamping the legs, as well as tail flicks and skin twitches. The team also took photos of the side of each animal to record the number of biting flies that were present. Lastly, they placed sticky transparent sheets on the ground next to each animal to trap flies in the area so that they could determine the species of the insects.

The scientists found significantly fewer flies on the legs and body of the painted cows compared with the others — about half the number. There were no differences between the control group and the group with painted black stripes.

When they assessed the fly-repelling behaviors, the researchers found that the control cows carried out an average of 53 behaviors in 30 minutes, while the black stripe cows carried out 54.4. In contrast, the black and white cows only carried out 39.8 behaviors in each 30-minute window. Overall, the authors conclude:

"The results of our study showed that the numbers of biting flies on black-and-white painted cows were significantly fewer than those on the all-black and black-striped cows."

This unusual but seemingly effective technique might help save the cattle industry money. In addition to this financial benefit, it might help reduce the use of pesticides. Insects are quick to adapt to chemicals that humans design to kill them — according to the authors, they "often evolve resistance to a new pesticide within about a decade after its introduction."

The authors continue, "This work provides an alternative to the use of conventional pesticides for mitigating biting fly attacks on livestock that improves animal welfare and human health, in addition to helping resolve the problem of pesticide resistance in the environment."

Source: MedicalNewsToday

Weight loss surgery reduces skin cancer risk

According to a recent study, individuals with obesity who undergo weight loss surgery have a reduced risk of developing skin cancer, including melanoma.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States.

Melanoma accounts for just 1% of skin cancer cases, but it causes the majority of deaths from this type of disease.

There are an estimated 96,480 new melanoma diagnoses each year in the United States, and according to the authors of a recent study, the rates of malignant melanoma are rising faster than those of any other cancer.

In the U.S. there were 8,650 deaths due to melanoma in 2009 — and despite improved treatments and better 5-year survival rates, there were around 10,130 deaths from this cause in 2016.

Although scientists have identified risk factors associated with melanoma, such as fair skin, family history, and sun exposure, it is not clear why incidence rates are rising.

Because obesity is a risk factor for certain cancers, some researchers have asked whether it might also raise melanoma risk. However, to date, studies have failed to find a clear-cut association.

Revisiting old data

A Swedish study from 2009 found that women with obesity who undergo bariatric surgery have a reduced risk of cancer. When the results were published, there was not enough data to assess whether weight loss surgery impacted skin cancer risk, specifically.

However, researchers have continued to follow the participants in the original study, now for an average of 18.1 years. A team recently revisited the dataset in an effort to "investigate the association between bariatric surgery and skin cancer, including melanoma."

In total, the new analysis included data from 2,007 individuals with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery and 2,040 matched control participants who had obesity but who only received conventional treatment, such as lifestyle advice, at their primary healthcare centers. The scientists recently published their findings in the journal JAMA Dermatology.

Individuals in the bariatric surgery group, at the 15-year follow-up, had lost an average of 47.6 pounds (21.6 kilograms). Those in the control group had remained at a relatively constant weight, with an average loss or gain that never exceeded 6.6 pounds (3 kilograms).

Overall, 23 individuals in the surgery group had developed malignant skin cancer — squamous cell carcinoma or malignant melanoma. In the control group, 45 individuals had developed this type of disease.

The researchers found that the largest difference between the two groups concerned malignant melanoma. In the control group, there were 29 cases of the disease, while in the surgery group, there were just 12 cases. This equates to a 57% reduction in malignant melanoma risk.

Source: Medical News Today

Heart attack: New protein therapy may improve recovery

New preclinical research in animal models finds that infusing a specific protein into scar tissue after a heart attack improves and speeds up the recovery of the heart.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), around 605,000 people in the United States have a new heart attack each year, and approximately 200,000 experience a recurrent attack.

Reperfusion, which is a technique that frees up the flow of oxygen to the heart's tissue, is a common form of treatment after a heart attack. However, up to one-quarter of people who undergo reperfusion develop heart failure within a year.

So, researchers led by James Chong — an associate professor at the University of Sydney in Australia — have explored an alternative treatment that targets the scar tissue that forms after a heart attack.

Chong and colleagues evaluated the therapeutic potential of a protein therapy called recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-AB (rhPDGF-AB).

As its name suggests, rhPDGF-AB is a recombinant growth factor-AB derived from human platelets. Platelets are small blood cells that rush to an injury site when they are needed to help the blood clot and start the healing process.

The researchers tested the new treatment in a porcine model of heart attack, and their promising results suggest that the therapy may soon help humans recover from heart attack.

The findings appear in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

How rhPDGF-AB improves heart function

The study was a randomized trial. Chong and team assigned 36 pigs to one of three groups:

one that received a sham procedure (these five pigs did not have a heart attack)

one that received a balloon occlusion of the coronary artery to mimic a heart attack and took a placebo as "treatment" (11 pigs)

one that received balloon occlusion and 7 days of intravenous infusion of rhPDGF-AB (11 pigs)

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Nine of the pigs who experienced a heart attack died before having the chance to receive any treatment.

A month after the intervention, the researchers used cardiac MRI and other methods to show that their treatment caused more new blood vessels to form, decreased abnormal heart rhythm, and boosted overall heart function.

Specifically, 28 days after the heart attack, the new procedure improved survival by 40% compared with placebo and improved the heart's ejection fraction in the left ventricle — where the heart attack had taken place — by 11.5%.

"By improving cardiac function and scar formation following a heart attack, treatment with rhPDGF-AB led to an overall increase in survival rate in our study," explains Chong.

"While the treatment did not affect overall scar size, importantly, we found that rhPDGF-AB led to increased scar collagen fiber alignment and strength. This improved heart function after a heart attack."

"This is an entirely new approach with no current treatments able to change scar in this way."

James Chong

Clinical trials in humans to follow very soon

Chong explains how these findings build on the team's previous work, saying, "Our collaborator Prof. Richard Harvey, from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute [in Darlinghurst, Australia], had previously shown that the protein can improve heart function in mouse models following heart attack."

"This project has been developed over more than 10 years, and we now have compelling data in two species for the effectiveness of this treatment."

Chong places the findings in the larger context of the rise of heart disease as a leading cause of death:

"While we have treatment protocols in place, it's clear that there is an urgent, unmet need for additional treatments to improve patient outcomes, particularly after large heart attacks."

"Some further animal studies are required to clarify safety and dosing. Then we can start looking toward clinical trials in humans very soon," says Chong.

"RhPDGF-AB is clearly a promising therapeutic option and could potentially be used alongside existing treatments to improve heart attack patient outcomes and survival rates."

In the future, says Chong, "We [...] hope to further investigate the treatment, including whether it could be used in other organ systems impacted by scar tissue, such as the kidneys."

Source: Medical News Today

Specialists warn about risks of cannabis edibles

As cannabis edibles become legal in an increasing number of countries, medical experts are warning people about the possible health risks that these may pose to consumers, as well as their family members.

The use of cannabis — for medical and, sometimes, recreational purposes — is becoming legal in an increasing number of countries around the world, with regions of the United States currently in the lead.

The most recent example, however, is that of Canada, where authorities declared certain cannabis edibles — cannabis-infused foods — legal as of October 2019.

In Canada, respondents to recent Deloitte surveys reported that they were eager to use edibles not just for recreational purposes, but also for a range of medical reasons, chiefly to help them cope with anxiety and sleep disorders.

"It is [also] notable that current edible consumers say they are more likely to buy premade cannabis edibles rather than make their own — mainly because it's more convenient, according to 80% of current consumers," states the Deloitte report based on the results of those surveys.

However, edibles come with a range of health risks — both for people who have never used cannabis before and for some of their family members and cohabitants, particularly children and pets.

Jasleen Grewal, Ph.D., and Lawrence Loh, Ph.D. — from the University of Toronto in Canada — have recently published a commentary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that draws attention to these risks.

Overconsumption is a significant risk

"Although edibles are commonly viewed as a safer and more desirable alternative to smoked or vaped cannabis, physicians and the public should be aware of several risks related to the use of cannabis edibles," warn Grewal and Loh in their published paper.

One risk is that unlike, for instance, smoking cannabis, consuming edibles can take much longer — up to 4 hours — to produce an effect.

This delay could lead some people, especially those who are new to the drug, to increase their portion, resulting in overconsumption.

Moreover, the authors note, the effect of cannabis from edibles can last for 8 hours or even longer, "which lengthens the duration of impaired judgment and coordination experienced in comparison to inhaled cannabis."

The two researchers also warn that even the standard, state-approved dose of cannabis present in regulated edibles can cause different effects in different individuals, as some may be more sensitive to the drug than others.

Thus, some people may overdose even on edibles with lower concentrations of cannabis, and those who have no previous experience of the drug are particularly at risk, the specialists caution.

Another issue is that edibles often come in very appetizing forms, such as candy or cookies, meaning that they may appeal immediately to children and household pets. Should children and animals end up consuming cannabis edibles, they could easily come to harm.

Other groups who may be vulnerable to the health risks associated with consuming cannabis edibles are older individuals, the researchers report. The two authors also cite data from the U.S. regarding the effect of the legalization of edibles on those belonging to at-risk groups.

"After legalization of cannabis edibles in Colorado, the state poison control center saw a 70% increase in calls for accidental cannabis exposure in children from 2013 to 2017, and studies of healthcare usage reported more children than adults being treated for ingestion incidents," they write.

 Source: Medical News Today

Common pesticide linked to increased mortality risk

A recent study has concluded that exposure to a common pesticide increases the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality. Although the study has limitations, its authors call for urgent follow-up.

The study focused on a class of pesticides called pyrethroids. People use these chemicals in agriculture and for residential pest control. Pyrethroids also appear in a range of household products.

As the authors of the new study paper explain, pyrethroids are present in "household and garden insecticides, pet sprays and shampoos, lice treatments, and mosquito repellents."

Pyrethroids account for around 30% of all pesticides in use worldwide. Also, because people phased organophosphates out for residential use, their use of pyrethroids has risen sharply in recent decades.

Pyrethroids can enter the body via inhalation, ingestion, or absorption into the skin. Once inside, the body breaks them down into metabolites and excretes them in urine within a few hours.

Because of this quick turnaround, measuring these metabolites in urine is a reliable way of assessing a person's recent exposure to pyrethroids.

Investigating pyrethroids

These chemicals are popular because they are effective against insects and have no short-term impacts on human health. However, as the authors of the new study explain, "the consequences of chronic exposure to pyrethroids on long-term health outcomes in humans remain to be determined."

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Some studies, they say, have suggested that pyrethroid exposure "may impair neurodevelopment, interfere with reproductive health, and increase the risk of major chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Parkinson's disease."

The authors also note that earlier studies into the impact of pyrethroids on health have had limitations; to date, there have been no investigations into the links between exposure to these pesticides and mortality. So, the scientists set out to plug these gaps in our knowledge.

They have now published their results in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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To investigate, they took data collected during the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In total, the team had access to information from 2,116 adults aged 20 or older. Each participant provided a urine sample at some point between 1999 and 2002, which provided information about pyrethroid exposure. The researchers followed the participants until 2015.

Changes to mortality risk

In total, there were 246 deaths during the trial period. After adjusting for a range of factors — including age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, dietary and lifestyle factors, smoking status, and body mass index (BMI) — the researchers identified some significant trends.

They found that people with the highest levels of pyrethroid metabolite in their urine had a higher risk of death during the follow-up period.

Individuals with the highest levels of pyrethroid exposure had a 56% higher risk of dying from any cause than those with the lowest levels of exposure.

The researchers also found that those in the highest exposure group had three times the cardiovascular mortality risk of those in the lowest exposure group.

Conversely, when the researchers investigated cancer, they found that those in the highest exposure group had a slightly lower risk of dying from it. However, this result was not statistically significant.

Overall, the study authors conclude:

"In this nationally representative sample of [United States] adults, environmental exposure to pyrethroid insecticides was associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality."

Follow-up needed

The study appears alongside an invited commentary by Steven D. Stellman, Ph.D., and Jeanne Mager Stellman, Ph.D., both of whom are from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, NY.

The authors discuss certain limitations. For instance, the average age of the participants at the end of the study was 57, which is young for assessing pyrethroid's impact on cardiovascular mortality.

However, they explain, "Other than cigarette smoking, few, if any, chemical exposures are known to trigger a [threefold] increase in the risk of death from heart disease, especially in [people] younger than 60 years."

They also write that "in New York City and elsewhere, aerial spraying for mosquito control to prevent West Nile virus and other vector-borne illnesses is largely based on pyrethroids. This study challenges the assumption that such exposures are safe."

 Source: Medical News Today

Intermittent fasting can help ease metabolic syndrome

For those with metabolic syndrome, the necessary lifestyle and weight changes can be challenging. Now, a study has shown that eating within a certain time window can help tackle that.

Metabolic syndrome is an umbrella term for a number of risk factors for serious conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. These risk factors include obesity and high blood pressure, among others.

This is no small issue in the United States, where one-third of adults have metabolic syndrome. In fact, the condition affects around 50% of people aged 60 and over.

Obesity is also prevalent, affecting around 39.8% of adults in the U.S. Obesity is closely linked to metabolic syndrome.

Receiving a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome offers a critical window of opportunity for making committed lifestyle changes before conditions such as diabetes set in.

However, making the necessary long-term lifestyle changes to improve one's health outlook is not always easy. Such changes include losing weight, managing stress, being as active as possible, and quitting smoking.

For the first time, a new study has looked into time-restricted eating, or intermittent fasting, as a means of losing weight and managing blood sugar and blood pressure for people with metabolic syndrome.

This new study, which appears in the journal Cell Metabolism, is set apart from previous studies that looked at the health and weight loss benefits of time-restricted eating in mice and healthy people.

"[People] who have metabolic syndrome/prediabetes are often told to make lifestyle interventions to prevent progression of their risk factors to [...] disease," said co-corresponding study author Dr. Pam Taub, of the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

"These [people] are at a crucial tipping point, where their disease process can be reversed."

"However, many of these lifestyle changes are difficult to make. We saw there was an unmet need in [people] with metabolic syndrome to come up with lifestyle strategies that could be easily implemented."

Clinical testing of time-restricted eating

Armed with the knowledge that time-restricted eating and intermittent fasting had been effective in treating and reversing metabolic syndrome in mice, the researchers set out to test these findings in a clinical setting.

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"There are a lot of claims in the lay press about promising lifestyle strategies that have no data to back up the claims. We wanted to study [time-restricted eating] in a rigorous, well-designed clinical trial," said Dr. Taub.

Participants could eat what they wanted, when they wanted, within 10-hour windows.

The good news for the 19 participants with metabolic syndrome was that they could decide how much to eat and when they ate, as long as they restricted their eating to a window of 10 hours or less.

A 10-hour window had been effective with mice, and it offered people enough leeway that would be easy to comply with long-term.

"The participants in the study had control of their eating window," said Dr. Taub. "They could determine which 10-hour period they wanted to consume calories. They also had flexibility in adjusting their eating window by a couple [of] hours based on their schedule."

"Overall, participants felt they could adhere to this eating window. We did not restrict how many calories they consumed during their eating window," Dr. Taub told Medical News Today.

Most of the participants had obesity, and 84% were taking at least one medication, such as an antihypertensive drug or a statin.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with at least three of the following: high blood pressure, high fasting blood sugar, high triglyceride (body fat) levels, low high-density lipoprotein, or "good," cholesterol, and abdominal obesity.

Weight loss and better sleep

"As they started to adhere to this eating window, they started feeling better with more energy and better sleep, and this was positive reinforcement for them to continue with this 10-hour eating window," said Dr. Taub.

Almost all the participants ate breakfast later (around 2 hours after waking) and dinner earlier (around 3 hours before bed).

The study lasted for 3 months, during which time the participants showed a 3% weight and body mass index (BMI) reduction, on average, and a 3% loss of abdominal, or visceral, fat.

"All of these improvements reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Taub.

Also, many participants showed a reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as improvements in fasting glucose. They also reported having more energy, and 70% reported an increase in the amount of time they slept or experienced sleep satisfaction.

The participants said that the plan was easier to follow than counting calories or exercising, and more than two-thirds kept it up for around a year after the study ended.

Dr. Taub recommends that anyone interested in trying time-restricted eating speak to their healthcare provider first, especially if they have metabolic syndrome and are taking medication, as weight loss may mean that medications require adjustment.

 Source: Medical News Today