Cushing’s syndrome isn’t always caused by adrenal problems. It develops when the body has excessively high levels of the steroid hormones known as glucocorticoids. You may have heard of cortisol, probably the most famous of these chemicals. Some medications use glucocorticoids to treat conditions like asthma and rheumatoid arthritis and can therefore cause symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome as a side effect.

There are even some cases where Cushing’s syndrome is caused by problems in the pituitary gland (which helps tell the adrenal glands when they need to release cortisol). Still, we can’t ignore that the adrenal glands are the main source of cortisol in the body, and if they become overactive or if an adrenal tumor stops them from working properly, Cushing’s syndrome can result.

Symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome are wide-ranging. You could gain weight, become red-faced, gain stretch marks, sweat more, develop acne or grow excess hair in parts of the body that are normally nearly hairless. If you menstruate, your cycle may become irregular. High blood pressure and blood sugar issues (which can lead to diabetes) both become more common. On the mental and emotional side, Cushing’s syndrome may interfere with your memory and cognition. It also increases your likelihood of experiencing depression or anxiety.

To diagnose Cushing’s syndrome, you need to check your cortisol levels. There’s something called a dexamethasone suppression test (DST) that doses you with the steroid dexamethasone to see how your cortisol levels respond. Once it’s diagnosed, treatment can begin, but the form it takes will depend on the cause.

For Cushing’s syndrome caused by medication, the obvious thing to do is reduce the dosage or find an alternative. If there are tumors on the adrenal glands, they need to be removed, often through surgery. This can lead to removal of part or all of the glands as well, in which case you may actually need to end up taking glucocorticoids to make up for not being able to produce them yourself.

Even stranger, sometimes removing the adrenal glands to treat Cushing syndrome can cause something called Nelson’s syndrome.

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During strenuous exercise, it’s likely that your blood pressure will temporarily increase, as will your heart rate. Once you’ve stopped, it will drop again. If you return to your usual heart rate and blood pressure fairly quickly, that is generally regarded as a sign that you’re in good health.

People who exercise a lot are likely to have a stronger heart, which means it doesn’t need to pump as hard to send blood all the way around the body. Blood vessels may also be more elastic, allowing easier blood flow. Both of these factors are considered likely contributors to lower blood pressure in some athletes.

Of course, not all athletes have hypotension. In fact, some even have blood pressure that’s higher than average. It would be a mistake to think that exercise alone can protect you from the dangers that hypertension can represent.

A review of the studies into blood pressure levels in athletes revealed that those studies weren’t all reliable (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25631543/). If the methodology is suspect, so are the results.

What the research did suggest, however, was that the type and intensity of exercise may impact whether it makes your blood pressure higher or lower. Sports that involve a lot of strength training, like weightlifting, are more likely to produce high blood pressure than endurance sports, like long-distance running and swimming, which are some of the best for lowering it.

Any study also needs to take into account that blood pressure can be affected by things other than exercise. Diet is the most obvious one when it comes to lifestyle, although smoking is also a big contributor (not that many top level athletes smoke). You also can’t dismiss the impact of genetics and family history. Exercise is just one part of a complicated whole.

Of course, a lot of this is talking about professional athletes, or at least serious amateurs. If you’re an everyday person casually doing workouts to try to get fit, just making sure you do a decent amount of aerobic exercise is likely to bring your blood pressure down – possibly even to hypotension levels.

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If you’re ill and you want to figure out what’s wrong, you need tests, but that’s not the only time that you might want to check your health. Screening programs are an important way to catch the warning signs of disease before it creates a foothold. This might mean you can start treatment before the symptoms become serious. Other times, you may even be able to prevent the disease completely.

“Prevention is better than cure.” That’s what they like to say, and it’s true. It’s much easier to never have a serious illness than to have to expend a lot of time and energy trying to treat it. What sort of tests are recommended may depend a little on your personal history and whether you’re in a high-risk group, but there are some checks recommended for everyone.

As you get older, you’re likely to face more and more tests. Everything from high cholesterol to cancer can become more common with age. Luckily, you can test for dozens of different things with just one blood or urine test (although there are different kinds of blood tests for different things). Other tests could include looking at your DNA for genetic mutations.

These sorts of tests could identify prediabetes (when you’re close to diabetes, but it’s not too late to stop it), precancerous conditions, high cholesterol (which increases your risk of strokes and heart problems) and various other conditions. They’re not a guarantee that you’ll spot something more serious incoming, but they improve your chances.

That’s why you need to take any recommendation for regular screening from a doctor seriously. Don’t put it off because you don’t think it’s important or you’re sure nothing’s wrong. Make sure you follow all the instructions for the test, such as if you need to fast beforehand. You should also find out whether any medication you’re currently taking could interfere with results.

Results of these tests are rarely definitive. Sometimes you may need more or different tests. Other times, there may be alternative diagnoses. Every person has their own unique biochemistry, so investigation can be lengthy and complicated.

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What those warnings are actually about is something called dyslipidemia. That’s the fancy, proper term for an abnormal amount of lipids (fats) in your blood. These lipids include cholesterol as well as its relatives, triglycerides and fat phospholipids. When they’re too high, it’s called hyperlipidemia.

Again, though, it’s not just about dyslipidemia or hyperlipidemia on their own. Dyslipidemia is a risk factor for other conditions, most notably atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Cardiovascular diseases are those that affect the heart and blood vessels. Considering how important the heart and blood vessels are to your survival, you probably won’t be surprised to know ASCVD can be serious – even to the point of fatality.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease occurs when plaque builds up on the walls of the arteries, known as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis doesn’t have any symptoms on its own, but it can restrict blood flow to the heart (coronary heart disease), brain (cerebrovascular disease, or stroke), and other parts of the body (peripheral arterial disease).

Assessing your blood lipid levels for dyslipidemia is part of the cardiovascular risk assessments that are used to predict if you’re likely to experience a future cardiovascular event. Other factors include things like family history, age and whether you smoke. Other conditions, such as diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease and hypothyroidism, all increase the risk.

As you might guess from this list, the factors influencing both your risk of dyslipidemia and your broader likelihood of developing a cardiovascular disease are both biological and environmental. You can improve your chances of avoiding dyslipidemia through a healthy lifestyle with attention to diet, exercise and adequate sleep. Genetics, however, are more of a warning. You can’t change your family history.

Medication is available for those of you who can’t control dyslipidemia with lifestyle changes. Statins are probably the most famous, but there are also resins, fibrates and icosapent ethyl, among others. Basically, you do have options.

Hopefully this all gets you a bit closer to understanding how cholesterol impacts your wider health and the related factors that increase or decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease.

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2. How can you look after your emotional and social wellbeing? It’s a difficult question because many different things can impact your mental health. You need to be aware of your own biology, as well as your environment and life experiences. Nature and nurture both have a role to play.

3. There are some basic steps you can take that will make it less likely your mental health will deteriorate. Conversely, when these things start slipping, it can be an early warning sign for potentially bigger problems. This could include eating properly, drinking enough water and getting enough sleep.

4. Of course, all the best behavior in the world won’t fix you if you’ve got a serious mental health problem. If there’s something wrong with the chemicals in your brain, you may need chemical intervention from medication. If your thought patterns are unhealthy, you might need a trained therapist to teach you better coping strategies.

5. Seeing a therapist doesn’t have to be the last-ditch approach of the seriously mentally ill. A lot of people can benefit from taking a deeper look at their thoughts and feelings to figure out where they are at the moment and where they want to be in the future. It might be worth a try.

6. Staying connected is important even if you don’t see a professional. Isolation can exacerbate mental health issues. People who are mentally ill often withdraw from their friends and family. Trying to create and maintain a community means you always have at least some support.

7. Talking to family is important for another reason. Many mental illnesses have a genetic component. Knowing what your parents and grandparents have been through may warn you what to look out for.

8. Everyone needs to be aware of mental health, including children, adolescents, adults, and old people. Everyone can struggle, regardless of race or gender, although the struggles may vary.

9. What mental health looks like to you may vary depending on things like culture.

10. Prevention is sometimes possible, and so is treatment. Good mental health is also possible!

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You might not think of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an anxiety disorder, but it is often classified that way. It can certainly lead to high levels of anxiety, and people with PTSD may experience other anxiety disorders alongside PTSD symptoms.

To develop PTSD, you have to be exposed to a significant stressor. This may be a singular traumatic event such as a car accident or violent assault. It may be an extended experience, such as a soldier on a battlefield or a person in an abusive relationship. Some people who experience prolonged trauma may develop complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD).

You may start developing PTSD symptoms shortly after a trauma, but it can also emerge years later. The most common symptoms include intrusive thoughts and memories of the event, including nightmares and flashbacks. These may be triggered by specific reminders of the trauma (like a firework that sounds like a bomb exploding).

At the same time as these intrusive memories, you may try to avoid thinking about the stressor, leading to you becoming withdrawn and emotionally numb. PTSD can cause mood swings, irritability and poor concentration, in addition to making it difficult to relax (hyperarousal or hypervigilance).

Now, a lot of these symptoms are a natural response to trauma. They may appear for a while, then disappear again without too much long-term impact. If they’re more severe, however, or if they last a long time, it could be PTSD. Like with most mental illnesses, it’s when it starts interfering with your regular life that you may need help.

Treatment has to be tailored to your specific situation, so first there will be an assessment of symptoms. There may be a period of close monitoring when experts observe whether your symptoms are getting worse or may improve on their own. Therapy is generally recommended before medication, although sometimes antidepressants may be used.

Our old friend cognitive behavioral therapy is a popular choice, but you may also try eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). We’re not sure how it works, but rapid eye movement while recounting traumatic events has had some success. PTSD can be treated with the right support.

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Sometimes, though, it’s not just a reaction to the dramatic changes in your life or the regular “baby blues”. Sometimes, it’s something more serious. From time immemorial, we’ve known that women who have recently given birth can experience low moods. Now there’s an official name, “postpartum depression”, but we still don’t fully understand how it works.

The number of women who experience postpartum depression is somewhere between 15 and 20%. You may be surprised to know that a small percentage of fathers may also experience depression when a baby is born, even though they didn’t undergo the same kind of physical strain. It’s definitely something to be aware of from the start of a pregnancy so it can be identified and treated as quickly as possible.

Symptoms of postpartum depression can be similar to other forms of the condition. There can be sadness, a feeling of emptiness, guilt, shame, hopelessness and low self-esteem. Physical signs can include exhaustion, poor appetite, low libido and a lack of interest in hobbies and activities. In severe cases, there may also be postpartum psychosis, which can interfere with your perception of reality.

One thing that is specific to postpartum depression is how it affects the ability of the parent to bond with their baby. It can be hard to build routines with feeding and sleeping or to take care of basic health needs. This can have a more long-term impact on the child’s overall development.

Cases of postpartum depression can occur any time during the first year after birth. Hormonal changes may be a contributing factor, as can genetics, family history, stress and environment, but we don’t know for sure. Treatment generally involves ensuring lots of professional support is available to counteract feelings of isolation. This may involve various forms of psychotherapy. In some cases, antidepressants may be prescribed.

Our understanding of postpartum depression is improving, and with it, old stigmas are being reduced. It can still be hard to identify and treat, but there is at least a recognition that this is something important to be aware of when having a baby.

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The pancreas is the organ that’s meant to produce insulin. If it doesn’t, you’re in trouble. The resulting blood sugar issues are what’s known as diabetes. We know how to make insulin artificially and inject it into the body if you have a shortage, but what scientists have been hoping to do is create an artificial pancreas that can keep producing insulin throughout the day without you having to do anything to monitor or activate it. It would be a closed loop, with no user input required.

If it was successful, the artificial pancreas would mean no more having to check your blood sugar levels (it would do that for you) and no more vials of insulin filling up the fridge, no having to remember to pack it every time you go away, and no need to keep injecting yourself on a regular basis. It could make life so much easier, almost like a person whose pancreas and insulin were working perfectly naturally.

Experiments with automated insulin delivery have been around for years. The first insulin pump, called the Biostator, first appeared in 1974. By 2022, trials were being run for a new device that inserted a sensor under the skin to monitor your glucose levels, with a pump to automatically adjust your insulin accordingly (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60133358). You can even monitor it all on your smartphone.

Unfortunately for Americans, this pioneering trial took place in the UK. Almost 900 people (more than 200 of them children) living in England, all of them with type 1 diabetes, were involved in testing the new artificial pancreas. Patients, their families and their doctors all spoke about the potentially life-changing effects of being able to live life without constantly worrying about their diabetes.

It’s still not a completely automatic system as you need to input details about your meals to help it make its calculations. Still, it’s an important step forward in the ongoing quest to stop diabetes from limiting people’s lives. If the trials continue to be successful, it may eventually become a widely available way for diabetics to control their condition in a much simpler and less stressful manner.

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If you have a history of hypertension yourself or in your family, you may want to talk to your doctor before you even try to get pregnant so you can properly assess the risk and take steps to alleviate it if necessary. For some people, high blood pressure may show up for the first time during pregnancy, and that means more monitoring and extra precautions to protect both mother and baby.

High blood pressure can make it harder for a baby to receive the oxygen and nutrients it needs from its mother. This can lead to it being born prematurely, with additional risks. For the mother, it increases the danger of serious conditions ranging from strokes to placental abruption. Not all blood pressure medication is safe to take while pregnant, so if you’re already being treated for chronic hypertension, you may need to change what you’re taking.

Gestational hypertension is the proper name for high blood pressure that develops in pregnancy, if there are no other symptoms. If you also have protein in your urine or develop problems with your kidneys or heart, you could have a particularly dangerous condition called preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia normally occurs in the second half of pregnancy, after 20 weeks. Very rarely, it occurs after giving birth. It’s more likely if you had chronic hypertension before you were pregnant or there’s a family history of preeclampsia. You’re more at risk if you have diabetes, kidney problems or lupus. Expecting multiple babies (such as twins or triplets) is another risk factor.

Not all cases of preeclampsia have symptoms. Sometimes it causes headaches; vomiting; blurred or other vision problems; swelling of the hands, feet and face; or pain below the ribs/in the upper part of the stomach. If you develop seizures, it may have progressed to eclampsia, which is potentially deadly.

In all cases, the best way to manage preeclampsia is to detect it early and monitor it carefully. It can’t be cured until the baby is delivered, which may mean you need to be induced before your due date.

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2. Part of the problem is that although humanity has been eating organic food for as long as it has existed, the research is still only in the early stages. It’s promising, but you’ll still hear lots of caveats. Still, as organic becomes more popular, the studies are only likely to increase. Don’t write it off because the research is still new.

3. Increasing popularity may also be the best way to tackle one of the biggest problems of organic food: accessibility. Not everyone is near a store that sells organic food, and even if they are, they may not be able to afford it. As it becomes more popular, you may have more opportunity to buy.

4. Organic food means you’re less likely to be exposed to pesticides, which can be particularly important for young children or pregnant women. It may also increase the amount of good nutrients you consume.

5. For many people, the biggest advantage of organic food is environmental. It’s better for soil health, wildlife and the wider natural world.

6. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem, and repeatedly dosing farm animals with antibiotics when they’re not even ill is a contributing factor. Organic meat is produced without regular antibiotic use and may therefore reduce the risk.

7. Most food can be organic. It can apply to plants, dairy and meat. It even applies to non-food items such as textiles or toiletries. One thing that can’t be organic is water.

8. You can also be confident when you see an organic label on something because you can’t just use that label willy-nilly. There are strict rules covering the definition of organic, which in the U.S. is regulated by the Department of Agriculture.

9. Then there’s the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which offers support and technical assistance to farmers. That includes helping them if they want to go organic.

10. There are lots of reasons to try going organic. It’s not going to cause you any harm, and you might see some notable benefits for both you and the world around you.

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