Health
How My Trip to Quit Sugar Quickly Became a Journey Into Hell
And from the more westerly of the two docks, it was possible to stare directly at the smaller, even more westerly, even more private dock reserved for the exclusive use of guests staying in the Vivamayr villa (which goes for 3,750 euros per night). My fellow regular guests and I squinted at the private villa dock and tried to discern the facial characteristics, or even the age, of the woman we saw there. (Impossible.) Constantly, people were eyeing one another to see if anyone was a celebrity. As nice and as expensive as Vivamayr was, just about everyone knew of somewhere even nicer and even more expensive, where even wealthier people could pay money for similar services; I overheard so much talk of such places that I eventually found myself thinking of Vivamayr as their rundown, dumpy cousin. Was this, I wondered, the key to Vivamayr’s success? Can the ultrawealthy be convinced of the program’s virtue only if their destination is, in some way, less than ideal?
When I’d chronicled my relentless pursuit of sweetness for my Vivamayr doctor, her eyes had sparkled like sanding sugar on grocery-store cookies cut in seasonal shapes. “I have something in mind,” she said at our first meeting: “Functional MyoDiagnostic” testing for “food intolerances.” I had no idea what the hell that was; sounded great.
On the appointed afternoon, I climbed steep sunlit stairs to her office. She bade me lie down on an exam table. I was to use my thigh muscles to move my knee toward my head, overpowering gentle pressure from her as she pushed the knee in the opposite direction. I moved it easily. She began tapping teensy smidgens of substances onto my tongue with the aid of a wooden depressor. After each deposit of crumbs, I was instructed to repeat the knee-to-head maneuver. If my tongue encountered a substance my body “does not like,” the doctor said, my muscles would get weaker for up to 20 seconds, before recovering. In this way, she would identify allergies, weaknesses and deficiencies in my diet. I moved my knee without any trouble until she placed a fine white powder onto my tongue; suddenly, I could barely push against her. “That’s actually what I thought,” she said.
My muscles had reacted poorly to a few crumbs of yeast, the doctor reported, which meant that my craving for sweets was caused by a fungal infection in my gut. The microorganisms of the infection, she explained, lived on sweets, and I was feeding them constantly. “We have to starve it out,” the doctor said, of the thing growing inside me. “You know what it means: No sweets. No yeast.” I would also have to take medication. I was staggered. What I had believed was my own preference was apparently the insatiable appetite of a foreign invader. “What would cause this?” I asked. The doctor believed I had had this infection “for a very long time”; perhaps it grew out of an antibiotic I took at some point in childhood, she said. She was “absolutely astonished,” that my body had not been further ravaged.
I was not ready to give up sweets just because I had lost control of my person decades ago to some alien fungus that had hijacked my mind in its relentless pursuit of sugar. Because I was functioning well with the infection, I wondered aloud, wasn’t there a risk that, if I tried to eradicate it, my body chemistry would fall out of whack? The only risk, the doctor said, was in continuing to allow it to flourish unchecked. “It might interfere with your intestines” if I kept it “too long,” she said. “It might really harm your bowels. And your sugar craving will never end.” If I successfully eradicated the infection, she added, my digestion, which was already good, might, in some way, become even better.
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The American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its guidelines for colorectal cancer screening.
The organization released the update in its flagship journal on Wednesday, noting that the new recommendations “re-affirm” that adults at average risk should be screened for colorectal cancer at age 45 and continue through 75, for those with a life expectancy greater than 10 years.
In addition to the standard colonoscopy, the ACS also recommends that patients receive a blood-based screening test in a doctor’s office, which is designed to detect tumor DNA in the blood.
COMMON CANCER TYPE COULD BE DETECTED WITH NEW BLOOD TEST
The ACS also suggested an at-home screening option that looks for hidden blood and molecular markers in stool samples.
These new guidelines reflect recent advancements in disease detection, as well as a “critical shift in public health strategy to expand screening options and lower barriers to access,” the ACS stated in a press release.
The ACS recommends blood-based testing and at-home stool sampling as options for colorectal cancer screening. (iStock)
Dr. Robert Smith, senior vice president of early cancer detection science at the American Cancer Society and senior author of the report, wrote in a statement that colorectal cancer should be emphasized as a “highly preventable disease as much as a treatable one.”
“By offering more screening tools in our guideline update, more eligible adults will be able to participate in lifesaving colorectal cancer testing, helping to close the screening gap and catch more cancers at an earlier, treatable stage,” he added.
JAMES VAN DER BEEK MISTOOK CANCER SYMPTOMS FOR PROBLEMS WITH HIS DIET
According to the ACS, colorectal screening “dramatically improves survival,” as studies show early-stage detection yields a five-year survival rate of more than 90% in the U.S.
About one in three American adults are eligible for colorectal cancer screening but have not been tested, although ACS research marks colorectal cancer as the top cancer killer of adults under 50.
Colorectal cancer is the top cancer killer of adults under the age of 50, according to the ACS. (iStock)
People at a high risk of colorectal cancer may need to begin screening before age 45 or be screened more often, the ACS added. Those over 85 years old should no longer be screened for colorectal cancer, per the guidelines.
Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the ACS, commented that “no matter which test you choose, what’s most important is to get screened, and that includes underserved, rural and minority populations.”
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These guideline changes follow a surge in colorectal cancer diagnoses in younger individuals. Recent ACS research revealed a 50% relative increase in diagnoses in adults aged 45 to 49 from 2021 to 2022.
Dr. Aparna Parikh, medical director of the Center for Young Adult Colorectal Cancer at the Mass General Cancer Center, who is not affiliated with the ACS, shared that experts don’t “entirely understand why” cases are on the rise.
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“But it seems to be an interplay of a person’s risk factors, overall makeup and early exposures,” she previously told Fox News Digital. “[Those] include dietary exposures, environmental exposures and possible antibiotic exposures, as well as lifestyle factors in the right host.”
Changes in bowel habits are the primary red flag that should raise the suspicion of colorectal cancer. (iStock)
Another recent ACS study found that drinking heavily and consistently over an adult’s lifetime could lead to a higher risk of colorectal cancer.
Other known risk factors include family history, obesity, smoking, a diet high in red and processed meats, inflammatory bowel disease, and a personal history or family history of polyps.
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While there may be no symptoms of colorectal cancer before diagnosis, especially in the early stages, certain symptoms should not be overlooked, experts say.
Dr. Eitan Friedman, PhD, an oncologist and founder of The Suzanne Levy-Gertner Oncogenetics Unit at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, confirmed to Fox News Digital that changes in bowel habits are the primary red flag that should raise the suspicion of colorectal cancer.
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Other symptoms include fatigue as a result of anemia, stomach pain or abdominal discomfort, rectal bleeding or blood in the stool, weakness and unexplained weight loss.
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The sudden death of Kyle Busch has drawn attention to a rare but devastating medical progression: when pneumonia escalates into fatal sepsis.
An ER doctor spoke with Fox News Digital about how sepsis can trigger a rapid health decline.
“Sepsis is actually not a specific disease or diagnosis, but rather the syndrome that occurs when the body has certain abnormal findings and a presumed infection,” said Dr. Kenneth J. Perry, a South Carolina-based emergency medicine physician.
HOW PNEUMONIA PROGRESSES TO SEPSIS: DOCTORS EXPLAIN AFTER KYLE BUSCH’S DEATH
The markers of sepsis include elevated white blood cell counts, a high or low temperature, and elevated heart and respiratory rates, according to Perry. Because of this, a patient with pneumonia is often already technically septic by definition.
In the wake of Kyle Busch’s sudden passing, there is a focus on the rapid decline from pneumonia to fatal sepsis. (Getty; iStock)
While many people assume a worsening infection means bacteria are multiplying uncontrollably, it often has more to do with the body’s internal environment.
“It is often not the bacteria itself that is causing the specific decline,” Perry said. “In most cases, it is a cascade of inflammatory processes that are set in motion by the infection.”
When this inflammation spirals out of control, the body moves from having a manageable infection into severe sepsis. This is when otherwise healthy people can rapidly deteriorate.
SURGE IN WALKING PNEUMONIA AFFECTS THESE HIGH-RISK GROUPS, SAYS DR. MARC SIEGEL
“The concerning thing that can happen with any individual … is that sepsis can then lead to low blood pressure, worsening vital signs and organ damage,” Perry said.
“As multiple organs fail, it becomes very difficult for the medical team to treat and can sometimes lead ultimately to death.”
“The medical evaluation provided to the Busch Family concluded that severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications,” the family shared in a statement. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
It is very unlikely to have pneumonia and not have any symptoms, according to Perry. Early signs can mimic a severe flu, including fevers, chills, a productive cough, and chest or back pain in cases where the lung is infected.
When sepsis begins to take hold, time becomes the most critical factor. “We have known for a number of years that early antibiotic therapy is beneficial in the treatment of sepsis,” Perry said.
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If you or a loved one are managing an infection at home, the doctor says the following red flags mean you should bypass the clinic and head straight to the emergency room.
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- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- A racing heart rate or fever that continues to worsen even after starting treatment
- Severe chest pain associated with a productive cough
The slide into sepsis is, in most cases, a cascade of inflammatory processes that are set in motion by the infection, the doctor said. (iStock)
While cases like Busch’s are tragic, Perry stressed that this shouldn’t cause widespread panic. Most patients with pneumonia do very well with standard oral antibiotics.
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The NASCAR star’s rapid decline underscores the importance of medical vigilance and “having a primary care physician with whom you have a good relationship,” according to the ER doctor.
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“Monitoring symptoms while having easy access to primary care is a very beneficial and appropriate plan for most patients,” he added.
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