Author: admin

If you live with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), you already know the problem isn’t just “period issues.” It’s that 3 p.m. crash when emails start to run together, the meeting where the right word just doesn’t emerge, the all-encompassing fatigue that copious amounts of coffee can’t fix. Clinically, PCOS is a complex endocrine condition, a combination of metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory factors; this combination can disrupt a typical workday with fatigue, foggy brain, headaches, mood swings, and sleep problems. Global experts are now beginning to recognize that PCOS is an important public health issue and not simply a fertility problem, and highlight the need for overall better management of PCOS as a part of daily life.

Also Read: PCOS could lead to decreased alertness and longer reaction times: study  

Insulin resistance

Why does work feel harder with PCOS? One reason is insulin resistance, common in PCOS, which can cause a roller-coaster of energy and foggy thinking after high-carb meals. Chronic low-grade inflammation and androgen excess add to the drag in cognition and mood. Emerging brain-imaging and cognitive studies suggest measurable differences in attention, memory, and network connectivity in some women with PCOS, translating into the very real “I can’t focus” days at your desk. None of this means you can’t perform at a high level; it means your brain and metabolism are working against friction that most colleagues don’t feel.

Sleep is another hidden culprit. There is a significantly higher likelihood that women with PCOS suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), which causes sleep to be impaired and daytime energy to suffer. Meta-analyses estimate that about a third of women with PCOS have OSA, without even having any classic risk factors. Untreated OSA worsens insulin resistance, blood pressure, and fatigue, and it is no surprise that mornings feel like waking up in wet sand. If your partner complains that you snore loudly or have pauses in breathing while asleep, or you wake up tired and also have headaches in the morning it is important to go for a sleep study; OSA treatment can improve daytime function.

Mental health

Depression and anxiety rates are higher in PCOS, and fatigue is often the loudest symptom of a low mood. That is not a character flaw; it’s biology and lived experience: acne, hair changes, weight cycling, fertility worries, and years spent seeking a diagnosis can all contribute to mental health issues.

Compassionate care and evidence-based therapy help; so does acknowledging that bad energy days aren’t laziness, they’re part of the condition.

Also Read:PCOS: hidden toll of academic pressure on health among young girls 

Staying functional

So, how do you stay functional at work when your body’s signals are unpredictable?

First, think: fuel like a marathoner. A lower-glycaemic pattern, with fibre-rich vegetables, proteins, healthy fats, and slow carbs—flattens the post-lunch slump for many people with PCOS. You don’t need perfection; you need steadiness: a breakfast with protein, a lunch that isn’t a sugar spike, and a 4 p.m. snack that isn’t a candy bar. Current evidence and guidelines don’t crown a single “PCOS diet,” but they consistently emphasise calorie quality, weight neutrality or gradual loss where appropriate, and glycaemic control to improve symptoms and metabolic risk.

Second, build micro-movement into your schedule. Insulin resistance improves with muscles contracting regularly, not just at the gym. Two-minute “movement snacks” each hour—walk to fill your bottle, calf raises at the printer, stairs instead of the elevator—can be the difference between fog and focus by late afternoon. It’s physiology, not discipline moving glucose into muscle without demanding more insulin that smooths energy curves through the day.

Third, consider your sleep like the audit of any project. Set bed and wake times, dimmer in the evenings, cooler rooms, and caffeine cutoffs become important when your hormones are already nudging your circadian rhythm. If you’re still getting out of bed fatigued, ask about screening for OSA. Sleep treatment such as CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy is effective for nights and can rescue workdays. ,

Fourth, consider targeted supplements and medications with your doctor. Myo-inositol continues to grow in traction for metabolic improvement and hyperandrogenism in PCOS, and some people benefit from metformin (along with drugs like combined hormonal contraception), or other targeted therapy. None are quick fixes, but over weeks, they can lift the baseline, so your good days outnumber the bad.

Fifth, plan your “energy economy.” Schedule cognitively heavy tasks earlier in the day when you’re sharper. Batch admin during predictable dips. Have a water bottle at your elbow; mild dehydration increases fatigue and headaches. And if heavy periods are normal for you, request iron studies, as iron deficiency is an under-recognised factor causing fatigue in menstruators and is treatable when diagnosed.

The workplace’s role

Workplaces have a part to play too. Research has shown that those with PCOS may have lower work ability and increased sickness absence; normalising this allows for practical supports—flexible start times following poor-sleep nights, remote work on flare days, times to attend medical appointments—without stigma. Small accommodations can reduce presenteeism and protect productivity much better than powering through and burning out.

Finally, remember this: PCOS management isn’t a single heroic act; it’s stacking small, boring wins, consistent meals, micro movements, skilful sleep, the right treatment plan, and a humane work setup. When these habits compound, the afternoon fog lifts more often, your energy lasts longer, and your best work stops feeling like a fight.

(Dr. Sandhya Rani is senior consultant, obstetrics & gynaecology, Aster Women & Children Hospital, Bengaluru. sanju.doc@gmail.com)

Published – September 09, 2025 03:00 pm IST

A new study links everyday eating habits with inflammatory bowel disease outcomes, showing that choosing anti-inflammatory foods may help patients keep flare-ups at bay.

Study: Association Between Pro-Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Inflammatory Parameters in a Group of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Image Credit: Farknot Architect / Shutterstock.com

In a recent study published in Nutrients, researchers compared the different effects of pro-inflammatory dietary patterns on the severity of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Diet, inflammation, and the growing burden of IBD

IBD, which can be further classified as Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC), is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease arising from genetic and/or environmental factors. Typically, IBD symptoms will develop following an exaggerated immune response to a normal stimulus like food or the intestinal flora.

During UC, mucosal inflammation originates in the rectum and eventually progresses to the proximal colon, causing edema, ulcers, bleeding, and electrolyte loss. Although CD can involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract, it primarily affects the colon and ileum.

The incidence of IBD continues to rise throughout the world, with 20 UC and seven CD cases reported for every 100,000 people in Western Europe and North America. Due to the significant morbidity associated with IBD, it is crucial to determine how modifiable risk factors like diet may impact the inflammatory processes that contribute to this debilitating disease.

Dietary components exacerbating inflammation and dysbiosis include refined sugars, saturated and trans fats, red and processed meats, and food additives. However, it remains unclear how the consumption of multiple food combinations and different eating patterns may impact this risk.

When determining the effect of nutrition on inflammatory processes, it is necessary to calculate the overall intake of all dietary components that may play a role in the inflammation process.

Study design

The present study was conducted at the Medical University of Lodz in Poland to address the urgent global need to quantify the direct association between diet-induced inflammation and IBD severity. Ninety IBD patients were included in the study, 46 and 44 of whom were diagnosed with CD and UC, respectively.

Food intake was recorded through three separate 24-hour dietary interviews, with this data subsequently used to calculate each study participant’s personal dietary inflammatory index (DII).

DII is a novel yet validated scoring system that synthesizes data on 26 dietary components/parameters, including fats, vitamins, micronutrients, and selected flavonoids, to calculate a pro-inflammatory score. Negative DII scores reflected highly anti-inflammatory diet quality, while highly pro-inflammatory diets provided positive scores.

Whereas CD severity was determined by the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI), UC severity was based on the Partial Mayo Score (PMS). The European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) guidelines were also used to classify patients with CDAI scores exceeding 150 into remission. Comparatively, CDAI scores 150-220, 220-450, and over 450 reflected mild, moderate, and severe exacerbation, respectively.

Blood samples were collected to measure serum levels of key inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-1β, and the anti-inflammatory IL-10, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Pro-inflammatory diets increase IBD severity

No significant difference in DII scores was observed between CD and UC patients; however, scores varied significantly when stratified by disease severity. For example, patients in remission or with mild disease reported significantly higher anti-inflammatory diet scores than those experiencing active disease, with mean DII scores of -0.45 and -.23, respectively.

Logistic regression models were adjusted for confounding sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI), biological treatment, disease duration, and smoking status. This analysis suggests that patients who consumed highly inflammatory diets were three times more likely to have moderate-to-severe IBD than those in the lowest tertile.

Interestingly, DII scores did not correlate with circulating IL-6, IL-1β, and IL-10 levels. Although the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for these observations remain unclear, the authors note that this may reflect patients actively modifying their diets. Furthermore, because only three cytokines were measured and blood samples were collected at a single time, this may not fully capture the long-term effects of diet on systemic inflammation.

Conclusions

The current study indicates a significant association between a pro-inflammatory diet and severe disease activity in patients with IBD. Thus, rather than targeting a specific dietary component, following a comprehensive anti-inflammatory dietary pattern may help reduce disease severity, although further research is needed to confirm these findings.

Study limitations include its cross-sectional design and small sample size. Nevertheless, the study findings emphasize the need for clinicians to formulate personalized and anti-inflammatory diets for IBD patients to reduce disease severity and improve their overall quality of life.

Download your PDF copy now!

A constipation drug has shown promise in slowing kidney damage in chronic kidney disease patients by improving gut and mitochondrial health.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a widespread and serious medical condition. For many individuals, the progressive loss of kidney function ultimately requires regular dialysis to prevent kidney failure and sustain life. Although CKD poses a major global health challenge, no drug has yet been approved that can directly enhance kidney performance.

A team led by Professor Takaaki Abe at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine has uncovered a surprising possibility. They tested a medication normally prescribed for constipation and found that it may help protect kidney health. For the first time, this drug (lubiprostone) demonstrated an ability to slow the decline of kidney function in patients with CKD.

“We noticed that constipation is a symptom that often accompanies CKD, and decided to investigate this link further,” explains Abe. “Essentially, constipation disrupts the intestinal microbiota, which worsens kidney function. Working backwards, we hypothesized that we could improve kidney function by treating constipation.”

To explore this idea, the researchers launched a multicenter Phase II clinical trial (LUBI-CKD TRIAL) at nine medical institutions in Japan. The study involved 150 patients with moderate CKD and carefully assessed how lubiprostone influenced their kidney function.

Clinical Trial Results

The results showed that, compared to the placebo group, the decline in kidney function (defined as the estimated glomerular filtration rate: eGFR) was suppressed in a dose-dependent manner in patients treated with 8 µg or 16 µg of lubiprostone.

The researchers also investigated the mechanism underlying how this effect occurred. They found that lubiprostone increases spermidine production, which improves mitochondrial function by promoting bacterial growth in the gut. The improved mitochondrial function was seen to exert a renoprotective effect – suppressing further kidney damage.

Going forward, the research team has plans to validate the trial results in a larger population (Phase 3 clinical trial) and advance the exploration of biomarkers that predict treatment efficacy. Their goal is to provide each patient with CKD the optimal treatment plan tailored to their needs. This discovery has the potential to significantly transform the conventional approach to CKD treatment, which primarily focuses on reducing uremic toxins.

These findings suggest a new therapeutic strategy in which laxatives suppress renal function decline. This strategy is expected to contribute to the development of treatments for not only CKD, but also mitochondrial dysfunction disorders.

Reference: “Lubiprostone in chronic kidney disease: Insights into mitochondrial function and polyamines from a randomized phase 2 clinical trial” by Shun Watanabe, Masaaki Nakayama, Takashi Yokoo, Satoru Sanada, Yoshifumi Ubara, Atsushi Komatsuda, Katsuhiko Asanuma, Yusuke Suzuki, Tsuneo Konta, Junichiro J. Kazama, Takehiro Suzuki, Shinji Fukuda, Tomoyoshi Soga, Takuji Yamada, Sayaka Mizutani, Mitsuharu Matsumoto, Yuji Naito, Kensei Taguchi, Kei Fukami, Hitomi Kashiwagi, Koichi Kikuchi, Chitose Suzuki, Hidetaka Tokuno, Marina Urasato, Ryota Kujirai, Yotaro Matsumoto, Yasutoshi Akiyama, Yoshihisa Tomioka, Shun Itai, Yoshiyasu Tongu, Eikan Mishima, Chiharu Kawabe, Tomoko Kasahara, Yoshiaki Ogata, Takafumi Toyohara, Takeya Sato, Tetsuhiro Tanaka, Takaaki Abe and LUBI-CKD TRIAL Investigators, 29 August 2025, Science Advances.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adw3934

Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.

Tongzhou district in Nantong, Jiangsu province, reported a cholera case on Tuesday. The patient has undergone treatment and is now nearly recovered.

No additional cases have been identified to date, according to the district”s center for disease control and prevention.

The center said that last Thursday, a local hospital confirmed the case. Following cholera response protocols, the center conducted epidemiological investigations, sampling, testing, and tracking, and advised local authorities to disinfect a suspected source, a farmers’ market.

According to an educational article by the district’s health commission, cholera is a severe intestinal infectious disease caused by toxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae.

The Category A infectious disease is known for its rapid onset, fast transmission, and widespread impact, with peak occurrences in summer and autumn. Typical symptoms include severe painless watery diarrhea and vomiting, which can lead to dehydration and potentially death.

To aid public prevention efforts, the health commission provided these safety guidelines: wash hands before meals and after using the restroom, thoroughly cook seafood, reheat leftover food until steaming, keep raw and cooked foods separate, and seek medical help if symptoms arise.

Also, the public should avoid drinking unboiled water, patronizing unlicensed food vendors, consuming spoiled food, overeating, and touching items contaminated by cholera that have not been disinfected.