ADHD medication – can you take it long term? What are the risks and do benefits continue?

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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that can affect all stages of life. Medication is not the only treatment, but it is often the treatment that can make the most obvious difference to a person who has difficulties focusing attention, sitting still or not acting on impulse.

But what happens once you’ve found the medication that works for you or your child? Do you just keep taking it forever? Here’s what to consider.

What are ADHD medications?

The mainstay of medication for ADHD is stimulants. These include methylphenidate (with brand names Ritalin, Concerta) and dexamfetamine. There is also lisdexamfetamine (branded Vyvanse), a “prodrug” of dexamfetamine (it has a protein molecule attached, which is removed in the body to release dexamfetamine).

There are also non-stimulants, in particular atomoxetine and guanfacine, which are used less often but can also be highly effective. Non-stimulants can be prescribed by GPs but this may not always be covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and could cost more.

How stimulants work

Some stimulants prescribed for ADHD are “short acting”. This means the effect comes on after around 20 minutes and lasts around four hours.

Longer-acting stimulants give a longer-lasting effect, usually by releasing medication more slowly. The choice between the two will be guided by whether the person wants to take medication once a day or prefers to target the medication effect to specific times or tasks.

For the stimulants (with the possible exception of lisdexamfetamine) there is very little carry-over effect to the next day. This means the symptoms of ADHD may be very obvious until the first dose of the morning takes effect.

One of the main aims of treatment is the person with ADHD should live their best life and achieve their goals. In young children it is the parents who have to consider the risks and benefits on behalf of the child. As children mature, their role in decision making increases.

What about side effects?

The most consistent side effects of the stimulants are they suppress appetite, resulting in weight loss. In children this is associated with temporary slowing of the growth rate and perhaps a slight delay in pubertal development. They can also increase the heart rate and may cause a rise in blood pressure. Stimulants often cause insomnia.

These changes are largely reversible on stopping medication. However, there is concern the small rises in blood pressure could accelerate the rate of heart disease, so people who take medication over a number of years might have heart attacks or strokes slightly sooner than would have happened otherwise.

This does not mean older adults should not have their ADHD treated. Rather, they should be aware of the potential risks so they can make an informed decision. They should also make sure high blood pressure and attacks of chest pain are taken seriously.

Stimulants can be associated with stomach ache or headache. These effects may lessen over time or with a reduction in dose. While there have been reports about stimulants being misused by students, research on the risks of long-term prescription stimulant dependence is lacking.

Will medication be needed long term?

Although ADHD can affect a person’s functioning at all stages of their life, most people stop medication within the first two years.

People may stop taking it because they don’t like the way it makes them feel, or don’t like taking medication at all. Their short period on medication may have helped them develop a better understanding of themselves and how best to manage their ADHD.

In teenagers the medication may lose its effectiveness as they outgrow their dose and so they stop taking it. But this should be differentiated from tolerance, when the dose becomes less effective and there are only temporary improvements with dose increases.

Tolerance may be managed by taking short breaks from medication, switching from one stimulant to another or using a non-stimulant.

boy looks frustrated, sitting at table with adult
Medication is usually prescribed by a specialist but rules differ around Australia.
Ground Picture/Shutterstock

Too many prescriptions?

ADHD is becoming increasingly recognised, with more people – 2–5% of adults and 5–10% of children – being diagnosed. In Australia stimulants are highly regulated and mainly prescribed by specialists (paediatricians or psychiatrists), though this differs from state to state. As case loads grow for this lifelong diagnosis, there just aren’t enough specialists to fit everyone in.

In November, a Senate inquiry report into ADHD assessment and support services highlighted the desperation experienced by people seeking treatment.

There have already been changes to the legislation in New South Wales that may lead to more GPs being able to treat ADHD. Further training could help GPs feel more confident to manage ADHD. This could be in a shared-care arrangement or independent management of ADHD by GPs like a model being piloted at Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, with GPs training within an ADHD clinic (where I am a specialist clinician).

Not every person with ADHD will need or want to take medication. However, it should be more easily available for those who could find it helpful.The Conversation

Alison Poulton, Senior Lecturer, Brain Mind Centre Nepean, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • Chiropractors have been banned again from manipulating babies’ spines. Here’s what the evidence actually says

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    Chiropractors in Australia will not be able to perform spinal manipulation on children under the age of two once more, following health concerns from doctors and politicians.

    But what is the spinal treatment at the centre of the controversy? Does it work? Is there evidence of harm?

    We’re a team of researchers who specialise in evidence-based musculoskeletal health. I (Matt) am a registered chiropractor, Joshua is a registered physiotherapist and Giovanni trained as a physiotherapist.

    Here’s what the evidence says.

    Dmitry Naumov/Shutterstock

    Remind me, how did this all come about?

    A Melbourne-based chiropractor posted a video on social media in 2018 using a spring-loaded device (known as the Activator) to manipulate the spine of a two-week-old baby suspended upside down by the ankles.

    The video sparked widespread concerns among the public, medical associations and politicians. It prompted a ban on the procedure in young children. The Victorian health minister commissioned Safer Care Victoria to conduct an independent review of spinal manipulation techniques on children.

    Recently, the Chiropractic Board of Australia reinstated chiropractors’ authorisation to perform spinal manipulation on babies under two years old. But this week, it backflipped, following heavy criticism from medical associations and politicians.

    What is spinal manipulation?

    Spinal manipulation is a treatment used by chiropractors and other health professionals such as doctors, osteopaths and physiotherapists.

    It is an umbrella term that includes popular “back cracking” techniques.

    It also includes more gentle forms of treatment, such as massage or joint mobilisations. These involve applying pressure to joints without generating a “cracking” sound.

    Does spinal manipulation in babies work?

    Several international guidelines for health-care professionals recommend spinal manipulation to treat adults with conditions such as back pain and headache as there is an abundance of evidence on the topic. For example, spinal manipulation for back pain is supported by data from nearly 10,000 adults.

    For children, it’s a different story. Safer Care Victoria’s 2019 review of spinal manipulation found very few studies testing whether this treatment was safe and effective in children.

    Studies were generally small and were of poor quality. Some of those small, poor-quality studies, suggest spinal manipulation provides a very small benefit for back pain, colic and potentially bedwetting – some common reasons for parents to take their child to see a chiropractor. But overall, the review found the overall body of evidence was very poor.

    Baby clutching ear, crying
    Spinal manipulation doesn’t seem to help young children with an ear infection. MIA Studio/Shutterstock

    However, for most other children’s conditions chiropractors treat – such as headache, asthma, otitis media (a type of ear infection), cerebral palsy, hyperactivity and torticollis (“twisted neck”) – there did not appear to be a benefit.

    The number of studies investigating the effectiveness of spinal manipulation on babies under two years of age was even smaller.

    There was one high-quality study and two small, poor quality studies. These did not show an appreciable benefit of spinal manipulation on colic, otitis media with effusion (known as glue ear) or twisted neck in babies.

    Is spinal manipulation on babies safe?

    In terms of safety, most studies in the review found serious complications were extremely rare. The review noted one baby or child dying (a report from Germany in 2001 after spinal manipulation by a physiotherapist). The most common complications were mild in nature such as increased crying and soreness.

    However, because studies were very small, they cannot tell us anything about the safety of spinal manipulation in a reliable way. Studies that are designed to properly investigate if a treatment is safe typically include thousands of patients. And these studies have not yet been done.

    Why do people see chiropractors?

    Safer Care Victoria also conducted surveys with more than 20,000 people living in Australia who had taken their children under 12 years old to a chiropractor in the past ten years.

    Nearly three-quarters said that was for treatment of a child aged two years or younger.

    Nearly all people surveyed reported a positive experience when they took their child to a chiropractor and reported that their child’s condition improved with chiropractic care. Only a small number of people (0.3%) reported a negative experience, and this was mostly related to cost of treatment, lack of improvement in their child’s condition, excessive use of x-rays, and perceived pressure to avoid medications.

    Many of the respondents had also consulted their GP or maternity/child health nurse.

    What now for spinal manipulation in children?

    At the request of state and federal ministers, the Chiropractic Board of Australia confirmed that spinal manipulation on babies under two years old will continue to be banned until it discusses the issue further with health ministers.

    Many chiropractors believe this is unfair, especially considering the strong consumer support for chiropractic care outlined in the Safer Care Victoria report, and the rarity of serious reported harms in children.

    Others believe that in the absence of evidence of benefit and uncertainty around whether spinal manipulation is safe in children and babies, the precautionary principle should apply and children and babies should not receive spinal manipulation.

    Ultimately, high quality research is urgently needed to better understand whether spinal manipulation is beneficial for the range of conditions chiropractors provide it for, and whether the benefit outweighs the extremely small chance of a serious complication.

    This will help parents make an informed choice about health care for their child.

    Matt Fernandez, Senior lecturer and researcher in chiropractic, CQUniversity Australia; Giovanni E. Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney, and Joshua Zadro, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • Addiction Myths That Are Hard To Quit

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    Which Addiction-Quitting Methods Work Best?

    In Tuesday’s newsletter we asked you what, in your opinion, is the best way to cure an addiction. We got the above-depicted, below-described, interesting distribution of responses:

    • About 29% said: “Addiction cannot be cured; once an addict, always an addict”
    • About 26% said “Cold turkey (stop 100% and don’t look back)”
    • About 17% said “Gradually reduce usage over an extended period of time”
    • About 11% said “A healthier, but somewhat like-for-like, substitution”
    • About 9% said “Therapy (whether mainstream, like CBT, or alternative, like hypnosis)”
    • About 6% said “Peer support programs and/or community efforts (e.g. church etc)”
    • About 3% said “Another method (mention it in the comment field)” and then did not mention it in the comment field

    So what does the science say?

    Addiction cannot be cured; once an addict, always an addict: True or False?

    False, which some of the people who voted for it seemed to know, as some went on to add in the comment field what they thought was the best way to overcome the addiction.

    The widespread belief that “once an addict, always an addict” is a “popular truism” in the same sense as “once a cheater, always a cheater”. It’s an observation of behavioral probability phrased as a strong generalization, but it’s not actually any kind of special unbreakable law of the universe.

    And, certainly the notion that one cannot be cured keeps membership in many 12-step programs and similar going—because if you’re never cured, then you need to stick around.

    However…

    What is the definition of addiction?

    Addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.

    Prevention efforts and treatment approaches for addiction are generally as successful as those for other chronic diseases.❞

    ~ American Society of Addiction Medicine

    Or if we want peer-reviewed source science, rather than appeal to mere authority as above, then:

    ❝What is drug addiction?

    Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite adverse consequences. It is considered a brain disorder, because it involves functional changes to brain circuits involved in reward, stress, and self-control. Those changes may last a long time after a person has stopped taking drugs.

    Addiction is a lot like other diseases, such as heart disease. Both disrupt the normal, healthy functioning of an organ in the body, both have serious harmful effects, and both are, in many cases, preventable and treatable.❞

    ~ Nora D. Volkow (Director, National Institute of Drug Abuse)

    Read more: Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction

    In short: part of the definition of addiction is the continued use; if the effects of the substance are no longer active in your physiology, and you are no longer using, then you are not addicted.

    Just because you would probably become addicted again if you used again does not make you addicted when neither the substance nor its after-effects are remaining in your body. Otherwise, we could define all people as addicted to all things based on “well if they use in the future they will probably become addicted”.

    This means: the effects of addiction can and often will last for long after cessation of use, but ultimately, addiction can be treated and cured.

    (yes, you should still abstain from the thing to which you were formerly addicted though, or you indeed most probably will become addicted again)

    Cold turkey is best: True or False?

    True if and only if certain conditions are met, and then only for certain addictions. For all other situations… False.

    To decide whether cold turkey is a safe approach (before even considering “effective”), the first thing to check is how dangerous the withdrawal symptoms are. In some cases (e.g. alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and others), the withdrawal symptoms can kill.

    That doesn’t mean they will kill, so knowing (or being!) someone who quit this way does not refute this science by counterexample. The mortality rates that we saw while researching varied from 8% to 37%, so most people did not die, but do you really want (yourself or a loved one) to play those odds unnecessarily?

    See also: Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment

    Even in those cases where it is considered completely safe for most people to quit cold turkey, such as smoking, it is only effective when the quitter has appropriate reliable medical support, e.g.

    And yes, that 22% was for the “abrupt cessation” group; the “gradual cessation” group had a success rate of 15.5%. On which note…

    Gradual reduction is the best approach: True or False?

    False based on the above data, in the case of addictions where abrupt cessation is safe. True in other cases where abrupt cessation is not safe.

    Because if you quit abruptly and then die from the withdrawal symptoms, then well, technically you did stay off the substance for the rest of your life, but we can’t really claim that as a success!

    A healthier, but somewhat like-for-like substitution is best: True or False?

    True where such is possible!

    This is why, for example, medical institutions recommend the use of buprenorphine (e.g. Naloxone) in the case of opioid addiction. It’s a partial opioid receptor agonist, meaning it does some of the job of opioids, while being less dangerous:

    SAMSHA.gov | Buprenorphine

    It’s also why vaping—despite itself being a health hazard—is recommended as a method of quitting smoking:

    Vaping: A Lot Of Hot Air?

    Similarly, “zero alcohol drinks that seem like alcohol” are a popular way to stop drinking alcohol, alongside other methods:

    How To Reduce Or Quit Alcohol

    This is also why it’s recommended that if you have multiple addictions, to quit one thing at a time, unless for example multiple doctors are telling you otherwise for some specific-to-your-situation reason.

    Take care!

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  • Artichoke vs Heart of Palm– Which is Healthier?

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    Our Verdict

    When comparing artichoke to heart of palm, we picked the artichoke.

    Why?

    If you were thinking “isn’t heart of palm full of saturated fat?” then no… Palm oil is, but heart of palm itself has 0.62g/100g fat, of which, 0.13g saturated fat. So, negligible.

    As for the rest of the macros, artichoke has more protein, carbs, and fiber, thus being the “more food per food” option. Technically heart of palm has the lower glycemic index, but they are both low-GI foods, so it’s really not a factor here.

    Vitamins are where artichoke shines; artichoke has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while heart of palm is not higher in any vitamins.

    The minerals situation is more balanced: artichoke has more copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium, while heart of palm has more iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc.

    Adding up the categories, the winner of this “vegetables with a heart” face-off is clearly artichoke.

    Fun fact: in French, “to have the heart of an artichoke” (avoir le coeur d’un artichaut) means to fall in love easily. Perfect vegetable for a romantic dinner, perhaps (especially with all those generous portions of B-vitamins)!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Artichoke vs Cabbage – Which is Healthier?

    Take care!

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  • What is type 1.5 diabetes? It’s a bit like type 1 and a bit like type 2 – but it’s often misdiagnosed
  • Make Your Coffee Heart-Healthier!

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Health-Hack Your Coffee

    We have previously written about the general health considerations (benefits and potential problems) of coffee:

    The Bitter Truth About Coffee (or is it?)

    Today, we will broadly assume that you are drinking coffee (in general, not necessarily right now, though if you are, same!) and would like to continue to do so. We also assume you’d like to do so as healthily as possible.

    Not all coffees are created equal

    If you order a coffee in France or Italy without specifying what kind, the coffee you receive will be short, dark, and handsome and without sugar. Healthwise, this is not a bad starting point. However…

    • It will usually be espresso
    • Or it may be what in N. America is called a French press (in Europe it’s just called a cafetière)

    Both of these kinds of coffee mean that cafestol, a compound found in the oily part of coffee and which is known to raise LDL (“bad” cholesterol”), stays in the drink.

    Read: Cafestol and Kahweol: A Review on Their Bioactivities and Pharmacological Properties

    Also: Cafestol extraction yield from different coffee brew mechanisms

    If you’re reading that second one and wondering what a mocha pot or a Turkish coffee is, they are these things:

    So, wonderful as they are for those of us who love strong coffee, they also produce the highest in-drink levels of cafestol. If you’d like to cut the cafestol (for example, if you are keeping an eye on your LDL), we recommend…

    The humble filter coffee

    Whether by your favorite filter coffee machine or a pour-over low-tech coffee setup of the kind you could use even without an electricity supply, the filter keeps more than just the coffee grinds out; it keeps the cafestol out too; most of it, anyway, depending on what kind of filter you use, and the grind of the coffee:

    Physical characteristics of the paper filter and low cafestol content filter coffee brews

    What about instant coffee?

    It has very little cafestol in it. It’s up to you whether that’s sufficient reason to choose it over any other form of coffee (this coffee-lover could never)

    Want to make any coffee healthier?

    This one isn’t about the cafestol, but…

    If you take l-theanine (see here for our previous main feature about l-theanine), the l-theanine acts as a moderator and modulator of the caffeine, amongst other benefits:

    The Cognitive-Enhancing Outcomes of Caffeine and L-theanine: A Systematic Review

    As to where to get that, we don’t sell it, but here’s an example product on Amazon

    Enjoy!

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  • Lifestyle vs Multiple Sclerosis & More

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    This is Dr. Saray Stancic. She’s another from the ranks of “doctors who got a serious illness and it completely changed how they view the treatment of serious illness”.

    In her case, Stancic was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and wasn’t impressed with the results from the treatments offered, so (after 8 years of pain, suffering, and many medications, only for her condition to worsen) she set about doing better with an evidence-based lifestyle medicine approach.

    After 7 years of her new approach, she would go on to successfully run a marathon and live symptom-free.

    All this to say: her approach isn’t a magic quick fix, but it is a serious method for serious results, and after all, while it’d be nice to be magically in perfect health tomorrow, what’s important is being in good health for life, right?

    If you’re interested in her impressive story, check out:

    Doctor With Multiple Sclerosis On The Collapse Of US Healthcare

    If you want to know what she did, then read on…

    Six key lifestyle changes

    Dr. Stancic credits her recovery to focus on the following evidence-based approaches:

    The plant-centered plate

    This is critical, and is the one she places most emphasis on. Most chronic diseases are exacerbated, if not outright caused, by chronic inflammation, and one cannot fix that without an anti-inflammatory diet.

    An anti-inflammatory diet doesn’t have to be 100% plant-based, but broadly speaking, plants are almost always anti-inflammatory to a greater or lesser degree, while animal products are often pro-inflammatory—especially red meat and unfermented dairy.

    For more details, see:

    Anti-Inflammatory Diet 101 (What to Eat to Fight Inflammation)

    Movement every day

    While “exercise is good for you” is in principle not a shocker, remember that her starting point was being in terrible condition with badly flared-up MS.

    Important to understand here is that excessive exercise can weaken the immune system and sometimes cause flare-ups of various chronic diseases.

    Moving thoroughly and moving often, however, is best. So walking yes, absolutely, but also don’t neglect the rest of your body, do some gentle bodyweight squats (if you can; if you can’t, work up to them), stretch your arms as well as your legs, take all your joints through a full range of motion.

    See also:

    The Doctor Who Wants Us To Exercise Less, & Move More

    Mindful stress management

    Stress in life is unavoidable, but how we manage it is up to us. Bad things will continue to happen, great and small, but we can take a deep breath, remember that those things aren’t the boss of us, and deal with it calmly and conscientiously.

    Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is of course the evidence-based “gold standard” for this, but whatever (not substance-based) method works for you, works for you!

    About MBSR:

    No-Frills, Evidence-Based Mindfulness

    Good sleeping habits

    Getting good sleep can be hard for anyone, let alone if you have chronic pain. However, Dr. Stancic advocates for doing whatever we can to get good sleep—which means not just duration (the famous “7–9 hours”), but also quality.

    Learn more:

    The 6 Dimensions Of Sleep (And Why They Matter)

    Substance intake awareness

    This one’s not so much of a “don’t do drugs, kids” as the heading makes it look. Dr. Stancic assumes we already know, for example, that smoking is bad for us in a long list of ways, and alcohol isn’t much better.

    However, she also advises us that in our eagerness to do that plant-based diet, we would do better to go for whole foods plant-based, rather than the latest processed meat substitutes, for example.

    And supplements? She bids us exercise caution, and to make sure to get good quality, as poor quality supplements can be worse than taking nothing (looking at you, cheap turmeric supplements that contain heavy metals).

    And of course, that nutrients gained from diet will almost always be better than nutrients gained from supplements, as our body can usually use them better.

    And see also, some commonly-made supplements mistakes:

    Do You Know Which Supplements You Shouldn’t Take Together? (10 Pairs!)

    Human connection

    Lastly, we humans are a social species by evolution; as individuals, we may enjoy relatively more or less social contact, but having access to such is important not just for our mental health, but our physical health too—we will tend to deteriorate much more quickly when we have to deal with everything alone, all other things being equal.

    It doesn’t mean you need a busy social life if that’s not in your nature, but it does mean it’s incredibly beneficial to have at least a small number of people that you trust and whose company you enjoy, at least relatively accessible to you (i.e., their life need not revolve around you, but they are the kind of people who will generally happily spend time with you and provide support when needed if they can).

    As for how:

    How To Beat Loneliness & Isolation

    Want to know more from Dr. Stancic?

    We recently reviewed this very good book of hers, which goes over each of these six things in much more detail than we have room for here:

    What’s Missing from Medicine – by Dr. Saray Stancic

    Enjoy!

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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  • The Sugar Alcohol That Reduces BMI!

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    Inositol Does-It-Ol’!

    First things first, a quick clarification up-front:

    Myo-inositol or D-chiro-inositol?

    We’re going to be talking about inositol today, which comes in numerous forms, but most importantly:

    • Myo-inositol (myo-Ins)
    • D-chiro-inositol (D-chiro-Ins)

    These are both inositol, (a sugar alcohol!) and for our purposes today, the most relevant form is myo-inositol.

    The studies we’ll look at today are either:

    • just about myo-inositol, or
    • about myo-inositol in the presence of d-chiro-inositol at a 40:1 ratio.

    You have both in your body naturally; wherever supplementation is mentioned, it means supplementing with either:

    • extra myo-inositol (because that’s the one the body more often needs more of), or
    • both, at the 40:1 ratio that we mentioned above (because that’s one way to help balance an imbalanced ratio)

    With that in mind…

    Inositol against diabetes?

    Inositol is known to:

    • decrease insulin resistance
    • increase insulin sensitivity
    • have an important role in cell signaling
    • have an important role in metabolism

    The first two things there both mean that inositol is good against diabetes. It’s not “take this and you’re cured”, but:

    • if you’re pre-diabetic it may help you avoid type 2 diabetes
    • if you are diabetic (either type) it can help in the management of your diabetes.

    It does this by allowing your body to make better use of insulin (regardless of whether that insulin is from your pancreas or from the pharmacy).

    How does it do that? Research is still underway and there’s a lot we don’t know yet, but here’s one way, for example:

    ❝Evidence showed that inositol phosphates might enhance the browning of white adipocytes and directly improve insulin sensitivity through adipocytes❞

    Read: Role of Inositols and Inositol Phosphates in Energy Metabolism

    We mentioned its role in metabolism in a bullet-point above, and we didn’t just mean insulin sensitivity! There’s also…

    Inositol for thyroid function?

    The thyroid is one of the largest endocrine glands in the body, and it controls how quickly the body burns energy, makes proteins, and how sensitive the body should be to other hormones. So, it working correctly or not can have a big impact on everything from your mood to your weight to your energy levels.

    How does inositol affect thyroid function?

    • Inositol has an important role in thyroid function and dealing with autoimmune diseases.
    • Inositol is essential to produce H2O2 (yes, really) required for the synthesis of thyroid hormones.
    • Depletion of inositol may lead to the development of some thyroid diseases, such as hypothyroidism.
    • Inositol supplementation seems to help in the management of thyroid diseases.

    Read: The Role of Inositol in Thyroid Physiology and in Subclinical Hypothyroidism Management

    Inositol for PCOS?

    A systematic review published in the Journal of Gynecological Endocrinology noted:

    • Inositol can restore spontaneous ovarian activity (and consequently fertility) in most patients with PCOS.
    • Myo-inositol is a safe and effective treatment to improve:
      • ovarian function
      • healthy metabolism
      • healthy hormonal balance

    While very comprehensive (which is why we included it here), that review’s a little old, so…

    Check out this cutting edge (Jan 2023) study whose title says it all:

    Inositol is an effective and safe treatment in polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

    Inositol for fertility?

    Just last year, Mendoza et al published that inositol supplementation, together with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, could be an optimal strategy to improve female fertility.

    This built from Gambiole and Forte’s work, which laid out how inositol is a safe compound for many issues related to fertility and pregnancy. In particular, several clinical trials demonstrated that:

    • inositol can have therapeutic effects in infertile women
    • inositol can also be useful as a preventive treatment during pregnancy
    • inositol could prevent the onset of neural tube defects
    • inositol also reduces the occurrence of gestational diabetes

    Due to the safety and efficiency of inositol, it can take the place of many drugs that are contraindicated in pregnancy. Basically: take this, and you’ll need fewer other drugs. Always a win!

    Read: Myo-Inositol as a Key Supporter of Fertility and Physiological Gestation

    Inositol For Weight Loss

    We promised you “this alcohol sugar can reduce your BMI”, and we weren’t making it up!

    Zarezadeh et al conducited a very extensive systematic review, and found:

    • Oral inositol supplementation has positive effect on BMI reduction.
    • Inositol in the form of myo-inositol had the strongest effect on BMI reduction.
    • Participants with PCOS and/or who were overweight, experienced the most significant improvement of all.

    Want some inositol?

    As ever, we don’t sell it (or anything else), but for your convenience, here’s myo-inositol and d-chiro-inositol at a 40:1 ratio, available on Amazon!

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