ArcaMax

Sure, you can try to lose weight using a trendy drug like Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro, assuming you can afford it. (The reported cost is at least a few hundred dollars per month -- for the rest of your life.)

Or there's a cheaper, natural way: Eat more fiber.

But maybe not just any fiber. Researchers at the University of Arizona fed rats diets rich in five different plant-based fibers: pectin, beta-glucan, wheat dextrin, starch and cellulose. They found that only the beta-glucan diet resulted in rats losing body weight and fat, plus improved blood sugar homeostasis.

Beta-glucan is found in many foods, including oats, barley, mushrooms and yeasts.

Of course, what makes a skinnier rat isn't necessarily the same for humans. Researchers plan further studies to further refine their findings, and perhaps develop enhanced fibers that might enhance a lighter you.

Body of Knowledge

There are two types of bone tissue: compact and spongy. The names indicate differences in density or how tightly tissue is packed together.

Compact bone consists of tightly packed hollow cylindrical units, called osteons, surrounded by concentric rings of matrix with space between filled with bone cells. In cross-section, compact bone looks like tree rings.

Spongy bone is lighter and less dense. It consists of interconnecting plates and bars of bone with irregular spaces in between, not unlike a natural sponge. It may look haphazard, but the webbing is organized for maximum strength using minimum material.

Both types of tissue can be found in most bones.

Get Me That, Stat!

More than 20% of American adults (50 million-plus) experience some sort of mental illness every year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and 5% encounter a more serious mental health concern every year.

Anxiety is the most commonly reported mental illness among U.S. adults, with nearly one in five (19.1%) affected. Major depressive episodes impact 8.3% of adults. Less commonly reported are illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Fewer than 1% of Americans have schizophrenia.

Doc Talk

Petechiae: Pinpoint-sized red or purple spots that appear in clusters on the skin, caused by bleeding under the skin

Mania of the Week

Ecdemomania: A compulsion to go outside or wander

Best Medicine

"How did it go at the doctor's today, honey?"

"The doctor told me I have to take medication every day for the rest of my life."

"What's so terrible about that?"

"He only gave me four pills."

Hypochondriac's Guide

Kuru is a rare, incurable and fatal neurodegenerative disorder once common among the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. The term comes from the Fore word meaning "trembling." It was also colloquially named "laughing sickness" because it promoted pathologic outbursts of laughter in victims.

The disease is caused by transmission of abnormally folded proteins or prions, similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Transmission occurred when Fore people practiced funerary cannibalism, particularly the ritual eating of the brains of deceased family members, which they believed incorporated the bodies of dead people into them while freeing their spirits.

That practice stopped in the early 1960s, and no kuru deaths have been reported in recent decades. Researchers have also discovered a naturally occurring variant of a prion protein in a population from Papua New Guinea that confers strong resistance to kuru.

Observation

"Self-care is giving the world the best of you instead of what's left of you." -- Katie Reed, American writer and mental health advocate

Medical History

This week in 2004, thimerosal-containing influenza vaccines were banned from use in California. Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was reacting more to public advocacy groups than the weight of medical opinion. Thimerosal, containing an ethyl-mercury compound, had been used in vaccines in microgram quantities to prevent life-threatening bacterial contamination.

A 2004 report by the Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine stated that the benefits of vaccination were proven and the hypothesis of susceptible populations was speculative. After considering available medical studies from several countries, the report rejected any connection between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. Subsequent studies have confirmed that assessment.

Self-Exam

Riddle: Two halves make a whole comprised of three. It's the seat of power.

Answer: Your butt, which is bifurcated and composed of three muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. These muscles power hip and thigh movement, and maintain an upright erect posture. The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body and among the strongest, though the tongue and masseter muscle in the jaw are often considered stronger.

Medical Myths

The color of your mucus is not a clear indicator of a nasal infection. Studies have shown that green or yellow mucus is slightly more common in certain bacterial infections, but it's not a sure sign that you have an infection or require antibiotics. A sinus infection, for example, can produce transparent mucus.

Green or yellow mucus caused by an infection is visible evidence of dead white blood cells having done their job fighting the virus and now being flushed from the body. Red or pink mucus indicates the presence of red blood cells, maybe from blowing one's nose too much or too hard. Brown or orange mucus can contain old, dried blood or be the result of inhaling something brown, like dirt or cigarette smoke. Black mucus can be the result of inhaling something darker, but it might also be a symptom of a fungal infection.

Curtain Calls

On Oct. 25, 1920, 27-year-old Alexander of Greece died of sepsis after being bitten by a palace steward's pet Barbary macaque in his garden. Alexander had been trying to break up a fight between his German shepherd and another monkey.

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