Category: Health

• The negative health effects of ultra-processed foods are of increasing interest to researchers.
• A new study has found that eating more ultra-processed foods may worsen muscle health.
• Another recent study has shown that eating more ultra-processed foods may be associated with weaker bones.
• Recent research has also found that eating higher amounts of ultra-processed foods may affect fertility in females.
• Common health risks linked to ultra-processed food intake include obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and premature death.

The impacts of ultra-processed food consumption on human health are a growing concern.

A review from February found that ultra-processed foods may be as addictive as tobacco products. The researchers noted that the way these foods can rapidly deliver “feel-good” chemicals to the brain can make them potentially addictive. These addictive qualities can make people want to eat more of them.

While these health effects have been widely established, other studies are examining the lesser-known health impacts. These include poorer muscle and bone health, as well as fertility issues in females. Here’s what you need to know.

Higher amounts of intramuscular fat in the thigh may increase a person’s risk of knee osteoarthritis.

“Over the past decades, in parallel to the rising prevalences of obesity and knee osteoarthritis, the use of natural ingredients in our diets has steadily diminished and been replaced by industrially-processed, artificially flavored, colored and chemically altered food and beverages, which are classified as ultra-processed foods,” said lead study author Zehra Akkaya, MD, researcher and consultant for the Clinical & Translational Musculoskeletal Imaging group at University of California, San Francisco, in a press release.

The research team found that people who consumed more ultra-processed foods showed increased intramuscular fat storage, regardless of their caloric intake.

Along with other health benefits, reducing your intake of ultra-processed foods may help preserve muscle quality and alleviate the burden of knee osteoarthritis.

A study published in March found that people who eat more ultra-processed foods had a higher risk of hip fractures and lower bone mineral density.

The findings were pronounced in adults of all ages, including younger adults under 65, as well as those who were underweight.

“Our study cohort was followed for over 12 years, and we found that high intakes of ultra-processed foods were linked to a reduction in bone mineral density at several sites including key areas of the upper femur and the lumbar spine region,” said Lu Qi, MD, PhD, co-author of the study and HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and professor at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, in a press release.

The researchers analyzed data from 160,000 participants from the UK Biobank. Individuals typically ate around 8 servings of ultra-processed foods per day.

They found that for every 3.7 additional servings of ultra-processed foods, the risk of hip fracture increased by 10.5%.

“A 10.5% increase in hip fracture risk is meaningful, especially given how serious hip fractures can be for long-term mobility and independence, particularly in older adults,” Grace Derocha, a registered dietitian nutritionist and national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told Healthline in an earlier interview.

“That said, it is important to interpret this in context. This is an observational finding, meaning it shows an association rather than direct causation,” she continued.

Derocha added that this still reinforces the pattern seen across nutrition science: diets higher in ultra-processed foods tend to be linked to poorer overall health outcomes.

“From a public health standpoint, it’s a signal worth paying attention to — not necessarily a reason for alarm, but certainly a reason to emphasize improving overall diet quality,” she said.

A recent study published in Nutrition and Health found that females who ate fewer ultra-processed foods may be more likely to have higher fertility.

This link seemed to persist even after the researchers accounted for factors such as age, weight, and lifestyle.

The study analyzed data from 2,582 females who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). NHANES is a United States survey that combines interviews, 24-hour dietary recalls, and laboratory tests to capture details about diet, demographics, health status, and biomarkers.

The research team found clear differences in the diet of females who reported issues with infertility and those who didn’t. Infertility was defined as “the inability to conceive after 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse.”

The females who reported issues with infertility consumed more ultra-processed foods, making up about 31% their daily food intake. They also scored lower on adherence to a Mediterranean diet, a healthy eating pattern rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats.

“Most of what we hear about ultra-processed foods focuses on calories and obesity. But our findings suggest something potentially more complex — there seems to be another mechanism at play which may reflect pathways beyond calories or weight, including chemical exposures that have been hypothesized in prior literature,” said Anthea Christoforou, PhD, assistant professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, and senior author of the study, in a press release.

She added that even if a person’s nutrient intake appears fine, eating more ultra-processed foods means greater exposure to additives and chemicals beyond calories.

The Mediterranean diet showed a positive association with fertility. However, the benefit seemed to disappear after factoring in obesity. This means the diet’s effect may come from helping females maintain a healthy weight and metabolism.

The study’s findings may appear modest at the individual level. But in fully adjusted models, a higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with around 60% lower odds of fertility.

It is important to remember that the findings reflect an association rather than a causal relationship. However, an association of this size could have meaningful implications at the population level, particularly given the widespread consumption of ultra-processed foods.

“It suggests diet may be an important and measurable factor associated with women’s ability to conceive. It’s one thing to say ultra-processed foods contribute to weight gain or cardiometabolic disease. But if they’re also affecting hormone pathways, that’s a much bigger issue — and it’s something people aren’t as aware of,” said Christoforou in the press release.

There are some well-established risks associated with ultra-processed food consumption.

A 2025 review showed that ultra-processed foods are likely contributing to the obesity epidemic. The researchers reported that there is evidence that ultra-processed foods promote overeating, increasing the risk of obesity.

“This confirms what we know that ultra-processed foods are a detriment to the body,” said Mir Ali, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, in a previous interview with Healthline.

“These findings indicate that ultra-processed food consumption increases the risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes among young adults — and that limiting consumption of those foods can help prevent disease,” said Yiping Li, one of the study authors and a doctoral researcher in quantitative biomedical sciences at Dartmouth College, in a press release.

A study recently published in JACC Journals found that eating more ultra-processed foods can increase the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The study showed that those who consume more than 9 servings of ultra-processed foods per day have a 67% higher risk of major cardiac events than those who consume only 1 serving.

The researchers also found that this risk increases with each additional serving of ultra-processed foods. Each additional daily serving was associated with a more than 5% increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from one of these events.

“Ultra-processed foods are associated with an increased risk for heart disease, and while many of these products may seem like convenient on-the-go meal or snack options, our findings suggest they should be consumed in moderation,” Amier Haidar, MD, a cardiology fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the study’s lead author, said in a press release.

• GLP-1 medications may not always be effective for everyone.
• New research suggests that around 10% of people carry genetic variations that explain why.
• A new review suggests that certain combination approaches for obesity pharmacotherapy may be effective when GLP-1 drugs are not.
• Experts share recommendations for alternative weight loss strategies.

GLP-1 medications have exploded in popularity to manage type 2 diabetes and treat obesity.

The popularity of this class of medications, which includes Ozempic and Wegovy, is partly due to their widespread success for weight loss.

However, new research published in Genome Medicine shows that GLP-1 drugs may not be effective for everyone. The findings suggest that certain genetic factors may offer an explanation.

Around 10% of people carry genetic variations linked to “GLP-1 resistance.” These individuals appear to have higher-than-normal levels of the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). GLP-1 helps to regulate blood sugar. In contrast, the hormone appears less effective despite higher GLP-1 levels.

“This aligns with my clinical experience, where I frequently see a variable response to GLP-1 medications,” said Mir Ali, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA. Ali wasn’t involved in the study.

It’s unclear whether these genetic variations influence weight loss. GLP-1 drugs are generally prescribed at higher doses for weight loss than for diabetes management. The current study focused on how GLP-1s and these genetic variants influence blood sugar levels.

The study focused on two genetic variants that affect the enzyme peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM).

PAM plays a role in activating various hormones, including GLP-1.

Certain variants of PAM are more common in those with diabetes and may impair the release of insulin from the pancreas. The research team sought to determine whether these variants also disrupt GLP-1.

In addition to helping regulate blood sugar, GLP-1 also stimulates insulin release after meals, slows stomach emptying, and reduces appetite. GLP-1 drugs are made to mimic the effects of this hormone.

When the research team analyzed individuals with a PAM variant called p.S539W, they expected to find lower GLP-1 levels. However, they found elevated levels of GLP-1 in these individuals.

They also found that, even with higher GLP-1 levels, participants did not reduce their blood sugar levels more quickly. More GLP-1 was needed to achieve the same biological effect, indicating the participants were GLP-1-resistant.

“These findings support the idea that some patients may have partial biologic resistance to incretin-based therapies,” said Robert Glatter, MD, attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ Northwell. Glatter wasn’t involved in the study.

“Still, genetics explains only a portion of treatment heterogeneity, and routine pharmacogenomic screening is not yet ready for widespread clinical use,” he added.

More research is needed to verify the effects genetic variations can have on weight loss with GLP-1s. Still, the findings show promise for the future of obesity treatment.

“The broader lesson from recent research is that obesity treatment is entering a precision-medicine era,” Glatter said. “Instead of asking whether GLP-1 medications work, clinicians are beginning to ask for whom they work best — and what alternative pathways should be considered when responses are incomplete.”

We asked our experts to explain why GLP-1s don’t always work for weight loss and what alternatives are available. These interviews have been lightly edited for clarity.

Ali: Other factors can include underlying medical conditions or the patient not using the medications exactly as prescribed.

Glatter: In practice, many patients labeled “non-responders” to GLP-1 therapy are experiencing incomplete dosing, early discontinuation because of gastrointestinal side effects, insufficient treatment duration, or competing metabolic drivers such as severe insulin resistance, sleep disruption, sarcopenia, or medication-associated weight gain.

Addressing these contributors often restores treatment effectiveness.

Ali: If a patient meets the criteria, surgical weight loss remains the most effective long-term solution.

Glatter: Another important option that deserves earlier consideration—not later referral—is metabolic and bariatric surgery. Too often framed as a last resort after medication failure, surgery is better understood as a parallel therapeutic strategy within the same treatment continuum.

Procedures such as sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass produce average weight reductions of 25 to 35% and remain the most durable interventions available for severe obesity and obesity-related metabolic disease.

Importantly, surgery also alters incretin signaling itself, increasing GLP-1 activity and improving insulin sensitivity in ways that complement pharmacologic therapies.

Glatter: When response remains limited despite optimization, clinicians should consider moving beyond monotherapy.

Obesity is a network disease involving appetite regulation, reward signaling, gut-brain hormones, and energy expenditure pathways.

Combination pharmacotherapy — such as pairing incretin agents with phentermine, topiramate, or bupropion-naltrexone — targets complementary mechanisms and is increasingly supported by mechanistic and clinical evidence. Rather than representing treatment escalation alone, combination therapy reflects a broader shift toward multimodal metabolic care.

Ali: If surgery is not an option, we can try medications that stimulate more than one receptor (such as Zepbound) or a combination of different medications.

Ali: The majority of weight loss is driven by dietary modifications—primarily reducing carbohydrate and sugar intake while emphasizing proteins and vegetables. Adding both aerobic and resistance exercise further helps burn calories and mitigate muscle loss.

Glatter: Additional approaches to lose weight and manage cardiometabolic aspects of obesity include adherence to the Mediterranean, DASH, or MIND diet, along with adequate strength training, close monitoring of hydration status, and caloric intake to maintain and prevent muscle loss, particularly while taking a GLP-1.

Even if one chooses not to take a GLP-1 to manage weight loss, adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet, adequate hydration, and resistance training combined with aerobic exercise is recommended for weight loss and preservation of muscle mass.

• Eli Lilly has announced the availability of the new GLP-1 pill, Foundayo, through Amazon One Medical kiosks.
• The new Amazon offering features same-day prescriptions after speaking with a healthcare professional.
• Foundayo is available through Amazon for $149 per month for the lowest dose.
• Amazon One Medical kiosks have been stocking Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pills since January.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Foundayo, Eli Lilly’s new GLP-1 pill for weight loss.

Foundayo is available through the LillyDirect program and through Amazon Pharmacy, which fulfills prescriptions made through LillyDirect.

Now, Amazon One Medical kiosks will offer Foundayo, which allows individuals to access their prescriptions on the same day after speaking with a healthcare professional.

Amazon Pharmacy has offered home delivery of GLP-1 medications since 2021, but hasn’t been able to stock them in kiosks because they require refrigeration.

GLP-1 pills, however, do not require cold storage, allowing for “broader access and for them to be ​stored safely in a kiosk for dispensing,” Tanvi Patel, a vice president at Amazon Pharmacy, ​said in a press release.

Amazon Pharmacy kiosks have also been stocking the Wegovy pills since January.

Amazon announced its kiosks connected to One Medical locations in 2025.

There are currently five kiosks available in California. Amazon noted that the kiosks were developed to help reduce barriers to medication access and limit delivery fees.

One Medical is Amazon’s primary and urgent care business. People can purchase a one-year subscription to One Medical for $199 or $99 with Amazon Prime.

Those without a One Medical membership can still book an appointment and use the kiosks.

Currently, Amazon kiosks are only available in certain areas of California. However, Hannah McClellan Richards, a vice president at Amazon Pharmacy, said in a press release that “the company plans to expand the kiosk model outside of California in 2026 and is in talks with external health systems to introduce the machines through partnerships.”

Individuals can also access Amazon’s same-day delivery for Foundayo through Lilly’s prescribing partners, such as WW International (formerly Weight Watchers).

Some people may also have access to same-day delivery directly through Amazon.

Amazon hopes to expand same-day delivery to 4,500 locations by the end of this year.

WW International and GoodRx have also said they will separately begin offering Foundayo at self-pay prices, starting at $149 per month for the lowest dose.

The Foundayo pill is the second GLP-1 medication to be approved in pill form.

For people with commercial insurance, it may cost as little as $25 per month. Individuals with Medicare Part D may be able to get Foundayo for $50 a month, beginning in July.

“It is great to have new tools added to our toolbox to deal with obesity,” Zhaoping Li, MD, the chief of the Division of Clinical Nutrition at UCLA Health and director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition in Los Angeles, told Healthline in an earlier interview.

The starting dose for Foundayo is 0.8 milligrams (mg), increasing to 2.5 mg after 30 days, and then to 5.5 mg after a further 30 days. The dosage may be increased to 9 mg, 14.5 mg, or 17.2 mg after at least 30 days at each level, based on a person’s response and tolerance to each dose.

“Preferences vary by patient,” Mir Ali, MD, a bariatric surgeon and the medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, told Healthine in an earlier interview.

“Some prefer weekly injections while others prefer a [daily] pill. A primary advantage of the pill is that it does not require refrigeration, making it more convenient for travel,” he said.

If you think you may be eligible for Foundayo or another GLP-1 medication, ask your doctor for more guidance.

• A recent study has found that intermittent fasting may positively affect the hormones in people with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
• These effects on hormones may help lead to greater weight loss.
• Weight loss has also been associated with improved PCOS symptoms.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), PCOS affects 10–13% of females worldwide. This equals about 1 in 10 females of reproductive age having PCOS.

A recent study published in Nature Medicine found that intermittent fasting (IF) may positively affect hormones in people with PCOS, which, in turn, could contribute to weight loss.

A first-line treatment for PCOS is hormonal birth control. However, this medication can lead to negative side effects on mood, libido, and metabolism. It can also increase the risk of stroke in some people.

“We’re looking for other ways of lowering testosterone levels in these women,” Krista Varady, PhD, professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the University of Illinois Chicago, and an author of the study, said in a press release.

“One way is through weight loss. If someone loses around 5% of their body weight, they can actually help lower testosterone levels and sidestep any kind of drug intervention,” she continued.

Intermittent fasting, or time-restricted eating (TRE), has become a popular weight loss strategy. This method utilizes cycles of voluntary fasting followed by eating periods. It focuses more on when to eat than on what to eat.

“Intermittent fasting may improve adherence for some individuals compared to calorie or macro tracking, which can support weight loss and metabolic improvements. However, dietary quality remains foundational,” said Kristin Kirkpatrick, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic Department of Wellness & Preventive Medicine and President of KAK Consulting, who was not involved in the study.

The study analyzed 76 participants who were randomly assigned to one of three groups for 6 months:

• 6-hour TRE regimen with all meals eaten between 1:00–7:00 pm, with no calorie tracking
• calorie restriction, with a 25% daily energy restriction
• control group with no dietary restrictions

The primary factor the researchers were checking was the percentage change in body weight over 6 months.

Both the TRE group and the calorie-restriction group achieved significant weight loss by the end of 6 months.

Participants in the TRE group also showed changes in their testosterone and A1C levels. A1C levels are a risk marker for diabetes.

“Daily intermittent fasting could be an alternative to calorie counting for individuals with PCOS who are looking to lose weight. Both diets can also help with insulin resistance, which many people with PCOS have and which can put individuals at risk for diabetes,” Varady told Healthline.

“Intermittent fasting may also help lower testosterone levels in PCOS, which is important because testosterone is the culprit behind many PCOS symptoms,” she continued.

Varady added that intermittent fasting may be easier for many people to follow than calorie restriction. Many participants in the TRE group stated they would continue the diet.

Kirkpatrick said it’s important to establish a solid dietary foundation before focusing on fasting hours.

“From there, choose an eating window that fits your lifestyle and feels sustainable,” she said.

Varady suggested trying a 6 to 8-hour eating window that ends at least 1 hour before you go to bed. She recommended keeping a consistent eating window each day, as this will help your body to adjust to the new eating times more easily.

Of course, as with many diet and weight loss protocols, consistency is key. Limiting food intake to your eating window each day will yield the best results.

“While you don’t necessarily need to worry about diet quality while doing intermittent fasting — weight loss can happen regardless — it may benefit those with PCOS to also make dietary changes, including increasing non-starchy vegetables, lowering starchy carbs, and getting adequate protein,” said Varady.

• Heather Kaiser was diagnosed with early onset colon cancer at 42. She shares the story of her diagnosis, treatment, and living a full life with cancer.
• As an overall healthy person, she never expected that her life would be turned upside down with a cancer diagnosis.
• As a mother of two young boys, Kaiser’s greatest concern was how she could continue to show up for them amid her battle against colon cancer.

Heather Kaiser is a mom of two boys and an attorney living a full and busy life. When she went in to see her doctor in 2025 at age 42 about gastrointestinal issues, she had no idea she would be facing an indefinite medical journey.

The doctor sent her home, telling her that her symptoms were most likely related to hormones or her diet. She began to feel better and joked to her friends that there was no way she could have cancer.

However, her symptoms soon returned despite eating a healthy diet. Within a month of symptom recurrence, Kaiser found herself in the emergency room. She was once again sent home, this time being told that it was “women’s issues.”

At a follow-up with her OB-GYN, she said her symptoms were finally being taken seriously, and she received a referral to a gastroenterologist.

However, when she came out of a colonoscopy, the doctor was visibly upset. He told her, “I cannot believe I have to tell you this. I found a mass the size of a fist.” He continued to tell her that it would have to be surgically removed and that it was most likely cancer.

“I held out hope for a good week, as we waited for pathology,” Kaiser said. “But when I got it back, I was like, ‘OK, so … I have cancer.’”

She didn’t tell anyone, even her husband, for at least a day. She needed the time to process the news herself before she told others.

“We all believed that we had caught it early, and I was just gonna be able to do surgery,” Kaiser said. “It just hasn’t been my story.”

It was initially thought that Kaiser had a traditional form of colon cancer, which is generally slow-growing.

After talking with surgeons, she scheduled her surgery for June 2025, six months after her initial visit to the ER.

“[It] was kind of far out, but there was life going on. I have two small boys, who were 10 and 5 at the time. I wanted to wait until they were done with school,” she said.

While the surgery went well overall, Kaiser’s surgeon was fairly certain they didn’t achieve clean margins. Clean margins indicate that no cancer cells were present at the outer edges of the tissue removed during surgery.

Kaiser was then referred to an oncologist, who sent the tumor out for genetic testing.

“I remember sitting in the hospital, and I was so afraid of chemo,” she said. “I was afraid of how I was gonna feel, how I was gonna look, and mostly, how I was gonna be able to show up as a mom.”

Typically, colon cancer spreads to the lungs and liver. However, in her case, it spread to the lymph nodes surrounding the lungs and the liver.

Kasier’s health team noted how unusual this was and wanted to wait for her biomarker results before making a treatment plan.

When the biomarker testing results came back, Kaiser learned that she had a unique type of colon cancer called BRAF, a mutation only present in around 10% of metastatic colorectal cancers.

Kaiser had a BRAF mutation known as V600E, which appears in approximately 96% of BRAF colorectal cancer.

This meant that there would be a completely different treatment for her cancer.

“The prognosis was 13 months,” she said. However, there were clinical trials going on for that specific V600E mutation at the time.

In August 2025, she became part of the protocol designed by the BREAKWATER clinical trial. She was the first person in Minnesota to participate in this protocol outside the trial.

“I called myself Patient Zero, even though I’m sure I was never [actually] called that!” Kaiser joked. “Mayo Clinic was following me, Minnesota Oncology was following me, I’m being followed by the [University of Minnesota], because I’m just so new.”

She began a regimen of four different drugs — three were administered by IV, and one was an oral medication called Braftovi.

Prior to Braftovi, Kaiser’s specific colon cancer mutation was chemo-resistant, which is why her outlook was so grim.

However, Braftovi not only targets the cells that allow cancer to reproduce, but also enhances the effects of other drugs.

“I was really cold sensitive. I couldn’t have anything cold. I couldn’t touch anything cold. It was really rough,” Kaiser said.

She tried many medications to help with symptoms like nausea, but nothing worked. She felt like she would just have to live with the nausea and spend her life eating toast and applesauce all the time.

“I take an oral cannabis pill. And that finally helped with the nausea. I take it before bed, and I take a gummy in the morning to help with the nausea and fatigue during the day.”

Kaiser went in for her first CT following treatment in October 2025. She had done eight rounds of treatment at that time.

“The CT scan came back, ‘complete response to treatment, no evidence of disease,’ which was a shock. It was a shock to my doctors. They didn’t even see those kinds of fast results in the trial.”

Kaiser’s doctors began to examine what might have contributed to her remarkable response to the treatment.

They said her age and overall health were possibilities. She had always exercised regularly and had continued to do so through treatment.

“My oncologist also thought that my positive attitude contributed to my quick response,” she said.

Despite her CT results, Kaiser has had to continue treatment. This is because the V600E mutation isn’t curable and doesn’t go into remission.

“They’ve never had anyone live for five years yet,” Kaiser said. “But they just don’t have people who are living and not treating.”

Now, at 43, Kaiser said that despite her stage 4 cancer diagnosis, she leads a full and busy life.

The most challenging part, she said, is navigating motherhood, work, and family life without the energy and stamina she once had.

Still, Kaiser’s supportive community of family, friends, and neighbors has made a big difference in her recovery and ongoing treatment. Knowing she has help when she needs it, and even when she doesn’t know she needs it, has allowed her to continue working full-time and be the best mom to her boys she can be.

Kaiser said the best advice she can give to people who are living with cancer, especially those like her who face indefinite treatment, is the way she has lived since she began treatment.

“The best thing to do for me was to plan my life, and then just fit cancer in there, rather than [allowing] cancer to run my life,” she said.

Kaiser added that she tries to run her life first and then make space for the cancer.

“I have this really busy, awesome, full life, and I have a chronic disease I also have to treat,” she said.

Kaiser currently works with the legal team of RVO Health, the parent company of Healthline.

• A recent review suggests that social media influencers touting prescription drugs are often spreading misinformation.
• The research shows that audiences have difficulty recognizing promotional intent when the marketing is embedded in personal narratives.
• The findings highlight a need for updated regulatory guidance and stronger, more standardized disclosure requirements.

The rise of social media influencers has changed how many people get information about many products and services.

A recent review published in JAMA Network Open examined how social media influencers affect how users obtain information and approach prescription medications.

The researchers found that the promotion of prescription medications by social media influencers is often accompanied by misleading information. It was shown that this type of promotion can be connected to outdated regulatory oversight.

“Existing rules and disclosure requirements have not kept pace with social media,” Heiss told Healthline.

The review also found that audiences may have difficulty recognizing promotional intent when it’s embedded in personal narratives.

“Personal stories can also make promotional content feel trustworthy and authentic, even when it is incomplete or misleading,” Heiss said. “As a result, followers may trust influencers because they emotionally connect with their stories and may not recognize that the content is advertising.”

Prescription drug companies are increasingly partnering with social media influencers, or people who attract a large number of followers and may influence them by sharing content. These influencers are often patients, and may be referred to as “patient influencers.”

Patient influencers may post personal stories and experiences, which makes them highly persuasive.

These types of collaborations can spread misleading information and potentially lead to the misuse of medications and harmful interactions.

The researchers note that this is especially problematic when promotions are made by healthcare professionals.

“Social media influencers promoting prescription medication are blurring the lines between sound clinical advice and trend following,” said Kanwar Kelley, MD, who is triple board certified in otolaryngology, head and neck surgery (ENT), obesity medicine, and lifestyle medicine, and co-founder and CEO of Side Health in Orinda, CA. Kelley wasn’t involved in the study.

“In today’s social media, that content is nearly indistinguishable from professional advice and can skirt the skepticism that people apply to traditional prescription marketing,” Kelley told Healthline.

The promotion of prescription drugs by influencers also raises an important public health concern, amplifying the demand for pharmaceuticals with the potential to encourage inappropriate use or prescribing.

“In some cases, especially when influencers are patients themselves, they can provide valuable support and help people feel less alone,” said Heiss.

“However, our review suggests that these ‘parasocial’ relationships can also make people less likely to recognize when they are being marketed to and more likely to see the advice as credible. This becomes a problem when promotional content is not clearly disclosed or when personal experience is mistaken for medical evidence,” he continued.

The review analyzed data from 12 peer-reviewed journal articles.

These articles addressed topics such as contraceptive advertising, performance-enhancing drugs, and broader pharmaceutical promotion.

All 12 articles showed the same recurring themes of:

• ineffective regulatory oversight and inconsistent disclosure practices
• misinformation that stems from influencers’ limited expertise in the context of audiences’ low health literacy
• parasocial narratives that blur the distinctions between personal testimony and paid promotion

The researchers note that the evidence base is small and fragmented. However, they add that the findings highlight an urgent need for updates to regulatory guidance, for enforceable and standardized disclosure requirements, for targeted digital literacy initiatives, and for stronger platform accountability.

Nissa Keyashian, MD, board certified psychiatrist and author of “Practicing Stillness,” who wasn’t involved in the research, said that she would recommend people consider what, if any, clinical education and training a social media influencer has.

“Regardless of the influencer’s medical background, people should also strongly consider whether the person has any conflicts of interest related to corporate sponsorship or partnership, and if they are disclosing these conflicts clearly and openly,” she told Healthline.

Heiss said that social media can be a useful place to hear about other people’s experiences. However, it should not be treated as a substitute for medical advice.

“People should be cautious whenever an influencer promotes a prescription drug, regardless of whether the sponsorship is disclosed,” he said.

“People should be especially careful when influencers only emphasize benefits, downplay risks, or embed drug recommendations in emotional personal stories. Before making decisions based on advice seen online, people should discuss it with a doctor or pharmacist,” Heiss continued.

Kelley added that it is important to remember “anecdotal evidence, while important, is not clinical evidence.”

“Social media has effectively outpaced the frameworks we use to ensure pharmaceutical advertising is transparent. Disclosure of conflicts of interest and mandatory discussion of risks, benefits, and alternatives are important aspects of oversight that should be addressed,” said Kelley.

“We need to create space for patients to bring in what they’ve seen online and have open, nonjudgmental conversations about it. Ultimately, strengthening dialogue between patients and physicians and refining frameworks for digital advertising are key steps to ensuring patient safety and trust in the evolving media landscape,” he said.

• Researchers say some medications prescribed for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may increase a person’s risk of early death.
• However, experts say that risk is relatively small and the benefits of using medication to ease the discomfort of IBS outweighs these concerns.
• They add that people with IBS can also manage symptoms by adhering to a diet that minimizes trigger foods, as well as exercising daily and managing stress.

Some medications commonly prescribed to treat symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may increase the long-term risk of early death, a new study reports.

Scientists from Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University in Los Angeles say that long-term use of two of the medications — loperamide and diphenoxylate — is associated with approximately double the risk of death.

They added that long-term use of antidepressants to treat IBS symptoms was associated with a 35% higher risk of death.

However, the researchers noted that although the overall increase in risk is statistically significant, the risk to any individual is small.

“IBS patients should not panic, but they do need to understand and weigh the small but meaningful risks when considering long-term treatments,” said Ali Rezaie, MD, the medical director of the GI Motility Program at Cedars-Sinai and senior author of the study, in a statement.

“Many patients are diagnosed with IBS at a young age and may remain on medications for years,” Rezaie said. “However, most clinical trials of these medications last less than a year, so we know very little about their long-term safety. This study begins to address that gap.”

Rudolph Bedford, MD, a gastroenterologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, said that the research only establishes an association between IBS medications and risk of death and not a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Bedford wasn’t involved in the study.

“The risk to any one person is small, so there is no reason to panic,” he told Healthline.

Bedford added that the symptoms of IBS can be painful and even debilitating, so in many cases, the medications do far more good than harm. “It’s about quality of life at the end of the day,” he said. “The benefits definitely outweigh the risks for many patients.”

The Cedars-Sinai researchers reached their conclusions after examining two decades of health records from nearly 670,000 adults in the United States.

They said their research is the largest real-world study to examine the long-term safety of IBS treatments.

Researchers looked at study participants who were taking IBS medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as antidepressants, antispasmodics, and opioid-based antidiarrheal drugs such as loperamide and diphenoxylate.

They acknowledged their study did not establish that these medications directly cause death. Instead, they said the observed associations may reflect higher rates of adverse outcomes, such as cardiovascular events, falls, and stroke.

They added that some medications, including antispasmodics and treatments for constipation, were not found to have an association with an increased risk of all-cause mortality.

Ketan Thanki, MD, a colorectal surgeon specializing in benign and malignant disease of the colon, rectum, and anus at the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Medical Center, said further research is needed before any specific conclusions can be drawn. Thanki wasn’t involved in the study.

“For now, we should still approach these findings with caution,” he told Healthline. “As the authors point out, correlation does not imply causation, and further examination of the data and additional studies are needed to determine whether other factors are also involved.”

Nonetheless, Thanki said people with IBS should be aware of these findings.

“People who take IBS medications should certainly not panic,” he said. “However, they should ask their physicians if they have other risk factors, which may also correlate to negative outcomes when taking the particular drugs they are on.”

Bedford agreed with this assessment. “Patients and medical professionals need to be educated and be cognizant of the potential long-term effects. They shouldn’t have a cavalier attitude about it,” he said.

It’s estimated that 25–45 million people in the United States have IBS.

Of those, about 31% report having mild IBS symptoms, while 48% say they have moderate symptoms, and 20% state they have severe symptoms that can affect daily life.

The cause of IBS isn’t known, but it is associated with a number of factors. These include:

Common symptoms of IBS include:

There are a number of treatments for IBS symptoms. They include:

Acupuncture has been tested as a potential treatment for IBS, but the results so far have been mixed.

IBS was once thought to be a condition that mostly affected younger people, but medical experts now say it can also affect older adults.

Experts say there are pharmaceuticals as well as lifestyle habits that can help manage IBS symptoms.

Bedford said medications can help in several ways. Among them:

• pain reduction
• lessening of cramps
• decreasing diarrhea
• loosening constipation

“Medications are all about treating symptoms,” he said.

Bedford said there are also several ways a person can improve symptoms through lifestyle changes. They include:

Thanki said diet is one of the most important aspects of any treatment routine.

“Start with dietary modification — low-FODMAP trial with dietitian guidance, add fiber, reduce fats, eat smaller portions, limit caffeine and alcohol, and avoid personal trigger foods. This is one of the most effective ways to manage IBS,” he said.

“Add regular exercise and address sleep,” Thanki continued. “Assess for psychological comorbidities and consider gut-directed therapy such as hypnotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and stress management. Lastly, an underutilized tool is addressing pelvic floor dysfunction with physical therapy and biofeedback.“

• A common diabetes drug may mimic one key effect of exercise in those with prostate cancer.
• Researchers found metformin boosts an “exercise molecule” linked to appetite and weight control, even in those unable to stay active.
• While not a substitute for exercise, the drug could help individuals manage treatment-related weight gain and metabolic health.

Regular exercise is associated with a wide range of health benefits, including a reduced risk of cancer.

Physical activity is also important during the treatment of certain cancers, such as prostate cancer, where treatment itself may lead to weight gain or other metabolic dysfunction.

Scientists previously identified an exercise-induced molecule — known as N-lactoyl-phenylalanine (Lac-Phe), a compound released during physical activity — associated with weight loss and decreased appetite, and it appears to be stimulated by metformin, a diabetes drug.

In an exploratory study, researchers found that prostate cancer patients treated with metformin had Lac-Phe levels comparable to those seen after strenuous exercise. The findings were published on April 6 in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Researchers initially identified Lac-Phe, a molecule produced during exercise, in healthy people and athletes, including ultramarathon runners, and later found elevated levels in people with diabetes treated with metformin.

“Altered metabolism is one of the hallmarks of cancer. So, what would happen with cancer patients treated with metformin?” said first study author Marijo Bilusic, MD, PhD, a genitourinary medical oncologist at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“In our study, we were very surprised to see that the level of Lac-Phe in our prostate cancer patients was exactly the same as the level of ultramarathoners. This has never been reported before,” he told Healthline.

While metformin did not predict improved treatment response, such as PSA levels or tumor growth, it was associated with improved weight management, including among patients prescribed anti-androgen therapy, which is linked with weight gain.

S. Adam Ramin, MD, board certified urologist, urologic oncologist, and medical director of Urology Cancer Specialists in Los Angeles, CA, who wasn’t involved in the research, called it “an intriguing preliminary study,” but cautioned that larger studies would be necessary to validate the findings.

Bilusic and his team analyzed blood samples from men with prostate cancer enrolled in a clinical trial called BIMET-1, along with an additional group of individuals treated at a cancer center.

In the trial, 12 patients with overweight or obesity (but not diabetes) were studied in detail out of 29 originally enrolled in the cohort. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either standard care alone or metformin at a dose of 1,000 mg twice daily, followed by combination treatment with the hormone therapy drug bicalutamide.

To confirm their findings, the researchers also studied an additional 25 individuals with prostate cancer across a range of disease stages, including advanced cancer. Of these, seven were taking metformin. Across both groups, the team measured Lac-Phe levels and compared them before and after treatment.

The researchers found that metformin consistently increased levels of Lac-Phe in prostate cancer, regardless of cancer stage, body weight, or other treatments. In the clinical trial group, Lac-Phe levels rose significantly after metformin treatment. In the broader participant group, those taking metformin clearly had higher levels than those who were not. The increases reached ranges similar to those seen after intense exercise.

Importantly, people taking metformin also showed better weight control during hormone therapy, which is known to cause weight gain. In the trial, nearly all individuals on metformin avoided weight gain over several months of treatment, while those not taking it were more likely to gain weight. Although not conclusive, researchers believe this may be linked to levels of Lac-Phe in the body, which are associated with reduced appetite and food intake.

While Lac-Phe is thought to act on the brain to suppress appetite, how it does so remains unclear. And higher Lac-Phe levels did not predict whether a person’s cancer responded to treatment. The study builds on the findings of the STAMPEDE trial, a major prospective trial published in 2025 that found that metformin improved weight management and lowered glucose levels in patients with prostate cancer, but showed no evidence of improved survival.

“We know that men on hormone therapy, such as oral anti-androgen therapy, tend to gain weight, develop obesity, and metabolic syndrome. Metformin may prove to be effective in preventing these complications,” said Ramin.

But, he added, “At this point, it is premature to recommend metformin to patients with prostate cancer on hormone therapy.”

The importance of exercise after a prostate cancer diagnosis cannot be overstated.

Research suggests that staying physically active is associated with a roughly one-third reduction in cancer-related mortality and nearly a one-half reduction in all-cause mortality.

It is too early to predict the role metformin and, by extension, Lac-Phe might play in supporting prostate cancer treatment, but the findings are intriguing.

Because people with prostate cancer tend to be older, they may be less likely to engage in regular physical activity. A pharmacological intervention that could help fill that gap would represent a meaningful addition to current treatment options.

However, Bilusic cautioned that metformin is not an “exercise pill.”

Exercise affects numerous systems in the body, including muscles, the cardiovascular system, neurotransmitters, and bones.

Metformin doesn’t act on the body in the same way, nor does it have the same spectrum of effects. But in one specific pathway, increasing Lac-Phe, it appears to be meaningful.

“There are many other aspects of the exercise that Metformin is probably not replacing,” Bilusic said. “But for some patients, they can’t exercise because they are in pain, [or] cancer therapy is making them fatigued. They are gaining weight. So, how can we reverse that? Taking a pill a day, that’s easier than running for a half hour in the gym.”