New Guidelines for Healthcare Professionals on Muscle-Building Supplement Use

New Guidelines for Healthcare Professionals on Muscle-Building Supplement Use

In an effort to mitigate the risks associated with muscle-building dietary supplement use among adolescents and young adults, a comprehensive set of guidelines has been introduced to assist healthcare professionals. These guidelines, published in the 

Journal of Adolescent Health: focus on assessment and harm reduction strategies to better support young individuals engaged in the use of these supplements.

Muscle-building dietary supplements, such as whey protein and creatine monohydrate, are commonly used by adolescents and young adults to enhance muscle mass, strength, and athletic performance. Despite their popularity, there has been a significant gap in guidance for health and mental health care professionals on how to assess and manage potential risks associated with their use. The new guidance aims to bridge this gap by providing detailed recommendations on assessment, nutritional evaluation, behavioural assessment, physical and mental health monitoring, harm reduction, and steroid use assessment.

"Given the risks involved, we highly recommend that all health and mental health care professionals ask their adolescent and young adult clients about muscle-building supplement use. This includes assessing the type, frequency, dose, and method of supplement use, as well as understanding the client's motivations and knowledge about the supplements," said Kyle T. Ganson, PhD, MSW, assistant professor and lead author of the guidance.

The authors advocate for comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments when muscle-building supplement use is reported by adolescent and young adult clients. "It is critical to assess for other behaviors aimed at altering appearance, weight, shape, strength, and performance, as well as body image issues and the presence of any eating disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, or muscle dysmorphia. Identifying adverse effects on physical, psychological, and social health, and ongoing monitoring, should be part of routine practice.

A harm reduction approach is emphasized throughout the guidelines. "This approach includes open communication, understanding motivations, and psychoeducation. The goal is to provide strategies to reduce negative effects associated with the use of muscle-building supplements while acknowledging that abstinence may not be a realistic goal for all clients."

Lastly, the guidelines addressed the need to assess for potential or current use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), given the connection between muscle-building supplement use and future AAS use. Healthcare professionals are encouraged to provide education on the potential harms of AAS and further strategies to reduce risks.

Research Identifies Cause of Lupus and Possible Reversal Technique

Northwestern Medicine and Brigham and Women's Hospital scientists have discovered a molecular defect that promotes the pathologic immune response in systemic lupus erythematosus (known as lupus) and show that reversing this defect may potentially reverse the disease. The study was published in the journal *Nature*.

Lupus affects more than 5 million people worldwide. Until now, the causes of this disease were unclear. Lupus can lead to life-threatening damage to multiple organs, including the kidneys, brain, and heart. Existing treatments often fail to control the disease effectively and have unintended side effects, such as reducing the immune system's ability to fight infections.

In the study, scientists discovered a new pathway that causes lupus. They found changes in multiple molecules in the blood of lupus patients. These changes lead to a lack of activation in a pathway controlled by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), which usually helps cells respond to environmental pollutants, bacteria, or metabolites. When AHR is not properly activated, it results in too many immune cells called T peripheral helper cells, which promote the production of harmful autoantibodies that cause the disease

To explore potential treatments, the researchers added AHR-activating molecules back into blood samples from lupus patients. This reprogrammed the harmful immune cells into Th22 cells, which may help heal the damage caused by lupus

"Up until this point, all therapy for lupus is a blunt instrument. It's broad immunosuppression. By identifying a cause for this disease, we have found a potential cure that will not have the side effects of current therapies. We've identified a fundamental imbalance in the immune responses that patients with lupus make, and we've defined specific mediators that can correct this imbalance to dampen the pathologic autoimmune response. We found that if we either activate the AHR pathway with small molecule activators or limit the pathologically excessive interferon in the blood, we can reduce the number of these disease-causing cells. If these effects are durable, this may be a potential cure," said the authors.

Drug That Lowers Blood Lipids Shows Promise in Treating Common Liver Disease

The University of Barcelona has led a study suggesting that 'Pemafibrate', a drug long marketed for improving blood lipid levels in patients with hyperlipidaemia, could be used to treat liver disease associated with metabolic disorders. This study was published in the journal *Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is a complex condition that can lead to severe liver issues like cirrhosis, liver cancer, or liver failure. This disease often shows no clear symptoms and can progress for many years unnoticed.

Pemafibrate works by activating a receptor called PPAR-a, which boosts the liver's ability to oxidize fatty acids. This process is essential for breaking down triglycerides and cholesterol, which can build up in the liver and cause disease. The findings highlighted the importance of considering sex differences in chronic diseases, potentially reducing gender bias in research

"To our knowledge, this drug has not been used in the context of pharmacological repositioning, apart from a few exploratory clinical studies on its effects in liver pathology. Now we want to study its efficacy and safety in experimental models of more advanced liver disease, with the presence of inflammation and fibrosis in metabolic associated steatohepatitis (MASH)," said Professor Juan Carlos Laguna, from the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.

Overall, Pemafibrate shows promise as a new treatment for liver disease.