The Handoff: Your Week in Endocrinology News – 6/23/17

The Handoff is a weekly roundup of endocrinology and general medicine news covering various developments in subspecialties, as well as pharmaceutical industry, association, and society news.

–A recent advisory from the American Heart Association cautions against the ingestion of coconut oil — high in LDL-cholesterol-elevating saturated fats — according to an article published on American Heart Association News.

–Ahead of the impending Senate vote on the American Health Care Act, Vox shares the story of “the littlest lobbyist,” 6-year-old Timmy Morrison, who accrued over $2 million in medical bills during the first 6 months of his life.

–A study out of Ohio State University examined the relationship between BMI in female athletes and the time it takes for stress fractures to heal — and found some bad news for the fittest among us. Women with the lowest BMIs were more likely to experience extended healing times when diagnosed with grade V (nonunion) stress fractures compared to their higher-BMI teammates.

–In a follow up to a 2008 mouse study, researchers at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine conducted a small study examining the efficacy of Gleevec® (imatinib mesylate, Novartis) — a once-daily leukemia drug — in slowing the progression of type 1 diabetes.

–Recent warning letters from the FDA to Flex Fitness, AndroPharm, and Hardcore Formulations call out the companies for marketing unapproved drugs — found to include steroids and steroid-like substances — as dietary supplements.

–Although there can be serious physical consequences to running in extreme heat, the summer weather doesn’t have to mess with your workout schedule.

–More  benefits to breastfeeding: a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association and reported on by American Heart Association News found that women who breastfeed are at a 10% lower risk of developing either heart disease or stroke.