Have you ever felt a sudden, sharp pain when you stretch? It can be really uncomfortable, whether you're stretching in the morning, during the day, or at night. Muscle cramps are a common occurrence, not just for athletes, but also for others. Sometimes it can be just as simple as stretching your legs or arms, that causes you to have sudden and sharp pain.

So why do these things happen? And how does one prevent this discomfort from taking place? A doctor named Doctor Sood, a Board-Certified MD, practicing Germantown, MD office, who shares health tips on TikTok, explained why this happens. That painful feeling is actually a muscle spasm.

Common Reasons for Muscle Cramps

These involuntary muscle tightening can be quite intense. While they often go away on their own, understanding why they happen can help you prevent them. Doctor Sood points out several common reasons for these muscle spasms.

• Not drinking enough water (dehydration)
• Using your muscles too much
• Tired muscles
• Poor blood flow
• Pinched nerves
• Lack of important minerals like magnesium, calcium, or potassium

When you don't have enough of these minerals, your muscles can't hold onto fluids properly, which makes you more likely to get cramps.

When to Be Concerned About Cramps

While muscle cramps are often harmless and caused by simple things like dehydration or tired muscles, it's really important to pay attention if they become frequent, unusually painful, or seem out of the ordinary for you. In some less common situations, persistent muscle spasms can actually be a clue that your body is experiencing a more serious underlying health problem.

Therefore, if you notice that you're getting cramps very often, or if they're particularly severe, accompanied by other unusual symptoms, or simply don't resolve with typical remedies like stretching and hydration, it's a very good idea to consult with your doctor.

Treating and Preventing Muscle Cramps

To really get rid of cramps, the best thing is to find out why they're happening. This might mean a visit to your doctor to understand the main reason. If you're in pain, you could try a pain reliever like ibuprofen, but always talk to your doctor first before taking any medicine.

Drink plenty of fluids

Make sure to drink lots of water and sports drinks all day long. These help your body get back the fluids and important minerals, like electrolytes, that your muscles need to work properly. Staying hydrated is key to avoiding cramps.

Use heat

Putting heat on the cramped area can really help. A hot shower, a warm bath, or a heating pad can relax tight muscles, get your blood flowing better, and ease the discomfort. This makes your muscles less likely to cramp when you stretch.

Stretch softly

If you feel a cramp, keep stretching gently and slowly. This gentle movement can help the muscle spasm go away by slowly making the muscle longer. Doing regular, gentle stretches also makes your muscles more flexible and improves blood flow, which helps stop future cramps during your day.

A new study suggests that people who undergo weight-loss surgery experience better mental health, but not because of the pounds they shed. Instead, the major factor appears to be a significant drop in the societal judgment and bias (stigma) they face due to their weight. This finding was recently published in the journal Health Psychology.

How Being Judged Affects Our Mental And Physical Health

Being judged and treated unfairly because of one's weight actually causes many of the physical and mental health problems that people with obesity face. The study found that when people felt less judged after their surgery, they started to have healthier eating habits and felt better mentally. But if they kept feeling judged even after surgery, they had a higher chance of feeling sad, worried, or developing eating problems.

For the study, researchers looked at the mental well-being and habits of nearly 150 people before their weight-loss surgery and then again 18 to 36 months later. What they found was that, generally, people felt much less shame, blame, and guilt about their body size in the years after surgery.

The amount that this feeling of being judged went down was very impressive. It was a bigger change than what doctors usually consider meaningful for someone's life and how they feel. This big drop in feeling judged was directly connected to people feeling less worried, less sad, and having fewer eating issues like overeating.

Why Feeling Accepted Matters More Than Just Losing Weight

The study also showed that losing weight itself wasn't strongly linked to feeling better mentally. This suggests that how other people treat individuals with a lot of weight, rather than just the extra weight itself, has a huge impact on their mental and physical health.

About 40% of the people in the study still faced problems with weight-related judgment, and these ongoing issues made them more likely to have mental health concerns. The researchers believe that while losing weight helps in many ways, this change in how society treats people might be even more powerful for their mental health and overall quality of life over time.

Weight-Loss Surgery and Mental Health

Published in the StatPearls medical journal, a 2024 article explained that while weight-loss surgery, also called bariatric surgery is a common as a way to treat obesity, it also has many complications one must consider. It's also important to understand that it can bring some mental health challenges. Patients might feel unhappy if they don't lose as much weight as they hoped, which can make any emotional difficulties worse.

After weight-loss surgery, some common mental health problems that can arise include depression, anxiety, and worsening of existing eating disorders. Patients might also develop new eating habits or switch addictions (for example, from food to alcohol or gambling). In rare cases, more severe issues like psychotic disorders or, very notably, an increased risk of suicide, can occur.

More Studies Are Needed

It's worth noting that all the people in this study were treated at one specific hospital. The researchers think it's important to do more studies with people from different areas to be sure these findings are true for everyone.

New figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that bloodstream infections caused by yeast continue to be a growing concern. In 2024, these infections increased by 4% compared to 2023, rising from 2,170 to 2,247 cases. This translates to an infection rate of 3.9 per 100,000 people across England, up from 3.8 the previous year.

How Yeast Enters the Bloodstream

Bloodstream infections caused by yeast often occur in hospital settings. These infections are typically linked to yeasts naturally present on our skin or in the gut. When patients receive prolonged courses of broad-spectrum antibiotics, their normal bacterial flora is suppressed, allowing yeasts to grow unchecked. In some cases, these yeasts can cross the gut wall and enter the bloodstream. Individuals with weakened immune systems—such as cancer patients or those using invasive medical devices—are particularly vulnerable.

Most Common Yeast Species Behind Infections

The leading cause of yeast bloodstream infections remains Candida albicans, followed by Nakaseomyces glabratus (formerly Candida glabrata) and Candida parapsilosis. Interestingly, N. glabratus infections were most common among the elderly, while C. albicans and C. parapsilosis infections were more frequent in children.

Infection Rates Higher in Deprived Areas

The UKHSA report highlights a concerning disparity in infection rates across socioeconomic groups. In 2024, people living in the most deprived parts of the country experienced higher rates of bloodstream yeast infections (5.0 per 100,000) compared to those in the least deprived areas (3.2 per 100,000). UKHSA is currently working with healthcare partners to better understand these differences.

The Rise of Drug-Resistant Candidozyma auris

While resistance to antifungal drugs overall has remained stable, the rise of Candidozyma auris (previously Candida auris) is raising alarm. This drug-resistant fungus has emerged as a significant global health threat. Between 2013 and 2024, England recorded 637 cases of C. auris, with 178 of them reported in 2024 alone. Most notably, cases surged following the end of COVID-related travel restrictions.

To support healthcare providers, UKHSA has issued updated guidance for managing C. auris outbreaks. The fungus is now a notifiable disease, meaning all confirmed cases must be reported to public health authorities.

Ongoing Surveillance and the Need for Vigilance

Professor Andy Borman, Head of the Mycology Reference Laboratory at UKHSA, emphasized the growing impact of serious fungal infections on public health. He noted that increasing numbers of immunocompromised patients and complex medical treatments may be contributing to the rise.

Although antifungal drugs remain effective for now, that could change if resistance grows. “The rise of drug-resistant C. auris in hospitals means we must remain vigilant,” said Borman, stressing the importance of infection control and improved surveillance.

Unlike bacterial infections, fungal infections did not decline during the pandemic, likely due to overwhelmed hospital systems and complications from severe COVID-19. As infection rates continue to climb, rapid diagnostics and better tools for managing these infections remain a public health priority.

It began with a supplement and a promise, somewhere between TikTok wellness influencers, Bryan Johnson's age-hacking rituals, and shelf after shelf of taurine-charged energy drinks at your corner store, a straightforward question started generating buzz in the longevity sphere: Might taurine be the key to remaining young?

For biohackers, taurine became a superstar. Praised for its ability to enhance energy, enhance exercise performance, and even counteract age-related decline, this naturally occurring amino acid—found in meats, seafood, and yes, many energy drinks—was being touted as a possible "youth molecule." It was riding high on the popularity charts after a study in 2023 suggested that taurine supplementation could slow aging in animals. The implication? Maybe we're one step closer to unlocking the secret of human longevity.

A fresh and more comprehensive investigation has come forward to contradict such previous assertions, positing that taurine levels don't decline with age after all. In fact, they can stay the same—or even increase—well into adulthood. This has left health fans and scientists alike wondering: Have we been running after a false assumption all these years?

Before you add taurine to your anti-aging toolkit, it's time to go deep on what the science actually reveals. Is taurine really a secret to healthy aging—or just the latest in a series of overblown supplements?

While the quest to crack the code of longevity picks up speed around the world, taurine — a natural amino acid present in the body and in foods with high protein content — has been making waves as a possible anti-aging serum. From the labels of energy drinks to the regimes of biohackers, taurine is being touted as a molecule that promises to add years to your life and health to your years.

What is Taurine?

Taurine is not among the nine essential amino acids but plays an important role in a multitude of physiological processes. Taurine is present in the brain, heart, retina, and skeletal muscles and is involved in the formation of bile salts, fluid balance, nerve function, and antioxidant protection. It is produced by the body and also found in meat and shellfish, which are animal-based foods. It has become popular in the world of wellness over the years for its supposed benefits in increasing energy, improving cardiovascular function, and lowering inflammation.

Both energy drinks and certain supplements usually include taurine for its reported value in improved exercise function and clearer thinking. Although it is widely used, it has been largely agreed upon what the best level of taurine should be, and no official recommendations for daily intake are made in current dietary guidelines.

Interest in taurine's potential to slow or reverse aging was highest after an international 2023 study directed by scientists at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Healthy Longevity Program. The research discovered that levels of taurine decreased after midlife in animals and humans, and supplementation in mice, monkeys, and worms increased lifespan and enhanced indicators of well-being, such as muscle power and glucose metabolism.

This research was soon popular with biohackers such as Bryan Johnson, who added taurine to his supplement stack geared towards reversing biological age. Taurine was viewed as a nutrient that not only had a correlation with aging but worked against its effects. The expectation was that taurine had the potential to act as a biomarker of aging as well as a therapeutic target.

But new research released in Science on June 5, 2025, indicates the interconnection of taurine and aging might be more complex than imagined. A team of scientists headed by Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, scientific director at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), conducted a big-scale study using cross-sectional and longitudinal data — following more than 1,000 people aged 20-100 and several animal models.

Unlike the findings of the previous study, however, this new research determined that levels of taurine did not decrease with age. Instead, taurine levels in older subjects remained constant or even rose in older subjects from almost all cohorts, including rhesus macaque monkeys and mice. These findings are a far cry from previous assumptions that taurine is an effective biomarker for biological aging.

An important difference between the 2023 and 2025 reports is methodology. The previous research was very much based on cross-sectional data — comparing various people at one time point — whereas the new study included longitudinal analysis, following the same people over long times. Study co-author Maria Emilia Fernandez said that differences in taurine concentrations between people were far larger than any change with age. This discrepancy brings us to the question: Can taurine serve as a valid tool for measuring or impacting aging?

The group also investigated whether taurine was associated with health indicators such as muscle function, a known issue among aging individuals. Once more, the results indicated no uniform correlation between cohorts, further undermining the hypothesis that taurine concentrations are predictive of physical decline with age.

Also Read: This Common Energy Drink Ingredient Is Tied To Blood Cancer Risk

Potential Risks of Taurine Supplementation

Although taurine can yet possess therapeutic value under certain circumstances, it is not risk-free. Long-term or high-dose taurine supplementation has been associated with gastrointestinal upset, renal stress, and, in isolated instances, liver dysfunction or increased cancer risk, including leukemia. Such discoveries call for restraint, particularly among those who self-medicate taurine with the expectation of increasing lifespan.

Compounding the complexity, taurine levels are also known to vary according to conditions of health. Obesity patients tend to have taurine levels lower than normal, and protracted obesity can produce a taurine surge. Cancer patients produce increased levels in leukemia but reduced levels in breast cancer, indicating how subtle taurine's function in the body truly is.

Does Taurine Remain Promising?

Even with the recent setbacks to taurine's status as an anti-aging superhero, experts concede that it shouldn't be completely dismissed. Dr. Ferrucci believes that the conflicting results may even shed light on deeper mechanisms of aging. "The inconsistency can reveal some significant mechanisms with aging that may be new targets for treatments," he explained at a press conference.

Vijay Yadav, the principal investigator of the previous pro-taurine study, highlighted that the source and quality of data employed can influence results tremendously. He admits that further analysis and more refined clinical trials need to be conducted to determine how taurine could act with different biological systems in different populations.

So is taurine the fountain of youth? The answer is still out at this point. Early animal research had been promising a rosy picture, but recent evidence points to a more nuanced truth — one that's different for each person, species, and way of measuring. As with many supplements in the health space, the effect of taurine will probably depend on context, and more well-designed, human-specific research is necessary before it can be prescribed as a panacea anti-aging pill.

Meanwhile, people should consult doctors before adding taurine supplements to their regimen, particularly at high levels. Longevity research is being accelerated at a breakneck pace, yet where taurine is concerned, the tale is still in its early stages.