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November 2004 Vo. 9 No. 11

There is a giant asleep within every man.  When the giant awakes, miracles happen.
Frederick Faust [1892-1944]

 Table of Contents:

  • How Does Obesity Cause Diabetes?
  • The Diabetes Epidemic: Some Basic Recommendations to Reduce Risk
  • Simple Exercises Effective for Vertigo
  • Free Stretching Program
  • Short-Term Exercise Helps Even the Sedentary
  • Birth Defects Higher for Overweight Mothers
  • Flavonoids Provide Protection
  • You Can Control Most Risk Factors
  • Low-Fat Diet Boosts Immunit  

How Does Obesity Cause Diabetes?  Although it has been discovered that obesity plays a role in the onset of type 2 diabetes, scientists aren’t certain how the excess weight triggers the disease.

What scientists do know is that obesity causes stress in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a system of cell membranes found inside cells. This stress results in the suppression of the signals of insulin receptors, leading to insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that converts blood sugar to energy.

The ER has been compared to a synthetic machine of a cell, responsible for processing proteins and fats. Scientists have also referred to the ER as a factory for producing protein, as well as the site where excess blood fats are processed.

When the body is bombarded with nutrients the following occurs:

  • Nutrients must be processed, stored and utilized
  • The ER factory becomes overworked and starts sending SOS signals
  • SOS signals tell the cells to dampen their insulin receptors
  • The ER restrains normal responses to insulin
  • Insulin can no longer clear sugar from the body

Another downfall of ER stress, besides obesity, is that it triggers inflammation in cells. This inflammation can be linked to heart disease.
Studies have revealed that if people can find a way to reduce ER stress, generate less ER stress or find a way for the body to handle stress more efficiently, type 2 diabetes might be easier to manage.
Science October 15, 2004;306(5695):425-6

The Diabetes Epidemic: Some Basic Recommendations to Reduce Risk
Christopher Saudek, MD John Hopkins University  

Some recommendations to reduce developing Type II diabetes. Lose 10 pounds. Fat weight increase is directly associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes. Include whole grains in your diet. Include fresh fruit in the daily diet. Reduce animal fat intake. Avoid refined sugars. Exercise daily.

Simple Exercises Effective for Vertigo     

 

Vertigo, an inner ear problem causing dizziness, is a condition many elderly people face. According to studies, those suffering from vertigo may find relief in simple, inexpensive exercise techniques.

The dizziness caused by this common condition can lead to substantial disability with falls, fear of falling, and loss of independence.

Exercise therapy, or vestibular rehabilitation, has proven to have positive results on elderly people suffering from symptoms related to vertigo. This simple treatment involves eye, head and body movements, stimulating the balance system. Since it does not require any equipment, researchers are certain that just about anyone can perform the exercises.

Aside from the usual treatment involving medication, doctors also found that motivation is an important factor for treating dizziness. Without motivation and confidence, patients quickly give up on curing their symptoms and immediately resort to using a cane or walker for stability.

In a study, researchers assigned 170 patients with vertigo to discover the influence of exercise therapy. They divided the patients into two groups:

Those receiving exercise therapy (83) and those receiving the usual medical care (87)
Patients in the exercise therapy group received one 30-40 minute appointment with a primary care nurse who taught the exercises.
All patients had a 3-month and 6-month check-up to note progress.
Sixty-seven percent of the patients experienced a significant improvement, while only 38 percent who received conventional medical care showed progress

Researchers concluded that exercise therapy improved symptoms, postural stability and dizziness-related handicaps in those suffering from chronic dizziness or vertigo.
Annals of Internal Medicine October 19, 2004;141:598-605

Free Stretching Program
Can be downloaded at www.freestretching.com/afpa  

Choose from 74 stretching exercises to create easy-to-read, professional looking stretching routines your clients and athletes will love! With this easy to use drag and drop program, you can create, customize and print a stretching routine in minutes.

Features Include:

  • Drag and drop exercises
  • Choose from 74 stretching exercises
  • Select male or female figures
  • Edit the instructions
  • Save your favorite routines

 

You Can Control Most Risk Factors  

Even the smallest amount of exercise for sedentary, overweight people proves to make a difference, according to studies.

By controlling the amount of food and drink formally sedentary, overweight people consumed during and after short-term exercise, researchers noted a significant impact on insulin action. Further, there was a considerable effect on the subjects’ cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.
The study involved two groups of eight, who exercised for a time span of six days. During the six days, the subjects participated in enough treadmill exercise to burn 500 kilocalories (k/cal) a day, walking 60-65 percent of maximum vital oxygen capacity.
All subjects were previously sedentary and overweight. They were matched according to:

Age: 30-60

Physical characteristics

Insulin action was measured before the six days of exercise and then again the day after, when the fixed energy balance was over. Researchers were hoping to find out where energy balance fit in relation to improved insulin levels following a bout of short-term exercise.

The subjects in the first group, the negative energy balance (NEG) group, showed a 40 percent increase in insulin action. The second group, the zero energy balance group (ZERO), who were required to finish an energy drink during exercise, as well as consume food afterward to replace the 500 k/cal burned, demonstrated no change in insulin action.

Moreover, subjects in the NEG group showed positive changes in traditional and novel CVD risk factors, while subjects in the ZERO group showed neither positive nor negative changes.  These findings reinforced the important role of exercise in managing blood sugar levels in both pre-diabetics and Type-2 diabetics.  Interesting enough, two of the sponsors of this study were Gatorade Sports Science Institute and Pfizer, Inc.
EurekAlert October 7, 2004

You Can Control Most Risk Factors  

A study from the Centers for Disease Control found that babies born to overweight mothers face a higher risk for birth defects than those born to normal weight women.  Women who were overweight at the time of conception had twice the risk of having babies with heart abnormalities, and obese women were more than three times as likely to deliver babies with spina bifida or the abdominal malformation omphelocele.

The case-control study, which compared women who delivered babies with birth defects in a five-county area of Atlanta, Ga., between 1993 and 1997 to mothers who gave birth to healthy babies during the same time period, provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of the link between maternal obesity and birth defects.
Watkins ML, Rasmussen SA, Honein MA, Botto LD, Moore CA. Maternal obesity and risk for birth defects. Pediatrics 2003;111:1152-8.

Flavonoids Provide Protection   

As reported in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who consumed the highest amount of flavonoids (compounds found in plant foods) had a 20 percent reduction in heart disease risk. The meta-analysis, including more than 100,000 people, looked at seven previously published studies and found that flavonoids, particularly the kinds found in black tea, onions, apples, and broccoli, provided significant protection against the disease.

Huxley RR, Neil HA. The relation between dietary flavonol intake and coronary heart disease mortality: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Eur J Clin Nutr 2003;57:904-8.

You Can Control Most Risk Factors  

We have more control over heart health than many of us realize, according to new studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers analyzed 14 clinical trials and 3 observational studies of heart disease patients, finding that 80 to 90 percent of patients who developed clinically significant coronary heart disease and more than 95 percent of patients who experienced a fatal heart event were either smokers or had at least one of these major risk factors: diabetes, hypertension, or high cholesterol—all strongly linked to diet.

Khot UN, Khot MB, Bajzer CT, et al. Prevalence of conventional risk factors in patients with coronary heart disease. JAMA 2003;290:898-904.
Greenland P, Knoll MD, Stamler J, et al. Major risk factors as antecedents of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease events. JAMA 2003;290:891-7.

Low-Fat Diet Boosts Immunity  

Tufts University scientists have found that, when volunteers with high cholesterol levels switched to a low-fat diet, they not only lost weight, but significantly enhanced their immunity, an important factor in cancer prevention. Ten participants were initially instructed to follow a standard American-style diet deriving 35 percent of calories from fat. Then they followed three subsequent diets: one made up of 26 percent fat, one made up of 15 percent fat, and, lastly, a 15-percent fat diet with a further reduction in calories. Each diet drove cholesterol levels down, but only the last phase was associated with marked improvement in cellular immune response.
Santos MS, Lichtenstein AH, Leka LS, Goldin B, Schaefer EJ, Meydani SN. Immunological effects of low-fat diets with and without weight loss. J Am Coll Nutr 2003;22:174-82.
Bingham SA, Day NE, Luben R, et al. Dietary fibre in food and protection against colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): an observational study. Lancet 2003;361:1496-501.Selected segments are reproduced from Dr. Mercola’s excellent website: http://www.mercola.com/index.htm