Parents, if your children are overweight it is prudent to protect them by having their liver enzymes measured. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is being seen much more frequently in children due to the marked increase in metabolic syndrome associated with being overweight. This paper published in the journal GUT (International Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology) “aimed at determining the long-term outcomes and survival of children with NAFLD.” Liver biopsies were obtained when indicated. The investigators documented a disturbing progression to end-stage liver disease and liver transplantation: “Children with NAFLD may develop end-stage liver disease with the consequent need for liver transplantation. NAFLD in children…may be associated with a significantly shorter survival as compared to the general population.”. Their findings are encouragement to help children eat well and exercise. What is the key: “Insulin resistance is almost a universal finding in paediatric NAFLD.”
Posts Tagged ‘insulin resistance’
Children and fatty liver disease
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Insulin resistance and dementia or Alzheimer’s disease
Sunday, November 29th, 2009No doubt about it, you have to take care of your blood sugar and insulin to prevent your brain from degenerating. Here are several papers published in prestigious journals that show the strong connection between insulin resistance and dementia or Alzheimer’s disease:
- Insulin resistance and cognitive impairment in Archives of Neurology
- Hyperinsulinemia and risk of Alzheimer’s disease in Neurology
- Insulin resistance and executive dysfunction in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
- Hyperinsulinemia and Alzheimer’s disease in the journal Age and Ageing
- Body mass index, cardiovascular risk factors, and dementia in Archives of Internal Medicine
Testing your levels of hemoglobin A1C, glucose, insulin and triglycerides along with measuring your waist-to-hip ratio are among the ways we can see how you’re doing.
Fat accumulation around organs linked to decreased heart function
Saturday, November 28th, 2009There are a few newsworthy findings reported in this study, recently published in the journal Obesity, that used MRI and MRS (proton MR spectroscopy) to measure the accumulation of fat around the heart and in the liver.
- Fat accumulation around organs is linked to decreased heart function
- Body mass index (BMI) is not a reliable predictor of fat accumulation
- Fat in the liver was associated with insulin resistance and triglycerides.
I have seen numerous individuals who do not appear overweight and whose BMI was normal, but bioelectric impedance analysis (an objective measurement of body fat percentage) revealed that they were ‘metabolically obese’—there was excess fat around their organs. Insulin resistance was a factor in each case.
Waist-to-hip ratio in midlife linked to later dementia
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009Factors that place fat around the waist (insulin resistance) and the activity of that fat tissue (production of signaling molecules that promote inflammation) are both at play behind the connection documented recently in this paper published in the journal Neurology. The authors found that “…a midlife WHR [waist hip ratio] greater than 0.80 increased risk for dementia approximately twofold…,” and conclude: “There are midlife and late-life implications for dementia prevention, and analytical considerations related to identifying risk factors for dementia.” Here are a few more papers related to the same finding:
- Research on diabetes, hyperinsulinemia and dementia in Dementia and Geriatric Disorders
- A paper on abdominal obesity and Alzheimer Disease published in the same journal
- A study in Archives of Neurology that concludes: “A larger WHR may be related to neurodegenerative, vascular, or metabolic processes that affect brain structures underlying cognitive decline and dementia.”
Erectile dysfunction and insulin resistance
Thursday, November 12th, 2009Here is more evidence of the strong correlation between erectile dysfunction and insulin. This paper recently published in the Journal of Andrology clearly discerns the “correlation between erectile function and IR and abdominal obesity.” [IR = insulin resistance. Waist circumference is a metric for abdominal obesity.] Moreover, “IR also appears to alter testosterone production.” Important: a careful reading of this paper also discloses what functional medicine practitioners and Lapis Light patients know: “a negative correlation [with erectile function] was shown only between BT (biologically active fraction) and abdominal obesity. (BT is also termed free-fraction testosterone, measured in our salivary profiles. Total testosterone is not a reliable indicator.)
For women it’s not age, it’s fat (and insulin)
Friday, November 6th, 2009This compelling research published recently in the journal Diabetes discloses that loss of insulin sensitivity (increased insulin resistance) related to increase in adiposity (fat) and, “In contrast, age had no independent effect on insulin sensitivity.” Astute readers will recall that insulin resistance is a causal factor in overweight, so the main messages here are: Chronological age and biological age are different (this goes for men too, of course); and life-style behaviors that support healthy insulin regulation are good for a lifetime.
Chili pepper reduces obesity-induced insulin resistance & liver fat
Sunday, November 1st, 2009This welcome study demonstrates that capsaicin (the chemical that makes chilies hot) “lowered fasting glucose, insulin, leptin levels, and markedly reduced the impairment of glucose tolerance.” Levels of inflammatory cytokines (signalling molecules that increase inflammation) in fat and liver tissue also “decreased markedly”. Adiponectin (the hormone secreted in fat tissue that reduces body fat, type 2 diabetes, blood vessel deposits and fatty liver disease) was increased, along with other beneficial agents. “Our data suggest that dietary capsaicin may reduce obesity-induced glucose intolerance by not only suppressing inflammatory responses but also enhancing fatty acid oxidation in adipose tissue and/or liver.” So eat chili peppers to burn fat, suppress inflammation and improve glucose tolerance.