Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

In an article published online on July 10, 2009 in the journal Diabetes, researchers in Ontario, Canada report that naringenin, a flavonoid present in citrus fruit, prevents weight gain and components of metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes, in a rodent model.

For their study, Murray W. Huff of the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario and his associates used low density lipoprotein receptor null mice that exhibit disordered lipids, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and obesity when fed a high fat “Western” diet. The animals were divided to receive regular chow, a high fat diet, or high fat (42 percent of calories) diets containing 1 or 3 percent naringenin for four weeks, after which plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and insulin levels were measured, and other factors, including glucose and insulin tolerance, were assessed.

At the end of the treatment period, mice that received naringenin had lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels than with those that received the high fat diet without naringenin. Insulin resistance was prevented in the 3 percent naringenin-fed mice and glucose metabolism was normalized, compared to mice that received Western diets. “Furthermore, the marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin,” added Dr Huff, who is the Director of the Vascular Biology Research Group at Robarts. “What was unique about the study was that the effects were independent of caloric intake, meaning the mice ate exactly the same amount of food and the same amount of fat. There was no suppression of appetite or decreased food intake, which are often the basis of strategies to reduce weight gain and its metabolic consequences.”

The research team discovered that naringenin genetically reprograms the liver to burn extra fat as opposed to storing it. “We are examining the pharmacological properties of naringenin,” Dr Huff stated. “The next step is to find out if naringenin prevents heart disease in animal models and to explore the feasibility of clinical trials to determine its safety and efficacy in humans.”

“These studies show naringenin, through its insulin-like properties, corrects many of the metabolic disturbances linked to insulin resistance and represents a promising therapeutic approach for metabolic syndrome,” he concluded.

Excerpted from the Life Extension Foundation magazine

Strengthening the Body’s Immune Response

Because CoQ10 enhances the ability of immune cells to disable invading pathogens, scientists believe it may benefit people confronted with various challenges to the immune system, ranging from allergies to HIV infection.

Some scientists describe allergies as conditions in which the body’s immune system reacts to generally harmless substances as though they were dangerous invaders. Researchers have demonstrated that people with asthma related to allergies have decreased blood levels of CoQ10, leading them to suggest CoQ10 supplementation as a way to modulate allergic conditions such as hay fever. Researchers in Texas similarly encountered low CoQ10 levels in people suffering from rhinitis and other allergies; they believe that further studies may elucidate a role for CoQ10 in managing a wide array of allergy syndromes.

Individuals suffering from active HIV infection are often vulnerable to a range of infections due to their weakened immune function, and typically demonstrate diminished levels of CoQ10. Supplemental CoQ10 at a dose of 200 mg daily has been found to help improve the ratio of beneficial T-helper immune cells to detrimental T-suppressor immune cells.

A recent report suggests another potential role for CoQ10 in patients with HIV. A drug commonly used to treat HIV, called zidovudine or azidothymidine (AZT), is associated with the potential side effect of muscle disorders. In 2005, Australian researchers reported a case history in which CoQ10 treatment relieved zidovudine-associated muscle disease. The resolution of the patient’s myopathy allowed him to continue receiving treatment with zidovudine.

These studies suggest that CoQ10 may provide valuable assistance to people battling various allergic conditions, as well as enhanced immune support for HIV-infected individuals.

This article also discusses how CoQ10 can help melanoma, photoaging, prostate and breast cancers, blood glucose and diabetes, endothelial dysfunction, Parkinson’s and neurodegenerative diseases, migraines, vision, dental health, and male fertility. Click here for the full article.

Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.

02-17-09

Feb. 17–When the American Diabetes Association held a series of focus groups asking people to rank the severity of certain health problems, cancer and heart disease, predictably, ranked at the top of the list.

Diabetes fell to the middle of the pack.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use the hormone insulin. Insulin changes sugar, starches and other foods into energy. Although diabetes can create chaos in the body, many people don’t realize how serious it can be.

Diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. The risk of dying from heart disease or stroke is two to four times higher for diabetics than non-diabetics, said Dr. Heath Thornton. Thornton is a family-medicine doctor and an assistant professor of family medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Diabetics are at risk for blindness because the disease causes changes in the blood vessels of the eyes. They are at risk for amputation of their feet and legs because of poor blood flow and nerve damage.

Results of a recent study done by researchers at the medical center show that high blood-sugar levels in Type 2 diabetes can lead to memory decline and dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s dementia. The memory impairment can cause diabetics to have more trouble keeping up with their medications and controlling their diabetes. The study appears in this month’s issue of Diabetic Care. Dr. Jeff Williamson was the principal investigator for the study. He is a professor of internal medicine, the director of gerontology and geriatrics research, and the director of the Roena Kulynych Center for Memory and Cognition Research at the medical center.

Experts estimate that the average cost of diabetes care is $5,000 a year. The cost jumps when complications require hospitalizations and expensive after-care.

And diabetes is on the rise.

Doctors treated 16 million cases of diabetes in the United States in 2003, said Dr. Barry I. Freedman, the section chief for nephrology, kidney disease, and the John Felts professor of internal medicine/nephrology at the medical center.

If current trends continue, Freedman said, 29 million people will have diabetes by the year 2050. The highest rates of diabetes occur among American Indians, Hispanics and blacks. The rates in North Carolina are about the same as those in other Southeastern states, he said. Rates are high in many parts of the country and are increasing, he said.

Worldwide, Freedman said, 151 million people had diabetes in 2000. By next year, experts predict that number will rise to 221 million cases.

“For the kidney doctors and heart doctors, the neurology doctors that deal with strokes, this is pretty much our No. 1 problem,” he said.

Diabetes is divided into two main types. In Type 1, once known as juvenile diabetes, the body produces no insulin. Type 1 usually occurs in children and young people, and those who have it need insulin injections to live. Type 1 represents 5 percent to10 percent of diabetes cases.

In Type 2 diabetes, which represents 90 percent to 95 percent of diabetes cases, the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or is unable to use it properly. Sugar builds up in the blood instead of providing energy to the cells. Eventually, the buildup can affect the heart, kidneys, nerves and eyes.

Genetics play a part in developing Type 2 diabetes; it runs in families. A sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits also contribute, and Type 2 is often linked to obesity. As people age and their bodies wear, their risk for diabetes rises, Thornton said. Freedman said that people who have diabetes in their families should keep themselves trim and fit, exercise and see their doctors routinely to keep tabs on their blood-sugar levels.

But doctors are now concerned with the increase in Type 2 diabetes among young people, who have become more prone to obesity, inactivity and diets high in carbohydrates.

Symptoms of diabetes, which often don’t appear until the disease is well-advanced, include fatigue, increased urination, increased thirst and increased appetite. Some people don’t find out that they have diabetes until they have had a stroke or developed a heart problem, Thornton said.

A diagnosis of diabetes, a chronic and expensive disease to manage, is a life-changing event. It can mean everything from giving up foods you love to following a regimen of frequent insulin injections and finger sticks to draw blood and check sugar levels.

Diet and exercise are often the first line of defense when diabetes is discovered early. Following doctors’ recommendations can often minimize the amount of drugs the diabetic has to take and reduce the disease’s long-term risks and effects. Drugs, including insulin and oral medications, can help keep diabetes under control.

Sonya Jeffries is a nurse practitioner and certified diabetes educator at the Diabetes Care Center at the medical center. She sometimes sees people who can’t bear the thought of sticking needles in their flesh. She counsels them to rotate the sites from which they obtain blood to test their sugar levels so that their fingers don’t become sore and introduces them to insulin pens, which deliver doses of insulin with the push of a finger.

The needle on the pen is small, and most people find the pen less intimidating than a syringe, she said.

Still, the pricks and injections can cause pain, and some people get tired of it.

“It gets to be frustrating,” Thornton said. “It’s not comfortable to prick your fingers a lot.” His daughter, who is 7 and has Type 1 diabetes, must check her blood eight to 12 times a day. Type 1 diabetes requires more frequent monitoring, he said.

“Kids adapt well to these sorts of things, but it is a struggle. They go through times of not wanting to do any of it but having to deal with the consequences of it, just as adults go into denial sometimes.”

The short-term consequences of not keeping diabetes in check can mean dangerous variations in blood-sugar levels. If the blood sugar goes excessively high, a process that usually develops over time, people can develop a condition called ketoacidosis, which is life-threatening and should be treated immediately. Symptoms of the condition include shortness of breath, breath that smells fruity, dry mouth, nausea and vomiting.

When blood sugar plummets, which can happen when diabetics skip meals or take too much insulin, the body can go into insulin shock. Symptoms include sweating, tremors, anxiety and dizziness and can escalate to delirium, convulsions and collapse.

“It can kill someone quite quickly before they get to the hospital,” Thornton said.

Insulin is the main drug associated with treating diabetes. But Freedman also talked about other treatments that can enhance the treatment of diabetics, such as taking ace inhibitors, drugs usually used to reduce high-blood pressure, and statins, usually used to treat high cholesterol.

“With proper attention to therapy very early on, when they first get the disease, it can make a tremendous impact on reducing the complications seen,” he said. “The key is to be aware of the problem and be aggressive in treating it early.”

Janice Gaston can be reached at 727-7364 or at jgaston@wsjournal.com.

For more information on diabetes, go to www.diabetes.org/home.jsp.

For more information on natural treatments for diabetes or pre-diabetes, or other health issues, call for an appointment!

From www.lef.org

In 1990, researchers studied the effects of Irvingia on eleven human Type 2 diabetics. Compared to baseline, there were significant reductions in blood triglyceride levels (16%), total cholesterol (30%), LDL (39 %), and glucose (38%), while HDL-cholesterol levels were increased by 29% after four-week supplementation. These desirable biochemical effects were accompanied by improved clinical states.

In 2005, researchers fed guinea pigs a high-fat diet with or without Irvingia. The guinea pigs receiving the Irvingia displayed a significant increase in beneficial HDL accompanied by a significant decrease in triglycerides and LDL. After three weeks, the Irvingia-supplemented animals lost more than 7% of their body weight; whereas the control group fed the same high-fat diet (without Irvingia) showed more than 8% increase in body weight.

In 2006, researchers studied the effect of Irvingia in rats who were artificially induced to develop diabetes. Just a single oral dose of Irvingia lowered plasma glucose two hours after treatment.

Another study in 2006 evaluated the effects of Irvingia in slowing the intestinal absorption of glucose in healthy rats. The results showed a significant reduction in after-meal glucose blood level and lower subsequent fasting glucose scores.

The first double-blind study in humans occurred in 2005. Twenty eight of the subjects received Irvingia while twelve were given a placebo. All subjects maintained their normal calorie intake. After 30 days, subjects taking Irvingia lost 12.3 pounds. The Irvingia group also experienced significant reductions in total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides and an increase in HDL.

In a recent controlled study, humans taking this new compound lost 28 pounds over a 10-week period compared to less than 3 pounds in the placebo group. Unlike other weight loss studies that mandate at least some moderation in food intake, these study participants did not alter their diet in any way.

Equally remarkable are results showing the same mechanisms that enable this compound to remove body fat also lower heart attack risk factors like LDL, glucose and C-reactive protein.

For the entire article, visit the Life Extension Foundations’ website.

What you need to know about high-fructose corn syrup:

• Dietary intake of fructose, particularly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), has dramatically increased in the US in recent decades. Increased HFCS consumption has paralleled increasing rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other conditions associated with poor lifestyle habits.
• High-fructose corn syrup is found in sweetened carbonated soft drinks as well as in many packaged foods such as cakes, cookies, jams, jellies, and crackers.
• Excess fructose intake has been associated with adverse health effects such as metabolic syndrome, elevated triglyceride levels, hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, excess uric acid levels (associated with gout), and elevated levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs; linked with aging and complications of diabetes).
• Minimizing intake of dietary fructose is essential to mitigating its potentially dangerous effects. Sources of dietary fructose include HFCS, fruit juices, honey, and table sugar (sucrose; comprising fructose and glucose).
• Targeted nutritional strategies can help avert some of the damaging effects of excess fructose intake. Beneficial nutrients include benfotiamine, alpha-lipoic acid, carnosine, pyridoxamine, acetyl-L-carnitine, vitamin C, and fish oil.

Read the full article from the Life Extension Foundation.

[From the Life Extension newsletter]

The October, 2008 issue of the journal Diabetes published the outcome of a study of middle-aged men and women which found that lower serum vitamin D levels were associated with an increase in the risk of developing insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar over a ten year follow up period.

Researchers at the Institute of Metabolic Science in Cambridge, England followed 524 nondiabetic participants in the Ely Study, a prospective study established in 1990. Upon enrollment, the vitamin D marker serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, serum parathyroid hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and other factors were measured, and personal health habits such as smoking status and physical activity levels were ascertained. Weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure, plasma glucose, lipids, and fasting insulin were measured during the initial and ten year follow-up visits.

At the end of the follow-up period, having a higher serum vitamin D level was associated with a lower adjusted ten-year risk of elevated blood sugar, insulin resistance, and high metabolic syndrome score. An association between increased IGF-1 levels and metabolic syndrome risk observed in an earlier study was not noted in the current research.

The authors remark that the study’s findings add evidence to previously reported observations concerning vitamin D’s effect on metabolic syndrome risk. Possible mechanisms of vitamin D include direct effects on pancreatic beta cell secretory function, and indirect effects involving inflammatory processes. Additionally, insufficient vitamin D can elevate serum parathyroid hormone, which is associated with a reduction in insulin sensitivity in healthy individuals.

In an accompanying editorial, Robert Scragg of the University of Auckland in New Zealand asks the question, “Are we ready for a prevention trial?” In light of the dramatically rising diabetes rates worldwide and the mounting evidence for a role of vitamin D in the prevention of the disease, well-designed clinical trials involving vitamin D supplementation are needed to confirm vitamin D’s possible protective benefits. Dr Scragg notes that the dose of vitamin D administered in these trials needs to be at least 2,000 international units per day in order to raise serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels above 80 nanomoles per liter, a level at which diabetes risk is lowest. “If well-designed trials are carried out and confirm a protective effect from vitamin D, it could be used by the general population as a simple and cheap solution to help prevent the diabetes epidemic,” he concludes.

To learn more about Vitamin D and the role it plays in your body, visit the Life Extension Foundation.

Stumble It!

A review published online on March 13, 2008 in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood concluded that vitamin D supplementation in infancy may be protective against the development of type 1 diabetes.

For the current review, C. S. Zipitis, of the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust in Stockport, and A. K. Akobeng, of Booth Hall Children’s Hospital in Manchester, England selected four case-control studies and one cohort study, involving a total of 6,455 children. Of these children, 1,429 developed type 1 diabetes. Analysis of the case-control studies determined that infants who were supplemented with vitamin D had a 29 percent lower risk of developing diabetes than those who were not. Data from the cohort study supported this conclusion. Increased dosages of the vitamin were associated with a greater reduction in diabetes risk than lower doses.

In one study included in the review, those who received vitamin D from cod liver oil between the ages of 7 and 12 months experienced a lower risk of developing type 1 diabetes than infants supplemented between 0 and 6 months. Other forms of the vitamin were associated with similar results

.

Since type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the beta cells of the pancreas that produce insulin are destroyed, a protective effect of vitamin D on the immune system as well as on pancreatic beta cells may be mechanisms by which vitamin D helps prevent the disease. Both types of cells have receptors for the active forms of the vitamin.

“Vitamin D supplementation in early childhood may offer protection against the development of type 1 diabetes,” the authors conclude. “Adequately powered, randomised controlled trials with long periods of follow-up are needed to establish causality and the best formulation, dose, duration and period of supplementation.”

For more info, visit the Life Extension Foundation website.