Daily Archives: June 10, 2020

Dr. C "Comments", Opinion, Prevention, Women's Health

WOMEN’S HEALTH: RISK FACTORS AND PREVENTION OF OSTEOPOROSIS

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I have heard the same story over and over. You get older, you trip over your dog or on the edge of a rug, you fall and break your hip, and in treatment or convalescence, you get a pneumonia and die, or at least you get weaker, setting you up for the next fall. Your course is downhill.

The culprit is often OSTEOPOROSIS. Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by loss of bone mass, as opposed to Osteomalacia, discussed in a recent podcast on this site, which is softening of bone The word itself is a MEMONIC for the RISK FACTORS; Then comes WHAT TO DO.

The RISK FACTORS and Prevention Strategies can be remembered in the following mnemonic:

Osteoporosis prevention begins when you are a child, with healthy diet rich in Calcium, and lots of exercise. Your bone mass peaks in the early 20s. While you are young, in your reproductive years, your reproductive hormones, Estrogen and Testosterone protect you.

Women should develop a Preventative strategy during menopause. Being THIN, like i am, is generally a marker of good health, much better than being Fat.

But especially as you get older and Lose muscle mass, Osteoporosis can become a problem, maybe because your bones don’t get the stress required to keep them strong.

BONE DENSITY DECLINES WITH AGE. I get a DEXASCAN as often as my insurance allows, about every 2 years, and am due this summer.

More and more treatments for Osteoporosis are emerging, if your bone loss becomes severe enough.

KEEP IN CONTACT WITH YOUR DOCTOR.

–Dr. C

Dr. C "Comments", Men's Health, Studies, Women's Health

DIET STUDIES: HIGH-SUGAR DIETS SUPPRESS DOPAMINE, LEADING TO OVEREATING

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From Phys.org/Univ. of Michigan (June 9, 2020):

High-Sugar Diet Dampens Release of Dopamine Causing Overeating - Univ of Michigan - Credit Christina May and Monica Dus

“On a high-sugar diet, we find that the fruit flies’ dopaminergic neurons are less active, because the high sugar intake decreases the intensity of the sweetness signal that comes from the mouth,” Dus said. “Animals use this feedback from dopamine to make predictions about how rewarding or filling a food will be. In the high-sugar diet flies, this process is broken—they get less dopamine neuron activation and so end up eating more than they need, which over time makes them gain weight.”

It is well known that consuming food and drink high in sugar is not great for us, but scientists are continuing to unravel the intricacies of how the sweet stuff drives negative health outcomes. The latest finding comes from researchers at the University of Michigan, who through studies in fruit flies have found that excess amounts of sugar can shut down crucial neural circuits linked to regulating satiety, possibly leading to overeating in humans.

Read entire article

COMMENTARY

SUGAR IS A POISON.

A novel illustration of sugars’ lethality was the Georgia sugar refinery explosion in 2008, which killed 14 people. Finely ground sugar is flammable.

Sugar appeared early in civilization, but it was expensive, sparing all but the wealthy of its’ depredations, mainly tooth decay.  Only with the post WWII expansion of wealth was it consumed excessively to produce the diseases of overeating. The developed world now consumes over 70 pounds of sugar per person, amounting to over 250 CALORIES PER DAY!

This  article shows how SUGAR acts like a DRUG In its INTERFERENCE with the DOPAMINERGIC Reward system. The neurons send less signal, so you need MORE SUGAR to satisfy.

The metabolic systems through which overeating and sugar causes the OBESITY, DIABETES, VASCULAR DISEASE and Early DEMENTIA are convoluted.The best detailed explication is in the NEJM article in intermittent fasting, a healthful practice that is the polar opposite of overeating.

Two very important metabolic mechanisms are discussed, the mTOR system and the Sirtuin system. These systems are important for NUTRIENT SENSING and repair, and conserved in all animals. They worked just fine in our early ancestors.

It seems that primitive man was not blessed (or is it cursed) with easy overabundance or food, and actually spent hours or days in Hunger. When times were good, his body put on muscle, and stored fat against the hard times to come. This is called ANABOLISM. When times were bad, his body went into repair mode, and used the fat for energy. This is called CATABOLISM.

Anabolism has evolved expressly for Young Animals, where extra food is welcome for Growth. After the growing and Reproductive years, our Bodies’ evolutionary “warrant” expires, since the genes it carries have already been spread. Our older bodies are left to deal with machinery more suited to an earlier vibrancy. Our metabolism didn’t evolve to deal with the calories we shove into our aging Bodies. Many mechanisms beneficial in the young prove harmful later on. This divergence has been called “ antagonistic pleiotropy”.

Whatever the explanation, the observation remains: if adults eat more than they can use, they gain weight. With insufficient exercise, this weight is fat. With excessive fat, the joints, blood vessels, liver, heart and brain suffer,  and lifespan is shortened.

RETHINK YOUR LIFESTYLE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AVOIDING SUGAR, and ALL THINGS CONTAINING SUGAR is as good a place as any to start. You will be rewarded by being able to fully taste and enjoy the natural sweetness of many REAL FOODS, and afforded a longer life to partake in this pleasure.

—Dr. C.