Guest guest Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 > > The Damage Report > > Research has revealed just how IRS triggers these major health > conditions, and how to reverse its damaging effects > > by Sarí Harrar > > CONTENTS > > > > Intro &Cancer > > Infertility &Heart Disease > > Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, &Alzheimer's > > Intro &Cancer > > Health Tool of the Future? > Experts are beginning to talk about Insulin Resistance Syndrome, or IRS, > not just as a scary force, but as a tool for preventing heartbreaking > health problems from ever happening. " We know how to find it. We know how > to treat it, " notes Yehuda Handelsman, MD, medical director of the > Metabolic Institute of America in Tarzana, CA. " It is very powerful. " > > Cancer > When University of Toronto researchers checked insulin levels of 99 women > with newly diagnosed early-stage breast cancer and an equal number of > cancer-free women, they discovered that those with the highest insulin > levels were nearly three times more likely to have breast cancer. " We've > also found that among women in the study with breast cancer, those with > the highest insulin levels had a three times higher risk of cancer > recurrence and death, " says breast cancer researcher Pamela Goodwin, MD, > of Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. Growing evidence also ties high > insulin to prostate and colon cancers. > > " Insulin is a growth factor, and breast tumor cells have more insulin > receptors than normal cells do, " Goodwin says. High insulin levels > stimulate the receptors; cancer cells then grow more quickly. " But not > all breast cancer seems to be insulin-sensitive. We suspect some women > have extra insulin receptors, while others don't, " she notes. > > Goodwin's team plans to test whether metformin, a diabetes drug that > lowers insulin resistance, could protect some survivors against a cancer > recurrence. > > Best plan now > Exercise regularly. " You have to carve out the time to exercise regularly > to help prevent high insulin levels, " Goodwin says. " Make it a priority, > as important as getting your hair done or attending a meeting. " > > Infertility &Heart Disease > > Infertility > A whopping 5 to 10% of all women in their childbearing years have > polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS; numbers are rising with America's > twin epidemics of overweight and inactivity. > > Researchers had long wondered why women with PCOS shared a constellation > of seemingly unrelated health problems: from stubborn obesity to more > breast and uterine (endometrial) cancers, heart disease, and a seven- to > ten-times-higher risk for type 2 diabetes. > > As it turns out, 8 out of every 10 women with PCOS may have IRS and > higher-than-normal insulin levels. " Insulin isn't the only factor, but it > is very important, " says infertility specialist Carson, MD, a > reproductive endocrinologist at Baylor College of Medicine. > > High insulin levels may act on the ovaries to increase male hormones, she > says. " The result is, you stop ovulating, you are more likely to gain > weight and develop acne, and you can even have abnormal facial and body > hair. " > > Now, Carson and other researchers are looking at whether women with PCOS > can become pregnant if they take the ovulation-stimulating drug > clomiphene citrate, the diabetes drug metformin, or a combination of the > two. Since the study is not yet complete, no one knows which drug therapy > works best, or even which drugs the women who became pregnant took. (The > drugs were discontinued once a woman had a positive pregnancy test.) > > Best plan now > If your periods are more than 6 weeks apart (or absent altogether), you > have stubborn weight that you can't shed, acne, and abnormal facial or > body hair, you may have PCOS--and should see an endocrinologist or > fertility specialist (if you're trying to conceive). Weight loss can help > cut insulin levels (half of women with PCOS are overweight), but you may > need drug treatment as well. > > Heart disease > High insulin levels may erode the heart protection that premenopausal > women get from healthy levels of " good-guy " HDL cholesterol. High insulin > also endangers your arteries and heart by boosting blood fats called > triglycerides; lowering good HDLs; sending extra fat into your > bloodstream after a meal and keeping it there longer; making " bad " LDL > cholesterol particles smaller, denser, and better able to invade artery > walls; and raising levels of fibrinogen, which makes blood clot. > > Molecular biologists are studying tiny, intracellular chemical > interactions responsible for insulin resistance, hoping to find new > targets for drugs to reverse it. What they know so far: Fat stored inside > muscle and liver cells causes IRS. > > Best plan now > " We've shown in human studies that anything you can do to lower the fat > in muscle and liver cells, such as exercise or weight loss, fixes insulin > resistance, " says researcher Gerald I. Shulman, MD, PhD, professor of > medicine and physiology at Yale University School of Medicine. > > Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, &Alzheimer's > > Type 2 diabetes > Scientists have long known that faulty insulin metabolism leads to type 2 > diabetes. It happens after decades of IRS, when insulin-making cells in > your pancreas finally burn out, says Handelsman. The result: Insulin > levels plummet, and blood sugar rises to dangerous levels that may > require drugs to control. > > Best plan now > Don't wait until your blood sugar nudges into the prediabetes danger zone > (over 100 mg/dl on a fasting blood test) or is high enough to indicate > full-blown type 2 diabetes (a reading of 126 or higher on a fasting > test). Everyone should have a fasting blood-sugar test every 3 years > after age 45; but if you have IRS, ask your doc about more frequent > checks. > > High blood pressure and kidney damage > High insulin levels raise hypertension risk, possibly by encouraging your > kidneys to retain sodium and water. New Tulane University research also > links IRS with a 2½-times-higher risk of kidney damage that leads to > kidney failure. > > Best plan now > If you have IRS, ask your doc about the merits of a urine test for > microalbumin. It measures tiny amounts of protein leaking from your > kidneys into your urine, an early sign of kidney malfunction. Researchers > do not yet know for certain if reversing IRS will protect kidneys, but > they suspect it may, says study author Jing Chen, MD, a Tulane kidney > disease specialist. > > Alzheimer's disease and dementia > Researchers have long known that both diabetes and overweight raise the > risk for Alzheimer's and other kinds of dementia. Now, an intriguing lab > study from the Joslin Diabetes Center suggests that the malfunctioning > insulin receptors that mimic IRS may be a link between those disorders. > The brains of specially bred lab mice showed the same biochemical changes > seen in Alzheimer's disease, says researcher C. Kahn, MD, one of > the study's authors. " We can say that based on this evidence, people with > insulin resistance might be at risk for developing these kinds of brain > changes. We should think about this because IRS is becoming so > prevalent. " > > Best plan now > " Most insulin resistance is reversible, " Kahn says. He cautions that no > one has yet tested the next question for researchers in this cutting-edge > field: Will reducing insulin resistance, with drugs or lifestyle changes, > truly lower Alzheimer's risk? > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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