LifeCare Chiropractic

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insulin resistance

Impaired glucose tolerance: GPs’ knowledge and perceptions – (05-23-02)

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Impaired glucose tolerance: GPs’ knowledge and perceptions

Anyone who’s even read this newsletter just once can probably grasp the medical fact that increased insulin resistance is probably the number one health concern in Western societies because of its impact on human health and chronic disease. So every physician should keep this entity #1 in their minds when evaluating any patient with CVD, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, menstrual disorders and a hoard of other conditions, right? WRONG…very wrong. The results of this survey of 34 PCPs in England gives us an indication that many have not cracked a journal in about 6 years. Or that pharmaceutical companies don’t sponsor seminars on insulin resistance. This is a sad, sad state of affairs for a condition that has strong potential to be managed with lifestyle interventions and affecting a major chunk of current chronic diseases in any physician’s practice.

bmj.com Wylie et al. 324 (7347): 1190

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Insulin Resistance as a Predictor of Age-Related Diseases – (08-20-01)

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Insulin Resistance as a Predictor of Age-Related Diseases

Need I say more? With almost any chronic disease patient, whether it’s diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, cardiovascular disease, obesity, etc… insulin resistance always needs to be addressed. I believe it is one of the key metabolic defects that occurs that ultimately results in a disease process. Exercise, education about whole grains vs refined carbs, monounsaturated fats and specific nutrients like CLA, alpha lipoic acid, chromium and vanadium are all components to managing insulin sensitivity.

JCEM — Abstracts: Facchini et al. 86 (8): 3574

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Postchallenge Glucose, Glycemic Spikes vs Fasting Glucose, HbA1c – (01-25-01)

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Postchallenge Glucose, Glycemic Spikes vs Fasting Glucose, HbA1c

This study suggests that the old standard, oral glucose tolerance test is still more effective at predicting artherosclerosis than the “newer” methods. The OGGT is still one of the best ways to check for insulin resistance, but only if both glucose AND insulin levels are checked at the same time. In the OGGT, the patient drinks a solution w/ a specific amount of glucose in it, and then the blood is checked at specific time intervals. If all you check is glucose, then you have no idea how much insulin is being needed to produce these levels. If it takes alot of insulin to produce a “normal” glucose response, than you have insulin resistance.

Diabetes Care 23(12):1830-1834, 2000 Objective: To observe the relationship of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), postchallenge plasma glucose (PG) (30, 60, 90, and 120 min during an oral glucose tolerance test [OGTT], as well as maximal PG during an OGTT, postchallenge glucose spikes [PGS], and glucose under the OGTT curve), and HbA1c to intima-media thickness (IMT) as a marker of atherosclerosis. Conclusions: PG and PGS are more strongly associated with carotid IMT than FPG and HbA1c level and modify substantially the risk for atherosclerosis, estimated by HbA1c alone, in a cohort at risk for diabetes and in the early diabetes stage.

Insulin resistance and risk for stroke – (09-26-02)

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Insulin resistance and risk for stroke

I’m sure that none of you who regularly read Updates had your eyes bulge wide on this one, this article does bother me a little. First, it is in a neurological journal, which is fine–all specialist should become familiar with the effect of increased insulin resistance because it truly cuts across all organ systems. However, I have a serious beef with the conclusion of this article that suggests that new drugs can be used to affect insulin resistance. Well, we know from several well designed studies that insulin sensitivity can be dramatically impacted through lifestyle changes (exercise, avoidance of refined grains for whole grains and intake of lots of fresh fruits and veggies). This article, which may be some neurologist’s first exposure to this concept, neglects to mention one of the most powerful tools to treat insulin resistance.

Neurology — Abstracts: Kernan et al. 59 (6): 809

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Troglitazone Antagonizes Metabolic Effects of Glucocorticoids – (10-03-02)

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Troglitazone Antagonizes Metabolic Effects of Glucocorticoids

Ahh…the slippery slope of multiple medications; each drug designed to counteract the effects of the one before it. How about doing everything possible to reduce the steroid use in the first place, and if still absolutely necessary, using weight training and diet to manage the insulin resistance? What a novel concept!!!

Diabetes — Abstracts: Willi et al. 51 (10): 2895

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Increased insulin resistance in women with recurrent pregnancy loss – (10-03-02)

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Increased insulin resistance in women with recurrent pregnancy loss

The treatment of infertility in today’s medical environment rarely addresses lifestyle factors that contribute to problems achieving and completing a full term pregnancy. In any couples having difficulty, insulin resistance should always be addressed as a primary intervention. Insulin resistance has been strongly linked with polycystic ovary disease, which is notorious for creating problems with ovulation and therefore conception.

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Fructose, weight gain, and the insulin resistance syndrome – (10-24-02)

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Fructose, weight gain, and the insulin resistance syndrome

There are beliefs out there that fructose does not contribute to weight gain and alterations in insulin resistance. “Health” drinks contain glucose-fructose syrup and high fructose corn syrup is virtually ubiquitous in junk and processed food.

Well, this study debunks these beliefs and supports the idea that fructose does get readily converted to fat in the liver, induces insulin resistance and increases blood pressure.

AJCN — Abstracts: Elliott et al. 76 (5): 911 –

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Amino Acid-Induced Skeletal Muscle Insulin Resistance – (03-07-02)

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Amino Acid-Induced Skeletal Muscle Insulin Resistance

For a long time, the high protein diets were believed to cause weight loss by lowering the insulin response to a meal. However, as more and more research accumulates, we are finding that proteins definitely have an impact on insulin response.

This article suggests that this impact has a negative impact by increasing insulin resistance. I have been strongly against high protein diets for most patients and the evidence continues to support this type of dietary pattern as harmful in the long run.

Diabetes — Abstracts: Krebs et al. 51 (3): 599

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