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Home > Health Conditions > Syndrome X

Syndrome X/Metabolic Syndrome/Insulin Resistance

Related Topics:

• diabetes / hypertension / HDL cholesterol / triglycerides / obesity / weight control / cortisol / 11beta-HSD1 / PGX / glucomannan / chromium / coenzyme Q10 / magnesium / vitamin E

Alternative News:

• Diabetes Type II and the Syndrome X Connection - Life Extension Foundation
• Insulin Resistance: The Hidden Disease You May Already Have - thenutritionreporter.com
• Syndrome-X - syndrome-x.com
• Why fish oils work swimmingly against inflammation and diabetes - Science Daily, 9/2/10 - "Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the molecular mechanism that makes omega-3 fatty acids so effective in reducing chronic inflammation and insulin resistance ... omega-3 fatty acids activate this macrophage receptor, resulting in broad anti-inflammatory effects and improved systemic insulin sensitivity ... It's just an incredibly potent effect ... omega-3 fatty acids switch on the receptor, killing the inflammatory response" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• Bioactives in Blueberries Improve Insulin Sensitivity in Obese, Insulin-Resistant Men and Women - J Nutr. 2010 Aug 19 - "Participants were randomized to consume either a smoothie containing 22.5 g blueberry bioactives (blueberry group, n = 15) or a smoothie of equal nutritional value without added blueberry bioactives (placebo group, n = 17) twice daily for 6 wk. Both groups were instructed to maintain their body weight by reducing ad libitum intake by an amount equal to the energy intake of the smoothies. Participants' body weights were evaluated weekly and 3-d food records were collected at baseline, the middle, and end of the study. The mean change in insulin sensitivity improved more in the blueberry group (1.7 +/- 0.5 mg.kg FFM(-1).min(-1)) than in the placebo group (0.4 +/- 0.4 mg.kg FFM(-1).min(-1)) (P = 0.04). Insulin sensitivity was enhanced in the blueberry group at the end of the study without significant changes in adiposity, energy intake, and inflammatory biomarkers. In conclusion, daily dietary supplementation with bioactives from whole blueberries improved insulin sensitivity in obese, nondiabetic, and insulin-resistant participants" - See blueberry extracts at iHerb.
• Emodin, a natural product, selectively inhibits 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 and ameliorates metabolic disorder in diet-induced obese mice - Br J Pharmacol. 2010 Sep;161(1):113-26 - "11beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) is an attractive therapeutic target of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Emodin, a natural product and active ingredient of various Chinese herbs, has been demonstrated to possess multiple biological activities ... Emodin is a potent and selective 11beta-HSD1 inhibitor with the IC(50) of 186 and 86 nM for human and mouse 11beta-HSD1, respectively. Single oral administration of emodin inhibited 11beta-HSD1 activity of liver and fat significantly in mice. Emodin reversed prednisone-induced insulin resistance in mice, whereas it did not affect dexamethasone-induced insulin resistance, which confirmed its inhibitory effect on 11beta-HSD1 in vivo. In DIO mice, oral administration of emodin improved insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism, and lowered blood glucose and hepatic PEPCK, and glucose-6-phosphatase mRNA. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS This study demonstrated a new role for emodin as a potent and selective inhibitor of 11beta-HSD1 and its beneficial effects on metabolic disorders in DIO mice. This highlights the potential value of analogues of emodin as a new class of compounds for the treatment of metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes" - Note:  (11beta-HSD1) goes hand in hand with cortisol.  It seems like what came first, the chicken or the egg.  I googled emodin and didn't see any reliable places that sold it.  One article said that it was in some resveratrol products and that the emodin was what caused the stomach problems.
• Adherence to an (n-3) Fatty Acid/Fish Intake Pattern Is Inversely Associated with Metabolic Syndrome among Puerto Rican Adults in the Greater Boston Area - J Nutr. 2010 Aug 11 - "The (n-3) fatty acid/fish factor was associated with a lower likelihood of metabolic syndrome (Q5 vs. Q1: odds ratio: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.86)"
• Sugar Sweetened Beverages and Risk of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-analysis - Diabetes Care. 2010 Aug - "sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), which include soft drinks, fruit drinks, iced tea, energy and vitamin water drinks ... Based on data from these studies, including 310,819 participants and 15,043 cases of T2DM, individuals in the highest quantile of SSB intake (most often 1-2 servings/day) had a 26% greater risk of developing T2DM than those in the lowest quantile (none or < 1 serving/month) (RR:1.26 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.41)). Among studies evaluating MetSyn, including 19,431 participants and 5,803 cases, the pooled RR was 1.20 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.42)"
• Interactions of dietary whole grain intake with fasting glucose- and insulin-related genetic loci in individuals of European descent: a meta-analysis of 14 cohort studies - Diabetes Care. 2010 Aug 6 - "Greater whole grain food intake was associated with lower fasting glucose and insulin concentrations independent of demographics, other dietary and lifestyle factors, and BMI (beta [95% CI] per 1-serving greater whole grain intake: -0.009 mmol/L glucose [-0.013, -0.005], p <0.0001 and -0.011 pmol/L (ln) insulin [-0.015, -0.007], p =0.0003) ... Our results support the favorable association of whole grain intake with fasting glucose and insulin and suggest potential interaction between variation in GCKR and whole grain intake in influencing fasting insulin concentrations"
• Reduction of Postprandial Glycemia by the Novel Viscous Polysaccharide PGX, in a Dose-Dependent Manner, Independent of Food Form - J Am Coll Nutr. 2010 Apr;29(2):92-8 - "The objective of the study therefore was to determine palatability and effectiveness of escalating doses of PGX, a novel viscous polysaccharide (NVP), in reducing postprandial glycemia when added to a liquid and a solid meal ... Addition of NVP to the meal reduced blood glucose incremental areas under the curve irrespective of dose, reaching significance at the 7.5 g dose when added to glucose (p < 0.01), and at the 5 and 7.5 g doses when added to WB + Marg (p < 0.001). The GI values of glucose with 0, 2.5, 5, or 7.5 g of NVP were (mean +/- standard error of the mean [SEM]) 100.0 +/- 0.0, 83.7 +/- 9.0, 77.7 +/- 8.2, and 72.5 +/- 5.9, respectively; the GI of the WB alone, or of WB + Marg, with 0, 2.5, 5, or 7.5 g of NVP was 71.0 +/- 0.0, 66.8 +/- 3.0, 47.5 +/- 5.9, 37.3 +/- 5.9, and 33.9 +/- 3.6, respectively. CONCLUSION: Addition of NVP to different food matrices is highly effective in lowering the glycemic index of a food in a dose-responsive manner" - See Natural Factors, WellBetX PGX with Mulberry, 180 Capsules at iHerb.
• Adiposity and Insulin Resistance Correlate with Telomere Length in Middle-aged Arabs: The Influence of Circulating Adiponectin - Eur J Endocrinol. 2010 Aug - "Studies in obesity have implicated adipocytokines in the development of insulin resistance, which in turn may lead to accelerated aging ... HOMA-IR was the most significant predictor for TL in males, explaining 35% of the variance (p = 0.01). In females, adiponectin, accounted for 28% of the variance in TL (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with chromosomal TL among adult Arabs. Evidence of causal relations needs further investigation. The positive association of adiponectin to TL has clinical implications as to the possible protective effects of this hormone from accelerated aging" - Note:  HOMA-IR = (glucose x insulin)/405 for glucose in mass units (US units) mg/dL.  See my adiponectin page for ways to increase it.
• Blueberries Decrease Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Obese Men and Women with Metabolic Syndrome - J Nutr. 2010 Jul 21 - "Forty-eight participants with metabolic syndrome [4 males and 44 females; BMI: 37.8 +/- 2.3 kg/m(2); age: 50.0 +/- 3.0 y (mean +/- SE)] consumed freeze-dried blueberry beverage (50 g freeze-dried blueberries, approximately 350 g fresh blueberries) or equivalent amounts of fluids (controls, 960 mL water) daily for 8 wk in a randomized controlled trial. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements, assessment of dietary intakes, and fasting blood draws were conducted at screening and at wk 4 and 8 of the study. The decreases in systolic and diastolic blood pressures were greater in the blueberry-supplemented group (-6 and -4%, respectively) than in controls (-1.5 and -1.2%) (P < 0.05), whereas the serum glucose concentration and lipid profiles were not affected. The decreases in plasma oxidized LDL and serum malondialdehyde and hydroxynonenal concentrations were greater in the blueberry group (-28 and -17%, respectively) than in the control group (-9 and -9%) (P < 0.01). Our study shows blueberries may improve selected features of metabolic syndrome and related cardiovascular risk factors at dietary achievable doses" - See blueberry extracts at iHerb.
• Intake of Fish and n-3 Fatty Acids and Future Risk of Metabolic Syndrome - J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Jul;110(7):1018-1026 - "After controlling for potential cardiovascular risk factors, multivariate OR for metabolic syndrome was 0.43 (95% CI 0.23 to 0.83) for men who ate fish daily when compared with those eating fish less than once a week. Similarly, metabolic syndrome risk was halved for men in the top decile of n-3 fatty acid intake when compared with those in the bottom decile (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.99). In particular, fish intake was significantly associated with triglyceride level and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level among the metabolic syndrome components. For women, apparent associations were not observed between fish intake or n-3 fatty acid intake and metabolic syndrome risk. CONCLUSIONS: In a prospective study, high consumption of fish and n-3 fatty acids was significantly associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome among men, but not among women. Whether or not encouraging fish intake can help prevent the development of metabolic syndrome warrants further studies" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• Green Tea Supplementation Affects Body Weight, Lipids, and Lipid Peroxidation in Obese Subjects with Metabolic Syndrome - J Am Coll Nutr. 2010 Feb;29(1):31-40 - "Green tea beverage consumption (4 cups/d) or extract supplementation (2 capsules/d) for 8 weeks significantly decreased body weight and BMI. Green tea beverage further lowered lipid peroxidation versus age- and gender-matched controls, suggesting the role of green tea flavonoids in improving features of metabolic syndrome in obese patients" - See Jarrow green tea extract at iHerb.
• Low vitamin D linked to the metabolic syndrome in elderly people - Science Daily, 7/1/10 - "vitamin D inadequacy may be a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome, a condition that affects one in four adults ... Because the metabolic syndrome increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, an adequate vitamin D level in the body might be important in the prevention of these diseases ... The researchers found a 48 percent prevalence of vitamin D deficiency" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Well-defined quantity of antioxidants in diet can improve insulin resistance, study finds - Science Daily, 6/21/10 - "For groups C and D, the researchers prescribed a diet enriched in antioxidant, with a calculated intake, 800 to 1,000 milligrams a day, coming from fruits and vegetables, but group D also took metformin ... Despite similar weight loss in all the groups, only the two groups receiving the antioxidant diet (groups C and D) had a significant decrease in insulin resistance ... Group D had the best improvement in insulin resistance on some measures of insulin response to an oral glucose tolerance test ... We think that a total antioxidant level of 800 to 1,000 milligrams a day is safe and probably not close to the maximum tolerable level"
• Green tea extract decreases oxidative stress and improves insulin sensitivity in an animal model of insulin resistance, the fructose-fed rat - J Am Coll Nutr. 2009 Aug;28(4):355-61 - "These data suggest that green tea may be beneficial for people with decreased insulin sensitivity and increased oxidative stress, such as those with the metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes" - See Jarrow green tea extract at iHerb.
• Selenium protects men against diabetes, study suggests - Science Daily, 3/17/10 - "The role of selenium in diabetes has been controversial, with some studies suggesting that it raises diabetes risk and others finding that it is protective. Now, research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism, has shown that, for men, high plasma selenium concentrations are associated with a lower occurrence of dysglycemia ... for French elderly males, having plasma selenium concentrations in the top tertile of the population distribution (1.19-1.97 μmol/L) was significantly associated with a lower risk of developing dysglycemia over the following nine years ... The reason we observed a protective effect of selenium in men but not in women is not completely clear, but might be attributed to women being healthier at baseline, having better antioxidant status in general and possible differences in how men and women process selenium" - [Nutra USA] - See selenium products at iHerb.
• Insulin Resistance - Dr. Weil - "Supplements: ... Coenzyme Q10 ... Alpha-lipoic acid ... Magnesium ... Chromium"
• Curcumin improves insulin resistance in skeletal muscle of rats - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2010 Mar 12 - "Curcumin improves muscular insulin resistance by increasing oxidation of fatty acid and glucose, which is, at least in part, mediated through LKB1-AMPK pathway" - See curcumin/turmeric products at iHerb.
• High levels of vitamin D in older people can reduce heart disease and diabetes - Science Daily, 2/16/10 - "Researchers looked at 28 studies including 99,745 participants across a variety of ethnic groups including men and women. The studies revealed a significant association between high levels of vitamin D and a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (33% compared to low levels of vitamin D), type 2 diabetes (55% reduction) and metabolic syndrome (51% reduction)" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• What You Eat After Working Out Matters - WebMD, 1/29/10 - "A new study shows that eating a low-carbohydrate meal after aerobic exercise enhances insulin sensitivity. Increased insulin sensitivity makes it easier for the body to take up sugar from the bloodstream and store it in muscles and other tissues where it can be used for fuel ... Impaired insulin sensitivity, or insulin resistance, increases the risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease"
• Dietary Anthocyanin-Rich Bilberry Extract Ameliorates Hyperglycemia and Insulin Sensitivity via Activation of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase in Diabetic Mice - J Nutr. 2010 Jan 20 - "Blueberries or bilberries contain large amounts of anthocyanins, making them one of the richest sources of dietary anthocyanin ... bilberry extract (BBE) ... Dietary BBE significantly reduced the blood glucose concentration and enhanced insulin sensitivity ... These findings provide a biochemical basis for the use of bilberry fruits and have important implications for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes via activation of AMPK" - See bilberry products at iHerb.
• High Fructose Intake Linked to Metabolic Syndrome, Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 1/14/10 - "men who were randomized to receive 200 g fructose daily for 2 weeks without or without allopurinol ... Fructose intake was associated with an average increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure of 7 and 5 mm Hg, respectively ... Mean fasting triglyceride levels rose by 0.62 mmol/L (p < 0.002), while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels fell by 0.06 mmol/L ... the prevalence of metabolic syndrome increased by 25% to 33%"
• Examination of the Antiglycemic Properties of Vinegar in Healthy Adults - Ann Nutr Metab. 2010 Jan 4;56(1):74-79 - "Vinegar reduces postprandial glycemia (PPG) in healthy adults ... Two teaspoons of vinegar ( approximately 10 g) effectively reduced PPG, and this effect was most pronounced when vinegar was ingested during mealtime as compared to 5 h before the meal ... The antiglycemic properties of vinegar are evident when small amounts of vinegar are ingested with meals composed of complex carbohydrates. In these situations, vinegar attenuated PPG by approximately 20% compared to placebo" - See Source Naturals, Apple Cider Vinegar - 1 Source Natural 500 mg tablet equals 2 tsb of vinegar.  4.5 tablets equals about 3 tablespoons by my calculations.
• Coffee, Tea May Stall Diabetes - WebMD, 12/14/09 - "researchers found each additional cup of coffee drunk per day was associated with a 7% lower risk of diabetes. People who drank three to four cups per day had about a 25% lower risk than those who drank two or fewer cups per day ... The study also showed that people who drank more than three to four cups of decaffeinated coffee per day had about a one-third lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who didn’t drink any ... Tea drinkers who drank more than three to four cups of tea per day had about a one-fifth lower risk of diabetes than those who didn’t drink tea" - [Science Daily] - See Jarrow green tea extract at iHerb.
• Vitamin D supplements show anti-diabetes potential - Nutra USA, 10/27/09 - "At the end of the test period, women in the vitamin D group experienced “significant improvements” in both insulin sensitivity and resistance, said the researchers, which was also accompanied a decrease in fasting insulin levels, compared to placebo" - [Abstract] - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Vitamin D supplementation reduces insulin resistance in South Asian women living in New Zealand who are insulin resistant and vitamin D deficient - a randomised, placebo-controlled trial - Br J Nutr. 2009 Sep 28:1-7 - "In conclusion, improving vitamin D status in insulin resistant women resulted in improved IR and sensitivity, but no change in insulin secretion. Optimal vitamin D concentrations for reducing IR were shown to be 80-119 nmol/l, providing further evidence for an increase in the recommended adequate levels" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Low HDL Levels as the Most Common Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factor in Heart Failure - Int Heart J. 2009 Sep;50(5):571-80 - "The most prevalent parameters were low HDL-C (69%) and hypertension (69%) in all participants" -  Note:  The best way to raise HDL is with niacin.  The no flush form doesn't work and the slow release may cause liver damage.  People complain about the flush but I've been taking it for years and the longer you take it the less flush.  After a while, there is no flush at all but be sure to take it with food.  http://www.lipidsonline.org/slides/slide01.cfm?tk=25&dpg=34 shows that with extended release niacin, HDL peaks out at 2,500 mg.  http://www.lipidsonline.org/slides/slide01.cfm?q=effect+of+niacin&dpg=4 shows immediate release crystalline niacin compared to Niaspan.  The numbers are basically the same.  I don't see any point in the prescription other than that it might have less flushing when you first start taking it.  See Twinlab niacin 1000mg at iHerb.
• Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors Drive Significantly Higher Health Care Costs - Science Daily, 9/17/09 - "Risk factors for metabolic syndrome, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and elevated blood lipid levels, can increase a person's healthcare costs nearly 1.6-fold, or about $2,000 per year. For each additional risk factor those costs rise an average of 24%"
• Nuisance Or Nutrient? Kudzu Shows Promise As A Dietary Supplement - Science Daily, 8/26/09 - "root extracts from kudzu show promise as a dietary supplement for a high-risk condition — the metabolic syndrome — that affects almost 50 million people in the United States alone ... people with metabolic syndrome have obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and problems with their body's ability to use insulin ... After two months of taking the extract, the rats had lower cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and insulin levels that a control group not given the extract" - See kudzu products at iHerb.
• Carnitine Supplements Reverse Glucose Intolerance In Animals - Science Daily, 8/17/09 - "After just eight weeks of supplementation with carnitine, the obese rats restored their cells' fuel- burning capacity (which was shut down by a lack of natural carnitine) and improved their glucose tolerance, a health outcome that indicates a lower risk of diabetes ... These results offer hope for a new therapeutic option for people with glucose intolerance, older people, people with kidney disease, and those with type 2 diabetes (what used to be called adult-onset diabetes) ... Carnitine is a natural compound known for helping fatty acids enter the mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells, where fatty acids are "burned" to give cells energy for their various tasks. Carnitine also helps move excess fuel from cells into the circulating blood, which then redistributes this energy source to needier organs or to the kidneys for removal" - See l-carnitine products at iHerb.
• Resveratrol prevents hyperglycemia-induced endothelial dysfunction via activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Aug 7 - "Endothelial dysfunction secondary to persistent hyperglycemia plays a key role in the development of type 2 diabetic vascular disease ... These results provide new insight into the protective properties of resveratrol against endothelial dysfunction caused by high glucose, which is attributed to the AMPK mediated reduction of superoxide level" - Click here for a definition of endothelial dysfunction.  See Jarrow Resveratrol 100 at iHerb.
• Low vitamin D levels linked to metabolic syndrome - Nutra USA, 8/4/09 - "According to findings published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, the lowest levels of the sunshine vitamin were associated with a 31 per cent prevalence of metabolic syndrome, compared to only 10 per cent for people wit the highest average levels" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Metabolic syndrome and serum carotenoids: findings of a cross-sectional study in Queensland, Australia - Br J Nutr. 2009 Jul 27:1-10 - "Mean serum alpha-, beta-carotenes and the sum of the five carotenoid concentrations were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in persons with the metabolic syndrome ... alpha-, beta- and total carotenoids also decreased significantly (P < 0.05) with increased number of components of the metabolic syndrome ... Low concentrations of serum alpha-, beta-carotenes and the sum of five carotenoids appear to be associated with metabolic syndrome status" - See Nature's Way, Multi-Carotene Anti-oxidant at iHerb.
• Omega-3 fatty acid supplements improve the cardiovascular risk profile of subjects with metabolic syndrome, including markers of inflammation and auto-immunity - Acta Cardiol. 2009 Jun;64(3):321-7 - "were given 1 gram of fish oil as a single capsule, containing 180 mg eicosapentaenoic acid and 120 mg docosahexaenoic acid daily for 6 months. Control subjects did not receive any supplementation over the same period. RESULTS: The study was completed by 47 subjects in the intervention group and 42 subjects in the control group. Treatment with omega 3 supplements was associated with a significant fall in body weight (P < 0.05), systolic blood pressures (P < 0.05), serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.05), and total cholesterol (P < 0.05), triglycerides (P < 0.05), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (P < 0.01), and Hsp27 antibody titres (P < 0.05). No significant changes were observed in the control group. CONCLUSION: It appears that omega 3 improves the cardiovascular risk profile of subjects with metabolic syndrome, having effects on weight, systolic blood pressure, lipid profile and markers of inflammation and autoimmunity" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• Ameliorating Hypertension and Insulin Resistance in Subjects at Increased Cardiovascular Risk. Effects of Acetyl-L-Carnitine Therapy - Hypertension. 2009 Jul 20 - "glucose disposal rate (GDR) ... Systolic blood pressure decreased from 144.0+/-13.6 to 135.1+/-8.4 mm Hg and from 130.8+/-12.4 to 123.8+/-10.8 mm Hg in the lower and higher GDR groups, respectively (P<0.05 for both; P<0.001 overall) and progressively recovered toward baseline over 8 weeks posttreatment. Total and high molecular weight adiponectin levels followed specular trends. Diastolic blood pressure significantly decreased only in those with higher GDRs. Treatment was well tolerated in all of the patients. Acetyl-L-carnitine safely ameliorated arterial hypertension, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, and hypoadiponectinemia in subjects at increased cardiovascular risk" - See acetyl-l-carnitine products at iHerb.
• Citrus-derived Flavonoid Prevents Obesity, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 7/14/09 - "Naringenin corrected the elevations in triglyceride and cholesterol, prevented the development of insulin resistance and completely normalized glucose metabolism. The researchers found it worked by genetically reprogramming the liver to burn up excess fat, rather than store it ... Furthermore, the marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin ... 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" - See naringenin products at iHerb.
• Threshold for effects of vitamin D deficiency on glucose metabolism in obese female African American adolescents - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Jun 23 - "Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in obese, AA female adolescents and may promote insulin resistance. Our data suggests that a 25(OH)D concentrations </=15 ng/mL may be the threshold by which vitamin D deficiency confers negative effects on insulin sensitivity" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Older People Need More Sun, Expert Urges - Science Daily, 5/11/09 - "His team found a high correlation between low vitamin D levels and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. They found 94% of people in the study had a vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) deficiency or insufficiency. The results showed 42.3% of these people also had metabolic syndrome ... Vitamin D deficiency is becoming a condition that is causing a large burden of disease across the globe with particular deleterious impact among the elderly" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Dietary carotenoid intake is associated with lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and elderly men - J Nutr. 2009 May;139(5):987-92 - "After adjustment for confounders, total carotenoid and lycopene intakes were inversely associated with presence of metabolic syndrome [relative risk (RR) quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 (95% CI) 0.42 (0.20-0.87), P-trend 0.02; and 0.55 (0.28-1.11), P-trend 0.01, respectively]. For beta-carotene, a decreased risk was observed for each quartile of intake compared with the first [RR quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 (95% CI) 0.58 (0.33-1.02)]. Higher total carotenoid, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lycopene intakes were associated with lower waist circumferences and visceral and subcutaneous fat mass. Higher lycopene intake was related to lower serum triglyceride concentrations" - See Nature's Way, Multi-Carotene Anti-oxidant at iHerb.
• Recipe for Diabetes: Too Much Protein, Fat - WebMD, 4/7/09 - "A high-fat diet may lead to insulin resistance, a major step on the path to type 2 diabetes. But cutting back on fat may not help those who continue to eat too much protein"
• Chardonnay grape seed procyanidin extract supplementation prevents high-fat diet-induced obesity in hamsters by improving adipokine imbalance and oxidative stress markers - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008 Nov 26 - "GSE prevented in part these effects, reducing insulinemia and leptinemia by 16.5 and 45%, respectively, whereas adiponectin level increased by 61% compared with obese controls. GSE lowered glycemia and HOMA-IR and strongly prevented cardiac production of superoxide by 74% and NAD(P)H oxidase expression by 30%. This is the first time that chronic consumption of grape phenolics is shown to reduce obesity development and related metabolic pathways including adipokine secretion and oxidative stress" - See OPC + 95 products at iHerb.
• Consuming A Little Less Salt Could Mean Fewer Deaths - Science Daily, 3/11/09 - "Participants who slept on average less than six hours a night during the work week, when followed over six years, were 4.56 times more likely than those getting six to eight hours of sleep to convert from normal blood sugar levels to impaired fasting glucose"
• Low Vitamin D Hurts Teenagers’ Hearts - WebMD, 3/11/09 - "Compared to the 25% of teens with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood (more than 26 nanograms per milliliter), the 25% of teens with the lowest vitamin D levels (less than 15 ng/mL) had: ... Fourfold greater risk of metabolic syndrome, a combination of risk factors for diabetes ... 2.54 times greater risk of high blood sugar ... 2.36 times greater risk of high blood pressure" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• An oily fish diet increases insulin sensitivity compared to a red meat diet in young iron-deficient women - Br J Nutr. 2009 Feb 12:1-8 - "Insulin levels significantly decreased and insulin sensitivity significantly increased with the oily fish diet. HDL-cholesterol significantly increased with the oily fish diet" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids Prevent Medical Complications Of Obesity, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 2/12/09 - "Our study shows for the first time that lipids called protectins and resolvins derived from omega-3 fatty acids can actually reduce the instance of liver complications, such as hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance, in obese people" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• Prevention of insulin resistance by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2009 Mar;12(2):138-46 - "n-3 PUFA supplementation has clinical significance in the prevention and reversal of insulin resistance" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Is Associated with Markers of the Insulin Resistant Phenotype in Nondiabetic Adults - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "Among adults without diabetes, vitamin D status was inversely associated with surrogate fasting measures of insulin resistance. These results suggest that vitamin D status may be an important determinant for type 2 diabetes mellitus" - See Vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Ferritin Levels Linked With Risk of Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 12/22/08 - "Elevated circulating ferritin concentrations are independently associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and elderly Chinese subjects ... Men and women had median ferritin concentrations of 155.7 ng/mL and 111.9 ng/mL, respectively (p < 0.001). Compared to patients in the lowest ferritin quartile, those in the highest quartile had substantially higher odds ratios for metabolic syndrome (2.80) and diabetes (3.26)" - Iron supplements has been controversial for years.  I started taking it again because my ferritin was 11.9.
• Metabolic Syndrome? Nuts! - WebMD, 12/8/08 - "A group that was given personalized advice on the Mediterranean diet and about 2 tablespoons of mixed nuts (1/2 walnuts, 1/4 almonds, and 1/4 hazelnuts) each day ... A year later, nobody lost weight. And about the same number of people developed newly diagnosed metabolic syndrome in each group ... But among patients who already had metabolic syndrome, those in the nut group were 70% more likely to have reversal of metabolic syndrome than those in the control group"
• Vitamin K Linked To Insulin Resistance In Older Men - Science Daily, 11/26/08 - "Vitamin K slowed the development of insulin resistance in elderly men in a study of 355 non-diabetic men and women ages 60 to 80 who completed a three-year clinical trial at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University" - See vitamin K products at iHerb.
• Chronic Green Tea Consumption Decreases Body Mass, Induces Aromatase Expression, and Changes Proliferation and Apoptosis in Adult Male Rat Adipose Tissue - J Nutr. 2008 Nov;138(11):2156-2163 - "Green tea (GT) ... These results suggest new mechanisms for GT on body weight and highlight its potential benefit to prevent or treat obesity and the metabolic syndrome" - See Jarrow green tea at iHerb.
• The major green tea polyphenol, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, inhibits obesity, metabolic syndrome, and Fatty liver disease in high-fat-fed mice - J Nutr. 2008 Sep;138(9):1677-83 - "In mice fed a high-fat diet (60% energy as fat), supplementation with dietary EGCG treatment (3.2 g/kg diet) for 16 wk reduced body weight (BW) gain, percent body fat, and visceral fat weight (P < 0.05) compared with mice without EGCG treatment ... EGCG treatment attenuated insulin resistance, plasma cholesterol, and monocyte chemoattractant protein concentrations in high-fat-fed mice (P < 0.05). EGCG treatment also decreased liver weight, liver triglycerides, and plasma alanine aminotransferase concentrations in high-fat-fed mice (P < 0.05). Histological analyses of liver samples revealed decreased lipid accumulation in hepatocytes in mice treated with EGCG compared with high-fat diet-fed mice without EGCG treatment. In another experiment, 3-mo-old high-fat-induced obese mice receiving short-term EGCG treatment (3.2 g/kg diet, 4 wk) had decreased mesenteric fat weight and blood glucose compared with high-fat-fed control mice (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that long-term EGCG treatment attenuated the development of obesity, symptoms associated with the metabolic syndrome, and fatty liver. Short-term EGCG treatment appeared to reverse preexisting high-fat-induced metabolic pathologies in obese mice. These effects may be mediated by decreased lipid absorption, decreased inflammation, and other mechanisms" - See Jarrow green tea at iHerb.
• Effect of vitamin K supplementation on insulin resistance in older men and women - Diabetes Care. 2008 Aug 12 - "The effect of 36-month vitamin K supplementation on HOMA-IR differed by sex (sex-by-treatment interaction: P = 0.02). HOMA-IR was statistically significantly lower at the 36-month visit among men in the supplement group vs. the men in the control group (P = 0.01) after adjustment for baseline HOMA-IR, BMI, and body weight change. There were no statistically significant differences in outcome measures between intervention groups in women ... Vitamin K supplementation for 36 months at doses attainable in the diet may reduce progression of insulin resistance in older men" - See vitamin K products at iHerb.
• Vitamin C-rich diet may slash diabetes risk - Nutra USA, 7/29/08 - "Increased blood levels of vitamin C may reduce the risk of developing diabetes by 62 per cent ... Correlating blood levels of vitamin C and diabetes, the researchers found that men and women with the highest blood levels (at least 1.10 and 1.29 mg/dL, respectively) had a 62 per cent reduction in their risk of developing type-2 diabetes, compared to men and women with the lowest blood levels (less than 0.56 and 0.77 mg/dL, respectively)" - See vitamin C products at iHerb.
• Regular Meals Reduce Risk Of Developing Metabolic Syndrome, Study Shows - Science Daily, 7/22/08 - "People who eat at irregular times run a greater risk of developing insulin resistance and what is known as metabolic syndrome"
• Interval Training May Beat Mild Exercise at Taming Metabolic Syndrome - WebMD, 7/7/08 - "aerobic interval training -- in which people push their heart rate almost to its limits briefly, followed by a more moderate pace, several times during a workout -- may be even better at reining in metabolic syndrome"
• Common Cooking Spice Found In Curry Shows Promise In Combating Diabetes And Obesity - Science Daily, 6/20/08 - "turmeric-treated mice were less susceptible to developing Type 2 diabetes, based on their blood glucose levels, and glucose and insulin tolerance tests. They also discovered that turmeric-fed obese mice showed significantly reduced inflammation in fat tissue and liver compared to controls. They speculate that curcumin, the anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant ingredient in turmeric, lessens insulin resistance and prevents Type 2 diabetes in these mouse models by dampening the inflammatory response provoked by obesity" - See Curcumin/turmeric products at iHerb.
• n-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids in patients with the metabolic syndrome: a case-control study in Korea - Br J Nutr. 2008 Feb 28;:1-6 - "trans fatty acids of erythrocytes (RBC) ... There were significant positive relationships between trans fatty acids and waist circumference, and between trans fatty acids and BMI. The results suggested that RBC trans fatty acids might be a predictor of increased risk for the metabolic syndrome, but n-3 fatty acids were not in this population"
• Are there specific treatments for the metabolic syndrome? - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan;87(1):8-11 - "Although there is no "all-inclusive" diet yet, it seems plausible that a Mediterranean-style diet has most of the desired attributes, including a lower content of refined carbohydrates, a high content of fiber, a moderate content of fat (mostly unsaturated), and a moderate-to-high content of vegetable proteins"
• Renoprotective action of l-carnitine in fructose-induced metabolic syndrome - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2007 Dec 17 - "l-carnitine (CA) administration ... The benefits of CA in this model suggest the therapeutic use of CA to counter the kidney changes associated with metabolic syndrome" - See l-carnitine products at iHerb.
• Moderate Exercise Cuts Rate Of Metabolic Syndrome - Science Daily, 12/17/07 - "a person can lower risk of MetS by walking just 30 minutes a day, six days per week ... Before exercising regularly, 41 percent of the participants met the criteria for MetS. At the end of the 8-month exercise program, only 27 percent did"
• Antioxidants may stop fat cells formation, says study - Nutra USA, 11/12/07 - "These results suggest that o-coumaric acid and rutin targeted for adipocyte functions could be effective in improving the symptoms of metabolic syndrome" - [Abstract]
• Effects of flavonoids and phenolic acids on the inhibition of adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes - J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Oct 17;55(21):8404-10 - "These results suggest that o-coumaric acid and rutin targeted for adipocyte functions could be effective in improving the symptoms of metabolic syndrome"
• Intake of soluble fibers has a protective role for the presence of metabolic syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep 19 - "The intake of soluble fibers, particularly from whole-grain foods and fruits, may have a protective role for the presence of MS in this selected sample of patients with type 2 DM"
• Red Wine Compound May Curb Diabetes - WebMD, 10/2/07 - "Resveratrol curbs insulin resistance in mice ... According to our findings, people might need to drink about three liters of red wine each day to get sufficient resveratrol -- about 15 milligrams -- for its biological effects" - See resveratrol products at iHerb.
• Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the metabolic syndrome in morbid obesity - Clin Nutr. 2007 Jul 9 - "Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the metabolic syndrome in morbidly obese patients"
• Drinking milk cuts diabetes risk - BBC News, 7/13/07 - "metabolic syndrome increased the risk of death by 50% ... men were 62% less likely to have the syndrome if they drank a pint or more of milk every day, and 56% less likely to have it if they regularly ate other dairy produce"
• Preventing Progression From Impaired Glucose Tolerance to Diabetes - Medscape, 12/14/06 - "Every kilogram of weight lost resulted in a relative risk reduction of 16%, after adjusting for exercise and diet composition. A 5-kg weight loss resulted in a relative risk reduction of 58% ... These findings do not negate the role of exercise in weight loss; rather, they suggest that weight loss itself is the key factor, however one achieves it"
• n-3 fatty acids and the metabolic syndrome - Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Jun;83(6 Suppl):1499S-1504S - "Increased intakes or supplements of n-3 marine fatty acids may improve defects in insulin signaling and prevent alterations in glucose homeostasis and the further development of type 2 diabetes"
• Metabolic Syndrome, The Twenty-First Century Epidemic - Life Extension Magazine, 7/06 - "little attention has been paid to the critical role of insulin resistance in the development of cardiovascular disease. Insulin resistance is the root cause of metabolic syndrome ... Nutritional supplements can help improve blood sugar control and metabolic health naturally, without danger or stress to your body. Particularly compelling are polyphenol-rich, water-soluble extracts of cinnamon and coffee, along with green tea extract, chromium, and banaba leaf-derived corosolic acid"
• Calorie Restriction without Hunger! - Life Extension Magazine, 7/06 - "excess insulin functions as a death hormone that devastates virtually every cell and organ system in the body"
• Need More Magnesium? - Dr. Weil, 6/29/06 - "a diet rich in magnesium appears to protect against metabolic syndrome, a combination of risk factors that can lead to diabetes and heart disease"
• Magnesium Lowers Heart, Diabetes Risks - WebMD, 3/27/06 - "people in the study who consumed the most magnesium had a 31% lower risk of developing metabolic syndrome, compared with people who ate the least"
• Older Adults May Reduce Risk Of Metabolic Syndrome By Eating More Whole Grains - Science Daily, 2/6/06
• Older Adults May Reduce Risk of Metabolic Syndrome by Eating More Whole Grains - Doctor's Guide, 2/6/06 - "as whole-grain intake increased, fasting blood sugar levels were lower in these subjects. Refined grain intake, on the other hand, was associated with higher fasting blood sugar levels ... people who consumed high amounts of refined grains had twice the risk of having metabolic syndrome than those people who consumed the fewest servings of refined grains"
• Three-week Diet-Exercise Study Shows 50 Percent Reversal In Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes - Science Daily, 1/16/06 - "The study shows, contrary to common belief, that Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome can be reversed solely through lifestyle changes ... Participants did lose two to three pounds per week, but they were still obese after the 3-week study ... The daily diet was low fat (12-15% of calories), moderate protein (15-20% of calories), and high in unrefined carbohydrates (65-70% of calories) and fiber (more than 40 grams) ... Natural foods -- whole grains (five or more servings daily), vegetables (four or more servings), and fruits (three or more servings) -- were the main source of daily carbohydrates ... Aside from meat and dairy, the study participants could eat as much as they wanted"
• Wholegrains ease metabolic syndrome in older people - Nutra USA, 1/12/06 - "Volunteers in the highest wholegrain intake group (3 servings per day) were statistically half as likely to develop MetS as those who consumed less than half a serving per day"
• A New Strategy for Preventing Metabolic Syndrome - Life Extension Magazine, 12/05 - "Nutraceutical strategy ... DHEA: 10-50 mg per day to start (men), 10-30 mg per day to start (women); assess effect via repeat blood test ... EPA/DHA: 2 capsules twice daily ... Lipoic acid: 150 mg once or twice daily ... Mixed bioflavonoids: 1400 mg twice daily ... Mixed tocopherols: 400 IU twice daily with mixed tocotrienols (75 mg twice daily) ... Vitamin A: 5000 IU per day, with mixed carotenoids (for example, lutein 5000 mcg, lycopene 3000 mcg, and zeaxanthin 360 mcg) daily ... Water-soluble cinnamon extract: 85 mg three times daily, 30 minutes before meals ... Barley extract: 2.5 grams three times daily with meals ... Pycnogenol: 200 mg daily ... Coffee extract standardized for 50% phenolic acids: 100 mg three times daily, 30 minutes before meals"
• More Dairy, Less Metabolic Syndrome? - WebMD, 11/17/05 - "skim milk or other low-fat dairy products are the best route to go ... the group with the highest dairy consumption was 40% less likely to have metabolic syndrome, compared with the group of men with the lowest dairy consumption"
• Low-carb Diet Better Than Low-fat Diet At Improving Metabolic Syndrome - Science Daily, 11/16/05 - "the features of metabolic syndrome are precisely those that are improved by reducing carbohydrates in the diet"
• Study Results Show Diachrome(R) Improves Poorly-Controlled Blood Sugar Levels for People on Antidiabetic Prescription Medications - Doctor's Guide, 9/13/05 - "Study participants taking Diachrome with one or more antidiabetic medications saw an average range of 0.7 - 1.9% point reduction in HbA1c levels. The study also showed that insulin resistance was significantly reduced (P<0.05) in those taking thiazolidinediones and Diachrome ... Diachrome is a nutritional supplement specifically formulated for people with diabetes. It contains 600 mcg of chromium as Chromax(R) chromium picolinate and 2 mg of biotin" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products and iHerb or Vitacost biotin products.
• Vinegar may help dieters eat less - Nutra USA, 9/7/05 - "Both glucose and insulin responses were about 25 per cent lower at 90 minutes when the volunteers had consumed the highest level of vinegar compared to the reference meal ... This level of vinegar is equivalent to about two to three tablespoons"
• Vinegar supplementation lowers glucose and insulin responses and increases satiety after a bread meal in healthy subjects - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jun 2 - "Compared with the reference meal, the highest level of vinegar significantly lowered the blood glucose response at 30 and 45 min"
• High Glycemic Index or High Carbohydrate Diet May Not Increase Risk of Insulin Resistance - Medscape, 6/6/05 - "Habitual intake of diets with a high glycemic index and high glycemic load or diets with a high content of total carbohydrate including simple sugars was not associated with the probability of having insulin resistance ... intake of dietary fiber was inversely associated with the probability of having insulin resistance"
• Magnesium Intake, C-Reactive Protein, and the Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-Aged and Older U.S. Women - Diabetes Care. 2005 Jun;28(6):1438-1444 - "women in the highest quintile of magnesium intake had 27% lower risk of the metabolic syndrome ... compared with those in the lowest quintile of intake"
• Does Replacing DHEA Improve Insulin Sensitivity? - Physician's Weekly, 5/16/05 - "DHEA replacement “significantly increased [sulfated ester of DHEA], bioavailable testosterone, and androstenedione and reduced sex hormone–binding globulin levels.” The DHEA group also had lower fasting plasma insulin and glucagon levels. “DHEA also [significantly] reduced total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol,”" - See iHerb or Vitacost DHEA products
• Magnesium Deficiency in Obese Children May Be Linked to Insulin Resistance - Medscape, 5/9/05 - "Magnesium deficiency in obese children is associated with the development of insulin resistance"
• WARNING! Normal Blood Pressure May Be High Blood Pressure! - Life Extension Magazine, 5/05 - "To Solve Hypertension, Address Metabolic Syndrome"
• Long or Short Sleep Time May Be Associated With Diabetes - Medscape, 4/26/05 - "Sleep duration of six hours or less or nine hours or more is associated with increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)"
• Vinegar as a Sweet Solution? - Science News, 12/18/04 - "2 tablespoons of vinegar before a meal—perhaps, as part of a vinaigrette salad dressing—will dramatically reduce the spike in blood concentrations of insulin and glucose that come after a meal ... vinegar cut their blood-glucose rise in the first hour after a meal by about half ... a 2-pound weight loss, on average, over the 4 weeks in the vinegar group"
• Exercise Away Risk of Early Death - WebMD, 12/29/04 - "After six months, 18% of exercisers and 15% of the comparison group no longer had metabolic syndrome. However, 8% of volunteers in the comparison group had developed the syndrome ... Older people can benefit greatly from exercise, especially to reduce their risk for developing metabolic syndrome"
• Exercise May Reduce Metabolic Syndrome Risks - WebMD, 11/15/04 - "physical fitness was associated with lower levels of an inflammation marker associated with heart disease, known as C-reactive protein"
• Low-Fat, High-Fiber, Exercising Helpful for Metabolic Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 10/22/04 - "The diet contained 12% to 15% fat calories and less than 30 grams of fiber daily ... As part of the exercise program, patients performed 45 to 60 minutes of aerobic activity daily. Strength training exercises were included in the workout about 3 times a week ... 58% of the patients in the study no longer met three or more of those criteria by the time the patients completed the study"
• Effect of a mediterranean-style diet on endothelial dysfunction and markers of vascular inflammation in the metabolic syndrome: a randomized trial - JAMA. 2004 Sep 22;292(12):1440-6 - "A Mediterranean-style diet might be effective in reducing the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its associated cardiovascular risk"
• Insulin resistance and endothelial function are improved after folate and vitamin B12 therapy in patients with metabolic syndrome: relationship between homocysteine levels and hyperinsulinemia -  Eur J Endocrinol. 2004 Oct;151(4):483-9 - "Folate and B12 treatment improved insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction, along with decreasing homocysteine levels, in patients with the metabolic syndrome, suggesting that folic acid had several beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease risk factors"
• Mediterranean Diet May Be Effective in Reducing Metabolic Syndrome and Associated Symptoms - Doctor's Guide, 9/22/04 - "after 2 years, patients in the Mediterranean diet intervention group had significant decreases in body weight, blood pressure, levels of glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, and triglycerides and a significant increase in levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ... Serum concentrations of interleukins 6 (IL-6), 7 (IL-7), and 18 (IL-18) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were significantly reduced in patients in the intervention group"
• Novel Fiber Limits Sugar Absorption - Life Extension Magazine, 9/04 - "With the introduction of a new highly viscous fiber blend trademarked under the name PGX™, it may now be possible to achieve the multiple documented benefits of fiber by swallowing only a few capsules before each meal. The longevity potential associated with reducing after-meal glucose and insulin blood levels, lowering total cholesterol and LDL, and losing some weight is enormous"
• Solving Syndrome X - Dr. Murray's Natural Facts, 7/21/04 - "PGX lowers after meal blood sugar levels by approximately 20 to 40% and also lowers insulin secretion by approximately 40% producing a whole body insulin sensitivity index improvement of nearly 60%"
• High-Fiber Cereal May Ward Off Diabetes - WebMD, 6/18/04 - "eating a high-fiber cereal lowered insulin production and reduced blood glucose levels in men with elevated insulin levels, a condition known as hyperinsulinemia"
• Insulin Plays Central Role In Aging, Brown Scientists Discover - Science Daily, 6/4/04 - "insulin regulates its own production and that it directly regulates tissue aging. The principle: Keep insulin levels low and cells are stronger, staving off infection and age-related diseases such as cancer, dementia and stroke"
• Moderate Alcohol May Improve Diabetes - WebMD, 6/1/04 - "alcohol improves the body's resistance to insulin -- the hallmark of type 2 diabetes ... the evidence from large-population studies is fairly consistent and shows a reduction in risk of 30% to 40% associated with moderate drinking"
• What makes people fat, why diets don't work, and what triggers appetite? - Dr. Murray's Natural Facts, 3/17/04 - "PGX™ lowers after meal blood sugar levels by approximately 20 to 40% and also lowers insulin secretion by approximately 40% producing a whole body insulin sensitivity index improvement of nearly 50% - a phenomenal accomplishment that is unequalled by any drug or natural health product.10 PGX™ is particularly well-suited for syndrome X" - See iHerb or Vitacost PGX products.
• Eating Whole Grains Pays Off - WebMD, 2/19/04 - "greater consumption of whole-grain, cereal fiber, and diets with lower glycemic index were associated with better insulin sensitivity and were less likely to be affected by insulin resistant or the metabolic syndrome"
• Wholegrain intake associated with lower risk of metabolic syndrome - Nutra USA, 2/18/04 - "intakes of total dietary fiber, cereal fiber, fruit fiber, and whole grains were inversely associated, whereas glycemic index and glycemic load were positively associated with insulin resistance"
• Diet, lifestyle may lower colon cancer risk - MSNBC, 1/23/04 - "One prime suspect now is insulin resistance. In this condition, higher levels of insulin circulate because the body is less responsive to it. Insulin and related growth factors seem to change cell processes in ways that promote the development of cancer"
• What You Don’t Know About Blood Sugar - Life Extension Magazine, 1/04 - "it now appears that optimal fasting blood glucose levels should probably be under 86 mg/dL ... Chromium supplements have been shown to reduce blood glucose significantly.70-74 The dose used in human studies ranges from 200 to 1000 mcg of elemental chromium a day, with best results occurring when 400 mcg or more of chromium is taken daily ... Nondiabetics using metformin may start off at 500 mg a day and gradually build up to 1000-1500 mg a day. The objective is not to take so much metformin as to induce a hypoglycemic state" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.
• Higher Whole-Grain Intake Associated With Increased Insulin Sensitivity - Medscape, 11/7/03 - "Given that insulin sensitivity is one of the main predictors of diabetes, our findings support previous reports on the protective effects of whole grains on the risk of developing diabetes in men and women by substantiating one of the underlying mechanisms"
• Whole-grain intake and insulin sensitivity: the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Nov;78(5):965-71 - "Higher intakes of whole grains were associated with increases in insulin sensitivity"
• Exercise, Weight Loss Helps Patients with Syndrome X - Physician's Weekly, 10/6/03
• The potential of metformin for diabetes prevention - Diabetes Metab. 2003 Sep;29(4):104-11 - "Treatment with metformin significantly reduced the incidence of diabetes in subjects with IGT and high-normal fasting plasma glucose in the DPP. Moreover, metformin was well tolerated, and health economic analyses suggest that metformin treatment is cost-effective in the US and Europe ... The results of the DPP identify metformin as an effective option for the prevention of diabetes in subjects with IGT and impaired fasting glucose"
• Potential contribution of metformin to the management of cardiovascular disease risk in patients with abdominal obesity, the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes - Diabetes Metab. 2003 Sep;29(4):53-61 - "metformin has been shown to not only contribute to a better glycaemic control but also to induce some weight loss (especially in the visceral depot) which may contribute to the improvement of the features of the metabolic syndrome. Thus, metformin treatment may represent a relevant element of an integrated lifestyle modification-pharmacotherapy to prevent not only type 2 diabetes but also cardiovascular disease"
• Metformin: drug of choice for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular complications in high-risk subjects - Diabetes Metab. 2003 Sep;29(4):121-2 - "Metformin is unique in being not only as effective as any other oral antidiabetic therapy in controlling blood glucose, but also having an unparalleled clinical database relating to improved clinical outcomes in pre-diabetic subjects, and patients with established type 2 diabetes"
• Do effects on blood pressure contribute to improved clinical outcomes with metformin? - Diabetes Metab. 2003 Sep;29(4):62-70 - "Metformin improves insulin sensitivity in liver and muscle as its primary antihyperglycaemic mechanism of action, and intensive glycaemic management with metformin significantly reduced the risk of macrovascular diabetic complications in the UK Prospective Diabetes Study. The clinical outcome benefits in the metformin group included a significant reduction in the risk of stroke (- 41% vs + 14% with sulphonylurea or insulin treatment, p=0.032) ... metformin significantly improved endothelial function, a key regulator of vascular tone and blood pressure, in type 2 diabetic patients"
• The Chromium Connection - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 9/03 - "The body requires certain nutrients to control glucose metabolism, especially chromium, zinc and vitamins B and C ... Diabetes is devastating because of its consequences. The condition often leads to hypertension, lipid disorders, cardiovascular disease, blindness, skin problems, nerve damage, kidney disorders and loss of limbs. Although it appears chromium picolinate may benefit your customers with type 2 diabetes, supplementation represents just one facet of treatment" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.
• Chromium Supplements Appear to Improve Glucose Sensitivity in Diabetics - Medscape, 8/29/03 - "We think that chromium picolinate can influence a person's diabetic treatment so that levels of insulin required may be reduced ... HbA1c levels decreased from 9.5% to 9% during a six-month period in patients receiving a higher dose of the supplement, a difference that was statistically significant ... The study also showed a significant reduction in cholesterol levels and trends for improvement in triglycerides in both chromium picolinate groups as well as a reduction in blood pressure in all groups" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.
• Light Drinking Fights Metabolic Syndrome - WebMD, 9/5/03 - "men and women who drank one to two glasses of wine per day had a 16% lower risk of metabolic syndrome than those who abstained. But those who drank three to four glasses of wine per day had an 81% higher risk of metabolic syndrome, and drinking more than five glasses a day doubled that increase in risk"
• DHEA May Fight Heart Disease, But How? - WebMD, 7/23/03 - "Endothelial dysfunction is known to contribute to atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries ... men who received 25 mg per day of DHEA supplements for 12 weeks experienced significant improvement in endothelial function as well as insulin sensitivity compared with those who took a placebo" - See iHerb or Vitacost DHEA products.
• Ginseng May Help Treat Diabetes - WebMD, 6/16/03 - "There are two reasons blood sugar can be out of control in [people with diabetes] ... Your body's tissues are not responsive enough to insulin so they don't process it properly and/or you don't make enough insulin to begin with ... Ginseng, he said, appears to help the patients both to secrete more insulin and to process better the insulin they have" - See iHerb or Vitacost American ginseng products.
• Green Tea Supplement May Delay Diabetes - WebMD, 4/16/03
• A Derivative Of The Green Tea Leaf May Help With Metabolic Syndrome X, A Potentially Deadly Disorder - Intelihealth, 4/10/03 - "A new weapon might eventually be added to the arsenal: consumption of Tegreen, a tea polyphenols product containing in excess of 65 percent tea catechins, derived from the green tea leaf ... oral administration of Tegreen is capable of improving glucose and lipid metabolisms in an obese rat model induced by a high-calorie diet ... Tegreen intervention can significantly decrease visceral fat depot and increase the insulin's sensitivity, presumably touching one of the pathological root causes of this potentially deadly syndrome" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea extracts.  My favorite is Jarrow green tea at iHerb.
• Oral Magnesium Supplementation Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects: A randomized double-blind controlled trial - Diabetes Care 2003 Apr;26(4):1147-52 - "At the end of the study, subjects who received magnesium supplementation showed ... fasting glucose levels (8.0 +/- 2.4 vs. 10.3 +/- 2.1 mmol/l ... Oral supplementation with MgCl(2) solution restores serum magnesium levels, improving insulin sensitivity and metabolic control in type 2 diabetic patients with decreased serum magnesium levels" - See iHerb or Vitacost magnesium products.
• Effects Of Alcohol, Lipids And Insulin In Non-Diabetics - Doctor's Guide, 4/3/03 - "In men, increasing alcohol consumption was associated with decreased insulin levels as well as a decline in insulin resistance. However, these effects were not apparent among women ... In men, triglyceride levels and alcohol intake showed a J-shaped relationship. Moderate drinkers, who consumed between 10 and 29 g of alcohol daily, showed the lowest triglyceride levels"
• Prevent and Reverse Diabetes with Proper Nutrition - Vitacost Newsletter, 2/20/03
• Aerobic Exercise Improves Insulin Sensitivity Without Affecting Plasma Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha - Doctor's Guide, 11/19/02
• Conjugated Linoleic Acid Isomer May Worsen Insulin Resistance by Increasing Oxidative Stress and Inflammation - Doctor's Guide, 9/5/02
• Novel Method of Enhancing Anti-Fat Effects of CLA - Life Extension Magazine, 8/02 - "CLA improves insulin sensitivity" - See iHerb or Vitacost CLA products.
• The Benefits of Carnitine and DHEA for Fat Metabolism - Life Extension Magazine, 8/02 - "Carnitine is an amino acid that's critical for converting fatty acids into fuel. Because of this, it has the potential to help people lose weight ... A lack of DHEA may be one of the primary causes of insulin resistance"
• Insulin Sensitivity Increases with Physical Exercise in Hypertensive Subjects - Doctor's Guide, 5/24/02
• Do You Have Metabolic Syndrome? - WebMD, 1/15/02
• The Prediabetic Epidemic - Nutrition Science News, 3/01

CME:

• Insulin Resistance Syndrome - U. of Alabama, exp. 3/1/07 - "it is prudent to counsel patients to eat a low-fat diet rich in fiber and complex carbohydrates ... preferred hypertension therapies include angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor antagonists, and calcium channel blockers ... For hyperlipidemia unresponsive to lifestyle modification, lipid-lowering medication is recommended"
• Conquering the Ravages of Metabolic Syndrome - John Hopkins University, 6/05
• High Normal Fasting Blood Glucose May Be a Risk Factor for Diabetes in Men - Medscape, exp. 10/5/05
• A Debate on the Metabolic Syndrome: Evolving Challenges and Controversies - Medscape, exp. 8/31/07
• Clinical Management of the Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 7/27/05 - "TZDs not only improve glucose control but favorably affect both free fatty acid metabolism and insulin action. TZD therapy has been proposed as a treatment for the metabolic syndrome by some, and a number of reports at this year's ADA meeting provided support for such an approach to therapy"
• The Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, exp. 7/27/06
• The Obesity Epidemic: Prevention and Treatment of the Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 9/18/02
• Insulin Resistance: Implications for Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases - Medscape, 9/27/01

General Information:

• Metabolic syndrome - CNN - "Doctors believe that the underlying cause of this cluster of risk factors is resistance to insulin ... Doctors use thiazolidinediones and metformin (Glucophage, Glucophage XR) to decrease insulin resistance in people with diabetes. These medications may help improve insulin metabolism in people with metabolic syndrome" - See Glucophage at SuperSaverMeds.com or OffshoreRX.com.
• Metabolic Syndrome - American Academy of Family Physicians
• Metabolic Syndrome - emedicine.com
• Metabolic Syndrome - FamilyDoctor.org
• Treatments for diabetes - Medifocus.com

Other News:

• Insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes linked to plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease - Science Daily, 8/25/10 - "People with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes appear to be at an increased risk of developing plaques in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease ... people who had abnormal results on three tests of blood sugar control had an increased risk of developing plaques. Plaques were found in 72 percent of people with insulin resistance and 62 percent of people with no indication of insulin resistance"
• Hemoglobin A1c between 5.7 and 6.4% as a marker for identifying pre-diabetes, insulin sensitivity and secretion, and cardiovascular risk factors: The Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS) - Diabetes Care. 2010 Jun 23 - "impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) ... impaired fasting glucose (IFG) ... A1C(5.7-6.4%) is less sensitive for detecting at-risk individuals than IFG and IGT, particularly among non-Hispanic whites. Single determinations of FPG and 2-h PG appear more precise correlates of insulin resistance and secretion than A1C and in general better for other metabolic disorders"
• Fructose sugar makes maturing human fat cells fatter, less insulin-sensitive, study finds - Science Daily, 6/21/10 - "high levels of fructose, which may result from eating a diet high in fructose, throughout childhood may lead to an increase in visceral [abdominal] obesity, which is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk ... For both types of fat cells, maturation in fructose decreased the cells' insulin sensitivity, which is the ability to successfully take up glucose from the bloodstream into fat and muscles. Decreased insulin sensitivity is a characteristic of Type 2 diabetes"
• Long sleep duration linked to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome in older adults - Science Daily, 6/8/10 - "participants who reported a habitual daily sleep duration of eight hours or more including naps were 15 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome"
• Metabolic cardiovascular disease risk factors and their clustering in subclinical hypothyroidism - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2010 May;72(5):689-95 - "There appears to be a significant increase in a cluster of metabolic CVD risk factors among people with subclinical hypothyroidism"
• A high normal TSH is associated with the metabolic syndrome - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2010 May;72(5):696-701 - "Subjects with a TSH in the upper normal range (2.5-4.5 mU/l, n = 119) had a significantly higher BMI (30.47 +/- 0.57 vs. 28.74 +/- 0.18 kg/m(2), P = 0.001) and higher fasting triglycerides (1.583 +/- 0.082 vs. 1.422 +/- 0.024 mmol/l, P = 0.023), and their likeliness for fulfilling the ATP III criteria of the metabolic syndrome was 1.7-fold increased"
• Serum free testosterone and metabolic syndrome in Japanese men - Endocr J. 2010 Apr 1 - "Among Japanese men who were mainly without diabetes, FT was associated with Mets independently of age, BMI, and WC. Mets and insulin resistance may decrease serum testosterone via induction of hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism, and the reduction of testosterone may in turn cause further obesity and insulin resistance, consequently initiating a vicious cycle"
• Association of Testosterone and Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin with Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance in Men - Diabetes Care. 2010 Apr 5 - "men in the first quartile (lowest) (PR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.53-3.06) and second quartile of total testosterone (PR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.86-3.37) were more likely to have metabolic syndrome than men in the fourth quartile ... Similarly, men in the first quartile of SHBG (PR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.32-3.56) were more likely to have metabolic syndrome than men in the fourth quartile ... Low concentrations of total testosterone and SHBG were strongly associated with increased likelihood of having metabolic syndrome, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and insulin resistance"
• Metabolic Syndrome Lifts Cognitive Aging Risk in Women - Clinical Psychiatry News, 3/10 - "The rate of cognitive impairment was 7% among women who had metabolic syndrome, compared with 4% among those who did not have the syndrome"
• Increased Cancer Risk Seen With Higher Blood Glucose Levels - Medscape, 1/28/10 - "in men, each 1 mmol/L (18 mg/dL) increment in blood glucose level was associated with a 5% increase in incident cancer risk and a 15% increase in fatal cancer risk ... In women, each 1 mmol/L increase in blood glucose level was associated with an 11% increase in incident cancer risk and a 21% increase in fatal cancer risk ... For men, there were glucose-related increases in the risks of incident and fatal cancer of the liver, gallbladder, and respiratory tract; incident thyroid cancer and multiple myeloma; and fatal rectal and colon cancer .... For women, there were glucose-related increases in the risks of incident and fatal pancreatic and stomach cancer; incident urinary bladder cancer and endometrial cancer; and fatal cervical and uterine corpus cancer. In women, there was also an inverse association of blood glucose with incident thyroid cancer risk ... For men and women combined, higher glucose increased the risk of death from oropharyngeal and esophageal cancers"
• Calorie restriction: Scientists take important step toward 'fountain of youth' - Science Daily, 12/26/09 - "They found that the normal cells lived longer, and many of the precancerous cells died, when given less glucose. Gene activity was also measured under these same conditions. The reduced glucose caused normal cells to have a higher activity of the gene that dictates the level of telomerase, an enzyme that extends their lifespan and lower activity of a gene (p16) that slows their growth. Epigenetic effects (effects not due to gene mutations) were found to be a major cause in changing the activity of these genes as they reacted to decreased glucose levels" - See my Insulin and Aging page.  Insulin controls glucose levels.  Insulin resistance causes high glucose.
• Hyperglycemia: New mechanism underlying cardiovascular disease described - Science Daily, 12/12/09 - "Hyperglycemia starts a complex chain of events that damages blood vessels and cause cardiovascular disease"
• Many Americans Have Prediabetes and Should Be Considered for Metformin Therapy - Diabetes Care. 2009 Oct 6 - "Criteria for consideration of metformin included the presence of both IFG and IGT, with >/=1 additional diabetes risk factor: age <60 years, BMI >/=35 kg/m(2), family history of diabetes, elevated triglycerides, reduced HDL-cholesterol, hypertension, or A1c >6.0% ... To the extent that our findings are representative of the U.S. population, approximately 1 in 12 adults has a combination of prediabetes and risk factors which may justify consideration of metformin treatment for diabetes prevention" - See metformin at IAS.
• Metabolic Syndrome Linked To Liver Disease In Obese Teenaged Boys - Science Daily, 9/29/09
• Visceral Obesity and Insulin Resistance as Risk Factors for Colorectal Adenoma: A Cross-Sectional, Case-Control Study - Am J Gastroenterol. 2009 Sep 15 - "insulin resistance was associated with the presence of colorectal adenoma"
• New Sign of Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 9/16/09 - "People with the lowest SHBG levels have a tenfold higher risk of type 2 diabetes than those with the highest SHBG levels"
• Insulin resistance and risk of incident hypertension among men - J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2009 Sep;11(9):483-90 - "The insulin sensitivity index was 6% lower in the cases compared with the controls (P<.001). The multivariable odds ratio for hypertension comparing the lowest with highest quartile of insulin sensitivity index was 1.09 (0.71-1.65) among the entire sample. However, the association between the insulin sensitivity index and incident hypertension differed significantly by age (P interaction <.001). Among men younger than 60 years, the multivariable odds ratio for the lowest compared with highest quartile was 1.93 (1.01-3.71) but was 0.67 (0.37-1.24) among older men. Insulin resistance is independently associated with incident hypertension among younger men"
• A high normal TSH is associated with the metabolic syndrome - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2009 Sep 10 - "Subjects with a TSH in the upper normal range (2.5 to 4.5 mU/l, n = 119) had a significantly higher BMI (30.47 +/- 0.57 vs. 28.74 +/- 0.18 kg/m(2), p = 0.001) and higher fasting triglycerides (1.583 +/- 0.082 vs. 1.422 +/- 0.024 mmol/l, p = 0.023), and their likeliness for fulfilling the criteria of the MS was 1.7-fold increased"
• Fat In The Liver -- Not The Belly -- May Be A Better Marker For Disease Risk - Science Daily, 8/25/09 - "Having too much liver fat is known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease ... when fat collects in the liver, people experience serious metabolic problems such as insulin resistance, which affects the body's ability to metabolize sugar. They also have increases in production of fat particles in the liver that are secreted into the bloodstream and increase the level of triglycerides"
• Lower serum testosterone is independently associated with insulin resistance in non-diabetic older men. The Health In Men Study - Eur J Endocrinol. 2009 Aug 6 - "In older men, lower total testosterone is associated with insulin resistance independently of measures of central obesity. This association is seen with testosterone levels in the low to normal range. Further studies are needed to evaluate interventions which raise testosterone levels in men with reduced insulin sensitivity"
• Stress Raises Belly Fat, Heart Risks - WebMD, 8/6/09 - "Even compared to other monkeys with the same body mass index and weight, CT scans showed that the stressed monkeys had a great deal more belly fat. And when the researchers looked at the animals' arteries, they found plaque clogging the arteries of the stressed monkeys ... it's not how much fat you have, but where it is located ... Over time, high cortisol levels cause belly fat to accumulate. It also makes individual fat cells get larger ... When you have lots more fat in visceral fat cells and all the characteristics of the metabolic syndrome, each of these things promotes atherosclerosis"
• Metabolic Factors May Play A Role In Risk For Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 6/30/09 - "The metabolic syndrome is characterized by elevated insulin levels, and in recent years scientists have proposed that insulin may contribute directly or indirectly to the development of breast cancer ... women who had the metabolic syndrome during the three to five years prior to breast cancer diagnosis had roughly a doubling of risk ... Findings also showed significant associations with elevated blood glucose levels, triglycerides and diastolic blood pressure. For diastolic blood pressure, the result was stronger, with more than a two-fold increased risk (relative risk = 2.4). Generally, for both triglycerides and glucose the relative risk was about 1.7 for all breast cancer"
• Testosterone Therapy Improves Metabolic Syndrome, Liver Steatosis in Hypogonadal Men - Doctor's Guide, 6/22/09 - "After receiving TU for 6 months, their body mass index, waist circumference, and low-density and high-density lipoprotein were improved ... Similarly, their serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels decreased towards the end of the first year of treatment, and then remained stable for the duration of the study ... The mean tryglyceride levels after treatment with TU were 195 mg/dL, down from 312 mg/dL before treatment ... LDL levels decreased after treatment as well, from 164 to 134 mg/dL, whereas HDL levels increased from 36.5 to 54.6 mg/dL"
• Antidiabetic effects of 11beta-HSD1 inhibition in a mouse model of combined diabetes, dyslipidaemia and atherosclerosis - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2009 Jul;11(7):688-99 - "Importantly, 11beta-HSD1 inhibition leads to improved glucose metabolism and does not result in a worsening of atherosclerotic lesion area, yet retained antidiabetic potential in the face of multiple severe metabolic aberrations. This study reinforces the potential use of 11beta-HSD1 inhibitors in patients with the metabolic syndrome without negatively impacting atherosclerosis"
• Insulin Changes Occur Years Before Diabetes - WebMD, 6/9/09 - "A steady trend in fasting glucose as early as 13 years prior to the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, with fasting glucose levels rising rapidly three years before diagnosis"
• Breastfeeding Cuts Metabolic Syndrome - WebMD, 6/8/09 - "Women who breastfeed their babies may be less likely to develop metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that makes heart disease and diabetes more likely"
• Insulin resistance independently predicts the progression of coronary artery calcification - Am Heart J. 2009 May;157(5):939-45 - "After controlling for these variables, higher fasting insulin levels independently predicted CAC progression"
• Daily Diet Soda Consumption Linked to Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes - Medscape, 2/11/09 - "Compared with participants who did not drink diet soda, those who drank diet soda at least daily had a 36% greater relative risk for incident MetSyn (HR, 1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11 - 1.66) and a 67% greater relative risk for incident type 2 diabetes"
• Treatment of white coat hypertension with metformin - Int Heart J. 2008 Nov;49(6):671-9 - "White coat hypertension (WCH) is most likely a disorder associated with metabolic syndrome ... Twenty-five cases (14.7%) stopped metformin therapy due to excessive anorexia. At the end of a 6-month period, there were highly significant differences between the two groups with respect to the prevalences of resolved WCH, hyperbetalipoproteinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, dyslipidemia, overweight and obesity, and decreased fasting plasma glucose below 110 mg/dL ... Thus, the management of WCH should not focus solely on the regulation of blood pressure with antihypertensive medications, but rather on the prevention of future excess weight and various associated disorders, and metformin alone is an effective therapeutic option, most likely due to its powerful inhibitory effect on appetite"
• Blood Pressure and Fasting Plasma Glucose rather than Metabolic Syndrome Predict Coronary Artery Calcium Progression: The Rancho Bernardo Study - Diabetes Care. 2008 Oct 13 - "In older adults without known heart disease, blood pressure levels and fasting plasma glucose were better independent determinants of CAC progression than MetS itself"
• Metabolic Syndrome Ups Colorectal Cancer Risk - Science Daily, 10/6/08 - "metabolic syndrome patients had a 75 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer compared to those without metabolic syndrome"
• Pioglitazone effects on blood pressure in patients with metabolic syndrome - Nippon Rinsho. 2008 Aug;66(8):1591-5 - "Although blood pressure lowering effect of pioglitazone is small, several clinical trials and a meta-analysis indicated that it decreases both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Pioglitazone has favorable effects on important components of metabolic syndrome including blood pressure"
• Expert Panel Makes Prediabetes Recommendations; Lifestyle Is No. 1 - WebMD, 7/23/08 - "In prediabetes, blood sugar levels are above normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes -- yet. But prediabetes isn't harmless; it makes diabetes (and its many complications) more likely. And it's a risk for your heart right now ... The bottom line: Prediabetes is an immediate risk and a shadow hanging over your future health. So get aggressive about dealing with it now. Don't wait until it gets worse"
• Pioglitazone Cuts Risk of Progression to Diabetes - Clinical Psychiatry News, 7/08 - "People with impaired glucose tolerance were 81% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes over a 3-year period if treated with pioglitazone ... Patients were randomized to treatment with placebo or 30 mg/day pioglitazone. If the drug was tolerated after 1 month, the dose could be increased up to 45 mg/day" - Note: Diabetes runs in my family.  I've been taking pioglitazone for several years for prevention.  See pioglitazone at OffshoreRX.com.
• Telmisartan, an Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blocker, Improves Coronary Microcirculation and Insulin Resistance among Essential Hypertensive Patients without Left Ventricular Hypertrophy - Hypertens Res. 2008 Apr;31(4):615-22 - "Coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) ... CFVR was improved in the telmisartan group (2.4+/-0.4 to 2.9+/-0.4; p<0.01), but there was no difference in the nifedipine group (2.5+/-0.3 to 2.5+/-0.3; n.s.). HOMA-IR was improved in the telmisartan group (3.1+/-1.1 to 1.6+/-0.7; p<0.01), but there was no difference in the nifedipine group (2.8+/-1.1 to 2.4+/-0.7; n.s.). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that antihypertensive therapy with telmisartan, but not nifedipine, has a beneficial effect on coronary microcirculation and insulin resistance among essential hypertensive patients"
• Effect of irbesartan on erectile function in patients with hypertension and metabolic syndrome - Int J Impot Res. 2008 Jul 3 - "Erectile function increased significantly (P<0.0001) after 6 months of treatment with irbesartan, irrespective of dosage and independent of additional treatment with hydrochlorothiazide. Prevalence of ED declined to 63.7% from 78.5% at baseline, along with a significant increase in orgasmic function (P<0.001) and intercourse satisfaction (P<0.001). Treatment with irbesartan alone, as well as in combination with hydrochlorothiazide is associated with an improvement of sexual desire, frequency of sexual contacts and erectile function in hypertensive patients with the metabolic syndrome. These results suggest a beneficial role of angiotensin receptor antagonists in the treatment of metabolic syndrome, and ED" - Note:  I've been suggesting telmisartan (an ARB) for some time as the first line treatment for hypertension.  See telmisartan at OffshoreRX.
• Single Mechanism For Hypertension, Insulin Resistance And Immune Suppression - Science Daily, 6/30/08 - "spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) ... protein receptors on the surface of SHR cells become clipped off as the animals develop hypertension. They used a novel visualization technique to show that after several weeks of ingesting doxycycline in their drinking water, the SHR rats developed cells that again bristled with normal CD18 and insulin receptors. The animals' metabolic conditions simultaneously improved; blood pressure normalized and symptoms of immune suppression disappeared" - Note: I was taking Periostat (low dose doxycycline, 20 mg) for two reasons, the help prevent gum disease and to lower CRP.  Now I have a third reason.  See doxycycline at OffshoreRx.com (you can use a pill cutter to quarter the pills).  See:
  • Low-dose Periostat (Doxycycline) Shows Benefits in Patients with Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 11/20/02 - "At six-month follow-up, sub-antimicrobial dose doxycyline significantly reduced CRP levels by 45.8 percent compared to baseline values (p<0.05). The drug was also associated with a 33.5 percent reduction in interleukin-6 and a 50 percent reduction in metalloproteinase ... The findings are exciting, since research is now showing that CRP is both a key marker of inflammation leading to future acute coronary events, but also that CRP itself may contribute to the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis"
    • Blood Protein Predicts Stroke Risk - HealthDay, 6/23/03 - "whether the substance [CRP] is an independent risk factor for these episodes or merely a reflection of narrowed and crumbling arteries hasn't been entirely clear ... New research now suggests that the molecule, called C-reactive protein (CRP), is indeed its own oddsmaker ... The cholesterol-fighting drugs known as statins have been shown to lower CRP by about 25 percent or so, Stein says. However, it's not clear that that effect reduces cardiovascular trouble or increases survival"
• Testosterone Gel Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Sexual Function in Hypogonadal Men With Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 6/20/08 - "Among patients with type 2 diabetes with or without metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance as measured by HOMA-IR improved from baseline in the testosterone-treated group compared with placebo at 6 months (testosterone: -0.62, placebo: +0.16; P = .049) and at 12 months (testosterone: -.58 ... Patients receiving testosterone also achieved more than a 5-point improvement over placebo-treated patients on the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) at 6 months (P < .05) and more than 6 points over placebo-treated patients at 12 months"
• Metabolic syndrome: Another nail in the coffin? - theheart.org, 5/21/08 - "In PROSPER, metabolic syndrome was not associated with an increased risk of CVD but was associated with a fourfold increased risk of diabetes. Impaired fasting glucose alone had a much higher risk, however, more than 18-fold. In BRHS, metabolic syndrome was associated with a modestly increased risk of CVD and a more than sevenfold increased risk of diabetes"
• Insulin-Resistant Cardiomyopathy - Medscape, 1/15/08 - "Increasing evidence points to insulin resistance as a primary etiologic factor in the development of nonischemic heart failure (HF) ... Epidemiological evidence suggests more than simply a correlation between insulin resistance and HF, demonstrating that insulin resistance precedes HF rather than occurring as a consequence of it ... Medications that work primarily by improving insulin sensitivity (metformin, thiazolidinediones [TZDs]) might theoretically be the most attractive therapies" - See my web page on Insulin and Aging.
• Elasticity Indices of Large and Small Arteries in Relation to the Metabolic Syndrome in Chinese - Am J Hypertens. 2008 Jan 10 - "The metabolic syndrome is indeed a risk factor for reduced arterial elasticity"
• Overcoming Metabolic Syndrome - Science Daily, 1/10/08
• Testosterone, diabetes mellitus, and the metabolic syndrome - Curr Urol Rep. 2007 Nov;8(6):467-71 - "One third of men with type 2 diabetes mellitus are now recognized as testosterone deficient. Emerging evidence suggests that testosterone therapy may be able to reverse some aspects of metabolic syndrome"
• Effect of the Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Irbesartan on Metabolic Parameters in Clinical Practice: the DO-IT Prospective Observational Study - Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2007 Nov 27;6(1):36 - "Six months of irbesartan therapy decreased systolic blood pressure by 14% (157.4+/-14.7 vs. 135.0+/-10.7 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure by 13% (92.9+/-9.2 vs. 80.8+/-6.8 mmHg). This was associated with a decrease in body weight (-2.3%), fasting glucose (-9.5%), HbA1c (-4.6%), LDL-cholesterol (-11%), triglycerides (-16%) and gamma-GT (-12%) and an increase in HDL-cholesterol (+5%)"
• Effects of androgen deprivation on glycaemic control and on cardiovascular biochemical risk factors in men with advanced prostate cancer with diabetes - Aging Male. 2007 Dec;10(4):189-96 - "In men with insulin-dependent diabetes, androgen deprivation therapy may have negative effects on their glycaemic control and may aggravate the biochemical risk profile of cardiovascular disease to which diabetics are predisposed. These observations are in agreement with the emerging role of low levels of testosterone in metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance"
• Testosterone, diabetes mellitus, and the metabolic syndrome - Curr Urol Rep. 2007 Nov;8(6):467-71 - "One third of men with type 2 diabetes mellitus are now recognized as testosterone deficient. Emerging evidence suggests that testosterone therapy may be able to reverse some aspects of metabolic syndrome"
• Women With High Or Increasing Blood Pressure Are Up To Three Times More Likely To Develop Diabetes - Science Daily, 10/9/07 - "women who have high blood pressure levels are three times more likely to develop diabetes than women with low blood pressure levels ... The authors suggest a possible mechanism for the relation between BP and diabetes may be endothelial dysfunction -- a dysfunction of the normal biochemical processes carried out by the layer of cells that line the inner surfaces of blood vessels. "It may be a precursor of both hypertension and diabetes," ... the progression of endothelial dysfunction may cause worsening of both BP and blood glucose. This is in line with the fact that both BP and blood glucose occur together as part of the metabolic syndrome"
• Identification and Management of Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 10/3/07 - "Metabolic Risk Factor Goals and Recommendations ..."
• Metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors in subjects with impaired fasting glucose: the 100 versus 110 mg/dL threshold - Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2007 Oct;23(7):547-550 - "IFG110 was associated with higher risk of post-challenge glucose intolerance as compared with IFG100. As compared with IFG100, subjects with IFG110 have significantly lower levels of circulating IGF-I. As compared with NFG, IFG110, but not IFG100, showed a significant association with increased levels of inflammatory markers including white blood cell count (WBCC), and C-reactive protein (CRP)"
• Is the metabolic syndrome a risk factor for female sexual dysfunction in sexually active women? - Int J Impot Res. 2007 Sep 20 - "In premenopausal women, the MS was an independent risk factor for impaired sexual desire (P=0.03) with an age-adjusted odds ratio of 3.3 (95% confidence interval: 1.5-7.3). In premenopausal female sexual life, the MS represents an independent role via its correlation to impaired desire"
• Soda Consumption Linked To Metabolic Syndrome - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/07 - "Drinking at least one soda per day is associated with a significantly higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome, compared with drinking less than one soft drink a day ... the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in those who drank one or more 12-ounce soft drinks per day was 48% higher than in those who drank fewer than one of these beverages daily"
• Serum testosterone level and related metabolic factors in men over 70 years old - J Endocrinol Invest. 2007 Jun;30(6):451-8 - "total testosterone is lower in elderly men with metabolic syndrome"
• Metabolic Syndrome: Don't Blame The Belly Fat - Science Daily, 7/19/07 - "insulin resistance in skeletal muscle leads to alterations in energy storage that set the stage for the metabolic syndrome"
• Study Links Blood Sugar to Newborn Risks - Intelihealth, 6/25/07 - "The higher a pregnant woman's level of blood sugar, the greater the risk to her newborn -- whether the mother has diabetes or not"
• Treating the metabolic syndrome - Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2007 May;5(3):491-506 - "appropriate treatment of MS components often requires pharmacologic intervention with insulin-sensitizing agents, such as metformin and thiazolidinediones, while statins and fibrates, or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers are the first-line lipid-modifying or antihypertensive drugs"
• Do low levels of circulating adiponectin represent a biomarker or just another risk factor for the metabolic syndrome? - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2007 May;9(3):246-58 - "The metabolic syndrome is currently defined by various combinations of insulin resistance, obesity, dyslipidaemia and hypertension. The tendency for these risk factors to appear simultaneously suggests a single aetiologic basis. A low level of circulating adiponectin is associated with the appearance of each metabolic syndrome risk factor ... An association between the metabolic syndrome and low adiponectin supports the view that the development of the metabolic syndrome may be triggered by a single underlying mechanism. Clinical studies in the future may show that a low level of circulating adiponectin is a primary biomarker for a specific cluster of metabolic syndrome risk factors rather than all the possible combinations of risk factors currently used to identify the metabolic syndrome"
• Raised alanine transaminase and decreased adiponectin are features of the metabolic syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2007 May;9(3):438-40 - "Mean ALT was significantly higher in patients with the MS and higher ALT was associated with lower adiponectin levels. As the number of features of MS increased, ALT increased and adiponectin decreased independent of glycaemic control"
• Hyperglycemia Linked to Cancer Risk - Physician's Weekly, 5/7/07 - "Risk of cancer of the pancreas, endometrium, urinary tract, and of malignant melanoma was statistically significantly associated with high fasting glucose with [relative risk ratios] of 2.49, 1.86, 1.69, and 2.16, respectively"
• Insulin resistance is associated with increased risk of major cardiovascular events in patients with preexisting coronary artery disease - Am Heart J. 2007 Apr;153(4):559-65 - "Insulin resistance per se is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events and new diabetes in patients with preexisting coronary artery disease"
• Insulin resistance is associated with arterial stiffness independent of obesity in male adolescents - Hypertens Res. 2007 Jan;30(1):5-11 - "insulin resistance (IR) ... IR is a risk factor for the development of early atherosclerosis. Interventions that decrease IR in addition to weight reduction may be necessary to alter the early development of cardiovascular risk"
• High Insulin Levels Impair Intestinal Metabolic Function - Science Daily, 4/24/07 - "excessive insulin appears to slow the removal of chylomicrons from the blood stream following a fatty meal. Chylomicrons transport dietary fat from the intestine to the rest of the body ... excessive insulin appears to alter the mechanics of blood vessel walls, allowing chylomicrons and cholesterol to build up in them, which, over time, creates blockages in the blood stream, leading to heart problems"
• The effects of telmisartan and amlodipine on metabolic parameters and blood pressure in type 2 diabetic, hypertensive patients - J Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone Syst. 2006 Dec;7(4):243-6 - "Group A: rosiglitazone (RSG) 4 mg + Telm 80 mg; Group B: RSG 4 mg + Aml 10 mg ... Lower values of glucose, HbA1C, HOMA index and higher adiponectin levels were observed in Group A compared to Group B ... insulin sensitivity may confer make Telm particularly suitable in the treatment of the metabolic syndrome"
• Even 'High Normal' Glucose May Increase Risk of Hospitalization for Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 3/7/07 - "even small increases in fasting glucose raised the risk of congestive heart failure in both diabetes patients and those whose blood sugar fell within the normal range"
• High Blood Sugar Linked to Cancer Risk - WebMD, 2/27/07 - "women with the highest blood sugar levels upon joining the study were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer before its end, compared with women with the lowest blood sugar levels"
• Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Association with Erectile Dysfunction Among Urologic Patients: Metabolic Backgrounds of Erectile Dysfunction - Urology. 2007 Jan 30 - "waist circumference (WC) and triglyceride (TG) ... MS was strongly associated with ED. Fasting blood glucose levels, hypertension, and WC are the most significant risk factors predicting the risk of ED. A more pronounced increase in ED risk in the presence of abdominal obesity, together with altered TG and HDL cholesterol levels, may indicate a special metabolic background of ED regarding lipid metabolism"
• Association between hormones and metabolic syndrome in older italian men - J Am Geriatr Soc. 2006 Dec;54(12):1832-8 - "Total testosterone and SHBG are negatively and leptin is positively associated with MS in older men"
• Calories Seen Outweighing Sugar as Diabetes Risk - Vital Choices Newsletter, 1/1/07 - "they found no link between consumption of sweetened beverages and the risk of developing diabetes ... men who drank four or more cups of coffee a day cut their risk of developing type-2 diabetes by more than 23 percent ... while a high sugar intake may not by itself cause diabetes, it can certainly be a major contributing factor to weight gain and obesity: factors that clearly do promote diabetes" - [Abstract / Abstract]
• Effect of eucaloric high- and low-sucrose diets with identical macronutrient profile on insulin resistance and vascular risk: a randomized controlled trial - Diabetes. 2006 Dec;55(12):3566-72 - "In this study, a high-sucrose intake as part of an eucaloric, weight-maintaining diet had no detrimental effect on insulin sensitivity, glycemic profiles, or measures of vascular compliance in healthy nondiabetic subjects"
• Coffee and sweetened beverage consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study - Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Dec 1;164(11):1075-84 - "They found an inverse association, after adjusting for potential confounders, between increased coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in men (for > or =4 cups (> or =0.95 liter)/day compared with almost never: hazard ratio = 0.77, p(trend) = 0.02) with no significant association in women (hazard ratio = 0.89 ... Sweetened beverage consumption (men: hazard ratio = 1.03, p(trend) = 0.94; women: hazard ratio = 1.01, p(trend) = 0.58) showed no consistent association with the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus"
• The association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and insulin resistance in 20 obese children and adolescents - Acta Paediatr. 2007 Jan;96(1):109-12 - "The high prevalence of insulin resistance we found in children with NAFLD confirms the suggestion that there may be an association between insulin resistance and NAFLD in obese children"
• Metabolic syndrome and erectile dysfunction : Epidemiologic associations and pathogenetic links - Urologe A. 2006 Dec 12 - "There is abundant evidence for the association between erectile dysfunction (ED) and the traditional atherosclerotic risk factors, such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and obesity, that make up the metabolic syndrome. Recent findings have demonstrated a linear relationship between the number of these risk factors and the prevalence of ED"
• Hyperinsulinemia and cognitive decline in a middle-aged cohort - Diabetes Care. 2006 Dec;29(12):2688-93 - "word recall (DWR), digit symbol subtest (DSS), and first letter word fluency (WF) ... hyperinsulinemia based on fasting insulin and HOMA at baseline was associated with significantly lower baseline DWR, DSS, and WF scores and a greater decline over 6 years in DWR and WF ... Insulin resistance is a potentially modifiable midlife risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia"
• Metabolic syndrome treatment strategies - Pharmacotherapy. 2006 Dec;26(12 Pt 2):222S-6S - "Lifestyle modification can be summarized as dietary changes, exercise, and smoking cessation. Drug therapy indicated for cardiometabolic risk reduction includes antihypertensives, insulin sensitizers, and cholesterol-lowering agents. In addition, two drugs-sibutramine and rimonabant-have been evaluated and produced promising outcomes in the overall management of high-risk patients with metabolic syndrome"
• Cortisol-cause and cure for metabolic syndrome? - Diabet Med. 2006 Dec;23(12):1281-8 - "reducing cortisol action may provide a novel therapeutic approach in the metabolic syndrome. There is substantial evidence that circulating cortisol concentrations are higher in people with hypertension and glucose intolerance ... Promising preclinical data suggest that novel 11beta-HSD1 inhibitors will have a role in lowering intracellular cortisol levels as a treatment for the metabolic syndrome"
• High Blood Sugar a Global Killer - WebMD, 11/9/06 - "Our results show that one in five deaths from heart disease and one in eight from stroke worldwide are attributable to higher-than-optimum blood [sugar] ... As an annual cause of death, it's right up there with smoking"
• Resisting Insulin - USC Health Magazine, Fall '06 - "Insulin, according to a slew of new studies, may play a role in everything from cancer to hypertension to cardiovascular disease"
• Effect of rosiglitazone on the frequency of diabetes in patients with impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose: a randomised controlled trial - Lancet. 2006 Sep 23;368(9541):1096-105 - "306 (11.6%) individuals given rosiglitazone and 686 (26.0%) given placebo developed the composite primary outcome (hazard ratio 0.40, 95% CI 0.35-0.46; p<0.0001); 1330 (50.5%) individuals in the rosiglitazone group and 798 (30.3%) in the placebo group became normoglycaemic ... Rosiglitazone at 8 mg daily for 3 years substantially reduces incident type 2 diabetes and increases the likelihood of regression to normoglycaemia in adults with impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance, or both" - See rosiglitazone at SuperSaverMeds.com or XlPharmacy.
• Impaired glucose tolerance: A possible contributor to left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction - Int J Cardiol. 2006 Aug 23 - "These results suggest that impaired glucose tolerance is a possible contributor to left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction"
• Admission Blood Glucose Level and Mortality Among Hospitalized Nondiabetic Patients With Heart Failure - Arch Intern Med, 8/14/06 - "In-hospital mortality was twice as high in patients with admission blood glucose levels in the third tertile (7.2%) compared with the first (3%) and second (4%) tertiles ... each 18-mg/dL (1-mmol/L) increase in glucose level was associated with a 31% increased risk of in-hospital mortality"
• Borderline Diabetes Linked to Development of Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 7/21/06 - "Patients who have borderline diabetes have a 77% increased risk of later developing Alzheimer's disease ... People who have severe high blood pressure in addition to borderline diabetes have a 6.27-fold risk of developing Alzheimer's disease ... Borderline diabetes was defined as a random plasma glucose level between 7.8 and 11.0 mmol/L"
• Better Blood Sugar = Less Alzheimer's - WebMD, 7/17/06 - "there were almost 20% fewer new cases of Alzheimer's among people taking thiazolidinediones compared with people who took insulin. Similar results were found in a separate comparison between thiazolidinediones users and people starting Glucophage, another drug used to treat diabetes"
• Prediabetes May Raise Risk for Alzheimer's - Intelihealth, 7/17/06 - "people who had prediabetes at the beginning of the study had a 70% increased risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's ... doctors tend to ignore the slightly high sugar levels until the levels reach the stage of full-blown diabetes"
• Effect of Atorvastatin (10 mg/day) on Glucose Metabolism in Patients With the Metabolic Syndrome - Am J Cardiol. 2006 Jul 1;98(1):66-9 - "in insulin-resistant, nondiabetic subjects, 6 weeks of atorvastatin (10 mg/day) resulted in significant improvement in insulin sensitivity"
• Impaired Fasting Glucose Screening Could Prevent Cardiovascular Disease: Presented at ADA - Doctor's Guide, 6/14/06 - "people with impaired fasting glucose have higher rates of cardiovascular disease risk factors than people with normal fasting glucose ... They defined impaired fasting glucose (IFG) as fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125 mg/dL"
• Impaired {beta}-cell Function in Human Aging: Response to Nicotinic Acid-Induced Insulin Resistance - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Jun 6 - "Human aging is associated with impaired beta-cell sensitivity to glucose and impaired beta-cell compensation to insulin resistance"
• Growth hormone, insulin may be key to longevity - WorldHealth.net, 5/24/06 - "it is reasonable to suggest that treatment(s) causing an improvement in insulin sensitivity combined with modest reduction in insulin release would reduce risk of age-related disease and likely also delay aging"
• Metabolic Syndrome Hurts Heart - WebMD, 5/22/06 - "men who had metabolic syndrome at the start of the study were 66% more likely to have heart failure by the end of the study"
• Metformin and Lifestyle Intervention May Help Prevent Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 4/18/06 - "Participants were randomly assigned to standard treatment with placebo pill; metformin, 850 mg, twice daily; or intensive lifestyle management with placebo pill and followed up for a mean of 3.2 years ... Intensive lifestyle consisted of reduction of at least 7% of body weight, low-calorie and low-fat diet, and moderate physical activity at least 150 minutes weekly ... In those with prevalent MS at baseline ... At 3 years 18% of the placebo, 23% of the metformin, and 38% of the lifestyle intervention group no longer had the MS, with lifestyle intervention only showing a significant effect vs placebo"
• Metabolic Syndrome Skyrocketing - WebMD, 3/14/06 - "The surge is driven mainly by the epidemic of obesity in the Western world"
• Effects of aging on insulin resistance and fat accumulation - Nippon Rinsho. 2006 Jan;64(1):45-9 - "Alternation of fat distribution by aging may be related to age-related insulin resistance"
• Insulin Levels and Resistance Linked to Risk of Pancreatic Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 12/16/05
• Pancreatic Cancer Tied to Insulin Woes - WebMD, 12/13/05 - "Some of the men's blood samples showed higher levels of blood glucose, insulin resistance, and high insulin levels. Those men were more likely to later develop pancreatic cancer than those without insulin problems"
• Diabetics Face Increased Risk of Colorectal Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 11/2/05 - "hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia promote the growth of colorectal cancer"
• Oral Estradiol Therapy May Worsen Insulin Resistance in Obese Menopausal Women with Metabolic Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 10/21/05 - "After 12 weeks, there was significant worsening of insulin resistance in women taking oral estradiol ... The researchers observed no significant changes in markers of insulin resistance in women receiving transdermal estradiol, except for a decrease in glucose to insulin ratio from 7.13 to 5.77"
• New Statement Reaffirms Insulin Resistance Syndrome Definition - Doctor's Guide, 10/14/05 - "People with resistance to the actions of insulin have an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as polycystic ovary syndrome, fatty liver, and certain cancers"
• Hypertension and Insulin Resistance in the Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 10/10/05 - "As observed in animal studies, insulin-sensitizing medications may play a potential role in the reduction of blood pressure. Metformin treatment of spontaneously hypertensive rats decreased blood pressure by 34 mmHg but had no effect on the blood pressure of normotensive rats.[9] Pioglitazone prevents hypertension in the Dahl salt-sensitive rats,[10] and rosiglitazone prevents development of hypertension in insulin-resistant rats"
• Normal Fasting Plasma Glucose Levels and Type 2 Diabetes in Young Men - N Engl J Med. 2005 Oct 6;353(14):1454-62 - "A multivariate model, adjusted for age, family history of diabetes, body-mass index, physical-activity level, smoking status, and serum triglyceride levels, revealed a progressively increased risk of type 2 diabetes in men with fasting plasma glucose levels of 87 mg per deciliter (4.83 mmol per liter) or more, as compared with those whose levels were in the bottom quintile (less than 81 mg per deciliter"
• High Blood Sugar Levels a Risk Factor for Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 9/14/05 - "Lowering blood sugar levels could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in both diabetics and non-diabetics ... Non-diabetic persons with HbA1c levels of 6% or higher had almost a two-fold greater heart disease risk compared to persons with an HbA1c level below 4.6%"
• Metabolic Syndrome: Growing Health Threat - WebMD, 9/12/05
• Glycemic Control and Coronary Heart Disease Risk in Persons With and Without Diabetes: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study - Arch Intern Med. 2005;165:1910-1916 - "In adults with diabetes, the relative risk (RR) of CHD was 2.37 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.50-3.72) for the highest quintile of HbA1c level compared with the lowest after adjustment for CHD risk factors ... Elevated HbA1c level is an independent risk factor for CHD in persons with and without diabetes"
• Androgens, Insulin Resistance and Vascular Disease in Men - Medscape, 9/8/05 - "Studies in healthy men have shown an inverse correlation between testosterone and insulin levels ... physiological testosterone replacement improves insulin sensitivity ... Insulin resistance also plays a role in the development of atherosclerosis and hypertension ... hypotestosteronaemia is associated with insulin resistance in men. Testosterone treatment inhibits the hyperinsulinaemia and thus may delay the onset of diabetes mellitus in men or even improve glycaemic control"
• Are you insulin resistant? - US News, 9/5/05 - "Endocrinologists suggests a diagnosis of resistance if a patient and doctor can put a checkmark next to at least two of these four measures: ... Triglycerides: greater than 150 mg/dL ... HDL cholesterol: less than 40 mg/dL in men or 50 mg/dL in women ... Blood pressure: greater than 130/85 mm Hg ... Blood glucose: 110-125 mg/dL after fasting and 140-200 mg/dL two hours"
• The metabolic syndrome: A vascular perspective - Eur J Intern Med. 2005 Sep;16(5):314-20 - "Patients with MS have a three times greater risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, and a two to four times greater risk of dying from atherosclerotic coronary heart disease than those without MS ... First-line treatment for MS is therapeutic lifestyle intervention, including exercise and weight reduction. Medical intervention strategies using blood pressure-lowering medication, statins, fibrates and metformin seem the most appropriate to date. The effects of thiazolidinediones on cardiovascular endpoints have not been studied to a large extent in the setting of MS"
• Metabolic Syndrome: a Misleading 'Diagnosis' - Doctor's Guide, 8/25/05
• Blood Glucose: A Strong Risk Factor for Mortality - Medscape, 8/19/05 - "BG even in the normal range is a strong independent predictor of mortality in all subjects with CVD" - [Abstract]
• Hypogonadism and metabolic syndrome:: implications for testosterone therapy - J Urol. 2005 Sep;174(3):827-34 - "Hypogonadism is likely a fundamental component of metabolic syndrome. Testosterone therapy may not only treat hypogonadism, but may also have tremendous potential to slow or halt the progression from metabolic syndrome to overt diabetes or cardiovascular disease via beneficial effects on insulin regulation, lipid profile and blood pressure. Furthermore, the use of testosterone to treat metabolic syndrome may also lead to the prevention of urological complications commonly associated with these chronic disease states, such as neurogenic bladder and erectile dysfunction"
• High Insulin Levels Increase Inflammatory Markers And Beta-amyloids, May Contribute To Alzheimer's - Science Daily, 8/12/05
• Obesity Today, Alzheimer's Disease Tomorrow? - WebMD, 8/8/05 - "people with high insulin levels -- long before they get diabetes -- already are on the road to Alzheimer's disease"
• Elevated Insulin Levels Appear to Increase Levels of Inflammatory Markers and Beta-Amyloid, Which May Contribute to Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 8/8/05 - "Moderately elevated levels of insulin increase the levels of inflammatory markers and beta-amyloid in plasma and in cerebrospinal fluid, and these markers may contribute to Alzheimer's disease"
• Statin use in the metabolic syndrome - Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2005 Feb;7(1):17-21 - "Because of the increased CVD risk associated with the metabolic syndrome and extensive clinical trial evidence documenting reduction of CVD risk with statin treatment, all patients with the metabolic syndrome should be evaluated as candidates for statin treatment as part of a multidisciplinary approach to reduce CVD risk"
• Cardiovascular risk factors are really linked in the metabolic syndrome: This phenomenon suggests clustering rather than coincidence - Int J Cardiol. 2005 Jul 12 - "obesity and insulin resistance were suggested to be linked with metabolic syndrome more than hypertension or high triglyceride"
• Normal Weight Doesn’t Reduce Risk of Metabolic Syndrome - Physician's Weekly, 7/25/05
• Nutritional Epigenomics of Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 7/22/05
• Insulin Resistance Associated With Increased Risk for Congestive Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 7/21/05 - "In this community-based sample of elderly men free of CHF and valvular disease at baseline, insulin resistance predicted CHF incidence independently of diabetes and other established risk factors for CHF"
• Insulin Resistance and Risk of Congestive Heart Failure - JAMA. 2005 Jul 20;294(3):334-41 - "Insulin resistance predicted CHF incidence independently of established risk factors including diabetes"
• Insulin Resistance in Cognitive Impairment: The InCHIANTI Study - Arch Neurol. 2005;62:1067-1072 - "insulin resistance might contribute to cognitive impairment"
• Diabetic Retinopathy Occurs in Pre-Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 6/16/05 - "Diabetic retinopathy has been found in nearly 8 percent of pre-diabetic participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program ... can lead to vision loss"
• Lowering Resistance To Insulin May Delay Or Prevent Onset Of Type 2 Diabetes - Science Daily, 6/12/05 - "Type 2 diabetes may be significantly delayed or prevented through medication that takes the load off of the body's delicate insulin-producing cells ... our initial findings for diabetes prevention with troglitazone apply not only to this class of drugs-thiazolidinediones-but to the general mechanisms of reducing stress on beta cells by treating insulin resistance" - Note:  Actos and Avandia are in the thiazolidinedione class.  Avandia is available at OffshoreRx.com and SuperSaverMeds.com but check with your doctor first.
• Metabolic Syndrome Found in Many Young Kids - WebMD, 6/2/05
• The Metabolic Syndrome: a Cause of Sexual Dysfunction in Women - Medscape, 5/27/05 - "women with the metabolic syndrome reported significantly lower arousal, orgasm, and lubrication scores"
• Extra Weight May Age You Faster - WebMD, 5/25/05 - "inflammation burns out white blood cells faster, and the effort of replacing them wears down the telomeres ... Insulin resistance and obesity are also associated with free radical damage"
• Insulin Resistance Correlates With Rises in C-Reactive Protein - Doctor's Guide, 5/23/05 - "As C-reactive protein rises, so does insulin resistance ... Increased C-reactive protein levels may also predispose to accelerated or premature atherosclerotic disease ... Maybe someday we'll have therapy to lower C-reactive protein levels"
• Valsartan Reduces Chance of Diabetes in High-Risk Hypertensive Patients - Doctor's Guide, 5/19/05 - "patients taking valsartan had a 23% lower risk of developing diabetes during the four or more years of the study. The two drugs had previously been shown to be roughly equivalent in reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke" - See valsartan at OffshoreRX.com.
• Metabolic Effect of Telmisartan [Micardis] and Losartan [Cozaar] in Hypertensive Patients with Metabolic Syndrome - Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2005 May 15;4(1):6 - "Telmisartan, but not losartan, significantly (p < 0.05) reduced free plasma glucose, free plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and HbAic. Following treatment, plasma glucose and insulin were reduced during the oral glucose tolerance test by telmisartan, but not by losartan. Telmisartan also significantly reduced 24-hour mean systolic blood pressure (p < 0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.05) compared with losartan"
• Diabetes Medication Pioglitazone HCl May Significantly Improve Predictors of Cardiovascular Risk - Doctor's Guide, 5/10/05 - "the diabetes medication pioglitazone HCl reduced carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT). Patients taking pioglitazone also experienced significant reductions in insulin resistance, C-reactive protein (a marker for inflammation) and blood pressure, all of which contribute to the overall risk for cardiovascular disease" - See pioglitazone at OffshoreRx.com.
• Metformin and Lifestyle Intervention May Help Prevent Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 4/18/05 - "metformin therapy (850 mg twice daily) ... Compared with placebo, the lifestyle group had 41% lower incidence of the MS (P < .001), and the metformin group had 17% lower incidence" - See Metformin at IAS.
• Hidden Fat Could Mean Heart Disease Risk - WebMD, 4/11/05 - "Even people of normal weight can have fat folded deep inside their belly, raising their risk of heart disease and diabetes from a condition called metabolic syndrome"
• Growth Hormone Treatment Improves Symptoms Of Metabolic Disorder In Postmenopausal Women - Science Daily, 4/10/05 - "the GH treatment in postmenopausal women significantly reduced their intra-abdominal fat, increased thigh muscle area, reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration, and improved insulin sensitivity"
• High Blood Sugar Raises Cancer Risk - WebMD, 1/11/05 - "the men in the study with the highest fasting blood sugar levels (those greater than 140 mg/dl) were 29% more likely to die of cancer than men with the lowest levels (those less than 90 mg/dl). The difference among women with the highest and lowest blood sugar levels was 23%"
• Weight, Fitness and Lifestyle Identified as Important Factors Contributing to Metabolic Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 1/10/05 - "Fatness, fitness, and lifestyle are important determinants of the metabolic syndrome in young adults ... these associations were independent of each other and, therefore, represent separate potential targets for the prevention of metabolic syndrome"
• Heavy, Lifetime Alcohol Users May Be Toasting Metabolic Syndrome - Science Daily, 11/18/04 - "drinkers in the highest category of intensity have a 60 percent greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome than those in the lowest category ... The highest quartile category of intensity represented females who consumed an average of four drinks per drinking day and males who consumed an average of six drinks per drinking day"
• The metabolic syndrome, inflammation, and risk of cognitive decline - JAMA. 2004 Nov 10;292(18):2237-42 - "These findings support the hypothesis that the metabolic syndrome contributes to cognitive impairment in elders, but primarily in those with high level of inflammation"
• Metabolic Syndrome Can Reduce Mental Function - WebMD, 11/9/04 - "those with metabolic syndrome were 20% more likely to develop a decline in mental function compared with a group of elderly people without metabolic syndrome"
• Metabolic Syndrome Associated with Cognitive Decline in Elderly Persons - Doctor's Guide, 11/9/04 - "persons with the metabolic syndrome (n = 1016) were 20 percent more likely to develop cognitive impairment ... Those with both metabolic syndrome and high inflammation (n = 348) were 66 percent more likely to have cognitive impairment than those without the metabolic syndrome"
• Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers Before Surgery Prevents Post Operative Complications in Patients With Metabolic Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 10/26/04
• Deep Belly Fat Predicts Risk of Serious Metabolic Syndrome - WebMD, 10/14/04 - "fat inside the body -- that which can't be seen or "pinched" -- is the strongest among a set of signs that predict metabolic syndrome, a set of signs known to increase heart disease risk"
• Insulin Resistance in Teens Raises High Blood Pressure Risk as Adults - Doctor's Guide, 11/11/04 - "If insulin resistance in childhood is related to risk factors in adulthood, we ought to be thinking about this problem at an early age. By the time people are in their 20s and 30s, a lot of the risk is already set, and we are treating the disease instead of preventing it ... What we're showing is that insulin resistance has an effect on systolic blood pressure that is independent of fatness and obesity"
• Can You Be Fat on the Inside? - WebMD, 10/6/04 - "normal-weight women may be headed for obesity-related health problems thanks to an unhealthy lifestyle -- an increasingly common problem known as metabolic syndrome"
• Management of the metabolic syndrome - Minerva Endocrinol. 2004 Jun;29(2):31-45 - "such a polypill should ideally contain numerous molecules that all have shown a potential interest for the management of MetS such as metformin, acarbose, a thiazolidinedione, a statin, a fibrate, an inhibitor of the renin-angiotensin system, aspirin. The growing prevalence and high-risk nature of MetS highlights the need to identify individuals with this condition and to treat them with an aggressive multitargeted approach"
• Death Risk Rises With Blood Sugar - WebMD, 9/20/04 - "As your blood sugar level goes up, so does your risk of death and heart disease - even if you don't have diabetes ... we should be concerned about blood glucose elevations even in people who do not have diabetes"
• Insulin Resistance: Impact on Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Disease - Doctor's Guide, 3/9/04
• Components of Insulin Resistance Syndrome Should be Treated in the Elderly - Doctor's Guide, 3/9/04
• Pathogenesis of Essential Hypertension May Involve Insulin Resistance - Doctor's Guide, 2/20/04 - "insulin resistance may be implicated in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension, possibly involving mechanisms such as endothelial dysfunction"
• Metabolic Syndrome Nearly Doubles Stroke Risk - Doctor's Guide, 2/9/04
• DASH Diet Improves Insulin Sensitivity as Well as Hypertension - Medscape, 2/6/04 - "Based on the results of this study, including the DASH dietary pattern as a basic part of a hypocaloric dietary plan can lead to significant improvements of up to 50% in insulin sensitivity"
• Metabolic syndrome x: an inflammatory condition? - Curr Hypertens Rep. 2004 Feb;6(1):66-73 - "This suggests that metabolic syndrome X is a low-grade, systemic, inflammatory condition. Hence, instituting anti-inflammatory measures might be beneficial in preventing or halting the progress of metabolic syndrome X in high-risk populations"
• Blood Test Identifies Poor Dieters - Physician's Weekly, 1/26/04 - "patients with higher levels of leptin and insulin in their blood were less likely to consistently maintain weight loss programs"
• Potential Use of Statins and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors to Treat Cardiac Syndrome X - Doctor's Guide, 1/20/04 - "A significant reduction in the number of chest pain episodes was observed with treatment, from 14 to 4.4 episodes after 6 months of therapy ... Exercise duration was 23.5% greater after atorvastatin plus ramipril treatment"
• Insulin Resistance May Be an Important Factor in Nondipper Essential Hypertension - Doctor's Guide, 12/5/03 - "This may suggest that insulin resistance plays an important role in the aetiology of nondipper essential hypertension"
• Redefining Impaired Fasting Glucose - Physician's Weekly, 11/24/03 - "the cut point for IFG should be reduced to 100 mg/dl from the current 110 mg/dl"
• Metabolic Markers May Help Identify Insulin Resistance in Overweight Individuals - Doctor's Guide, 11/24/03 - "the optimal cut-off values for identifying insulin resistance were 1.47 mmol/L for triglycerides, 1.8 in SI units for triglyceride-HDL ratio, and 109 pmol/L for insulin"
• TG and TG-HDL Ratio Help Identify Insulin Resistance in Overweight Patients - Medscape, 11/20/03 - "The most useful metabolic markers for insulin-resistance, defined as being in the top tertile of steady-state plasma glucose concentrations, were plasma triglyceride concentration, ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol concentrations, and insulin concentration"
• 20% More Americans Now Have Prediabetes - WebMD, 10/27/03
• Insulin Sensitivity, Insulin Secretion, and Abdominal Fat - Medscape, 10/23/03 - "Insulin resistance is associated with overall obesity and particularly abdominal obesity ... In normal individuals, as insulin sensitivity declines, the ß-cells of the pancreas compensate by secreting more insulin"
• Insulin Resistance Theory Advanced - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/03 - "A new theory linking insulin resistance to depression and the development of Alzheimer's disease could allow clinicians to someday identify patients at risk for dementia and, perhaps, prevent it by treating the insulin dysregulation ... Neuroendocrine factors contributing to insulin resistance, like cortisol and serotonin, have also been implicated in the pathophysiology of both depression and Alzheimer's ... Patients with depression should be screened for insulin resistance at the outset and monitored for signs of its development. If signs develop, these patients might benefit from insulin-sensitizing drugs"
• Antipsychotic-Induced Metabolic Syndrome Proves Costly - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/03
• New Definition For Metabolic Syndrome Predicts Coronary Heart Disease And Type 2 Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 8/11/03 - "C-reactive protein (CRP) level was significantly elevated in those with metabolic syndrome ... minor modifications of the current definition as achieved by adding CRP or lowering the glucose cut-off may enhance prediction of CHD and diabetes"
• Glycaemic Control Important in Controlling Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes Risk - Doctor's Guide, 8/14/03 - "insulin resistance in the pre-diabetic state is associated with the presence of additional cardiovascular risk factors and increased incidence of CVD ... chronic sub-clinical inflammation as measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) and other markers is associated with insulin resistance, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular events ... insulin-sensitising agents such as glitazones may be useful in decreasing sub-clinical inflammation, and statin therapy may lower both cholesterol and CRP"
• Pre-Diabetics Have Higher Risk of Colon Cancer - Physician's Weekly, 8/11/03
• Insulin Resistance May Be a Common Cause of Treatment-Resistant Hypertension - Doctor's Guide, 8/7/03 - "They suggest that hyperinsulinaemia may increase blood pressure by several mechanisms, including stimulating the sympathetic nervous system, increasing renal sodium re-absorption, activating the Na+/H+ countertransport, and enhancing vessel wall cell proliferation and reactivity"
• Common Metabolic Syndrome Problems Considered High Risk for Diabetes, Heart Disease - WebMD, 7/14/03
• Epilepsy Drug Topamax Targets Diabetes - WebMD, 6/16/03 - "In a small study, the antiepileptic drug Topamax lowered levels of total cholesterol, blood glucose, and diastolic blood pressure, all components of the "prediabetic syndrome,""
• Schizophrenia Drugs Linked to Diabetes - WebMD, 6/3/03 - "close to 25% of them developed high blood sugar levels while taking Clozaril, the first of these newer schizophrenia medications -- called "atypical antipsychotics." ... people with schizophrenia have a four- to six-fold risk of diabetes compared with the general population ... One possible explanation: Those with schizophrenia typically have higher levels of cortisol, known as the "stress hormone," because the body releases it during times of agitation. And high cortisol levels can cause problems in the way blood sugar is metabolized" - See my cortisol page for possible ways to reduce it.
• C-reactive protein is independently associated with fasting insulin in nondiabetic women - Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2003 Apr 1;23(4):650-5 - "increasing levels of CRP were associated with a stepwise gradient in odds for elevated fasting insulin among both lean and overweight women" - See my inflammation page for ways to reduce it.
• Rosuvastatin Improves Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors - Doctor's Guide, 4/9/03
• Topiramate Shows Promise in Patients with Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 4/2/03 - "Diabetic control (hemoglobin A1C levels) improved significantly during topiramate treatment, and the effect was dose-related ... Reductions in hemoglobin A1C did not seem to correlate with topiramate-induced weight loss ... The study also found that most patients lost weight during topiramate treatment. Eighteen to 40% of patients showed clinically significant weight loss, losing at least 5% of their baseline weight"
• Metabolic Syndrome Strongly Linked to MI and Stroke - Medscape, 4/1/03 - "Patients with the constellation of five factors that constitute the metabolic syndrome — insulin resistance, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, abdominal obesity, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels — have more than double the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke"
• Antipsychotics Raise Glucose, Cholesterol Levels In Schizophrenics - Doctor's Guide, 2/25/03 - "Clozapine, olanzapine and haloperidol are associated with increased plasma glucose level, and clozapine and olanzapine with raised cholesterol"
• Tumour Necrosis Factor Linked To Insulin Resistance - Doctor's Guide, 2/25/03 - "Increased concentrations of circulating tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) are associated with peripheral insulin resistance and raised levels of glucose and insulin in patients prior to type 2 diabetes onset"
• The Ethnic-Metabolic Divide - CBS News, 2/24/03 - "Affected people have at least three of the following symptoms: a waist measuring more than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women; levels of triglycerides — fats in the blood — of at least 150 milligrams per deciliter; levels of high-density cholesterol — the "good cholesterol" — of less than 40 mgs in men and less than 50 mgs in women; blood pressure of at least 135 over 80; and blood sugar of at least 110 mgs per deciliter"
• Insulin Resistance Culprit [ceramide] Identified? - Physician's Weekly, 2/10/03
• High Blood Sugar Linked To Lost Memory - Intelihealth, 2/4/03 - "middle-aged and elderly people with high blood sugar actually had a smaller hippocampus"
• Insulin Resistance Profoundly Effects Lipoprotein Size And Subclass Concentrations - Doctor's Guide, 1/30/03 - "Overall, more marked insulin resistance was associated with increases in the size and concentration of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) as well as decreases in the sizes of both low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). The subgroups of insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant subjects without diabetes also showed the association"
• CRP improves cardiovascular risk prediction in metabolic syndrome - American Hearth Association, 1/28/03
• Bad Boy in the Blood: CRP - WebMD, 1/15/03 - "CRP doesn't just mark risk. It contributes to plaque formation in the blood-vessel wall. It promotes cholesterol uptake ... The most dazzling observation has been that in postmenopausal women, even those with low cholesterol levels, CRP identifies a three-fold increased risk for coronary artery disease ... When they added CRP to these cells, they saw dramatic effects. The cells began to secrete a substance called PAI-1. Increased PAI-1 secretion predicts formation of blood clots and heart disease. It also predicts diabetes and the pre-diabetes condition known as metabolic disorder ... You can lower your CRP levels by doing the same things you would do to lower your cholesterol levels: lose weight, eat fewer calories and a very low fat diet, take the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins, and the natural form of vitamin E"
• Metabolic Syndrome Increases Cardiovascular, Overall Mortality in Middle-Aged Men - Doctor's Guide, 12/4/02
• Big gut, other factors can kill you - USA Today, 12/3/02 - "People with this syndrome have at least three of the following risk factors: high blood sugar; a waist circumference of greater than 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women; lower-than-average HDL cholesterol (the so-called good cholesterol); high triglycerides and high blood pressure ... men who had the syndrome at the study's start had a two to three times greater chance of dying of a heart attack or a stroke during the study than men who did not have this collection of risk factors ... People getting a checkup should ask their family doctor to look for metabolic syndrome"
• Chronic Stress And Metabolic Syndrome Linked - Doctor's Guide, 11/27/02 - "While the 24-hour cortisol metabolite and normetanephrine (three-methoxynorepinephrine) outputs were higher among cases than controls, HRV and total power were lower among cases" - Makes sense.  Stress increases cortisol, cortisol causes high blood sugar.  Also see my stress page. - Ben
• The Mystery of Syndrome X - NY Times, 9/23/02
• Simvastatin Improves Cholesterol Profile more than Atorvastatin in the Metabolic Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 9/4/02
• Most Heart Attack Patients Have Undiagnosed Glucose Metabolism Abnormalities - Doctor's Guide, 9/3/02 - "Most patients who present at emergency cardiac care units with a heart attack have abnormal glucose metabolism, and most of those patients are diabetic -- the majority undiagnosed ... many patients may be reaching the hospital in urgent states of undiagnosed diabetes because of a lack of communication between endocrinologists -- who treat diabetics but may not be that familiar with cardiology -- and cardiologists -- who may not be as familiar with diabetes"
• Insulin Resistance Tied to Low Testosterone in Men - Doctor's Guide, 6/24/02 - "Men who are insulin resistant are also more likely to have reduced testosterone secretions"
• Will New Drugs Head Off Diabetes? - WebMD, 5/10/02 - ""We think of IGT [impaired glucose tolerance] and diabetes as parts of what we call the metabolic syndrome. This is something that affects one in four Americans -- and up to half of the U.S. population by age 60. What we have to target is high blood sugar, whether it is IGT or type 2 diabetes." ... One diabetes drug, Glucophage, has already been shown to help prevent type 2 diabetes in people with IGT. But that same study, published in the February 2002 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that exercise was even better than Glucophage at preventing diabetes"
• Syndrome X -- Again! -  HealthandAge, 2/15/02
• Do You Have Metabolic Syndrome? - WebMD, 1/15/02
• Insulin Resistance Syndrome: Management in Primary Care Practice - Medscape, 12/01
• An intervention resembling caloric restriction prolongs life span and retards aging in yeast - FASEB J. 2000 Nov;14(14):2135-7 - "this study raises the possibility that reduced glucose alters aging at the cellular level in mammals"
• High blood pressure, cholesterol and weight increase dementia risk - Doctor's Guide, 5/2/00
• Higher Levels Of Protein May Predict Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 3/29/99
• Adding Androgen To ERT Improves Quality Of Life In Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/98 - "Our findings showed that adding testosterone to their estrogen therapy positively affected the emotional well-being of postmenopausal women with Cardiac Syndrome X"
• Moderate Drinking May Protect Heart By Improving Insulin Resistance - Doctor's Guide, 6/26/98
• Link Shown Between Insulin Resistance, Colon And Breast Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 6/12/97

Related Searches:

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