Obesity and Diabetes, Link now Proven
Nov 18th, 2009 by sandalwood
Obesity and Diabetes, link now proven
It is well known that obesity is associated with diabetes, as a person becomes obese, the likelihood of becoming a type 2 diabetic increases.
And now we know why that happens to be the case, or at least one reason why it is so.
The journal “Cell Metabolism” reported in July, 2009 that a team of researchers under the leadership of associate professor Matthew Watt of Monash University had carried out studies that positively identified the relationship between obesity and the onset of type 2 diabetes.
We may think that fat cells, or any other tissues for that matter, just “sit there” living their quiet existence, doing nothing. But professor Watt’s team shows how wrong that is. It appears that fat cells release a protein into the bloodstream that affects the liver and muscles and that in turn leads to their diminished sensitivity to the hormone insulin, the insulin that is produced by the pancreas in response to the body’s signals that an increase of glucose is occurring in the blood.
It can be seen how these steps are like links in a chain, or perhaps a row of dominoes might be a better representation, when one falls each adjoining domino falls in turn.
The increase in blood glucose is usually the result of eating a meal or any food intake that the digestive system has processed, chemically broken down, and delivered its nutrients into the bloodstream. And insulin, working with the glucose, is needed to interact with the receptors of the cells, allowing the passage of that glucose into the cells of the body’s organs and tissues where it is needed to provide the energy to maintain the proper maintenance and functioning of the body.
In a healthy person that system of interactions stays in balance and works as required. But in the person who becomes obese the system becomes impaired and gradually fails. As the study shows:
1. As excess fat is accumulated, the protein, called by the acronym PEDF for short, is released by the fat cells into the blood.
2. This protein affects the liver and muscle cells such that they do not properly react to the insulin that is produced by the pancreas, the insulin that is needed to aid the absorption of glucose into the body’s cells so now the glucose begins to accumulate in the blood instead of entering the cells.
3. The pancreas, reacting in turn to the increasing blood glucose, produces yet more insulin.
4. And so the process is repeated until the continued demand for more insulin leads to the pancreas becoming overworked until it can no longer provide insulin at the required rate and it either slows down or ceases insulin production entirely.
5. Now we have a situation of too much insulin and too much glucose in the blood because the cells that need the glucose are impaired, their receptors are not responding in the normal way to the usual built in chemical stimuli.
By definition, too much glucose in the blood is the condition of Diabetes. And it seems that in the main it started with the addition of fat cells, the cells that store the excess fat from our daily diet.
To continue on that same dietary regimen will obviously lead to a worsened condition. The solution is just as obvious, we who are obese must change at least some of our eating habits AND add a daily routine of exercise to our lifestyles.
Ugly consequences
We must somehow, however difficult, lose weight or suffer the consequences, and those consequences can be ugly, in some cases leading to nerve damage, kidney damage, eyesight damage, blood vessel and artery damage, sexual disfunction, even amputation of gangrened limbs caused by circulatory problems, and then there is the big killer – cardiovascular disease, the American Heart Association estimates that heart disease and stroke are responsible for 65 to 75% of the deaths of those with diabetes.
Of course, knowing the cause may lead to the development of new drugs, that is what usually happens.
But the sooner action is taken to lose the excess weight the better it can be, the natural remedy is available … it is tough, it needs will power and behavior modification, perhaps sacrifices, change of eating habits, and moral support from true friends and family members but a successful result enables a longer life than might otherwise be the case, surely that is worth the effort needed to meet the challenge is it not?