Another escalation in the fight against diabetes and obesity- A "Silver Bullet" in the making?

There are three hormones in human system that control the metabolism and absorption of glucose and they are now the focus of attention in developing appropriate therapy to attack the diabetes and obesity syndromes widely considered to be reaching epidemic proportions in many countries. These are glucagon, glucagon like peptide (GLP) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) working in different ways in different locations in the body. In a remarkable breakthrough scientists have now achieved integration of these three hormones in a single molecule to derive all the benefits from them. While glucagon balances any hypoglycemia condition by releasing glucose from glycogen in the liver, GLP inhibits gastric secretion delaying carbohydrate absorption creating a satiety effect. GIP has a major role in neutralizing stomach acid besides slowing down transfer of food across the intestine. GIP also plays a role in insulin secretion enabling the body to metabolize glucose faster and its influence on lipid metabolism is recognized for its potential use against obesity. By combining these three hormones the researchers seem to have succeeded in creating a "silver bullet"  that can deal with both diabetes and obesity. Here is a gist of these findings which appears to be really path breaking in its impact.

"In 2012, we covered work led by Professor Richard DiMarchi that showed linking two hormones into a single molecule held promise as a treatment for obesity. DiMarchi followed this up last year by combining the properties of two endocrine hormones to provide an effective treatment for both obesity and adult-onset diabetes. Continuing in this vein, DiMarchi has now co-led a study whereby obesity and diabetes were effectively cured in lab animals by adding a third hormone to the molecular mix. Clinical work carried out last year, which included human clinical trials, showed a peptide combining the properties of two endocrine hormones, GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) and GIP (gastric inhibitory polypeptide), provided an effective treatment for adult-onset diabetes. Now the team, co-led by DiMarchi, the Indiana University (IU) Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and Matthias Tschöp, director of the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity at the German Research Center for Environmental Health, has developed a new molecule that includes a third hormone, glucagon. GLP-1 and GIP are involved in enhancing insulin action and reducing blood glucose in the body, with GLP-1 also acting to reduce appetite. Meanwhile, glucagon is involved in improving liver function and increasing the long-term rate at which calories are burned. Molecularly combining these three hormones forms what is known as a triple agonist, which can bind to and activate receptors in the body and produce certain biological responses. "This peptide represents the first rationally designed, fully potent and balanced triple agonist ever achieved in the treatment of any disease," says DiMarch. "The benefits of the previously reported individual co-agonists have been integrated to a single molecule of triple action that provides unprecedented efficacy to lower body weight and control metabolism." The researchers say that in preclinical trials, this new peptide lowered blood sugar levels and reduced body fat better than all existing drugs. By triggering improved glucose sensitivity, reducing appetite and enhancing calorie burning, it was able to reduce body weight in rodents by around 30 percent, (nearly twice as much as the preceding GLP-1/GIP double hormone), and essentially cured the animals of obesity, diabetes and associated lipid abnormalities. "This triple hormone effect in a single molecule shows results never achieved before,"said co-first author Brian Finan, a scientist at the Helmholtz Diabetes Center. "A number of metabolic control centers are influenced simultaneously, namely in the pancreas, liver, fat depots and brain."

According to the innovators of this novel 3-in-1 hormone peptide molecule, extensive animal studies and limited clinical trials have more or less confirmed about its efficacy in increasing glucose sensitivity, reducing appetite significantly and enhancing burning of calories dramatically. Reduction of body weight to the extent of 30% is a remarkable achievement which will gladden the hearts of millions of people with BMI beyond 30. Hopefully this hormone combination will become the standard bearer in the coming years for world wide use in bringing down obesity, curing diabetes and correcting many lipid abnormalities for which there are no satisfactory treatment protocols at present. Though lot has been said about the efficiency and effectiveness of the new peptide molecule, nothing is mentioned as to how it is produced or how stable it is when administered in human beings. Since only GIP works at the intestinal level, how effectively the peptide is absorbed in the blood is also not clear. As human clinical trials have been carried out one can assume that the claims made by the innovators are valid. Whether there will be any other side reactions in some people is also not known. Let us hope we will have one of the most effective medicines to overcome the twin curses in the form of diabetes and obesity soon and association of one of the giants of pharma industry with this study further reinforces our hope.  

V.H.POTTY
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A "WEIRD" DIET PLAN-WHY DO PEOPLE PLAY WITH THERIR LIVES?

Is it not a tragedy that most people do not understand the basis of weight gain or weight loss or even if they understand, tend to ignore them without realizing the potential harm brought about by indisciplined eating practices.? Any one who knows a little arithmetic can understand that if one takes more foods or calories than that is required by the body, excess has to be deposited some where in some form, mainly as fat deposits in different parts of the body. It is just like managing one's finances with surplus going into term deposits while such deposits are some times mobilized for managing at times of inadequate income. Unfortunately ignoring this fundamental fact, people resort to crazy means to shed their unwanted body weight including practices considered life threatening. Here is an instance of such a practice "popular" in some parts of the US involving hormonal injections and starvation diets.

"Ms. Brown, 35, is not taking hCG to help her bear a child. She believes that by combining the hormone injections with a 500-calorie-a-day diet, she will achieve a kind of weight-loss nirvana: losing fat in all the right places without feeling tired or hungry. "I had a friend who did it before her wedding," Ms. Brown said. "She looks great." Women like Ms. Brown are streaming into doctors' offices and weight-loss clinics all over the country, paying upward of $1,000 a month for a consultation, a supply of the hormone and the syringes needed to deliver it. More than 50 years after a doctor at a Roman clinic began promoting hCG as a dieting aid, it is as popular as ever, even though there is scant evidence that it makes any difference. The regimen combines daily injections with a near-starvation diet, and patients, mostly women, are often enticed by promises that they can lose about a pound a day without feeling hungry. Perhaps even more seductively, they are frequently told that the hCG will prompt their bodies to carry away and metabolize fat that has been stored where they least want it — in their upper arms, bellies and thighs. In response to inquiries stirred up by the diet's popularity, the Food and Drug Administration warned in January that "homeopathic" forms of hCG, like lozenges and sprays, sold over the Internet and in some health food stores, are fraudulent and illegal if they claim weight-loss powers".

"The injectable, prescription form of hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, is approved as a treatment for infertility and other uses, and it is legal for doctors to prescribe it "off-label" for weight loss. But the F.D.A. has also reiterated a warning, first issued in the mid-1970s, that is required on hCG packaging: It has not been shown to increase weight loss, to cause a more "attractive" distribution of fat or to "decrease hunger and discomfort" from low-calorie diets. The F.D.A. recently received a report of a patient on the hCG diet who had a pulmonary embolism, said Christopher Kelly, a spokesman for the agency. He said the hormone carried risks of blood clots, depression, headaches and breast tenderness or enlargement. Dr. Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor at Harvard medical school who researches weight-loss supplements, said that aside from the issue of side effects, the use of hCG as a diet tool was "manipulating people to give them the sense that they're receiving something that's powerful and potent and effective, and in fact they're receiving something that's nothing better than a placebo."

It is a mystery as to how such dishonest physicians who indulge in this type of unscientific and unethical practices, bordering on fraud, are allowed to get away amassing fortunes in the process. Though hormonal injection as a means of weight loss is not supported by any shred of scientific evidence, the merry go-around goes on unhindered with practically no restraint by the food safety agencies and drug authorities. More alarming is the reported side effects such hormone injections can cause including blood clotting and the consequent risk to life. It is time that an agency like the WHO comes out unequivocally against such questionable medical practices.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

MODERN MEAT INDUSTRY-THE DARK SIDE OF ITS IMPACT

The startling news about girls reaching early puberty in China captured the attention of people and the subject became a hot topic for discussion amongst medical and nutritional experts. Whether one likes it or not during the last 300 years the age of attaining puberty has been coming down and to day a significant segment of the female population cross this threshold at an age below 10 years. Though nutrition plays an important role in development of female hormones necessary for the transformation, there are other factors which also contribute to the early maturity syndrome being prevalent in many developed countries. The modern day foods from the processed food industry have been blamed for contributing to this phenomenon because of fat and calorie rich foods they produce and the chemicals used in raising many other foods. While obesity causes disturbed hormonal changes that can cause early puberty, use of synthetic hormones in dairy and meat animals also influence natural hormonal activity bringing about undesirable changes in body metabolism.

"While the childhood obesity problem is linked to the over consumption of processed food, drive-through, dinner in a bucket and the sheer volume of sugar and other junk our kids are eating, we must also look at the role growth hormones play in the size of our kids and the age they reach puberty. Wake up, people. If hormones can make an animal fat, what do you think will happen to us? We have always had access to junk food, but never in human history have we been the subjects of such an intense ingestion of chemicals and hormones. Dr. Andrew Weil states that more than two-thirds of the cattle raised in the U.S. are given hormones, usually testosterone and estrogen to boost growth. According to Cornell, there are actually six hormones commonly used in meat and dairy production: estradiol and progesterone (natural female sex hormones); testosterone (natural male sex hormone); zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengesterol (synthetic growth promoters that make animals grow faster). Not used on poultry or pigs, (but only because they don't promote meaningful growth in these animals), the FDA also allows the use of rbGH, another growth hormone, to promote more milk production in dairy cows. And here's where it gets really creepy. There is no monitoring of the female and male hormones, according to Cornell, because they are naturally produced by the animals so in theory, they can't really tell what hormones were produced and which were administered, so why have limits? But they set tolerance levels for the synthetic hormones. I feel safer; how about you?"

Another dimension to the problem is the suspected consequences of early puberty resulting in increased incidences of breast cancer amongst early matured females when they grow up. The logic of the industry is that it is using hormones which are already in the human body, forgetting that excess can cause unpredictable consequences. No doubt human body has the necessary mechanism to regulate production and metabolism of hormones but to what limit this can be pushed is not well known. Obesity relation is also disturbing because almost one third of the population in a country like the US are either obese or grossly overweight. While food intake can be controlled if there is will and determination, estrogen like substances ingested through food packed in plastic containers and bags pose another imponderable cause for anxiety.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com