The Truth about Fish Oil
Essential fatty acids must always be part of our daily diet – without them, we take one step closer to our deaths. Essential fatty acids are divided into two families: omega-6 EFAs and omega-3 EFAS.

Although there are only very slight differences to distinguish the two groups of essential fatty acids from each other, studies have revealed that too much intake of omega-6 EFAs can lead to inflammation, blood clotting and tumor growth. The good news, however, is that the opposite is true for omega-3 EFAs. Omega-6 EFAs can be found in vegetable oils while omega-3 EFAs can be found in fish oils among other foods.

Omega-6 vs. Omega-3
Physicians and scientists are of the same opinion that the cause behind increasing cases of heart disease, hypertension or high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, premature aging and certain kinds of cancer is none other than an imbalanced intake of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs.

There is now evidence that combining two oral medications, bupropion (Wellbutrin) and Zonigran (zonisamide) can cause significant weight loss in healthy obese people. Zonigran is approved to treat certain types of seizures (epilepsy) and Wellbutrin is approved as an anti-depressant. Neither drug is approved by the FDA for use as an aid to weight loss.

In a study reported by Dr. Frank Greenway from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 55% of otherwise healthy obese individuals lost over 10% of their body weight over the 48 weeks of treatment with the drug combination. This is significantly more than with either of these drugs used separately.

Wellbutrin itself is known to cause some weight loss in doses used to treat depression, but in combination with Zonigran the effect was more pronounced and reliable. Anti-seizure medications besides Zonigran have also shown ability to promote weight loss. One such drug is Sabil (vigabatrin), which causes weight loss in rodents. A similar medication causing weight loss is Topamax (topiramate) also approved to treat seizure disorders. In fact recently the American Diabetes Association released a position paper reviewing the possible use of Topamax to aid obese diabetics in the treatment of their disease.

None of the drugs discussed in this article have been approved for weight loss by the FDA. Studies are underway in the U.S. and Europe to explore this possibility. Consult your physician before starting any medication or treatment plan.

Gary Pepper, M.D.
Editor-in-Chief, Metabolism.com
http://www.metabolism.com/2008/09/06/terms-conditions-service-agreement/

As you already know, stress impacts metabolic functions in your body. It happens for a good reason of survival, as our nature to survive activates body’s basic ability to run for your life when stressful events happen. You will digest food and absorb your nutrients later when you are safe and out of danger. This is the basic survival mechanism. It is often not how much and what you eat and drink during these few holiday weeks, but how you eat, in what mood, and for what reason. Of course, if you already have issues with your metabolism, you should watch your diet however stress amplifies the damage while it doesn’t have to.

Holidays is a good time to apply any stress reduction techniques you already know – meditation, self-hypnosis, Epsom salt baths, aromatherapy, massage, and anything else you know. I would like to share with you two stress reduction techniques you can apply instantaneously so you will be able to dissipate the upcoming negative emotion.

1. www.emofree.com - Emotional Freedom Technique – EFT. Easy to practice it helps you to relax within seconds and neutralizes emotion, pain, or negative thought. Being so easy to learn and practice, it became one of the most widespread practices. You can do it anywhere – in the airplane, in your car, at your house, at the restaurant bathroom, etc. EFT process can be briefly described as tapping on specific face and body points while speaking out loud the affirmation of your choice. At first it looks unusual, but soon you will get used to it and enjoy the results it brings.
It is absolutely FREE to learn, and you can get materials and watch videos online. We can thank Gary Craig, EFT founder and wonderful person, for creating the system and making it so available.

2. Practice dissociating yourself from negative memories. For example, you are expecting visitors you associate some negative memories with. Even thought of seeing them makes your heart beat faster, and you get irritated. You can do the following to free yourself of this feeling. While sitting comfortably, close your eyes and vividly remember last time you had a confrontation with them. Do you see yourself in that memory as it is a movie, or you see everything around you from your own eyes? If you see everything around you in that memory, the chances are you are fully associated with it and reliving these emotions all over again. It is possible to change your emotional charge by simply changing the perception of this memory. Close your eyes again and watch this event as a movie with you playing one of the roles. See yourself in this movie. Now move it farther away from you on a TV distance and make it black and white – just like an old movie. Play with the distance, color, and/or quality, and move it farther or closer. Notice how your emotions are changing. Now, in your imagination, install a glass door between you and that movie. Notice how your emotions dissipate. This way you can override negative emotions associated with old memories. You can repeat this exercise a few more times with other memories associated with your upcoming visitors. After a while, you will be surprised to find yourself much calmer when your visitors arrive.

Weight loss shots might be the latest weight loss technique.  A major pharmaceutical company is experimenting with possible weight loss injections. The company, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, has already pioneered a unique diabetes medication, Byetta, which lowers the blood sugar and is also associated with weight loss in diabetics who use it. The experimental medication being developed combines two hormone-like medications into an injection taken in the morning and evening.  The first of the two hormones is already available as Symelin (pramlintide), another drug pioneered by Amylin Pharmaceutical. Symelin is presently used in the treatment of insulin requiring diabetics and is associated with mild weight loss. The second hormone is synthetic leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells which decreases appetite through its action at specific brain centers which control hunger. The researchers have formulated leptin through recombinant DNA technology into a chemical called metreleptin. In the recent experiments both Symelin and metreleptin are combined into a single injection. 56% of treated subjects lost 10% of their body weight in 6 months. Almost a third of subjects treated lost 15% of body weight. Binge eating was reduced by 43%. Adverse effects involved nausea and local skin reactions to the injections.

This weight loss injections are not yet available to the public. For more information regarding this or any of the other drugs mentioned in this article, contact Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Only you and your health care professional can decide which treatments are appropriate and whether weight loss shots are for you .

Growth hormone levels normally decline as we get older. It is my opinion that age related declines in hormones like growth hormone may be a form of natural programmed death of the aging body. Along with decline in growth hormone comes a decline in muscle mass and an increase in body fat.  This combination makes older people weaker more likely to suffer injury and develop diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. Ghrelin is a hormone normally made in the intestine and brain.  It has the ability to stimulate the release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. The new drug MK-677, a synthetic molecule which mimics ghrelin action, is absorbed into the blood after oral administration and creates a long acting natural stimulus to the pituitary to release growth hormone. Making this drug even more appealing is that it causes growth hormone release in a natural up and down rhythm (pulsatile) rather than a single big daily elevation as occurs with standard injections of growth hormone.

Does MK-677 help?  According to the researchers, muscle mass increased, and body fat remained the same but overall weight increased a small amount.  The bad cholesterol (LDL) level declined when taking the drug. The study was conducted in healthy elderly people so any benefit to quality of life was hard to measure. Additional problems may arise because ghrelin also stimulates appetite and may cause weight gain as shown in the present study.

MK-677 is an investigational medicine and is not available to the public. Only your personal health care professional can recommend whether any medical therapy is appropriate for you.

Gary Pepper, M.D.

Editor-in-Chief, Metabolism.com

“MOM!!!! WHERE IS MY DINNER??? “ “DAD!!! I AM TAKING YOUR CAR!!!” No kidding, the blue lake just popped in front of your so-called third eye and vanished into who knows what. As a mother of active nine year old boy I personally would laugh out loud at anybody who preaches the wonders of a stress-free life – it just seems impossible in many life situations. Is it really impossible or there are ways to not only cope with stress but to glide through it and come out at the other end unscathed?
It is known that stress, especially the chronic stress can create huge havoc on the physical, mental, and emotional levels. However it is very important to distinguish between the “stress triggers” and the “stress response mechanism” activated by your body. While encountering a stressful situation your body automatically shifts to the “fight or flight” mode. This response is very beneficial if you are about to run away from the grizzly bear chasing you in the woods. Your body is capable of immediately shutting down hundreds of ongoing processes such as digestion, reproduction, hormone regulation in order to activate other processes important for your immediate survival.

Now, the body reacts the same exact way either if you are stressed about running away from the grizzly bear or if you are sitting on your couch watching TV about 700 billion dollars bailout. With one simple difference – there is absolutely no physical need for your body to shut down your digestion and hormone regulation while watching news on TV. But it is happening anyway. Now, think about how many times you encounter stressful situations during your typical day.

It is not the fact of stressful events occurring in our life that wear us out – it’s the way we react to them. It means we can control some of the impact affecting our life by changing our lifestyle and our way of thinking. And it can be fun to do!

These are the three basic components in stress management:
1. Learn how to shift your attention quickly and how to use your primary senses to lessen the impact of the stressful event.
2. Nourish your body with a balanced diet supporting your well-being and avoid foods that aggravate stress.
3. Adopt a regular and fulfilling spiritual practice.

We will talk about all these topics, and in my next article I will share with you the ways of re-patterning your mind in order to handle stressful situations effectively.

Maintaining ideal body weight with diet and exercise is also crucial for avoiding diabetes and prediabetes. In overweight adults for each 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) gained per year the risk of developing diabetes increases about 50% over the next ten years. By losing 2.2 pounds per year the risk of developing diabetes is reduced about 33% for the next 10 years (J Epidemiol Community Health.  2000; 54(8):596-602).

Speak to your healthcare professional to find out if you are at risk for developing diabetes and to learn ways you can avoid it.

Gary Pepper M.D.

Editor-in-Chief, Metabolism.com

The terms of service for metabolism.com apply to this and all posts;  http://www.metabolism.com/2008/09/06/terms-conditions-service-agreement/

In our new forum
http://www.metabolism.com/health-and-nutrition-forum/forum/alternatives
we will explore the ways to find and properly utilize your internal resources in order to help you live the life you deserve. We will talk about how such tools as hypnosis, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), acupuncture, energy balancing, and other methods can help you on your path to the health and happiness.

I welcome you to ask questions and start discussions on the topics you would like to explore. Stay tuned!

A new group of medications has recently become available for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. These medications take advantage of discoveries on the workings of hormones naturally made by the intestines known as “incretins”. These hormones are made by special cells in the intestine in response to eating. Incretins stimulate the release of insulin from the pancreas and insulin enters the circulation where it regulates the amount of sugar in the blood. Some incretins also stop the release of glucagon which is another hormone which interferes with insulin action.

The first of these medicines receiving FDA approval is exenatide (Byetta). Byetta is given by subcutaneous injection twice daily just before eating. This medicine appears to have a secondary benefit of reducing appetite and assisting with weight loss efforts.

Sitagliptine (Januvia) is another FDA approved medication taking advantage of the incretin system. It is an oral medication taken once daily and has been shown to be effective at lowering blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics.

These prescription drugs should only be used with the advice and monitoring of your health care professional.

A cure for type 1 (juvenile) diabetes is still a distant hope. The main focus for curing or delaying type 1 diabetes focuses on the immune system. The immune system normally protects us against viruses, bacteria and cancer cells. In type 1 diabetes a person’s own immune system appears to attack the insulin producing cells in the pancreas leading to the disappearance of this vital sugar controlling hormone. Studies in humans are now taking place which use artificially created antibodies to stop this immune attack on the pancreas. Using these experimental substances, delays of up to 18 months in the onset of type 1 diabetes have been achieved. Many more studies of this type are being planned hopefully paving the way for even better results.

Gary Pepper, M.D.

Editor-in-Chief, Metabolism.com

Terms of Service apply to this post  http://www.metabolism.com/2008/09/06/terms-conditions-service-agreement/

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