PTSD and Diabetes

Being angry activates the body's fight or flight system. You get an adrenal rush. I have often thought that being angry all the time from abused child PTSD might be a cause of the diabetes "epidemic" we are having. It turns out there is some evidence for that.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Incidence of Type-2 Diabetes: A Prospective Twin Study

Growing evidence has linked posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes, but most previous studies were cross-sectional. We examined the association between PTSD and incidence of diabetes in a prospective study of middle-aged male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Lifetime PTSD was diagnosed at baseline with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) according to DSM-III-R criteria. Subthreshold PTSD was defined by meeting some, but not all, criteria for PTSD. A total of 4,340 respondents without self-reported diabetes at baseline were included. Of these, 658 reported a new diagnosis of treated diabetes over a median of 19.4 years of follow-up. At baseline, twins with PTSD showed more behavioral and metabolic risk factors such as overweight and hypertension. The age-adjusted cumulative incidence of diabetes was significantly higher in twins with PTSD (18.9%) than those without PTSD (14.4%), [odds ratio (OR)=1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.8], and intermediate in those with subthreshold PTSD (16.4%) (OR=1.2, 95% CI 0.9-1.5, p for trend=0.03). Adjustment for military, lifestyle and metabolic factors diminished the association. No significant association was found comparing twin pairs discordant for PTSD. In conclusion, PTSD was prospectively associated with a 40% increased risk of new-onset type-2 diabetes which was partially explained by a cluster of metabolic and behavioral risk factors known to influence insulin resistance. Shared biological or behavioral precursors which occur within families may lead to both PTSD and insulin resistance/diabetes. Thus, PTSD could be a marker of neuroendocrine and metabolic dysregulation which may lead to type-2 diabetes.

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Grapefruit

A dietary supliment may be able to improve the lives of diabetics and the overweight according to Dr. Yaakov Nahmias.

Israeli scientists may have discovered an effective new way to treat high cholesterol and diabetes naturally. Dr. Yaakov Nahmias from the Benin School of Engineering and Computer Science at Hebrew University and his colleagues have discovered that naringenin, a molecule in grapefruits that gives the fruit its bitter taste, can help to treat arteriosclerosis, hyper-metabolism, and even diabetes.

The study, which was recently published in the journal PLoS One, explains that when a highly-bioavailable "nano-complex" of naringenin is consumed just before a meal that is high in fat and sugar, it can reduce the development of bad cholesterol by roughly 42 percent, and actually increase insulin sensitivity by 64 percent.

Dr. Nahmias and his colleagues allege that naringenin in its natural form is not very easily absorbed by the body. So they developed what they say is an improved version on the substance, which is surrounded by a ring of sugar called cyclodextrin, and that is 11 times more bioavailable than naringenin that comes straight from a grapefruit.

And you know what? The supplement is an outgrowth of nanotechnology research.

Wikipedia calls the grapefruit diet a fad diet.

The grapefruit diet, also known as the Hollywood Diet and erroneously as the Mayo Clinic Diet, is a short-term fad diet that has existed in the United States since at least the 1930s.

Which just goes to show you how much they know.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Worms Schizophrenia

I was rereading my post Worms Autism and since I referenced one comment from here I thought I ought to read them all. Just in case I missed something interesting. And it looks like I did. Several somethings in fact. Let me start with a bit that interests me personally since I have a close relation with the problem.

A patient using whipworm to treat IBD/Ulcerative Colitis by Mike Luis

[Comment posted 2011-02-01 07:34:30]
Fascinating article. If the hygiene/old friends hypothesis stands correct about the rise of autoimmune diseases in developed countries/areas, and the connection between inflammation and autism is sound, then helminthic therapy holds potential to treat a huge amount of devastating conditions; IBD, Allergies, Asthma, MS, and now Autism, perhaps more. There is even literature on the potential effects on mental illness, such as clinical depression, as related to cytokines. I am a patient who has been using trichuris trichiura (human whipworm) to treat Ulcerative Colitis and have seen incredible success. I blog about my experience here.

Which led me to research cytokines schizophrenia.

Which led me to Cortisol and Cytokines in Chronic and Treatment-Resistant Patients with Schizophrenia: Association with Psychopathology and Response to Antipsychotics.

There is a complex bidirectional communication between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems that can be demonstrated by the presence of shared neurotransmitters, hormones, and cytokines (Blalock, 1989; Haddad et al, 2002). Communication between these systems plays an essential role in modulating the adequate response of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis to the stimulatory influence of cytokines and stress-related mediators (Spangelo et al, 1995). Growing evidence suggests that, in addition to providing communication between immune cells, specific cytokines play a role in signaling the brain to produce neurochemical, neuroendocrine, neuroimmune, and behavioral changes (Muller and Ackenheil, 1998; Kronfol and Remick, 2000). Recently, studies have shown that the interface between these complex systems is impaired in schizophrenia (SCH, Altamura et al, 1999).

Go to the above link for more links. Way more links.

Here is another one.

Growing evidence suggests that the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems interact with each other through cytokines, hormones, and neurotransmitters. The activation of the cytokine systems may be involved in the neuropathological changes occurring in the central nervous system (CNS) of schizophrenic patients. Numerous studies report that treatment with antipsychotic drugs affects the cytokine network. Hence, it is plausible that the influence of antipsychotics on the cytokine systems may be responsible for their clinical efficacy in schizophrenia. This article reviews current data on the cytokine-modulating potential of antipsychotic drugs. First, basic information on the cytokine networks with special reference to their role in the CNS as well as an up-to-date knowledge of the cytokine alterations in schizophrenia is outlined. Second, the hitherto published studies on the influence of antipsychotics on the cytokine system are reviewed. Third, the possible mechanisms underlying antipsychotics’ potential to influence the cytokine networks and the most relevant aspects of this activity are discussed. Finally, limitations of the presented studies and prospects of future research are delineated.

Well isn't that interesting? So could worms treat schizophrenia? From my limited research all I can say is that no one knows. I did find a link to a now defunct www address that said, "I might try worms", but that is about it.

OK. What else did I find? Another comment that interests me since I know several people with the problem.

Yes, I have read similar about diabetes. by Jan-Olof Flink

[Comment posted 2011-03-23 08:52:27]
Amy Hendrickson asks in the comments if "anyone heard of worms being used to help people with diabetes?"

Yes I did read about that early 2009.
Anne Cooke, professor at Cambridge university and her team showed that they could stop diabetes in mice by giving them some kind of extract made from Schistosoma mansoni, the worm that causes bilharzia

That is quite suggestive. However, I have gone on long enough so I will let you so your own research.

I do like the idea of Dynamic Balance. Which is all you can have when everything is moving around.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

New Clinical Tests Positive For Pain Medication

What do you know. We have a new drug avaiilable for kinds of pain that were previously difficult to treat.

Ever since California and other states began passing medical marijuana laws in 1996, the federal government has claimed that -- as a 2003 White House press release put it -- "research has not demonstrated that smoked marijuana is safe and effective medicine." A new study, just published in the journal Neurology, definitively refutes that claim and underlines the urgent need for the federal government to change its prohibitionist policies.

The study, conducted by Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California at San Francisco, found marijuana to be safe and effective at treating peripheral neuropathy, which causes great suffering to HIV/AIDS patients. This type of extreme pain, which is caused by damage to the nerves, can make patients feel like their feet and hands are on fire, or being stabbed with a knife. Similar pain is seen in a number of other illnesses, including multiple sclerosis and diabetes, and cannot be treated effectively with conventional pain medications. Standard pain medicines -- even addictive, dangerous narcotics -- have little effect on this type of pain.

Marijuana doesn't cure neuropathy, but in the UCSF study marijuana was clearly shown to give relief. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (the design that's considered the "gold standard" of medical research), a majority of patients had a greater than 30 percent reduction in pain after smoking marijuana. For many, that level of relief means having a bearable quality of life.

Well I guess the drug is not really new. It does confirm the anecdotal evidence we have from diabetes sufferers and people with multiple sclerosis.

The Connection

I wrote an article about a year ago on how marijuana helps those suffering from diabetes and more recently how it helps those suffering from multiple sclerosis. It turns out there is a connection.

In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body's nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease that affects millions of Canadians.

Diabetic mice became healthy virtually overnight after researchers injected a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas.

Which is amazing. Now what is the connection to MS?

Dr. Dosch had concluded in a 1999 paper that there were surprising similarities between diabetes and multiple sclerosis, a central nervous system disease. His interest was also piqued by the presence around the insulin-producing islets of an "enormous" number of nerves, pain neurons primarily used to signal the brain that tissue has been damaged.

Suspecting a link between the nerves and diabetes, he and Dr. Salter used an old experimental trick -- injecting capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot chili peppers, to kill the pancreatic sensory nerves in mice that had an equivalent of Type 1 diabetes.

"Then we had the biggest shock of our lives," Dr. Dosch said. Almost immediately, the islets began producing insulin normally "It was a shock ? really out of left field, because nothing in the literature was saying anything about this."

It turns out the nerves secrete neuropeptides that are instrumental in the proper functioning of the islets. Further study by the team, which also involved the University of Calgary and the Jackson Laboratory in Maine, found that the nerves in diabetic mice were releasing too little of the neuropeptides, resulting in a "vicious cycle" of stress on the islets.

So the doctor noted a similarity. Which may explain why both MS sufferers and people with Type 1 diabetes report that marijuana helps.

They also discovered that their treatments curbed the insulin resistance that is the hallmark of Type 2 diabetes, and that insulin resistance is a major factor in Type 1 diabetes, suggesting the two illnesses are quite similar.

While pain scientists have been receptive to the research, immunologists have voiced skepticism at the idea of the nervous system playing such a major role in the disease. Editors of Cell put the Toronto researchers through vigorous review to prove the validity of their conclusions, though an editorial in the publication gives a positive review of the work.

"It will no doubt cause a great deal of consternation," said Dr. Salter about his paper.

The researchers are now setting out to confirm that the connection between sensory nerves and diabetes holds true in humans. If it does, they will see if their treatments have the same effects on people as they did on mice.

This is great news for the very near future if the research pans out. In the mean time for those of you waiting for new treatments to come on the market, I'll give you some adivice I was given a long time ago in the military while we were taking a break, "Smoke 'em if you got 'em." It just might help.

Amy at Diabetes Mine has more. Especially read the comments.

H/T Kesher Talk

Update: 21 Dec'06 0327z

More details on the research.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Cannabinoid Lowers Blood Pressure

An article originally published in the Jerusalem Post discusses this year's Kaye Innovation Awards which are given annually to encourage Hebrew University faculty, staff and students to develop methods and inventions that have good chances for commercialization to benefit the university and society. Yehoshua Maor got one of the awards for his work under the supervision of Prof. Raphael Mechoulam on cannbinoids and blood pressure. Some might ask with so many medicines on the market why is this research necessary?

Not all patients respond well to conventional hypertension drugs.

But the cannabis plant, through its chemical compounds, has been shown to have a beneficial, hypotensive effect.

But a drawback in the therapeutic use of cannabinoids has been the undesirable psychotropic properties such as hallucinatory effects.

Attempts to separate the hypotensive action from their psychotropic properties have been only partially successful until now.

Of course for some the psychotropic effects are a feature, not a defect. In any case what was developed was

...a synthetic version of a minor cannabis constituent named cannabigerol, which is devoid of psychotropic activity. In laboratory experiments with rats, in collaboration with Prof. Michal Horowitz, it was found that this novel compound reduced blood pressure when administered in relatively low doses.

Additional testing also showed that the compound also brought about another beneficial effect - relaxation of the blood vessels.

A further beneficial property observed in work carried out with Prof. Ruth Gallily was that the compounds produced an anti-inflammatory response.

Maor says these qualities could be combined to create a valuable new clinical drug with major market potential, especially for diabetic patients suffering from hypertension, since reductions in blood pressure can decrease the risk of diabetes complications and in others with metabolic irregularities.

Which fits in quite nicely with another recent report of mine Pot Treats Diabetes.

Update: 20 June '06 1439z

Grand Rounds hosted by Dr. Deborah Serani links.

Grand Rounds readers (and others) might find the following links of interest: PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System and Cannabis is the Best Medicine

Technorati:
Cannbinoid, Hypertension, High Blood Pressure, Marijuana, Diabetes, Pot, Anti-inflammatory, Cannabigerol

Pot Treats Diabetes

Amy T of Diabetes Mine has a post up about treating diabetes with pot.

She lists the benefits and then concludes with:

Now I have no idea how this has been received in the medical community, but that is one heck of a long list of potential health benefits! Where do I sign up for the clinical studies? (wink ;)

As I noted in an e-mail to Amy:

If the stuff wasn't illegal it would be considered a medical super-miracle given all the problems it treats.

We have given up a whole raft of medical miracles to go after pot smokers. Fortunately as more research is done those days are coming to an end.