Readers Summary Why I use highly sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP) and Vitamin D as biomarker proxies. After Leptin, Cortisol is the next most important domino to fall. Hormone Cascade explained in a paragraph. Unintended consequences of hypercortisolism destroy health. Initial HS-CRP signals the genesis of underlying hormonal disruption (First sign Leptin is toast). Now [...]
Now, we know definitely that Leptin controls all energy production by regulating all the hormones in the body. But, do you wonder what happens when that regulation goes awry in the muscles? Well, here is some information about one part of how Leptin works to keep us fit when your body is sensitive to it. When Leptin was discovered in 1994, no one really had a clue as to its many functions. One function that was particularly murky was how the brain controlled peripheral energy utilization and optimized it. It is awfully hard to realize that the hypothalamus (size of a pea) can control the need for fuel of 20 trillion cells in the human body. Well in the last few years, scientists found out about uncoupling proteins (UCP). So far five have been discovered in mammals. The one we will discuss today is UCP3. This protein, UCP3, allows Leptin to work inside of peripheral cells like the muscle cell. For UCP3 to work optimally, it requires optimal functioning of Leptin and thyroid hormone simultaneously. In muscle cells, UCP3 is the dominant UCP in humans. So it is vital to maximizing efficiency in exercise and energy use. What UCP3 allows the muscle to do, is to shift out of regular oxidative energy production done at the mitochondria and making energy in the form of ATP, and into making pure heat without generating ATP. This biochemical action decreases ROS (levee 3) at the mitochondrial level, decreasing cellular stress. And therefore the energy is dissipated mostly as heat. Another protein, UCP1, is dedicated to doing this same action when it is activated 100{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} of the time.
Many people are under the assumption that the thyroid is the real key to metabolism. I can’t tell you how many meetings I have been to and heard this nonsense. It happened today while I was speaking to a dietician and nutritionist in a hospital. It’s just not correct. The liver is the engine of our body’s Ferrari! The thyroid is best described as the gas pedal for the engine and leptin is the electronic chip that controls the entire process. So we need to discuss some biochemistry now. Rub your head a few times before we start to increase your blood flow! When humans eat a meal about 60% of the calories wind up in the liver to deliver energy to tissues between meals to sustain normal energy production. Another hormone, Glucagon, mediates this release of fuel. The remainder of the energy (40%) is sent packing to the peripheral tissues and the muscles where insulin allows the energy to enter the cells. If those cells are leptin sensitive they use all 40% of the calories with nothing left over. If they are leptin resistant the excess calories go directly back to the liver to be placed into fat storage (or stuck inside the liver cell) in fat cells because of the high insulin levels. The more fat that gets deposited, the higher leptin levels go over time. If the fat gets stuck in the liver it causes a large immune reaction driving up more inflammatory chemicals. When it gets to a critical level (different body fat levels for all people) the fat begins to make the bad stuff. (IL6 and TNF alpha)
Okay, so you have heard me talk a lot about leptin. Why is it so important? It is a hormone that controls all of energy metabolism in the body. Not only that it controls all the other hormones in the body as well. So if it is not working well you can bet that the rest of your hormones are going to show clinical problems as well. I can't tell you how many people think they have thyroid issues when all the time they have been leptin resistant. One becomes leptin resistant when the brain no longer recognizes the leptin signal sent from our fat cells. Testing leptin is easy to do but rarely done in medicine today. The easiest way is to look in the mirror. If you're way too fat or way too thin guess what? You are leptin resistant, most likely. Biochemically we can also assess it with a test called a reverse T3 level. This is rarely ordered because many docs don't know about the test and because it is not covered by insurance. Reverse T3 is a competitive inhibitor to T3 and T4. Those are your thyroid hormones. So yes, leptin resistance completely turns off your thyroid gland! That does not allow you to burn fat in your muscles because it down regulates your basal metabolic rate. Now you know what controls your metabolism too! That process is called peripheral (muscle) leptin resistance. That is why some fat people can not burn fat with exercise. That is why your thyroid test are close to worthless clinically in leptin resistance. I bet many of you just had an epiphany!
Everyone knows the capability of what we can do in surgical care has dramatically increased in the last decade. I used to have to make large incisions to repair the spine or the brain back to health. Now most of my incisions are less than an inch long and some are the size of pencil eraser. Over the last decade my abilities has changed dramatically because of technology. Surgeries that once took many hours now take less than an hour. And most are not done in the hospital any longer. Moreover, the recovery times have also shrunk from months to weeks. Some of the operations for a fractured vertebrae (spine) due to osteoporosis used to be brutal for patient and surgeon. Now I can repair them through the skin using a needle half the size of a number 2 pencil in less than ten minutes. To show you just how far we have come in surgery let me share with you a short video to give you an idea of what is actually possible now in 2011.
Dr. Jack Kruse Greetings, my name is Jack Kruse. I am a neurosurgeon and I would like to share some ideas with you. These ideas are very important to me and I have been considering them for quite a while now. Why do I want to share it this way, you may ask? [...]