READERS SUMMARY: 1. Why do we sleep? 2. Does sleep control metabolism and cell growth? 3. Do all living things sleep? How long is too long or too little? 4. What are the stages of sleep? 5. Can sleep help prevent degenerative aging diseases and cancer? 6. Is sleep the primordial condition or did it evolve as we did? Why do [...]
READERS SUMMARY 1. Quick overview of carbohydrate metabolism 2. Quick overview of fat metabolism 3. Quick over view of protein metabolism 4. Are all exercises created equal? 5. What exercises optimize us for health and longevity? The process of how food is turned into ATP is called cellular respiration. Foods are made from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. This a quick overview [...]
Mitochondria can allow life or kill us. Mitochondrial DNA has only 37 genes. From those 37 genes comes just 13 proteins. Those 13 proteins code for the electron chain transport complexes. The remainder of the genes code for tRNA. Mitochondria also cant grow outside the cell. They require the 30,000 genes in the nucleus to make up another 1500 proteins for them to function. Mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA have to have precise lock and key fit to generate energy production. If not, the cell eliminates itself by apoptosis (levee 19) fast. If It works well, this combination is naturally selected for future cell division to generate energy. Aging is quantified by how "leaky" our mitochondria are to free radicals at complex ones in electron chain transport. Their own DNA is adjacent to the first complex in electron chain transport. So the more leakage, the more damage is done to its DNA and energy production will fall. Moreover, that is the signal to make more mitochondria or undergo cell suicide! This first complex (NADH) is by far the most leaky to free radicals of all the complexes. This paradox of fate caused evolution to select for 10-20 copies of mitochondrial DNA in each cell to sustain energy production of an organ in question. So mitochondria can breathe life into us and end it based upon how many good mitochondria we have in a tissue.
Let me begin by saying, I think western medicine is ideal for acute diseases. I know this is a dogmatic statement to lead with, but I believe this to be true. And those diseases are the ones that shortened our lifespans most in the first half of the 20th century. Most people I talk with always want to know why I think medicine has missed the boat with respect to chronic diseases? I have thought long and hard about this one and I think I have arrived at my reason. Healthcare, up until the 1940′s, was done anecdotally and by empiric observation. In the 1940′s, the government saw some statistics that showed close to 40{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} of the deaths in the US were caused by heart disease or stroke. It also appeared that the numbers were accelerating and not slowing down. The real reason they became interested is that no one knew why this was happening. So they decided to study this problem with a long term observational population study that began in 1948. That study was the Framingham Heart study. The bible has the book of Genesis, and physics has Einstein’s theory of relativity and Framingham is medicine’s raison d’etre.
Readers Summary 1. Why humans can change their DNA with a thought. 2. Are we mismatched? 3. Motivated by Paleo Hack thread. 4. Why convention healthcare fails us. 5. What we can do together to change that. CHASING CHANGE Humans evolved the attributes of a large brain, the ability to speak, and formed an intricate [...]
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.
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.