It has been proposed that obesity is a disease of the brain. The article we read for class revealed that there are substantial effects on the brain that qualifies obesity as a brain disease, but I don’t think that obesity is solely a brain disease.
Poor nutrition choices and the formation of bad eating habits play a large role in the development of obesity.
Overnutrition can lead to several changes within the brain, which includes inflammation of the hypothalamus, insulin resistance, and hippocampal inflammation and atrophy, just to name a few.
Specifically, insulin resistance, which is caused by an overactivation of insulin receptors, develops in response to a high fat diet, which can eventually lead to cognitive dysfunction.
A high fat diet can also result in an increased number of activated microglia, which causes hippocampal inflammation and can lead to cell damage and loss of hippocampal tissue. Also, hypothalamic inflammation can lead to impaired food intake control. An overall decrease in brain volume has also been noted in obese individuals, specifically a diminution in white matter integrity and a decrease in gray matter volume. All of these changes result in cognitive impairments.
Exposure to overnutrition pre- and post-natally can affect neurological development and disrupt correct feeding behaviors.
Does this scientific evidence suggest that it is essentially a mother’s fault if her child becomes obese?
It seems logical that a mother’s nutrition choices are passed on to her children and could therefore be the reason children develop obesity later on in life. In order to target this issue, education about healthy foods and the importance of eating healthy while pregnant may promote the formation of good eating habits among mothers and eventually their children.
In our class discussion groups, we came to the conclusion that community based education programs should be implemented in order to teach mothers the importance of healthy eating while pregnant and also how to prepare healthy meals for their children.
With education we can prevent obesity by improving eating habits before it’s too late!
Obesity: Health vs. Stigma
Obesity in America has an overwhelming prevalence in adults. Nearly 36% of adults are considered obese and 1 in 20 are considered morbidly obese. Even scarier, 1 in 6 children ages 6-19 are considered obese.
Most people are aware that obesity can lead to health complications such as type II diabetes, heart disease, and other potentially deadly diseases. Along with well-known side effects, obesity and poor diets also lead to brain disease. The obesity problem isn’t getting better either, as long as processed, high fat foods dominate the supermarkets obesity will only continue to worsen.
Obesity, however, is different from other diseases. It is different because a person is not always 100% at fault for their obesity, but there are still choices that can be made to fix obesity. Obesity is also related to a person’s lifestyle, so by pointing out and critiquing a person’s obesity-you are also partially critiquing their lifestyle. This is the reason why obesity has a stigma.
The stigma with obesity stems from the fact that pointing out a person’s problem with obesity is viewed as a personal attack. The problem with obesity isn’t the appearance of a person, it is the health issues associated with the disease. By ignoring advice to eat healthy and live a more active lifestyle, people are knowingly putting themselves at risk of life-threatening diseases along with multiple lesser-known complications with their brains.
People should not be defined by their body weight, or any other disease, for that matter; but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do everything in their power to get treatment for that disease. People actively seek treatment for almost every other disease they are afflicted with, obesity shouldn’t be any different.
Society needs to separate physical appearance from a person’s health. Even though the two may be related, the obesity problem in America needs to be solved because of the health complications associated with the disease. Most people are aware that high-fat diets cause obesity which then leads to diabetes, heart disease, and other problems; but most are not aware that poor diet and obesity also leads to brain disease.
Hunger is controlled by the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. The system that controls hunger consists of two neuronal bodies. POMC/CART neurons suppress hunger by releasing melanocortins when stimulated that induce feelings of satiety.
After a meal, glucose and other factors such as insulin and leptin activate the POMC/CART neurons to make the body satisfied. The other neurons controlling hunger are the AGRP/NPY neurons. These neurons cause your body to feel hungry when they are activated or not inhibited. Insulin and leptin also act as inhibitors of these neurons after meals.
When you consume a diet consisting of high-fat foods your brain produces inflammation that affects the hypothalamus and hippocampus primarily. Hypothalamic inflammation can lead to both insulin and leptin insensitivity.
When your hypothalamus is insensitive to insulin and leptin, the POMC/CART neurons are not able to be activated as they should after meals. This results in a lack of satiety following meals which leads to overeating. Inflammation in the hippocampus can lead to an increase in production of activated microglia which can lead to cell damage and eventually hippocampal atrophy (loss of tissue). This can lead to cognitive impairment later in life.
In conclusion, obesity is a huge issue in American society. The stigma about obesity needs to be overcome by separating personal appearance from the disease itself. We want to end obesity because it is a neurological and potentially fatal disease.
The health issue of obesity is the reason we need to get rid of it; not because a person has less worth if they are obese. You would not think any less of a person with a different disease, so obesity should be no different.
Featured Image courtesy Salon.
Parkinson’s Disease, an Overview
Parkinson’s disease is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, following Alzheimer’s Disease. The average age of those who develop Parkinson’s is 60 years old.
The most common symptoms of Parkinson’s are slowness in movement, rigidity, tremors, and instability in posture.
However, a better understanding of Parkinson’s has revealed that there are more than just motor symptoms. Non-motor symptoms, such as depression, sleep disturbances, sensory abnormalities, autonomic dysfunction, and cognitive decline have also been associated with Parkinson’s.
Loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra area of the brain is known to be a leading factor in the development of Parkinson’s. Protein aggregates, known as Lewy bodies, are also a classic calling card of Parkinson’s. As these Lewy bodies spread throughout the brain, the loss of dopaminergic neurons begins.
Oxidative stress, partly due to mitochondrial dysfunction, is one of the leading causes of neuronal death, and thus is a major component of Parkinson’s disease. The ability to degrade misfolded, or damaged proteins is also inhibited in Parkinson’s disease. Thus alpha-synuclein, a protein that makes up Lewy bodies is not broken down via the normal methods leading to cell death.
Overactive inflammatory signals, leading to production of reactive oxygen species contribute to cell death as well. In addition to this excitotoxicity, is thought to play a role in cell death in Parkinson’s, but there is less direct evidence to support this claim.
The effort to cure Parkinson’s has led to many different potential treatments, however there is no cure. Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAO-B), have shown to help slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease, slowing the loss of dopaminergic neurons. Some of the other potential treatments are being explored, but with less success.
Furthermore, there has been difficulty in developing treatments to help suppress the non-motor symptoms. As the treatments have not changed much in the past 30 years, I am hopeful that further research into this disease will help bring about some treatments that could help raise the quality of life of those with this disease.
For more information, and the source of information for this blog post, you can read the article, “Parkinson’s disease: from pathology to molecular disease mechanisms” by David T Dexter and Peter Jenner.
Obesity: What Can You Really Do?
Obesity is quite a sensitive topic in today’s world.
Obviously it is not very polite to call someone fat or to say that they are obese because they would find that very offensive, but also it is hard to talk to someone about there weight problem if they do have one because it has become such a sensitive and taboo topic in today’s society.
This creates many problems because although it is impolite to talk to someone about their weight, there are times where it can cause serious health issues if it gets out of hand, and the only way to solve these issues is to talk about how a change in lifestyle needs to take place.
Now I know some people will disagree with me, but I think it is good that no one should be judged by their weight, but this can’t create a shadow over the issues that being overweight can cause.
It seems that our society is shifting to a way in which it embraces being overweight and no longer looks at it as a problem but as the norm and this is because of the fact that these issues are being overshadowed by the love your body movement and different things of that nature.
I think some changes need to be made because while it is good for everyone to love their body, there also needs to be a time where people realize that maybe they are overweight and some lifestyle changes should be made. Im not saying that we all need to slim down to the point where we look like models because that is unhealthy too, but we just need to look at ways to live a better and more healthy lifestyle where we are able to talk about our weight.
In order to do this, I just want to talk about some diet choices that can be made to make this process go more smoothly.
You can still eat as much food as you normally do, and by normal I mean within reason, but it just needs to be healthy food choices. Now by healthy I mean foods like fruits, vegetables, poultry, beans, nuts, fish, and whole grains. Looking at that list, I think that would be pretty manageable and would still taste pretty good too!
Now there are some foods that you also want to stay away from that may appear healthy. These foods are red meat, sweetened drinks and yes this includes fruit juices, refined grains, processed meat, and potatoes which includes french fries and things of that nature.
Some of those items may have been obvious and some may not have. Both of those lists are a starting point if you want to pursue a healthy diet, and there are obviously a few more things that could be added to each list but that gives you a general idea.
Another important component I just want to add is that exercise is also important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Being active keeps your body up to par and will aid in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Now I could go on and on for quite some time, but I will just cut it off there. I know that people will disagree with some of the statements that I made, but I think there is some truth in what I had to say.
Being in this neurochemistry class and seeing the effect that obesity can have on people makes me think that it is something that can’t be beaten unless you talk to someone about it.
Without the help of those around you, obesity can get the best of you and changing your lifestyle can be very difficult. That is the sole reason why I think our society needs to more openly accept talking about obesity as a problem and not just embrace it.
Obesity: Moderation or Modulation?
There is an obesity crisis in the Unites States.
We are getting fatter and fatter every year in this country, with now 33% of adults in this country being classified as obese.
That is f***ing ridiculous. How can we as a country be taken seriously as a shining example of what a country should look like, but also be engaged in the unhealthiest of food practices that is causing drastic downward spirals in our citizens health?
The truth is is that we have slipped off the leader board in terms of national health and until we solve this obesity crisis, we will never get back on top.
So how do we do that? How do we overcome a disease that to many seems more like a motivational problem than a physiological one? Obesity has the stigma of being merely a problem that can be solved with diet and exercise, and to a point, that is true.
But now, new research has led to us knowing that just what we consume can actually affect our brain chemistry and tell us to keep consuming it, in events that may even lie outside our control. T
hat is the scary part of poor quality food consumption that I think needs to be addressed on a larger scale. It is one thing to tell a person that they need to eat healthier, (ie more fruits/veggies, less fatty foods and carbs) but to actually convince them, we need more raw facts, more information that can convince them of just what they are doing to themselves.
High fat foods are shown to alter your perception of food after even a short period of time (1-3 days). You begin to suffer neuronal damage, that though is initially reversal, can become permanent if food is abused over a long period of time.
Perceptions of food also begin to change as your diet becomes increasingly more unhealthy. In a study done in 2011, researches found that individuals who were obese had greater sensory responses to food or food reward in comparison to those of healthy body weight.
They said that these kinds of reactions to food were due to repeated exposure to high palatability foods that led to an increase in wanting of those foods that led to a continuous cycle of poor nourishment. The obese individuals were also placed at greater risk of continued overeating and weight gain in comparison to healthy individuals.
Once addicted to the unhealthy foods and the false positive feelings they bring, it can be a difficult trend to break free from.
This is why weight loss is such a challenging thing to achieve. You need to overcome the barriers of buying healthy food and forcing yourself to engage in exercise and healthy activity, as well as realize that your brain is going to be working against you and telling you to cave and go back to that junk food.
So what is the solution? I personally believe it starts with a good support system that encourages you to stick to your goals and can help keep you on the right track to healthiness. Whether this involves education, workout programs, diets, etc. it really depends person to person. Once the right program is found, healthiness can be achieved.
#MakeAmericaHealthyAgain
Are Supplements The Quick Fix?
Approximately 29 million people are currently diagnosed with diabetes in the US. Some of these people have type 1, some have type 2, some use exercise and diet to fight the disease, while others haven’t done anything and are looking for an easy way out.
One of these “easy way outs” that people consider are omega fatty acid supplements.
But the real question is this enough to reverse the disease.
THE FATTY ACIDS
The omega fatty acid family for humans is made up of 3 essential fatty acids; omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9. Omega-3 and omega-6 are fatty acids that cannot be synthesized in the body and must be ingested for various biological processes.
Omega-9 is a fatty acid that can be synthesized in the body but the body requires enough omega-3 and omega-6 for this to happen. As for the role of the fatty acids inside the body omega-6 has a very different role than the other two, its role in the body is to promote inflammation and therefore should not be considered for a treatment for diabetes.
The next fatty acid is omega-9. This fatty acid seems like a great candidate for a short cut supplement because it is naturally found in the body and it is known to have anti-inflammatory affects along with reducing insulin resistance.
But in reality it is not a great candidate because the body requires both the ingestion of omega-3 and omega-6 for the synthesis of omega-9. Now all that remains to discuss is omega-3.
Omega-3 supplements are the supplements that people believe will and can reverse the affects of diabetes to a certain point. The reason for this belief is because omega-3 fatty acids are also known to have anti-inflammatory affects along with reducing insulin resistance in the body.
The other reason people believe that this can be a quick fix is because it is not a fatty acid that is produced in the body, which means they can take supplements and they can take as many of them as they want.
HOW DOES OMEGA-3 WORK?
Since omega-3 is the fatty acid people believe that will reverse some of the affects of diabetes the next part of the puzzle is understanding how omega-3 works within the body. Omega-3 words in the body by first binding to G-protein coupled receptor 120 (GPR120).
The biding to this receptor in the body then causes reaction in the body that release a protein (beta-arr 2) which then directly inhibits an important complex (TAB1-TAK1). The complex that this protein is inhibiting is responsible for the transcription of inflammatory genes that eventually result in insulin resistance in the body. So by inhibiting this complex omega-3 fatty acids are able to prevent inflammation genes from being transcribed and also prevent insulin resistance from occurring.
END OF THE STORY?
So this should be the end of the story, everyone should just take omega-3 supplements and the end result would be the diminishing of diabetes.
But you may be asking yourself why this isn’t the case.
The one big misconception of omega-3 fatty acids is that this pathway will work no matter what. People believe that a person’s diet or exercise regiment will not matter but frankly that is not the case. According to research constant overeating of either healthy or unhealthy food can over power the affects of omega-3 fatty acids.
So ultimately the quick fix cure that people are looking for does not exist. Yes, omega-3 fatty acids can help reduce the affects of diabetes but they cannot do it alone. People still need to eat healthy and eat a reasonable amount in order for this pathway to work. The researchers did also hint that exercise would not be a bad idea either.
Players Choice? or The Leagues?
Concussions have started to be brought forward after the discovery of many ex-NFL players developing and ultimately dying with chronic traumatic encephalophy (CTE). CTE in NFL players has shown to cause neurological deterioration. The players later diagnosed with this have shown to have similar symptoms to those of Alzheimer’s disease but the difference is these symptoms are occurring in their 40’s.The result of this discover has been more intense concussion protocol in the NFL, NCAA and in high school leagues everywhere. But the biggest question is if this is enough to prevent football players and other athletes from developing CTE.
Two Major Issues
One of the biggest issues with concussion is being a to properly diagnose the concussion along with correctly diagnosing the severity. Right now the protocol for diagnosing a concussion is Glasgow Coma Score. This is a point system that rates different symptoms with points. The lower the score the more severe the concussion but other than just the analyzing the symptoms there is no other real testing done to athletes. Imagining systems do exist that can help diagnose a concussion but the issue is that insurance companies do not support the the cost of using these machines to just diagnose a concussion when the Glasgow Coma Score seems to be sufficient.
The second major issue with concussion is knowing when the brain is fully healed and when it is safe for athletes to return to their normal physical and mental activity. It is understood that when people symptom free of a concussion that they are allowed to return to all activities but the question is if that means the brain is fully healed. That is a hard question to answer because most techniques that would be used to discover if the brain is fully healed would cost to much and our understanding of concussions is very little.
Preventing CTE
Preventing CTE is one of the main reasons concussions have been brought to the forefront of many athletic sport committees. But the real problem is if the athlete is allowed to make a decision to back to actives that puts them at risk of more concussions. It is very common for an NFL player to be diagnosed with a mild concussion and still be able to play the next week but at what point does a player reach too many concussions. Many NFL athletes keep playing after having multiple concussions for a lot of them they are just wanting to live in the present and are not necessarily thinking about the future, is this okay? The same problem is now starting with children. Kids in contact sports are now being diagnosed and watched for concussions because of the severe consequences in the future. At the high school level a lot of states will not let athletes return after so many concussions, but is this their choice to make or the athletes. America is based off a system of freedom and rights, and the right to play a sport is one of them. So is the future of an athletes in their sport after concussions up to the athlete or the league they are in. As of now the NFL leaves it up to the players and their doctors and for the high school leagues it is up to the state. Parents will agree with the state leagues while players may like having the choice. Either way CTE is still a potential for both sets of athletes.
CTE is consequence of concussions and is starting to become at the forefront of the sport world because of recent NFL players passing away with this disease. Should contact sports be taken away, should athletes be able to determine their future, or should the various leagues step in and prevent athletes from continuously coming back and further increasing their chances of developing CTE. Either way the health system needs to come up with better ways to diagnose concussions and better ways to determine the time need to recover. As a athlete I want to get back as soon as possible but at the same time I still need to consider my health down the road. More research needs to be done and more teaching and information needs to be brought to the players and their families.
Obesity, What is The First Domino?
Obesity is clearly a huge problem in the United States and abroad, I won’t spend any time trying to convince you of this, I assume you already recognize this as an issue. It is interesting because our society views obesity as such a problem, and we spend so much of our resources combating it, and yet it persists. Here I will use hyperinsulinemia and its relationship with obesity to possibly explain why obesity has become such an issue and why it can be so difficult to overcome.
Hyperinsulinemia is an excess of insulin in the bloodstream. To understand its implications we must first understand insulin’s role in energy intake. Insulin binds to a neuron called POMC/CART which in turn inhibits another neuron called AGRP/NPY. This causes our brain to decrease food intake and is basically the body telling the brain that it is full. In individuals with a high fat diet we observe above normal blood insulin levels. This should cause them to feel full all the time right?
Well, not quite. We observe insulin resistance in individuals with high fat diet which essentially means their insulin receptors don’t respond to insulin as actively. This could be because their receptors have been over stimulated or due to other downstream factors associated with a high fat diet. Insulin resistance prevents insulin from fulfilling its regular duty and therefore prevents people from feeling full even after a large meal which could lead to more weight gain.
To further complicate matters extra body fat secretes molecules that are involved in insulin synthesis leading to even more insulin in the blood. So to recap, high insulin levels can make the body gain fat and body fat can increase the insulin levels in the blood. This is a positive feedback loop which is anything but positive. It seems that the more we look into obesity the more we find these situations where once a single domino falls things just get worse and worse. It is very difficult to set things straight because our body and brain keep trying to make things worse.
This got me thinking about what could cause that cycle. Certainly there is some genetic predisposition, but that can’t be everything. There must be a point. A single tipping point where that first domino falls and a person finds themselves on the wrong track. As we have seen it is very difficult to get back on the right track once the wrong chemical cascades begin. I suspect it is in childhood. This is when we form our initial relationships with everything. This is when we first form our relationship with food and if that relationship isn’t healthy it can have dire consequences.
When I think of the negative aspects of our relationship with food I immediately think of stress eating. When we have a bad day we just want to eat something that will make us feel good, and what do we turn to? For me it is mac n’ cheese, the cheap kind from the box. This is something I remember eating since I was a kid, and maybe, just maybe, if I eat that box of mac n’ cheese things will be simple again. Things will be like when I was a kid, the mac n’ cheese can make me feel just a bit closer to that nonexistent perfect past I can’t to return to.
We need to be careful with how we teach our children about food because forcing them to finish that bowl of mac n’ cheese could be that first domino.
Obesity and the Brain
Countless neurological pathways help dictate when we need to eat; but ultimately three pathways are the major players. The one that I specifically looked at was the leptin pathway which helps us figure out when we should and should not eat. In over 90% of all people with obesity of any degree some type of leptin resistance exists, making it so a higher concentration of fat is required to make us feel full. This cycle then has positive feedback where eating more is required to feel full, but then more leptin is released and then ultimately increases the leptin resistance which then makes us need to eat more… This process can continue almost indefinitely, which can increase our body fat ratio.
Does this mean that weight gain is at least partially out of our control? Yes. Does this mean that it’s okay to indulge ourselves because we know that more food is required to feel full? No. By doing that we continue to exacerbate our pleasure centres in the brain and start to cede our self-control simply because it’s hard. Weight gain is not outside of the realm of possibility to attribute to physiological issues, but that is the simple route. A healthy diet in combination with exercise can help regulate leptin levels, and the hunger (and these neurological pathways) because the body is adaptable. It will eventually adjust to the new diet and the new energy demands of working out.
This process is by no means easy, but ultimately it is our responsibilities as humans to be above our baser desires of food. This is easier said than done, but it is unfortunately the thing that is required in order to help end the obesity that exists within our society. Accepting it as both a genetic, physiological and psychological disorder is incredibly important to reducing the number of obese people in the world.
More than just a treatment: Insulin
What is insulin?
Insulin is almost always associated with diabetes as a treatment, but is that really the only function? Insulin is a hormone that is made in the pancreas and one of its more known functions is that it helps moves glucose from the blood to the cell during times when energy is needed. But believe it or not this is not the only function, insulin has also been associated with memory, plasticity and then eventually Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Insulins and memory?
Nobody wants to loose their memory or have to deal with the consequences of AD and surprisingly insulin has an effect on memory. Insulin in studies has shown to have a positive effect on memory when all of the receptors and pathways are working properly in humans. But when either the receptors or pathways are being blocked there has been evidence that shows that memory as a whole is diminished. Researchers believe that in humans who have an insulin deficiency that it causes a the body to trigger the retraction of dendrites and a decrease in NMDA transmission of hippocampal neurons. In simpler terms this means that part of the neurons (dendrites) that are responsible for receiving signals from other neurons are being retracted and resulting transmissions being lost.The other part the story that is going on is the decrease in transmission of a receptor (NMDA), which is responsible for the control of channels that help neurons send and receive signals. Also keep in my that this is all happening in the part of the brain that is in charge of consolidating information from short-term memory to long term memory.
Importance?
The reason that insulin’s role in memory and plasticity is being more relevant is because of the rise of the diabetes epidemic. With diabetes that means there is also going to be a rise in people who are deficient in insulin. Because of this more people could have memory problems and this could also lead to more people developing AD. What has not be discovered is if diabetes will lead to early onset AD or just significantly increase the chances but either way insulin is playing a major role. Fighting and stoping the diabetes epidemic may develop into a fight against AD in later life because of insulin and this is why we should care.
Personally I’m going to continue to be aware of my weight and the potential of developing diabetes in the short term to hopefully lower chances of developing AD in the long term. But as for the rest of society a lot needs to be changed. First, there needs to be a stronger connection between the two diseases and national campaigns need to begin. But that will be easier said than done. With diabetes and being overweight being topic that cannot be brought up in any light, I do not see any changes happening. Secondly, I believe that the fast food market needs take a greater responsibility into healthiness of their food along with the portions. But fighting against a multi-billion dollar industry is also not easy. Lastly, I believe AD needs to become a more serious disease in the eyes of society as a whole. I think that because AD does not affect people till late in their lives and that it is not a death sentence the people sometimes forget about AD. This forgetfulness of the disease I believe is hindering an progression in finding a cure or by finding a treatment that can stop its progression. Who knowns maybe if a cure is found for AD, a cure an be found for diabetes or vice versa because of the connection through insulin.