Monthly Archives: October 2018

Gastric band Surgery In France Exercise alone alters our gut microbiota It is well established – and perhaps unsurprising – that what we eat affects the microbes that live in our intestine, collectively known as the gut microbiota. According to two new studies, however, exercise has the same effect. Two new studies suggest that exercise – independent of diet – can alter the composition of gut microbiota. In mouse and human experiments, researchers found that physical activity – independent of diet – alters the composition of gut microbiota in a way that increases the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are beneficial for health. According to Jeffrey Woods – a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the co-lead investigator of both studies – their research is the first to show that the diversity of gut bacteria can be modified through exercise alone. The first study, which investigated the effects of exercise on the gut microbiota of mice, was published in the journal Gut Microbes. This study included three groups of mice: one group of mice was sedentary, the other group had access to a running wheel (the exercise group), while the remaining group was sedentary and germ-free, meaning that they did not possess any gut microbiota due to being bred in a sterile environment. The researchers took fecal material from both the exercise and sedentary groups and transplanted it into the colons of the germ-free mice. Exercise increased beneficial gut microbes As a result of fecal transplantation, the previously germ-free mice developed gut microbiota that had comparable composition to their donor groups. Interestingly, the germ-free mice that received fecal material from the exercise group had higher levels of gut microbes that produce an SCFA called butyrate, which is known to reduce inflammation and promote gut health. Additionally, when these mice were given a chemical that triggers colitis, or inflammation of the colon, the researchers witnessed a surprising response. “There was a reduction in inflammation and an increase in the regenerative molecules that promote a faster recovery,” says study co-leader Jacob Allen, who was at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the time of the research. Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that “exercise-induced modifications in the gut microbiota can mediate host-microbial interactions with potentially beneficial outcomes for the host.” But do these findings ring true for humans? This is what the team sought to find out with their second study. Differences between lean, obese subjects The second study – published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise – included 32 sedentary adults, of whom 18 were lean and 14 were obese. The participants took part in a supervised exercise program, which involved 30-60 minutes of endurance exercise, 3 days per week, for a total of 6 weeks. Once the 6-week

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Gastric band Surgery In France Your DNA may dictate which diet works for you Despite dietary guidelines, public awareness campaigns, and people’s genuine efforts to lose weight, the obesity epidemic doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Why is that? Researchers at Texas A&M University in College Station may have found the answer. Different diets may be appropriate for different people, based on their genetic predisposition, sugggests the new study. Whether or not a diet will work may be “written” in our genes. That’s the main takeaway of an elaborate study recently published in the journal Genetics. David Threadgill, Ph.D., of the Texas A&M College of Medicine and College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, is the senior investigator, and William T. Barrington is the first author of the new paper. Threadgill and his team started out from the observation that, despite national dietary guidelines, the number of Americans living with metabolic syndrome – an umbrella term for a group of cardiometabolic risk factors – has soared. In Threadgill’s opinion, this occurs because dietary guidelines are built on the false premise that one size fits all. “Dietary advice, whether it comes from the United States government or some other organization, tends to be based on the theory that there is going to be one diet that will help everyone,” he says. “In the face of the obesity epidemic,” he continues, “it seems like guidelines haven’t been effective.” Threadgill and his team hypothesized that genetic differences might influence how someone responds to a diet. The researchers tested this hypothesis in mice, which, as the authors explain in their paper, are similar to humans in genetic makeup, as well as in their predisposition to develop cardiometabolic illnesses, such as heart disease and diabetes. Different diets for genetically distinct mice To test their hypothesis, the researchers designed four genetically different strains of mice, to which they fed four different diets. The diets were designed so that they were the equivalent of four historically popular human diets: the American/Western diet, the Mediterranean diet, the Japanese diet, and the Maasai/ketogenic diet. The American diet was high in fats and refined carbs, the Mediterranean one was higher in fiber and included red wine extract, the Japanese diet consisted of rice and green tea extract, and the ketogenic diet was high in fat and protein but consisted of very few carbs. “We matched fiber content and matched bioactive compounds thought to be important in disease,” Barrington explains, in order to get the rodents’ diets to be as similar as possible to the human ones. The mice were also fed a control diet consisting of standard chow. The researchers monitored the mice’s cardiometabolic health, measuring their blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and looking out for signs of a fatty liver. Levels of physical activity were also monitored, as well as the rodents’ appetite and

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Gastric band Surgery In France The effects of skipping breakfast depend on your weight How does eating breakfast affect fat cells in lean people? How about the fat cells in those with obesity? New research explores this by looking at the metabolic effects of eating – and skipping – breakfast. People with obesity may be better off having breakfast every day and with regularity, suggests new research. Does breakfast help you to lose weight, or does it have the opposite effect? Here at Medical News Today, we have been reporting on conflicting studies in this regard. For instance, one large population study that we covered suggests that a large breakfast helps us to avoid snacking during the day, which keeps weight gain at bay. Another study, on the other hand, suggests that skipping breakfast does nothing to affect our calorie intake throughout the day. But most of these studies are observational and cannot tell us much about the mechanisms behind weight loss, our metabolism, and breakfast eating. A new study, however – which has just been published in the Journal of Physiology – examines precisely such mechanisms. The research, which was led by Javier Gonzalez, Ph.D., at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, examines how breakfast affects the metabolism and fat cells of lean and obese individuals. Lean people benefit from skipping breakfast Gonzalez and team asked 49 adult participants to either have breakfast or fast until noon, every day, for 6 weeks. Of the participants, 29 were classified as “lean” and 20 as “obese,” according to their body mass index (BMI). The participants in the breakfast group consumed 350 kilocalories within 2 hours of waking up, while those in the fasting group had no energy intake until noon. Both before and after the intervention, the team examined the patients’ markers of cardiometabolic health, their appetite responses, and their body fat distribution. In addition, they monitored the activity of 44 genes regulating key proteins, and the fat cells’ ability to use glucose in response to insulin. In lean people, skipping breakfast for 6 weeks increased the activity of genes that helped to burn fat, therefore improving metabolism. However, this effect was not seen in obese adults. Adults with obesity are often resistant to insulin, which is the glucose-regulating hormone produced by the pancreas. This new study revealed that in obese individuals, the fat cells could not take up as much glucose in response to insulin as lean individuals did. This effect seemed to be proportional to the individual’s whole-body fat. The researchers think that this is an adaptive mechanism in people with obesity, in which their body is trying to limit the amount of glucose their fat cells can take, so that it avoids storing additional fat. “y better understanding how fat responds to what and when we eat,” says Gonzalez, “we can more precisely target those mechanisms. We may be able to uncover new ways to prevent the negative

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Gastric band Surgery In France Women at higher cardiometabolic risk due to fat distribution The way that fat is distributed across our body puts us at risk of cardiometabolic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. New research examines how gender influences this risk. Belly fat may affect men’s and women’s health differently, suggests new research. Almost 70 percent of people in the United States are overweight, and over a third of the population is obese. These dire statistics have led researchers and health professionals to speak of an obesity epidemic in the U.S. Heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are only a few of the many cardiometabolic health risks associated with obesity. Coronary heart disease – for which obesity is a major risk factor – can lead to angina and heart attacks, if untreated. But it’s not so much the quantity of the fat that poses a threat to our health, as its distribution. For instance, we know that people with more fat around their abdomen tend to be predisposed to coronary artery disease. Additionally, gender seems to play a role. New research suggests that gender influences how fat is distributed across the body, which, in turn, influences cardiometabolic risk. The newest study was led by Dr. Miriam A. Bredella, a radiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of radiology at the Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, MA. Speaking about the motivation for her recent study, Dr. Bredella says, “We hypothesized that there are gender-based differences in body composition and ectopic fat depots and that these could be associated with gender-specific risk profiles for diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.” Their findings will be presented at this year’s Radiological Society of North America annual meeting, held in Chicago, IL. Studying sex, fat, and cardiometabolic risk Dr. Bredella and team examined 200 overweight and obese but otherwise healthy adults. Ninety-one of the participants were male. All participants had a similar body mass index (BMI) and age – which was 37 years, on average. In order to assess body composition, all the participants were examined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography scans after fasting overnight. Using a technique called magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the researchers were able to quantify and examine the fat, determining levels of serum glucose, insulin, and lipids. Dr. Bredella and colleagues performed linear regression analyses between body composition and the risk factors for cardiometabolic conditions. The study revealed that women had more fat overall and more fat below the skin, but they also had lower lean mass than men. Lean body mass refers to the total weight of one’s “muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, and internal organs.” Men, however, had more of the so-called visceral adipose tissue, or ectopic fat, which are terms that describe fat that surrounds vital organs. Men had more ectopic fat in the

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Gastric band Surgery In France Parkinson’s: Could a high-calorie diet increase lifespan? People with Parkinson’s disease who lose weight may be more likely to develop dementia and have a shorter lifespan, a new study suggests. Researchers suggest a high-calorie diet could help to offset the risks of weight loss in people with Parkinson’s. Based on their results, study leader Dr. Angus Macleod – of the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom – and colleagues speculate that a high-calorie diet could help to increase the life expectancy of individuals with Parkinson’s disease. The team’s results are published in the journal Neurology. Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition characterized by tremors, limb rigidity, and problems with balance and movement. It is estimated that around 1 million people in the United States are living with Parkinson’s disease, and around 60,000 new cases are diagnosed in the country every year. While a number of studies have shown that weight loss is common among people with Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Macleod and colleagues note that few studies have investigated how this weight loss might affect clinical outcomes. To address this research gap, the team analyzed data from the Parkinsonism Incidence in North-East Scotland (PINE) study. This is a population-based cohort of individuals with Parkinson’s disease or atypical parkinsonism from Scotland, U.K. Atypical parkinsonism is used to describe symptoms similar to those seen with Parkinson’s disease but which are caused by other conditions. Greater risk of dementia, death For their analysis, the researchers included 187 people with Parkinson’s disease and 88 people with atypical parkinsonism. These individuals were matched by age and sex with 240 controls, who were free of Parkinson’s disease or Parkinson’s-like symptoms. Over a follow-up period of up to 10 years, the weight of each subject was assessed annually. For the purposes of the study, clinically significant weight loss during follow-up was defined as losing 5 percent or more of baseline body weight. The team investigated how clinically significant weight loss affected three outcomes among the participants: dependency on carers, the onset of dementia, and mortality. The study revealed that people with Parkinson’s disease and atypical parkinsonism were a lower weight at study baseline than controls, and they lost weight much more rapidly during follow-up. “Weight loss was observed in all groups over time, but patients with PD lost weight more rapidly than controls, and those with atypical parkinsonism lost weight most rapidly,” the researchers note. What is more, the team found that early weight loss among individuals with Parkinson’s disease or atypical parkinsonism was independently associated with a 2.23-times increased risk of dementia and a 1.23-times greater risk of death. Additionally, weight loss in the first year after a Parkinson’s or atypical parkinsonism diagnosis was associated with

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