Skinny Moms=Fat Kids

Studies have proven that obesity is genetic but we usually see obese children under the care of obese parents. There is the occasion when we see a skinny mom with an overweight child and we wonder what went wrong. If she is skinny, then we as a society assume she must be feeding herself the right foods and taking care of herself and wonder why she is not treating her child in the same way. Well, a new study has shown that while a child is in utero, whatever the mother eats will affect the child throughout his or her life.

A study conducted on rats showed that pregnant rats that were malnourished gave birth to overweight or obese babies. The idea is that because the rats were underfed while developing made them more likely to have a greater appetite and store more fat than rats developed in well-nourished mothers. Because of the results of these studies, scientists began to think that this link between skinny rat-moms and obese offspring was genetic. What they found was that parts of the chemicals bind to DNA that can either increase or decrease the activity of the genes that can cause obesity. They were able to prevent obesity in rats by controlling these chemicals and thought they could use this to combat obesity in humans.

Scientists performed a study in the United Kingdom to determine whether this group of chemicals, known as the methyl group, was the reason for childhood obesity. They analyzed their diets while they were pregnant, took DNA from umbilical cords at the child’s birth and waited nine years to test the children. They compared the amount of body fat to the amount of the methyl chemical and noticed there was a correlation. They performed another study with more mothers and children and got the same results. The more of the methyl chemical the mother passed to the child the more overweight or obese they became.

Most of the women in these studies followed a low carbohydrate diet which basically told the fetus that he or she was being starved. Most women in the United Kingdom and the United States follow this type of diet which tricks their babies. When the baby is born into a high carbohydrate, high caloric world, his or her body becomes confused. Instead of being starved there is more than enough food so they have an increased appetite and storing fat is what their body does so they do not starve again.

Basically, these studies conclude that whatever a mother eats while pregnant will affect her baby. With these findings, there is hope to aid the obesity epidemic. This will not be able to stop the problems but it explains the underlying problem that cannot be changed like everyone thought. Genetics may be one of the big role players in this epidemic but definitely not the only cause.

Picture:

http://www.supportweightloss.com/image-files/childobesity.jpg

Article:

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/04/why-skinny-moms-sometimes-produc.html?ref=hp

Creatine

Creatine is mainly found in muscle tissue and is produced naturally in the body. It can also be digested through dietary in meats and fish. The levels of creatine vary from person to person. There are many companies that sell a creatine monohydrate supplement.

Creatine exists in the body as approximately 30% free creatine and 70% creatine phosphate. If you remember from the muscle chapter, ATP is used as energy during muscle contraction and then turns into ADP. When this occurs the creatine phosphate donates the extra phosphate that it held in reserve and ADP is rephosphorylates into ATP.  This increases energy for muscle contractions.

There has been much debate on whether creatine has a positive effect on the body during exercise. Studies have shown that taking creatine supplements or increasing the levels of creatine in the body have a positive effect on short durations of exercise and suppresses fatigue. However, long durations of exercise such as sprinting, there is little effect. For body builders, the extra energy from creatine releasing a phosphate helps in lifting more weight and building more muscle.

Though there have been few studies on long term effects of creatine supplement use, short term studies show virtually no physical side effects other than dehydration and muscle cramps. These side effects could be avoided with an increase in consumption of water and potassium.

Marketers do a great job by advertising their products. Just because they say “if you take creatine you’ll look like this” and show you some freaky Arnold, doesn’t mean that the supplement will make you like that. In fact, without exercise creatine will do very little for you besides a little weight grain from water retention in the muscle. Exercise is key for muscle development .

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/VD_creatine.htm

Sleep Apnea Patients at Higher Risk for Aggressive Heart Disease

A recent study presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) yielded results that people who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at a much higher risk for aggressive heart disease.  Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that is characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or abnormally low (shallow) breathing during sleep.

According to Joseph Schoepf, M.D., professor of radiology and medicine and director of cardiovascular imaging at the Medical University of South Carolina, this new study “reveals that individuals with [OSA] are prone to developing an aggressive form of atherosclerosis” which puts these patients at “risk for impaired blood flow and cardiovascular events.”  Atherosclerosis is defined as a condition where fatty materials collect along the walls of arteries.  This fatty material then thickens and hardens, forming calcium deposits, and can eventually block arteries causing a heart attack or similar cardiovascular event.

OSA is a disease commonly associated with snoring because the person afflicted typically develops an obstruction in the upper airway during sleep that causes periodic pauses in breathing, which can last for longer than ten seconds at a time.  The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute estimates that millions of Americans suffer from OSA; the majority of them being overweight.

A total of 95 people were observed during this study.  49 people (26 men and 23 women) were obese OSA patients, at an average age of 61, and an average BMI (body mass index) of 33.  The other 46 (22 men and 24 women)  were obese patients without the disorder, with an average age of 60 and BMI of 30.  All patients underwent coronary CT angiography (cCTA), which provides doctors with detailed images and information regarding “plaque buildup and narrowing in the vessels.”

Although the imaging didn’t reveal a drastic change between the amounts of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries of the two control groups, there was a notable difference in the composition of vessel plaque.  “Compared to the non-OSA group, the patients with OSA had a significantly higher prevalence of non-calcified and mixed plaque,” said Dr. Schoepf.

Non-calcified plaque is known to be bad plaque because it is more vulnerable to causing blood clots and causing rupturing in the heart which could lead to a heart attack.  The OSA patients seemed to have a predisposition to vessel narrowing than patients without the disorder.  In fact, 88 % of the OSA patients contained narrowing in at least one vessel, whereas only 59% of patients without the disorder exhibited narrowed vessels.

Dr. Schoepf believes that this newly discovered correlation between sleep apnea, obesity, and aggressive heart failure, will aid in accurately diagnosing future patients.  This will be accomplished through the Coronary CT angiography, a machine used to produce images of plaque and vessel narrowing (as mentioned above).

Science Daily:  People With Sleep Apnea at Higher Risk for Aggressive Heart Disease

Adipose Cells and Breast Cancer

Everyone knows the harmful effects that obesity have on your health, but what if it could be linked to breast cancer and how rapidly it spreads? A lot of research is being done to link the presence of adipose cells to breast cancer.

Two teams of researchers have been working together to make the connection between adipose cells and breast cancer. CNRS and the Universite Paul Sabatier have highlighted vitro and vivo in the presence of adipocytes around breast tumors. When located around cancerous cells they accelerate the growth of tumors.

Breast tissue is composed mainly of adipose cells, and secrete numerous proteins that may play a role in the production of breast cancer. When combined with tumor cells, the adipose cells secreted an excess of interleukin-6, which is an inflammatory protein. This leads to an increase in its "colonization potential". As well as tests performed on mice, researchers have also observed the production of IL-6 in human tumors.

"Our results now demonstrate how adipocytes actively participate in the progression of breast cancer, orchestrated by tumor cells. They suggest that in the case of obesity, the adipocytes associated with breast cancer could be more likely to amplify the 'aggressive' effect of tumors," the researchers say. "This hypothesis still needs to be verified both in mice and humans" (sciencedaily.com).

http://www.sciencedaily.com/release/2011/04/110405102034.htm