Category Archives: Metabolic syndrome

Enlightenment Luncheon: a discussion regarding the rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes in children – March 14, 2012

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in children continues to increase due to a number of factors ranging from genetics, a lack of physical activity, and poor nutrition.  This Enlightenment Luncheon, the sixth in a series hosted by the Emory School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and local philanthropists Stephanie Blank, Lisa Rayner and Laura Turner Seydel, serves to promote dialogue between the academic, health care, and local community to improve health outcomes.

The Luncheon features Griffin Platt Rodgers, MD, MBA, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, as the keynote speaker for the event on March 14th from noon to 2 pm at the InterContinental Hotel Buckhead’s Venetian Ballroom.  The event is open to the public, with registration beginning at 11 am.  For more information about the event, visit this website.  To purchase tickets for the event, please call 404-727-4878 or visit the online registration website.

Study finds mechanistic explanation for the link between exercise and insulin resistance

A study published this week in Nature led by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center reports that, in mice, exercise induces autophagy in heart and skeletal muscle cells, which improves their ability to remain “young” and adjust to changes in energy and nutrition.  The autophagy was associated with increased diet-related insulin resistance and lower rates of diabetes.  These findings provide at least one mechanistic explanation for why exercise is associated with lowering diabetes risk.

A description of the study and interview with the researchers is available through Scientific American.

Emory Study Finds that Lifestyle Intervention Programs Pose a Significant Means for Reducing Diabetes Progression

The January issue of Health Affairs features findings from an Emory University assessment of the effectiveness of real-world lifestyle interventions to help delay or prevent the costly chronic disease that affects nearly 26 million Americans.

The Emory team’s research found that weight loss was a primary intervention associated with reducing the progression to full blown type 2 diabetes, and concluded that the costs associated with diabetes prevention can be reduced without sacrificing effectiveness and that a focus on motivating participation in a structured lifestyle intervention program was the key driver of success in achieving the weight loss.

To learn more about the findings, we recommend reading How Effective Were Lifestyle Interventions In Real-World Settings That Were Modeled On The Diabetes Prevention Program?

Andrew Gewirtz, PhD Speaks on our Guts, Inflammation, and Metabolic Syndrome at the 2011 Predictive Health Symposium

The theme of the 2011 Predictive Health Symposium was “Health and the Microbiome”, featuring a number of speakers describing innovative findings that relate the health of our microbiome – all of the microbes and their associated genetic content that lives inside our guts – to our overall well-being.

Dr. Andrew Gewirtz, a Professor in the Center for Inflammation, Immunity, & Infection at Georgia State University, spoke on the relationships between our gut microbiota, chronic inflammation, and the development of metabolic syndrome.  Metabolic syndrome describes a host of factors, including insulin resistance and central obesity, that simultaneously contribute to stroke, coronary artery disease, and type 2 diabetes risk.  A video of his talk can be downloaded directly, or from the Symposium’s webpage (along with all of the other talks).  The content requires Real Player to view, which can be downloaded free from the Real Player website.