Weight loss resulting from a low-fat diet may help eliminate menopausal symptoms

ScienceDaily (July 11, 2012) — Weight loss that occurs in conjunction with a low-fat, high fruit and vegetable diet may help to reduce or eliminate hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study that appears in the current issue of Menopause.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossMenopauseObesityWomen's HealthFitnessNutritionReferenceMenopauseHormone replacement therapyHysterectomySouth Beach diet

This Women's Health Initiative study of 17,473 women found that women on a diet low in fat and high in whole grains, fruit and vegetables, who had menopausal symptoms, who were not taking hormone replacement therapy, and who lost weight (10 or more pounds or 10 or more percent of their baseline body weight), were more likely to reduce or eliminate hot flashes and night sweats after one year, compared to those in a control group who maintained their weight.

Many women experience hot flashes at some point before or after menopause, when their estrogen levels are declining, explain the researchers.

"While the mechanism is not completely understood, hot flashes and night sweats are thought to be caused by a complex interaction that involves fluctuating hormone levels, the hypothalamus region of the brain that regulates body temperature, brain chemicals and receptors, and the body's blood vessels and sweat glands," said Candyce Kroenke, ScD, MPH, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and lead author of the study.

Although previous research has shown that high body weight and weight gain are associated with hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause, this study is the among the first -- and the largest to date -- to analyze whether weight loss on a diet designed to reduce fat and increase whole grains, fruit and vegetable intake might ameliorate symptoms. It is also among the first to examine the influence of a dietary change on symptoms that include hot flashes and night sweats, said Kroenke.

"Since most women tend to gain weight with age, weight loss or weight gain prevention may offer a viable strategy to help eliminate hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause," said Bette Caan, DrPH, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and the senior author of the study.

She explained that greater body fat provides insulation that may hinder heat loss, and hot flashes and night sweats provide a way to dissipate that heat.

"Weight loss, especially loss of fat mass but not lean mass, might also help alleviate hot flashes and night sweats," added Kroenke.

The investigators emphasize that further research is needed to better understand the relationship between diet, weight and hot flash/night sweat symptoms. They explain that the beneficial impact of a healthy diet alone (regardless of weight change) may also help ameliorate symptoms.

This study follows a related study published in March in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in which Kaiser Permanente researchers found that preventing weight gain after a breast cancer diagnosis may offer a viable intervention for relief of hot flashes. The researchers noted that intentional weight loss in breast cancer survivors requires further study.

The Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification trial enrolled a diverse group of 48,835 post-menopausal women between 1993 and 1998 at 40 United States clinical centers to evaluate the effects of a low-fat dietary pattern on heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and fracture in post-menopausal women. The dietary intervention was aimed at reducing fat intake and increasing fruit, vegetable and whole grain intake. Although weight loss was not a goal, participants assigned to the intervention group lost on average 4.5 pounds between baseline and year one, compared to the control group.

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Hormone curbs depressive-like symptoms in stressed mice

ScienceDaily (July 9, 2012) — A hormone with anti-diabetic properties also reduces depression-like symptoms in mice, researchers from the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio reported July 9.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiabetesMental Health ResearchObesityMind & BrainDepressionMental HealthPsychiatryReferenceAdipose tissueBlood sugarHormoneInsulin-like growth factor

All types of current antidepressants, including tricyclics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, increase the risk for type 2 diabetes. "The finding offers a novel target for treating depression, and would be especially beneficial for those depressed individuals who have type 2 diabetes or who are at high risk for developing it," said the study's senior author, Xin-Yun Lu, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and psychiatry and member of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the UT Health Science Center.

The hormone, called adiponectin, is secreted by adipose tissue and sensitizes the body to the action of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar. "We showed that adiponectin levels in plasma are reduced in a chronic social defeat stress model of depression, which correlates with the degree of social aversion," Dr. Lu said.

Facing Goliath over and over

In the study mice were exposed to 14 days of repeated social defeat stress. Each male mouse was introduced to the home cage of an unfamiliar, aggressive resident mouse for 10 minutes and physically defeated. After the defeat, the resident mouse and the intruder mouse each were housed in half of the cage separated by a perforated plastic divider to allow visual, olfactory and auditory contact for the remainder of the 24-hour period. Mice were exposed to a new resident mouse cage and subjected to social defeat each day. Plasma adiponectin concentrations were determined after the last social defeat session. Defeated mice displayed lower plasma adiponectin levels.

Withdrawal, lost pleasure and helplessness

When adiponectin concentrations were reduced by deleting one allele of the adiponectin gene or by a neutralizing antibody, mice were more susceptible to stress-induced social withdrawal, anhedonia (lost capacity to experience pleasure) and learned helplessness.

Mice that were fed a high-fat diet (60 percent calories from fat) for 16 weeks developed obesity and type 2 diabetes. Administration of adiponectin to these mice and mice of normal weight produced antidepressant-like effects.

Possible innovative approach for depression

"These findings suggest a critical role of adiponectin in the development of depressive-like behaviors and may lead to an innovative therapeutic approach to fight depression," Dr. Lu said.

A novel approach would benefit thousands. "So far, only about half of the patients suffering from major depressive disorders are treated to the point of remission with antidepressant drugs," Dr. Lu said. "The prevalence of depression in the diabetic population is two to three times higher than in the non-diabetic population. Unfortunately, the use of current antidepressants can worsen the control of diabetic patients. Adiponectin, with its anti-diabetic activity, would serve as an innovative therapeutic target for depression treatments, especially for those individuals with diabetes or prediabetes and perhaps those who fail to respond to currently available antidepressants."

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Sleep May Ease Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease: Study

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Marijuana Reduces MS Symptoms

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Pot Might Help Ease Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms

HealthDay – 1 hr 38 mins ago MONDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking pot can help relieve muscle tightness, called spasticity, and pain in people with multiple sclerosis, a new, small study suggests.

"Spasticity is a major problem

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Acupuncture May Help Ease Symptoms of COPD

HealthDay – 1 hr 38 mins ago MONDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), acupuncture may help relieve shortness of breath during activity, Japanese researchers suggest.

COPD is a progressive lung condition that makes it hard to breathe; it is commonly caused by smoking or exposure to other toxins.

"The effects of acupuncture are large," said Dr. George Lewith, from the University of Southampton in Hampshire, England, co-author of an editorial accompanying the study. "This is particularly remarkable in a condition that seems largely unresponsive to more conventional treatments."

Acupuncture, an ancient Chinese practice, involves the insertion of thin needles into certain points on the body to boost health and well-being. The researchers tested it in addition to standard medical care.

If this study can be duplicated and this effect is deemed valid, acupuncture may be a treatment that "can substantially improve the quality and potentially the quantity of people's lives who have

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Health Tip: Watch for Symptoms of Seizure

HealthDay – 3 hrs ago (HealthDay News) -- Seizures occur when normal electrical activity in the brain is disrupted. Depending on the portion of the brain that's affected, seizures can cause different symptoms.

Womenshealth.gov mentions these potential warning signs of a seizure:

Stiff muscles, or twitching and jerking of the muscles.Falling or losing consciousness.Sudden nausea.Seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling or tasting things that aren't real.Strange behavior, such as walking in circles, smacking lips or blinking repeatedly.Staring into space or blanking out momentarily.

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Soy protein alleviates symptoms of fatty liver disease, study suggests

ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2012) — University of Illinois researchers have shown how soy protein could significantly reduce fat accumulation and triglycerides in the livers of obese patients by partially restoring the function of a key signaling pathway in the organ.

See Also:Health & MedicineLiver DiseaseObesityNutritionTriglyceridesCholesterolDiet and Weight LossReferenceSaturated fatDetox dietMeat analogueDetox

Hong Chen, an assistant professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois, presented her team's findings on April 22, at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, held in conjunction with the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting in San Diego.

"Almost a third of American adults have fatty liver disease, many of them without symptoms," Chen explained. "Obesity is a key risk factor for this condition, which can lead to liver failure."

Fat is metabolized in the liver, and in those who are obese the transport of fat to adipose tissue can slow down to the point at which the liver becomes a dumping ground for excess fat, she said.

"When fat accumulates in an organ that's not supposed to store fat -- like the liver, that organ's vital function can be dangerously compromised," she noted.

Eating soy protein, from such sources as tofu and yogurt, appears to alleviate some of the stress on fatty livers, Chen said. For her study, Chen compared fat accumulation in the livers of lean and obese rats, which were assigned to either a diet containing casein, a milk-based protein, or a diet containing soy protein, for 17 weeks after weaning.

While diet had no effect on the liver profiles of lean animals, the obese rats that were fed soy showed a 20 percent reduction in triglycerides and overall fat accumulation in the liver, leading Chen to believe that soy protein could be used to alleviate the symptoms of fatty liver disease.

Furthermore, the scientists discovered that soy protein isolate partially restored the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, a crucial player in fat metabolism. "In many obese persons, there's a sort of traffic problem, and when more fat can make its way out of the liver, there is less pressure on that organ," Chen said.

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Health Tip: Recognize Common Symptoms of Menopause

HealthDay – 1 hr 24 mins ago (HealthDay News) -- Menopause -- the point at which a woman's menstrual cycle stops for good -- usually occurs when the ovaries stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

The Womenshealth.gov website mentions these common symptoms of menopause:

Irregular periods.Hot flashes.Difficulty sleeping.Mood changes.Loss of interest in sex.Osteoporosis, weight gain or muscle loss.

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In Mice, Drug Reverses Symptoms of Condition Linked to Autism

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