Agriculture and Industry killing us

JAMA study, led by Heritage College faculty, finds association between high insulin dosage and cancer

r. Yuanjie Mao has led a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Oncology looking at the correlation between daily insulin dose and cancer incidence (the number of new cases) among patients with type 1 diabetes, finding that higher insulin dose is positively associated with cancer incidence and that the association is stronger among those with insulin resistance.

“In patients with type 1 diabetes, our results show that traditional metabolic factors such as obesity (represented by body mass index), sugar control (represented by Hemoglobin A1c), and blood pressure control do not associate with cancer incidence,” Mao said. “However, cancer incidence was higher for those who took larger dose of insulin. Our results implied that clinicians might need to balance the potential cancer risk when treating patients with type 1 diabetes on a high daily insulin dose or that improving insulin sensitivity may be preferred than simply increasing the insulin dose.”

Obesity—an unexplained epidemic

ABSTRACT
Since 1980, obesity prevalence among US adults has soared from
14% to 42%. The commonly accepted explanation is pervasive
overeating: ever-increasing energy intake as the population gains
weight, year after year. However, evidence does not support this
hypothesis. National data on energy intake and energy availability
show increases between 1961 and 2000, during modern industrialization
of food; but a plateau or declines thereafter—even as
obesity continued rising—and while physical activity modestly
increased. Thus, Americans appear to be eating relatively less
since 2000, for ever-increasing body sizes, as time has progressed.
Although both energy intake and energy availability are measured
with error, such errors would have to be new since 2000 and
systematically increasing over time for these 2 separate, independent
measures. Given the tremendous societal consequences of obesity,
and failure to date of energy balance–focused interventions to stem
the tide, it is critical for the scientific community to consider
and test alternative hypotheses. Growing evidence suggests complex,
interrelated biological interactions between food processing
(including acellular nutrients, depleted prebiotics, additives), gut
microbial composition and function, host metabolic expenditure,
and intergenerational transmission of risk (including epigenetics,
noncoding RNAs, microbial species). In this paradigm, whereas
increasing energy intake may have contributed to rising obesity
in earlier years, today pervasive adiposity and its physiologic
adaptations have created a biological milieu which interacts with
industrialized foods to promote escalating obesity, even with stable
energy intake—a self-sustaining, difficult-to-reverse cycle. These
scientific hypotheses must be rigorously evaluated, because even
partial confirmation would dramatically shift and expand current
prevention and treatment strategies. Urgent new investment in
research is required. Simultaneously, uncertain evidence on the
obesity epidemic’s primary drivers does not mean there is no
evidence on actions that can help, and existing science must be more
rapidly translated and refined into clinical, public health, and policy
interventions.

Statin therapy is not warranted for a person with high LDL-cholesterol on a low-carbohydrate diet

Abstract

Purpose of review

Although there is an extensive literature on the efficacy of the low carbohydrate diet (LCD) for weight loss and
in the management of type 2 diabetes, concerns have been raised that the LCD may increase cardiovascular
disease (CVD) risk by increasing the level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). We have assessed the
value of LDL-C as a CVD risk factor, as well as effects of the LCD on other CVD risk factors. We have also reviewed
findings that provide guidance as to whether statin therapy would be beneficial for individuals with high LDL-C on an LCD.

Recent findings

Multiple longitudinal trials have demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of the LCD, while also providing evidence
of improvements in the most reliable CVD risk factors. Recent findings have also confirmed how ineffective LDL-C is
in predicting CVD risk.

Summary

Extensive research has demonstrated the efficacy of the LCD to improve the most robust CVD risk factors, such
as hyperglycemia, hypertension, and atherogenic dyslipidemia. Our review of the literature indicates that statin
therapy for both primary and secondary prevention of CVD is not warranted for individuals on an LCD with elevated
LDL-C who have achieved a low triglyceride/HDL ratio.