Dr. Wendy Warner was the fourth and last of the Functional Medicine doctors appearing on this episode of The Dr. Oz Show; in the following video she is discussing weight gain in menopause. Belly (or visceral) fat not only secretes estrogen, but cytokines (a.k.a. adipokines), especially interleukin-6. Dr. Oz's animation of the weight gain flowchart (about .30 in the video) explains the cycle that I think we are dealing with in MS:
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-oz-s- ... tives-pt-6
I have tried unsuccessfully to reduce insulin levels with diet. Now I will target the other stages in the cycle – visceral fat (specifically, fatty liver) and inflammation. Indirectly, that should eventually reduce insulin production.
Visceral fat produces cytokines, which lead to more insulin, which leads to more inflammation, which produces more visceral fat… and round and round it goes.
Or Visceral fat => Cytokines (Adipokines, especially IL-6) => Insulin=> Inflammation=> Visceral fat…
And thanks to cheerleader we have this article on elevated liver enzymes and MS: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17030771
And thanks to JackD: Biol Res Nurs. 2011 Nov 14. [Epub ahead of print]
Psychological Stress and Cytokine Production in Multiple Sclerosis: Correlation With Disease Symptomatology.
Sorenson M, Janusek L, Mathews H.
Department of Nursing, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Objective: Psychological variables such as perceived stress appear to play a role in symptom onset or disease exacerbation in multiple sclerosis (MS). The authors sought to determine if perceived stress is indeed associated with the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and disease symptoms in individuals with MS. To do so, the authors examined the relationships among disease symptomatology, perceived stress, and cytokine production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in 42 outpatients with MS and 36 normative controls. Method: The authors drew peripheral blood from all subjects prior to the completion of a series of psychological instruments. The authors measured stress using the Perceived Stress scale and negative mood with the Profile of Mood States. Disease symptoms were measured using the Multiple Sclerosis Symptom Checklist. Cytokine production was induced separately by lipopolysaccharide and a combination of phytohemagglutinin and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate.
Results: In MS subjects, the induced production of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 positively correlated with psychological stress, mood disturbance, and disease symptomatology.
n contrast, psychological stress in control subjects significantly correlated with level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and mood disturbance correlated with levels of TNF-α and interferon-gamma. As well, compared to controls, MS subjects exhibited a significant fourfold increase in the production of IL-12.
Conclusion: There is, in those with MS, a pattern of IL-6 and IL-10 production that correlates significantly with perceived stress and disease symptomatology.
PMID: 22084401 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
From The Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise, page 3:
And in the recent AARP Bulletin article, "Battling Belly Fat": http://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-livi ... y-fat.htmlResearchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis confirmed that visceral belly fat (the kind that wraps around your internal organs, not the kind you can pinch) releases inflammatory molecules called interleukin-6; higher levels of these molecules are connected to increased levels of C-reactive protein, which in turn, is connected to chronic inflammation. Scientists in London substantiated this link by declaring visceral fat a "key promoter of… chronic inflammation." Even though inflammation starts out as our bodies way to protect itself, when it becomes chronic, its causes cellular damage that ages our tissues and organs and can eventually lead to arterial stiffness and heart disease.
I think the MS symptoms are the result of the insulin in the above cycle; I think Dr. Terry Wahls' diet is detoxifying the liver (kale, Swiss chard, dark green leafy vegetables), reducing visceral fat, and ultimately reducing insulin levels. I will investigate detoxifying the liver next; any suggestions in that project will be appreciated.