Fat to Treat Fat: Emerging Relationship Between Dietary PUFA, Endocannabinoids, and Obesity.

Fat to treat fat: Emerging relationship between dietary PUFA, endocannabinoids, and obesity.

Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat. 2013 Mar 1;
Kim J, Li Y, Watkins BA

Obesity incidence continues to escalate as a global nutrition and health problem. Scientists and clinicians are engaged in numerous research approaches that include behavior, education, applied nutrition studies and clinical therapies to prevent, control and reverse obesity. The common goal is to identify areas of basic and clinical research to understand aspects of human biology that contribute to obesity. In these approaches recent discoveries in biology and advancing technologies are tools employed to prevent and reverse obesity. The purpose of this review article is to present the current knowledge of key components of the endocannabinoid system that contribute to eating, influence systemic energy metabolism, and dietary factors that alter the responses of ligand binding and activation of cannabinoid receptors. Herein the objectives are to 1) describe the relationship between dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and obesity, 2) explain the role of this signaling system in obesity, and 3) present areas of consequential future research with dietary long chain PUFA. There are several gaps in the knowledge of the role dietary PUFA play in the tone of the endocannabinoid signaling system involving ligands and receptors. Elucidating the PUFA relationship to signaling tone may explain the presumed overstimulation of signaling believed to contribute to over eating, fat accretion and inflammation. Future research in this endeavor must be hypothesis driven utilizing appropriate models for investigations on dietary PUFA, endocannabinoids and obesity. HubMed – eating

Psychiatry in Korea.

Asian J Psychiatr. 2013 Apr; 6(2): 186-90
Park JI, Oh KY, Chung YC

This paper reports the current status of Korean psychiatry. In 2011, there were 3005 psychiatrists and 75,000 psychiatric beds. There were 84 psychiatric residency-training hospitals in 2011, which produced about 150 psychiatry board-certified doctors annually. As for academic activity, there is the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association, a main association for neuropsychiatry, and 21 other research societies. Psychiatric residency is a 4-year training program, with different objectives for each grade. The Korean health system accepts National Health Insurance. When severely mentally ill patients register as having a mental disorder, they pay only 10% of their total medical costs. Private clinics usually see patients with less severe conditions such as anxiety, mood and eating disorders; general and university hospitals and special mental hospitals often deal with severe conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. One great concern is an increasing trend to depend upon pharmacotherapy and neglect the role of psychotherapy. Additionally, conflicts among medical sectors are becoming fierce as other doctors request abolition of the current law that restricts them from prescribing anti-depressants for more than 60 days. The average hospitalization period of all mental care institutions was 166 days in 2010, substantially longer compared with developed countries. To win the heart of the general public, cutting edge research to improve the quality of treatment for mental diseases, reformation of psychiatric residency training programs, public campaigns to increase awareness of mental health value, and timely reflection on policy decisions should be pursued persistently. HubMed – eating

A randomized controlled clinical trial investigating the effect of DASH diet on insulin resistance, inflammation, and oxidative stress in gestational diabetes.

Nutrition. 2013 Apr; 29(4): 619-24
Asemi Z, Samimi M, Tabassi Z, Sabihi SS, Esmaillzadeh A

To our knowledge, no reports are available indicating the effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan on insulin resistance, inflammation, and oxidative stress among pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study was designed to investigate the effects of the DASH diet on insulin resistance, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and biomarkers of oxidative stress among pregnant women with GDM.This randomized controlled clinical trial was performed with 32 pregnant women diagnosed with GDM at 24 to 28 wk gestation. Participants were randomly assigned to consume either the control (n = 16) or DASH diet (n = 16) for 4 wk. The DASH diet was rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products and was low in saturated fats, total fats, cholesterol, refined grains, and sweets, with a total of 2400 mg/d of sodium. The control diet contained 40% to 55% of its energy as carbohydrates, 10% to 20% as proteins, and 25% to 30% as total fats. Fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and after 4 wk of intervention to measure fasting plasma glucose (FPG), serum insulin, and hs-CRP, Homeostasis Model of Assessment-Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and total glutathione levels (GSH).Consumption of the DASH diet compared with the control diet resulted in decreased FPG (-7.62 versus 3.68 mg/dL; P = 0.02), serum insulin levels (-2.62 versus 4.32 ?IU/mL, P = 0.03), and HOMA-IR score (-0.8 versus 1.1; P = 0.03). Increased concentrations of plasma TAC (45.2 versus -159.2 mmol/L; P < 0.0001) and GSH (108.1 versus -150.9 ?mol/L; P < 0.0001) also were seen in the DASH group compared with control group. We failed to find a significant difference in mean changes of serum hs-CRP levels between the two diets. Within-group comparisons revealed significant reductions in plasma TAC and GSH levels in the control diet, while a significant increase in these biomarkers in the DASH diet.Consumption of the DASH diet in pregnant women with GDM had beneficial effects on FPG, serum insulin levels, HOMA-IR score, plasma TAC, and total GSH levels. The effects of this dietary pattern on pregnancy outcomes need to be investigated in future studies. HubMed – eating

Mediators of the relationship between media literacy and body dissatisfaction in early adolescent girls: Implications for prevention.

Body Image. 2013 Mar 2;
McLean SA, Paxton SJ, Wertheim EH

This study examined in young adolescent girls the fit of a theoretical model of the contribution of media literacy to body dissatisfaction via the mediating influences of internalisation of media ideals and appearance comparisons. Female Grade 7 students (N=469) completed self-report assessments of media literacy, internalisation, appearance comparisons, body dissatisfaction, and media exposure. Strong, significant inverse associations between media literacy and body dissatisfaction, internalisation, and appearance comparisons were observed. Path analysis revealed that a slightly modified revision of the model provided a good fit to the data. Specifically, body dissatisfaction was influenced directly by appearance comparisons, internalisation, and body mass index, and indirectly by media literacy and media exposure. Indirect pathways were mediated by appearance comparisons and internalisation. Thus, a relationship between media literacy and eating disorder risk factors was observed. Findings may explain positive outcomes of media literacy interventions in eating disorder prevention. HubMed – eating

Prevalence and severity of atherosclerosis in different arterial territories and its relation with obesity.

Cardiovasc Pathol. 2013 Feb 25;
Rodríguez-Flores M, Rodríguez-Saldaña J, Cantú-Brito C, Aguirre-García J, Alejandro GG

BACKGROUND: There is uneven association between obesity, traditional risk factors, and cardiovascular events. We aimed to analyze the relation between cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, with the severity of atherosclerosis in different arterial territories. METHODS: Arteries from five territories (circle of Willis, carotids, coronaries, aorta, and renal) were taken from 185 persons, newborn to 90 years undergoing autopsy in the Forensic Medical Service in Mexico City, to determine atherosclerotic lesions by histopathological study. Lesions were classified according to the American Heart Association grading system as early (types I-III) and advanced (types IV-VI). The degree of atherosclerosis was correlated with arterial territories and risk factors. RESULTS: Frequencies of advanced lesions according to arterial territories were as follows: circle of Willis, 28%; right carotid, 36%; left carotid, 25%; right coronary, 71%; left coronary, 85%; right renal, 26%; left renal, 29%; and aorta, 52%; P=.0001, for all analyses. There was a higher risk for advanced lesions with increasing body mass index (BMI) (P=.004). However, after adjusting for age, gender, smoking status, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, BMI was not independently associated with advanced lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary arteries are significantly more affected than other arterial territories regardless of risk factors, showing the effect of local and systemic factors in the severity of atherosclerosis. We did not find an independent association between advanced atherosclerotic lesions and obesity. HubMed – eating