http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/health/depression/a-natural-remedy-for-depression-alleviating-sleep-apnea.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/depression/a-natural-remedy-for-depression-alleviating-sleep-apnea.html Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500
A researcher at Stanford University found that in the general population of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain about 800 of 100,000 individuals have both a breathing-related sleep disorder and a major depressive disorder with nearly 20% of the subjects who had one of these disorders also having the other. (J Clin Psychiatry 2003, 64:1195-200; quiz, 1274-6).

In clinical practice, the presence of depressive symptoms is often considered in patients with obstructive sleep apnea although sleep problems and specifically obstructive sleep apnea are rarely assessed on a regular basis in patients with a depressive disorder.

It is speculated that obstructive sleep apnea might not only be associated with a depressive syndrome, but its presence may also be responsible for failure to respond to pharmacological treatment and that undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea might be exacerbated by antidepressant medications, such as benzodiazepines.

Although the benzodiazepines (central nervous system depressant drugs) may reduce sleep fragmentation, their long-term use may also cause health problems, such as complete obstructive sleep apnea in heavy snorers…(Am J Med. 1990 Mar 2;88(3A):25S-28S).

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of sleep disordered breathing and is defined by frequent episodes of obstructed breathing during sleep. It is characterized by sleep-related decreases or pauses in respiration.

The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea is higher in men than in women and is found in all age groups but its prevalence increases with age. In children, the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea is less well known and has been estimated to be between 2-8%.

The estimated prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in people between the ages of 30 to 60 years old was 9 percent for women and 24 percent for men. Male sex and obesity were strongly associated with the presence of sleep-disordered breathing. (N Engl J Med. 1993 Apr 29;328(17):1230-5).

Abnormal respiratory events are the hallmark of obstructive sleep apnea and are generally accompanied by heart rate variability and arousals from sleep, with frequent arousals being the most important factor resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness.

The extent to which daytime functioning is affected generally depends on the severity of obstructive sleep apnea. Symptoms other than excessive daytime sleepiness which greatly impact daytime functioning are neuropsychological symptoms such as irritability, difficulty concentrating, cognitive impairment, depressive symptoms, and other psychological disturbances. Therefore obstructive sleep apnea can easily mimic symptoms of a major depressive episode.

In 1997 researchers studied the relation between obstructive sleep apnea and depression and reported that 24% of 25 male patients with obstructive sleep apnea had previously seen a psychiatrist for anxiety or depression. (Arch Intern Med. 1977 Mar;137(3):296-300).

In 1989 researchers at the University of California Irvine Medical Center, found 67% of patients who presented to a major sleep disorders center reported an episode of depression within the previous 5 years, and 26% described themselves as depressed at presentation. (J Clin Psychol. 1989 Jan;45(1):51-60).

Of 50 patients who had severe obstructive sleep apnea most patients showed cognitive impairment; 76% had suspected or mild to severe deficits in terms of thinking, perception, memory, communication, or the ability to learn new information, resulting in a greater potential for being distractible, confused, and irritable. (J Chronic Dis. 1985;38(5):427-34).

In 1992 researchers in Spain found elevations in several depression scores in 23 obstructive sleep apnea patients (moderate to high severity) compared to 17 controls. Depression, schizophrenia, and hypochondriasis [chronic and abnormal anxiety about imaginary symptoms and ailments] were the highest scales. (Int J Neurosci. 1992 Feb;62(3-4):173-95).

Compared to patients who snore but do not have apnea, those with obstructive sleep apnea have more intense depressive symptoms (e.g., pessimism, inactivity, guilt) and somatic [physical] concerns. However, patients who snore but do not have apnea show psychological maladjustment that is in quality similar, but in quantity less severe, than those with obstructive sleep apnea. (Sleep. 1999 May 1;22(3):355-9).

Contradictory Research with Due to Limitations:

Researchers at the University of Kentucky, Department of Medicine, conducted a 5-year study of 95 normal older persons and did not find any significant depressive symptoms in elderly patients with a relatively mild obstructive sleep apnea, when compared to a control group without obstructive sleep apnea. (Chest. 1996 Sep;110(3):654-8).

However, there are multiple limitations to this study, besides a relatively small sample size for group comparisons and a non-representative study population.

Obstructive sleep apnea was only assessed at the start of the study, but not repeated at the five-year follow-up, i.e. neuropsychological data were compared between two groups based on obstructive sleep apnea status five years earlier.

Second, obstructive sleep apnea severity was mild even in the obstructive sleep apnea group.

Third, the groups differed significantly by age, with the obstructive sleep apnea group being older than the control group.

Finally, the drop out rate over the five years was very high with only 42 out of the initial 95 subjects completing the follow-up assessment. (Annals of General Psychiatry 2005, 4:13).

In 1998 researchers in Israel conducted a study comprising 2,271 patients (1,977 men, 294 women) with suspected Sleep Apnea Syndrome. They did not observe any association between respiratory disturbances and Symptom Check List 90 psychiatric questionnaire. (Chest. 1998 Sep;114(3):697-703).

However, the SCL-90 psychiatric questionnaire was developed as a screening tool for psychiatric patients, and not for a normal study population. Therefore, it might be a less sensitive tool with regards to milder forms of mood disturbances than other scales. (Annals of General Psychiatry 2005, 4:13).

However, the researchers in the abovementioned study did observe that among the minority of women in the study, those with severe obstructive sleep apnea had higher depression scores than those with mild obstructive sleep apnea. (Chest. 1998 Sep;114(3):697-703).

Fewer studies have focused on the screening for obstructive sleep apnea in primarily depressed study groups.

Sleep apnea was found in 42.9% of demented patients, 17.6% of depressives, and 4.3% of controls. A significant association between sleep apnea and dementia of the Alzheimer type was found in women but not in men. Moreover, severity of dementia was significantly correlated with apnea index. (J Clin Psychiatry. 1985 Jul;46(7):257-61).

All of the above suggests that obstructive sleep apnea might be an important confounding factor for studies on mood disorders in general, as its presence is not routinely determined in either research studies examining mood or clinical settings.

More studies are required to assess the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea in primarily depressed patients, particularly as it can be suspected from existing studies that obstructive sleep apnea is greatly under diagnosed in depressed patients.

Reference: Adapted from: Schröder CM, O'Hara R. Depression and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Annals of General Psychiatry 2005, 4:13 (27 June 2005). Review. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Kevin Flatt specializes in Alternative Medicine. He is the publisher of Natural Remedies and Cures at http://www.naturalremediescures.com


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/weight-loss/leptin-supplements-and-weight-loss.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/weight-loss/leptin-supplements-and-weight-loss.html Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600
After receiving leptin replacement therapy, research subjects with a recessive mutation in the obesity (ob) gene - a population both deficient in Leptin and morbidly obese - lost about half of their body weight while regulating their own food intake. (Medical news Today 4/5/2005).

If you take it at face value, it seems as if the research is saying that more leptin will help you lose weight. This research refers to subjects with a genetic basis for obesity who were deficient in leptin. But obese individuals tend to have more and larger leptin-producing fat cells than thinner people. They simply are not getting vital chemical signals to their brains that tell them to stop eating.

To illustrate my point:

Despite an assiduous search, scientists have found only a half-dozen people in the world who make no leptin. These people eat voraciously - one 3-year-old girl consumed 2,000 calories at a sitting. When several of these people were treated with leptin, they lost their appetites and their weight plummeted. (The New York Times 31/10/1999).

Don’t get me wrong, if it helps those who cannot make leptin, then this is a major breakthrough for them.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, goes a long way toward proving to me that more leptin does not equal less weight in very overweight people in the general population.

To make things worse, a hormone called leptin that was supposed to be the magic bullet for obesity, making people effortlessly lose fat while retaining muscle, looks like a bust. In a preliminary study reported last week, most people who took leptin lost little or no weight - one fat person who took the highest dose actually gained 20 pounds. (The New York Times 31/10/1999).

Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston say lean, physically active people have low levels of leptin, which is produced by the body’s fat cells and is believed to be a major culprit in causing obesity. The study finds that when couch potatoes start exercising regularly, their leptin levels decrease.

“As you get fatter, your body makes more leptin,” says Eric B. Rimm, Sc.D., associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, and a co-author of the study. “But when you exercise, the amount of leptin in the blood decreases. Most of the time, you also lose weight, which means your risk of heart disease decreases too.” (Science Daily 7/3/2000).

Normally, when leptin levels in blood go up, the brain signals us to stop eating. But since obesity isn’t the result of a lack of leptin, it is a lack of response to leptin, and obese individuals tend to have more and larger leptin-producing fat cells (leptin is a hormone secreted by fat cells) than thinner people, their leptin levels increase substantially with every pound of additional weight gain.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but there appears to be no logic in the idea of taking more leptin to reduce weight if you have an impaired response to leptin.

It is important to keep in mind that the study that showed that raising leptin levels in people who have already lost weight helps them to keep the weight off. It does not help people to lose weight in the first place. It prevents the yo-yoing that most dieters go through as their leptin levels drop and the brain tries to compensate by increasing hunger.

Weight loss lowers levels of leptin, which in turn can restore an impaired response to leptin signalling, thereby increasing your appetite. Therefore the first step, if considering using leptin, is to accomplish initial weight loss, thereby enabling supplemental leptin to signal you to stop eating.

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Kevin Flatt specializes in Alternative Medicine. He is the publisher of Natural Health Articles and News at http://www.kflatthealthnews.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/alternative-treatments-for-diabetes-management.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/alternative-treatments-for-diabetes-management.html Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500
During the early stages of testing a new chromium supplement, Agricultural Research Service chemist Richard A. Anderson, Ph.D. and his colleagues were attempting to disrupt some volunteers’ blood sugar control by feeding them a low chromium diet that included apple pie. Surprisingly, these volunteers’ blood sugar remained under control. Subsequent test-tube studies showed that cinnamon in the pie was boosting insulin activity, as chromium does, and thus controlling blood glucose. The spice turned out to be the “best thing we ever tested” for that purpose, Anderson says. (Science News Online 1/5/2004; Vol. 165, No. 18).

Since then Dr. Anderson and colleagues have confirmed the blood sugar lowering properties of cinnamon and its ability to lower triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol in test tube and animal studies as well as in a number of human trials. Details of these studies and human trials are outside the scope of this article.

Richard A. Anderson said: “If you can improve insulin function the cholesterol goes down, triglycerides go down, glucose goes down, and all this goes towards the alleviation of type 2 diabetes,” He cautioned, however, that consumers should not simply start dousing their food with cloves and cinnamon [at high doses]. He noted, for example, that cinnamon in powder form is rendered ineffective by contact with saliva, and its lack of solubility in water can result in an unwanted build up of the spice in the body. (HealthDay News 5/4/06).

There are some simple ways around this including buying cinnamon capsules.

Cloves

Dr. Alam Khan, Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan, a former postdoctoral student and Fulbright Fellow in the Anderson laboratory, reported on the first study of the effect of cloves on insulin function in humans at the Experimental Biology 2006 meeting, in San Francisco. (Medical News Today 9/4/2006).

At the end of the study, regardless of the amount of cloves consumed, all those who ingested cloves showed a drop in glucose, triglycerides and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels. Blood levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol were not affected among the clove eaters. Those who did not ingest cloves experienced no changes. (HealthDay News 5/4/2006). More details of this study can be found at the author’s website.

Gymnema

Studies show that Gymnema sylvestre helps control both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Gymnema is a well-proven treatment for diabetes, and it has been used for this purpose for over 2,000 years and has proved to be very effective in type 1 diabetes.

It is best known for its apparent ability to lower blood sugar levels. Results from case reports and studies in humans and animals suggest that it may work in several ways to help control both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It is possible that gymnema sylvestre may even prompt the pancreas to develop more beta cells - the source of insulin. It may also make body cells more responsive to the insulin that is available. (DrugDigest).

The first scientific confirmation of the effects of gymnema on glucose in human diabetics was in 1926 when it was demonstrated that the leaves of Gymnema reduced urinary glucose. (K.G. Gharpurey, Indian Medical Gazette 1926; 61: 155).

A number of trials have been carried out demonstrating the properties of Gymnema sylvestre, the details of which are beyond the scope of this article.

Chromiun

Scientists believe that insulin uses chromium as an assistant (technically, a cofactor) to “unlock the door” to the cell membrane, thereby allowing glucose to enter the cell.

More than 15 scientific studies support the safety and role of chromium in improving insulin function and glucose metabolism in people with type 2 diabetes and related conditions. “There is strong scientific evidence to suggest that supplemental chromium picolinate may improve insulin sensitivity, blood glucose control, and cardiovascular risk factors in adults with type 2 diabetes,” according to Dr. Kaufman, former president of the American Diabetes Association and specialist in pediatric endocrinology. (PRNewswire-FirstCall 15/2/2005). Details of these studies are outside the scope of this article.

Science News Online reported in April 2005 that Robert DiSilvestro and Emily Dy of Ohio State University showed data at the Experimental Biology 2005 meeting in San Diego indicating that only the picolinate form of chromium is absorbed well by the body. The report stated that according to Robert DiSilvestro about 40 percent of chromium picolinate was absorbed by people taking chromium supplements in one experiment. DiSilvestro added that absorption of other forms of the mineral in supplements ran as low as 1 percent and only about 10 percent of any form of chromium in foods is typically absorbed. (Science News Online 16/4/2005; Vol. 167, No. 16).

Additionally, an animal study conducted at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that chromium picolinate was better absorbed by the tissues (e.g., liver and muscle) than chromium nicotinate and chromium chloride. Absorption into the tissue is important because for a mineral to be beneficial, it must survive the digestive tract and reach the bloodstream. Otherwise, minerals pass through the body, leaving it void of necessary nutrients. (Medical News Today 7/2/2007).

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Kevin Flatt has extensively researched the subject of Alternative Medicine over many years. He is the publisher of Natural Health Articles And News. If you are searching for information on improving your health with less drugs and more natural therapy, then this website is for you. http://www.kflatthealthnews.com


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