Posted on 03/29/2012 7:57:54 PM PDT by neverdem
Poor diet, a lack of exercise, excess weight and genetics are the usual risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. But a new line of research suggests that in some cases, there may be a surprising contributor: the stomach bacterium known as Helicobacter pylori.
People who acquire H. pylori — typically in childhood — are at a greater risk of ulcers and gastric cancer. But H. pylori also is thought to affect two digestive hormones involved in hunger and satiety.
The belief is that the bacterium increases levels of ghrelin, the "hunger hormone," which is known to promote weight gain. At the same time, H. pylori is thought to lower levels of leptin, the "satiety" hormone, which reduces appetite and promotes calorie burning.
In a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases this year, researchers looked at more than 13,000 people in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. The data showed that people who had H. pylori in their systems also had higher levels of something called HbA1c, a compound considered a strong predictor of diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar and an excess of certain fats in the bloodstream.
In another recent study, in the journal Diabetes Care, scientists at the University of Michigan and elsewhere analyzed blood samples taken from 782 adults from 1998 to 1999. The scientists looked for a connection between various chronic infections and Type 2 diabetes, and found only one: People who had H. pylori in their systems were nearly three times as likely to develop diabetes as those who did not...
(Excerpt) Read more at well.blogs.nytimes.com ...
I thought it was ‘white rice’?
I was with a woman the other day that swore Mastica gum cured her diabetes. I was amazed to look it up and find there ARE statistics about Mastica and H pylori. She said since she started using it she lost a ton of weight. It sounds interesting.
do you mean mastic gum? I don’t see anything on the interwebs about mastica gum.
Gah! This is just adding insult to injury. I got a duodenal ulcer when I was only 13 . . . and had to listen to YEARS of smug doctors telling me I was “stressed” and should calm down and it would all go away. (You want to make a middle-schooler less stressed? Telling them that they’re stressed and they should just stop being stressed is not the way to do it! LOL!) When the news about H. pylori came out I literally danced in my living room. All those stupid doctors . . . grr!
And now this. Does this crap never end?
When they figure out that they don't know what they don't know, you make some progress.
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