Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.
This week on Health Watch, we’ve been talking about how processes in the brain can affect physical health — and vice versa. Hormones that signal hunger can also affect mood, while hormones that affect sleep also affect metabolism. The brain could also play a role in non-insulin dependent diabetes.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center, working with several other medical centers, found that some neurons that are activated by glucose also play a role in regulating glucose levels in the body. With a high-fat diet, the ability of these neurons to sense glucose may be impaired, so glucose levels aren’t regulated properly. Diabetes develops when the body can’t regulate glucose levels. Dr. Roberto Coppari, a
UT Southwestern internist who was one of the study leaders, says this may be one of the key links between a high-fat, high-calorie diet and adult-onset diabetes.
Visit http://www.utsouthwestern.org/endocrinology to learn more about
UT Southwestern’s clinical services in endocrinology.
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July 2008
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