Nutrition & Exercise Studies Demonstrate Positive Weight Loss Program, Effects on High Altitude Climbers
Posted on: Monday, 6 June 2005, 06:00 CDT
SAN DIEGO, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- A number of new nutrition and exercise studies will be presented today at ENDO 2005, the 87th Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society. Research to be presented includes a successful weight loss program, the effect unfiltered coffee has on cholesterol, physical effects of extended exposure to high altitudes on climbers and the skeletal health of rowers versus runners.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050405/ENDOLOGO )
These four new studies will be featured at a press conference on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. at the San Diego Convention Center.
Study Confirms Use of Sibutramine and Meal Replacements
Dr. James Early of University of Kansas School of Medicine conducted a study with promising results for weight loss and weight maintenance. Researchers implemented a 12-month trial to evaluate the effect of sibutramine (SIB), an appetite suppressant, plus a low-calorie diet, which included meal replacements (such as Slim-Fast(R) shakes) versus a placebo plus a low calorie diet.
In the first three months (phase one), 85 percent of both groups saw a minimum of five percent weight loss. However, in the next nine months (phase two), 80 percent of the group using SIB were able to keep the weight off, while less than 37 percent of the placebo group were able to maintain the weight loss and further reduce their weight.
"The SIB, low-calorie diet and meal replacement combination therapy was well tolerated," said Early. "It resulted in substantial weight loss over three months and facilitated additional weight loss and successful weight maintenance to treatment-period end compared to those taking a placebo in place of SIB."
How does Cafestol, an ingredient in unfiltered coffee raise cholesterol?
The coffee diterpene cafestol (CAF) is present in unfiltered coffee brews such as Scandinavian boiled, Turkish and cafetiere coffee. CAF is the most potent cholesterol-elevating compound known in the human diet. A study by Marie-Louise Ricketts of Baylor College of Medicine sought to determine whether CAF exerts its effects via nuclear hormone receptors that control genes involved in cholesterol homeostasis.
To answer this question, both in vitro and in vivo studies were performed, and the data determined that CAF acts as an agonist ligand for both FXR and PXR, and this may contribute to its ability to raise cholesterol levels. CAF acts as a potential agonist ligand for both FXR and PXR, and this may contribute to its effect on cholesterol homeostasis.
Extreme Physical Exercise at High Altitude Can Lead to Hypogonadism
Despite hundreds of climbers taking on the Alps and the Himalayas in the last 50 years, there has never been a comprehensive description of the combined effects of high altitude and physical exercise on the human body - until now.
The combination of high altitude and extreme physical exercise produces a state of hypobaric hypoxia, or deficiency in the amount of oxygen in blood levels, inducing a condition of hyperactivity of growth hormone coupled with increased insulin activity. Also, these conditions produce mild hyperprolactinemia, an elevated level of a milk production and secretion hormone, and a state of secondary hypogonadism.
Dr. Silvia Grottoli, University of Turin, and colleagues studied nine members of an expedition of well-trained climbers on the north face of Mt. Everest to evaluate the endocrine pituitary function as well as glucose metabolism during prolonged physical exercise at high altitude in conditions where oxygen is often at abnormal lows in the blood.
They evaluated spontaneous growth hormone (GH) secretion (sampling every 30 minutes for 2 hours), IGF-I, IGFBP-3, leptin, cortisol, DHEAS, testosterone, PRL, glucose and insulin levels at the sea level before the expedition and after a period of 7 weeks of climbing at an altitude no lower than the 5200 meters of the base camp. They studied, for the first time in these conditions, variations, if any, of ghrelin a new orexigenic hormone.
"These results from a unique experimental human model of maximal exposure to altitude and physical exercise show that high altitude and extreme physical exercise induce a somatotrope axis hyperactivity coupled with increase in insulin sensitivity," said Dr. Grottoli. "The hormonal and metabolic response to extreme altitude and physical exercise provides new understanding of endocrine physiology as a function of hypobaric hypoxia."
The skeletal health of rowers versus runners
What are the differences in skeletal health of rowers vs. runners? Due to the mechanical loading of different sports, athletes participating in weight- bearing activities may accrue regionally specific bone mineral density (BMD).
To examine this, Dr. Meryl LeBoff of Brigham and Women's Hospital compared lifestyle variables and DXA scans of 70 elite (top collegiate and Olympic) rowers.
The runners, whose sport provides repetitive impact on the hip, had increased bone density at the upper leg and total hip compared with the rowers, whose sport specifically applies force to the lumbar spine. The rowers, while having lower BMD at the hip, did not differ from the runners at the lumbar spine.
"The gravitational forces and increased length of training in running may, in part, explain the increased BMD at their hips," said Walcott. " The shorter duration of training of rowers may account for the lack of significantly high bone density in the rowers' spines."
Founded in 1916, The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest, and most active organization devoted to research on hormones, and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, The Endocrine Society's membership consists of over 12,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 80 countries. Together, these members represent all basic, applied, and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. To learn more about the Society, and the field of endocrinology, visit our web site at http://www.endo-society.org/.
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The Endocrine Society
CONTACT: David Harrison, +1-410-821-8220, davidh@imrecommunications.com
Web site: http://www.endo-society.org/
Source: PRNewswire
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