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| Archive : Summer
2006 |
THE CROOKED LOGIC OF TYPE 2 DIABETES:
The afflicted are often obese, but not always // Fat cells ensure survival, but can spew toxins too // A bodily defense—inflammation— only accelerates the crisis.
An Epidemic of Excess [page 3]
 By
Wendy Orent |
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Of course, exercise and a healthy diet help reduce blood lipids. And curbing systemic infections, even such remote and apparently unrelated conditions as gum disease, may also help curb the dangerous cycle that pumps pro-inflammatory cytokines into the blood, raises lipid levels and pushes people toward type 2 diabetes. Yet the more one ponders type 2 diabetes, the stranger and more mysterious the condition becomes.
Unlike an acute infection, which has an obvious cause, the knot of factors leading to this devastating illness still seems hopelessly tangled. It is caused by obesity, but only certain kinds; it is pushed along by the very defenses the human body has evolved to protect itself; it seems to involve a process whereby, under certain circumstances, fat may act like a pathogen, and pathogens (for instance, those involved in gum disease) may act like fat, provoking a destructive immune response. And no one knows exactly how all the pieces interlock. As the pandemic (and waistlines) inexorably expands, the search for answers will only become more urgent.
 Dossier
1.“Role of the Adipocyte in Metabolism and Endocrine Function,” by Steven R. Smith and Eric Ravussin, Endocrinology, eds. Leslie J. DeGroot and J. Larry Jameson, Elsevier Saunders, 2005. A technical but engrossing account of the dangers of leaky fat cells, their production of inflammatory chemicals, and the link between fat and insulin resistance.
2.“Periodontitis and Diabetes Interrelationships: Role of Inflammation,” by Anthony M. Iacopino, Annals of Periodontology, December 2001. One article in a series by Iacopino, often with Christopher Cutler, exploring the relationship between gum disease and diabetes.
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