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Home > Health Conditions > Pot Bellies

Abdominal Fat/Pot Bellies

What do I take to reduce abdominal fat?  PGX™ , chromium, pioglitazone and metformin to reduce blood glucose/insulin (see item 1 on my home page) and phosphatidylserine to reduce cortisol plus DHEA and CLA.

Two hormones involved with abdominal fat cortisol and insulin and an enzyme called 11beta-HSD-1 are reduced by Avandia (rosiglitazone) in some people.  See the articles on Avandia at the bottom of this page.  Check with your doctor before taking it.  See Avandia at OffshoreRx.com.

Related Topics:

• cortisol / 11beta-HSD-1

Alternative News:

• Body Types, Body Typing, and Herbal Medicine - HolisticHealthTopics.com - "For those persons who are overstressed or who suffer from excessive adrenal activity and elevated cortisol levels the use of adrenal inhibitors such as alpha linolenic acid ( flaxseed oil ) or phosphatidylserine may be beneficial ... "
• Whole Grains Shrink Belly Fat? - Dr. Weil, 3/31/08 - "the whole grains may have helped by stabilizing the dieters' blood sugar, which in turn may have had a beneficial effect on CRP levels"
• n-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids in patients with the metabolic syndrome: a case-control study in Korea - Br J Nutr. 2008 Feb 28;:1-6 - "trans fatty acids of erythrocytes (RBC) ... There were significant positive relationships between trans fatty acids and waist circumference, and between trans fatty acids and BMI. The results suggested that RBC trans fatty acids might be a predictor of increased risk for the metabolic syndrome, but n-3 fatty acids were not in this population"
• Whole Grains Fight Belly Fat - WebMD, 2/25/08 - "Both groups experienced a decrease in body fat, but the whole-grain group lost significantly more body fat from the abdominal region than the refined-grain group. Excessive fat around the midsection is linked to an increased risk of heart disease ... The whole-grain group experienced other benefits. For example, CRP levels dropped by 38% among those who followed a whole-grain diet"
• Soy linked to less belly fat in postmenopausal women - Nutra USA, 1/14/08 - "At the end of the trial there were no differences in the weight of women in both groups ... However, measures of subcutaneous abdominal fat were significantly different between the groups, with women in the soy group experiencing a 14.7 sq. cm reduction compared to a 22.9 sq. cm increase in the placebo group" - [Abstract]
• Effect of a daily supplement of soy protein on body composition and insulin secretion in postmenopausal women - Fertil Steril. 2007 Dec;88(6):1609-17 - "A daily supplement of soy protein prevents the increase in subcutaneous and total abdominal fat observed with an isocaloric casein placebo in postmenopausal women"
• Vitamin C and dairy linked to less abdominal weight - Nutra USA, 11/16/07 - "low vitamin C intake was associated with a 131 per cent increase in probability of central fat accumulation, while low calcium increased the probability by 30 per cent" - [Abstract] - See Vitamin C products at iHerb.
• Dietary and non-dietary determinants of central adiposity among Tehrani women - Public Health Nutr. 2007 Sep 3;:1-7 - "Marriage (1.31; 1.10-1.82), menopause (1.22; 1.02-1.61), low vitamin C intake (2.31; 1.25-4.25) and low calcium intake (1.30; 1.07-3.78) were associated with central fat accumulation" - See vitamin C products at iHerb.
• Six months supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid induces regional-specific fat mass decreases in overweight and obese - Br J Nutr. 2007 Mar;97(3):550-60 - "randomised into two groups supplemented with either 3 x 4 g/d CLA or placebo for 6 months. CLA significantly decreased BFM at month 3 (Delta=- 0 x 9 %, P=0 x 016) and at month 6 (Delta=- 3 x 4 %, P=0 x 043) compared with placebo. The reduction in fat mass was located mostly in the legs (Delta=- 0 x 8 kg, P<0 x 001), and in women (Delta=-1 x 3 kg, P=0 x 046) with BMI >30 kg/m2 (Delta=-1 x 9 kg, P=0 x 011), compared with placebo. The waist-hip ratio decreased significantly (P=0 x 043) compared with placebo. LBM increased (Delta=+0 x 5 kg, P=0 x 049) within the CLA group ... Adverse events did not differ between the groups" - See CLA products at iHerb.
• Low glycemic diet may help stay slim - MSNBC, 10/27/06 - "normal-weight women who ate a diet with a relatively high glycemic index gained more weight, more fat, and more padding around the middle over a six-year period than women who ate a low glycemic index diet"
• Supplementation With Chromium Picolinate Improves Glycemic Control, Attenuates Weight Gain - Doctor's Guide, 8/9/06 - "Blood sugar levels of study participants taking chromium picolinate in combination with the antidiabetic medication dropped significantly compared to the group taking the medication plus placebo ... Study participants taking chromium picolinate also experienced significantly lower abdominal body fat accumulation than the group taking medication and placebo, and experienced less overall weight gain" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.
• Exercise Important in Reducing Size of Abdominal Fat Cells - Doctor's Guide, 8/8/06 - "The diet-alone group had no changes in abdominal fat cell size. However, both exercise groups had decreases of about 18% in the size of their abdominal fat cells"
• Association of abdominal obesity with decreased serum levels of carotenoids in a healthy Japanese population - Clin Nutr. 2006 May 12 - "abdominal fat accumulation is associated with oxidative stress as determined by low levels of serum carotenoids in females"
• Low-Glycemic Load Diet Facilitates Weight Loss in Overweight Adults with High Insulin Secretion - Doctor's Guide, 12/7/05 - "The regulation of body weight is, at least in part, influenced by how much insulin a person secretes in response to a load of glucose, as well as by how sensitive that person is to insulin's glucose-lowering effects"
• Exercise Fights 'Hidden' Body Fat - WebMD, 9/14/05 - "Higher amounts of exercise cut deep belly fat and fat around the waist ... Deep belly fat (technically called "visceral fat" or fat surrounding organs within the abdomen) has been linked to health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors that greatly increase the chance of developing these diseases"
• Running May Melt Away Belly Fat - CBS 2 Chicago, 9/14/05
• Vinegar may help dieters eat less - Nutra USA, 9/7/05 - "Both glucose and insulin responses were about 25 per cent lower at 90 minutes when the volunteers had consumed the highest level of vinegar compared to the reference meal ... This level of vinegar is equivalent to about two to three tablespoons" - See Vinegar products at iHerb (1 - 500 mg tablet equals 2 tsb of vinegar.  4.5 tablets equals about 3 tablespoons by my calculations.  Related articles:
  • Vinegar supplementation lowers glucose and insulin responses and increases satiety after a bread meal in healthy subjects - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jun 2 - "Compared with the reference meal, the highest level of vinegar significantly lowered the blood glucose response at 30 and 45 min"
  • Vinegar as a Sweet Solution? - Science News, 12/18/04 - "2 tablespoons of vinegar before a meal—perhaps, as part of a vinaigrette salad dressing—will dramatically reduce the spike in blood concentrations of insulin and glucose that come after a meal ... vinegar cut their blood-glucose rise in the first hour after a meal by about half ... a 2-pound weight loss, on average, over the 4 weeks in the vinegar group"
• New Trial Shows Chromium Picolinate Reduces Weight Gain Associated with Diabetes Medication - Doctor's Guide, 6/16/05 - "The study participants who took 1,000 mcg of Chromax(R) chromium picolinate in combination with the antidiabetic medication experienced significantly lower body fat accumulation (0.12%) than the group taking medication and placebo (1.1%), particularly in the abdomen area" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.
• Skipping Exercise Makes Fat a Bigger Problem - WebMD, 4/19/05 - "Just five hours after exercise stopped, the rat's abdominal fat cells started to send off chemical signals that made them start to swell. After two days of no exercise, the fat cells got 19% larger -- and the rats' stomach fat got 48% heavier"
• Effects of metformin on the body composition in subjects with risk factors for type 2 diabetes - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2005 Mar;7(2):189-92 - "In the metformin group, there was a decrease in fat weight from 25.9 +/- 9.4 to 20.8 +/- 9.2 kg, p < 0.01, an increase in lean weight from 57.05 +/- 13.6 to 61.9 +/- 16.5 kg, p < 0.01, an increase in basal metabolism from 1735 +/- 413 to 1878 +/- 505 calories/day, p < 0.05 and an increase in body water" - See metformin at IAS.  Note:  That's a 19.7% decrease in fat (25.9-20.8)/25.9 = 19.7%, a 8.5% increase in lean weight (61.9-57.05)/57.05 = 8.5% and a 8.2% increase in basal metabolism (1878-1735)/1735 = 8.2%. - Ben
• Abdominal Fat Decreases, Insulin Action Improves When Elderly Take Hormone - Science Daily, 11/17/04
• Effect of DHEA on Abdominal Fat and Insulin Action in Elderly Women and Men: A Randomized Controlled Trial - JAMA. 2004 Nov 10;292(18):2243-8 - "DHEA replacement could play a role in prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome associated with abdominal obesity" - See DHEA products at iHerb.
• Hormone Protects Against Diseases of Aging - WebMD, 11/9/04 - "The elderly people in the study took 50 mg a day of DHEA ... Six months later, the DHEA group showed significant reductions in abdominal obesity (10% fat reduction around organs in the abdominal cavity among women and 7.4% among men) and improvements in insulin action or a decrease in insulin resistance"
• Increase in DHEA May Help Decrease Abdominal Fat in Elderly Persons - Doctor's Guide, 11/9/04 - "DHEA replacement therapy induced significant decreases in both visceral fat (within the abdomen) and subcutaneous abdominal fat (below the skin surface) in elderly men and women. "The decrease in visceral fat relative to initial values averaged 10.2 percent in the women and 7.4 percent in the men. The DHEA therapy also resulted in a significant decrease in abdominal subcutaneous fat, averaging approximately 6 percent in both the men and women"
• DHEA May Reduce Abdominal Fat and Increase Insulin Sensitivity in the Elderly - Medscape, 11/9/04
• Research: Refined Grains Expand Girths - Intelihealth, 6/21/04 - "three years they were tracked ... At the end, the white bread group had three times the fiber group's gain at the gut ... I think abdominal fat cells may be more sensitive to insulin's effects than other fat cells in the body"
• CLA: The New Miracle Weight Loss Pill? - WebMD, 5/24/04 - "Both CLA groups lost weight -- about 4 pounds; the placebo group stayed the same ... The CLA syrup group had a 9% body fat loss; the CLA pill group had 7% loss; the placebo group had no body fat loss ... The increased lipoprotein levels may be a byproduct of fat loss, says Gaullier. "The body does show inflammation caused by the process of eliminating fat. We think this is what is happening, but we don't know for certain."" - See iHerb or Vitacost CLA products.
• A Derivative Of The Green Tea Leaf May Help With Metabolic Syndrome X, A Potentially Deadly Disorder - Intelihealth, 4/10/03 - "A new weapon might eventually be added to the arsenal: consumption of Tegreen, a tea polyphenols product containing in excess of 65 percent tea catechins, derived from the green tea leaf ... oral administration of Tegreen is capable of improving glucose and lipid metabolisms in an obese rat model induced by a high-calorie diet ... Tegreen intervention can significantly decrease visceral fat depot and increase the insulin's sensitivity, presumably touching one of the pathological root causes of this potentially deadly syndrome" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea extracts.  My favorite is Jarrow green tea at iHerb.
• Stress, Cortisol and Health - Supplement Watch Newsletter, 10/02 - "several lines of evidence have converged to solidify the concept that stress makes us fat (because of cortisol), thins our bones (because of cortisol), shrinks our brains (because of cortisol), suppresses our immune system (because of cortisol), saps our energy levels (because of cortisol), and kills our sex drive (because of cortisol) ... Take a daily multivitamin/multi-mineral supplement - because calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and B-complex vitamins are needed for a proper stress response ... Chief among the supplements with documented cortisol-controlling effects are Phosphatidylserine, Beta-sitosterol, Magnolia bark, Theanine, Epimedium, Ashwagandha and Passionflower"
• Novel Method of Enhancing Anti-Fat Effects of CLA - Life Extension Magazine, 8/02 - "CLA improves insulin sensitivity" - See iHerb or Vitacost CLA products.
• Hypercortisolemia Cited in Link Between Depression and Cardiovascular Disorders - Doctor's Guide, 4/9/02 - "Depressed patients who are also hypercortisolemic appear to have resistance to insulin and increased visceral fat, possibly accounting for a link between major depression and cardiovascular disorders"
• Single enzyme to blame for potbellies: study - MSNBC, 12/6/01 - "What they found was that a single enzyme in fat cells that raises levels of cortisol — the “fight or flight” stress hormone — triggers fat accumulation around the belly and its associated ill effects ... The researchers were drawn to the role of cortisol because patients with a rare illness known as Cushing syndrome — who have too much of the steroid hormone in their blood — develop severe obesity concentrated around their middles and become diabetic ... Since overweight people without Cushing syndrome typically don’t have too much cortisol in their bloodstreams, Flier hypothesized that they may be producing high cortisol levels solely in their fat cells — possibly because the enzyme HSD-1, which makes cortisol from an inactive molecule, is overactive ... The level of cortisol in their stomach fat tissue was 15 percent to 30 percent higher than in their non-engineered counterparts" - The link went dead on this but I found a copy at http://www.cushingsonline.com/newsletters/email/12-4-2002.htm (scroll about 2/3rds the way down).

Other News:

• Metformin (Glucophage) and bipolar - psycheducation.org - "In some cases this medication can decrease abdominal obesity ... Between 10 and 30% of people taking metformin have a decrease in their B12 levels ... this can show up is "anemia""
• Role of Metformin for Weight Management in Patients Without Type 2 Diabetes (June) - Ann Pharmacother. 2008 May 13 - "The weight loss effects of metformin in overweight or obese adults and adolescents without diabetes appear promising; however, trials have been limited by small patient populations and weak design. Metformin may also have a positive effect on metabolic parameters such as waist circumference, fasting insulin and glucose levels, and triglycerides" - See metformin at at OffshoreRx.com.
• ACE Inhibitors May Help in Weight Loss - WebMD, 4/28/08 - "the ACE-deficient mice not only broke down fats faster in the liver, they processed blood sugars more quickly than the other mice, making them less likely to develop diabetes ... The study results demonstrate that an ACE deficiency leads to reduction in body fat accumulation in mice and suggests that drugs that affect the renin-angiotensin system, such as ACE inhibitors, might spark weight loss, especially in the midsection" - See ramipril (an ACE inhibitor) at OffshoreRX.
• Your Belly Fat Could Be Making You Hungrier - Science Daily, 4/16/08
• Big Bellies Linked to Alzheimer's Disease - washingtonpost.com, 3/26/08 - "People who have big bellies in their 40s are much more likely to get Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia in their 70s" - [Science Daily]
• Why Belly Fat Hurts the Heart - WebMD, 1/29/08 - "Visceral fat brought the most inflammation and the worst atherosclerosis ... After visceral fat transplantation, mice developed less severe atherosclerosis if their chow was laced with the diabetes drug Actos for 10 weeks. But Actos didn't affect atherosclerosis in other mice" - See pioglitazone at OffshoreRX.com.
• Pot Belly May Signal Diseased Arteries - WebMD, 8/14/07
• New Test for Belly Fat? - WebMD, 7/10/07
• Belly Fat May Drive Inflammatory Processes Associated With Disease - Science Daily, 3/13/07 - "fat cells inside the abdomen are secreting molecules that increase inflammation ... Too much abdominal fat is associated with a defect in the body's response to insulin"
• Trans Fat Leads To Weight Gain Even On Same Total Calories, Animal Study Shows - Science Daily, 6/19/06 - "Diets rich in trans fat cause a redistribution of fat tissue into the abdomen and lead to a higher body weight even when the total dietary calories are controlled"
• Eat Trans Fat, Get Big Belly - WebMD, 6/12/06 - "Trans fats make you fatter than other foods with the same number of calories -- but that's not all ...  trans fats increase the amount of fat around the belly"
• Abdominal Fat Linked To Higher Death Rate In Men, New Study Shows - Science Daily, 4/4/06 - "visceral fat in the abdomen is directly associated with a higher risk of mortality in men"
• Study: Lifting weights attacks belly fat - USA Today, 3/3/06 - "Women who did the weight-training for two years had only a 7% increase in intra-abdominal fat, compared to a 21% increase in the group given exercise advice"
• Study links tobacco smoke with belly fat - USATODAY.com, 8/1/05
• Testosterone Replacement a Double-Edged Sword: Impact of supplementation is largely positive, but adverse effects found among men on highest doses - Clinical Psychiatry News, 8/05 - "Abdominal visceral fat, however, increased by 16.6% in the placebo group, and decreased by 6.8% in men taking testosterone—a significant difference between groups"
• Research May Provide New Link Between Soft Drinks And Weight Gain - Science Daily, 8/2/05 - "Those consuming the fructose-sweetened water showed significant weight gain over the course of the study, with an average final weight of 48 grams—compared with averages below 44 grams for the other groups—and had about 90 percent more body fat than the mice that consumed water only"
• Waist circumference as a predictor of insulin resistance in young men - Med Clin (Barc). 2005 Jun 11;125(2):46-50 - "WC of these young men was independently associated with certain cardiovascular risk factors, in particular insulin resistance"
• Hidden Fat Could Mean Heart Disease Risk - WebMD, 4/11/05 - "Even people of normal weight can have fat folded deep inside their belly, raising their risk of heart disease and diabetes from a condition called metabolic syndrome"
• Inflammation Key to Belly Fat 's Unhealthy Effects - HealthDay, 3/31/05 - "Inflammation may be the reason why that "spare tire" around the waist raises a person's risk of heart disease ... They checked each woman's abdominal fat for two proteins that promote inflammation -- interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha -- and for a third protein that encourages blood clots, called plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 ... These three proteins are all manufactured by fat tissue"
• Exercise a Must for Losing Deep Belly Fat - WebMD, 3/4/05 - "Even if she diets perfectly, eating all the right foods in ideal amounts, her waistline may not budge unless she works out. Exercise is required to lose excess fat deep in the abdomen, says a new study"
• Location Of Body Fat Important In Predicting Heart Attack Risk - Science Daily, 11/5/04 - "intra-abdominal fat, or fat stored in and around the internal organs, is most predictive of heart attack risk"
• Insulin Sensitivity, Insulin Secretion, and Abdominal Fat - Medscape, 10/23/03 - "Insulin resistance is associated with overall obesity and particularly abdominal obesity ... In normal individuals, as insulin sensitivity declines, the ß-cells of the pancreas compensate by secreting more insulin"
• Obese Individuals Experience Modest Weight Loss with Growth-Hormone Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 6/24/03 - "Most of the fat loss was in the abdominal area"
• The Dairy Calcium in Yogurt Helps People Lose Belly - WebMD, 4/15/03 - "put 34 obese people on a low-cal diet. Sixteen of them got pills with 400 to 500 mg of calcium per day. The other 18 people ate enough yogurt to give them 1100 mg of calcium per day ... After 12 weeks, everybody lost a lot of fat ... Sixty percent of the yogurt eaters' weight loss was belly fat, while only 26% of the comparison group's loss was belly fat"
• High-Fat Diet Ups Dangerous 'Hidden' Fat - WebMD, 3/31/03
• Exercise Training, Without Weight Loss, Increases Insulin Sensitivity and Postheparin Plasma Lipase Activity in Previously Sedentary Adults - Medscape, 3/19/03 - "Exercise, without weight loss, increases SI [insulin sensitivity] and PHPL activity in previously sedentary adults, without changing K2 or fasting lipid levels. Furthermore, increased LPL is associated with a decreased total:HDL ratio, and an increased LPL:HL ratio is associated with a decreased waist circumference. Therefore, even modest amounts of exercise in the absence of weight loss positively affect markers of glucose and fat metabolism in previously sedentary, middle-aged adults" - I threw this out because I didn't know that "decreased total:HDL ratio ... is associated with a decreased waist circumference" - This might be a long shot but that sounds like increasing insulin sensitivity via such methods as metformin and increasing HDL via supplements such as niacin might decrease pot bellies. - Ben
• Belly full of danger - USA Today, 2/25/03 - "people with wide girths are more likely to have large amounts of deep-hidden belly fat around their organs. It might be the most dangerous kind of fat and could increase a person's risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer ... visceral or intra-abdominal fat, is linked to high cholesterol, high insulin, high triglycerides, high blood pressure and other problems ... So far, physical activity and weight loss appear to be the key ... It's very likely that genes, sex hormones and stress hormones (cortisol) play a role"
• How to whittle your middle - MSNBC, 2/18/03
• Big gut, other factors can kill you - USA Today, 12/3/02 - "People with this syndrome have at least three of the following risk factors: high blood sugar; a waist circumference of greater than 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women; lower-than-average HDL cholesterol (the so-called good cholesterol); high triglycerides and high blood pressure ... men who had the syndrome at the study's start had a two to three times greater chance of dying of a heart attack or a stroke during the study than men who did not have this collection of risk factors ... People getting a checkup should ask their family doctor to look for metabolic syndrome"
• Errant Enzyme Causes Big Bellies - WebMD, 12/11/01 - "They looked at an enzyme called 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1. This enzyme is able to increase the level of cortisol in fat cells without raising the level of cortisol in the blood ... The researchers genetically engineered mice that overproduce this enzyme. They made sure that the level of the enzyme was equivalent to the level previously found in the fatty tissue of overweight humans. As expected, the mice produced extra amounts of cortisol in their fat cells, but not in their blood ... The next step was to compare these mice to mice that produced normal amounts of the enzyme. Even when fed a low-fat diet, the genetically-altered mice developed a pot belly while the normal mice did not. The problem was even worse when the altered mice were fed a high-fat diet ... We were surprised to find that it took only a modest increase in this enzyme to cause the mice to become ... obese"
  • Rosiglitazone decreases 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in subcutaneous adipose tissue - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2007 Jun 6 - "Part of the beneficial effects of rosiglitazone may be mediated by a reduction in the 11beta-HSD1 mRNA expression and activity in subcutaneous abdominal fat"
  • Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma ligands inhibit adipocyte 11beta -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 expression and activity - J Biol Chem. 2001 Apr 20;276(16):12629-35. Epub 2001 Jan 22 - "treatment of diabetic db/db mice with rosiglitazone inhibited expression of 11beta-HSD-1 in adipose tissue. This decrease in enzyme expression correlated with a significant decline in plasma corticosterone levels. In sum, these data indicate that some of the beneficial effects of PPARgamma antidiabetic agents may result, at least in part, from the down-regulation of 11beta-HSD-1 expression in adipose tissue"
• Single enzyme to blame for potbellies: study - MSNBC, 12/6/01 - "What they found was that a single enzyme in fat cells that raises levels of cortisol — the “fight or flight” stress hormone — triggers fat accumulation around the belly and its associated ill effects ... The researchers were drawn to the role of cortisol because patients with a rare illness known as Cushing syndrome — who have too much of the steroid hormone in their blood — develop severe obesity concentrated around their middles and become diabetic ... Since overweight people without Cushing syndrome typically don’t have too much cortisol in their bloodstreams, Flier hypothesized that they may be producing high cortisol levels solely in their fat cells — possibly because the enzyme HSD-1, which makes cortisol from an inactive molecule, is overactive ... The level of cortisol in their stomach fat tissue was 15 percent to 30 percent higher than in their non-engineered counterparts" - Note: The way I read this article, the final culprit is still the cortisol and there are ways to reduce cortisol now.   The link went dead on this but I found a copy at http://www.cushingsonline.com/newsletters/email/12-4-2002.htm (scroll about 2/3rds the way down).
• Stress May Cause Excess Abdominal Fat In Otherwise Slender Women - Doctor's Guide, 11/15/00
• Avandia Positively Impacts On Factors Linked With Insulin Resistance - Doctor's Guide, 9/18/00 - "Increased deposits of fat around the internal organs and in the liver are commonly associated with insulin resistance and are found in many type 2 diabetes patients ... Avandia helps prevent accumulation of fat around the internal organs and significantly reduces hepatic fat"
  • Diabetes Drugs May Help Cushing's Syndrome - Reuters Wire, 11/07/2002 - "Cushing's syndrome results from high levels of the hormone cortisol, and can cause fat accumulation in the upper body and face, and thinning of the arms and legs. Patients can experience high blood pressure and high blood sugar, along with depression, fatigue, irritability and weakened bones ... a protein called PPAR-gamma, which is found on pituitary gland tumor cells, appears to be linked to overproduction of ACTH ... researchers injected mice with ACTH-secreting pituitary tumor cells and then treated them with commonly used diabetes drugs, rosiglitazone (Avandia) and troglitazone, or an inactive placebo ... There was an 85% reduction in ACTH and a corresponding 96% reduction in their cortisol-like hormone"
  • Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma ligands inhibit adipocyte 11beta -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 expression and activity - J Biol Chem. 2001 Apr 20;276(16):12629-35. Epub 2001 Jan 22 - "treatment of diabetic db/db mice with rosiglitazone inhibited expression of 11beta-HSD-1 in adipose tissue. This decrease in enzyme expression correlated with a significant decline in plasma corticosterone levels. In sum, these data indicate that some of the beneficial effects of PPARgamma antidiabetic agents may result, at least in part, from the down-regulation of 11beta-HSD-1 expression in adipose tissue"
  • Pharmacologic management of Cushing syndrome : new targets for therapy - Treat Endocrinol. 2005;4(2):87-94 - "Interesting new avenues at the pituitary level involve the potential use of thiazolidinedione compounds, such as rosiglitazone"
  • Effects of chronic administration of PPAR-gamma ligand rosiglitazone in Cushing's disease - Eur J Endocrinol. 2004 Aug;151(2):173-8 - "The administration of rosiglitazone seems able to normalize cortisol secretion in some patients with CD, at least for short periods"
  • Reduced production rates of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in healthy men treated with rosiglitazone - Metabolism. 2003 Feb;52(2):230-2 - "Production rates of cortisol were unchanged ... a clinically relevant dose of at least one thiazolidindione, rosiglitazone, impedes the production of testosterone in man"
  • Caution Urged With Diabetes Drugs - WebMD, 12/8/03 - "in some people, Actos and Avandia may cause fluid retention, a condition known as edema, and swelling of the feet. Edema is also a classic symptom of congestive heart failure"
  • Diabetes Pill Helps Early Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 7/20/04 - "the diabetes pill Avandia may improve memory and thinking in people with early Alzheimer's disease"
  • Hormone Therapy May Need to be Used Cautiously in Patients Taking Rosiglitazone - Doctor's Guide, 9/19/03 - "rosiglitazone reduced glucose levels from a mean of 9.15 to 7.5 mM/L; (P=0.013), insulin from 11.7 to 8.8 mU/L (P=0.026), haemoglobin A1c from 8.0% to 6.9% (P=0.001), triglycerides from 2.3 to 1.8 mM/L (P=0.009), systolic BP from 130 to 117 mm Hg (P=0.02), diastolic BP from 72 to 67 mm"
  • Rosiglitazone May Improve Small Artery Elasticity in Patients With Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 8/19/03 - "Systolic blood pressure decreased from 144 to 124 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure decreased from 80 to 68 mmHg"
  • Rosiglitazone Improves Cholesterol Profile in Patients with Type 2 diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 4/4/03 - "Rosiglitazone increases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) levels and improves the ratio of HDLC to total cholesterol in patients with type 2 diabetes ... mean HDLC levels increased 15%, from 45.3 to 51.9 mg/dL"
  • Avandia (Rosiglitazone) Lowers Markers for Cardiovascular Inflammation in Diabetic Patients - Doctor's Guide, 6/17/02 - "rosiglitazone, a widely used insulin sensitizer, has a profound inhibitory effect on oxygen free radicals ... At week 6, blood glucose concentration decreased from 157±16 to 127±9 mg/dL and insulin concentration fell from 32.6±4.6 to 16.1 ... Rosiglitazone treatment also reduced plasma MCP-1 (75 percent of the basal level; p<0.05) and CRP (70 percent of basal; p<0.05)"
  • Avandia (Rosiglitazone Maleate) Effective In Long-Term Blood Sugar Control In Type 2 Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/00 - "the researchers noticed that improvements in blood sugar control seen with Avandia were associated with an increase in high-density lipoproteins (HDL)-cholesterol, and an initial increase in low-density lipoproteins (LDL)-cholesterol, returning to baseline overtime"
  • Avandia Reduces Insulin Resistance, Lowers Blood Sugar - Doctor's Guide, 6/15/99 - "In patients given Avandia monotherapy, insulin resistance decreased by an average of 16 and 25 percent and the estimate of beta-cell function increased by an average of 50 and 60 percent for 4 and 8 mg/day, respectively"
  • See Avandia at OffshoreRx.com but check with your doctor first.

Related Searches:

• Doctor's Guide search of abdominal fat
• Doctor's Guide (2) search of abdominal fat
• Intelihealth search of abdominal fat
• Life Extension Foundation search
• Medline search of abdominal fat
• Medscape search of abdominal fat
• The Natural Pharmacist search of abdominal fat
• Nutrition Science News search
• WebMD search of abdominal fat

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