research on DHEA and Insulin Resistance

Just was reading about my elevated DHEA levels (a hormone produced by the adrenal glands... of which overproduction can produce Adrenal fatigue) and insulin resistance in hypoglycemics. check this out!...

Its hard to tell exactly what DHEA does. Even though it is linked to many things, there is no hard evidence of its purpose. It has been linked to the production of estrogen and androgens (ie: testosterone). It seems to be a precursor to many hormones. It also counteracts cortisol, which is our primary stress hormone. It boosts our immunity, assists in ridding the body of toxins, is linked to prolonged life (maybe that is why my mom's family lives so long!), and encourages carbohydrate metabolism as opposed to glycogen (stored sugar and fat)... but also seems to assist in getting rid of fat deposits as well. DHEA seems to have different roles in males versus females. High DHEA has also been linked to the prevention of cancer. In fact low DHEA can be a direct indication of impending cancer, most likely by not being present to prevent it. But other tests indicate higher rates of liver cancer. Most of the research I found has been done in rats. For ethical reasons, human studies are limited.

What I find exciting is that DHEA seems to promote insulin-resistance sensitivity, meaning that it seems to counteract the insulin resistance on a cellular level! ... which is exactly where my problem is. I guess having high DHEA levels can't be so bad! (see end of post for references)


Now, insulin resistance also indirectly causes a flood of adrenaline, which causes the "flight or fight" mode.

"Insulin Resistance
So, when a hypoglycemic subject drinks a Cola, the blood sugar level rises. As a result, the pancreas starts to produce large amounts of insulin. However, the cells don't react to the insulin. Somehow the lock on the glucose-door has been changed and the insulin-key won't fit. After some time (depends on how bad the insulin resistance is, ie 10 minutes or 4 hours) the cells start to react and the blood sugar levels start to drop. However, when the normal blood sugar levels are reached, there is still very much insulin in the blood. The bloodsugar levels keep dropping. A life-threatening condition is created. The brains and vital organs need a minimum amount of glucose to function properly. The subject is in danger of falling into a coma.

Emergency Situation: Low blood sugar
The body reacts very swiftly, just before it's too late. It does this by releasing many hormones in the blood. These hormones signal the liver to deposit the glucose-stores in the blood and to convert proteins into glucose. During these events, the subject feels very bad, he might be sweating, his mental abilities drop to 20%, he trembles a lot, he might faint. After some time (minutes), the blood sugar levels are normal again. The subject has inherited some problems from the flush of hormones. These hormones are adrenalin, epinephrine, glucagon and some more.. We all know what adrenalin can do to us: Flight or Fight syndrome. Epinephrine causes major stress and irritation. The problem is that these hormones stay in the blood for up to an entire week. During that week, the subject is not very nice to be with: He gets irritated very easily. " -http://www.newtreatments.org/hypo.php

But there is a third path in addition to flight or fighting, and it is "freezing" (Waking the Tiger, Peter A. Levine 1997). Essentially what happens is that when the body becomes overwhelmed and when neither fighting or fleeing is an option when facing a traumatic situation, this third "escape route" opens up where all the added energy produced by the adrenaline becomes bound, so to speak, in our muscles and organs (basically anything connected to the nervous system- which is an extraordinary source of energy, think about the human farms in the movie the Matrix). This overload causes them to "freeze" or change function in order to "play dead". This is a survival and instinctual technique. You see this on the discovery channel with the proverbial cheetah and antelope, and the antelope collapses right before the cheetah or lion pounces. The cat drags the antelope away and when the cat isn't looking, the antelope hops up and runs away (assuming the poor thing wasn't killed instantly upon attack). You see this all over the animal kingdom... you know those bugs or animals that curl up in a little ball when frightened? In people (in extreme cases)... its that despondent look/attitude from trauma victims and the inability to save themselves during a dangerous situation because their fear is so overwhelming.

So in short, every time I eat too much sugar/carbs my insulin levels go way too high and adrenaline is released. If too much adrenaline is released, or I am already stressed out or on edge for some reason, my body becomes overwhelmed leading to this third response of freezing, or sometimes I start lashing out at everyone and everything. In most cases this energy gets discharged through slight trembling (or severe trembling if severe trauma) after the threatening situation is gone. According to this book my doctor gave me, undischarged energy from the adrenaline rush gets stuck where it was bound up during the freezing or if wasn't completely exhausted after a fight or flight response. Now remember, a response to adrenaline can be minor... it doesn't have to be Vietnam veteran or rape victim level to affect the body. However, if the situation is not addressed and the energy discharged, the organ or part of the body with the bound energy can start to malfunction. This is also known as post-traumatic stress in extreme cases. At the very least... you get lots of knots in your muscles (the kind that never seem to go away). It is those strange little oddities in our bodies that we accumulate over the years.

It should be interesting what will happen when we address these trauma symptoms. Will some or all of my problems go away? Thank god I have high DHEA at least to help me out!


-http://www.csmngt.com/dhea.htm,
- http://books.google.com/books?id=3jDai-hWVq8C&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=dhea+
glucose+metabolism&source=web&ots=WCdTV6Qsq4&sig=c8yfjLxnatBLoC_FQqrTAes
d9pU,
- http://journals.indexcopernicus.com/abstracted.php?icid=587420,
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9886967?dopt=Abstract,
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T8X-42D80YH-8&_
user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_ver
sion=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=044d3c9ea1c688cc25bdf470309f4367,
- http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2004/mar2004_abs_01.htm