What is diabetes? Diabetes is a group of metabolic disorders that results in high glucose (sugar) levels in the blood. Diabetes type I is a result of a decreased production of insulin in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that is produced in the pancreas and is necessary to transport sugar into cells where it is used for energy. Type II diabetes is the most common type and it is a result of insulin resistance. Type II diabetes usually occurs in people that are overweight. The road to diabetes starts with excess consumption of calories, usually sugar or starches and insufficient exercise. Insulin resistance results when the body becomes dulled to the excessive insulin exposure and insulin is...

Why exercise? We have worked diligently over the last century to eliminate laborious activities from our daily life. Much of the civilized world has moved away from a farming community which requires hard physical labor to sedentary and yet mentally stressful activities. To make matters worse, because of long hours and the stress of their jobs, many people find it difficult to exercise after work. Yet exercise is even more important now than ever. Exercise increases our energy level, reduces depression and pain, reduces stress, controls weight, improves cardiovascular fitness and helps us look and feel young. Some of my patients will tell me that they think they are getting plenty of ...

The endocrine system in a woman is composed of glandular organs:  the thyroid, pancreas, adrenals and ovaries.  What is the commonality of these glands? They all secrete hormones that impact the entire body.  Receptors are found in every body system for these hormones. This is important to remember when we consider the impact of the ovarian hormones, progesterone and the estrogens. If we were to look at tissue from the brain, bones, heart, skin, nerves, immune system, etc with an electron microscope, we would see receptors for estrogen and progesterone in these tissues. The receptors are there because all these body systems/ tissues need est...

What is a healthy diet? Many patients have questions about eating healthy.  There is a lot of confusing information available.  We are all familiar with the government published food pyramids while other nutritional sources have their own opinions.  There are numerous books available on the market today on this topic.  How do you know what is important? Why is eating healthy important? Food is not only a fuel source but it should provide the many vitamins, minerals and building blocks that our body requires to run the millions of chemical reactions that are needed to maintain our bodies.  These chemical reactions are required for building muscle, dige...

One of the most frequently asked question by my patients is “Are vitamins important?”  Every day patients ask questions about nutrition and vitamins.  Let me take this opportunity to address a few of these questions and concerns.  Why do we need to take vitamins? Vitamins were discovered in the middle of the nineteenth century.  Sailors found that a lack of certain foods would result in disease.  It was understood that small amounts of particular organic molecules were essential for good health.  The list began to grow as they learned to purify these molecules from foods.  The term “Vitamine” was coined in 1911 when thiamine was isolat...