Dr. Perlmutter: Again, look at A1c in a different way. Rather than simply representing a metric of average blood sugar over a 3- to 4-month period, look at it as a way of modifying your pharmaceutical intervention; look upon it as a marker of what it really is, glycation of protein. That glycation of protein dramatically relates to inflammation and oxidative stress. Thats number one. Second, begin to incorporate a fasting insulin metric as a way of anticipating whos going to then develop elevations of fasting blood sugar and glycation of hemoglobin moving forward. The earliest sign of pancreatic stress is elevation of fasting insulin -- which ideally should be less than 8, not up to 24, which is what is in the so-called normal range. Third, recognize that vitamin D is a powerful player in terms of brain health. Beyond strong and healthy bones, vitamin D activates more than 900 genes in human physiology, most of which are important for brain health. Low levels of vitamin D correlate with increased risk for multiple sclerosis, dementia, and Parkinson disease. Those are my 3 take-home messages.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 06:28:35 +0000
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