PCOS Review Newsletter #50

A free health newsletter for women with polycystic ovary syndrome or polycystic ovaries.

Issue #050      November 26, 2007 Bill Slater, Research Associate

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) d-Pinitol Effective for Blood Sugar Reduction

2) Better Fat-Burning Exercise Is Discovered

3) Cocktail of Drugs May Help Hirsutism

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1) d-Pinitol Effective for Blood Sugar Reduction

Pinitol (3-O-methyl-D-chiro-inositol) appears to lower blood sugar (glucose) by helping insulin do its job. It is thought that d-pinitol participates in the insulin signaling pathway.

We came across an interesting study of d-pinitol and people with uncontrolled diabetes.

Doctors at Hong-ik Hospital in South Korea evaluated the effect of pinitol therapy in twenty type 2 diabetic patients who were poorly controlled with hypoglycemic drugs, such as sulfonylurea, metformin and/or insulin. In other words, the drugs these people were taking -- such as metformin -- were not working very well.

The patients took d-pinitol for 12 weeks, at a dose of 20 mg per kilogram of weight. For example, a person weighing 150 lbs. would have taken 1,360 mg of d-pinitol.

After pinitol treatment, they had a reduction in after-meal blood sugar levels, and hemoglobin A1c was significantly decreased. Hemoglobin A1C is a blood marker for your average blood sugar over a 3-month span of time.

What's interesting about this study is that d-pinitol was helpful for people who were not getting good results with drugs such as metformin.

If you cannot tolerate metformin or are not getting results from it, you might consider d-pinitol as an element of your treatment program.

View our d-Pinitol formula at the online supplements store.

Source:
Kim MJ et al, Effect of pinitol on glucose metabolism and adipocytokines in uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2007 Sep;77 Suppl 1:S247-51

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2) Better Fat-Burning Exercise Is Discovered

Exercise is important for controlling PCOS, regardless of whether you are overweight or lean. It is a major factor in balancing your hormones, especially insulin. Excessively high levels of insulin cause PCOS-related problems.

Exercise is especially important if you have a weight issue. It is your primary way of burning off unwanted fat.

You may be wondering how long you need to exercise in order to have a fat-burning effect. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends moderate exercise for 45 to 60 minutes to burn fat.

However, Japanese researchers have discovered that you don't have to exercise non-stop for 45-60 minutes. In fact, they say you will burn more fat if you break your exercise into segments.

In this study, one group of men exercised for one hour. The other group exercised for 30 minutes, rested for 20 minutes, and then resumed exercise for another 30 minutes.

Blood tests showed that the men who rested in the middle of their exercise actually burned off more fat. They also had lower levels of insulin and blood sugar.

If you find that a solid hour of continuous exercise is more than you can handle or is not enjoyable, simply break it up into segments. Do a moderate or high-intensity exercise for up to 30 minutes. Then relax or take a leisurely stroll for 15-20 minutes. Then resume the moderate or high-intensity exercise for another 30 minutes. Your workout will be more interesting, and you will get better results.

Source:
Goto K et al Enhancement of fat metabolism by repeated bouts of moderate endurance exercise, J Appl Physiol. 2007 Jun;102(6):2158-64. Epub 2007 Feb 22

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3) Cocktail of Drugs May Help Hirsutism

Researchers at the University College London Hospital in the U.K. recently examined 28 medical studies of medical treatments for hirsutism (excessive hair growth) in women with PCOS. They did not examine "alternative" treatments.

They report that seven groups of drugs showed a "significant reduction in hirsutism" The seven drug groups were flutamide, spironolactone, cyproterone acetate combined with an oral contraceptive, thiazolidinediones, oral contraceptive pills, finasteride and metformin. If you are interested in a medical approach for excessive hair growth, ask your doctor about using one or more of these medications.

However, they also found that "obesity has a negative impact on the efficacy of treatments for hirsutism, thus appropriate lifestyle advice is necessary for a successful treatment program." In other words, the more overweight you are, the less effective are the various drugs.

Source:
Koulouri O et al, A systematic review of commonly used medical treatments for hirsutism in women, Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2007 Nov 2; [Epub ahead of print]

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Thought for Today: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." -- Theodore Roosevelt