At 85, Nobel laureate James D. Watson, the co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA, continues to advance intriguing scientific ideas. His latest, a hypothesis on the causation of type 2 diabetes, will appear in the online pages of The Lancet, the British medical journal.
Watson’s hypothesis, which is featured as the Lancet cover story in the U.S. print edition dated March 1-7, 2014, suggests that diabetes, dementias, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers are linked to a failure to generate sufficient biological oxidants, called reactive oxygen species (ROS). Watson also argues the case for a better understanding of the role of exercise in helping to remedy this deficiency.
“The prevalent view of type 2 diabetes,” Dr. Watson says, “is that an excess of intracellular oxidation causes inflammation, which in turn kills cells in pancreatic tissue.” Proper function of those cells, it is well understood, is critical for the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels.
Over the last several years Watson has been puzzling out an alternative view, based on facts reported in the peer-reviewed literature of medicine and molecular biology. (He makes clear that he is not a medical doctor, rather a student of science.) He does not question that pancreatic tissue in people with type 2 diabetes is indeed inflamed. But he does present a novel theory of why. “The fundamental cause, I suggest, is a lack of biological oxidants, not an excess,” he says.
For years, Watson knew, doctors have been telling patients with incipient type 2 diabetes — those with high blood sugar levels — to exercise, often before putting them on a well-proven glucose-lowering drug regimen such as Metformin. Exercise seemed to Watson the key to the puzzle: what was it about exercise that served to benefit people with high blood sugar?
There were important clues, he speculated, in the chemistry of oxidation and reduction reactions. The body’s cells cannot survive without making both oxidants and antioxidants. “There is a delicate balance” between the two, Watson observes. Physical exercise prompts the body to make large numbers of oxidants — molecules called reactive oxygen species, or ROS. In a cellular organ called the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), one such “species,” the oxidant hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), helps forge chemical bonds (disulfide bonds) which stabilize proteins as they fold.
When there is not enough oxidation in the ER, Watson says, proteins emerge unfolded, and cannot function. This, he proposes, causes the inflammation that harms the pancreas, sometimes causing type 2 diabetes. Hence, Watson suggests, exercise, which promotes oxidation, plausibly can have a beneficial effect on those with high blood sugar. Such benefit would be lessened if not abolished, he speculates, if such an individual consumed large quantities of antioxidants — just as athletes who take large quantities of antioxidant supplements do not seem to benefit or benefit less from their exertions.
Watson has two take-home messages for his audience. “The first
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Fitness News — Sciencedaily
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The one “trick” to build rock hard muscle. http://sixpackshortcuts.com/rd9q What’s up guys, It’s Mike Chang and today I’m going to show you a tutorial on 8 h…
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I’m 15, 189 pounds (13.5 stone) and am going to do this work out everyday
View Commentand only eat breakfast lunch and dinner (obviously healthy meals) i’m not
gonna snack or anything. It is my goal to loose weight, i have watched a
lot of your videos as research and well i think i’m ready! I start right
now! and hopefully can lose this weight!
Hey Mike, I weigh 165 pounds and I’m new to really working out, so how much
View Commentweight do you recommend I use on these exercises?
Great tips thank you very much !!
View Commenti’m almost 17 im gonna try this man i have gotten progress on my own thing
View Commentjust not to the full potential
‘m pretty new to weight training… well sorta. I guess you could just say
View Commentnew to getting back into it. I was just wondering,what would be a good
weight for dumbbells to get decently muscular and strong without getting
lots of bulk and looking like a bodybuilder. I’d rather have a an Olympic
athlete or soccer player type body. Sorta like the statue of David I guess,
just a little bigger. I know I’ll need to switch up my diet a bit to lower
my body fat percentage a little more, but when it comes to the weight
lifting part, I’m wondering what would be a good weight. I’ve been
borrowing my brother’s dumbbells that are 15 lbs. Seems like a decent
weight for starting out again, but they’re not very difficult to lift. I
mean, they aren’t super easy, but I can still do several sets with 10-15
reps, and I think I’ll need more weight soon. I don’t really like the kind
of dumbbells that you can keep adding weight on unfortunately, so I want to
make sure I buy a good weight that won’t end up feeling useless to me in
the future. I’ve tried my brother’s 30 lbs dumbbells, but they’re too heavy
for most workouts right now, and who knows, maybe 30 lbs dumbbells would
give me more bulk than I want in the first place. I really don’t know… I
hope someone can give me some tips. Thanks
I have got a good body
View CommentLove the internet. Don’t need to go to a gym for consulting :D.
View CommentHe works in my local takeway,honk kong garden
View CommentWhat are good weights/ dumbbells for beginner? 60- 65 kg
View CommentThis prick is “teaching” people how to train WRONG. And, because he has
View Commentsome muscles, he must know how to train. Therefore, he is teaching wrong
DELIBERATELY. Why? Because if people do NOT have results, they will come
back to him. And then, this slimy slimebag can make some money on them. How
pathetic it is…
@Piotrsienkiewicz ure probably just fat or not as fit as him
View Commentomg i was doing push up wrong all the time! omg omg!! thx for the help mike
View CommentI do this workout for about 30 mins everyday is that ok or is it not a lot
View Commentbecause I’m just a beginner I’ve been doing it for about a week now?
Do you have a running programe in your training regime mike??
View Comment