Dr. Gabe Mirkin's E-Zine
 December 7, 2003

      Excess Weight and Lack of Muscle Increase Cancer Risk

Losing weight could prevent more than 90,000 deaths
from cancer each year, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine (April 24, 2003). That's one of every six cancer deaths in the United States.   Researchers at the American Cancer Society spent 16 years evaluating 900,000 people who were cancer-free when the study began in 1982.  They found that excess fat may account for 14 percent of all cancer deaths in men and 20 percent of those in women.  If you are overweight, this study should scare you into exercising more and eating less.  Obesity is associated with increased risk for cancers of the breast, uterus, colon, rectum, kidney, esophagus, gall bladder, cervix, ovaries, pancreas, liver, stomach and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.  Having too much fat may lead to cancer by causing you to have too much insulin like growth factor-1, a cancer-promoting hormone.  

I think the researchers should have concluded that lack
of muscle, rather than just having too much fat, causes cancer.  

Your immunity should be strong enough to search out cancer cells and kill them before they can start growing and multiplying in your body. As you age, you lose your ability to kill cancer cells.  The only place that you can store extra protein is in your muscles. 

When you have large muscles, you have a ready source of protein to make antibodies and cells.  Having small muscles means you have a limited source of amino acids to make antibodies, which would increase your susceptibility to cancer.
Dr. Gabe Mirkin's E-Zine
December 21, 2003          How to Do the Most Pushups?

If you want to be able to do 100 pushups in a row, do not try to do as many pushups as possible every day.  You'll probably injure yourself and end up unable to do any pushups at all.   Training for competition requires an understanding of the stress-and-recover rule and the interval-sets rule.

The best way to improve any athletic skill is to stress your body on one day and then allow enough time for your body to recover before you stress it again.  On one day, take a hard workout.  On the next morning, your muscles feel sore.  Take easy workouts until the soreness disappears and then take a hard workout again.   For your hard workouts, you can do far more work by exercising in sets, rather than continuously.  If you can do six continuous pushups, you can probably do ten sets of two with twenty second rests between each set. Do repeat sets of two until your muscles feel sore. Try to take workouts that are hard enough to
make your muscles feel sore for no more than 48 hours.  An ideal training program would consist of sets of three until you feel sore on the first day, take off the second day, do sets of ten on the third day until you feel soreness, and rest on the fourth day.  Repeat these four-day cycles, and you'll soon be ready to compete.
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Dear Dr. Mirkin:  Is high cholesterol hereditary?

Fathers with high blood cholesterol have sons with high
cholesterol, but the same does not apply to triglycerides,
according to a study from Gothenburg, Sweden (Journal of
Internal Medicine, Volume 254, Issue 2, 2003).  In 1963, 50-year
old men had their cholesterol and triglycerides checked.  Thirty
years later, their sons were tested.  The sons had lower blood
cholesterols than their fathers, but were fatter and had higher
blood triglyceride levels. 
The most logical explanation for the lower cholesterol in
the sons is that they ate less saturated fat.  But since the sons
were fatter and had higher blood triglyceride levels, they did not
get the message to eat fewer refined carbohydrates and fewer calories. 
When blood sugar levels rise too high, the pancreas releases large
amounts of  insulin that converts blood sugar to triglycerides.  If
you take in more calories than you burn, these blood fats will be
deposited in fat cells to make you fat.  So this study may only
show that eating patterns change from one generation to the
next, not that high cholesterol is inherited. 

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Recipe of the Week:
A yummy and easy no-bake cookie alternative - FRUITY PEBBLES
http://www.drmirkin.com/recipes/pebbles.html

Diana's recipes for holiday buffets and every day . . .
http://www.drmirkin.com/recipes/RecipeListType.html

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Dear Dr. Mirkin: Does diabetes cause baldness in women?

Many studies show that men susceptible to diabetes are at increased risk for male pattern baldness, and now a study from Finland shows that this applies to women also (Journal of Cardiovascular Risk, Volume 10, Issue 3, 2003).  Signs of increased risk for diabetes include:  storing fat primarily in the belly, rather than the hips; having high blood levels of triglycerides, having low blood levels of the good HDL cholesterol, having a blood level of Hemoglobin A1C over 6, having microalbumin in the urine, or having a fatty liver.

Male-pattern baldness is seen in women who with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or any condition that raises testosterone blood levels.  Women who are susceptible to diabetes often have very high levels of insulin, that cause the ovaries to produce large amounts of testosterone that causes male pattern baldness.  Any woman who is showing signs of male pattern baldness should be checked for diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome.  See http://www.drmirkin.com/women/8124.htm and
http://www.drmirkin.com/diabetes/D222.html

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Wow! 12 more hours of The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show added
this week; we now have 138 hours posted.  Listen to:

Hour 130 - Eggs don't raise cholesterol; pigeon-toes make fast
runners; the difference between fully hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils; building muscles; benefits of saunas?; common sense for sleep disorders; more . . .
http://www.drmirkin.com/mp3s/hour130.mp3

For a complete list of hours and show topics, see
http://www.drmirkin.com/iradioshow/mp3_direct.html

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This e-Zine is provided as a service at no charge.  Dr. Mirkin's reports and opinions are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.