metabolism


White Matter Matters [Show Notes]

Review

Disease like Alzheimer’s and dementia are grey matter issues – the creation and translation of messages are interrupted or dysfunctional.  White matter is like the power cords that are responsible for sending the signals.

White matter diseases

  • Hypomylenation – cells are created with a low amount of myelin; premature, chromosome-linked defects
    • Cell Biology review:  animal cells have a membrane and a nucleus that holds all the DNA, and cytoplasm, and then all the organelles that have different jobs – just like a self-contained factory.  Some systems can be dysfunctional and the cell still live and replicate.
  • Dysmylenation – neurodystrophy (a huge list based on what’s broken)
    • Lysosomes – stores enzymes for breakdown
    • Perioxosomes – stores enzymes for energy metabolism
    • Mitochondrial – dysfunction of energy usage
    • Amino acid metabolism dysfunction
  • Demylenation
    • Inflammatory: Multiple Sclerosis = autoimmune disease.  The brain wants the body to do something but the message doesn’t make it to the body, so the body doesn’t move or has very jerky, irregular movements.  Tests for antibodies can identify MS.  Available treatment is mostly immune suppressants.
    • Huntington’s is a genetic disease that presents in the same way.  It has a very sad prognosis and presents in females starting between the ages of 30 and 50.  Thus they have already planned a life and possibly had kids who now may have the same disease.  Genetic testing can identify Huntington’s.
    • Viral – PML (Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy); J-virus a typical virus that may mutate and go dormant in the brain.  If the immune system is lowered drastically – due to suppression or immunodeficiency diseases, this virus will wake up and attack the myelin of the neurons.
    • Acquired metabolism demyleniation (being exposed to chemicals) – “Chasing the Dragon” – refers to a technique used to keep melted pills from burning in a container (usually a spoon) while it’s being heated by a flame from underneath and the vapors are inhaled.  Drug of choice: heroin.  **DON’T DO DRUGS**
    • Hypoxic ischemic – loss of oxygen.  Examples:  asphyxiation, drowning, ischemic stroke.
    • Mechanical – compression due to injury or swelling

Call Back

Migraines are not a white matter issue, they are a brain chemistry issue.  Learn more on the Headache episode

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Liver Lesson #2: Metabolism [Show Notes]

Review

Liver – have one.

Lobule – yep!

A colored sketch of a liver lobule with labeled parts.

Liver makes bile, helps digest fat in the intestines. Gallbladder? Holds bile until your intestines need bile.

3 main energy sources:  Carbohydrates, Fats, Proteins

Intestines absorb them into the blood and send them to the liver.

Basics of Metabolism

Metabolism = change

This type of change happens for 2 reasons:

  1. To make something useful
  2. To make something safe

What’s water got to do with it?

  • Your blood is made of water
  • Liver preforms hydrolysis on carbohydrates (using water to dissolve it into tiny bits of sugar = glucose)

Carbohydrate Metabolism

Glucose is the main form of sugar that your body uses for energy.

Sugars are the easiest to turn into energy so that gets used first.  So low carb diets force the body to go after fats, which are the next easiest.  If you’re eating low fat as well, then the body will burn the fat deposits on the body.  Weight loss!

Fat Metabolism

The liver breaks down the fatty acids to make cholesterol (which is not always bad).  Cholesterol is used in your cells walls to keep them fluid and slippery.  Cholesterol is also used to make bile (think “like dissolves like”).  If there’s any extra fatty acids the liver performs gluconeogenesis (gluco = glucose, neo = new, genesis = creation). It basically creating glucose out of anything that contains Carbon.

This is why fats are bad for Type 2 Diabetics as well as sugar.

Protein Metabolism

Protein is the hardest, but can still provide energy.  Proteins are made up of amino acids.  Amino = Nitrogen, acid = carbon.  The nitrogen is relatively useless, so the liver turns it into urea, that gets sent out and filtered by the kidneys.  The part with the carbon can be turned into glucose (gluconeogenesis again).

One of the intermediate steps of the urea production is ammonia.  There is actually a blood test that can be done to test the ammonia-urea balance (BUN = Blood Urea Nitrogen), and if this is out of balance, it indicates a problem.  This test may indicate that your body is metabolizing your own muscles.  This can also be a sign of starvation or other nutritional imbalance.  You need your muscles, you don’t want to metabolize your muscles.

Your body generally needs fully intact amino acids to build, rebuild, and heal muscles.  Proteins and amino acids have a life span, so your body is constantly rebuilding and replacing with fresh supply.  Athletes require higher protein diets than most because of this process.

Take Away

Glucose and fats aren’t inherently bad, it’s more about the amounts of each that get consumed and float around your body.

Your liver can be very efficient and metabolizing the foods you eat.

Your body gets fat deposits because the body is saturated with enough fatty acids that it needs, so any extra gets packed up and shipped around the body to be stored until later.

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How to Hear Your Liver [Show Notes]

Liver Basics

Your liver is shaped like a lumpy triangle.  

It is part of the digestive system, so having it close to the organs that carry your food means that blood doesn’t have to travel very far to get things to and from this organ.

During a physical exam, your doctor finds its location and size by percussing (aka tapping on it – just like a percussion instrument).  Here is a video demonstrating the technique.

Microscopic Level

Hepatocytes (liver cells) build together into Lobules.  Lobules build together into Lobes.

A colored sketch of a liver lobule with labeled parts.

6 Functions

  1. Digestion
  2. Metabolism
  3. Storage
  4. Detoxification
  5. Production
  6. Immunity

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