Fasting and Polycystic diseases
Potential benefits in PCKD
Much new and interesting data support the benefits of fasting in diseases other than obesity and type 2 diabetes. This often relates to the role of nutrient sensors in the body. Everybody always believes that increased growth is good. But the simple truth is that excessive growth in adults is almost always bad. Excessive growth is the hallmark of cancer, for example. Excessive growth leads to increased scarring and fibrosis. Excessive growth of cysts leads to the disease of polycystic kidney disease (PCKD) and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Excessive growth in adults tends to be horizontal, not vertical. In most cases of adult disease, we want less growth, not more.
This leads naturally to the topic of mechanisms where the body regulates growth. One of the most exciting areas of research focus around nutrient sensors. Insulin is one example of a nutrient sensor. You eat protein or carbohydrates, and insulin goes up. This signals the body that there are enough nutrients to increase growth. Insulin is well known as a growth factor as well and shares a lot of homology with IGF-1 — Insulin Like Growth Factor.
Insulin has long been linked to cancer. Patients with insulin resistance and obesity, conditions characterized by high insulin levels are at high risk of all sorts of common cancers such as lung and colorectal. Diabetics who take insulin compared to those on oral medications almost double their risk of cancer. We will cover these topics in more detail…