Weight Loss May Release Stored Toxins

[Guest guest]

Tue, September 14, 2010 8:59:06 AM[occ-env-med-l] MedPage: Weight Change Linked

to ?Release of Stored Toxins

From: Greenberg <gngreenberg@...>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weight Loss May Release Stored Toxins

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/22080

By Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today

Published: September 09, 2010

Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and

Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

Environmental pollutants trapped in fat cells could be released back

into circulation when people shed a lot of weight, researchers said.

According to data collected from among 1,099 adult participants age

?40 in the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

(NHANES), serum concentrations of six persistent organic pollutants

were significantly correlated with weight change, according to Duk-Hee

Lee, MD, PhD, of Kyungpook National University in Daegu, Korea, and

colleagues.

Adjusted correlation coefficients for 10-year weight changes ranged

from -0.16 to -0.23 for the six pollutants, with slightly smaller

coefficients found for one-year weight changes, the researchers

reported online in the International Journal of Obesity.

Correlations between serum pollutant levels and five categories of

weight-loss -- stable weight, moderate increase or decrease, and large

increase or decrease -- were significant (P<0.01) for all but one of

the six pollutants.

Compared with participants who reported large weight gains over the

previous decade, those claiming large losses had serum levels of the

six pollutants that were about 50% higher, Lee and colleagues found.

Although the cross-sectional study design could not establish that

weight loss itself led to the higher concentrations of circulating

organic pollutants, the findings were consistent with such a

mechanism, the researchers suggested.

" As persistent organic pollutants mainly bioaccumulate in adipose

tissue, weight change can affect serum concentrations, " they

explained. Lee and colleagues also noted that some small longitudinal

studies have already found evidence that these chemicals are released

from fat tissue after short-term weight losses.

The researchers suggested that such releases may account for some

adverse outcomes seen in people undergoing large weight losses,

including increased rates of cardiovascular disease, dementia, and

death.

" These puzzling findings on weight change from observational studies

have been dismissed simply as bias due to no biological plausibility, "

Lee and colleagues wrote, suggesting that these effects are mixed with

the benefits of weight loss in previously obese individuals.

" Pathogenesis of some health outcomes may be more affected by the

change of adipose tissue mass, while pathogenesis of other health

outcomes may be more affected by the change of serum concentrations of

persistent organic pollutants, " they argued.

Their study involved data from 1999 to 2002 NHANES series, in which

serum levels of 49 organic pollutants that are not metabolized in vivo

were measured in some participants.

Since most of these pollutants turned out to be undetectable in many

samples, Lee and colleagues focused on the seven with the highest

detection rates in participants who were at least 40 years old. The

study group was comprised of 49% men and over half were white.

These chemicals included trans-nonachlor, p,p'-DDE,

beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, PCB169, PCB180,

1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, and

1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptachlorodibenzofuran (HpCDF).

Participants in NHANES also reported their weight at year one and 10

years earlier, allowing for weight change to be estimated over time.

Lee and colleagues stratified these estimates into five categories for

each period: stable weight, moderate increase or decrease, and large

increase or decrease.

For one-year change, stable weight was a gain or loss of less than 1

kg (2.2 lb). Moderate change was 1 to 5 kg (11 lb) and large change

was more than 5 kg. The 10-year weight-change categories were double

these ranges (that is, large change was more than 10 kg or 22 lbs) and

moderate change was 2 to 10 kg (4.4 to 22 lbs).

The correlations between the weight-loss categories and the serum

pollutant levels were significant (P<0.01) for all but HpCDF -- for

which the correlation coefficient was -0.05 (P=0.12).

Lee and colleagues acknowledged that the study design allowed for

potential confounding and error, insofar as each participant had only

one serum measurement of pollutant levels and reported their own

previous weights.

Also, it remained possible that factors other than weight loss, which

were not analyzed in the current study, were also associated with the

serum pollutant levels. Thus, they recommended more studies of the

potential relationship.

However, pending the outcome of such future studies, " researchers and

clinicians need to consider lipophilic xenobiotics such as persistent

organic pollutants that bioaccumulate in adipose tissue as well as

obesity itself when they study or manage obesity issues because such

xenobiotics may work against what we generally expect from weight loss

or gain, " Lee and colleagues concluded.

No external funding for the study was reported.

The authors declared they had no conflicts of interest.

Primary source: International Journal of Obesity

Source reference:

Lee D-H, et al " Inverse associations between long-term weight change

and serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants " Intl J

Obesity 2010; DOI: 10.1038/IJO.2010.188.

Action Points

* Point out that observational, cross-sectional studies cannot

determine causality.

* Note also that the study did not examine whether there were

deleterious health consequences due to changes in serum levels of

organic pollutants that apparently were released from fat cells as a

result of weight loss.

International Journal of Obesity , (7 September 2010) | doi:10.1038/ijo.2010.188

Inverse associations between long-term weight change and serum

concentrations of persistent organic pollutants

J S Lim, H-K Son, S-K Park, D R s and D-H Lee

http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ijo2010188a.html

Abstract

There is emerging evidence that persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

can increase the risk of various chronic diseases. As POPs mainly

bioaccumulate in adipose tissue, weight change can affect serum

concentrations of POPs. However, there are few population-based

studies on effects of long-term weight change on serum concentrations

of POPs. We examined associations between self-reported weight change

over 1 year and 10 years and serum concentrations of seven POPs in

1099 adults aged greater than or equal to40. Serum concentrations of

most POPs were higher in those with long-term weight loss, whereas

they were lower in those with long-term weight gain. Adjusted

correlation coefficients of each POP with weight change for 10 years

were -0.23 (P<0.01) for trans-nonachlor, -0.16 (P<0.01) for

p,p?-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, and -0.21 (P<0.01) for

?-hexachlorocyclohexane, -0.16 (P<0.01) for PCB169, -0.20 (P<0.01) for

PCB180 and -0.17 (P<0.01) for

1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. Weight change for 1 year

showed similar but weaker associations, compared with those of

long-term weight changes. Although both beneficial health effects

after weight loss and harmful health effects after weight gain are

generally expected, changes in serum concentrations of POPs in

relation to weight change may act on health in directions opposite to

what we expect with weight change.

To read this article in full you may need to log in

[Guest guest]

Tue, September 14, 2010 10:01:59 AMRe: [occ-env-med-l] MedPage: Weight Change

Linked to ?Release of Stored Toxins

From: Tee Guidotti <tee.guidotti@...>Add to Contacts

Occ-Env-Med-L <tigerpaw2c@...>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Am I missing something here? This " discovery " has been known for

decades - it is a well-established principle of environmental

toxicology. I taught it for 30 years in " Tox 101 " classes.

That lipophilic xenobiotics (chemicals external to the body) can be

mobilized during weight loss has led to outbreaks of some clinically

significant disease. Several of the workers in Virginia who were

heavily exposed to kepone and who were treated by Guzelian (who

initiated the use of cholesterol binding agents to elute these

lipid-like chemicals from the body) experienced a return of their

neurological signs and their symptoms when they lost weight.

The toxicology literature is full of documentation for this and it is

already incorporated in the relevant pharmacologically-based

toxicokinetic (PBTK) models used by agencies such as EPA.

" Discovering " it in NHANES data is like using community survey data to

show the neurotoxicity of lead: you can do it but it is a pretty

inefficient way to find out what is already known and doesn't tell you

anything you didn't already know.

I think the scientific community studying obesity should start reading

the medical/toxicology literature outside their own field.

TLG

>

> Tue, September 14, 2010 8:59:06 AM[occ-env-med-l] MedPage: Weight Change

Linked to ?Release of Stored Toxins

> From: Greenberg <gngreenberg@...>

>

>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> Weight Loss May Release Stored Toxins

>

> http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/22080

>

> By Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today

> Published: September 09, 2010

> Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor

> University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and

> Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

>

> Environmental pollutants trapped in fat cells could be released back

> into circulation when people shed a lot of weight, researchers said.

>

> According to data collected from among 1,099 adult participants age

> ?40 in the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

> (NHANES), serum concentrations of six persistent organic pollutants

> were significantly correlated with weight change, according to Duk-Hee

> Lee, MD, PhD, of Kyungpook National University in Daegu, Korea, and

> colleagues.

>

> Adjusted correlation coefficients for 10-year weight changes ranged

> from -0.16 to -0.23 for the six pollutants, with slightly smaller

> coefficients found for one-year weight changes, the researchers

> reported online in the International Journal of Obesity.

>

> Correlations between serum pollutant levels and five categories of

> weight-loss -- stable weight, moderate increase or decrease, and large

> increase or decrease -- were significant (P<0.01) for all but one of

> the six pollutants.

>

> Compared with participants who reported large weight gains over the

>

[Guest guest]

I felt this happened to me. I started to gain weight even though eating the

same way. I gained about 20 pounds for first time in my life. I just couldn't

loose it when I did things that normally respond with weight loss for me easily,

such as eating fewer carbs, so I started to skip meals which I know is not good,

and then finally lost the weight but then started to feel sick. Maybe this is

partly reason for the amt of obesity..all the junk food and also the toxins.

>

> Tue, September 14, 2010 8:59:06 AM[occ-env-med-l] MedPage: Weight Change

Linked to ?Release of Stored Toxins

> From: Greenberg <gngreenberg@...>

>

>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> Weight Loss May Release Stored Toxins

>

> http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/22080

>

> By Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today

> Published: September 09, 2010

> Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor

> University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and

> Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

>

>

[Guest guest]

Toxins are stored in fat is my understanding. 

 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/28461142/Environmental-Toxins-Obesity-and-Diabetes-An-\

Emerging-Risk-Factor-by-Mark-Hyman-MD

  

God Bless !!

dragonflymcs

Mayleen

________________________________

From: barb b w <barb1283@...>

Sent: Wed, September 15, 2010 12:02:59 AM

Subject: [] Re: Weight Loss May Release Stored Toxins

 

I felt this happened to me. I started to gain weight even though eating the same

way. I gained about 20 pounds for first time in my life. I just couldn't loose

it when I did things that normally respond with weight loss for me easily, such

as eating fewer carbs, so I started to skip meals which I know is not good, and

then finally lost the weight but then started to feel sick. Maybe this is partly

reason for the amt of obesity..all the junk food and also the toxins.

>

> Tue, September 14, 2010 8:59:06 AM[occ-env-med-l] MedPage: Weight Change

Linked

>to ?Release of Stored Toxins

> From: Greenberg <gngreenberg@...>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------------

>

> Weight Loss May Release Stored Toxins

>

> http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/22080

>

>

[Guest guest]

2 months after my initial exposure I lost 25 pounds but now that Im working out

again and eating more my weight has gone up to about 185.

When I lost thae weight I experienced herxheimer's reaction on several occasions

but now that Im back in a house that HAD mold I havent been so lucky

>

> I felt this happened to me. I started to gain weight even though eating the

same way. I gained about 20 pounds for first time in my life. I just couldn't

loose it when I did things that normally respond with weight loss for me easily,

such as eating fewer carbs, so I started to skip meals which I know is not good,

and then finally lost the weight but then started to feel sick. Maybe this is

partly reason for the amt of obesity..all the junk food and also the toxins.

[Guest guest]

Yes, that is a well known fact.

> >

> > Tue, September 14, 2010 8:59:06 AM[occ-env-med-l] MedPage: Weight Change

Linked

> >to ?Release of Stored Toxins

> > From: Greenberg <gngreenberg@>

> >

> > ----------------------------------------------------------

> >

> > Weight Loss May Release Stored Toxins

> >

> > http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/22080

> >

> >

>