The "Selfish Brain" Theory, Diabetes & Obesity

I suspect that Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM 2) is deliberately caused by the brain under stress.

DM 2 is diagnosed whenever serum glucose (blood sugar) is elevated chronically. We are warned of coronary complications, told not to eat, and given insulin or medications to lower the glucose level.

We are told that DM 2 is caused by a mysterious condition called insulin resistance. Normally, molecules in muscle and fat cells called insulin receptors react to serum insulin by allowing glucose to enter the cells. But insulin resistance prevents the receptor mechanism from functioning properly, so glucose that doesn't enter these cells remains in the blood.

But in reading about chronic stress, I learn that the brain signals the adrenal glands to release the hormone cortisol, which counteracts the effects of insulin, which is just another hormone. Hans Selye even found that stress can cause DM 2.

Meanwhile I read in one book that the brain consumes some 25% of our blood sugar, and in another book a famous endocrinologist remarks as an aside that for some reason brain cells do not suffer from insulin resistance because neurons get their glucose directly without any help from insulin and insulin receptors. Bingo! I strongly suspect that the insulin receptor system in muscle and fat tissue is just a mechanism that allows the brain to get more glucose when it is under stress. (Which explains why your knees get weak under shock.)

Last week my suspicions were greatly reinforced when I read about the Selfish Brain theory that Prof. Dr. Achim Peters et al. at the University of Luebeck have been developing and testing for over a decade. According to Peters, who is a diabetes and obesity expert, the brain gets all of its energy from serum glucose, and it controls its energy supply in two ways. Normally it induces moderate DM 2 by using the stress system to slow insulin production by the pancreas and to increase insulin resistance in muscle and fat tissue; both of these actions make more glucose available to the "selfish" brain. But if the brain needs an even greater supply of serum glucose to be available, it increases the appetite, which causes more food to be ingested and more glucose to be produced.

But under severe chronic stress, the brain can reset the stress system to produce elevated levels of glucose chronically -- and later, when the brain is no longer under such stress and no longer needs so much glucose, the oversupply of glucose remains in the blood, just in case of another emergency. Meanwhile, the liver converts much of the excess glucose into fat, which is stored in fat cells so it can be used to produce more energy later.

The answer to the problem is to "train the brain" to re-reset the stress system to a lower demand for serum glucose, especially through relaxation techniques. This has been mentioned briefly in at least one article that discusses Peters' theory.

Eugene Paul