Oxytocin and diabetes

[Antje77]

Long and technical article on the effect of oxytocin on BG and weight.
I used the forum search bar on oxytocin, and it's hardly ever mentioned on the forum, but it looks like there are some interesting links:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7888317/

My non diabetic friend came up with this article after I discussed my mysterious hypos when spending the night with my friend, and now I'm thinking she may have found the cause.

 

[EllieM]

Fascinating, from the article

More recently, small scale studies demonstrated that intranasal administration of oxytocin was associated with significant weight loss as well as improvements in insulin sensitivity and pancreatic β‐cell responsivity in human subjects.

And when they say "small scale" they are talking very small scale, eg 10 or 20. Lots of murine (mouse) studies but I personally think the jury is still out. It would be very interesting to read the results of future larger scale studies.

 

[Antje77]

Fascinating, from the article

More recently, small scale studies demonstrated that intranasal administration of oxytocin was associated with significant weight loss as well as improvements in insulin sensitivity and pancreatic β‐cell responsivity in human subjects.

Personally, I'm wondering about my (mild but unplanned) weightloss in combination with my depression lifting. And now those hypos every time I spend the night sharing a snug bed with a friend.
Could be lots of factors, but it could also be that this oxytocin is playing a role, I've never looked into it before, and neither has anyone on the forum so far.

 

[MrsA2]

I've long believed we only know a fraction of the complex puzzle that is the human body.
That oxytocin may play a part in metabolism wouldn't surprise me at all. Like I'd like to know more about ghrelin and leptin too... and then of course there the interactions between them all, and insulin and glucose and it all gets very complicated.
And we know stress affects our bodies so why shouldn't happiness as well. Even better if eventually there can be a happiness drug

 

[EllieM]

Even better if eventually there can be a happiness drug

Not sure if there aren't plenty of those already. The trouble is they are illegal (usually with good reason) and I doubt any studies have been done on their effects on metabolism...

 

[Outlier]

I think you may really be on to something major with the oxytocin. For instance, when it was fashionable to be really thin, no, thinner than that, several of my friends would lose weight when in love. And it wasn't a simple case of being too happy to eat - or getting more exercise! Being happy seems to affect weight, and certainly being unhappy does. Easy for people to think others are just eating less or more, but that's the same mindset that reckons we give ourselves T2 by being fat.
Lots of us have major trauma in life that goes on and on, and our weight spirals and adds another level of misery, but our primitive bodies think it's a good survival mechanism.
I will follow this with my geeky science head on. A lot of variables have just fallen into place.

 

[EllieM]

I will follow this with my geeky science head on. A lot of variables have just fallen into place.

It's times like this that I really miss @Oldvatr who could be relied upon to digest the densest report.

Certainly a very comprehensive report with loads of references.

 

[Melgar]

Isn't Oxytocin the chemical that helps us form bonds in our relationships? It is also the bonding chemical between mother and her newborn. It is very powerful. On the darker side when we wonder why women in abusive relationships stay with their abusers it is the effect of oxytocin levels in their brains that keeps them in these horrible relationships.

 

[Antje77]

It's times like this that I really miss @Oldvatr who could be relied upon to digest the densest report.

Certainly a very comprehensive report with loads of references.

I almost tagged him when posting this thread before that pang of a lost member hit me.
Glad to see that both @Outlier and @Melgar have had a look at the article, Oldvatr isn't our only member with a knack for research.
Although he may have been the best at finding exactly where the holes in any research lie, and where research may have been affected by hidden conflicts of interest and/or funding.

 

[Lainie71]

Not sure if there aren't plenty of those already. The trouble is they are illegal (usually with good reason) and I doubt any studies have been done on their effects on metabolism...

I have a friend in the USA and he is a manager of one of those specialist shops, he is always so chilled and super happy and cannot understand why the UK has no specialist shops! I explained that the specialist shops tend to be on the streets or in the potting shed at the weekends after working a high city job. I know of a person who does this, he then surfaces on a Sunday night after he has had his dosage, then goes back to his high city job!

 

[Lainie71]

I think you may really be on to something major with the oxytocin. For instance, when it was fashionable to be really thin, no, thinner than that, several of my friends would lose weight when in love. And it wasn't a simple case of being too happy to eat - or getting more exercise! Being happy seems to affect weight, and certainly being unhappy does. Easy for people to think others are just eating less or more, but that's the same mindset that reckons we give ourselves T2 by being fat.
Lots of us have major trauma in life that goes on and on, and our weight spirals and adds another level of misery, but our primitive bodies think it's a good survival mechanism.
I will follow this with my geeky science head on. A lot of variables have just fallen into place.

For me my weight crashes when I am stressed/depressed and I can lose weight rapidly, fall in love it piles on!