Metabolic Syndrome and Mental Health

Modern health means metabolic health. The main pathway to chronic diseases today is the breakdown of our finely tuned metabolic machinery inside, due to processed food, lifestyle and – mental health? Stress and depression have potent effects on our behavior and creating imbalance of hormones such as glucose, insulin and inflammation. Poor mental health contributes to the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of common maladies including a large waist, high lipid levels and blood pressure, breakdown of the balance between insulin and glucose, and the most invisible to all, a fatty liver. You will hear from four experts in this area on the important topics of nutrition, optimal daily habits and how to prevent depression and the cascade of dysregulation that manifests as the metabolic syndrome.

Elissa Epel, Ph.D, is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF. Epel studied psychology and psychobiology at Stanford University (BA), and clinical and health psychology at Yale University (Ph.D.). She completed a clinical internship at the Palo Alto Veterans Healthcare System. Her research aims to elucidate mechanisms of healthy aging, and to apply this basic science to scalable interventions that can reach vulnerable populations. She is the Director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Lab, and the Center for Obesity Assessment, Study, & Treatment, (COAST), and Associate Director of the Center for Health and Community. With her collaborators, she is conducting clinical trials to examine the effect of self-regulation and mindfulness training programs on cellular aging, weight, diet, and glucose control.

Wolfram Alderson’s career in pursuit of social and environmental change spans across four decades. He currently serves as CEO of the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation. The broad focus of his lifetime of work has been improving human and environmental health–often by developing programs and organizations that accomplish both. In addition to being a social change agent, Wolfram is also a visual artist and writer, and has built two major therapeutic arts programs, one for refugees and one for abused children.

Dr. Lustig specializes in the field of neuroendocrinology, with an emphasis on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system. His research and clinical practice has focused on childhood obesity and diabetes. Dr. Lustig holds a Bachelor’s in Science from MIT, a Doctorate in Medicine from Cornell University Medical College, and a Master’s of Studies in Law from U.C. Hastings College of the Law. Dr. Lustig is the author of the bestselling books The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains and Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity and Disease.

Dr. Rasgon is a professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. She began her distinguished career at Odessa Medical Institute and UCLA School of Medicine, and in 2002, she established the Center for Neuroscience in Women’s Health at Stanford University. Dr. Rasgon is considered a renowned expert in neuroendocrinology and women’s mental health. Dr. Rasgon is the author of more than 165 peer-reviewed publications, 25 book chapters, and is a reviewer for 30 professional journals. Her predominant research focus has been on neuroendocrine correlates in various models of affective and cognitive neuroscience, the treatment of bipolar disorder in women, the use of hormonal interventions during menopause and the effects on mood and cognitive function, and the interplay between endocrine function and aging.

Get Tickets Here: 
https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2018-11-01/metabolic-syndrome-and-mental-health

The Commonwealth Club
110 The Embarcadero
Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
San Francisco, 94105