Event

The Open Lectures Committee hosts the Professorial Inaugural Lecture of Professor Shivananda Nayak at Amphitheatre A, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mount Hope. Professor Nayak will discuss " Adiponectin: Exploring the link between diabetes and heart disease in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Adiponectin is a protein hormone produced exclusively by fat cells and has beneficial effects upon the way the body deals with energy and suppresses inflammation. Thus it is a potent modulator of glucose and lipid metabolism by its action through insulin sensitization. However, when fat is in excess and particularly in those who are centrally obese or have an apple-shaped appearance, then adiponectin production is markedly diminished. This diminished production of adiponectin decreases the action of insulin leading to the development of diabetes and disturbances in blood lipids (cholesterol, triglyceride) as well as exaggerated inflammation within blood vessels. I shall present data on these processes among Trinidadians and will demonstrate the potential value of aggressive campaigns in getting our population to reduce the sizes of their waistlines.