This is the fourth installment in my ongoing blog entitled, “The 1000 Pound Journey”. If you’ve not seen or read the first two installments, please be sure to check them out under the articles that I have posted or by clicking here.
In my previous installment, I briefly mentioned a condition known as Acanthosis Nigricans which darkens the skin on and around the neck. This dark patch is usually a sign that your body is making extra insulin that it cannot use so the insulin builds up and as a result, darkens the skin around your neck. While this can be found in anyone, it is prominently found in children in the Black and Latino communities and is a surefire way to determine if a child is insulin resistant or even pre-diabetic.
As most of us are aware, “Hispanic” or “Latino” people make up a diverse group that includes people of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South and Central American, and other Spanish cultures, and all races. As the very funny and accomplished comedian/actor, Mr. John Leguizamo informed us in his edutainment-based Broadway show, “Latin History for Morons”, all of us are at the very least approximately 30% indigenous or “Native Americans” by blood – or DNA. Surprising to me, my own DNA test with a great and trustworthy research company CRI Genetics, revealed that I was just under 78.2% indigenous, with ancestors going back to what is now the Arizona area and Peru thousands of years ago – it also showed me as a member of Haplogroup B2 on my maternal side and Haplogroup I2 on my paternal side. Well, according to the Centers for Disease Control, “Each has its own history and traditions, but all are more likely to have type 2 diabetes (17%) than non-Hispanic White people (8%)”. That’s a whopping 2 to 1 increased probability!
I had my first signs of being insulin resistant at around 7-8 years old when my neck first started to darken – with the condition that is widely known today as “Acanthosis Nigricans” or “AN” for short. However, it is important to note that this was in early 1980’s and while the condition was not uncommon, general practitioners really had no idea what they were dealing with. As mentioned in my previous installment, when my mother took me to our family doctor’s office his response was simply, “tell him to wash it”. If only it were that easy. Upon the realization that I could not simply wash this darkness from my neck, I developed a sense of shame and embarrassment. My dark neck was something that always lingered in the back of my mind in locker rooms, at the pool or even when wearing normal t-shirts. I didn’t want my peers to think I was dirty or didn’t take care of myself as that couldn’t be further from the truth. I would wash my neck vigorously, but it was all for not and my dark neck became something I would have to accept. I don’t need to tell you how embarrassing this was for me entering Junior High School and dealing with members of the opposite sex – it was brutal at times!
I understand this might be difficult for some younger readers to grasp as nowadays we can simply search any symptoms we have on our phones and find the answers but try to imagine a world in which we plainly don’t have the answers and when you do go to the experts, they flippantly bark at us, “tell him to wash it!”. I can’t help but wonder what my life would look like had my doctor sat both I and my mother down and told us that my dark neck was a sign that I was pre-diabetic or at risk for developing the chronic disease. Furthermore, if he had said, he cannot eat the normal Mexican-American diet like his peers or it will get worse and then he will have to fend off obesity his entire life. Could you imagine getting the benefit of that information back then – I mean, from an information and access perspective, we live in truly blessed times. Had I had the information we have now, I could have implemented a nutritional plan and lifestyle that was right for me, changed my health forever and who knows, maybe I would be in the MLB! Baseball could have two legendary Alex Rodriguez’s! Yes – I am kidding, I would have settled for not having to shop in the Husky section at Montgomery Wards.
Joking aside, the lack of information I had as a child hurt me and put me through years of constantly battling my weight. It’s only been in recent years that we have learned this information however it is still not commonly known and there are still Black and Latino children out there who will suffer at the lack of information that still permeates parts of our communities. I’ve said this before but one of my personal and professional goals is to make wellness available and accessible to everyone; for people with an upbringing like my own, wellness and good nutrition were very much luxury items. There’s certainly a derivative blog in this one that must come to fruition and that is the normal typical diet for most Latinos – in my case, being raised as Mexican American, staples in our diet are of course, beans, rice and either corn or flour tortillas – all of which, are carbohydrate rich foods. I will tackle this separately, but imagine the lack of knowledge and information regarding nutrition and macronutrients in general in the 1980’s. This of course, would make things much more difficult.
Now here’s where I disagree with the experts – in most of the now available research papers discussing the topic of Acanthosis Nigricans, they are surmising that obesity leads to insulin resistance, which in turn leads to Acanthosis Nigricans. This is not always the case, and I would venture to say, it’s probably not the case for most people such as myself – with my DNA make up. We are only just a few generations away from running around in a loin cloth, fighting for each day’s survival – and now we’re sitting behind a desk, in some damned cubicle for most of our adult lives. I tell you, I was very much a regular sized kid when I developed Acanthosis Nigricans – in my life, the “AN” came first, then the battles with weight ensued. It does not escape me that there are some fine lines and nuances here in the spirit of which came first, the chicken or the egg dynamic – however, to dismiss millions of people is just not true and I find it irresponsible according to my life’s experience. What makes it even more difficult is that when these components begin to go to work, it becomes a slippery slope very fast, making it easy to gain fat and more and more difficult to lose it, and the insulin resistance worsens, it has a derivative impact on other organs, overall mood and most definitively play a role in mental health – making this a very difficult downward spiral to get out of.
I am thankful for the for the information we have today and the many advocates out there analyzing, deciphering, and sharing complex information about health and wellness, in a way that ordinary folks like myself can consume and apply. There are far too many to include here, but some of the professionals who were instrumental in changing my own life are the late great giant-killer known as Dr. Sarah Hallberg, Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Eric Berg, DC – and of course my own local, Ms. Julli Randol, FNP-C, who is a complete badass and has helped navigate through the last 100 pounds that I’ve lost – while helping me review all my ongoing labs.
If you’re battling diabetes and/or obesity – or if perhaps, your child or a child in your family may show signs of Acanthosis Nigricans – please do not hesitate to drop me a line with any questions that you may have, and I will gladly share any information that I can with you. For those new to my blog, this is an installment in my ongoing blog entitled “The Journey of 1000 Pounds”, where I discuss my own health transformation and my reversal of Type-2-Diabetes – along with all the other struggles and victories that I’ve had the privilege of participating in. I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful in some manner.
Live Epiq, Be Epiq!
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