Entries Tagged 'weight loss news' ↓

It seems that no matter how much some people eat they never get fat. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Cell Metabolism a gene has been detected in a wide range of species which regulates fat formation.

This gene was originally discovered at Yale University by Winifred Doane, more than 50 years ago. The graduate student was observing fruit flies and recorded that some were appreciably fatter than the general population, while others were skinnier. Doane, now a Professor at Arizona State University, tracked the differences in body size to a single gene that she named “the adipose gene.”

More recently, scientists have discovered that fruit flies with the fully functioning adipose gene were very thin. Those with poorly functioning copies were fatter. Mice specifically bred to have efficient versions of the adipose gene were significantly slimmer than normal counterparts, with 66% less body fat than wild mice.

Theoretically, it is believed that it may be possible to engineer an obesity treatment that mimics what the adipose gene does. But do not wait around, as the treatment could still be a long way off.

It may be possible to lower blood pressure by using a drug called Orlistat that blocks fat uptake in the gut. That is the conclusion drawn from a meta-analysis of previously published studies reported in the March 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and is responsible for approximately 7 million deaths around the globe each year. Lowering blood pressure levels has been shown to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular related illnesses.

Researchers based at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, reviewed 48 articles that were published before March 2007, and analyzed weight-loss interventions for patients with hypertension.

Patients assigned to weight loss diets, or Orlistat reduced their body weight more effectively than did patients in the placebo/control groups states the report. Reduction of blood pressure was greater in patients treated with weight loss diets or Orlistat, than in the placebo/control groups. A reduction in body weight of approximately 8.8 pounds was necessary to achieve a drop of approximately 6 milligrams of mercury in systolic blood pressure with dietary treatment, and of approximately 2.5 milligrams of mercury with Orlistat.