Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Common virus may be to blame for some obesity

Too fat? Common virus may be to blame: study Reuters/Yahoo!News 8/20/07 "A common virus caused human adult stem cells to turn into fat cells and could explain why some people become obese...The research builds on prior studies of adenovirus-36 -- a common cause of respiratory and eye infections -- and it may lead to an obesity vaccine...The virus adenovirus-36 or Ad-36, caused animals to pack on the pounds in lab experiments. "These animals accumulated a lot of fat," ...Dhurandhar also has shown that obese people were three times more likely to have been infected with Ad-36 than thin people in a large study of humans...researchers in Dhurandhar's lab have shown that exposure to the virus caused adult human stem cells to turn into fat-storing cells..."The virus appears to change their commitment to a fat storing cell," Dhurandhar said, adding that Ad-36 is just one of 10 pathogens linked to obesity and that more may be out there..."

The term used to describe this is infectobesity.

MicrobiologyBytes lists some of the first pathogens linked to obesity.

There are also other environmental factors linked to obesity, such as chemicals.

DogVitals dog supplement - helping dogs live a younger, healthier life

No comments: