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Stress link to obesity found
Date: 2/7/2007 12:07:24 PM
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Scientific evidence has emerged linking obesity with stress.
Research by scientists at the US Georgetown University has uncovered a so-called 'biological switch' which affects weight gain.
The research, using experiments on mice, found that those put into a stressful situation gained more weight than the control group, despite both groups being put on the same high fat diet.
Zofia Zukowska of Georgetown University, who led the research, said: "By treating the mice the way humans are treated, which is introducing a chronic stress from which they cannot escape and introducing this abundance of food, we mimicked what happens in American society."
The mice which gained weight were found to have an increased level of neuropeptide Y (NPY) - a chemical produced by the nervous system and long associated with weight gain.
When the mice which had been put under stress were injected with a drug that blocks NPY, the mice lost 40-50 per cent of the fat collected around their abdomen.
The scientists have applied for a patent for this 'chemical injection', and are currently negotiating with drug companies to commence human trials, which are expected within two years.
The introduction of a simple chemical injection as an effective way of biologically engineering weight loss has big implications: One in five British adults are obese, the highest rate in Europe.
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