Posted on 08/20/2007 1:44:54 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A common virus caused human adult stem cells to turn into fat cells and could explain why some people become obese, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
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, they said.
"We're not talking about preventing all types of obesity, but if it is caused by this virus in humans, we want a vaccine to prevent this," said Nikhil Dhurandhar, an associate professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University System.
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 said in a telephone interview.
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.
Now, researchers in Dhurandhar's lab have shown that exposure to the virus caused adult human stem cells to turn into fat-storing cells.
Dr. Magdalena Pasarica, who led the study, obtained adult stem cells from fat tissue of people who had undergone liposuction. Stem cells are a type of master cell that exist in an immature form and give rise to more specialized cells.
Half of the stem cells were exposed to the virus Ad-36. After a week, most of the infected stem cells developed into fat cells, while the uninfected cells were unchanged.
Pasarica presented her findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.
"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.
He acknowledged that some people might find it hard to believe that a virus could be responsible for obesity.
"Certainly overeating has something to do with gaining weight. No doubt about that. But that is not the whole truth," Dhurandhar said. "There are multiple causes of obesity. They range from simple overeating to genes to metabolism and perhaps viruses and infections."
Long term, he said he hoped to develop a vaccine and perhaps treatments for the virus. But first, he and colleagues need to better understand the role of Ad-36 in human obesity, he said.
Globally, around 400 million people are obese, including 20 million children under age 5, according to the World Health Organization.
She’s probably not actually eating enough. If you eat too little your body goes into starvation survival mode, part of which is reducing your metabolic rate to cut down on the calories you burn, which of course is exactly what a person trying to lose weight doesn’t want to do. Of course thyroid conditions complicate everything. She just might be fighting genetics, which is a battle you can never win.
LOL!!!
How about Transfatococcus?
Your opinion/my opinion. We both have a right to them.
No way can you judge how a person who is 400 pounds eats everyday. A dear friend of mine had a 10 year old on steroids for a brain tumor. She died at nearly 150 pounds. Some things are out of one’s control.
It’s not just my niece. I lived on SlimFast and was a ballerina. But the “eat less/move more” theory, I should have been dead in six months and I’m still typing.
As I stated on the last thread, your horse is pretty high.
Thanks for commenting. And thanks for seeing the wonderful woman your girlfriend is, rather than just a fat person. Too bad the people who are being so cruel on this thread will never know how nice those people like your girlfriend and I are. But then we don’t bother with shallow folks anyway.
She might want to try laser liposuction. It’s the non-penetrative answer to weight loss surgery.
another unusual SC ping
Yep. I have a friend who is a size 0 (yes, there is such a thing) and she eats anything and everything she wants... she is very fortunate to be slim without trying.
The only issues I wonder are that I NEVER saw photos of fat concentration camp or gulag survivors - EVER. So, what a coincidence, none of them were fat and apparently none of them had any of the metabolic, or thyroid, or other health issues that make one fat (????) Hmmmm.
Also, most people who ARE obese are so directly due to their higher intake than output. It’s simple math.
>>Atkins is the only diet that has worked for me<<
The pity of it is that she has a nutritionist through Metro Hospital in Cleveland that has convinced her that Atkins will kill her.
She should up her calories, up her fat, and lower her carbs. Rotate workouts - cardio one day, strength training the next. She’ll see the scale move and she’ll probably feel a lot better. Upping calories and fat seems counterintuitive when trying to lose weight, but really, it’s the carbs that matter. Plus she won’t feel like she’s dieting if she ups her fat intake.
Bless her efforts!!!
Does the “chunky” one eat anything that you might not be aware of? (with friends, at school, and so on).
EXACTLY. I really think that every kid in school should have to learn some basic nutrition. They taught it when I was in school but I don’t know if they do that anymore. Also, we know a lot more now. The biggest change I see with kids today is that they consume WAY more sugar, esp. in soft drinks, and they are far less active. Everything I did as a kid, except maybe board games and reading was active and mom and dad didn’t drive me anywhere. I either walked or rode my bike (of course, there were some exceptions). We climbed trees, rolled down hills, played tag, kick-the-can, and very physical exercises - even swinging on a swing set, sliding on a sliding board, on a see-saw etc. that’s all very physical - kids are not into much of that today and once they hit around 11-12, it’s rarer than ever before.
First of all, I'm not fat, I'm just big-boned. ;-)
The possibility this is a valid virus correlation is rather exciting.
I wonder if there is a test for this virus right now and this virus can be treated with the limited anti-virals we have now.
Yes, professionals have a white or black attitude towards Atkins. One thing she can do if she is set against atkins is restrick any carbs to complex carbs - only whole grains, no sweets, etc...
Canned tuna fish is a life saver for me.
no actually it’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of science. We know how the majority of people gain and lose weight, there’s no opinion here it’s a simple documented FACT that barring genetic abnormalities it is about calorie intake and calorie burn.
What I can judge is that you say when she returns to her “normal” diet the weight comes back on. That means that her “normal” diet, much like my “normal” diet 65 pounds ago, is wrong this is why I went through the effort to change my “normal” diet to something that actually IS normal and none weight gaining. Another sad story anecdote doesn’t change that simple FACT.
You outlined on a previous thread your diet from then, and like I said there that diet was NOT eat less exercise more, it was eat almost nothing exercise more which is a different diet completely, and a completely unhealthy diet at that. Slimfast is crap, all those shake systems are crap, they encourage you to go on a crash diet cycle which doesn’t work. Your program was doomed to failure from the start because it was NOT eat less exercise more.
And as I told you on that thread, I’m not on a horse, I’m just telling the truth. And the truth is the diet you’re on was NOT eat less exercise more and therefore your anecdotal experience with you diet is NOT even slightly indicative of the healthiness of effectiveness of the ACTUAL eat less/ move more diet. And the lies your spreading about the actual diet need to be counter acted, it would be a tragedy if you convinced someone not to do something healthy for them based on your experience with a completely different diet that’s well documented to be unhealthy and ineffective.
We homeschool. She attends two kinds of dance and CCD. No food at any of them. I know because I am in the lobby of all events.
Daddy is tall and thin.
I am short and stout. Eastern European.
Some of it is genetic. Period.
Other than minimal chicken and fish, I’ve gone vegetarian - I eat plenty of carbs too; except I do high fiber carbs - brown not white; and I limit cheese and dairy, except for my skim milk - I’ve lost 5-6 pounds in about 3-4 weeks with NO effort at all.
I’m doing it for health reasons - I think we consume WAY too much meat. In ancient times, people had to HUNT for their meat so eating meat was not a commonplace thing; later, meat was very expensive so people ate little. That’s why only the wealthiest - royalty, nobility, etc. were pasty-white fatsos. Meat is fine to eat but should be eaten sparingly.
Taken to the extreme, everyone loses weight... Gulags and concentration camps not excepted.
My wife - 5’6”, 120 pounds - eats at least twice what I do, every day. When we do dinner, she eats most of it. Get a box of cookies? I’ll get 3-4, she’ll eat 30. Works out maybe once every two weeks by going on a 3-4 mile walk. And is a size 4.
Me, I eat very little, don’t do soda or candy. I’m 6 feet tall, 290 pounds, wear a size 54 jacket. I work out 4 times a week, still wear a 46 pant.
Funny thing is, my BP, cholesterol, and resting heart rate are all lower than hers. My vitals put me in the “extremely healthy” category. Other than my weight...
Don’t discount the genetic or non-psychological reasons for weight. Go look at the average person in Shenzhen, China (males around 5’ 6” tall) and Denmark (women around 6’ tall) for genetic differences.
Sometimes it really IS the genes. And in this case, perhaps a virus that triggers SOME of the weight gain. All of it? Nope, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s responsible for some weight gain...
yes we went from learning the four food groups to the food rationing pyramid.
What next? the consumption carbon credit dodekahedron?
I think there is a correleatiion the fructose corn syrup use vs real sugar.
It is amazing that as real sugar use decreased, obesity became epidemic.
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