Virus causes Obesity

The Hartford Courant ^ | April 1, 2003 | Staff Reporters

[goody2shooz]

April fools my fanny! This was very cruel.

[MattAMiller]

Wow! They're probably going to turn April 1st into some sort of holiday or something.

[William Terrell]

Virus causes Obesity

Yes, eating feeds it and dieting kills it. How much did they spend on this study?

[Cicero]

Here's the link to the article itself:

http://www.ctnow.com/news/health/hc-obesevirus.artapr01,0,1672028.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dhealth

[Militiaman7]

I agree, this is very cruel. Especially to those who have a hard time keeping their weight in check.

[Wolfie]

So I guess those stomach-stapling operations cure the virus, eh?

[IYAS9YAS]

Cool, I knew this extra 70 pounds had nothing to do with my still eating like a truck loading fool and having a desk job for the last 5 years. However, it's still in the jeans...

[philomath]

"Silent" Strokes and Dementia J. P. Blass and R. R. Ratan

is this what you had in (feeble) mind, this hallowed fool's day???

[Petronski]

The same virus causes alcohol abuse and procrastination if Petronski's life is any guide. ;o)

[TommyDale]

If people would only keep their anti-virus files updated this whole thing could be averted.

[Young Werther]

A segment of the genome program was the study of particlar genetic actions. A lab in california was able to isolate the "obesity gene".

An interesting side issue was discovered. This lab had a colony of mice for study purposes that exhibited obesity. When they identified the gene which caused the obesity they developed an enzyme treatment to "correct" the gene. Voila! the mice slimmed down. BTW these obese mice were diabetic and when their obesity was cured so was the diabetes.

As a Type Two Diabetic I'm thrilled that a cure may be in the near future.

Deliverying the enzyme is the problem but work is ongoing to a delivery method that will work.

Back in '96 Newt Gingrich suggested that curing diabetes would reduce Medicare expenses by 40-50%. Given the costs for diabetes and obesity we should be spending the research dollars for this purpose.

[meadsjn]

Virus? It must be the 'lazy bug'.

[El Gato]

Obesity is caused by sloth and gluttony

Maybe the virus causes sloth and gluttony? Not directly of course, but indirectly through other effects. Although I could imagine constant hunger being caused by a messed up metabolism caused by a virus. The sloth part might only come after the weight goes on, but constant "tiredness" could also be caused by a virus. Not saying it is, but I wouldn't want to dimiss the possibility out of hand either. For one thing, you'd look pretty dumb if the intial report proves out, now wouldn't you?

[El Gato]

The finding, if valid, directly contradicts the widely accepted theory that links obesity with lifestyle factors such as diet and lack of exercise.

Not logically it doesn't. Perhaps the virus "causes" or contributes to the lifestyle factors? Wouldn't that be great if it was true. However like most things that are "too good to be true", it probably isn't. Unless this virus is like the most of the others, and there is really nothing you can do about it once you get it, other than support your immune system in dealing with it.

[Dead Corpse]

Hah. Interesting Fools joke.

Now for the punch line...

Fat virus.

Researchers webpage

[jerseygirl]

I'm keeping an open mind. Thankfully don't have a weight problem, but a close friend of mine eats approximately 500 calories a day and remains significantly obese.

[Servant of the Nine]

Obesity is caused by sloth and gluttony, and until I see a 400 lb person dead from starvation I absolutely won't believe otherwise !

Lighten up Bubba.

So9

[u-89]

Obesity is caused by sloth and gluttony

I have two friends who are thin and both eat the most abnormally large amounts of food. One is hyper-active who obviously needs the continuos fuel in his furnace but the other guy is the most useless, lazy, under active person I know. How his metabolism burns all that food off without giving him motivation is a mystery to all who know him.