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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Can you “catch” obesity? |
| 2006-02-23 |
| So, it's not my fault I'm fat, after all... besides, I'm not fat, I'm big-boned, dammit! Yeah, big-boned, that's the ticket... Courtesy American Physiological Society and World Science staff There is a lot of good advice to help us avoid becoming fat, such as eat less and exercise. But if some researchers are right, you may soon be hearing a surprising new piece of advice: wash your hands. There is growing evidence that some viruses may cause obesity, thus making obesity contagious, said Leah Whigham of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, lead researcher in a new study on the subject. The idea isn’t new, but it has been controversial among scientists, Whigham said. “It makes people feel more comfortable to think that obesity stems from lack of control,” she remarked. “It’s a big mental leap to think you can catch obesity.” Her study found that a human-infecting virus called AD-37 causes obesity in chickens. Previous studies had linked two three related viruses with obesity in animals or humans, the researchers added. The study appears in the January issue of the American Journal of Physiology—Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. AD-37 and its kin are adenoviruses, members of a family of viruses that commonly cause upper respiratory tract infections including the common cold. Whigham said more research is needed to find out if Ad-37 causes obesity in humans. One study was inconclusive, she said, because only a handful of people showed evidence of infection with Ad-37, not enough to draw any conclusions. Researchers should now identify which, if any, viruses cause human obesity, she added. Further steps could be to devise a screening test to identify people who are infected, and to develop a vaccine. “If Ad-36 is responsible for a significant portion of human obesity, the logical therapeutic intervention would be to develop a vaccine to prevent future infections,” wrote Frank Greenway of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in an editorial in the same issue of the journal. “One would want to ensure that all the [subtypes] of human adenoviruses responsible for human obesity were covered in the vaccine.” Whigham said there has long been evidence that factors other than poor diet or lack of exercise may be at work in an obesity epidemic that has affected many nations. “The prevalence of obesity has doubled in adults in the United States in the last 30 years and has tripled in children,” the study noted. “With the exception of infectious diseases, no other chronic disease in history has spread so rapidly,” and the causes have not been clearly identified, she added. Other diseases once thought to be the product of environmental factors are now known to stem from pathogens, she added. For example, ulcers were once thought to be the result of stress, but researchers eventually implicated H. pylori bacteria as a cause. “The nearly simultaneous increase in the prevalence of obesity in most countries of the world is difficult to explain by changes in food intake and exercise alone, and suggest that adenoviruses could have contributed,” the researchers wrote in the study. “The role of adenoviruses in the worldwide epidemic of obesity is a critical question that demands additional research.” The theory that viruses could play a part in obesity began a few decades ago, the researchers said. That was when Nikhil Dhurandhar, now at Louisiana State University, noticed that chickens in India infected with the avian adenovirus SMAM-1 had significantly more fat than non-infected chickens. Since then, Ad-36 has been found to be more prevalent in obese humans, Whigham and colleagues noted. In the new study, the team worked to determine which adenoviruses might be associated with obesity in chickens. The animals were separated into four groups, each of which was exposed to one of three adenoviruses, or no virus. Chickens inoculated with Ad-37 had significantly more fat compared with the other three groups, which included those infected with Ad-2 or Ad-31, the researchers found. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #13 Her study found that a human-infecting virus called AD-37 causes obesity in chickens. Previous studies had linked two three related viruses with obesity in animals or humans, the researchers added. Ah. This would be the rumor that arrived at the Weight Watchers meeting as "eating chicken can make you get fat". (No, I'm not joking.) |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-02-23 21:33 |
| #12 I am fat, I hate that obeise word and I tell you it is not from some damn virus. I like food and I an lazy to boot :) |
| Posted by: djohn66 2006-02-23 20:35 |
| #11 Eat less. Exercise more. |
| Posted by: Hupomoger Clans9827 2006-02-23 20:32 |
| #10 Just sent this to my doc. Can't wait to here what he says. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-02-23 19:32 |
| #9 I understand stupidity shows viral clusters too. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-23 17:42 |
| #8 There is a lot of good advice to help us avoid becoming fat, such as eat less and exercise. But if some researchers are right, you may soon be hearing a surprising new piece of advice: wash your hands. Curse you, Col. Sanders, for being so finger-lickin' good! |
| Posted by: BH 2006-02-23 17:26 |
| #7 good thing there's no calories in my Jack Daniels on the rocks doubles...."another over here, bartender!"....if there was, I'd be able to see 'em |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-23 17:12 |
| #6 some viruses may cause obesity And they live in the refrigerator. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-02-23 16:42 |
| #5 Americans are obese for two reasons (a) Because we overeat and underexercise (b) Because the government statistics on obesity are so insane they include many pro atheletes (basketball and football at least) as obese. |
| Posted by: Thomoting Clolush6746 2006-02-23 16:27 |
| #4 Damn--I wish they'd keep AD-37 out of my Big Macs! |
| Posted by: Dar 2006-02-23 15:14 |
| #3 Whigham said more research is needed... I knew it would be in there! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-02-23 14:44 |
| #2 I believe the current PC term is "overly nourished". At least that's one I've heard... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-02-23 14:43 |
| #1 Then I must be friggin' typhoid Mary. Sigh. |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2006-02-23 14:40 |