Exercise is an important part of staying healthy, and America's rising obesity rates show that fewer and fewer Americans are taking care of their bodies as much as they should. However, researchers have recently discovered that rats, when introduced to a certain hormone, helps reduce weight gain even when on a high fat diet and helps stabilize metabolism. While many products have been advertised to help reduce weight, most of them are either shams or high-protein, low-calorie snacks designed to fill someone up without getting too full; this hormone could lead to the first real, simple, and healthy "weight loss injection". More importantly, this also brings the scientific world one step closer to finding cures for insulin-resistance related diseases such as type II diabetes. In these diseases, through the course of time cells eventually become unable to respond to insulin, leading to a wide variety of diseases. However, this research could prove to be the first step in finding treatments for these diseases.
The hormone, dubbed "MOTS-c", primarily affects muscle cells and restores the cell's ability to react to insulin and has been discovered on the DNA of the mitochondria. A process formerly thought irreversible, through old age and poor diet cells eventually develop a reduced tolerance to insulin, leading to a lowered standard of living. However, these discoveries could, to an extent, reduce many of the negative effects of diseases like type II diabetes and fatty liver disease. In other human interest, the weight loss side effect could eventually be applied to humans as well, which could potentially lead to foolproof weight loss despite a high fat diet. This could help reduce countless preventable deaths that came about from weight-related diseases. This research is astounding on multiple levels, and could save thousands of lives, and reduce the flow of many diseases associated with old age.
There are many diseases that afflict lives around the world, but in America type II diabetes and obesity are some of the highest profile killers the country has ever seen. However, the discoveries by Lee, Zeng, et al could lead to easily produced treatments for these two afflictions. While it is important to take care of one's body through proper diet and exercise, these discoveries could make previously irreversible processes easily reversible, and make safe weight loss an option for who want to pursue it but cannot or choose not to work out.
Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150303183407.htm
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/newly-identified-hormone-reduces-diet-induced-obesity-rodents
By: Mark Glasman, Group B
Playing devils advocate, If this "weight loss injection" turns out to be highly effective wouldn't it make users more apt to engage in "guilt free" eating? Knowing that they can lose weight while eating whatever they want, people may binge eat junk food while cutting more nutritional foods out of their diet. The importance of a balanced diet goes beyond just looking thin, and it makes me wonder about the possible unforeseen consequences of how this hormone may affect people's dietary choices. And what are the consequences if people stop exercising in favor of an injection? Exercise is important to cardiovascular function, bone density, and a number of other requirements for a healthy individual. I don't think it is a leap to say that there are plenty of people that would shortsightedly sacrifice their health for an easier way to lose weight. It seems that we may be trying to treat the symptoms, not the cause, of overeating and a sedentary lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteits really amazing how people nowadays prefer short-cuts (to things) to longer and healthier ways. When people use pills to fight obesity, I wonder whether they actually enquire what the side effects of those pills are ??
ReplyDeleteosuji chukwunonso
Great post! I think that this could be a drug that could be really helpful for a lot of people. I believe that this could be helpful for people who are extremely overweight and obese. If it was a medication prescribed by a doctor and used with a healthy diet and exercise, it could be life changing. I do agree that some people may see it as an easy way out, that is why I believe that if this drug was to be released it should be used as prescription only.
ReplyDelete-Madison Boone
Really interesting! I think that the real implications of this discovery lie with its ability to treat late onset diseases that, at this point, we can' t do much about. I hope that this discovery doesn't get buried by people getting caught up in the weight loss implications, and that researchers are able to look at the benefits beyond those related to weight.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. My mother is currently trying to lose weight and the doctor prescribed her some pills and thus far she has lost 20 pounds. I wonder if she's experiencing any side affects
ReplyDelete-Barbara Afogho