Why have get us fatter? Seeking a mysterious guilty

PharmaLive.com (23 November 2010) - so why are we in bold? And get fatter? Most people would say it is simple: eat us too much and exercise too little. But the University of Alabama at Birmingham obesity researcher David b. Allison, Dr.. asserts that answers, only valid while, can be a little too simple. Allison and colleagues believe that the more relevant question is: why overeating and spend too little energy? And as good detectives, they have set out to identify a suspect or suspects, which could contribute to the obesity epidemic. The game, as they say, is course.

Allison, Professor of Biostatistics in the UAB School of Public Health, is the principal document published 24 November 2010 author in the British journal proceedings of the Royal Society b.Ce document suggests that the cause of obesity may be much more complicated than the wisdom - too much food, too few opportunities to carry out availability.

Allison current research has begun when he was in search of data on small primates called marmosets from non-human primates Wisconsin Center.He noted that the population as a weight delivered together showed win temps.Ne verification with the Centre's, he could find no compelling reason. The nature of the diet had changed, but taking into account the exact change, easily achievable date with animals living in a controlled lab environment, strengthens the mysterious phenomenon.
Intrigued, he began to seek more preuves.Qui need raw data, it followed in previous studies of mammals, living with or close to humans, which had lasted less than a decade. He found information, called datasets, 12 groups of animals. Divided into male and female populations, it ends with 24 sets of data, containing information on more than 20 000 animals.

Data sets were varied. Some were animals in laboratory research - apes, chimpanzees and rodents.Some were wild rats caught in the alleys of Baltimore.Un veterinary hospital in New Jersey has provided reports on pets - dogs and cats. There was a constant. All 24 games saw total weight gain in the population over time. Twenty-three 24 noted an increase in the percentage of obese people in the group.

"And yet, is there any single thread that crosses all 24 datasets explaining a weight gain," said Allison. "Animals in some data sets could have access to food more rich, but who was not the case in all datasets." Some animals have become less active, but others would have remained at the level of normal activity. And yet, everyone showed gain weight global.La consistency of results of animals living in different environments, including some which diet is highly controlled and constant for decades, suggests the intriguing possibility that the increase in body weight may include factors identified or misunderstood.»

The mystery deepens.What could be the factors?Postdoctoral fellow in the school of public health Allison and Yann Klimentidis, Dr.., intern and co-author of the paper, scientific means, including many at UAB, began to look at alternative reasons for obesity beyond the usual suspects of increased food intake, mainly caused by the availability and decrease in the level of activity, caused mainly by labour-saving devices. Here are several candidates for the range.

Light.Studies have shown that subtle changes in time spent in clear or dark environments change habits alimentaires.Allison wondered if light pollution in our industrial society can play role.Viruses.Infection by adenovirus 36 virus is associated with obesity and the presence of antibodies AD36 is correlated AD36 humains.Pourraient obesity or other infectious agents be contributing to obesity among the population?épigénétique.Les genetic modifications caused by a number of environmental factors such as stress, the availability of resources, the release of predation or climate change.

Bottom line, the authors say is that obesity is a problem that probably has many causes and will require solutions.

"When looking for ways to combat obesity in humans, we must be more aware of the causes of possible alternative of obesity," said Klimentidis. " If we find the reasons for weight gain in our animal subjects, we can better apply to deal with obesity in humans.»

The study was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Editor's note: this article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Source of the story:

The story above is reproduced (with drafting adaptations by staff at PharmaLive.com) materials provided by University of Alabama at Birmingham, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Reference of the review:
Yann v. Klimentidis, t. Mark Beasley, Hui-Yi Lin, Giulianna Murati, Gregory e. glass, Marcus Guyton, Wendy Newton, Matthew Jorgensen, Steven b. Heymsfield, Joseph Kemnitz, Lynn Fairbanks and David b. Allison.Canary in the coalmine: interspecific analysis of plurality of obesity epidemics.Actes r. SOC.B, 24 November 2010 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1890
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited for this.

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