Cannt make this shit up - Obesity Caused by virus

[shropshire 0]

Baaaaahhhhaaaa.

clicky
or
clunky!


So, this must a virus only targeted at the west... McDonald/Doughnut munching folks....


To think, scientists get paid for this shit

If you're overwieight and want to loose some.. the answer is oh so simple.... Get off your fat arses and eat less, fo fuck sake!

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[RhondaLea 3]

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If you're overwieight and want to loose some.. the answer is oh so simple.... Get off your fat arses and eat less, fo fuck sake!

Totally untrue.

My weight has gone up and down my entire life, and there has never been a relationship between what I've been eating and my weight loss/gain.

I have an autoimmune disorder that has destroyed my thyroid. In the process, I've had times of both overactive and underactive production of thyroid hormones. When hyper, I lose weight no matter how much I eat, when hypo, I gain, no matter how little.

There are other medical conditions that cause the same problem for many, related both to under- and overweight. Ask any woman with PCOS.

It isn't all about supersizing ones Big Mac meal.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[shropshire 0]

Still not a virus tho.....

It's surely still true that the only place that one's body can get mass from is via food..... cannt come from breathing, so, the old adage you are what you eat must still count for something.


Now, if some one's body, for what every reason, doesn't metabolise food so quickly, then they will, presumably convert food to body and not use it up as energy.... There's only so many routes that our fuel can take.

Or am I missing something?

.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Shotgun 1]

I don't find it to be all that laughable. As one of the researchers says in this article, "Obesity is multifactoral." It is a complicated problem, and there is no one solution that works for everyone.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051018/hl_afp/afplifestylecanada_051018164658

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Vaccine may target obesity in the future: researchers

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - When babies receive shots against diseases like polio and measles, their vaccinations may in the future include protection against getting fat, according to researchers.

Infection by certain pathogens triggers rapid increases in fatty tissue in animals, Nikhil Dhurnadha told the annual meeting of NAASO, the Obesity Society, in this western Canadian city.

At the same time, the discovery that many more obese people than normal-weight people have been exposed to a certain virus suggests a link between obesity and viral infection.

"Not all obesity can be explained by infection," said Dhurandhar, of the Pennington Biomedial Research Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. "Infections can be one of the causes."

Popular opinion has long held that most obesity is caused simply by overeating, underexercise and a lack of will power. But viruses are just one of many contributing factors that scientists have recently discovered.

Researchers are reporting at the conference on other fat triggers that include a genetic tendency to store fat among groups whose ancestors survived famines, medications such as treatments for psychotic mental disorders, toxins in the environment like organochlorines, and infectious agents like bacteria, viruses and prions.

"Obesity is multifactoral," Dhurandhar told scientists at the conference.

In an interview with AFP, he said there is proof that at least 10 different pathogens cause obesity in animals. They include canine distemper virus, RAV7 and MAM1 avian viruses, the Borna virus in rats -- which is also linked with depression in humans, types of scrapie, three adeno viruses including AD5, AD36 and AD37 which cause fat gain in several species, and chlamydia pneumonae bacteria.

Scientists have also found that when mice are infected by general bacteria from the guts of other mice, the recipients body fat increases.

Dhurandhar became interested in viral causes of obesity while working as a family physician in Bombay in the 1980s, during a severe outbreak of SMAM1, an adeno virus that kills chickens.

A friend noticed that the dead chickens were unusually fat, with enlarged livers, kidneys, low cholesterol levels and an atrophied thymus gland.

Dhurandhar wondered how the virus affected people. He tested his own patients, and found 20 per cent of his obese patients had been exposed to SMAM1, and that those people were significantly heavier with lower cholesterol levels.

He moved to the United States to conduct more research, and started working with Richard Atkinson at the University of Wisconsin. Because US authorities refused permission to import the Indian avian virus, the pair decided to work with adeno virus AD36.

First, they infected laboratory chickens, mice and monkeys, all of which grew significantly fatter and had lower cholesterol.

Then, because they could not test the virus on humans, they examined stored blood from 500 people in Wisconsin, Florida and New York. They found antibodies for AD36 in 30 per cent of the obese people, but only in 11 per cent of people with normal body weight.

And, just as Dhurandhar earlier discovered among his Indian patients, the obese who had been exposed to the virus were 20 per cent heavier than other overweight people.

Further tests on tissue from lab monkeys taken over a nine-year period showed that healthy monkeys newly infected by AD36 "gained 15 per cent body weight in six months, and dropped their cholesterol by 30 per cent."

The scientists also studied 26 pairs of twins, and found that in cases where one twin had been exposed to AD36, in all cases their weight was significantly greater.

"In 10 years, people may be able to walk into a clinic and be told that their obesity is due to X cause, such as genes, the endocrine system, or pathogens. That may have a more productive outcome than a blanket treatment right now, (which) is not very successful," said Dhurandhar.

And because viruses are hard or impossible to treat, he said, prevention through vaccines will be key.

[Droolbaby 0]

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If you're overwieight and want to loose some.. the answer is oh so simple.... Get off your fat arses and eat less, fo fuck sake!

Totally untrue.

My weight has gone up and down my entire life, and there has never been a relationship between what I've been eating and my weight loss/gain.

I have an autoimmune disorder that has destroyed my thyroid. In the process, I've had times of both overactive and underactive production of thyroid hormones. When hyper, I lose weight no matter how much I eat, when hypo, I gain, no matter how little.

There are other medical conditions that cause the same problem for many, related both to under- and overweight. Ask any woman with PCOS.

It isn't all about supersizing ones Big Mac meal.

rl

While there are several conditions that directly affect the human body and can cause weight gains, in our society today, many of the health problems we have are directly related to our life styles. OVer eating and overly proccessed foods combined with very little activity due to office jobs and now many home based businesses. While it is possible certain viruses can lead to possible weight gain, the report said 3 out of 10 people. So while there is a possible link, it is still on the people of society to realize, many overweight people are overweight because of poortable away discipline.Many of the health issues in this country would disappear if many people would just push the table away sooner when eating. There is documented evidenct showing cases of heart disease, diabetes and other life threatening conditions are directly coorelated to a persons weight. Just my thoughts.

...Happiness is just a drool away....mmmmm....

[shropshire 0]

My familiy seems to have a propensity to put on weight (generally chunky people)... I couldn't possibley believe that the root cause is viral.. It's diet related and reenforced by genetic metobolic functionality... But it's not a lost cause...... as I get older I have to work harder to keep weight off (it;s a good job that I enjoy it, I could oh so easily sit around and do nowt) but when younger I ran 10K races in just over 40 mins (no longer, I try to keep active - but for me, it's a battle but one worth fighting).

.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Shotgun 1]

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My familiy seems to have a propensity to put on weight (generally chunky people)... I couldn't possibley believe that the root cause is viral..

Perhaps it is not a viral thing for your family, but that does not mean that a virus is not causing obesity in someone else. I don't think the article was implying that a virus is the sole cause of obesity for everyone.

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It's diet related and reenforced by genetic metobolic functionality.

Why would you believe that genes could have anything to do with it, but not believe that a virus could?

Personally, I've put on about ten unwanted pounds in the last few years, and I feel fairly certain it is due to a less active lifestyle and consuming too many calories... and that is probably the case for the majority of people who are overweight, but that does not mean that there are no other causes.

[RhondaLea 3]

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While there are several conditions that directly affect the human body and can cause weight gains, in our society today, many of the health problems we have are directly related to our life styles. OVer eating and overly proccessed foods combined with very little activity due to office jobs and now many home based businesses. While it is possible certain viruses can lead to possible weight gain, the report said 3 out of 10 people. So while there is a possible link, it is still on the people of society to realize, many overweight people are overweight because of poortable away discipline.Many of the health issues in this country would disappear if many people would just push the table away sooner when eating. There is documented evidenct showing cases of heart disease, diabetes and other life threatening conditions are directly coorelated to a persons weight. Just my thoughts.

I agree with you to some extent about cause and entirely about effect, but in my case, I consume anywhere from 1500-1800 calories a day (usually right around 1650, with an approximate 50/30-25/25-20 breakdown as to protein, carbs and "good" fats), I don't eat cookies, cakes and fast food. I don't drink soda. I use little sucrose (except for the black licorice craving at certain times of the month), and I don't use artificial sweetners (except in gum). I eat fruit and vegetables and most of my protein comes from seafood and lentils.

If I eat fewer carbs and more protein, it's easier to lose weight, but most of the time, that's about water retention, not fat.

I know other people who are just as careful with what they eat, and they still fight a battle of the bulge every day. I also know very skinny people who can't gain weight no matter what they eat.

It's just not all about consumption. And while exercise certainly helps, when I'm hypo, all it does is maintain the weight I'm at--barely.

My point in all this is that some people are fat-a-phobic, and they tend to be very harsh and judgmental about someone's outward appearance.

I'm not obese by any means. I need to lose 10 pounds right now, and I would be happier if I could lose 15, although it's not necessary healthwise. But I struggle to get there because my body refuses to cooperate.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[shropshire 0]

Hi,

You're probably right... there are sure to be more than one reason why people keep weight on. I simply cannt believe that the root cause pathogen is viral (if so, then it's only contageous in high GDP countries)...
The genetic? potential cause could be due to a protein based pathogen, so this could explain geographic clustering.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Tink1717 2]

They worked on this at Johns Hopkins University, which is more or less in my back yard. They pretty conclusively demonstrated that the virus affected certain hormone regulating genes that were related to obesity in mice and rats. The question is whether or not the same mechanism is present in humans and does it function the same way. BTW, that study came out two years ago. Just thought you might like to know.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[ViperPilot 0]

What a crock; fat people are always looking for excuses, thankfully there are scientist readily available to give them those excuses.

[Shotgun 1]

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My point in all this is that some people are fat-a-phobic, and they tend to be very harsh and judgmental about someone's outward appearance.

Yes, that is something that tends to bug me. It usually appears that they have found something that makes themselves "better" than all the "fat people," so through criticism they are able to make themselves feel better about who they are because they are not fat and therefore better than anyone who is.

Obesity is a complicated problem. And being slightly overweight can even be a complicated problem, as you have mentioned with the thyroid stuff. It is pretty unfair for someone with no knowledge to say, "Oh, I gained weight but then I lost it by following a proper diet and exercise program." Sure, that works for many people, but not for everyone when there are other factors involved. There are far too many to list, but one particular issue that comes to mind is that a lot of overweight or obese people are also dealing with psychological issues such as major depression, and that is a key obstacle in the "Stop eating so much and get off your ass and exercise more!" approach. Depression can cause many things that would be counterproductive to that attitude. And that is just to name one of the many things that may be involved.

And for the record, I would like to lose a few pounds right now, and it appears that my best bet is to change my eating and exercising habits, which I am working on... I dont' think that I have any thyroid/genetic/viral/etc. problems - I'm pretty sure that my lifestyle choices are the main culprit _for me_ so that is what I will focus on to fix the issue... but to assume that that is the case for anyone with a similar problem would be pretty narrow-minded and would demonstrate a general lack of understanding of how the human body works.

If all of these problems were so simple, I think we would pretty much have them figured out and "cured" by now... but for anyone who really wants to take the time to learn about it, you will see that it is not so simple as you might have thought. (That comment not directed at you, of course, Rhonda, but at those who seem to "have it all figured out" with very little real knowledge.)

[tso-d_chris 0]

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one particular issue that comes to mind is that a lot of overweight or obese people are also dealing with psychological issues such as major depression, and that is a key obstacle in the "Stop eating so much and get off your ass and exercise more!" approach. Depression can cause many things that would be counterproductive to that attitude.

Proper diet and exercise are treatment for depression.

Regardless of what else is going on, if someone burns more Calories than they take in, they will lose weight.

Modifying your diet without changing your exercise regimen is likely to slow down your metabolism such that you are still not burning more Calories than you are taking in.

[Shotgun 1]

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Proper diet and exercise are treatment for depression.

Yes, they are. My point is that people who are experiencing major depression are not necessarily capable of following "proper diet and exercise." If you think that they are, then you obviously have little experience with real depression. Perhaps with proper counseling, they would be able to follow this "simple" solution, but we're not so advanced today that we have much proper counseling available for any kind of psychological issues.

[tso-d_chris 0]

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My point is that people who are experiencing major depression are not necessarily capable of following "proper diet and exercise." If you think that they are, then you obviously have little experience with real depression. Perhaps with proper counseling, they would be able to follow this "simple" solution, but we're not so advanced today that we have much proper counseling available for any kind of psychological issues.

They are capable of following proper diet and exercise regimens, but they have to understand right from the beginning, exercise is hard work. Changing diet habits is difficult. Just changing eating habits can be as difficult as giving up a lifelong nicotine addiction, possibly harder. Exercise requires mental strength and determination. It requires a lot of work to burn off those extra Calories.
I personally know several obese people that believe walking a mile each day is proper exercise, when in reality, it is a proper warm-up for a nice exercise routine.
Counseling is nice, but it won't compare to the self satisfaction of seeing those pounds actually come off, even with major depression, which I am more familiar with than you might realize.
Losing weight is a lot of hard work. unwillingness to do the hard work is likely to result in an inability to lose the pounds. No one is saying it is easy.

"Argue for your limitations, and they become yours." --Richard Bach

[Droolbaby 0]

Well there are three types of body compositions..you have the mesomorph (These are those beefy bastards that look at weights and put on 5 pounds of muscle...think Arnold and the other major body builders) While not exclusive mesomorph types, these men and women usually compete in these types of competetions), endomorph (these guys are the ones that can eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and never add an ounce of body weight...I hate these people personally) and then you have the ectomorph (these are people like me...live on a strict 55/30/15 diet and watch the body fat to caloric intake like a hawk and even one thought of chocolate adds 5 pounds to the waist line). With each of these body types, there are certain things you can do to keep them in a healthy lifestyle. There are genetic dispositions to these body types and recommendation made for each type. For instance, one guy I work with has a huge problem putting on muscle weight...well he is an endomorph and it took him 8 weeks just to slow down enough to get 8 hours of sleep, while I have to work my ass off just to keep from getting more than 6 hours, so we have our own dispositions, but to claim a virus or other "outside" cause is rediculous. I have been training people far too long to believe that. Genetics play a huge part in this game and once you figure out your body type (and most obese people are the ectomorph body type) it is a matter of self discipline and hard work that keep you healthy.

If you want to loose 10 or 15 pounds, what I usually do, and this works for me, is I go strictly vegetarian for a week to boost my metabolism and also detox the body while increasing my cardio to 45 minutes 3 times a week..but that works for me...try it and see if it works. (Of course eating all veggie stuff you are going to notice you are going to be shoveling the food into you to keep 1600 calories, just make sure you get plenty of protien (oatmeal and tofu are my person choices for protein.) Hope this helps to some degree.

...Happiness is just a drool away....mmmmm....

[Lindsey 0]

Exercise requires mental strength and determination.

which most people, while in the depths of depression, don't have....

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[RhondaLea 3]

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If you want to loose 10 or 15 pounds, what I usually do, and this works for me, is I go strictly vegetarian for a week to boost my metabolism and also detox the body while increasing my cardio to 45 minutes 3 times a week..but that works for me...try it and see if it works.

I forgot to mention the hypothyroid-induced hypoglycemia.

If I were to eat like this, I would be near-psychotic, and I would gain weight from the excess of carbs.

My body shouldn't be this way, and it drives me crazy that I'm not "normal," but at 47, I don't have much hope that it's going to change.

BTW, if I don't get adequate amounts of fat in my diet, I get sick.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[tso-d_chris 0]

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which most people, while in the depths of depression, don't have....

Like I said, no one said it was easy. Better diet and exercise will also go a long way to treat depression. Losing weight will help as well, as self esteem improves.

There are many excuses as to why its too hard for some people to lose weight. I know, I come from a round family, and have heard most of them. I don't think that it is a coincidence that those that choose running over television, and fruit over snack cakes are healthier mentally and physically.

"Argue for your limitations and they are yours." --Richard Bach

[Nightingale 0]

I think that in the US, lifestyle is probably the main cause of obesity. Most of us have desk jobs and not a lot of time to exercise. We've invented a lot of machinery to do physical labor for us.

However, it's been proven that there are other causes. Genetics, metabolism, thyroid, etc... If that study came out of Hopkins, there's probably something to it.

I'm lucky. Diet and exercise work for me. I lost about 20 pounds last year. My aunt asked me how I did it. I told her "eat less, exercise more." She looked disappointed and said "I was hoping there was some kind of trick! Like slimfast or something." She didn't want to devote the time to exercise, so she was looking for an easier way. Many people want instant gratification, instant results, and successful weight loss programs take time, so people have trouble sticking to them.

[ViperPilot 0]

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Many people want instant gratification

That's the problem right there. Depression is yet another excuse because they could choose to do something about that, but they don't. There is only one real reason people stay overweight...they're too damn lazy to follow a good diet and exercise program. If it can't be done w/ a slimfast a day, then why try?

[RhondaLea 3]

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Many people want instant gratification

Depression is yet another excuse because they could choose to do something about that, but they don't.

You might want to read up a bit on depression.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[tso-d_chris 0]

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There is only one real reason people stay overweight...they're too damn lazy to follow a good diet and exercise program.

Perhaps that is one reason, but not the only reason. Lifestyle changes are difficult to make, especially when trying to break habits instilled during early childhood. Advertisement for unhealthy indulgences make the problem worse.

How many of us were taught as children to clean our plates whether we were full or not?

How many fast food commercials do you see during prime time in comparison to commercials advertising organic vegetables?

There are a multitude of reasons why some people remain overweight. Laziness may be one of them, but not all overweight people are lazy.

For Great Deals on Gear

[Droolbaby 0]

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If you want to loose 10 or 15 pounds, what I usually do, and this works for me, is I go strictly vegetarian for a week to boost my metabolism and also detox the body while increasing my cardio to 45 minutes 3 times a week..but that works for me...try it and see if it works.

I forgot to mention the hypothyroid-induced hypoglycemia.

If I were to eat like this, I would be near-psychotic, and I would gain weight from the excess of carbs.

My body shouldn't be this way, and it drives me crazy that I'm not "normal," but at 47, I don't have much hope that it's going to change.

BTW, if I don't get adequate amounts of fat in my diet, I get sick.

rl

Now you are an example of someone that is an exception to this general topic. Due to your genetic make up and subsequent medical condition, you are someone that fits into the genetics category. While we are saying there aren't exceptions to the rule, it is generally true, most Americans are fat due to laziness and desire for a quick fix. That is our society these days, which is unfortunate. People want something before they work for it. I call it the welfare syndrome..but that is another topic.

Despite current marketing and media ad campaigns, everybody needs certain amounts of "good" fats. It is a misconception that fat makes you fat...an extreme caloric surplus must exist for weight gain. That is the trick...find out how many calories your body burns while at full rest (called Base Metabolic Rate...or BMR) and then eat accordingly. I told one guy he could eat anything he wanted...as long as he kept the caloric value for a 24 hour period under 1700 a day. He came to me a week later with his meal log and noticed that on sunday (as a treat) he ate nothing but twinkies. Although he kept his caloric value under 1700, and followed my advice on cheat days, we did need to sitdown and talk about proper nutrition. But it was funny. People think eating healthy is going to consume a lot more of their time and they feel they don't have the time to devote to making healthy changes. Why cook when I can drive thru McDonald's and get my food there?

p.s. RhondaLea are you taking anything to help stabilize the thyroid? If you are is it working? If you tried, did it work and why aren't you on it now?

...Happiness is just a drool away....mmmmm....

[RhondaLea 3]

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p.s. RhondaLea are you taking anything to help stabilize the thyroid? If you are is it working? If you tried, did it work and why aren't you on it now?

200 ug Synthroid and 2.5 ug Cytomel. Daily.

It's working now, but I had a number of PCOS symptoms in my early years (twice-yearly, two-week long periods; extreme sensitivity to sugar; extemely muscular legs; among other things), and I think that throws things off too. I'm 47, but menopause comes very late in my family.

Also, I was diagnosed hypo at 14, treated for a year, and then went untreated until I was 37. I was then diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. (I was symptomatic for 10 years, and ultimately diagnosed with MS because no one was smart enough to do a blood test, although they did a shitload of MRIs. I don't have MS, btw.) My thyroid should be dead by now, but in the last ten years it has been a slow progression starting from 125 ug T4 and increasing to the current dose of 200 ug, which has been nearly adequate for the last year. I see the endo every 3 months.

Sorry to hijack, so let's get back to the fat discussion. But I would like to put a plug in here for early and often thyroid testing. Between 6 and 8 million people are walking around undiagnosed in the US alone, and because thyroid affects every single organ of the body, it's important to have it checked regularly. An untreated thyroid condition can mimic a lot of other diseases, and in most cases, it's easily treatable. And it is much easier to lose weight when ones thyroid is right, although it does take some discipline--the weight does not just fall off because you take a pill.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb