Scientists link obesity to gut bacteria

ft.com ^ | Tuesday, December 18, 2012 | Pippa Stephens in London

[upchuck]

Whattayawanna bet the "diet industry" buries this? There will likely be a "reason" develop why this treatment cannot be used.

Pardon my skepticism.

[Perdogg]

Voting for 0bama is caused by bacteria in the brain.

[upchuck]

Go read the article comments. Lots of skeptics.

[upchuck]

Diabetes ping.

[TomGuy]

It is quite possible.

IIRC, some types of pneumonia, stomach ulcers, and heart murmurs have been said to be caused by certain kinds of bacteria.

One of the treatments for stomach ulcers is high doses of the bismuth in products like Pepto Bismol.

[randita]

And we all thought it was due to 32 oz. sodas.

[A_perfect_lady]

I couldn’t get to the article; I just kept getting pop-ups and being routed back to the front page. So I’ll content myself with observing that if this is the case, why hasn’t anyone noticed that obese people on antibiotics suddenly lose weight? (I’m guessing they don’t.)

[ObozoMustGo2012]

Moochelle might disagree with this study.

[ObozoMustGo2012]

That’s what happens when you have s**t for brains!!!

[freedumb2003]

>>Obesity in human beings could be caused by bacterial infection rather than eating too much, exercising too little or genetics<<

Interestingly this bacteria is found in:

* Sugary snacks
* Colas and other high-fructose drinks
* Carbohydrate-laden fast foods
* Booze

The natural repellents to these bacteria are found in:

* Running shoes
* Gym equipment
* The local YMCA

[Aria]

Could you post the article instead of an excerpt? It wants you to register to see it and I’d rather not.

[Admin Moderator]

The reason I excerpted the article is because FT wants you to register to read it, and pay for it if necessary. So let's comply with FT's wishes.

[sarasota]

Can you please give us a recap?

[Joe Boucher]

A few years ago some smart doctors in Australia determined that loads of ulcers too were the result of stomach viruses..

[Boogieman]

I’m sorry, but I think this is mostly nonsense. Bacteria might make you gassy or bloated, and maybe they could make you constipated so you pack some weight on because of that. However, they can’t magically materialize matter that you do not stuff down your throat in the first place. You simply cannot attribute the gross obesity common in America to bacteria.

[Dead Corpse]

I was on cipro for a week due to a mild bout of prostatitis. Lost five pounds with no other change in diet or exercise.

Might be something to this. If you kill off certain types of gut bacteria, you don't have those bacteria helping to break down that much food and it just passes through.

Not saying this is healthy. From what I understand, this is how your guts are supposed to work...

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

The links are useless. Here’s one to a different article on the same subject. Amish are involved;

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120815174902.htm

[EnquiringMind]

Also, Rheumatoid Arthritis has been linked to gut bacteria. Some doctors prescribe antibiotics for RA, and in some cases it works.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“why hasn’t anyone noticed that obese people on antibiotics suddenly lose weight? (I’m guessing they don’t.)”

Well,,,, people don’t usually take antibiotics for a very long time. Mine is 3X/day, for 7 days. Might not be long enough to see much difference. And bacteria can grow back at a very high rate. May need to “target” the meds differently,,, say with an enteric capsule that doesn’t dissolve in the stomach? I’m not really a doctor, but when I was a kid, I played doctor with the neighbor’s daughter.

[Chickensoup]

Mouth bacteria is now being related to cardiovascular disease.

This is interesting to me.

I adopted a little fat baby and over a year the formerly thin vegan vegatarian became fat.