Obesity is a major problem in Britain
Posted on 01/25/2009 6:08:18 PM PST by neverdem
Obesity is a major problem in Britain
OBESITY can be “caught” as easily as a common cold from other people’s coughs, sneezes and dirty hands, scientists will claim today.
Researchers believe that an airborne “adenovirus” germ could be causing the fat plague that is blighting Britain and other countries.
As many as one in three obese people may have become overweight after falling victim to the highly infectious cold-like virus, known as AD-36.
It is known to cause coughs, sore throats, diarrhoea and conjunctivitis but has now also been found to make fat cells multiply, leading to weight gain.
The shocking discovery will add to evidence that Britain’s obesity epidemic is not simply down to an unhealthy diet or lack of exercise.
Research suggests a third of UK adults will be grossly overweight within three years, with Britain even predicted to overtake the US as the most obese nation in the world.
The problem already causes 9,000 premature deaths in the UK a year and costs the NHS £1billion.
Many experts already believe that genes can make some people more susceptible to weight gain and now it seems that infections could also hold the key.
Studies have shown that chickens and mice infected with AD-36 put on weight quicker than uninfected animals, even when they were not given extra food. It has also been found to cause huge weight gain in monkeys.
Now studies on humans show that 33 per cent of obese adults had contracted AD-36 at some point in their lives, compared with only 11 per cent of lean men and women.
Professor Nikhil Dhurandhar, of Pennington Biomedical Research Centre in Louisiana, US, who led the research, said AD-36 continued to add weight gain long after those infected had seemingly recovered.
His studies indicated that the virus lingers for up to three months, during which time it multiplies fat and is contagious to others.
Dr Dhurandhar, who will make the extraordinary claims on BBC2’s Horizon tonight, said: “We now know that this virus goes to the lungs and spreads to various organs such as the liver, kidney, brain and fat tissue.
“When it goes to fat tissue it replicates, making more copies of itself and in the process increases the number of new fat cells, which may explain why people get fat when they are infected with this virus.” The findings were welcomed by some medical experts, although others sounded a note of caution.
Dr Shahrad Taheri, clinical director for obesity at the Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, said: “Most people believe obesity is caused by environmental factors.
“But there is a lot of information about how things like the furring up of arteries could be linked to infections. It is not beyond reason to think about various different factors, including infections, adding into the mix about what causes obesity.”
Tony Barnett, professor of medicine at the University of Birmingham, said: “These associations may give some clues but they detract from the basic message that we all need to take more exercise and eat a bit less.
“This kind of research needs to go on but we have to be cautious.”
Dr Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said: “We must acknowledge it is a contribution to the research but it doesn’t alter the management of obesity.”
The documentary also reveals research which claims to explain why those on diets feel permanently hungry, even when overweight.
A US study found that people have a “natural body weight” and respond to losing a few pounds in the same way as if they were starving.
The findings suggest that overweight people who diet will always suffer hunger pangs, even if they become lean and healthy.
• Horizon: Why Are Thin People Not Fat? is on BBC2 at 9pm tonight.
Are Twinkies the carrier/host?
uhhh...OK?
I know for a fact that smoking kills the cold-like virus.
The government should subsidize smoking.
Sitting in front of a TV snacking all day has nothing to do with weight gain.
Yeah its called Mcdonalds.
There’s some of that wishful thinking, it ain’t my fault science we have grown so fond of!!
Maybe not . . .
In 1985 I had cancer. The treatments made it damn hard to keep weight off. If I don't work out every day and watch me food intake, it is very easy to gain weight and living hell to burn it off. Atkins is just about the only thing that works.
A cold virus may be to blame for sudden, unexplained switches from a normal weight to packing on lbs. It's happened a few times with no clear reason. It would be nice to have a better handle on the mechanism and a means to control it.
It was all great fun when it was the yanks getting fat.
I don’t buy this for one second..
I’m curious - why are you hungry all the time? I’ve had weight issues off and on in my life, and most of them came from trying to follow a diet that didn’t suit me.
When I found a diet plan that did, I stopped having weight problems. I didn’t do well with a lot of the diet plans that are so popular - Atkins, South Beach, etc. do not suit me at all.
How did you decide on the diet plan that you follow?
I am absolutely certain my entire metabolism changed when I contracted pneumonia.
I have to deal with it, but no question, things changed.
It's possible that your pneumonia was initiated by a cold from the suspect virus. Mine started with flu that morphed into a secondary bacterial infection. It certainly messes with your lung capacity.
What do I have to smoke? My cold has me so miserable I'm ready to try anything.
Nah it’s all cause they eat too much - that’s the best and easiest way to become a fat b#stard and boy can the Brits eat and most of it they call ‘stodgy’ type food!
Mel
Good for you! I’ve never had 100 pounds to lose - I was once 40 pounds overweight, and it took me many months of different diet plans to figure out how to fix that. We’re all different, I think, in what we can eat. I can’t feel good on a very low fat diet - just adding a slice of whole fat cheese or a tablespoon of ultra rich ice cream to a meal makes a big difference to me. And if I’m hungry an hour after a meal, I eat something - carrot sticks or grapes usually. If your decaf satisfies, that’s the same thing.
But one thing I have to say - none of us should be “on a diet”. We should all have an eating plan that we will stay with for the rest of our lives. You’re not done until you know you will eat that way, happily, forever.
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