Obesity may be caused by a common virus!

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Common 'adenovirus-36' causes adult stem cells to become adipose.

Too fat? Common virus may be to blame: study
Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:54PM EDT

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A common virus caused human adult stem cells to turn into fat cells and could explain why some people become obese, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

The research builds on prior studies of adenovirus-36 -- a common cause of respiratory and eye infections -- and it may lead to an obesity vaccine, they said.

"We're not talking about preventing all types of obesity, but if it is caused by this virus in humans, we want a vaccine to prevent this," said Nikhil Dhurandhar, an associate professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University System.

The virus adenovirus-36 or Ad-36, caused animals to pack on the pounds in lab experiments. "These animals accumulated a lot of fat," Dhurandhar said in a telephone interview.

Dhurandhar also has shown that obese people were three times more likely to have been infected with Ad-36 than thin people in a large study of humans.

Now, researchers in Dhurandhar's lab have shown that exposure to the virus caused adult human stem cells to turn into fat-storing cells.

Dr. Magdalena Pasarica, who led the study, obtained adult stem cells from fat tissue of people who had undergone liposuction. Stem cells are a type of master cell that exist in an immature form and give rise to more specialized cells.

Half of the stem cells were exposed to the virus Ad-36. After a week, most of the infected stem cells developed into fat cells, while the uninfected cells were unchanged.

Pasarica presented her findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.

"The virus appears to change their commitment to a fat storing cell," Dhurandhar said, adding that Ad-36 is just one of 10 pathogens linked to obesity and that more may be out there.

He acknowledged that some people might find it hard to believe that a virus could be responsible for obesity.

"Certainly overeating has something to do with gaining weight. No doubt about that. But that is not the whole truth," Dhurandhar said. "There are multiple causes of obesity. They range from simple overeating to genes to metabolism and perhaps viruses and infections."

Long term, he said he hoped to develop a vaccine and perhaps treatments for the virus. But first, he and colleagues need to better understand the role of Ad-36 in human obesity, he said.

Globally, around 400 million people are obese, including 20 million children under age 5, according to the World Health Organization.

[Darth Raptor]

Attention: America
Regarding: Your Fat Ass

Regardless of what triggers the development of adipose tissue, pursuant to the Laws of Thermodynamics, it takes energy to fill those fat cells. Obesity is caused by consuming more calories than you use. Deal. With. It.

[Johonebesus]

Attention: America
Regarding: Your Fat Ass

Regardless of what triggers the development of adipose tissue, pursuant to the Laws of Thermodynamics, it takes energy to fill those fat cells. Obesity is caused by consuming more calories than you use. Deal. With. It.

Quite so!

As someone who suffers from a naturally short and stout body type, I get sick of all this fuss over the "cause of obesity." If I and Einhander eat the same diet and get the same amount of exercise he might still be thinner than I, but that doesn't change the basic equation, (calories in) > (calories out) → FAT. I may never be able to attain a slim build, but I am able to keep my belly from hanging over my pants by just restricting my diet a little. It's sad that people seem shocked and confused when they find out I only eat cake or pie or ice cream or chips or soda on special occasions.

[Ariphaos]

Attention: America
Regarding: Your Fat Ass

Regardless of what triggers the development of adipose tissue, pursuant to the Laws of Thermodynamics, it takes energy to fill those fat cells. Obesity is caused by consuming more calories than you use. Deal. With. It.

What if the mechanism is cannibalizing proteins to do so?

The obesity epidemic didn't appear overnight, but over two and a half decades - beginning with the sugar tariffs. Foods with high fructose contents in them get absorbed faster, making people feel hungrier, and little by little, pounds get packed on.

Responses like "Deal. With. It." are nothing more than sanctimonious bullshit. As if, for some reason, there is no such thing as a mental disorder in your world view. Or, in this case, simple instinctual response resulting in no small part from a type of food that humans were not meant to ingest in such quantity.

[Darth Wong]

The obesity epidemic didn't appear overnight, but over two and a half decades - beginning with the sugar tariffs. Foods with high fructose contents in them get absorbed faster, making people feel hungrier, and little by little, pounds get packed on.

I notice you fail to mention the MASSIVE increase in portion sizes over the same period.

[Ariphaos]

I notice you fail to mention the MASSIVE increase in portion sizes over the same period.

Err, that was implied. Fructose gets absorbed faster, so people eat (or worse, drink) more of it. Trying to eat less gets to be an exercise in willpower for a lot of people, and some people have an easy time failing. I made a conscious effort to cut out foods with corn syrup in them (including all sodas) and lost over a hundred pounds (and about 40 bpm off my heart rate, which was the sort of life-threatening situation that got me motivated).

I'm not claiming that us fatter types are blameless, either, but 'just eat less!' doesn't solve the problem, because most people don't and can't keep proper track of what they eat. And when they do, they feel like they're starving. It's not advice, it's telling someone that their addiction is wrong. Just because it's true doesn't mean it's help - it's throwing your voice in with the useless cacophony of other people telling them what they already know.

[Winston Blake]

Attention: America
Regarding: Your Fat Ass

Regardless of what triggers the development of adipose tissue, pursuant to the Laws of Thermodynamics, it takes energy to fill those fat cells. Obesity is caused by consuming more calories than you use. Deal. With. It.

I don't get it, that seems like a post hoc fallacy to me. What if this virus causes the growth of fat cells in the first place, forcibly draining energy (in accordance with your citation of thermodynamics)? Then a person would need to eat more to make up for the lost energy.

Does anybody know if stem cells are continuously produced, or do they run out eventually?

[Havok]

I may get flamed for this, but I care not.

Speaking as a fat American, there are only two reasons why our country is getting so gross.

We eat too much.

We exercise too little.

That is it. End of fucking story. Just sticky this fucking response up at the top of the forum, 'cause this is all you need to know on the subject.

[ray245]

I may get flamed for this, but I care not.

Speaking as a fat American, there are only two reasons why our country is getting so gross.

We eat too much.

We exercise too little.

That is it. End of fucking story. Just sticky this fucking response up at the top of the forum, 'cause this is all you need to know on the subject.

Agreed. By the way, is the excerise lesson in the US very...slack? Or maybe it is just the US choice of diet. Many 'western' food are mostly full of oil.

I've seen a few sample of the US size meals. And damn, they are too much compared to well...most of asia size meals.


The Hamburger in US is MUCH bigger than the ones here in McDonalds. Maybe that's why US people seem so fat?


Even from a random clip of any US street, I DO believe that US has a much higher amount of fat people than average.

[Darth Raptor]

What if the mechanism is cannibalizing proteins to do so?

Then there are more serious medical problems than Buttitis lardus at work here, obviously. I can assure you that the overwhelming majority of fat Americans don't have a fundamentally self-destructive metabolic syndrome going on, though. The point is, this is not the Progenator Virus. It cannot pull free matter and energy out of the ether. If a person has fat in them, the odds are very good it got in through their mouth.

The obesity epidemic didn't appear overnight, but over two and a half decades - beginning with the sugar tariffs. Foods with high fructose contents in them get absorbed faster, making people feel hungrier, and little by little, pounds get packed on.

Responses like "Deal. With. It." are nothing more than sanctimonious bullshit. As if, for some reason, there is no such thing as a mental disorder in your world view. Or, in this case, simple instinctual response resulting in no small part from a type of food that humans were not meant to ingest in such quantity.

Responses like "It's hard!" and "But I don't wanna!" and "Waah!" are not very effective at garnering sympathy, either. Humans have a lot of instincts that, if acted on, would see a lot of people in jail and lots more dead and violated. Restraint is one of those nice things that sepparates us from the rest of the animals. We can *override* our instincts with our conscious minds. I mean, like, whoa. Who'd have thought? And don't whinge at me about mental disorders. On top of my already sluggish metabolism, I have a serotonin deficiency in my brain; that makes me hungry all the fucking time. But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. Sure I'm envious of the cheating fuckers with their rat-speed metabolisms that eat like hogs and never gain a pound. But then I remember that in fifty years my DNA will be far less ravaged by oxidation than most people half my age. Ergo, I'll live longer. I consider that an acceptable tradeoff.

This is just yet another lameass attempt to shift the blame on something other than personal irresponsibility. I really do believe that as soon as people realize there is not a panacea for fatness and to stop expecting one, they can go about actually improving their health and appearance.

I don't get it, that seems like a post hoc fallacy to me. What if this virus causes the growth of fat cells in the first place, forcibly draining energy (in accordance with your citation of thermodynamics)? Then a person would need to eat more to make up for the lost energy.

Let's be clear here: The problem is not fat cells. The problem is fat. Fat cells (adipose tissue) is just where the fat is stored. The fat still, as always, comes from calories consumed that are unused. Fat cells that contain no fat are shriveled into almost nothing, and take up negligible space. The only way to permanently remove fat cells is via liposuction. Emptying fat cells is far easier, and requires only first exhausting your body's supply of glycogen (takes about two days). After that, you literally can just watch the pounds melt away. "I lost one hundred pounds on the revolutionary Stop Eating So Fucking Much Diet. You can too!"

[Broomstick]

Whine, whine, whine.

People are fat, as already pointed out, because they eat too much and move too little. They eat calorie-dense foods instead of filling foods with low calories and high fiber.

Sure, there are a few medical conditions that can make this harder. I have a sister who suffers from one of them - she has serious, serious thyroid problems and has had them since she was 15 or 16. She has never been fashionably slim, but she has also managed not to balloon to 300+ pounds, either. When, prior to her divorce, she put on a lot of weight she gritted her teeth, got out her bicycle, and pedaled it off again. Sure, she struggles with it, but she doesn't whine and make excuses - she eats healthy and pushes herself to exercise.

If she can do it then the average person who doesn't have a hormonal imbalance can do it.

[Winston Blake]

Let's be clear here: The problem is not fat cells. The problem is fat. Fat cells (adipose tissue) is just where the fat is stored. The fat still, as always, comes from calories consumed that are unused. Fat cells that contain no fat are shriveled into almost nothing, and take up negligible space. The only way to permanently remove fat cells is via liposuction.

Thanks for the clarification, but my point remains that we don't have enough information to say that this virus doesn't affect the process of converting energy to fat. At this stage, for all we know, it may cause the body to misjudge how much received energy is 'unused', mistakenly starting the energy-storing process.

Am I the only one here looking at the actual article instead of attacking the emotional strawman of 'No need for responsibility! Eat away! Obesity vaccines for all!'?

"Certainly overeating has something to do with gaining weight. No doubt about that. But that is not the whole truth," Dhurandhar said. "There are multiple causes of obesity. They range from simple overeating to genes to metabolism and perhaps viruses and infections."

For the record, I'm not and have never been overweight.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Thanks for the clarification, but my point remains that we don't have enough information to say that this virus doesn't affect the process of converting energy to fat. At this stage, for all we know, it may cause the body to misjudge how much received energy is 'unused', mistakenly starting the energy-storing process.

Why should I assume such a thing when there's no evidence it's the case? Because it might be? Did you know that you might become a millionaire if you follow one of those pyramid schemes out there? We don't have enough information to rule out the possibility, yes. But we don't have the information to rule it as a realistic possibility either. It'd just be a wild guess.

[Hillary]

Does anyone know who sponsored this research? It may prove illuminating.

That there are people more prone to being overweight than others is well known. All this means is that they have to try harder than most to stay at a reasonable weight. It doesn't mean that it is inevitable that they are overweight.

most people don't and can't keep proper track of what they eat

can't? Of course they can. It's simply that they won't. As someone who constantly struggles with my weight, I am well aware that I can control it should I apply the necessary willpower. It is my fault. End of.

[PainRack]

most people don't and can't keep proper track of what they eat

can't? Of course they can. It's simply that they won't. As someone who constantly struggles with my weight, I am well aware that I can control it should I apply the necessary willpower. It is my fault. End of.

Actually..... not really. There have been some studies done, and what happens is that most people really can't tell the difference between serving sizes and the satiety drive is very delayed.

One needs to be trained to accurately measure serving size.

[Singular Intellect]

It's my understanding that human biology is the culprit. Humans evolved in a world where food wasn't always available 24/7, and thus when faced with an abundant food supply, the human body will store as much as possible to survive any starving periods. Some people store this energy faster and more readily than others. In a natural world this would be a handy survival trait. In our artificial one, it causes obsesity.

[The Spartan]

most people don't and can't keep proper track of what they eat

can't? Of course they can. It's simply that they won't. As someone who constantly struggles with my weight, I am well aware that I can control it should I apply the necessary willpower. It is my fault. End of.

Actually..... not really. There have been some studies done, and what happens is that most people really can't tell the difference between serving sizes and the satiety drive is very delayed.

One needs to be trained to accurately measure serving size.

And there's a simple way of doing that: measuring cups and a kitchen scale. Everyone I know tends to gawk at me when I break out the measuring cup for, say, rice and again for, say, broccoli. But those same people are the ones that tell me that I don't need to measure anything I just need to eat less. Even though they try to eyeball things and are getting fatter, while I measure and am staying, well, not trim, but not putting on pounds either.

"Because it's hard" or "because I don't want to" are not excuses not to count calories.

[Turin]

Havokeff has the bottom line of it. While the atrocious American diet is a big piece of this, I notice the exercise element a lot. People can "eat right" but sit around on their asses all day, and still end up packing on the pounds. Nothing no one here doesn't know, obviously.

Here's an oddball element from the article that caught my eye:

Dr. Magdalena Pasarica, who led the study, obtained adult stem cells from fat tissue of people who had undergone liposuction. Stem cells are a type of master cell that exist in an immature form and give rise to more specialized cells.

I don't have the expertise to say for certain here, but aren't adult stem cells "primed" to become the cells they are surrounded by? Or more accurately, don't adult stem cells become particular types of cells? The stem cells in my intestinal lining, for example, don't become fat cells -- they receive signal proteins that tell them to become intestinal lining cells, and are bathed in said signal proteins in their environment.

Wouldn't the stem cells in question already be predisposed to becoming fat cells?

[Keevan_Colton]

Havokeff has the bottom line of it. While the atrocious American diet is a big piece of this, I notice the exercise element a lot. People can "eat right" but sit around on their asses all day, and still end up packing on the pounds. Nothing no one here doesn't know, obviously.

Here's an oddball element from the article that caught my eye:

Dr. Magdalena Pasarica, who led the study, obtained adult stem cells from fat tissue of people who had undergone liposuction. Stem cells are a type of master cell that exist in an immature form and give rise to more specialized cells.

I don't have the expertise to say for certain here, but aren't adult stem cells "primed" to become the cells they are surrounded by? Or more accurately, don't adult stem cells become particular types of cells? The stem cells in my intestinal lining, for example, don't become fat cells -- they receive signal proteins that tell them to become intestinal lining cells, and are bathed in said signal proteins in their environment.

Wouldn't the stem cells in question already be predisposed to becoming fat cells?

Why then did the ones that were not exposed to the virus remain unchanged then?

[Hillary]

most people don't and can't keep proper track of what they eat

can't? Of course they can. It's simply that they won't. As someone who constantly struggles with my weight, I am well aware that I can control it should I apply the necessary willpower. It is my fault. End of.

Actually..... not really. There have been some studies done, and what happens is that most people really can't tell the difference between serving sizes and the satiety drive is very delayed.

One needs to be trained to accurately measure serving size.

Or have a working set of scales and a measuring jug. Or ordering regular rather than super sizes. Or reading the nutritianal information on packaging. It honestly isn't that tricky.

[Keevan_Colton]

can't? Of course they can. It's simply that they won't. As someone who constantly struggles with my weight, I am well aware that I can control it should I apply the necessary willpower. It is my fault. End of.

Actually..... not really. There have been some studies done, and what happens is that most people really can't tell the difference between serving sizes and the satiety drive is very delayed.

One needs to be trained to accurately measure serving size.

Or have a working set of scales and a measuring jug. Or ordering regular rather than super sizes. Or reading the nutritianal information on packaging. It honestly isn't that tricky.

I noticed when I was across in Canada, they don't require the data to be done per 100g, just per serving...strangely, it seems a serving of crisps isn't a packet, but apparently about four crisps...we've got better labeling laws than a lot of places which does make it far easier to keep track of things and compare two similar products to see which is better nutritionally...at least without resorting to differential equations which is a serious issue for the majority of the population.

[Ariphaos]

I noticed when I was across in Canada, they don't require the data to be done per 100g, just per serving...strangely, it seems a serving of crisps isn't a packet, but apparently about four crisps...we've got better labeling laws than a lot of places which does make it far easier to keep track of things and compare two similar products to see which is better nutritionally...at least without resorting to differential equations which is a serious issue for the majority of the population.

A bottle of coke here is 2.5 servings.

I think a number of people get caught up in that, too. "It's only 100 calories!"

[Turin]

Dr. Magdalena Pasarica, who led the study, obtained adult stem cells from fat tissue of people who had undergone liposuction. Stem cells are a type of master cell that exist in an immature form and give rise to more specialized cells.

I don't have the expertise to say for certain here, but aren't adult stem cells "primed" to become the cells they are surrounded by? Or more accurately, don't adult stem cells become particular types of cells? The stem cells in my intestinal lining, for example, don't become fat cells -- they receive signal proteins that tell them to become intestinal lining cells, and are bathed in said signal proteins in their environment.

Wouldn't the stem cells in question already be predisposed to becoming fat cells?

Why then did the ones that were not exposed to the virus remain unchanged then?[/quote]
Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. I'm not denying that the virus is a trigger to transform into fat cells, I'm just looking into the mechanism behind it for curiosity's sake.

If the stem cells were already going to become fat cells if triggered, then we're talking about a different mechanism than if the virus forces them to become fat cells specifically. So I'm asking whether anyone with a little more expertise on the subject than I have knows whether the stem cells were already "primed" to become fat cells by their environment in the body.

In other words, if you take a bunch of my intestinal lining stem cells and expose them to this virus, will the same thing happen?

Is that a little more clear?

[Keevan_Colton]

I noticed when I was across in Canada, they don't require the data to be done per 100g, just per serving...strangely, it seems a serving of crisps isn't a packet, but apparently about four crisps...we've got better labeling laws than a lot of places which does make it far easier to keep track of things and compare two similar products to see which is better nutritionally...at least without resorting to differential equations which is a serious issue for the majority of the population.

A bottle of coke here is 2.5 servings.

I think a number of people get caught up in that, too. "It's only 100 calories!"

Over here the nutritional information has to be provided on a per 100g or ml basis to allow people to easily compare different products.

[Zixinus]

We eat too much.

We exercise too little.

That is it. End of fucking story. Just sticky this fucking response up at the top of the forum, 'cause this is all you need to know on the subject.

While your own argument is correct, there one thing I want to expand on:

WHY people eat too much and exercise little: In the last 50-80 years an enormous amount of labour was freed from everyday's man. Washing, cleaning, scrubbing, walking down the street every time you have to piss, etc. Work is also a form of exercise. I have a cousin that lives in a household that raises chickens and various vegetables. She works allot, all day in fact. She's thin. She doesn't exercise. She works.

Now, think of what allot of people's work involve today: smiling like an idiot while listening to costumers and/or sitting in front of the computer. How large percent of the population is doing jobs that requires labour?

Laborous work burns calories. Jobs where you don't do labour, or labour means "occasionally moving mildly heavy things" don't.

But eating diets do not change as fast as jobs do! A good deal of food, like pizza, is food for people that worked all day: peasants and sailors.

People's instinct is that to eat as much as possible, because that's what the last couple millions of years told us: eat your food like your life depends on it. Because it does. There might be no more food for a great while and/or you need as much calories as you can get.

Switching away and adapting our diets away from centuries old traditions is an easier task then done. We also must learn how to manage our diet ourselves. It's not something that can be easily learned or "just done". Some people need those extra calories, others don't.