OBESITY MAY SHORTEN LIFE EXPECTANCY UP TO EIGHT YEARS

'Tis the season to indulge. However, restraint may be best, according to a new study led by investigators at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and McGill University. The researchers examined the relationship between body weight and life expectancy. Their findings show that overweight and obese individuals have the potential to decrease life expectancy by up to 8 years. The study, published in the current issue of The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology,further demonstrates that when one considers that these individuals may also develop diabetes or cardiovascular disease earlier in life, this excess weight can rob them of nearly two decades of healthy life.

In collaboration with researchers from the University of Calgary and the University of British Columbia our team has developed a computer model to help doctors and their patients better understand how excess body weight contributes to reduced life expectancy and premature development of heart disease and diabetes," says lead author Dr. Steven Grover, a Clinical Epidemiologist at the RI-MUHC and a Professor of Medicine at McGill University.

Diabetes and cardiovascular disease: the predictors of health

Dr. Grover and his colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (from years 2003 to 2010) to develop a model that estimates the annual risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in adults with different body weights. This data from almost 4,000 individuals was also used to analyze the contribution of excess body weight to years of life lost and healthy years of life lost.

Their findings estimated that individuals who were very obese could lose up to 8 years of life, obese individuals could lose up to 6 years, and those who were overweight could lose up to three years. In addition, healthy life-years lost were two to four times higher for overweight and obese individuals compared to those who had a healthy weight, defined as 18.5-25 body mass index (BMI). The age at which the excess weight accumulated was an important factor and the worst outcomes were in those who gained their weight at earlier ages.

"The pattern is clear -- the more an individual weighs and the younger their age, the greater the effect on their health," Dr. Grover adds. "In terms of life-expectancy, we feel being overweight is as bad as cigarette smoking."

The next steps are to personalize this information in order to make it more relevant and compelling for patients. "What may be interesting for patients are the 'what if?' questions. What if they lose 10 to 15 pounds? Or, what if they are more active? How will this change the numbers?" says Dr. Grover. The research team is now conducting a three year study in community pharmacies across the country to see if engaging patients with this information and then offering them a web-based e-health program will help them adopt healthier lifestyles, including healthier diets and regular physical activity.

"These clinically meaningful models are useful for patients, and their healthcare professionals, to better appreciate the issues and the benefits of a healthier lifestyle, which we know is difficult for many of us to adopt and maintain, Dr. Grover adds.

HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR OBESITY

Obesity is a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity isn't just a cosmetic concern. It increases your risk of diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Being extremely obese means you are especially likely to have health problems related to your weight.

The good news is that even modest weight loss can improve or prevent the health problems associated with obesity. Dietary changes, increased physical activity and behavior changes can help you lose weight.

Causes--Although there are genetic, behavioral and hormonal influences on body weight, obesity occurs when you take in more calories than you burn through exercise and normal daily activities. Your body stores these excess calories as fat.

Obesity can sometimes be traced to a medical cause, such as Prader-Willi syndrome, Cushing's syndrome, and other diseases and conditions. However, these disorders are rare and, in general, the principal causes of obesity are:

Inactivity. If you're not very active, you don't burn as many calories. With a sedentary lifestyle, you can easily take in more calories every day than you use through exercise and normal daily activities.

Unhealthy diet and eating habits. Weight gain is inevitable if you regularly eat more calories than you burn. And most Americans' diets are too high in calories and are full of fast food and high-calorie beverages

Symptoms-Obesity is diagnosed when your body mass index (BMI) is 30 or higher. Your body mass index is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms (kg) by your height in meters (m) squared.

BMI	Weight status
Below 18.5	Underweight
18.5-24.9	Normal
25.0-29.9	Overweight
30.0-34.9	Obese (Class I)
35.0-39.9	Obese (Class II)
40.0 and higher	Extreme obesity (Class III)

For most people, BMI provides a reasonable estimate of body fat. However, BMI doesn't directly measure body fat, so some people, such as muscular athletes, may have a BMI in the obese category even though they don't have excess body fat. Ask your doctor if your BMI is a problem.

HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES

CALCAREA CARB -30- Calcarea carb. is one of the top medicines for weight loss . There is excess fat in the abdomen and the metabolism is working at a very low pace, resulting in obesity and weight gain. The patient  is fatty and flabby.  There is  a tendency to perspire profusely, especially on head. These patients cannot tolerate cold air. The patient have  peculiar eating habits . The eating habits include craving for boiled eggs, and strange things like chalk, clay, pencils, lime etc. Due to a sluggish metabolic activity, the patients are almost always constipated. This medicine can also be considered if the excess weight gain is due to thyroid problems.They have polycystic ovarian disease 

CAPSICUM 30-Capsicum is one of the best medicines for obesity. Capsicum is prescribed when the person is mentally sluggish and indolent. The patient does not like any physical exertion and does not feel doing anything that is not his / her routine. The patient is usually chilly and feels lack of warmth at all times.  It is also a good medicine for alcoholics and there is a lot of craving for alcohol and other stimulants . In Capsicum patients the digestion is slow and sluggish.

FERRUM METALLICUM 30- Ferrum met is one of the best medicines for obesity with anemia. The skin is pale and also are the mucous membranes . There may be flushing of the face despite being anemic. The hands and feet remain cold. The muscles are flabby and relaxed. The patient is so weak that walking and talking can be difficult. There may be palpitation of the heart that is worse by every movement.

ANTIMONIUM CRUDUM 30- Antimonium crudum is  prescribed for obese children in order to help them lose weight. The  child who possesses extreme irritability, very cross nature, and an aversion to be touched or be looked at. These children also have a marked aversion to cold bathing. The significant indicator for using this medicine to lose weight is a craving for acidic things like pickles in the child. The child’s tongue in this case is usually thickly white coated and the stomach is deranged with alternate diarrhea and constipation due to a habit of over eating.

FUCUS VESICULOSIS Q- Fucus is tried when Calcarea carb. fails. In focus thyroid problem is the main reason for weight gain.

NATRUM MURIATICUM 200—Natrum mur. Is also used as an effective remedy for losing weight.Natrum mur is effective  when there is an excess of fat mainly in the thighs and buttocks as compared to other parts of the body. This medicine gives wonderful results if the person has gained excess weight due to long continued stress or depression. There is excessive heat in the patient’s body and intolerance towards the heat of the sun. The patients who require this medicine usually suffer from anemia. Another important symptom seen in patients suited to this medicine is the craving for extra salts in diet. Natrum mur patient has  weeping tendencies, especially when alone, worsens when someone consoles him / her and reserved nature.They have polycystic ovarian disease .

LYCOPODIUM CLAVATUM 200-Lycopodium is another effective remedy for obesity . This is also used mainly when the thighs and buttock areas have excess fat, just like the above mentioned medicine Natrum Mur. But again the constitutional symptoms that are unique to using Lycopodium differentiate between these two. The patients who require Lycopodium are chronic sufferers of gastric troubles like flatulence  and constipation . They have a tendency to crave for sweet foods. They also indulge in hot drinks and hot food. They show a tendency to eat far beyond their capacity with resulting bloated abdomen and weight gain. Mentally, the person requiring this medicine is very irritable and easily roused to anger, especially on being contradicted. Hypothyroidism  is another cause of weight gain in Lycopodium.

 NUX VOMICA 30-  Nux Vomica is recommended for persons who have gained excess weight due to sedentary habits. Nux vomica patients are  chronic sufferers of the most obstinate constipation. Such a person has a continuous urge to pass stool, but only a little stool is ejected at a time. Also there  is intolerance to cold air. Nux vomica patient  likes spicy food, fatty food and stimulants like coffee or alcoholic drinks. Mentally, the person is extremely sensitive to external impressions and gets angry to an extreme degree too.

PHYTOLACCA BERRY Q- Obesity without any  possible defect in the system. A general remedy to reduce weight and fat

CALOTROPIS Q- Calotropis  is a good medicine for weight loss. Obesity while flesh decreases , muscles become harder and stronger .

IGNATIA 200-Ignatia is prescribed when depression   is the cause of weight gain. The persons requiring Ignatia usually eat to a great extent due to sadness, and consequently gain weight. They have very fickle mood that changes from sadness to happiness and from laughter to tears. 

AMMONIUM CARB 30. In Ammonium carb. there is excess fat in the upper body when compared to legs , which are thin. Ammonium Carb is effective  for obese persons who are sluggish and always feel tired and weak. These people usually have a sedentary life style. They also show marked sensitivity to cold air. 

GRAPHITES 30-Graphites is prescribed when the women gained excess weight around menopause Even during the young age the females have delayed menses.The patient may have skin eruptions. The skin eruptions ooze thick sticky discharge..Graphites  mainly suits women who remain sad, cannot tolerate cold air and suffer from chronic constipation.There is an increase sensitiveness to cold.

PULSATILLA NIG. 30—Pulsatilla is prescribed when obesity is due to uterine problems. The patient has a mild , gentle, yielding disposition.The patient averse to fat food and drink. Thirstlessness is another feature of this remedy.The patient likes open air.   

SEPIA 30-Sepia is also effective for weight gain around menopause. Sepia suits women who are irritable and indifferent in behavior towards their family. These women may also complain of hot flushes. A prominent feature that serves as a clear indicator that Sepia is required for treatment is a bearing down sensations in pelvic organs of the woman.They have polycystic ovarian disease.

THYROIDINUM 3X—Thyroidinum is suitable when obesity is due to imperfect function of thyroid gland.

        

    

OBESITY BREAKTHROUGH METABOLIC MASTER SWITCH PROMPTS FAT CELLS TO STORE OR BURN FAT

Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century. Affecting more than 500 million people worldwide, obesity costs at least $200 billion each year in the United States alone, and contributes to potentially fatal disorders such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

But there may now be a new approach to prevent and even cure obesity, thanks to a study led by researchers at MIT and Harvard Medical School and published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. By analyzing the cellular circuitry underlying the strongest genetic association with obesity, the researchers have unveiled a new pathway that controls human metabolism by prompting our adipocytes, or fat cells, to store fat or burn it away.

"Obesity has traditionally been seen as the result of an imbalance between the amount of food we eat and how much we exercise, but this view ignores the contribution of genetics to each individual's metabolism," says senior author Manolis Kellis, a professor of computer science and a member of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and of the Broad Institute.

New mechanism found

The strongest association with obesity resides in a gene region known as "FTO," which has been the focus of intense scrutiny since its discovery in 2007. However, previous studies have failed to find a mechanism to explain how genetic differences in the region lead to obesity.

"Many studies attempted to link the FTO region with brain circuits that control appetite or propensity to exercise," says first author Melina Claussnitzer, a visiting professor at CSAIL and instructor in medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "Our results indicate that the obesity-associated region acts primarily in adipocyte progenitor cells in a brain-independent way."

To recognize the cell types where the obesity-associated region may act, the researchers used annotations of genomic control switches across more than 100 tissues and cell types. They found evidence of a major control switchboard in human adipocyte progenitor cells, suggesting that genetic differences may affect the functioning of human fat stores.

To study the effects of genetic differences in adipocytes, the researchers gathered adipose samples from healthy Europeans carrying either the risk or the non-risk version of the region. They found that the risk version activated a major control region in adipocyte progenitor cells, which turned on two distant genes, IRX3 and IRX5.

Control of thermogenesis

Follow-up experiments showed that IRX3 and IRX5 act as master controllers of a process known as thermogenesis, whereby adipocytes dissipate energy as heat, instead of storing it as fat. Thermogenesis can be triggered by exercise, diet, or exposure to cold, and occurs both in mitochondria-rich brown adipocytes that are developmentally related to muscle, and in beige adipocytes that are instead related to energy-storing white adipocytes.

"Early studies of thermogenesis focused primarily on brown fat, which plays a major role in mice, but is virtually nonexistent in human adults," Claussnitzer says. "This new pathway controls thermogenesis in the more abundant white fat stores instead, and its genetic association with obesity indicates it affects global energy balance in humans."

The researchers predicted that a genetic difference of only one nucleotide is responsible for the obesity association. In risk individuals, a thymine (T) is replaced by a cytosine (C) nucleobase, which disrupts repression of the control region and turns on IRX3 and IRX5. This then turns off thermogenesis, leading to lipid accumulation and ultimately obesity.

By editing a single nucleotide position using the CRISPR/Cas9 system -- a technology that allows researchers to make precise changes to a DNA sequence -- the researchers could switch between lean and obese signatures in human pre-adipocytes. Switching the C to a T in risk individuals turned off IRX3 and IRX5, restored thermogenesis to non-risk levels, and switched off lipid storage genes.

"Knowing the causal variant underlying the obesity association may allow somatic genome editing as a therapeutic avenue for individuals carrying the risk allele," Kellis says. "But more importantly, the uncovered cellular circuits may allow us to dial a metabolic master switch for both risk and non-risk individuals, as a means to counter environmental, lifestyle, or genetic contributors to obesity."

Success in human and mouse cells

The researchers showed that they could indeed manipulate this new pathway to reverse the signatures of obesity in both human cells and mice.

In primary adipose cells from either risk or non-risk individuals, altering the expression of either IRX3 or IRX5 switched between energy-storing white adipocyte functions and energy-burning beige adipocyte functions.

Similarly, repression of IRX3 in mouse adipocytes led to dramatic changes in whole-body energy balance, resulting in a reduction of body weight and all major fat stores, and complete resistance to a high-fat diet.

"By manipulating this new pathway, we could switch between energy storage and energy dissipation programs at both the cellular and the organismal level, providing new hope for a cure against obesity," Kellis says.

The researchers are currently establishing collaborations in academia and industry to translate their findings into obesity therapeutics. They are also using their approach as a model to understand the circuitry of other disease-associated regions in the human genome.

CHEMICAL IN COFFEE MAY HELP PREVENT OBESITY RELATED DISEASE

Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that a chemical compound commonly found in coffee may help prevent some of the damaging effects of obesity.

In a paper published recently in Pharmaceutical Research, scientists found that chlorogenic acid, or CGA, significantly reduced insulin resistance and accumulation of fat in the livers of mice who were fed a high-fat diet.

"Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption may lower the risk for chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease," said Yongjie Ma, a postdoctoral research associate in UGA's College of Pharmacy and lead author of the paper. "Our study expands on this research by looking at the benefits associated with this specific compound, which is found in great abundance in coffee, but also in other fruits and vegetables like apples, pears, tomatoes and blueberries."

During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. More than one-third of U.S. adults and approximately 17 percent of children are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the annual medical cost of obesity is more than $147 billion.

Aside from weight gain, two common side effects of obesity are increased insulin resistance and the accumulation of fat in the liver. Left untreated, these disorders can lead to diabetes and poor liver function.

To test the therapeutic effects of CGA, researchers fed a group of mice a high-fat diet for 15 weeks while also injecting them with a CGA solution twice per week.

They found that CGA was not only effective in preventing weight gain, but it also helped maintain normal blood sugar levels and healthy liver composition.

"CGA is a powerful antioxidant that reduces inflammation," said Ma, who works in the laboratory of professor Dexi Liu in the department of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences. "A lot of evidence suggests that obesity-related diseases are caused by chronic inflammation, so if we can control that, we can hopefully offset some of the negative effects of excessive weight gain."

But the authors are quick to point out that CGA is not a cure-all. Proper diet and regular exercise are still the best methods to reduce the risks associated with obesity.

The mice in this study received a high dose of CGA, much higher than what a human would absorb through regular coffee consumption or a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

However, the researchers do believe that CGA may form the foundation of a treatment for those who need extra help. They plan to conduct more research to develop an improved CGA formulation specifically for human consumption.

"We're not suggesting that people start drinking a lot of coffee to protect themselves from an unhealthy lifestyle," said Ma, who is also a member of UGA's Obesity Initiative. "But we do think that we might be able to create a useful therapeutic using CGA that will help those at risk for obesity-related disease as they make positive lifestyle changes."