appetite

New research questions basic tenet of neuron function

...to stress, pain, and the physical drives of sleep, appetite and sexuality. A better understanding of such fundamental mechanisms of neurotransmitter release will aid researchers in their investigations of psychiatric disorders and neurological disorders such as mental retardation, autism, depression and epil...

Weight control protein may yield antiobesity drugs

...tent. That signal, in turn, elicits adjustments in appetite and energy expenditure to maintain normal body weight. Mice lacking SH2-B overeat and become obese, the team found. The animals additionally develop a metabolic syndrome characterized by high blood concentrations of leptin, insulin, and lipids. They...

An essential regulator of body weight revealed

...s from POMC neurons ?suggesting it could stimulate appetite through a mechanism unique from that of NPY. It seemed to be the molecule they'd been searching for. "We thought, this is great: NPY is gone, AgRP takes over ?how simple could it be?" Palmiter said. But when scientists at Merck created mice that lack...

Access to existing medical treatments could save more lives than spending to improve the treatments

...mmercial interests of industry and by the public's appetite for technological breakthroughs, but health outcomes ultimately suffer." The authors discuss the relevance of this concept at a time when the nation is struggling with the escalating costs of health care and unsatisfactory performance on quality. "H...

Study by Einstein researchers could lead to a novel strategy for treating obesity

... latest finding on the brain's role in controlling appetite and weight, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have shown that reducing levels of fatty acids in the hypothalamus causes rats to overeat and become obese. Their results suggest that restoring fatty-acid levels in the brain may be ...

Dogs keep dying: Many owners unaware of toxic dog food

...een poisoned by afltoxin include lethargy, loss of appetite and vomiting and, later, orange-colored urine and jaundice (a yellowing of the eyes, gums and nonpigmented skin that reflects substantial liver injury). Severely affected dogs produce a blood-tinged vomit and bloody or blackened stools. "Since dogs c...

Hap1 protein links circulating insulin to brain circuits that regulate feeding behavior in mice

...of the neural pathway used by hormones to regulate appetite and eating behavior could eventually provide new drug targets for treating eating disorders and obesity. The research, reported on-line April 9 in the journal Nature Medicine, will be published in the May 1 print edition. The hypothalamus serves a...

It's not fair! We are programmed to resist weight loss

...T this week. Queensland University of Technology appetite regulation and energy balance researcher Dr Neil King, from the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), said our bodies have strong mechanisms to defend attempts to lose weight but very weak mechanisms to prevent weight gain. Dr King'...

Radioactive scorpion venom for fighting cancer

...ing absorbed by the thyroid, which has a voracious appetite for iodine, the patients were given large amounts of non-radioactive iodine prior to the therapy to block the thyroid uptake of I-131. When the patient returns home several hours after the procedure, there are radiation doses to any family members...

Sleep deprivation doubles risks of obesity in both children and adults

...uration may lead to obesity through an increase of appetite via hormonal changes caused by the sleep deprivati...ces Ghrelin which, among other effects, stimulates appetite and creates less leptin which, among other effects, suppresses appetite. However he says more resear...

Gut microbes' partnership helps body extract energy from food, store it as fat

...gene activity in B. thetaiotaomicron, shifting its appetite to a more abundant class of polysaccharides known as fructans. Commonly found in Western diet, fructans are used as food sweeteners. This taste change increased B. thetaiotaomicron's ability to produce energy for itself, and to make energy available...

Leptin found to control appetite and limb development in frogs

.... As in mice, the hormone is apparently a powerful appetite suppressant for these animals, causing them to give up eating even as their bodies waste away. But the youngest tadpoles showed a different response to the hormone. Rather than going off their feed as the older frogs did, these tadpoles kept right ...

Hair samples show babies can be exposed to 'crystal meth' while in the womb

...llbeing, euphoria, and exhilaration. It also curbs appetite and enhances sexual arousal. But long term abuse damages nerves in the brain and can lead to psychotic behaviour and aggression. The drug is very easy to manufacture in home laboratories, and global use has soared, particularly among young wome...

Leptin has powerful effect on reward center in the brain

...d intake and metabolism, exerts a strong effect on appetite by acting in the mid-brain region as well as in the hypothalamus, according to a Yale School of Medicine study in Neuron. "Finding that metabolic hormones directly regulate the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the mid-brain has profound implications...

Eat less, weigh more? Enzyme makes lean mice 'susceptible' to dietary fat

...ed, CPT1c must play a role in feeding behavior and appetite control. And when fed a high-fat diet (mouse chow laced with lard) for 10 weeks, mice lacking CPT1c still ate less than their normal littermates, but they were much heavier. What scientists already know about the regulation of body weight helps e...

Very low birth weight linked to reduced quality of life in pre-school children

...en with low birth weight had poorer lung function, appetite and motor function than normal birth-weight children, as well as being more anxious, less positive and less lively. Premature babies delivered before 28 weeks were much more likely to have a lower quality of life when it came to cognitive functions...

Like salty food? Chances are you had low blood sodium when you were born

...e. The researchers analyzed each child's sodium appetite according to neonatal diuretic treatment, and used each child's lowest recorded serum sodium levels as an index of sodium loss. The latter was determined by screening all the serum sodium measurements of each infant's postnatal medical record, and se...

Natural gut hormone offers hope for new obesity drug

...team identified the role played by gut hormones in appetite control. These hormones are released when a person...(PP), which they believe may provide a solution to appetite suppression and is the most likely candidate for translating into a treatment. "Developing a trea...

Scripps research team discovers a chemical pathway that causes mice to overeat and gain weight

...ting implications for scientists' understanding of appetite regulation. PGE2 is known to stimulate the release of leptin-an important hormone secreted by white fat cells and a suppressor of appetite. However, in this model, lack of EP3 did not prevent leptin increase. "Something is happening there in that cir...

Smell may outlast other senses

...ell, particularly the elderly, are at risk of poor appetite and subsequent poor nutrition. Smell is also an important warning sense ?telling people when food is not fit for consumption.? Healthy women were shown to have a more sensitive sense of smell than healthy men but the gender effect was not apparen...

How appetite-stimulating brain cells work overtime during fasting

...sting, brain cells responsible for stimulating the appetite make sure that you stay hungry. Now, a new study o...g rate in these [hunger-stimulating] cells so that appetite remains elevated during fasting," Diano's group concluded. "Overall, our study provides strong evide...

Tracking sperm whales and jumbo squid

...60,000 to 1 million. These giants have a voracious appetite for squid. According to one estimate, worldwide sperm whale predation on squid may exceed 100 million metric tons a year—roughly equivalent to the entire annual harvest of all the commercial fisheries on Earth. Humans also are big consumers of squ...

In obesity, brain becomes 'unaware' of fat

...the brain about the body’s fat reserves, modifying appetite and energy expenditure accordingly. The arcuate nucleus in the brain’s hypothalamus, known as the ARH, is a major site of leptin sensing, harboring neurons that control appetite. More than 60 percent of American adults are now overweight or obese,...

Mice with a migraine show signs of brain damage

...is under tremendous stress, developing a voracious appetite for oxygen as it works frantically to restore the proper chemical balance. Oxygen-rich blood pours into the area to allow brain tissue to work overtime; the team found that the brain’s arteries expand by more than 50 percent to keep up with the deman...

Puzzling plankton yield secrets to role in evolution/global photosynthesis

...the organisms to horde nutrients and reduced their appetite for iron—an adaptive process in Ostreococcus. "This work builds on the community’s emerging understanding about how carbon fixation is carried out by picoplankton," said Brian Palenik, lead author and researcher at the Scripps Institution of Ocean...

Treating HIV in war zones -- Public health emergencies need rapid advice from WHO

...e night. When I had only five pills left I lost my appetite and felt desperate…but despite the uncertainty I continued to take my treatment at the correct hour… When I had only one pill left I had the courage to go out and seek some more treatment. I went to see nurse who informed me that she would be able to...

Understanding why C. difficile causes disease -- it's hungry

...otein, Sonenshein hope to find a way to change the appetite of the bacteria. "If we find a way to shut down toxin production in the hypervirulent strain, we might have a new way to treat the disease," says Sonenshein....