[caption id="attachment_62525" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Obesity linked to the 'Hunger Gene' - Study[/caption]Scientists Discover Hunger Gene

There just may be a scientific explanation for the root cause of some people's obesity and it isn't necessarily eating TDM food (TDM=too damn much). Rather, there is a hunger gene which has been classified by the acronym KSR2 which mutates in some people to create an insatiable appetite and reduced metabolism which constitute the killer combination in weight gain.

The study was conducted with a sample of 2,101 patients all of whom were severely obese. The term severely obese means that the patients have a body fat to height-weight ratio of 35% - 39%. The ideal BMI index for people is 19% - 25%. The lead researcher Doctor Sadaf Farooqi of Cambridge University says that identification of the mutated gene may help lead to treatments for both obesity and its concomitant type-II diabetes.

Dr Farooqisaid: 'Changes in diet and levels of physical activity underlie the recent increase in obesity.

'However, some people gain weight more easily than others. This variation between people is largely influenced by genetic factors.

The researchers also observed that the drug metformin, used to treat type-II diabetes, showed possible signs that it may address problems with the KSR2 gene given its ability to restore balance to low levels of fatty acid oxidation at the cellular level. The study suggests that a segment of the population is at risk of becoming obese based on genetics alone.

'This work adds to a growing body of evidence that genes play a major role in influencing a person's weight and may be useful for developing new ways to treat people who are heavy and develop diabetes.' Dr Farooqi added.

According to Stats Canada, between the late 1980s and today, the prevalence of obesity increased significantly in both the United States and Canada. In Canadian men the prevalence rose by approximately 10 percentage points and among men in the United States, the prevalence rose by 12 percentage points. Among women, the increase was approximately 8 percentage points in Canada and approximately 10 percentage points in the United States

The study was published in the journal Cell.

On The Web:

Obesity Gene Found
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2475192/Always-eating-You-newly-discovered-HUNGRY-gene-increases-appetite-slows-metabolism.html