Diet pills are famous for one thing: not working.
But now, one study has hopefully found a diet pill that can take a step closer to that miracle weight loss pill.
This discovery comes after scientists just discovered two new genes that control the production of another gene, Ucp1, which affects the body’s decision to store or burn fat.
They’re called the Cnot7 and Tob genes, and they now hope to find out how to control these genes in order to make anti-obesity drugs.
In studies done on rats, they found that when they extracted those genes, mice stayed skinny no matter how much they ate.
A drug that harnessed these genes in order to produce the same effect in humans would not just be beneficial in cutting back on obesity.
It would also reduce the risk of all the obesity complications, including heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
Lead researcher Dr. Takahashi Akinori says that the key was getting the body to burn fat as heat the way they wanted it to.
“We wish to inhibit the pathway that suppresses the conversion of fat into heat,” he said. “Being able to enhance fat burning could have clinical applications, such as the production of anti-obesity drugs.”
It’ old news that the world has an obesity problem. And while it’s urgent that obesity be cured, there’s currently no effective medical treatment. The only treatments are personal, and lie in a healthier lifestyle.
But the Ucp1 protein is where Dr. Akniori hopes to solve the genetic obesity problem.
Obese people have low levels of this gene, and so are more prone to storing fat. Higer levels means more fat is burned off.
The findings are hoping to test this theory on humans, to see if it works as well as on mice. In time, we only have our healthy diet and exercise.
