In week seven
of our seminar we learned a lot about the correlation between obesity and neural
functions and circuits. The relevance of this issue to our current society is
rather clear, especially in America where the obesity rates continue to rise
along with other health related issues. During the talk we learned about how the
neural circuitry and function of the brain can contribute to feeding behaviors.
The inhibition or stimulation of certain pathways can promote or inhibit hunger
which can lead to obesity. If these pathways can be properly manipulated, one
might find a way to confront the issues we face today through new means. Of
course as the professor stated, the best and surest way will always be direct
behavioral and diet change.
The article
I read is called “A Molecular Reason Why Obese People Have Trouble Losing
Weight,” which I thought had a lot of relevance to the paper we read on Leptin
Analog by Beshel. It discusses recent studies and findings that relate to the obesity
phenomenon witnessed in many Americans and of course also discusses Leptin. As
we learned in Neuroscience, the Leptin molecule is a hormone used to control fat
storage and hunger. The more fat we have, the more leptin in our system which dials
down our hunger which logically leads to balance of caloric intake. The main
take away is that leptin and our ability to react to it helps our hunger control
our intake of food which in turn regulates our weight.
The article
talked about a study that showed that “disabling MMP-2” led to weight loss in
obese mice and the reverse of adding MMP-2 caused the obese mice to gain mice.
This discovery by the researchers shows how obesity uses MMP-2 in the
hypothalamus to limit the leptin-signaling in the body. Further research showed
that the initial cause of obesity might stem from inflammation because the MMP-2
thrives in the hypothalamus when mixed with inflammatory compounds. The diets common
to America today that consist of high calorie, high fat diets may actually be
contributing to inflammation in the hypothalamus which could escalate MMP-2
production. The research though is not concrete enough to act on and requires
further study, according to the article, but the future for new methods to
battle obesity is definitely looking brighter and complements the research from
our seminar nicely.
Personally,
I find these discoveries both fascinating and disappointing. On one hand, the
increased capability of healthcare to battle obesity on the medicine front is
definitely helpful to extreme cases and people with disorders. Perhaps a
counter inflammatory drug could be developed to help stop inflammation in the
hypothalamus and return leptin behavior to normal. On the other hand, I’m not
sure I find the idea of increasing reliance on surgeries and drugs to deal with
issues like this favorable. Something that could be prevented, in most cases,
with better lifestyle habits, exercise, and dieting is instead being battled
with intense and expensive methods that may have other consequences. Overall, I
believe these are wonderful neuroscience discoveries but I hope they don’t
overlap the better methodology of healthy lifestyle choices.
Stetka, Bret. “A Molecular Reason Why Obese People Have
Trouble Losing Weight.” Scientific American, 23 Aug. 2018, www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-molecular-reason-why-obese-people-have-trouble-losing-weight/.
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