Obesity News and Research

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Overweight and obesity are defined by the WHO as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to an individuals health.

Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer and while it was once an issue only in high income countries, overweight and obesity has now dramatically risen in low- and middle-income countries.Such countries are now facing a "double burden" of disease, for while they continue to deal with the problems of infectious disease and under-nutrition, they are also experiencing a rapid upsurge in chronic disease risk factors such as obesity and overweight, particularly in urban settings.

Common Fat Cells Converted to Calorie-Burning Beige Fat in Mice

According to recent research from UC San Francisco, it is now possible to convert common white fat cells, which store calories, into beige fat cells, which burn calories to regulate body temperature.

2 Jul 2024

Study Offers Insights Genetic Variants Influencing Pubertal Timing

Genes can indirectly influence the age at which girls have their first period by accelerating weight gain in childhood, a known risk factor for early puberty, a Cambridge-led study has found.

2 Jul 2024

PepFlow: Deep-Learning Model Unveils Multi-Conformational Peptide Structures

Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a deep-learning model, called PepFlow, that can predict all possible shapes of peptides – chains of amino acids that are shorter than proteins, but perform similar biological functions.

1 Jul 2024

Genetic Insights into Coffee Consumption and Health Implications

Coffee drinking is a heritable habit, and one that carries a certain amount of genetic baggage.

20 Jun 2024

Study Reveals How Sweet Taste Receptor Regulates Blood Sugar and Insulin

The rich research portfolio of the Monell Chemical Senses Center on sweet taste goes way back: Monell scientists were one of four teams in 2001 that found and described the mammalian sweet taste receptor – TAS1R2-TAS1R3.

20 May 2024

Unveiling the Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Obesity Potential of Menthol-Derived Esters

Obesity and inflammatory diseases are increasing in prevalence and contribute to the growing burden of lifestyle disorders such as diabetes and hypertension. There is a lack of naturally derived alternatives to tackle these issues

20 May 2024

New Population of Cells in Human Omental Fat Tissue Found to Hinder Adipogenesis

Understanding how fat tissue forms and functions is crucial for addressing obesity and related metabolic diseases. However, adipose tissue, or body fat, behaves differently based on its location in the body.

10 May 2024

Unlocking Brown Fat's Potential: Study Reveals Key Protein in Obesity Regulation

Brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue (BAT), is a type of fat in our bodies that's different from the white fat around our belly and thighs that we are more familiar with.

30 Apr 2024

Harmless Particles Enhance Immune Response, Study Finds

Our lungs are bombarded by all manner of different particles every single day. Whilst some are perfectly safe for us, others-;known as pathogens-;have the potential to make us ill.

29 Apr 2024

Breakthrough Study Reveals Genetic Variants with Significant Impact on Obesity Risk

A study led by Medical Research Council (MRC) researchers has identified genetic variants in two genes that have some of the largest impacts on obesity risk discovered to date.

5 Apr 2024

Strategies to Counter Postnatal Growth Retardation in Piglets

The metabolic basis of postnatal growth retardation (PGR) in piglets is not yet clear, but it is characterized by poor production performance, low feed conversion rate, and a high mortality rate.

4 Mar 2024

Gut Microbial Metabolite Linked to Increased Thrombosis Risk in COVID-19 Patients

A gut microbial metabolite called 2-methylbutyrylcarnitine (2MBC) plays a role in exacerbating thrombosis -- the formation of blood clots – researchers report February 23rd in the journal Cell Metabolism.

26 Feb 2024

Genetic Clusters Linked to Type 2 Diabetes and Complications

The relationship between genetic variations and disease in order to create novel medications and therapies.

20 Feb 2024

Study Shows How Obesity Causes Mitochondrial Fragmentation in Fat Cells

The number of people with obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, resulting in a worldwide epidemic.

30 Jan 2024

A New Tool for Monitoring Neuronal Inhibition

By tracking when distinct subsets of brain cells activate, researchers have understood the complex activity patterns found in both human and animal brains for many years. Knowing how long those neurons stay active and when they turn off again is crucial to understanding the brain and its associated disorders.

24 Jan 2024

High-Resolution Map Exposes Cellular Pathways to Fertility

An interdisciplinary team mapped the gene expression that takes place in mice during follicle maturation and ovulation using a state-of-the-art method of RNA tagging.

24 Jan 2024

New Insights Into How Genetic Variation Affects Gene Expression

Chromatin accessibility and transcription factor binding are determined by genetic variation, according to a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland.

23 Jan 2024

New Technology Enables Minimally-Invasive, High-Resolution Recording of Brain Activity

Sensors built with a new manufacturing approach are capable of recording activity deep within the brain from large populations of individual neurons–with a resolution of as few as one or two neurons–in humans as well as a range of animal models, according to a study published in the Jan. 17, 2024 issue of the journal Nature Communications.

18 Jan 2024

Breakthrough 3D Vascular Sheet Mimics Atherosclerosis for High-Throughput Drug Screening

A groundbreaking 3D, three-layer nanomatrix vascular sheet that possesses multiple features of atherosclerosis has been applied for developing a high-throughput functional assay of drug candidates to treat this disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers report in the journal Biomaterials.

16 Jan 2024

mEnrich-seq: A High-Specificity Bacterial Enrichment Technique for Microbiome Research

In a landmark study recently published in the journal Nature Methods, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have unveiled mEnrich-seq-;an innovative method designed to substantially enhance the specificity and efficiency of research into microbiomes, the complex communities of microorganisms that inhabit the human body.

5 Jan 2024