Obesity May Be More Than One Disease, Experts Say
August 20, 2013
August 20, 2013
"Dhurandhar's own studies at Pennington Biomedical Research in Baton Rouge, La., focus on obesity-causing viruses. He discovered the viruses in chickens back in the 1980s and has since associated the presence of certain viral antibodies in the bloodstream of humans to increased body weight.
In one of his landmark studies of 500 people, 30 percent of the obese patients tested positive for the virus, compared to only 11 percent of the lean individuals.
Dhurandhar is quick to point out that he doesn't believe most obesity is infectious in nature, but said that the discovery of a "fat bug" should be a wakeup call to researchers, physicians and anyone struggling with their weight that there may be more to shedding surplus pounds than simply cutting back on calories and putting in a few extra treadmill sessions.
"What good does a starvation diet do if obesity is caused by a virus?" he asked.
Beyond viruses, scientists have identified at least 84 other potential contributors to obesity, Dhurandhar said. They range from genetic to biological to psychological to environmental. Currently, there are about a dozen of these obesogenic culprits under serious study in labs around the world, he noted."
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