Obesity

Although data from Africa are scant, a clear and distinct secular trend of profoundly increased BMIs is observed when people from Africa emigrate to the northwestern regions of the world. Comparisons of these indices among Nigerians and Ghanaians residing in their native countries with indices in recent immigrants to the United States show this trend […] Read More

The prevalence of obesity worldwide is increasing, particularly in the industrialized nations of the Northern Hemisphere, such as the United States, Canada, and most countries of Europe. Available data from the Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) project suggest that at least 15% of men and 22% of women in Europe […] Read More

Overweight and obesity were associated with nearly 1 in 5 deaths (18.2%) among adults in the United States from 1986 through 2006, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Previous research has underestimated obesity’s impact on US mortality. Obesity appeared to have a particularly strong effect among black women, with […] Read More

Approximately 78 million adults above age 20 (37.5 million men and 40.6 million women) and 12.5 million children and adolescents (5.5 million boys and 7 million girls) in the United States are obese. A report from the National Center for Health Statistics stated that in US individuals aged 20 years or older, the prevalence of […] Read More

Evolving data suggest that a notable inflammatory, and possibly infective, etiology may exist for obesity. Adipose tissue is known to be a repository of various cytokines, especially interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. One study showed an association between obesity and a high-normal level of plasma procalcitonin, a dependent variable that reflects a state of […] Read More

Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is converted into alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), which acts centrally on the melanocortin receptor 4 (MC 4) to reduce dietary intake. Genetic defects in POMC production and mutations in the MC4 gene are described as monogenic causes of obesity in humans. Of particular interest is the fact that patients with POMC mutations tend to […] Read More

The strong heritability of obesity has been demonstrated in several twin and adoptee studies, in which obese individuals who were reared separately followed the same weight pattern as that of their biological parents and their identical twin. Metabolic rate, spontaneous physical activity, and thermic response to food seem to be heritable to a variable extent. […] Read More

Two major groups of factors, genetic and environmental, have a balance that variably intertwines in the development of obesity. Genetic factors are presumed to explain 40-70% of the variance in obesity, within a limited range of BMI (18-30 kg/m2). A study in which monozygotic twins were overfed by 1000 kcal per day, 6 days a […] Read More

Mutations resulting in defects of the leptin receptor in the hypothalamus may occur. These mutations result in early-onset obesity and hyperphagia despite normal or elevated leptin levels, along with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and defective thyrotropin secretion. Murray et al first reported on a sequence variant within the leptin gene that enhances the intrinsic bioactivity of leptin, […] Read More

Patients with the night-eating syndrome have an attenuation of the nocturnal rise in plasma melatonin and leptin levels and higher circadian levels of plasma cortisol. These individuals have morning anorexia, evening hyperphagia, and insomnia. In one study, patients with night-eating syndrome averaged 3.6 awakenings per night; 52% of these awakenings were associated with food intake, […] Read More