Being obese or overweight, people are at high risk of getting heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and even cancer. Therefore, when one is overweight or obese, he or she will turn to weight management for help hoping to get rid of the extra weight in the body.
Although the ideal approach to reduce the weight is through managing the diet and increasing physical activities, this process could take a considerably long period. Some patients just do not have the patience to wait for the results. Many of them may seek help from their doctors for prescription of appropriate slimming pills (drugs) to trim the extra weight.
A recent study carried out on mice by researchers from the Harvard Medical School found that the hormone leptin, when combined with one of the 2 drugs approved by United States, could suppress the appetite of overweight people. The findings were published in the January 7 edition of the journal 'Cell Metabolism'.
Leptin is one that signals the brain to stop eating once the stomach is full, but such mechanism does not work effectively in most obese people.
The 2 drugs used in the study are Phenyl Butyric Acid (PBA) and Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA). Not meant to treat obesity, these medications are normally prescribed for other maladies including neurological disease like Alzheimer and Huntington. Meanwhile, PBA is often used for liver dysfunction and cystic fibrosis, while TUDCA is employed in Chinese medicine for centuries, and is meant for treating liver ailments.
According to the researchers, the drugs seem to act as 'leptin sensitizers’ for mice to combat 'leptin resistance' in the brain's hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the primary brain region that responds to leptin, sending a signal that suppresses appetite.
In the study, weight was reduced in normal mice treated with the drugs. The researchers claimed that the evidence they gathered is the first success in sensitizing obese mice on a high-fat diet to leptin.
Naturally, such findings have given the scientists some sort of excitement because if this could work in humans, it could provide another viable option to treat obesity.
Although the ideal approach to reduce the weight is through managing the diet and increasing physical activities, this process could take a considerably long period. Some patients just do not have the patience to wait for the results. Many of them may seek help from their doctors for prescription of appropriate slimming pills (drugs) to trim the extra weight.
A recent study carried out on mice by researchers from the Harvard Medical School found that the hormone leptin, when combined with one of the 2 drugs approved by United States, could suppress the appetite of overweight people. The findings were published in the January 7 edition of the journal 'Cell Metabolism'.
Leptin is one that signals the brain to stop eating once the stomach is full, but such mechanism does not work effectively in most obese people.
The 2 drugs used in the study are Phenyl Butyric Acid (PBA) and Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA). Not meant to treat obesity, these medications are normally prescribed for other maladies including neurological disease like Alzheimer and Huntington. Meanwhile, PBA is often used for liver dysfunction and cystic fibrosis, while TUDCA is employed in Chinese medicine for centuries, and is meant for treating liver ailments.
According to the researchers, the drugs seem to act as 'leptin sensitizers’ for mice to combat 'leptin resistance' in the brain's hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the primary brain region that responds to leptin, sending a signal that suppresses appetite.
In the study, weight was reduced in normal mice treated with the drugs. The researchers claimed that the evidence they gathered is the first success in sensitizing obese mice on a high-fat diet to leptin.
Naturally, such findings have given the scientists some sort of excitement because if this could work in humans, it could provide another viable option to treat obesity.
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