Obesity Vaccine

Obesity Vaccine

Overweight and obesity affects a large fraction of America's population today. The disturbing increase of people who suffer from obesity prompted scientists and medical experts to formulate some remedy to help people who are suffering from serious health problems. A latest medical breakthrough certainly caught the attention and interest of a lot of Americans and people from any nations as well. Top US researchers came up with an obesity vaccine that could actually prevent excessive weight gain. This vaccine may sound too preposterous and too good to be true, but it is proving to be effective in experiments conducted to a laboratory mice. This makes us all hope that the said obesity vaccine will also perform effectively to humans.

Scientists have effectively identified a few hormones that are directly involved in a person's appetite. The obesity vaccine would target the hormone known as ghrelin, which would cause the immune system to attack and break down the said hormone. Basically, ghrelin is our body's defense against starvation and decreases the energy expenditure and burning of fatty tissues. So by tricking the immune system into attacking ghrelin, a person could effectively lose weight. The hormone ghrelin was discovered way back in 1999. This hormone is primarily responsible in gaining or losing weight and regulating appetite and body metabolism. . Ever since its discovery, medical expects have attempted to manipulate it to suit according to the human body's needs.

The research team at Scripps Research Institute has found a way to trick the immune system into identifying the immune system as a foreign body. The human body's immune system responded by attacking ghrelin as it would do to any bacteria introduced to the body. Hence, this resulted to the discovery of the obesity vaccine.

This is considered a very exciting therapeutic breakthrough since the obesity vaccine slows down the rate of weight gain while tolerating the person to eat normally. Likewise, the vaccine can potentially prevent or reduce the possibility of yo-yo dieting - the repetitive phase of weight loss and gain. When a person is on a certain diet, the body tends to produce ghrelin to deliberately slow down the metabolism and stimulate eating. These changes cause the body to retain and regain fat. This result to the frustrating cycle people often go through once they stop dieting.

However, in battling obesity people should not solely rely on this vaccine as the ultimate answer to weight reduction. Discipline, properly monitored food intake and regular exercise are the most reliable means of address both weight and health issues.