It sounds almost too good to be true for those struggling to keep their weight down – a simple injection to prevent unwanted pounds piling up. But the way of a vaccine to stop you getting fat is drawing closer after scientists found the evidence linking obesity to an infectious virus.
Adenovirus-36 is found four times more often among the obese than in patients of a healthy weight. Studies on animals show that the virus is responsible for adding up to 15 per cent to body weight. The finding comes as levels of obesity have reached a record 27 per cent of the population. A further 36 per cent are overweight – making Britain the fattest nation in Western Europe.
The virus has a double effect, not only arousing fat cells, but also preventing them dying and being sent out of the body. The affected cells then accumulate, leading to obesity. In a study using samples of healthy tissue from 80 women, four out of five who were overweight had the virus – against just one in five who were a normal weight.
Although the link could be the result of the making the infection more likely, earlier research found that monkeys injected with the virus went on to gain weight. In other studies, at least 30 per cent of obese people were found to be infected but just 11 per cent of those with a healthy weight had the virus. Dr Wilmore Webley, of the University of Massachusetts, conducted the study into the patients. He says a vaccine is already used by the US Army – evidence a vaccine for the obesity virus could be developed.
However, not everyone is convinced. Obesity expert Professor Nick Finer, of University College London, told New Scientist magazine that more studies were needed to prove a link between the virus and weight gain. “No matter how many association studies are reported, they do not prove what really causes the obesity,” he said.
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