You’re the disease. I’m the cure.
- Marion Cobretti (Cobra, 1986)
I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had, during my time here. … Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we… are the cure.
- Agent Smith, The Matrix (1999)
It’s reassuring to know that such disparate theatrical toughs are looking to cure whatever it is that ails us, at least as a society. Well, half the time, anyways. Agent Smith seems to deviate just a tad from that whole “first, do no harm” dictat of the Hippocratic Oath, though.
In any case, what brought these particular Words of +WIS to mind today was new research that dovetails with the recent tendency to consider obesity as an actual disease, and treat it with cancer therapy techniques. In a nutshell, the chemical (branded “Zafgen,” which to this observer has potentially unfortunate echoes of “zaftig”) starves the body’s fat stores of blood, causing them to weaken and shrink.
This partial starvation of the cells was deemed too weak to effectively treat cancer, where the goal is to eliminate those cells altogether. However, as a supporting tactic — along with, you know, eating less and exercising more – for shrinking adipose tissue deposits (especially those composed of so-called “hungry adipose”), it does seem, at first blush, to have a certain amount of promise. Clinical trials in mice showed fairly dramatic results — rapid weight loss, followed by a stabilization at a normal weight.
Over the six-month course the mice were on, the overweight mice initially lost their extra weight, voluntarily eating fewer calories on a daily basis as the weight came off. Once reaching a normal weight, their appetite came back, and sometimes even exceeded that of the control subjects. This suggests that the fat cells being starved were releasing their calories into the body, where they were being burned for fuel in lieu of eating — which is, after all, the whole point of storing calories as fat in the first place.
I admit, I think that sounds pretty darn nifty.
However, Zafgen’s CEO, Thomas Hughes, is quick to point out that this isn’t going to be some sort of silver bullet for everyone. He specifically emphasizes that these chemicals are intended to be used by (and one hopes by prescription) individuals who are considered morbidly obese, not just those of us trying to get rid of our love handles. Clinical trials are due to be starting fairly soon, so there may be one more tool in the war against the machines… fight against crime… battle of the bulge in our arsenal in the not too distant future.
There’s no word yet as to whether it will be a red or blue pill, though.
[link courtesy of Jay Lake]
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Intriguing and unnerving at the same time, knowing America’s “solve it with a pill” mentality. I recently had a physically healthy person (who I would not classify as overweight by any means) off-handedly covet my thyroid medicine for its potential weight-loss properties. Considering the very serious side-effects that would open her up to, I’d like to hear more about side effects of Zafgen and how it interacts with other medications once they’ve done more testing. It just seems that there’s a huge opportunity for abuse there.
Oh, absolutely. It definitely looks like the sort of thing that has a huge potential for abuse, or unsupervised use, and all that kind of not-so-great stuff.
Because, yeah, I could see wanting to go on a two-week course of this stuff, and I know better. *shakes head*
I wonder if it could be perscribed to those of us who do not want to be obese again?
Personally, I’m dropping pounds, and it has been a life choice. But, instead of a light I see shining at the end of the tunnel, it is a bit of dread. Since fat cells are rarely, if ever, re-absorbed by the body, I know that it will always be VERY easy for me to re-gain the weight. (Obviously, if I keep it off long enough, this point is moot). I wish, once I reached my goal, my thought could be back to: Worst case, I’ll start gaining 5lbs a year again.
But, in actuality, even though I did gain weight a around 5lbs a year (and lost 20-40 every 7 years or so), I re-gained it much faster. Yo-Yo diets work / fail, because those fat cells are still there, and it is much easier to fill them back up, than to grow new fat cells.
I’m not saying that the drug is good or bad — but — it could provide a slightly brighter light at the end of the tunnel, for those of us who are not morbidly obese. . . . yet
I didn’t see anything that said whether or not the starvation of the cells actually killed them off, or merely caused them to weaken and give up their caloric stockpiles. My reading of it suggests that it might cause the “hungry” adipose cells to transition into the more normal type, which are apt to “fill” more slowly, and therefore more easily be managed via mindful health choices.
The only way to get rid of the fat cells themselves is via physical removal. I don’t care how handy you are with a Shop-Vac, I don’t think this is a DIY option.
I’m going to have to disagree with you here, Dave. The Yo-Yo diet effect is a result of people making radical changes to their eating habits in order to lose weight and then returning to the same levels of activity and eating that caused them to gain weight in the first place. The reason why you’re gaining the weight back faster as you’re getting older is that your metabolism is slowing as you age. Being fat does not increase the number of fat cells that you body has. That number actually stays pretty consistent once you reach adulthood (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/health/research/05fat.html). Even fat cells that are replaced via liposuction will eventually re-grow.
This is why I constantly repeat that in order to truly lose weight and keep it off you have to find a diet and exercise that you’ll be able to commit to for the rest of your life. If you only make changes to lose weight and go back to “eating like a human” again you’re just going to put it back on.
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I agree with Michael. We need to educate ourselves about the consequences of over eating, Unlearn some bad response patterns, And use some good old fashioned will power.
A drug is not the answer because over eating lies at the heart of so many problems. How can we treat heart disease? End overeating. How can we treat diabetes? End overeating. How can we treat pancreatic disease? End overeating. How can we lower cancer rates? End overeating. How can we cure obesity in ourselves and in our children? End overeating.
Developing an ‘eat to live’ relationship with food to defeat ingrained response patterns is a gateway to developing the new lifestyle that is required. I am committed to one day be able to see a snickers bar on television and not have a ‘Pavlov’s dog’ response to it.