Health
Related: About this forumNewly identified hormone acts like a workout
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012
BY KAREN WEINTRAUB
Researchers have discovered a natural hormone that acts like exercise on muscle tissueburning calories, improving insulin processing, and perhaps boosting strength. The scientists hope it could eventually be used as a treatment for obesity, diabetes, and, potentially, neuromuscular diseases like muscular dystrophy.
In a paper published online today by the journal Nature, the scientists, led by Bruce Spiegelman at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, showed that the hormone occurs naturally in both mice and humans. It pushes cells to transform from white fatglobules that serve as reservoirs for excess caloriesinto brown fat, which generates heat.
Because the hormone is present in both mice and humans, Spiegelman speculates that it may have served as an evolutionary defense against cold by triggering shivering. He named it irisin, after the Greek messenger goddess Iris, who allowed humans to communicate with the gods in Greek mythology, because exercise appears to "talk" to various tissues in the body via irisin.
Mice given irisin lost a few grams in the first 10 days after treatment, the study shows, and certain genes involved in powering the cell were turned on. Irisin also appeared to reduce the damage done by a high-fat diet, protecting mice against diet-induced obesity and diabetes, according to the paper, whose first author is postdoctoral fellow Pontus Boström.
more
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/39449/?p1=A1
MineralMan
(146,324 posts)supplement that does the same thing. It's natural, you see, and burns fat like a campfire. If you order now, you'll get a bonus bottle of 15 capsules of our new supplement derived from creosote wood. We're not sure exactly what it does, but try it and let us know...if you can.
gkhouston
(21,642 posts)Lisa D
(1,532 posts)Try saying Vitameatavegamin five times fast.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)gkhouston
(21,642 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)If this stuff is so good, why don't we already have more of it by natural selection? Maybe it causes problems?
BadgerKid
(4,554 posts)The smaller you are, the more surface area you have compared to your overall size. This is why babies have brown fat (fat infused with mitochondria, I believe).
The bigger you are, the longer it takes to feel cold and trigger shivering. This is basically why dinosaurs were called "inertial homeotherms" -- they were SO big that their body temperatures didn't change much even if the external temperature did.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)There's also this bit:
"The concentration of both hormones in the blood is already so high that manufacturing enough to make a difference in health is quite challenging,"
Which sort of answers my question, there is plenty of it already.