STANFORD UNIVERSITY, November 11 – Researchers of Stanford University made a significant discovery in a recently published study. They discovered a hormone, dubbed “obestatin” which seems to reduce the desire to eat in mammals.
The study was conducted on mice, the mice which received this hormone for eight days ate half of what they would normally eat, which is a significant drop. They also lost weight, but not as much as one would expect which such a dramatic drop in caloric intake.
The study was only done on mice but will probably be used for development into a human drug since Johnson & Johnson sponsored the research and thus own the rights to the discovery. With the current massive numbers of obesity all around the world such a drug would be an instant hit worldwide.
There are still some questions though. For one, the mice used were normal non-obese mice. It was not tested what the same procedure on obese mice would result in. Also the drop of weight was mostly in muscle tissue, something that is undesirable of course since people are looking to lose fat, not muscle. The condition of the mice was questionable as well, it is not obvious if they felt ill or the need to throw up because mice do not show these emotions. It could be possible that the appliance of this hormone would make people incredibly sick.
Nonetheless every discovery is useful as it brings us closer to a new cure for obesity. Perhaps Johnson & Johnson will successfully develop a drug out of this research, something that could change the world.
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