A protein known to play a role in development and the formation of organs is also an important factor in the control of obesity and diabetes, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Cell Metabolism. Drs.

A new study in the January 7th issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, helps to explain why obese people and animals fail to respond to leptin, a hormone produced by fat that signals the brain to stop eating. What's more, they show that two FDA-approved drugs might restore leptin sensitivity, offering a novel treatment for obesity.

The discovery more than a decade ago of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone secreted by fat tissue, generated headlines and great hopes for an effective treatment for obesity. But hopes dimmed when it was found that obese people are unresponsive to leptin due to development of leptin resistance in the brain. Now, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report the first agents demonstrated to sensitize the brain to leptin: oral drugs that are already FDA-approved and known to be safe.

A recent international study fails to support the common belief that the number of calories burned in physical activity is a key factor in rising rates of obesity. Researchers from Loyola University Health System and other centers compared African American women in metropolitan Chicago with women in rural Nigeria. On average, the Chicago women weighed 184 pounds and the Nigerian women weighed 127 pounds.

Females of all ages are less active than their male peers. Two studies, presented today (Tuesday 6 January) at a major academic conference, reveal the gender difference in activity levels among school children and the over 70s. Both studies show males to be more physically active than females.

Recent reports have indicated that childhood obesity is set in place by the age of five, but, "Actually, it starts in the womb," says Dr. Barry Sears, one of the world's leading experts on the impact of diet on hormones and gene expression. "Obesity has an exceptionally strong genetic component.

Every January millions of people in the UK make a New Year's resolution to lose weight. Seventy five per cent of adults make weight loss their number one aim, but most have given up by the end of the month. The good news for those seeking to eat more healthily without hunger and deprivation is that it is easy to eat to satisfy your appetite and enjoy an everyday treat too.

There are hard dollars-and-cents costs to being overweight or obese, according to Humana (NYSE: HUM), one of the nation's largest health benefits companies. Specifically, Humana estimates these costs at the following for 2009: - $19.39 in added health care costs for every overweight pound; - $1,037.64 for every overweight individual; - $127 billion added to the national health care bill.

A new epidemiological study has found that among women who have never used menopausal hormone therapy, obese women are at an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with women of normal weight. Published in the February 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the research indicates that obesity may contribute to the development of ovarian cancer through a hormonal mechanism.

Lots of experts disagree over the seemingly obvious notion of keeping weight off by trying to eat less a debate that centers on whether the practice backfires, leading to binging and weight gain. Now a new study shows that practicing restraint becomes more important with age. Women who participated in the study had more than twice the risk of substantial weight gain if they did not become more restrained in their eating.