Stomach
bacteria may protect against obesity
Your stomach bacteria may be behind
your lean figure!
A gut bacteria responsible for most
stomach ulcers may also help prevent obesity, a new study claims.
The germ Helicobacter pylori is the
cause of most stomach ulcers, but new research suggests that treating the
bacteria is linked to weight gain.
It is estimated that 50 per cent of
the global population may be infected with H pylori; however, only 20 per cent
of infected people experience symptoms.
New evidence suggests that patients
treated for the infection developed significant weight gain compared to
subjects with untreated H pylori colonisation.
By reviewing data taken from
forty-nine studies with data from ten European countries, Japan, the US and
Australia, Professor Gerald Holtmann from the University of Queensland
identified a correlation between prevalence rates for H pylori and obesity.
“The rate of obesity and overweight
were inversely and significantly correlated with the prevalence of H pylori
infection,” said Holtmann.
“The gradual decrease of the H
pylori colonisation observed in recent decades could be causally related to the
obesity endemic observed in the Western world,” Holtmann said.
The study was published in the journal Alimentary
Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
Source: www.indianexpress.com
10.06.2014
Exposure to
light while sleeping can make you fat
Women who are exposed to greater
levels of light while sleeping are more likely to gain weight, a new study has
claimed.
Scientists at The Institute of
Cancer Research, London, found that body mass index, waist-hip ratio,
waist-height ratio and waist circumference all increased with increasing
exposure to light at night.
These associations were still seen
after adjustments were made for confounding factors that could be associated
with light exposure levels and weight in the study participants, such as
physical activity, having young children and sleep duration.
The findings come from
cross-sectional analyses of data from the Breakthrough Generations Study, the
largest study of its kind, following more than 113,000 women from across the UK
for 40 years in a bid to find the root causes of breast cancer.
“Metabolism is affected by cyclical
rhythms within the body that relate to sleeping, waking and light exposure,”
said Anthony Swerdlow, Professor of Epidemiology at The Institute of Cancer
Research, and co-leader of the study.
“The associations we saw in our
study between light exposure at night and obesity are very intriguing. We
cannot yet tell at this stage what the reason for the associations is, but the
results open up an interesting direction for research,” Swerdlow said.
The findings were published in the American Journal of
Epidemiology.
Source: www.indianexpress.com
10.06.2014
Biology gives you a brain. Life
turns it into a mind
Jeffrey Eugenides
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