Aug 02 2006
Weight Loss Vaccine: Diet in a Syringe
We knew it was only a matter of time before some cornered the weight loss market. In a press release issued Monday, The Scripps Research Institute states:
LA JOLLA, CA, July 31, 2006—In what may be the first published breakthrough of its kind in the global battle against obesity, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have developed an anti-obesity vaccine that significantly slowed weight gain and reduced body fat in animal models.
Wow, does that mean what I think it does? Foodconsumer.org says it this way:
The vaccine targets ghrelin, a hormone, which decreases energy expenditure and fat breakdown. Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in California said that they have discovered a way through which the immune system is tricked into attacking ghrelin. Rats injected with this vaccine lost weight even while eating normally, the researchers said.
Ghrelin was discovered in 1999. This hormone holds the key to either losing weight or maintaining it. Ghrelin is responsible for regulating appetite and energy metabolism.
So, they’ve isolated the little devil that determines how your body craves and processes food. Is this the answer that will make a multibillion dollar marketplace dry-up while sending McDonald’s stock through the roof? Not so fast says The Sydney Morning Herald:
Professor Shine, whose institute is also investigating obesity hormones, said it would be dangerous to trial anti-ghrelin vaccines in humans when the hormone’s role in the body was incompletely understood.
But the knowledge gained from the rat study was more likely to translate into short-acting pharmaceuticals than into a vaccine for humans.
A diet in a vial sounds a bit too good to be true. On the other hand, if it gives a boost to those who struggle to lose weight but just can’t seem to get it done, this could be wonderful.
Also blogging:
- Magic Wand
- A Vaccine for Obesity?
- Scientists Develop Anti-Obesity Vaccine
- Scientists Work On Vaccine For Obesity, But What’s The Point?
- Obesity Pill Redux
- An Obesity Vaccine That Works? Dream On!
