AS MANY as one in five Australians may have contracted a virus linked to obesity. Blood tests on 2000 Australians, carried out in the US, showed about 20 per cent of them had been exposed to a virus called Ad-36, which some researchers say can cause weight gain.
The idea that fatness is catching is controversial. However, Richard Atkinson, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, who did the testing, said a fat virus could help explain the worldwide epidemic of obesity.
"I believe obesity is a complex disease of many causes, one of which is viral infection," he said. How Ad-36 caused fatness was not known exactly, but it had been detected in fat cells in people and animals. In the laboratory it stimulates cells that are pre-fat cells to become fat cells.
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Last edited by Michaelangelica; 05-21-2006 at 12:00 AM.
Maybe fat people generate the virus. Parasitic wasps produce in their ovaries a virus to suppress the immune system of the host organsim. The angle of virus generation doesn't seem to get much attention.
Viruses are very often implicated in autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, but they're just one factor. Genetic predisposition is another factor. If the same applies here, then only a subset of those who catch this virus will become fat as a result. Enzymes and cell receptors are often the targets of the immune system when autoimmunity has been initiated.
From personal experience, I would agree that a combination of factors leads to obesity. If it were just laziness, I would be very fat. I am one of the laziest people I now and am not overweight.
The virus idea is very interesting, I look forward to seeing more information as more tests are done.
(according to currently accepted beliefs), the primary causes for the rise in fatness problems recently is the major change in our working style.
It includes machine takeover, laziness, junk food, and all that.
Further, it is fact that genes do cause fatness in some races, like us Indians. This is because in the recent times there have been devastating famines in India, leading to 'natural selection' of those individuals who could store food best.
Now that food is surplus, this food storage mechanism is killing us.
PS: The virus thing is an excellent for some obese, appearing as a excuse in gold armour. -->JOKE<--
Mhmmm. Nothing is to blame except ourselves. The increasing number of obese people is for the most part, due to modern lifestyles. People just need to get off their asses and excersise!
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I here there are some medical conditions that make people more prone to become overweight - not overweight prone to it. These people just have to live with it, like people that have food allergies or diabeties
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Obesity: Why are we getting fat? :epizza: 
People just need to get off their asses and excersise!
