Oh No! Can a Virus Make You Fat?

I have this problem. I am fat. In fact the doctors say that I am obese. I have my excuses, I am old, cancer did damage to my heart and I do not have the energy to exercise, I watch to many episodes of CSI and my favorite "darn I like to eat"�. Excuse me while I take a bite of this donut then I will tell you the surprising news I saw today. MMM that was good. Oh yeah, back to the story. It seems that researchers have found that a common virus can contribute to obesity. Wow, I can't wait to add that one to my list. I can here it coming across my lips now, "I cannot help it that I am fat, I have just had one to many colds."�

As crazy as it may sound, it is true. Researches did find a link between a common virus and obesity. While this is not the total reason for weight gain as the current stickiness of my fingers can attest to, it is interesting to know that weight gain is even more complicated than we had thought. They even have a name for this research, "infectobesity". I know it sounds wild but I do not have enough imagination to make that up.

Dr. Magdalena Pasarica, of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center presented the research at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society. Researchers found that human adenovirus-36 (Ad-36) seemed to cause adult stem cells from fat tissue to turn into fat cells while stem cells from fat tissue not exposed to the virus were unchanged and remained adult stem cells. In fact they claim to have found the specific gene in the virus that causes this effect. I would tell you the name of the gene but it would probably mean as much to you as it did tome. Ok, for you internet junkies that like to look these things up the gene is called E4Orfl. Yes, that is the name. My cat did not just jump on my keyboard.

This may sound like some useless information and a waste of research money but it really has the potential of being good news. If these findings are proven true there is the possibility that they will someday be able to develop a vaccine or anti-virus medication that may be able to help fight some forms of obesity.

It turns out that the Ad-36 virus is a common virus. Researchers do not think that everyone who comes down with Ad-36 will develop obesity. Researchers have documented in the past that this virus can cause animals to accumulate fat. It was not until now that they have been able to make the connection to humans. They hope that further research will shed light on the underlying factors that cause some animals and people who are affected with this virus to gain weight. It they can do this then they will be on the path to discovering a way to treat it.

Well, I for one am hoping that infectobesity research leads to some treatment that can help myself and others control their weight. In the meantime maybe my doctor is right, resisting that Big Mac that is calling my name probably will not hurt.