Word: insulin
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...hormones leptin and insulin are longer-term signals. Produced by fat cells, leptin helps manage just how much fat you store around your organs and under your skin through a complex feedback loop. If your fat deposits start to shrink--for example, when you lose weight--the amount of leptin in your body falls, a situation that the brain interprets as a result of starvation. The whole system of chemicals and neurological impulses shifts in an attempt to get the body to burn fewer calories so that it can regain the weight. The greater the weight loss, the stronger...
There are many other factors that affect this delicate balance. For example, laboratory evidence suggests that a diet that boosts your triglycerides--typically, one high in fatty, fried or highly refined foods--may interfere with both leptin's and insulin's actions on the brain, leading to an erroneous signal that the body is in danger of starving. The same receptors in the brain that are responsible for a marijuana high also boost appetite, which is why pot smokers get the munchies...
...body feel full. But scientists were pleasantly surprised to find that it also lowered triglyceride levels 15% and raised good cholesterol 22%--far more than would have been expected from weight loss alone. There is also evidence that patients on rimonabant may become more sensitive to the action of insulin, which can halt the progression from prediabetes to diabetes. "In addition to reducing food intake, rimonabant may have an effect on fat cells themselves," says Dr. Jean-Pierre Despres of Laval University in Montreal, who is leading one of the drug's clinical trials. "That's clearly exciting...
...kind of tissue. (So-called adult stem cells, which can be harvested without sacrificing embryos, can turn into only a few tissue types.) One day, scientists hope, the entire genetic makeup of a patient like Zucker could be transferred into a cloned human egg that can produce the insulin-producing cells her body lacks...
...more aware of the issues than Katie Zucker. A couple of years ago, she visited Congress with her parents to lobby for stem-cell research, and she plans to help generate support for the initiative. "I have dreams and goals in life," she says, fingering her insulin pump. "What keeps me going is that people are working so hard to find a cure...