A vaccine for obesity

[newtron]

Check this out:
http://www.vitabeat.com/us-researchers-develop -anti-obesity-vaccine/v/3833/

Here's an answer to our obesity problem � a pill!! How surprising. We don't need self discipline or control or education these days. We'll just take a pill that will make everything better. I'm sure this is bound to make some big pharmaceutical company billions. I'm interested in other people's opinions concerning this issue. Thanks.

[youngmafbog]

Well it'll enable some fat bloated people to keep eating whilst millions starve in the world. You would think they would have somehting better to do with their time, it can't be for anything but money.

[admarlow]

I think it is Brilliant, as it will help stem the constant drain on the NHS that fat people are, how can that be a bad thing!

[WaldoMcFroog]

Since the drug in question is an appetite supressent, how does it "enable some fat bloated people to keep eating"?

I don't often agree with Mr Marlow, but he's right. Obesity costs the NHS and businesses a huge amount of money, and it's getting worse. It destroys quality of life for many and more than just the obese person may suffer the consequences.

Obviously education and self-control are the best methods, but where they don't work, what's the problem? Are you against capitalism, newtron - is your objection to companies making a profit?

Do you say people with hangovers should be denied the use of painkillers because it's their own fault?

[jake-the-peg]

Obesity is a complex phenominum with a number of causes.

The "balancing input and output" and "just stop eating" ideas are really simplistic.

Yes there been a big increase in obesity but there have always been "fat people" and "seperated twin" studies show that there significant genetic factors.

This "vaccine" might only turn out to be effective for 1% of people or it might not even work in humans.

And youngmafbog - I'll share a secret with you - drugs companies aren't charities - they don't develop any drugs for any other reason than to make money - but don't tell anybody it's a secret!

[jump79]

The pill lets people eat as much as they want without gaining weight but does it prevent all the health problems associated with obesity, like high cholestrol, heart disease etc?
If people were on a diet of Macdonalds and started popping this pill, they wouldn't suffer/die from obesity but clogged arteries or something.

It wouldn't help the millions starving around the world and neither would it cut down the waiting lists in hospitals.

[admarlow]

as Waldo said its an apatite suppressent therefore you will eat less! (so those who are linking this to world hunger, can take this pill and send they Sunday Roast to Sudan in a box if they like). Obseity in many cases is genetic and so for some this may be a life saver, and if it only worked on 1% of people thats still a significant number of people.

[youngmafbog]

The article says

The inoculated rats put on less weight although still eating the same amount as those not given the vaccine.

So how does this equate to 'people would eat less' ? I can't see anywhere in the article shown above it says it makes any one eat less.

Also I have a problem with 'its genetic' If you dont put it in the mouth it wont go on the tum. It is a physical impossibility to get energy from no where and that is what fat is, stored energy. If it was any other way we would solve world hunger.

[admarlow]

youngmafbog - Do you not know someone who can eat anything wothout puttion on weight, well fat people are the opposite. As people get older they naturally get fatter due to a slowing of the matabolism, well some people naturaly have a slow metabolism and therefore get fat easily, and I am glad I am not some of these people. This pill must effect how fat is absorbed by the body. I don't see how anybody could think this was a bad thing! Would a cure to cancer be a bad thing...no, well this could also help prevent certain cancers.

[admarlow]

youngmafbog - Do you not know someone who can eat anything without putting on weight, well fat people are the opposite. As people get older they naturally get fatter due to a slowing of the matabolism, well some people naturaly have a slow metabolism and therefore get fat easily, and I am glad I am not some of these people. This pill must effect how fat is absorbed by the body. I don't see how anybody could think this was a bad thing! Would a cure to cancer be a bad thing...no, well this could also help prevent certain cancers.

[admarlow]

p.s there is not world hunger because there is not enough food, its the distribution of the food not the quantity.

[Loosehead]

There are different body types yes but the basic physics is very clear, as pointed out by YMB. If you are one of those people who put on weight easily and I count myself among them then you have to compensate by doing more exercise and eating sensibly. I know in my own case that I can put on weight easily I also know that I can take it off easily, the latter being less fun than the former but I do accept it's my own responsibility. I accept that there are a very small minority with problems, prada-willy sufferers for example and if they can be helped fine. I just felt that the basic realities highlighted by YMB are the bottom line, calories in minus calories out, full stop!

[jake-the-peg]

It's more complex than even just the metabolism thing.

There is a metabolism component. If you suddenly starve the body uses energy more slowly and you loose weight slower - different people will have slightly different degrees of this.

There is a genetic appetite factor, some people are genetically programmed to be ravenously hungry all the time - telling some of these people not to eat is like telling somebody not to have a headache.

This is an undercurrent of cases that are independant of what you might call cultural obesity.

The obesity rate in the general population has risen very rapidly in recent years and you cannot put these cases down to genetic factors - we didn't all suddenly mutate!

So there are a whole host of causes and there must therefore be a host of cures - some medical some social.

But just to dismiss work on obesity as pandering to people's lack of discipline is like blaming condom manufacturers for encouraging promiscuity

[China Doll]

I watched a programme not that long ago about a medical condition (afraid I can't remember what it's called) which among it's other symptons includes the inability for this person to ever feel full. They are always hungry. The people featured in the documentry were nearly all obese.

Perhaps, (if the pill does work) this would be something that could help people suffering from this illness. Just an idea.

[youngmafbog]

Spliting hairs I know but : surely the invention of the birth pill did promote promiscuity !!

Thanks Loosehead for clearing that up, you obviously much better at explaining than me.

Guess being a Loosehead though you BMI is through the roof ?

[Loosehead]

China- Doll, the condition is "Prada Willy" syndrome mentioned in my first post above.

YMB, yes my BMI is not exactly text book, although my body composition is not too bad, but like many people I could probably do with losing a bit! Just need to focus on the problem.

[newtron]

There are many good points in the above responses as usual. Despite the tone of the question, I am not completely against the development of these types of drugs. At the very least, this type of research will help us to understand why some people gain weight more easily than others. I am definitely pro-research. It just seems that there is a pill for everything these days. I think people put way too much trust in the pharmaceutical companies that make these drugs and the doctors who prescribe them. I do not trust for a minute that the pharmaceutical companies are designing these drugs for any other reason than for profit. There are some people who do have medical reasons for being obese, and for these people, prescribing this type of drug seems appropriate. However, I think it is unlikely that the drug companies will limit their target customer to just those who really need it. For most drugs, long term effects are really not well known, especially when someone is taking more than one prescribed drug (interactions between different drugs), which is fairly common these days. So when you take prescribed drugs, you really are taking part in an experiment, and in the long run they might do you more harm than good. This may be an acceptable risk for some conditions, such as cancer. In terms of obesity, it is simply mass balance as stated above. If you don�t burn as many calories as you are putting in, you�ll gain weight. So for me I will opt for the safe method that I have control over even though it may be very difficult.

[Le Chat]

I am one of those people who is hungry ALL THE TIME! Through sheer will power and hard work, I have a good figure, which I intend to have life-long. I would LOVE a pill/injection that would mean that either my appetite was supressed or I could eat what I wanted without gaining weight. However, this will never be prescribed for me because I am not overweight!! Not fair! Everday for me is an effort to eat a regular amount without putting on weight. Everyday I am hungry - all day and everyday but because I don't let it get the better of me, I will not ever be put out of my misery!
The one thing not mentioned here though, is that there are probably loads of side effects - like nausea, flatulence, dry mouth, depression ....and so on. So I can't see it being such a miracle if this is the case...