Slim down with a shot: Scientists studying obesity vaccine

slimvictor

slimvictor

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"Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness.
Could America's obesity epidemic be solved with a vaccine? A newly released study concluded that it could be possible.

The new experimental vaccine targets a hormone known to slow metabolism and cause weight gain. When tested on obese mice, studies showed they lost about 10 percent of their weight in just four days.


(...)

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, two types of vaccines have been tested on obese mice.

The results show their weight gain "slowed" even though they were still getting a high-fat diet.

"If we were able to get something like that to work, this obesity epidemic that we see in the United States and the world frankly would be abated," Peterson said.

There are still many factors that contribute to obesity and weight gain, but this could be the first spark that leads to something bigger, he said.

Those behind the study said more testing is needed. They next expect to use the vaccine on obese pigs and dogs.

cont at
http://www.kens5.com/news/editors-p...cine-162301586.html?google_editors_picks=true
 
This is so fucked up to me.
People just want to continue to overeat and not move their bodies, without "looking bad".
So such a "vaccine" is a magic bullet for them.

However, in many ways, obesity is the symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.
Will heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. be stopped if the same unhealthy person is suddenly skinny but unhealthy?
Or is this just for fashion?
 
Where is the paper?

A vaccine that decreases body weight would likely help decrease obesity-related mortality, but it's no silver bullet. You can achieve a lot more than 10% mass reduction if you modify your diet and are serious about calories in < calories out.
 
The difference here, between breakthrough and total failure, is whether this vaccine is relegated to life-or-death situations, in which the patient cannot lose weight through conventional methods, or is facing certain death.
If this becomes a simple plastic surgery procedure available to the general public, we're still going to see the same heart-disease and morbid diets, or likely even see them worsen. I know if I could just take some pill that would allow me to eat like a pig and stay in shape, I would probably have a moment (a few months) of weakness in my diet, let alone somebody that was already eating a horrible diet.
This needs to be treated as a serious undertaking, not just a magic diet pill. You might slim down, but you're not healthy until you eat and live healthy, no matter how you look.
 
every option should be perpetually on the table. Not everyone responds to the imperative to eat & live healthy; in fact, most people with weight problems don't respond to that (it seems). There's a lot of shitty genes in the genepool, and statistically an epidemic will remain an epidemic until a radical cure is implemented.

Does that make sense? No cultural program will rapidly change the behavior of the human race in a statistically significant way, but a medicine can radically change our physiology.
 
^ Not sure if I completely agree.
Every option should be on the table, but not perpetually (e.g. if they prove to be terrible options).
And I don't think it is "human" behavior as much as the behavior of many (but not all) people in developed, Western countries that we are really talking about.

A medicine might make us lose weight, but would that get us healthy?
People might rely on the medicine and eat more and exercise less, similar to how Keith Richards used to / still takes massive amounts of drugs and gets a full blood transfusion every year (in Canada) to try to clean out his system.
Is that wrong? No.
Is it ultimately helpful to the individual or to society? Arguable, but it may be helpful.
So, I agree that the option should be on the table. For now, at least.
What I was complaining about is the attitude of trying to find a magic bullet while we continue our unhealthy lives.
Someone above mentioned people who are obese for reasons other than behavior (genetic reasons, or an illness), and that is a valid point, but I strongly suspect that 95% of the clients for this treatment will not fall into these categories.

Basically, I think we need to change the culture in order to make people move their wretched bodies and eat fewer calories.
 
I disagree with the idea that all overweight people are just fat and lazy and want to eat everything in sight. Humans have been evolving for thousands (technically millions) of years. It used to be advantageous if a person could gain weight easily, as food was not always easy to find. People with "fat genes" were more likely to survive and pass on the genes to their children. Now, the ancestors of these people live in a world where they are surrounded by a plethora of nutrient-rich (and often unhealthy) foods being marketed with perfected methods of advertising. It is no longer advantageous to crave these nutrient-rich foods, although years of evolution have conditioned us to do so.

Yes - some or maybe even most fat people simply need to eat right and exercise more often. But there are many people who would be 100% healthy if not for those extra pounds they can't seem to lose. I've known fat people who are way more in-shape and eat much less than the average skinny person. This type of person can be completely healthy (according to Western health tests) until they get older, when their bodies cannot keep up with the extra strain of their extra pounds.

I do not see this vaccine as "people wanting a magic pill to keep them skinny, so they can continue to overeat and be lazy." I see it as a medicine that could potentially extend lives and make people happier...without surgery.
 
I think a big problem for people who are overweight is that it is very difficult in western society to eat healthy. If you read the labels on many popular food items in the grocery store you come to realize that the majority of food people eat is incredibly unhealthy.

Not to mention that eating healthier often comes at a premium and requires time that some families or individuals do not have to spare. I think it's sad to look at the products that a low income family will likely purchase and live on, that frozen, processed garbage that is completely unhealthy. Education also plays a big part, many people think that certain things are healthy even though they aren't at all, subway for example.

Obesity is also a symptom of our culture and way of life; fast paced, ignorant and driven by profit and greed.
 
slimvictor said:
This is so fucked up to me.
People just want to continue to overeat and not move their bodies, without "looking bad".
So such a "vaccine" is a magic bullet for them.

However, in many ways, obesity is the symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.
Will heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. be stopped if the same unhealthy person is suddenly skinny but unhealthy?
Or is this just for fashion?
Click to expand...
There are other benefits, such as joint/back problems, etc. Just the physcial decrease of abdominal fat alone comes along with a great deal of health benefits http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdominal_obesity

On top of that it could also help with depression, self confidence, and other psych problems associated with obesity.
 
^ You, and Space Bass, are right, of course.
But I also feel that people - and Americans in particular - quite often want to take the easy way out, even if the hard way is the only "real" way to be healthy.
Other than people who are obese because of disease or genetics, I think people who are obese should make themselves healthier through hard work, if possible, such as this fascinating story of an obese woman who lost a lot of weight by having sex 7 times a day. Otherwise, if they lose weight because of surgery or this vaccine, there is a good chance they will simply put the weight back on ("easy go, easy come", if you will).
And will they really gain confidence? Certainly far less than if they had been in control of the weight loss themselves, by eating less and/or exercising more. Maybe none at all, since they know that they took the easy way out of obesity, and it wasn't due to their efforts.
 
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