Signaling Pathway Puts the Break on Fat Cell Formation

Obesity is approaching epidemic proportions in the western industrialized world, and is also becoming a major problem among young people in eastern and developing countries [1,2,3]. Unfortunately, excess fat or adipose tissue is associated with a wide array of health problems, including increased in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ormond A. MacDougald
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2001-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2001.28
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832557102903590912
author Ormond A. MacDougald
author_facet Ormond A. MacDougald
author_sort Ormond A. MacDougald
collection DOAJ
description Obesity is approaching epidemic proportions in the western industrialized world, and is also becoming a major problem among young people in eastern and developing countries [1,2,3]. Unfortunately, excess fat or adipose tissue is associated with a wide array of health problems, including increased incidence of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, sleep apnea, and skeletomuscular problems [4,5,6]. Obesity is the second leading cause of death from “unnecessary” causes in the U.S. (after smoking), and costs individuals and society billions of dollars worldwide to treat. Despite common wisdom that “one just needs to eat less and exercise more” and a multi-billion-dollar diet industry, epidemiological data indicate that the incidence of obesity will continue to rise. This alarming trend is, in part, due to the unprecedented availability of energy-dense foods and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. These environmental factors may be complicated in some individuals by an unfavorable genetic predisposition. Pharmaceutical companies lead active research programs to identify drugs that target weight control centers in the body and which may help individuals control their weight; however, no satisfactory magic bullet to fight obesity has yet come through the pipeline [7,8].
format Article
id doaj-art-6ff6458972e5402083047282c6f565f5
institution Kabale University
issn 1537-744X
language English
publishDate 2001-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series The Scientific World Journal
spelling doaj-art-6ff6458972e5402083047282c6f565f52025-02-03T05:43:33ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal1537-744X2001-01-01118818910.1100/tsw.2001.28Signaling Pathway Puts the Break on Fat Cell FormationOrmond A. MacDougald0Department of Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109-0622, USAObesity is approaching epidemic proportions in the western industrialized world, and is also becoming a major problem among young people in eastern and developing countries [1,2,3]. Unfortunately, excess fat or adipose tissue is associated with a wide array of health problems, including increased incidence of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, sleep apnea, and skeletomuscular problems [4,5,6]. Obesity is the second leading cause of death from “unnecessary” causes in the U.S. (after smoking), and costs individuals and society billions of dollars worldwide to treat. Despite common wisdom that “one just needs to eat less and exercise more” and a multi-billion-dollar diet industry, epidemiological data indicate that the incidence of obesity will continue to rise. This alarming trend is, in part, due to the unprecedented availability of energy-dense foods and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. These environmental factors may be complicated in some individuals by an unfavorable genetic predisposition. Pharmaceutical companies lead active research programs to identify drugs that target weight control centers in the body and which may help individuals control their weight; however, no satisfactory magic bullet to fight obesity has yet come through the pipeline [7,8].http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2001.28
spellingShingle Ormond A. MacDougald
Signaling Pathway Puts the Break on Fat Cell Formation
The Scientific World Journal
title Signaling Pathway Puts the Break on Fat Cell Formation
title_full Signaling Pathway Puts the Break on Fat Cell Formation
title_fullStr Signaling Pathway Puts the Break on Fat Cell Formation
title_full_unstemmed Signaling Pathway Puts the Break on Fat Cell Formation
title_short Signaling Pathway Puts the Break on Fat Cell Formation
title_sort signaling pathway puts the break on fat cell formation
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2001.28
work_keys_str_mv AT ormondamacdougald signalingpathwayputsthebreakonfatcellformation