Flame retardants in electronics linked to obesity

[Delta4Embassy]

Uh-oh...

Scientists find link between flame retardants and obesity

"Could your electronics be making you fat? According to University of Houston researchers, a common flame retardant used to keep electronics from overheating may be to blame.

Scientists at UH's Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling (CNRCS) have been researching the issue using zebrafish. The researchers set out to screen for compounds that lead to obesity, called obesogens.

They studied the effect of two common flame retardants on sibling zebrafish and found the fish that were exposed to the compounds became heavier and longer, compared to their untreated siblings in the control group.

These flame retardants - tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and tetrachlorobisphenol A (TCBPA) - are used to keep electronics from overheating and are found in computers, cell phones, televisions, tablets, video game consoles and other high-tech devices with electrical chips that could catch fire if they get overheated. These compounds are then released from such electronics and often end up in the dust we inhale.

A type of the much-maligned bisphenol A (BPA), which is already known to be an obesogen, these flame retardants are highly produced compounds. About 150,000 tons of TBBPA and 10,000 tons of TCBPA are produced per year.

"It's been shown that young children, who spend a lot of time on the floor, have higher levels of these compounds in their blood than adults. It has also been found to be passed through breast milk," said Maria Bondesson, a research assistant professor of biology and biochemistry with the CNRCS. "This is what led us to exposing the fish siblings to these compounds at relatively low concentrations. The fish treated with these compounds became heavier and the ones that weren't were lighter.""

rest at link

 

[iamwhatiseem]

And here I thought it had to do with all of the many, many, many fast food restaurants lining our streets and sedentary lifestyles... boy do I feel dumb.




Not.

 

[MisterBeale]

Wi-Fi and McDonalds, and beastly combination.

 

[waltky]

Fat Labradors give clues to obesity...

Fat Labradors give clues to obesity epidemic
Tue, 03 May 2016 - Genes are partly to blame for some dogs getting fat, say scientists who have studied Labrador retrievers.

The Labrador retriever, known as one of the greediest breeds of dog, is hard-wired to overeat, research suggests. The dog is more likely to become obese than other breeds partly because of its genes, scientists at Cambridge University say. The gene affected is thought to be important in controlling how the brain recognises hunger and the feeling of being full after eating. The research could help in the understanding of human obesity. "About a quarter of pet Labradors carry this gene [difference]," lead researcher Dr Eleanor Raffan told the BBC. "Although obesity is the consequence of eating more than you need and more than you burn off in exercise, actually there's some real hard-wired biology behind our drive to eat," she added.

Lifestyle factors

Canine obesity mirrors the human obesity epidemic, with lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise and high-calorie food both implicated - as well as genetics. As many as two in three dogs (34-59%) in rich countries are now overweight. The Labrador has the highest levels of obesity and has been shown to be more obsessed with food than other breeds. Researchers screened more than 300 Labradors kept as pets or assistance dogs for known obesity genes in the study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

The Labrador is the most common breed of dog in the UK​

The international team found that a change in a gene known as POMC was strongly linked with weight, obesity and appetite in Labradors and Flat-Coated retrievers. In both breeds, for each copy of the gene carried, the dog was on average 2kg heavier. Other breeds of dog - from the Shih Tzu to the Great Dane - were also screened, but the genetic difference was not found. However, the variation was more common in Labradors working as assistance dogs, which the researchers say might be because these dogs are easier to train by rewarding with food.

Human health 'lessons'

Intriguingly, the POMC gene is a rare cause of childhood obesity. Dr Giles Yeo, a human geneticist from the University of Cambridge, worked on the study. "What we have found is that some Labradors get fat because they have a deletion in a gene within their brain," he said. "And this particular gene plays a role in sensing how much fat they have in their body - and so some Labradors don't know how much fat they have and so keep eating to try to get fatter." Research suggests that over 100 genes influence body weight in humans. Most function within the brain and are involved in eating behaviour.

Using dogs as a model to study obesity could lead to a better understanding of the biology of the condition. "Common genetic variants affecting the POMC gene are associated with human body weight and there are even some rare obese people who lack a very similar part of the POMC gene to the one that is missing in the dogs," Prof Stephen O'Rahilly of the Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Institute of Metabolic Science said. "So, further research in these obese Labradors may not only help the wellbeing of companion animals but also have important lessons for human health." The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the Dogs Trust.

Fat Labradors give clues to obesity epidemic - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Seems like Uncle Ferd's g/f's keep gettin' fatter an' fatter...

CDC: 30.4% of Americans 20 and Older Are Obese
June 7, 2016 -- Nearly a third of Americans aged 20 and older reported themselves as obese in 2015, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey.

According to the 2015 National Health Interview Survey, the 30.4 percent of Americans who self-reported as obese represents a slight increase of 0.5 percent from the 29.9 percent who reported themselves as obese in 2014. Obesity rates have been gradually rising since 1997, when the CDC started taking the survey. In 1997, just 19.4 percent of Americans were obese, but that number jumped by 11 points over the next 18 years.

According to the CDC website, obese individuals have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 30. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared, then multiplying the result by 703. The CDC carried out the study by conducting household interviews of noninstitutionalized civilian adults. Survey participants were allowed to self-report their own weight and height data. The CDC further categorized the study by breaking out the obesity statistics for several demographics, such as age, gender and ethnicity.

For both men and women, adults aged 40-59 were the most likely to be obese (34.6%). Among this age group, men (36.3%) were slightly more likely than women (33%) to be obese. Adults aged 60 and over had the next highest obesity rate at 30.1 percent. Among racial groups, Black women had the highest prevalence of obesity at 45 percent, followed by Black men (35.1 percent), Hispanic women (32.6 percent), and Hispanic men (32 percent). White men (30.2 percent) and White women (27.2 percent) were the least likely to be obese.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Obesity Robs the Tongue of Taste Buds - in Mice...

Study: Obesity Robs the Tongue of Taste Buds in Mice
March 20, 2018 - Packing on pounds seems to dull people's sense of taste, and puzzled researchers turned to mice to figure out why: Obesity, they found, can rob the tongue of taste buds.

If Tuesday's findings pan out, "this could be a whole new kind of target in treating obesity," said Cornell University food scientist Robin Dando, whose lab led the research. "People don't really look at the taste bud, but it's so fundamental." Diet, exercise and genetics are among many factors that play a role in obesity. But taste preferences influence dietary choices, and some earlier studies have suggested that obese people often taste flavors with less intensity than lean people. The theory, still unproven, is that people might make up for weakened taste by turning to higher-calorie foods or generally eating more. Dando's team took a closer look at taste buds, those clusters of cells on the tongue that help perceive the five tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. They turned to lab mice, feeding them a high-fat diet that caused rapid weight gain — and then counting the taste buds in a spot on the tongue that's normally packed with them.

Two people walk down a street in New York, July 13, 2015. A new study in mice shows that obese mice had fewer taste buds than lean mice​

The obese mice wound up with 25 percent fewer taste buds than lean mice that were fed a normal diet, the researchers reported in the journal PLOS Biology. Taste buds constantly regenerate as the 50 to 100 cells inside them mature, die off and are replaced by new ones. Taste bud cells have an average lifespan of about 10 days, and turnover of the entire taste bud takes about four weeks, explained Dando, who directs the Cornell Sensory Evaluation Facility. Both sides of that cycle were affected in the obese mice, as regular cell death sped up and resupply dropped.

Role of inflammation

Could fatty food be responsible? No, the researchers found mice genetically resistant to obesity chowed down yet didn't lose taste buds. The remaining suspect: the chronic inflammation that obesity triggers throughout the body. Dando's team examined a common inflammatory molecule called TNF-alpha. Mice bred to be genetically incapable of making that molecule got fat but also didn't lose taste buds. However, injecting that molecule directly into the tongues of lean mice resulted in faster die-off of taste bud cells, the researchers reported.

The study "does underscore the relationship between taste sensitivity and weight," said Dr. John Morton, a Stanford University bariatric surgeon who wasn't involved in the new work. "It's another reason why it's hard to lose weight." Several years ago, Morton gave his own patients taste tests before and after stomach-shrinking surgery, and found taste perception improved as the pounds dropped. Whatever the role of taste buds, Morton advises patients to eat mindfully — appreciating the sight and smell, and slowing down to chew 30 times before they swallow. "You get satisfaction from food in ways other than volume," he said.

Study: Obesity Robs the Tongue of Taste Buds in Mice

 

[Tijn Von Ingersleben]

obesogen

lol! That's a 2000's word. Do obesogens bond to fatass receptors?

 

[justinacolmena]

obesogens

The docs are misogyists. "Obesogen" is a slur on estrogen. They're saying,"Women are fat..."

These flame retardants - tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and tetrachlorobisphenol A (TCBPA) - are used to keep electronics from overheating

"....and frigid, too."

Nahhh. The docs just want hotter porn available on their "electronic devices."