Originally published January 2 2006
New York doctors find leptin hormone helps with maintenance of body weight
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Dr. Michael Rosenbaum of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York oversaw a study that concluded the hormone leptin cannot promote weight loss but can significantly aid people in maintaining weight loss.
Daily hormone injections helped dieters keep weight off in a study that helped shed light on why it is so easy to gain weight and so hard to keep it off, researchers said on Thursday.
Their study showed that the hormone leptin, useless for helping people lose weight, could help people maintain weight loss --- as long as they got twice-daily injections.
The finding helps researchers understand the complex way that human bodies regulate metabolism and put on fat, said Dr. Michael Rosenbaum of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.
Other hormones associated with hunger, metabolism and weight, such as neuropeptide Y and ghrelin, have had similarly disappointing results --- indicating that obesity is far more complicated in humans than in rodents.
The study of 10 obese and non-obese volunteers showed it is possible to restore leptin levels to a pre-weight-loss point, and in turn keep a dieter's weight stable.
This study was not designed specifically to look at weight reduction therapy," said Rosenbaum, whose team reported their findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
"If I give leptin to you when your weight is stable after you lose weight, it reverses many of these systems that have conspired against you previously, so they are kind of happy that you have lost weight."
"Healthier diet and exercise have to remain at the heart of any weight loss therapy with or without pharmacologists involved," Rosenbaum said.
Their 10 volunteers all lost 10 percent of body weight on a very low calorie liquid diet of 800 calories a day for eight weeks, then received the leptin injections for 5 weeks.
"The primary functional role of leptin is apparently to defend --- not reduce --- body fat by increasing food seeking and decreasing energy expenditure when fat stores are insufficient," the researchers concluded.
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