New appetite control mechanism discovered in brain

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http://neurosciencenews.com/appetite-control-mechanism-6536/

Article summary: There is a newly discovered appetite control molecule. This molecule increases hunger in times of fasting and decreases hunger in times of gorging. although our understanding of hunger has been steadily increasing this new discovery is quite the curveball. This is important research because it indicated that hunger and energy consumption mechanisms are more complex than we already know. the newly discovered molecule is called NPGL was  first discovered in chickens by a professor at the university of Hiroshima. they closed by saying that further research is needed to understand the interaction of the previously known factors in hunger with this new molecule.

reflection: The minute I read this I thought wow, so that why all the food looks better when your dieting. As well this article relates directly to class as we just recently talked about hunger and this is a new piece of information on the process. This was novel research that they accidently discovered and then looked further into, to me that just showed that sometimes regular observation of things already thought to be understood can yield new information.

Comments

  1. Becca CossaboomMay 2, 2017 at 12:18 AM

    One of the articles I found also talks of a potential newly discovered bone protein capable of helping a person shed pounds.
    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-a-bone-protein-help-shed-pounds/

    In this article it is discussed how a potential new hormone from skeletal cells called lipocalin2, has the ability to lower our appetites.This hormone works in the brain by improving metabolism and regulating blood sugar and insulin levels.Currently more research is being conducted to see if lipocalin2 could potentially help to treat obesity or maybe even diabetes in people. If this were this hormone were to be able to better treat these life altering diseases, so many people would be positively affected. The best part is is that the hormone is natural and comes right out of a persons body making it easier to enter the body than a foreign substance would.
    If you are really interested in the bodies inner ability to help regulate its own diet and all, I would encourage you to check out this article.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 2, 2017 at 1:39 AM

    wow that discovery at the university of Hiroshima is quite the bombshell. it's obviously still early, but i'm intrigued to see how this molecule specifically plays into the 3 major signals for hunger we learned about in class (glucose deficit, fatty acid deficit, and the release of ghelin). If we can figure out how to up or down regulate this molecule and/or it's receptors, it could have huge ramifications in treating obesity and maintaining healthy body weights.

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