We have always thought of eating too much and having less physical activity as the cause of being overweight. However, recent studies has shown that people with a lot of craving for good food and those who are fond of staying in front of the television may have a new excuse for their weight gain… the common cold virus.

In a new study, it appears that adenovirus, the type of virus that causes colds and sore throats could also lead to obesity in certain cases.

This is the first time that anyone has identified a viral “fattening effect” in humans, said lead researcher Dr. Magdalena Pasarica, an obesity researcher with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

Dr. Pasarica’s team had previously identified the virus among 30 percent of obese individuals compared with just 11 percent of non-obese people. To go further in proving the “viral connection”, their latest study showed for the first time that Adenovirus 36 (Ad-36) stimulates human adult stem cells—the master cells that can mutate into other cells and tissue—to become pre-fat cells and store more fat,” said Pasarica.

“We’re not saying that a virus is the only cause of obesity, but this study provides stronger evidence that some obesity cases may involve viral infections,” a British daily quoted Dr Magdalena Pasarica, as saying.

This may prove as the link between the previous observations published at the New England Journal of Medicine, where people were most likely to become overweight when a friend became overweight. This study involved a detailed analysis of a large social network of 12,067 people who had been closely followed for 32 years, from 1971 until 2003. The “birds of the same overweight feathers flocking together” study was previously attributed to friends sharing the same meals and having the same eating habits, until now, when it seems that friends share more than food and habits, but also viral infections.

This new insight at the way we see obesity makes us think twice at the people we spend time with. Probably while you are reading this article you are looking at the person beside you with a keen eye at whether he or she is overweight. The bigger problem now is that the virus spreads via the air through droplets that suspend in the air when we sneeze or cough.

We suggest that we treat this new information as a way of being more conscious of our health as obesity, according to an online encyclopedia, is a condition in which the natural energy reserve, stored in the fatty tissue of humans and other mammals, is increased to a point where it is associated with certain health conditions or increased mortality or in more common terms, the higher possibility of dying early.

Although obesity is an individual clinical condition, it is increasingly viewed as a serious and growing public health problem: excessive body weight has been shown to predispose to various diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus type 2, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis.

In a positive light for those that frequently catch the cold / flu and with the discovery of adenovirus’ role in obesity, interested individuals may opt to have their annual flu vaccine to fight the strains of Adenovirus. At least, we have another reason to have the flu shot.

_____________________________________

At Britannia Medical Center, we offer Flu Vaccination for those that want to be protected from the adenovirus. And we also offer a comprehensive Medical Weight Management that makes you lose the Weight without much Wait. Contact us if you wish to speak to one of our doctors.