'A Frontier of Medicine': Brain Surgery for Weight Loss

I had no idea that gastric bypass surgery could fail. It's awful, and sad, that there are those that must resort to such drastic measures to keep their weight under control. It's good that there are strict criteria for someone to qualify for this type of surgery - I hope that it stays this way because this should not become a common surgery to "fix" anyone's problems, whatever they may be.

I read the following story today in Science News. I haven't checked out the primary research articles, but if this preliminary research pans out, it could benefit some of the population if the vaccine against the virus can reverse the symptoms it caused.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic ... cold_virus
Obesity in children linked to common cold virus
Adenovirus-36 may be making kids heavier, new study suggests
By Tina Hesman Saey
October 9th, 2010; Vol.178 #8
Childhood obesity is not only an epidemic, it may be an infectious disease transmitted by a common cold virus, a new study suggests.

Children exposed to adenovirus-36 were more likely to be obese than were children who had no evidence of infection, according to a study published online September 20 in Pediatrics. About 30 percent of obese adults carry antibodies against adenovirus-36 while about 10 percent of normal-weight people do, Atkinson and others have shown.

Experiments on human cells in laboratory dishes explain how the virus promotes weight gain — adult stem cells infected with the virus make more fat cells, and those fat cells store more fat (SN: 8/25/07, p. 115).


This paper looked at other contributors to obesity. Links include: older mothers (offspring of older mothers are more likely to be obese), air-conditioning (it takes energy to stay cool when it's hot and warm when it's cold - climate controlled environments are reducing our calorie burn), medication, less sleep, and environmental contaminants (specifically, hormone-like chemicals).
Ten Putative Contributors to the Obesity Epidemic
Emily J. McAllister; Nikhil V. Dhurandhar; Scott W. Keith; Louis J. Aronne; Jamie Barger; Monica Baskin; Ruth M. Benca; Joseph Biggio; Mary M. Boggiano; Joe C. Eisenmann; Mai Elobeid; Kevin R. Fontaine; Peter Gluckman; Erin C. Hanlon; Peter Katzmarzyk; Angelo Pietrobelli; David T. Redden; Douglas M. Ruden; Chenxi Wang; Robert A. Waterland; Suzanne M. Wright; David B. Allison
result Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1549-7852, Volume 49, Issue 10, 2009, Pages 868 – 913