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Hormones May Be Key to Diet Failure | |
Thyroid patients perhaps know better than anyone how difficult it is to lose weight, and then keep the weight off. A study reported on in the New England Journal of Medicine has confirmed that an appetite-stimulating hormone known as ghrelin, which is secreted by cells in the stomach, systematically goes up in people who are on low-calorie diets.
Surgical reduction of stomach volume, a procedure done on severely obese patients, was found to dramatically reduce levels of ghrelin. The rush is on now to develop possibilities of a weight loss drug that could block the action of ghrelin. The researchers found that ghrelin levels rose an average 24 percent in dieters, leading to the conclusion that the body’s efforts to avoid starvation kick in when food reduction is perceived, making weight loss more difficult.Source: New England Journal of Medicine, May 23, 2002
