Friday, January 30, 2004
Fat Brains
Because it's after midnight and the liquor has worn off in time for insomnia to set in, I am reading the news. One cool tidbit from the BBC: Scientists from two universities are about to embark on a multi-billion pound experiment to see if obesity is caused, or at least maintained, by neuroendocrine systems. The idea is that the system evolved when famine was common, and so it was good to store food when it was available, and also good to conserve it when it's not. This would translate today into our brains shutting off our metabolism when we diet (i.e., make food not available), thus making it difficult to lose weight. Who knows, maybe in a few years this'll lead to a drug helping billions of people all look even more alike. And probably have some wonderful side effects, like tumors and baldness. Or maybe it'll really be a good thing.
