GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004 (the early years are archived 
Scientists at the Imperial College of London are developing a drug based on a natural gut hormone that mimics the body's satiation response. An injectible treatment of pancreatic polypeptide (PP) could be available in five to eight years, but the long-term goal is to produce a form that can be absorbed in the mouth.
There is evidence that some people have more PP than others, and people who become overweight produce less PP than people with a healthy weight. Thus, a vicious circle results, causing appetite to increase, an inability to resist the temptation of food, causing further increases in weight.
However, preliminary tests have shown that moderate doses of PP can reduce the amount of food eaten by healthy volunteers by 15% to 20%. In addition to a chewing gum, they believe it could be incorporated in a nasal spray.
Lead researcher Professor Steve Bloom said: "We have got a problem and we don't know what to do about it.
"We hit on the idea of a chewing gum because obese people like chewing."
Those given the treatment felt less hungry and ate between 15% and 25% less than those who received the placebo.
A real treatment would aim at cutting food intake by 5% to 10% initially, and thereafter maintain control over appetite with a small reduction of about 1%.
Cited story.
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Comments
I'm sure that a ton of trolls are going to jump on this
one with snide remarks. To those trolls, I say in advance:
Go away. Shaming obese patients doesn't work. Most
of them have been obese all their lives, have been shamed
all their lives, and have tried all sorts of things. They
don't "just eat less and exercise more" because they
cannot.
It's encouraging that biologists are narrowing in on
the biochemical means of weight regulation. I can report
anecdotally that my wife considers exenatide (the first
GLP-1 mimetic to reach the market) to be a miracle drug.
She has much better glucose control with it than she
had previously, and is finally shedding the weight that
she put on during treatment with pioglitazole. She tells
me that the weight loss was nearly effortless - for her,
the exentatide simply halts some of the food cravings,
and moreover, gives her more awareness of satiety.
It would not surprise me if metabolic syndrome (the
obesity-athersclerosis-NIDDM spectrum) turns out to be
a family of related dysregulatory disease, where some
patients will respond to GLP-1 agonists, some to PP
mimetics, some to leptins, and so on.
And as effective treatments emerge, there is bound to be
more understanding of metabolic syndrome as a medical
problem, not a moral failing. That awareness, it is to
be hoped, will also decrease the incidence of eating
disorders, because those who are susceptible to them
will no longer be bombarded with misguided moralization
in the media.
Let's hope treatments appear before obesity becomes
a concern of the "nanny state" and we have the Gestapo
in our dining rooms.
Posted by: Another Kevin | January 15, 2007 9:38 PM
"We hit on the idea of a chewing gum because obese people like chewing."
Am I the only one picturing a clueless advertising exec, terribly excited about this "brilliant" pronouncement? That's a lot like saying smokers like fire.
That said, sounds great. I daresay the extra I have picked up since my metabolism hit a brick wall, is not enough to warrant this kind of help. But I have friends who really could use it.
Posted by: DuWayne | January 16, 2007 12:46 AM
""We hit on the idea of a chewing gum because obese people like chewing.""
WOW. That one stuck out to me too, DuWayne.
Posted by: Kevin | January 16, 2007 11:51 AM