SIMPLE ENZYME COULD END OBESITY, EATING DISORDERS

German researchers have discovered that an enzyme called autotaxin can control eating disorders and may be able to cure or prevent obesity.

In Germany alone, 67 percent of men and 53 percent of women are overweight and 23 percent of adults are obese, the Robert Koch Institute has calculated. In the U.S., 41.9 percent of adults qualify as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Autotaxin could well hold the key to reducing those numbers.

The cascade of chemical reactions leading to overeating or other disorders starts in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls hunger.

Autotaxin controls the flow of biochemicals from the hypothalamus that tell you that you need to eat.

If the brain isn’t producing enough autotaxin, the signaling biochemicals flow too freely and you make too many trips to the kitchen.

When the German researchers administered autotaxin to mice, it normalized their eating behavior. Taking an autotaxin booster daily helped obese mice lose weight.

TRENDPOST: Obesity is a gateway illness, leading to a host of ailments from bad knees to chronic back pain to diabetes. In the U.S. alone, obesity carries a price tag that was estimated by the National Institutes of Health to be about $200 billion in 2020.

Autotaxin, a substance the body already makes, could similarly be a gateway to halting the root cause of a range of diseases and slashing the related costs of healthcare.

Tests of “autotaxin therapy” in adults are being planned.