If you are wondering why you can not stop eating, only after you have “run out” of food, the answer may be in the “switch” of appetite that the human brain has and which scientists believe have been identified.
According to new research, blood sugar levels are related to when this switch is “on”, which normally should happen during each meal, so we can understand when we are full. But what happens when this switch does not work properly?
Scientists made the discovery while studying the relationship that connects nerve cells with each other, in relation to the ability of learning and memory. In particular, they focused on the absence of the OGT enzyme gene, which is known to be involved in various ways with metabolism.
One of the “tasks” of this enzyme is to add chemicals of glucose to proteins – something that seems very important for the cells that control appetite. When the gene for this enzyme is removed or neutralized for some reason, the mice in the experiments ate uncontrollably: “They could not understand that they had eaten enough and continued to eat,” says Olof Lagerloff, a researcher at Johns Hopkins. When they suddenly saw the mice involved in the experiment become overweight, the scientists turned their attention to the enzyme OGT and its relationship with appetite control emerged.
If scientists prove that what they discovered in mice also applies to humans, then the way to produce special preparations that will control the proper operation of the switch will be wide open – and with it the way to deal with obesity.
SOURCE: http://www.medicalland.gr
