Throughout our media, we see headlines about obesity and the plague-like effect it has over our country. Shows and lifestyle programs are dedicated to stopping obesity. Michele Obama advocated for the elimination of obesity in schools. Messages infiltrate our TVs and radios that tell us to eat less processed food and exercise daily to combat obesity. However, is it possible to avoid or eliminate obesity by simply changing our diet and lifestyle? Or is there more to the problem… Is obesity an actual disease that must be treated with more finesse?
Obesity is indeed an actual disease and despite contrary belief, is not based on laziness or lack of self-control.
In a normal functioning brain, when we consume food, insulin and leptin proteins activate a very specific pathway that leads to ion efflux from specialized brain cells called neurons. This ion efflux of potassium leads to an action called hyperpolarization. Hyperpolarization is important because it slows the neuron firing that tells us to eat more. There are two types of neurons that control our eating: POMC-neurons, which tell us to stop eating, and AgRP-neurons, which tell us to eat more. Insulin acts on these neurons by decreasing the number of AgRP-neurons in the brain and increasing POMC-neurons. Therefore, when we eat and our body releases insulin, we respond by stopping our eating. However, in people who suffer from obesity, overnutrition occurs and normal cellular function becomes cellular stress. Specifically, ER stress leads to physical inflammation of the brain and this inflammation creates insulin resistance. Therefore, the insulin in the brain of someone suffering from obesity does not function properly and cannot tell the body to stop obtaining food. Overall, the effect of overnutrition and obesity becomes a deadly cycle of continual eating and weight gain.
The biological cycle of obesity occurring in the brain cannot be fixed by exercise or dietary changes alone. Drugs that can block the pathway or stimulate normal pathways are more likely to create brain reversals that have a positive effect.
So, the next time we see a show or program about obesity and we are quick to judge the lack of self-control, let us remember that obesity is a disease that physically effects the brain and requires medication or surgery in most cases. It is not a matter of laziness, but of better treatment options and open-mindedness.
http://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinology-metabolism/pdf/S1043-2760(12)00204-4.pdf
The Disease: Obesity
