The strange virus that’s been linked to obesity
Animals have often been linked to infectious diseases and viruses that can seriously harm or even kill humans. In recent memory, pandemics such as Ebola, H1N1 and SARS are frightening reminders of just how deadly these outbreaks can be.
But in a strange twist, it turns out that a virus that’s found in chickens may be the reason it’s so hard for some obese people to shed the pounds.
One of the prominent researchers into “infectobesity” is Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar. The term refers to the emerging field studying the relationship between disease-causing organisms and weight gain or obesity.
Struggling to figure out why some of his patients could not keep the pounds off despite rigorous diet and exercise programs, Dhurandhar had a serendipitous conversation with a veterinarian pathologist that would lead him to his current research.
Over tea, S. M. Ajinkya told Dhurandhar about an epidemic killing off the chickens in India which he later identified and named SMAM-1. As Ajinkya explained the symptoms of the chicken, including fat deposited around the abdomen, Dhurandhar had his eureka moment -– could a virus cause chickens to get fat?
Based on his experiments, it seemed that it definitely could. The infected chickens all had adenovirus, which can be caught by all kinds of animals, including humans.
In an article published in Wired, a patient identified only as Randy recalled getting scratched by a chicken on his family farm and shortly thereafter his appetite and weight took off. Despite years of hard work with his diet and exercise, the pounds kept packing on. It wasn’t until he had his blood examined by an endocrinologist named Richard Atkinson and Dhurandhar at the University of Wisconsin that he understood that he was infected with something that made fat accumulate in his body.
In another interview with Prevention, Dhurandhar says that those that are naturally exposed to the virus are 300 more times likely to be obese than those who haven’t been exposed.
So what does this all mean?
Obesity isn’t caused just by poor diet or lack of exercise — a third of obese people test positive for infection. Instead of judging someone that’s overweight, a bit of compassion might be in order as they might be grappling with something that’s literally beyond their ability to control.
Given that it is a disease, researchers are currently in the process of developing a vaccine to help those who are infected.
A vaccine won’t help everyone that is obese, but for those suffering from “infectobesity,” it might change their lives.
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