Obesity Flashcards
What is the simplest way to analyze diabetes?
Energy balance
Which two medical conditions is obesity commonly associated with?
Hypothyroidism
Cushing’s syndrome
Which gene may affet BMI?
how does it do this?
FTO
Affecting food intake - makes people eat more
What is the function of leptin?
What happens if you don’t have leptin?
What happends if you have too much leptin?
. It tells your body how fat you are – or to be more exact how thin you are. If you don’t have leptin, or leptin receptors, your brain thinks that you are starving - and acts accordingly. BUT if you have plenty of fat stores, leptin doesn’t do the opposite, as the figure illustrates – there’s a flat dose-response curve.
What are adipokines?
Give some examples.
What is significant about this list
Proteins/peptides secreted by adipocytes Free fatty acids Leptin CRP TNF alpha The list contains inflammatory markers
What is the significance of adipocytes secreting inflammatory markers related to obesity?
Adipocytes and macrophages share overlapping functions, i.e. both can secrete cytokines, and store fat
Normally their functions are quite distinct, but in obesity you find that adipocytes secrete cytokines, and macrophages accumulate fat, becoming foam cells in the process. Foam cells are found in atherosclerotic plaques.
Inflammation in obesity begins in adipose tissue. Perhaps begins with adipocytes secreting cytokines thereby attracting macrophages which then infiltrate adipose tissue. After that easy to see how inflammation gathers apace, with consequent impact on insulin resistance.
Aside from inflammation, what other factor could trigger obesity at a cellular level?
Cellular stress - in particular, if the ER in adipocytes cannot cope with the considerable metabolic demands placed on it as part of an expanding fat mass, then it activates pathways involved in both inflammation and insulin resistance.
Are the following bariatric procedures restrictive or malabsorptive?
Gastric banding
Gastric bypass
Sleeve gastrectomy
Banding - purely restrictive
Bypass - both restrictive and malabsorptive
Sleeve - restrictive
What is the relationship between resting metabolic rate and weight loss?
The lower the RMR, the harder it is to lose weight.
Why is it difficult to maintain weight loss?
The body perceives weight loss – intentional or otherwise – as a threat to survival. Adaptive thermogenesis (AT) acts as a brake on further weight loss. AT varies quite a lot between subjects – helps to explain why some people find it more difficult to lose weight than others.
