Chewing gum to curb appetite in the works

• Tuesday January 16, 2007 in: Diet and Exercise Tag(s):

  Technorati Tags: diet, obesity

  What will they think of next?

  With all kinds of procedures and products that have been created to combat obesity, a team of scientists in the UK is now developing a chewing gum that could suppress appetite and therefore help people with serious weight problems.

  The development of the gum, spearheaded by the Imperial College London, comes at a time when one in five adults in Britain alone are obese. Essentially, the scientists are working on a drug based on a natural gut hormone that mimics the body's response when it already feels full. From BBC News:

  The hormone in question is called pancreatic polypeptide (PP), which the body produces after every meal to ensure eating does not run out of control.
  
  We hit on the idea of a chewing gum because obese people like chewing
  Professor Steve Bloom, lead researcher

  There is evidence that some people have more of the hormone than others, and becoming overweight reduces the levels produced.

  A vicious circle then results, causing appetite to increase, an inability to resist the temptation of food, and further increases in weight.

  Early tests have shown moderate doses of the hormone, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), can reduce the amount of food eaten by healthy volunteers by 15% to 20%.

  The team have now been given funding of £2.2m from the Wellcome Trust to take it forward.

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