How Adenovirus-36 Induces Fat Gain and Makes the Body Hold Onto It
The latest research on the infectious etiology of obesity.
“I remember giving a talk at a conference where I presented 15 different studies in which Ad-36 either caused or was correlated to fatness. At the end of it, a good friend said to me, ‘I just don’t believe it.’ He didn’t give a reason; he just didn’t believe it. People are really stuck on eating and exercise as the only contributors to fatness. But there is more to it,” says Richard Atkinson, M.D., emeritus professor of medicine and nutrition at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
By 2050, it is projected that 50% of the global population will be obese if the current trends continue. Obesity is a multifactorial chronic disease. Genetic, environmental, and lifestyle risk factors exist for obesity, including viruses in the environment.
The Adv36 and Obesity Link
In January of 2009, there was hype on the possibility of viruses responsible for obesity over the internet news, Twitter, and blogs. As usual, it soon subsided but research on it continues.
Adenovirus serotype 36 (Adv36 or Ad-36) is one of the 52 adenoviruses that causes the common cold in humans. A review of 36 epidemiological studies found that the…
