Could A Virus Cause Obesity?

Are you prepared for the looming shortage that may create long lines while driving up prices on one of the things we depend on the most?

No, I'm not talking about oil. There's an even scarier worldwide shortage headed our way in 2006: sugar.

Global consumption of sugar this year will exceed production for three reasons:

1) Hurricane Katrina dealt a crippling blow to two major sugar refineries located in New Orleans
2) Katrina and other hurricanes wiped out many sugar cane and sugar beet crops
3) Brazil produces more sugar than any country in the world, and Brazilian sugar producers are transferring substantial portions of their crops to produce ethanol, used in auto fuel

Hey, you've got to go where the money is. And not a moment too soon. Turns out that the pending sugar shortage is just one of the reasons candy producers are scrambling. My other favourite: the ominous threat of anti-obesity laws.

Anti-obesity laws would tax fast-food places and candy producers

When I first came across the phrase 'anti-obesity laws' I imagined obese people being rounded up on the street by Obesity Police, weighed and measured, and then hauled off to jail. Yeah, that would be an easy law to enforce.

But it turns out these laws will not result in the arrests of the overweight. (Not yet anyway.) Anti-obesity laws have been in the works for a few years now. And as you might expect, they've sprung from the brains of bureaucrats who believe that virtually any problem can be solved if you just apply good intentions, plenty of money and a ton of paperwork. And if a Department of Anti-Obesity Enforcement needs to be established (along with committees, flowcharts, quarterly reports, etc.), well, so much the better!

It may sound absurd, but this is precisely what has Cadbury executives scrambling here in the UK. According to NutraIngredients-USA, Cadbury and other British candy producers are trying to fend off the specter of threatened anti-obesity laws by adding this message on candy labels: 'Be Treatwise.' Other health information will also be added, including a message that encourages 'an active lifestyle and the need for a balanced diet.'

Yep, that ought to put the breaks on obesity.

Some of the proposed anti-obesity laws in the UK (and in the U.S.), would actually levy taxes on fast-food restaurants, candy producers, etc. Lawmakers would then use the money to establish government nutrition and exercise programmes.

Makes perfect sense to me. We all know that the only thing that's been missing from our health regimens is a government programme.

Could there be an obesity vaccine in a few year?

But before the government start collecting anti-obesity taxes, they should be aware that there may be more to obesity than overeating, candy consumption and lack of exercise. Turns out, the 'obesity epidemic' might be an actual epidemic, spread by a virus.

A press release earlier this year from the American Physiological Society (APS) offers a statement from Leah D. Whigham, Ph.D., a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin, who says that accumulating evidence shows that certain viruses may cause obesity.

This theory actually goes back several decades and is supported (somewhat) by research in which a virus identified as Ad-36 has been found to be more common in obese people. A recent study conducted by Dr. Whigham found that another human virus known as Ad-37 elevated visceral fat and total body fat in chickens, whereas other similar viruses did not.

If the idea of an obesity virus sounds far fetched, the scientists suggest that we consider ulcers. At one time it was a given in the medical community that ulcers were caused by stress. In recent years research has revealed the real culprit: H. pylori bacteria.

As far as solid evidence of an obesity virus goes, all of this is fairly thin stuff. But that doesn't stop the medical community from thinking ahead. The APS release states: 'Researchers now must: identify the viruses that cause human obesity, devise a screening test to identify people who are infected, (and) develop a vaccine.'

Yipes! An obesity vaccine? This might be one for the ages, folks: the pharmaceutical companies vs. the sugar lobby. Winner takes all.