WP,pg1: Decoding the Surprisingly Active Life of Fat Cells (new research)

[DeepModem Mom]

Decoding the Surprisingly Active Life Of Fat Cells

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 12, 2004; Page A01


For decades, scientists thought fat cells were passive blobs that did nothing more than store energy, bloat flabby hips and bellies, and perhaps wear down the body by forcing it to cart around a lot of extra weight.

But as the nation's obesity crisis has intensified scientific interest in fat, researchers have fundamentally altered that view: Fat cells, they now realize, are extraordinarily dynamic, complex and influential entities that affect a staggering array of crucial bodily functions.

The new insights into fat's commanding, self-sustaining powers, scientists say, have profound implications for understanding how flab forms, why it hangs on so stubbornly, how it causes disease, and therefore possibly how to help people shed pounds and avoid the devastating health problems wrought by fat cells....

***

Like guardians of the nation's strategic oil reserve, fat coordinates how, when and where the body's energy supply is stored and how and when it is mobilized. Fat also emits signals that can unleash, or damp down, the immune system. Fat influences when blood clots and when blood vessels constrict. Fat even tells the body when it can reproduce, and when it must await more favorable conditions. And perhaps most insidiously, fat cells most likely beget new fat cells, perpetuating their existence and magnifying their effects....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43258-2004Jul11.html

[xchrom]

1. i knew it!

i exercise like a maniac -- watch what i eat -- and i still can't lose this last ten pounds or so.
it's like the fat plans it -- all on it's own.
all the more reason to hate those nasty little buggers.
some things you have to take personally -- it gets you up in the morning.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. I hear you, xchrom!

[Devils Advocate NZ]

3. Perhaps you should take it as a sign?

Maybe that "last ten pounds" is PERFECTLY HEALTHY and losing it would do more harm than good?

Think about it.

[lojasmo]

6. Do you do strength training?

That may help....you won't LOSE the weight, but your lean muscle mass will increase.

[rooboy]

7. Apparently this is a common occurrence...

with people who exercise like maniacs. For example, I've read that a lot of aerobics instructors have this problem, because their bodies have adjusted to the workload and don't react to the stress by using fat stores anymore. Apparently it can be solved by clever management of diet in combination with your exercise, though... Secret seems to be to (ironically) eat more food on some occasions.

Suggest you try some (natural) body building websites. Those guys are usually not only expert at building muscle, but really knowledgable on how to get body fat down into the single digits. Hope that helps!

[Palacsinta]

8. I'm sick of wearing snowpants made of fat!

At least that's what it feels like! I can't lose those 10 pounds either. My ancient mom says we need that fat around our hips to protect our hip bones if we fall as we age.

[gristy]

4. The NY Times had an article on this very same

topic 6 days ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/06/science/06fat.html

Fat: The Secret Life of a Potent Cell
By DENISE GRADY

Published: July 6, 2004

They are the building blocks of flab, the wages of cheesecake, the bloated little sacks of grease that make more of us - more than we can fit into our pants. Scorned and despised, they are sucked out surgically by the billions from bulging backsides, bellies and thighs.

But they are not without admirers.

"Fat cells are beautiful cells to look at," said Dr. Philipp E. Scherer, an associate professor of cell biology and medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. "I've been working with them for 10 years and I still enjoy looking at them."

On a recent afternoon at his laboratory, Dr. Scherer slipped a Petri dish of fat cells under a microscope and showed a visitor how strikingly they caught the light and reflected it. Magnified, the cells became a field of glittering rings. A mature fat cell, or adipocyte, contains a huge, clear droplet of fat that takes up nearly the entire cell and shoves the nucleus aside, squashing it up against the membrane so that the cell appears empty. But it's actually a shining sea of fat, stored as molecules of triglyceride.

Scientists used to think body fat and the cells it was made of were pretty much inert, just an oily storage compartment. But within the past decade research has shown that fat cells act like chemical factories and that body fat is potent stuff: a highly active tissue that secretes hormones and other substances with profound and sometimes harmful effects on metabolism, weight and overall health.

more...

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Thanks for adding that article, gristy -- I missed it-- nt