Obesity may be infectious

Some cases of human
obesity may
well be caused by a
virus, say Nikhil
Dhurandhar and
Richard Atkinson
of the University of
Wisconsin,
Madison. The
researchers analysed
the blood of 199
volunteers for anti-
bodies for the
adenovirus Ad-36,
that causes obesity
in animal
models. Volunteers
included 45 lean
people while the
remaining 154
were obese. While
all the lean people
were seronegative,
(did not have
antibodies to
Ad-36), 23 of the
Obese people were found to
be seropositive and responded
significantly
better to treatment
with obesity
drugs than those who
were seronegative (The Lancet,
Vol 349, No 9049).