the fat cells are ‘sick’ in obese people

Everybody has a little bit of fat on their bodies and this is completely normal however new research from America shows that the fat cells in obese people are different from the fat cells in normal weight people. The study which was conducted at Temple University revealed that the fat cells are ‘sick’ in obese people and do not work in the same way as the fat cells in thin people.

The research team which was headed by Dr Guenther Boden examined fat biopsies from six normal weight volunteers and six obese volunteers and they saw that the fat cells from the obese volunteers were deficient in a number of different areas. For example there was an increased level of stress on the Endoplasmic Reticulum as well as a greater level of tissue inflammation.

The Endoplasmic Reticulum is an important part of the fat cells because it is needed to aid the process of synthesising proteins. If these cells are under stress they produce proteins which can mean that insulin resistance is increased. This in turn can lead to the initiation of obesity related illnesses. This research is fascinating because it may open up whole new avenues of research which will explain conclusively why people who are obese are also so much more likely to suffer from a host of different illnesses ranging from simple things like poor eyesight to far more serious conditions like cancer.

More research will need to be done in this area to fully understand the mechanisms by which obese fat cells function differently from normal weight fat cells but scientists are speculating that they will uncover more links between obesity and illnesses. Millions of pounds are going into obesity related research because of the huge number of overweight and obese individuals found in the UK, America and in Europe.