Researchers at the Karolinska Institute have found a new anti-obesity substance that increases fat burning instead of suppressing hunger. As it stands now, it appears to have no side effects and could be available within ten years. “We have developed a completely new treatment for obesity.”
Professor Nils-Göran Larsson and his research group at Karolinska Institutet are enthusiastic about the new results:
– We have developed a completely new treatment for obesity which we have tested on experimental animals. For mice that have an increased body weight, obesity disappears. Fat in the liver also disappears and diabetes is normalized. And this treatment appears to be also free of side effects, as far as we can tell, he says.
Acts in a completely different way
Even now, there are medicines, initially intended to treat diabetes, which cause you to lose your appetite, some can also make you a little nauseous, which means that you eat significantly less. The new substance works in a completely different way. It slows down the cell’s burning of carbohydrates and proteins and increases the breakdown of fat.
– Instead of eating less then you can burn off the energy you have eaten, says Nils-Göran Larsson.
And keep eating sweets?
– You always have to think about what you eat and have a healthy diet and exercise and so on. So this cannot replace a good lifestyle.
“We were very surprised”
The molecule that the researchers are studying was originally intended to be a cancer medicine. But then it turned out that the substance also affects fat breakdown.
– We were very surprised that it was such a drastic and powerful effect. We might have expected a small effect, but this is a very strong and tangible effect.
What do you hope for in five years?
– I hope that this treatment principle also works on people, that in the long run it can become a drug that can help people with severe obesity.