news 2009

People with common mental disorders are at increased risk of becoming obese, according to new UCL research. Professor Mika Kivimäki of UCL Epidemiology & Public Health led research published today on the website of the British Medical Journal that shows that individuals with chronic or repeat episodes of common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are particularly at risk of becoming obese.

PA 220/09 Exciting research into Brown adipose tissue (BAT) — brown fat, which is found in abundance in hibernating animals and newborn babies — could lead to new ways of preventing obesity. Studies have already shown that BAT activity in adults is reduced with obesity. Therefore, promoting BAT function could prevent or reduce obesity in some people.

A major study of more than 40,000 patients has shown that social deprivation significantly reduces patients' chances of survival after heart surgery. Research from the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has shown that patients from more socially deprived backgrounds had poorer survival rates after cardiac surgery both immediately after the operation (in hospital) and over five years of follow up.

A new analysis of almost one million people from around the world has shown that obesity can trim years off life expectancy. The Oxford University research found that moderate obesity, which is now common, reduces life expectancy by about 3 years, and that severe obesity, which is still uncommon, can shorten a person's life by 10 years.

Scientists from the University of Birmingham's medical school are looking for volunteers to take part in major study investigating the underlying causes of obesity and diabetes. The study will look at the specific role naturally occurring enzymes in the liver may play in raising the risk of developing obesity or Type 2 Diabetes.

A collaboration of scientists led by Professor Jane Wardle (Director of Cancer Research UK's Health Behaviour Research Centre in UCL Epidemiology & Public Health) have published today in the 'International Journal of Obesity' new evidence that the tendency to overeat could be genetic. UCL researchers, who were funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, created a new experiment to see if eating when full was linked to a gene called FTO**.